Red Sox To Sign J.D. Martinez

[MADSTORK]

I have been a tough critic of Dombrowski, but I have to agree that he did a very nice job this offseason.

Define very nice job?

Starting Rotation is a huge question mark after Sale. Bullpen is very questionable with 2 Pitchers returning from Injury and the Three Stooges (Kelly Barnes Hembree) still on the roster.

Best of seven series vs the yanks and your throwing 3 left handed starters at the moment vs murderers row...

Still much work to be done by way of trade (Ramirez) to lower payroll and possibly go after Cobb or Arrieta to offset the left handed dominate rotation.

I believe it will take until after the trade deadline to see how well of a job DD has done this season...

[moonslav59]

Define very nice job?

Starting Rotation is a huge question mark after Sale. Bullpen is very questionable with 2 Pitchers returning from Injury and the Three Stooges (Kelly Barnes Hembree) still on the roster.

Best of seven series vs the yanks and your throwing 3 left handed starters at the moment vs murderers row...

Still much work to be done by way of trade (Ramirez) to lower payroll and possibly go after Cobb or Arrieta to offset the left handed dominate rotation.

I believe it will take until after the trade deadline to see how well of a job DD has done this season...

How is Price a concern but not Sonny Gray? Or, other Yankee DL wonders?

Our pen turned into a strength last year, and now we have Smith and Thornburg returning and Workman & Maddox all year.

Kelly & Barnes are not bad and will now be our 4-7 RP'ers instead of 2-3.

[fxkatt]

There are starting pitcher question marks on both the Yanks and the Sox. Pitching, whether starting or relief, always tends to be questionable. But I think we may have a starting pitcher edge, and possibly an edge in the bull pen too (tho that Robertson addition is potent) But we cannot match their murderer's row which goes on and on whereas ours stops almost as quickly as it starts (at least judging from last year's offense)

[cp176]

There are starting pitcher question marks on both the Yanks and the Sox. Pitching, whether starting or relief, always tends to be questionable. But I think we may have a starting pitcher edge, and possibly an edge in the bull pen too (tho that Robertson addition is potent) But we cannot match their murderer's row which goes on and on whereas ours stops almost as quickly as it starts (at least judging from last year's offense)

It a new year! I would not want to have to pitch to this new and improved Red Sox lineup and our starting pitching could very well wind up being the best in the league.

[Nick]

Define very nice job?

Starting Rotation is a huge question mark after Sale. Bullpen is very questionable with 2 Pitchers returning from Injury and the Three Stooges (Kelly Barnes Hembree) still on the roster.

Best of seven series vs the yanks and your throwing 3 left handed starters at the moment vs murderers row...

Still much work to be done by way of trade (Ramirez) to lower payroll and possibly go after Cobb or Arrieta to offset the left handed dominate rotation.

I believe it will take until after the trade deadline to see how well of a job DD has done this season...

What would you propose to do with our lefthanders? Trade Price, Sale, Pom or E Rod? Just so you can have a balance?

[harmony]

It a new year! I would not want to have to pitch to this new and improved Red Sox lineup and our starting pitching could very well wind up being the best in the league.

Deja vu.

http://insider.espn.com/blog/buster-...r/post?id=9159

Just kiddin'

[Natick to NC]

Sonny gray is a 50 50 DL waiting to happen and if they are counting on CC to replicate what he did last year .......not happening ...The rotation goes to Boston and I don't think it's that close but the pen is a push all depends how thorny holds up ...to me Thorny is a key to a special year for this team .The Redsox will scare the living crap out of everyone this year and that includes the Yankees ....Get out to a fast start and never look back .

[notin]

There are starting pitcher question marks on both the Yanks and the Sox. Pitching, whether starting or relief, always tends to be questionable. But I think we may have a starting pitcher edge, and possibly an edge in the bull pen too (tho that Robertson addition is potent) But we cannot match their murderer's row which goes on and on whereas ours stops almost as quickly as it starts (at least judging from last year's offense)

I think the Yankees have an advantage in the bullpen, but the Sox front five is far better than theirs. Mostly because I lack faith in Sonny Gray.

Their lineup is scarier, but don't underestimate Boston. While they were a distant 15th out of 15 in home runs in the AL last year, they were still sixth in runs scored. Add in a legitimate 35 home run bat, and this offense did get much better overall...

[notin]

What would you propose to do with our lefthanders? Trade Price, Sale, Pom or E Rod? Just so you can have a balance?

Does it really matter that Chris Sale is left-handed? Right-handed hitters, even the best ones, don't likely think they'll have it easier....

[Natick to NC]

I want home field throughout the playoffs period ..hammer down

[harmony]

Sonny gray is a 50 50 DL waiting to happen and if they are counting on CC to replicate what he did last year .......not happening ...The rotation goes to Boston and I don't think it's that close but the pen is a push all depends how thorny holds up ...to me Thorny is a key to a special year for this team .The Redsox will scare the living crap out of everyone this year and that includes the Yankees ....Get out to a fast start and never look back .

