i really don't think that if E-Rod winds up in Pawtucket it will have anything at all to do with saving any kind of control over him. It could happen though. He could get get injured - he could have a very poor spring. I think that he is taking his chances pitching in the WBC and he will have to deal with what comes of it. He is a big strong kid but he does have an injury history. He also doesn't lay over the other two who will be in the hunt for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation. It's still possible that Wright out pitches everybody we got. We don't really know what we might get from Wright or Pomeranz. It isn't unreasonable to think that if these two guys are healthy, and E-Rod pitches in the WBC that the Red Sox might just decide to slow him down.
Chaos reigns in baseball as it does in life. What could go wrong? Since we have no Ortiz we are reliant on JBJ, Leon, Bogaerts and others returning to form after a significant downturn at the end of the season. Sandoval's return is fraught with uncertainty. Injuries happen to pitching staffs every year, lets hope one of our aces doesn't go out this year. I have been an ardent fan since the late 1940's. We used to listen on the radio as we had no TV then and follow the box scores in the paper. Going to an occasional game was a real treat. I have questioned the front office moves over these many years but have learned that once the trades are made and the teams are set to accept what has been done and hope for the best.
I understand that it is probably not likely. I think it is a lot more unlikely now that Buchholz is gone.
Personally, I was okay with taking the team we had at the beginning of the offseason into next season, with a few tweaks to the pen and elsewhere. I never thought that we needed to make a big move, either with the rotation or with the lineup.
Just to set the record straight for anyone who might think otherwise, I am thrilled to have Sale on our team. I am very excited and optimistic about this year's team. (The Indians don't scare me!) We are an improved team over what we had last year, even with the loss of Papi.
Current Fangraphs projections for 2017 still have us as the AL favorites with 93 wins, 2 better than the Tribe at 91 wins.
They have us a full 10 games better than our next closest AL East competitor, the dreaded Yankees at 83 wins.
Before anyone gives me the "Projections don't mean anything" reply, I realize that these are to be taken with a grain of salt. I also realize that it's early and these projections will change.
However, at this time, we are the best AL team on paper, which is all you can ask for going into the season.
It's not so much about control over ERod, though that could be part of the issue, but more about keeping control of as many quality players as possible for depth and flexibility. Again, I don't think it's a big issue now that Buchholz is gone, but $13 million salary relief aside, if I have a choice between having both Buchholz and Erod on the team with ERod starting in AAA, or losing Buchholz so that ERod does not have to be sent down, I'm going with the former.
Obviously we don't know how the season is going to play out, but on paper, we are a better team. If the team does not play up to expectations, we can't blame Dombrowski for that. He did his job as far as assembling a very good and improved team for this season.
Heaven help us all when we fall off that cliff after 3 years though.
So Sale is going to supplement the FIVE pitchers you named? I think we can both agree it won't be a six man rotation.
Sale is going to replace one of those 5 and the 37 (or more) starts you mentioned will go to the 6-10 starters, who probably start with Wright, Owens and Johnson...