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His HR rate is pretty high too. Since no one else has specifically said it, maybe Katz sees something in him that he thinks is fixable. We got the obligatory Coop will fix him comment but this should be a minor league deal.

I thought it was Lillibridge .

You may remember Velasquez for this : Not just 1 but 2 amazing plays against the Sox playing the OF !

I was just going by what another poster called him. I didn't check to see if he had an option.

Sox are running out of rentals to acquire.

I would never declare that but I am leaning 70% that way while you went 100% . Even though I whine about Jerry and the Gang as much as anyone the Sox are over $200M and going higher. How much higher is the big question. I will say I am doubtful about Conforto but Nimmo in his place for a year wouldn't be bad. Too bad the Mets might not want to get rid of a potential 5+ WAR guy.

$8.5/yr for 2 yrs. Also not big money but when how close the Sox come to the CBT is a mystery and our 2 big ticket items still haven't been found it's a little scary. Like others I'm kind of in shock we are even over $200M.

You're a real pip. Plenty of others chimed in on the bad process, planning, and results up to this point. But I guess if you defend yourself time and time again against the hordes of "Rainbow Bright " gang you're a nuisance. Ok everyone you are limited to one post of complaints now so make it a good one. Why can't everyone just say what they want as much as they want ? You said your piece and now I've said mine.

I'd actually like to give some of Marco Paddy's signings a chance to do something. Isn't that why the Sox hired him ? Instead we ended up trading He Who Should Always be Named and trading away Intl money on a regular basis and signing older guys instead of 16 and 17 yrs olds like everyone else does.. Yay Hahn and JR.

Sox basically have no choice but to make an impactful trade . There's no way they make an impactful addition in RF via FA and then add a FA pitcher too. Move Kimbrel 1st and see how much of his salary we get rid of then see what's left out there and take a wild guess at how much we can add to stay under the CBT . That's the great unknown .

Back to the drawing board. There's always that other trade I proposed for Zac Gallen and Daulton Varsho. LOL as if AZ is going to give them up.

The Mets have a lot of good prospects. I think the question is would Oakland be OK with Vera and Lambert? But damn the Sox are dead last in farm systems because of the lack of pitching prospects and any depth among all prospects which is why I wanted prospects and some young MLB talent from the Mets in exchange for the Cano contract because they supposedly wanted to dump some salary and get pitching . Bassitt is an improvement over my idea of Keuchel but it only increases their payroll. Maybe I just overestimated their desire to shed salary based on the reports of it. Cohen might not care about the CBT as much as I thought.

And the 1 rental SP everyone seemed focused on, Bassitt, is gone to the Mets now for pitching prospects. Hmm I do recall hoping the Sox could trade with the Mets for prospects. But they just added another $9M to their payroll and that is after they supposedly wanted to move some position players to stay below the CBT. Paying the tax might not matter that much to Cohen after all. But I wouldn't mind if Nimmo was available even if he's just a rental. But more than likely they try to rid themselves of McCann, McNeil, Dom Smith and/or JD Davis before Nimmo. Soler is another RHH and would be massive failure.

Doubtful. The Sox don't have the pitching prospects.

Well at least I was right that that were going to give up some prospects in a trade. But they added another $9M to their payroll so as of now I'm not seeing where exactly they are planning to shed salary in the position players. They must really think they can move McCann but I'd love to get Nimmo for a year.

The Sox getting exceedingly close to that happening already.

I honestly think another 1 yr rental is going to happen in either RF or SP. It's their MO just as much as GB relief pitchers .

Who exactly said he won't be traded ? I get why they got Kelly it's simple . They are getting rid of Kimbrel and Kopech isnt going to be used the way he was last year. I also get the total influx of GB relievers . I also hope old man Harrison can play an above average 2nd base to support all the GB type pitchers and is nifty turning a DP. But all you have to do is go back to last year and see all the people telling us here that the BP was lights out good to know and pound it into people's heads again that relievers are a messy bunch. I also know because of the lockout the 162 game schedule is being condensed and BP pieces are needed now more than ever but again it's built in excuses for TLR , Hahn and JR to keep doing what they have been doing. It's also getting pretty old that the allocation of funds to relief pitcher is TLR , Hahn and JR tailor made to get less expensive players. If you get the position players you need 1st and because of that your BP sucks well then pick up BP pieces at the TDL . Good position players are the foundation of an exciting bombs away team but they are costly. Bullpen pieces are unexciting and volatile although necessary evil which should be secondary to acquire the LH strength we need. The condensed schedule is also why the money could be spent on a another starting pitcher over that much desire by the fanbase LH savage.

