palehose05

I may be in the minority here, but I don't think we should be spending on RP's just yet. The 2021 RP free agency market has a number of RP's such as Britton, Robertson, Colome, Herrera, Files, Hand, Yates, Green, and etc. Because it doesn't seem that our FO is all in on winning this year and RP's being so volatile, I don't think the Sox should invest much this year. What I think they should do is sign Alex Wood to a 3 year deal. With his history as a long reliever with the Dodgers, he would be a great long reliever out of the pen next year when our rotation is more established.

You're missing my point and a welcome is unneeded. I do not want to play "the lottery" or spend all of our money on "lottery tickets." At this point, the lack of spending is evident. Would you rather sign players with no upside if we are't going to spend at all? If we aren't going to spend on the big premium players, let alone at all, then there is no reason we shouldn't sign the upside players.

I'm not saying we need to save more. I agree that we need to spend, but the reality is, Jerry won't do it. So why not spend money on guys with high upside who can contribute and we can strike potential gold with to make up for the lack of spending on established players?

I'm going to assuming that we are out on Ryu and Keuchel, so I would be looking to add Alex Wood and Taijuan Walker. I believe that Wood should be one of the Sox main focus. He is only 28, and if you take out his 2019 injury riddled year, he has had pretty good numbers. Not only does he have a good history and that he is a left, but he can be thrown into the bullpen once our rotation does eventually get healthy and fills out. While with the Dodgers, he has a lot of experience as a long innings reliever. I think this would be huge for us. As for Walker, I think we should take a flyer on him. Yeah, he hasn't thrown since 2017 where he only threw 157 innings, but he has great upside. Not to mention, Kopech will be on an innings limit. So why not pair them up essentially and have them split the 200 IP over the season? Yeah, Walker is an upside play similar to Mazara, but who are we kidding? We all know Jerry & Co. isn't paying up for premium talent. So why not cross our fingers and hope we strike gold somewhere? Edit: I also think we pass on RP's this year. With RP's being so volatile, why invest money into them when we know we won't be truly competing this year. If we spend money on the volatile RP's this year, Jerry will hold onto more of his dollars next year for when we truly need it.

Mazara's main issue is is his career 49% ground ball rate, but he still is consistently 20 HR per year. In 2019, he hit the ball at a 35.5% medium contact and 45.3% hard contact rate. That was with a lingering thumb issue all year. He hits the ball hard, but the problem is half the time it is in the ground. If the Sox can help him fix that ground ball rate, even just 10%, all other offensive stats will jump significantly, not to mention maybe 30+ HR's. I've also added a graphic of Mazara's career stats against the AL Central and the Cubs.

It's true that Ryu has had a history of injuries, but I don't remember them being to his arm. It's worth pointing out that he pitched for the Dodgers who had serious depth in their pitching staff. With as many SP's they had on their staff, they manipulated the DL by placing their players on/off for smaller non-significant injuries due allowing the SP's to rest, or they would place guys on the DL or put them in the bullpen (aka Maeda) to limit their IP's so they don't reach their incentives in the contract.

I know he isn't the "last piece", and I don't know what his market looks like, but in terms of depth, signing Starlin Castro as a utility/bench player to fill in before Madrigal is called up or if he struggles out of the gate would be a solid pick up. Not to mention, he can be used at SS if Timmy is sitting. Again, I don't know his cost or market, but I can't imagine him being costly. Not to mention, he's 29 with a .270/.300/.436 with 22 HR. In terms of depth, I don't see this being a bad move. Fire away.

They have $130 mill on the books next year. That isn't considering the Arb of Bryant, Baez, Hendricks, Schwarber, Contreras, Happ, Almora, and Edwards. There will be substantial Arb contracts next year. That $130 or $93 million, whatever you want to use, will sky rocket. They will then need to fill the holes of whatever they lose next year in addition. They won't be able to afford them unless they blow past the luxury tax again.

They do, but the Yankees will not be in the market for a 3B or OF. They will be seeking starting pitching. The Cubs will also be looking for starting pitching, but they will not have the payroll they we do. The Sox will still be able to outbid the Cubs for Machado. Not to mention, if that were to be the case, the Sox would be entering their window to compete in 2020 so they will outbid anyone for him then. Playing for the Cubs may sound more appealing but by the time of 2020, all of the Cubs core will slowly be coming off their contracts. They would be signing a long term contract with a team who will fall into the bottom of the standings after 2 years of the multi-year contract.

They won't sign to 1 year deals. Nothing will change from now to next off season in terms of how the market is going to operate. By signing a year deal, they will be risking injury or a down season. Also, their agents won't let that happen. If two of the biggest agents in baseball allow their top players to not get a good deal and let them sign 1 year deals because they were unable to produce a contract for them, that would look awful for them in terms of business. Why would any other player hire them as their agent when those two top agents can't produce for the leagues premier talent? The less talented players wouldn't sign with these two agents who take bigger %'s out of their contracts to get an outcome that any other agent can get. A one year deal will not happen. The market won't change next year, there is too much risk involved, their agents, and their agents ego will not allow these two generational talents to do it.

Neither Harper or Machado are going to the Yankees. If they did, they would run into the same exact issues that the Cubs are. They wouldn't be able to keep Judge and buy pitching when Paxton is a FA in 2021, Tanaka is a FA in 2021, Happ 2022, Sabathia is done after this year, and Severino is going to be looking for Ace money in 2021. You also have to factor into that these guys are going into their arbitration years. Based on how on how the FA market is now, players will make more money in Arbitration because there is an actual arbitrator who will determine their salary. The Yankees will eventually need starting pitching and a lot of it. Andujar allows them to save money to eventually have to go out and get pitching they need. Not to mention, Andujar is a very good player and to have a player at that cost isn't worth the price of Machado. Now that Clint Frazier is healthy and if he plays to expectations Harper isn't worth the cost either. Not to mention, they can find a cheap OF to fill that spot so they can splurge on the starting pitching they will eventually need. Yankees aren't signing either. It doesn't make sense long term for them UNLESS they literally fall right into their lap below a $200 mil mark.