Leaderboard

Defensive wise and he’s right. I think with Robert you can easily hide one shitty defender in the corners, but flanking with him with Eloy & Vaughn/Sheets is a disaster waiting to happen. No need to get cute here, just get Conforto. Dude is a perfect fit.

Sheets/Vaughn/Engel combo in RF and Marte at 2B and it isn't close IMO. The question is what do we give up for Marte that doesn't include Vaughn. I might give up Vaughn in a Marte deal and live with Engel/Sheets.

I wasn't even hoping for a game changer - just a legit step to show that they want to find a good faith agreement. All of Manfred's talk the other day was just more hot air.

You may be very right about the timing of all this. Things are moving awfully slow. Additionally, Manfred alluded to the fact that only a month of spring training is needed making it look like spring training will not start on time. Right now, I will only believe there's progress when I actually see it.

Pass. Just a lazy move.

Exactly why I stipulated in Bold payroll flexibility (vs. acquisition costs, prospect capital, length of K, etc.). I'll rephrase the question...notwithstanding any other factors except payroll, which option do you prefer.

Just spending money on Conforto > giving up prospects.

Yes, please.

I care about left-handed catching Collins until we have a suitable replacement and Sheets is not going to be at AAA. Trades and acquisitions are going to happen in abundance so there is no telling what will happen. Vaughn will be in high demand and might get moved to help us attain a more balanced roster. Also, Burger is blocked so might be used to trade for someone's blocked second baseman.

I am a big fan of Engel having called him a 5 tool player. Sheets and Vaughn are passable IMO and we need to use them someplace. They can't all DH.

Cheers to Jon heyman actually giving us details and not just posturing quotes.

Yup. Left hand hitting RF that shouldn't be too costly and isn't a total liability defensively. Sounds like exactly what the Sox need.

Sox also need a left-handed bat. Conforto is a perfect fit for us.

Vaughn, Sheets, Grandal, Eloy, Abreu, and Collins can't play RF either. Engel shouldn't be counted on to start regularly after last season. Sox need a legit starting RF.

Both sides claim to want competitive balance. I am glad to see the owners hold the line on the CBT. Create a minimum amount a team needs to spend...say 75 M. They should give the minimum salary a healthy boost and do what they can to foster a more even playing field. A higher CBT only helps the big market teams while putting more and more distance between the haves and have nots.

Well luckily 4 of those 6 will still be in the lineup, Sheets can go to AAA to be depth, and who cares about at bats for Collins.

I have nothing against Conforto if we are going to spend money on a right fielder. However...Vaughn, Sheets, Grandal, Eloy, Abreu, and Collins can't all be the DH. I've stated earlier that I prefer using Vaughn and Sheets in a platoon with late-inning assistance from Engel. Use the money on other areas of need being pitching, 2nd base, and perhaps a backup catcher if a good defensive catcher can be found.

I'd love it if true. But my trust in Bruce Levine to have accurate Sox info is near zero.

It's about damn time.

This sounds like what the rest of the US is dealing with. The rich getting richer while the middle class is eroding.

If time is of the essence, and the owners had these proposals for days, why wait until Saturday to deliver them? Seems to me they know the response, and the closer they get to the Super Bowl, the news that spring training and therefore the beginning of the season will be delayed, will be buried by the big game.

While superstars are making more money than ever, baseball’s middle class has been wiped out by recent labor agreements. The median salary — the point at which half the players make less and half the players make more — has dropped about 30 percent since 2015, according to the Associated Press. Teams have figured out it is much more cost effective to fill the roster with younger players whose salaries can be strictly controlled, which means the average veteran player is getting a lot more take-it-or-leave-it offers than ever before in the era of free agency. yahoo.com/sports

Need to know what happens with Kimbrel and perhaps Keuchel before I say we don't have the money. I would prefer to use Sheets, Vaughn, Engel, and Garcia in RF and spend the money at 2nd and pitching. I understand your liking of Conforto but we already have the guys I mentioned and they need to play somewhere.

Why would teams be leaking that they were talking to each other illegally?

Look if Vaughn can front line a trade for a star pitcher or someone like Bryce Harper? Sure. Deal him. But otherwise? Nah. This dude is going to hit. He probably won't do much else, but he will be hit and he will be cheap.

Along that same vein, more money for the owners is not going to lead to lower ticket prices, nor is more money for the players going to lead to higher ticket prices. Ticket prices are market driven. Kind of the same concept as higher corporate taxes don't cause higher consumer prices, but that's a whole other topic.

Saying "I want the owners to get more money so they spend it on cool stuff for us" is the funniest most unrealistic expectation of this thread, thank you for that

No fan wants the price of consuming baseball to go up. The owners, who face little to no risk owning a franchise these days, could in fact pay a higher minimum to players, institute changes to increase parity/competitive balance /deter continual tanking, pay their employees a living wage & benefits, and still accumulate generational wealth for their greedy selves and not pass those increased costs onto fans. It is a choice for ownership. The entire lockout was initiated because owners don’t want to share their increased revenues. Blaming the players for those things, the only other body who has a seat at the table to bargain for anything, is asinine.

Another reason to blame owners. Tell them to pay their fucking taxes.

Sounds like poppysox has been a Pinkerton in his/her lifetime. Jesus. The owners don't need anyone else to carry water for them, so stop doing it.

You know something I don't recall on injuries? I guess I could see them slow playing Kopech to some degree - but I don't see the Sox sending him to AAA or starting season in the pen so I think his maintenance and rest is going to need to come midseason. You can never have too much pitching - but I don't think the Sox are going to sign an expensive pitcher or trade assets to acquire one so they can pay Keuchel $18M to work out of the pen as a mop up man. They also have Lambert, Stiever and McClure who are all 25 and older and are basically at do or die positions in their careers. Not expecting anything from any of them, but if they need a spot start or two, they have a couple bodies that are due their chances. Again, fully expect them to add a vet SP or 2 off the scrap heap anyway.