CaliSoxFanViaSWside

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.

And not just McNeil since McNeil isn't getting paid much anyway . It's a way to get a lot more than McNeil, (prospects, Nimmo, Nido). AT least that's the way I structured my trade proposal with the Mets but everyone just focused on the Cano part of it. It wasn't a trade I expect to happen but it laid out a framework of what could possibly happen should the Sox eat all or a portion of the Cano contract. I didn't even consider Cano as a crucial player in the deal but crucial to making a bigger deal .

I said the Sox didn't have time to do any deals with the Mets before the lockout and my "think big trade" comment to Jack Parkman was after he agreed with James Fox about not seeing how the Sox and Mets match up.

It ended as expected and all GM's know that based on the amount of innings he pitched vs how many innings he had pitched the previous 2 years They also know he was a great pitcher until the end of July and wasn't bad after it. His arm was gassed not injured. The Giants will be smarter than the Sox were about not running up his IP and more than likely also believe his injury risk is less after his work with Katz last year improved his mechanics. The giants also know that having pitched the innings he did last yr that he is likely to last longer this year barring an injury that so many expect here.

Or the desire to get one of the best pitchers available and win if you are the Giants.Sure it's risky but who left on the FA market or discussed in trades doesn't have red flags ?

CBT space perhaps about your question . If you remember the Mets said they wanted to get rid of some salary among their position players but guys like McNeil don't move the needle much in that regard. Ideally they would want to move McCann or Cano. The rest of their position players are guys like Marte, Escobar Lindor, Alonso and Canha All them either guys they just got or key pieces to them winning. That leaves the 1 yr left on Nimmo's contract $6M, McNeil's $2.5M , Dom SMith $3M and JD Davis $2.5M.

That's why I structured the trade with the Mets the way I did. It left plenty of trade capital still on the Sox to trade for a pitcher. Not everything is going to come in one deal.

I don't think its a rumor it was more like Heyman saying McNeil seemed like a logical fit for us. We've been saying that for a while but McNeil had some run-ins with Lindor about his fielding and positioning.

That was a name I thought of when I made my Mets trade proposal but I wanted to rid of Keuchel or Kimbrel and get back young talent. But I wanted to keep Lopez around to replace Keuchel.

Um thanks Adam . That isn't exactly a link to anything. Find another way to let us all in on whatever that is.

Mets signed Starte, Canha and Escobar and pushed themselves up against the CBT in late November. The lockout started Dec. 2nd and just ended and now the Mets want salary relief. There wasn't time between when they made their FA signings and the time the lockout started to do anything with the Mets.

While VA Fan went a little overboard in his effusive praise of Rodon I will agree with his 1st paragraph .

More likely the numerous Godzilla/Rodan/Mothra movies of yore.

Is he a 2nd baseman ?

Gotta think big trade not small. Mets want salary relief and pitching. We have pitching but not great pitching but if Cano is involved it opens up a lot of things mostly getting a haul of good young players for at least one of our pitchers we want to move Keuchel or Kimbrel. Sox can ask for Nimmo for a yr or McNeil for his 3 yrs left, trade Collins for Nido and get back a top prospect for that extra ugly yr of Cano. Like you said before not likely because no one ever can make up a big trade like that and see it come to fruition but the framework for a trade is there. Maybe the Mets could eat some of that Cano salary for a lesser prospect instead of one of their top ones. Plenty of ways to rework it.

Yeah I'm just thinking Cano as being a nothing burger with the young talent coming back as keys to that trade along with solving some problem areas without counting on Cano to provide anything .

It would be a much bigger trade than just those 2. What if the Sox also could get Nimmo for a yr., McNeil for 3yrs. ,Nido for 3 yrs and a top 100 prospect from the Mets along with Cano ?