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Yolmer out WARs Holt mainly because he is all defense and I basically have come to the conclusion that WAR assigns too much value for defense . I'd rather have the better hitter who plays average to slightly above average defense than the all glove/no hit in the lineup in case of injury, Sox can't wait for Yolmer to figure out what the pitchers are doing to him when he K's too much and hit for no power with the juicy ball. Holt is much more consistent hitting and won't hurt you with his baseball smarts like Leury does.

I always appreciate so much effort being put into a post like this so it's great. I also think you are a very legit poster. However Moncada and Nimmo are the only lefties in the starting lineup. I'd like at least one more. Bench seems a little thin and the BP is also thin on the back end If you have Maybin and Mendick why do you need Leury ? I'd much rather have Holt or take a flyer on a guy who may have more upside if he can bounce back like Gennett . JDM and Cole are way too expensive when you can go much cheaper and provide more depth with Moose , Gardner both LH with Moose providing the depth at 2nd, 3rd and 1st. Also won't have to trade for Nimmo and perhaps get Grandal instead for more power , OBP and to split catcher and DH to keep him and McCann fresher. You can use the money saved on JDM and Cole for another top of the line starting pitcher and perhaps another starter another BP arm and have Rodon and even Dunning back to provide either SP or bullpen depth in the 2nd half. I know I haven't broken it down salary wise like you did so i know there might be some holes I haven't quite figured out. Maybe you trade Collins for the extra BP arm and some minor leaguer.

Until Robert comes up Leury or Engel might be needed, Or if you get Gardner in CF and Brock Holt in RF until he does. Or if you get Nimmo he leads off plays CF and Holt in RF until then.

Ha yea I'm going to leave that to others to figure out, I was thinking Mets maybe for Nimmo , Got to hope Nimmo gets back to his 2018 self. That guy was a 20-25 HR good fielding , OBP wiz.

Yea I tackled the whole Collins issue above before I even read this.

I'm good with Brock Holt being the lefty and main backup for 2nd , 3rd , SS ,LF or RF. He has also played 1st base too. I think he's a much headier and fundamentally sound player than Leury. Maybe there's room for both on the bench since can't overwork Gardner on days Robert needs off then also play him full time in RF . One catcher would also always be on the bench. Wish I had a crystal ball on Collins . He will need reps with the Sox and not sure how he gets them unless he plays catcher as much as McCann with occasional DH duties and 1st base. A good Collins would eliminate the need for Grandal or Moose but it's always his catching abilities that come back around into the equation. He is the main reason I don't see the Sox going after Grandal. Or he gets traded and the Sox do go after Grandal or just figure McCann and Castro is good enough at catcher Many many ways they could go . Collins and Vaughn might be the biggest trade pieces the Sox have if they decide to trade any prospects but I know no one wants Vaughn traded since his arrival and Abreu's departure almost seem in lockstep.

Ha thanks . Sox need to gently nudge Abreu away from 1st base. That's why i like Moose to split DH/1st with him while still getting occasional starts at 3rd and 2nd. And when Moose doesn't start a big power option on the bench. It also eliminates the need for JDM and the cost associated with him and go after that 1 or 2 starter we need or Grandal. Then the 3 major expenditures are top of rotation SP and Grandal and then possibly a #4 starter like Odorizzi. Keep Lopez at 5 and Rodon and if possible Dunning could provide the BP with punch or at starter if someone is sucking.

Haven't heard Jason Castro's name thrown out there. Not a bad idea. Still not thrilled with JDM since he's a no go basically for any defensive purpose, Gardner shouldn't be too expensive and provides depth in CF while he starts in RF and he's likely to hit as many HR's as Mazara while playing better defense. Mazara's upside HR total is higher but Gardner better D by far and also OBP . Of course if Mazara breaks out with us he's a great choice but odds of that are low but I'd understand the gamble since you always look at upside, then you get nice pieces for him when he hits FA in 2 years.Gardner might even be a good influence on Eloy. Save some money from JDM if you want to explore the Grandal option or Moose for DH, backup at 1st or purely 1st base if Abreu can mostly shift to DH. But ABreu and Moose can split DH or however they can work it out. Moose can also provide a heck of a lot of depth at 3rd and 2nd base too. Starting pitcher still needs as close to a 1 or 2 that we can get. Not sure Ordorizzi or Wacha is that. Lots and lots of ways they can go but always have to keep LH , power, OBP and, positional versatility and defense in mind when discussing it all.

I did look just to see if he could still play CF and that seals it for me. He is a better option than Dickerson in fielding versatility and the power and OBP is equal .Dickerson OPS much higher and likely to be since that HR total for Gardner seems like an outlier but with the juicy ball maybe it isn't. So yea I'm convinced since I've been preaching versatility . So goodbye Engel along with Yolmer and Leury too. Maybe they could be used in some minor trades. Maybe keep Engel in AAA if possible.

For Holt and or Dickerson meaning $10M a year or less than that. I haven't given what it takes to get Gardner much thought but I like the idea and trust your judgement on it. I'm good since I haven't even figured out a backup in CF while I'm upgrading the bench and Gardner can still backup CF can't he ?

