Brock Holt might actually help the Tigers win a game . And that would be counter productive to their goals . Not going to happen .
I have been of the opinion for some time that the Sox would stuggle to make the WC game while several other contenders for those slots have been playing better. It has resulted from a weak starting pitching rotation, an inconsistent BP and in many cases, a lack of timely hitting. I do believe by the end of July, we will see the need and undertake to made several trades to lower our payroll and to get resources that may help us in 2020 and 2021.
Most of the MLBB teams have front offices that havee talented baseball people, so any trade would likelyhave to be beneficial to both teams.Not so easy to pull off. I advocated a plan B be pursued in which we hold on to key assets going forward. They include Devers, Bogie and Vaz, E-Rod and Price. Beyond those, there are other players I would be reluctant to trade away as they could be important elements in 2020 and beyond. Those include Beni, Chavis, Barnes, Marco, Workman, Holt and Taylor. Betts is a special case. He is a very good player but has not performed like a great one. We should offer a good contract for him considering his real performance. If he rejects that and thinks someone will pay him significantly more, then we should actively trade him. The Same is true with JDM, he is a very good player and I would like to keep him for the duration of our contract, yet if he decides to opt out then we should get something in return. I also think that JBJ will cost more than he is worth and should be traded.
Moreland, Travis, Nunez, Pedroia, Pearce, and leon should be gone and replaced.
As far as the BP is involved, I would continue to watch those not mentioned to see if we have keepers there. Eovaldi is a special case who may be a starter next season or may turn into an acceptable closer I would also bring up some of our more promising Minor league players and see who among them really may have a future with the club in the next couple of years.
My concept of executing plan B is to look for continuous improvement. Those we trade should allow us to improve both our starting pitching and relief pitching. Those holes we create in our team like CF, Backup Catcher, DH if JDM opts out and RF if Betts contract demands exceed how we see his worth., should be filled with better than what we lose (except in the case of Betts and JDM that might not be possible and we might have to obtain quality prospects or pitchers for them).
My idea is to trim payroll, get rid of the oft injured or deadwood on the team, be decisive with our stars, look for improvement in our weak areas. In my opinion, we can field at least a competitive team in 2020 and perhaps get back on the road to being a top AL team in 2021.
Speaking of Mitch .What the hell ? Where is this guy ? When's he coming back ?
Cots has us at spending $236M this season, and here we are. Yes, Eovaldi, Moreland and other have been hurt, but look at the other teams:
NYY have had tons of injuries and are spending more than $30M less than us.
TBR has a budget almost 1/4th ours.
CLE has a budget just over half of ours, lost Brantley and others to free agency and Kluber & Carrasco to injuries.
Oak has a budget of about 40% of ours.
No excuses. I still think we have a better team, on paper, than most of these teams, but we are where we are. We have 2 weeks to turn things around, of I'll be leading the big sell parade bandwagon.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
i don't see how you think the Sox look like a better team on paper. Starting pitching is below average, BP is inconsistent and without a closer. Only Devers, Bogie, Vaz and Holt are having good years ans Holt has been there part time. The Sox are not turning this around against the Yankees and Rays. Get ready to sell.
Those second contracts are where DD has tripped up. They’re franchise killers. Cabrera’s second contract is literally going to sandbag Detroit for the next 4-5 years. Sale’s second contract is gonna be a killer. Eovaldi’s second contract is already proving a loss. The only one he signed that looks good is Bogey’s and that wasn’t by design. Bogey decided to push the issue and took less money. Sale’s contract doesn’t even start til next year. Good luck with 5 years of that crap. DD hasn’t learned from the past. Yes, your payroll is way above everyone else’s but that’s only because DD can’t let go of the past. Retooling is something that EVERY franchise does on a yearly basis. You can’t just keep the band together and expect the same results. Tweaking is needed for every team, and if you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse.
No doubt some of the criticisms are warranted, but it's amusing how you leave out or downplay anything that might reflect well.
You left out Verlander.
You make Bogey sound like DD didn't even have anything to do with it.
You liked the Eovaldi signing and wanted the Yanks to sign him.
Funny shit.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
We are carrying Pedroia in a lost contract and of course Sandoval this year from a different era. Between them we are wasting over 31 million. In a sense, I agree that standing still, even with a WC team really means your going backwards. When you take Kimbrall out of the equation, we are going backwards rather quickly. Turns out resigning Pearce, Nunez , Leon and JBJ hasn't helped out cause and then to have Betts, Beni and JDM to have reduced years. When players have great years, it is likely the next will be good but not great. We were fortunate to have Devers become all world annd both Bogie and Vaz show great improvement. Where would we be withoout them? Then there is the pitching. Long term contracts for older pitchers can work and may still, but there is a high risk associated with those contracts.
While I questioned Eovaldi at the time and Pearce after other facts were known, bringing back Bradley (who is still in arbitration) was the right move and Nunez exercised his player option, so DD had no choice in the matter this off-season.
The Red Sox do have about $31mill in AAV tied up in Sandoval and Pedroia, but they still have over $200 mill in other players and plenty of teams have more money tied up in bad/inactive contracts or spend well under $200mill (or both) and have found a way to stay competitive. Those deals really aren’t some huge insurmountable constraint...