I know every spring you're optimistic because you're you and that's good. I just don't see why you expect the front office to make a Conforto signing while they continually express the thought that they think SP is more important unless you think that's a smokescreen while a Conforto signing would move the Sox into unprecedented payroll stratosphere even while dumping the Kimbrel contract and moreso if they can't dump the whole thing which is a distinct possibility. If they can't dump the whole contract just add it to the how much has Kimbrel really cost the Sox ledger which now includes a cost controlled 2nd basemen in Madrigal, Heuer ( though now that doesnt look so bad), $7M for old man Harrison who isn't even left handed plus whatever salary the Sox end up having paid Kimbrel once he's traded. Just for fun throw in the possibility the whole Kimbrel mess could eventually lead Conforto not going to the Sox because we have no idea if the Sox can commit that kind of money to Conforto and still trade for a decent enough SP whose salary will have to also be paid. For a guy who didn't like taking the gamble on Rodon you seem to be pretty calm that the team is filling up with old guys more prone to injury. But I will say one thing about you. I know you will be highly critical if 2 gun pete, Myself , thxfrthmmrs,Ray Ray and Balta end up correct and Conforto goes somewhere else. That is looking more likely with every transaction the Sox make and the needs we still have.

Oh come now he isn't trolling. I don't get it why people cannot be critical of the FO and management without everyone telling them how critical they are or telling them they are trolling. I consider Ray Ray and 2 Gun knowledgeable guys . I never agree with everything they say but they do know the front office history of never quite finishing things off. Yes the team has a record payroll this year but as we can see lately there has been a lot of older vets picked up. Kelly, Kimbrel, Harrison, Lynn, Keuchel, Hendriks with lots of youth jettisoned with likely more youth jettisoned to find a starting pitcher. Kimbrel alone cost the Sox Madrigal and Heuer and the $7M used for Harrison and Kimbrel's salary. They decided Rodon wasn't worth a QO even though he's 29 and coming off the best pitching his career. SF wants to win . Do the Sox because the next move better be trading Kimbrel or you can kiss your dreams of Conforto goodbye. Might as well kiss Vaughn goodbye too because now the Sox are under the gun to make a trade for a starting pitcher who will probably have just as much injury risk as Rodon without the really high upside and probably also approaching his mid 30's. But hey the Sox might keep Vaughn and sign 38 yr old Zack Greinke ,39 yr old JA Happ ,or Danny Duffy or Zach Davies . If the Sox get Castellanos instead what happened to getting more LH ? Are they making any attempt to fix the farm ? At least with my trade proposal with the Mets it was getting some good young talent while taking on a bad contract while also dumping one and made us more left handed and younger and got us decent defensive catcher for backup. It wasn't realistic but I'd like to see something creative instead of the same OLD schtick.

You're right if they are good or bad !

See my post right after yours. It's the perfect Sox Manager , FO and JR move.

Yep just like I said before they got Kelly but the Graveman and Kelly moves are GB type relief pitchers. Despite everyone hoping TLR can influence JR to spend money what it's done is reinforce the Hahn ideology of more and more relief pitching and the defense needed to support it. It's also cheaper than getting good position players so JR loves it.

One thing getting Harrison does is make me think the Sox might try to pry away Nimmo from the Mets for his last year before Free Agency. If they can go rental with a pitcher they can go rental with RF. Also with the way they keep talking about starting pitching . Any big trade chips may go towards pitching. I'm also less inclined to think they have the balls to sign Conforto . They will nickel and dime the position players and use big trade chips for SP. With Romy and Yolmer and Colas despite the thinking that these minor leaguers shouldn't influence the decision making process that's exactly what we are going to get. The next move should be to rid themselves of Kimbrel if anyone is hoping for Conforto.

$5.5M plus a $1.5 buyout. Geez just add another $7M to the cost of Kimbrel. Maybe that's the wait for it moment.