"This makes it sound like you're asking what we trade for him." Sorry my wording was bad. I meant what contract would you offer him and again it may create two bad defenders in the outfield. I don't mind Moose as DH, in my "Realistic Plan" thread I took Grandal over Moose and would use Grandal as DH/1B on non catching days. If Collins is going to play he will have to earn it and could as I think there are bats there for all. If McCann hits like he has in the second half, he won't be wanted for DH at bats. Again I was being realistic in that we have limits in spending and I spent on C/DH, 2 SP, and a RF option I feel is a lot better than most (Gardner). I agree with you we need LH bats which is what I added. Moose at 12 million easy isn't a bench player and likely doesn't want to be primarily a DH. Kendrick made 4 million. His WAR 2.9 vs 2.2 Yolmer. Would he take being a bench bat? I generally like the Gradner option but again i'm trying to stick with younger guys but then again an older guy is one of those not ideal guys I mentioned and certainly is a good fielder. I could live with that but having 2 older guys like Gardner and Kendrick is too much.

Well if you plan to use a lot of the budget on starting pitching, somewhere you are going to have to settle for someone not ideal. I don't think he is a terrible fielder like Catellanos or a personality risk like Puig or too expensive like Ozuna or Grandal might be . I think the bench needs upgrades that shouldn't be too expensive like Holt, Mendick, Moose or Gennett. Plus there's the OBP problem to think about and Grandal fills that bill best I suppose so if you spend the majority of money on starting pitching and Grandal then it might not leave much for RF and bench depth which is why I'm thinking Holt and Dickerson . I don't think either one will require much more if even $10M a year for 2 years. Might even get Dickerson for 1 year but if there's enough left for someone better we can get better. He has always been a really good hitter though.

That's why I prefer Moose at DH and he also is versatile enough to cover 1st 3rd and 2nd. I don't like anyone mentioning Vaughn at all because I know everyone is expecting great things and a fast rise from him but that's no walk in the park. Or also why some prefer Grandal to rotate Collins and Grandal and McCann in the DH role.

Had a great season but I left him off because he's righty and 36 just to cut down on the chance of failure since the older you get the chances of injury and skills diminishing increase. For just 1 year he's OK. Sox really do need a lot more lefties .

I like the plan however still need to upgrade the bench. Sorry Yolmer and Leury but pick among Brock Holt, Scooter Gennett, Moustakas, Or pick all three More power here and a chance at a lot of excess value with Gennett. One guy should be a riskier bounce back type with a chance of striking gold but a failure in that more or less covered with a guy like Holt . I left out older and RH guys like Hendricks, Dozier. Kipnis, Castro. Holt really is ideal. He is consistently good on both sides of the ball and plays infield and OF. I suppose if you took all three one would have to be a starter somewhere so can't really do that. Moose at DH starting and basically backing up 1st , 3rd and 2nd without either Holt or Gennett if you go with Mendick to save some money. If I was forced to take 2 of the 3 I guess it would be Holt and Moose . But it is hard to pass on Gennett because he has the chance to provide the most excess value.

No assets for Dickerson. He is a free agent.

Makes it s lot easier to retire it then doesn't it ?

You explain it by Semien was better overall. Tim's defense hurt his WAR as did his inability to walk. Semien was better in just about everything except batting average. Try looking at stats instead of making general assumptions. Despite Tim's batting average being higher by 50 points Semien OBP was better . Also Semien was on the field much more than Tim so he accumulated more WAR. For this year Semien was the more valuable player and was key in Oakland getting to the playoffs again despite the lowest payroll in baseball. Tim is 3 years younger so perhaps looking ahead more people may prefer Anderson but not this year. The clear obvious better player this year was Semien. Marcus Semien might even get a few MVP votes.

Enhancing the roster ? Half the roster is crap. Of course players and coaches talk about playoffs . Do you expect anything else ?

Yeah you only use incentives on someone like Scooter Gennett who had a terrible year because of injuries but may be a really good player to consider to buy low on when you look at his 2017 /2018 production. Much like the way the Rays got Avi. That's another LH batter with decent pop and not yet 30 who if healthy could be a major pickup for cheap and in case Madrigal's production sucks. If Madrigal is good you still have a versatile bench piece.

Rebuild isn't over at all, First they have to spend the money and they may decide it's better to spend it over the next 2 off seasons considering so much would have to go right in this off season to even think of making the playoffs. In my head you are looking at at least 5 name player signings to even imagine the playoffs next year and that's the minimal amount. Then they have to actually perform well and not be your useless Sox free agents.

Guess Eloy still dealing with strep or whatever he has. an infection in ear and throat.

1st and foremost the biggest obstacle will be signing a near legit ace and that's either Cole or Strasburg or at worst Bumgarner and another higher end starter. The Sox have so many needs like OBP, defense,versatilty ,power, depth, too many K's ,relief pitching, too right handed among starting pitchers and starting position players that outside of the starting pitching the Sox may have to spread the money around on guys like Holt, Kendrick, Gennett, Dickerson, Moustakas in order to provide a higher talent level, power, more LH hitters and 25 man depth. None of those guys should be too expensive but all help in significant areas and most are proven players who are not too old. Well Kendrick is getting up there but had a really good year and isn't LH and doesn't walk much and no one should expect him to hit .345. Of course Grandal is also an option but he'd probably be the most expensive contract behind the starting pitchers. Now that's a lot of free agents to be signed and I haven't even looked at relief pitching which maybe Rondon or Dunning can help in the 2nd half. But without some high end starters the Sox won't be making the playoffs in 2020 but the talent level/depth still needs a serious upgrade.

Size doesn't matter. It's how well what you have between your ears works.

That is lunacy and I would hesitate to call them a "legitimate" contingent.