FanGraphs projects 2018 starting pitching WAR of 16.4 for the Yankees and 15.9 for the Red Sox:

https://www.fangraphs.com/depthchart...LL&teamid=9#SP

https://www.fangraphs.com/depthchart...LL&teamid=3#SP

With Yankees holding a healthy 7.4-to-3.9 edge in relief pitching WAR.

The Red Sox and Yankees are projected with a hitting WAR of 28.0 and 27.1, respectively.

[Spudboy]

Sonny gray is a 50 50 DL waiting to happen and if they are counting on CC to replicate what he did last year .......not happening ...The rotation goes to Boston and I don't think it's that close but the pen is a push all depends how thorny holds up ...to me Thorny is a key to a special year for this team .The Redsox will scare the living crap out of everyone this year and that includes the Yankees ....Get out to a fast start and never look back .

I give you one "A" for enthusiasm.

[Spudboy]

I want home field throughout the playoffs period ..hammer down

104 wins minimum.

Get 'er done.

[jacksonianmarch]

Sonny gray is a 50 50 DL waiting to happen and if they are counting on CC to replicate what he did last year .......not happening ...The rotation goes to Boston and I don't think it's that close but the pen is a push all depends how thorny holds up ...to me Thorny is a key to a special year for this team .The Redsox will scare the living crap out of everyone this year and that includes the Yankees ....Get out to a fast start and never look back .

YES SOME GOOD SOX-YANKEE BANTER! The fucking thaw has occurred.

The sox have the rotation? Really? You've got a bona fide ace, I'll give you that one. Sale is a true ace. Last year, so was Severino. Clearly, Sale has the better track record, but Severino can hold his own against Sale and doesn't have the mileage on his tread like Sale does. This is advantage Boston, but if Sevy replicates 2017, then it will be more a wash than anything else

Your number 2 going into the season has to be Price. Well, Price was on the shelf with a "tear" in his elbow that never got fixed. He looked healthy come playoffs last yr but you haven't seen him stretched out and under workload since 2016, and btw, he was a #3 starter in 2016. Our number 2 starter is Tanaka. His first half was awful last year, his second half was his typical production. He was absolute nails in the playoffs. Both #2's have ace upside. Both have recent arm issues. Both have performance issues of late. Claiming victory here for either side is premature

The number 3's are Gray and Pomeranz. Pomeranz had himself a whale of a 2017, for a 5 inning pitcher. He averaged 5.4IP/start. He's been a 3WAR pitcher the last 2 seasons due to his high K rates, but a #3 that hands the ball to the pen in the middle of the 6th on average is a problem. Not to mention, Pomeranz has his injury history as well. Sonny Gray is another former ace who came off an injury plagued 2016 to post very strong numbers in 2017. Both guys had similar WAR's. Gray has proven he can be an ace before. To give anyone an advantage here is premature at best.

The number 4's are Sabathia and Porcello. Sabathia showed a resurgent fastball (up 1mph from 2016 and up 2.1mph from 2014) and secondary stuff to post a strong, albeit injury shortened 2017. CC showed in the post season that he can shoulder the load in big games as well. He is an old guy and who knows if he can perform as well as last year. Porcello posted nearly an exact same WAR to Sabathia's from a year ago. Porcello has more durability for sure, but production has been the issue. His HR rate was nearly 1.7 per 9IP and hence his 4.65ERA was actually spot on with his peripherals. While you can count on Porcello taking the bump every time his name is called, you can count on a mediocre to below average performance in doing so. Yes, he won a CY 2 yrs ago, but his CY was sandwiched between 2 pretty rough seasons. Sabathia has at least performed better in the time he has taken the hill. Either way, same WAR, production vs durability. This is a wash

The number 5's are Jordan Montgomery and E-Rod. Montgomery was a revelation with NYY last season, carrying over solid production using a mix of good but not spectacular stuff with solid deception and location to post a near 3 WAR in 29 starts. He is very Andy Pettitte like. Girardi also didn't trust him much to get beyond the 5th, so his 5.4IP/start mirrors your #3 above, not due to high pitch counts, but more due to a lack of trust. Either way, a near 3 WAR out of a rookie #5 starter is great. E-Rod posted a 2.1WAR in his 24 starts and if he was healthy, this would be another wash. Since he isn't healthy at this juncture, this looks to be the one square advantage the Yankees have at this point in the 1-5.

The only real sox advantage is Sale vs Sevy and that isn't very big. The only Yanks advantage is JMont vs ERod and that is mostly health. But where we make our hay is our depth. We can roll out top prospect after prospect after prospect in the rotation in the event of injury or ineffectiveness. The sox have Brian Johnson, who has proven to be more a AAAA arm and Steven Wright, who has hit more wives than pitching mounds over the last 9 months. In the end, I think this is a far more evenly matched rotation than sox fans care to realize and one that could shift strongly in the Yankees favor should the depths be challenged.

[Emp9]

Wow. Libel much?