YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!

I actually take the opposite approach to many in this thread. I hope they buy relief pitching and lots of it. The bullpen was one of the main reasons why the Sox were so bad this year and addressing that now makes sense given that the reliever market is pretty deep in this free agency class. I'd love to see guys like Jeurys Familia and Kelvin Herrera in the Sox bullpen next year. Signing relievers is a risky proposition simply because it's a volatile position, but I'd like to see some veterans brought in on 2-3 year deals before the homegrown guys like Burdi, Johnson, Hamilton, Frare, etc become established at the MLB level.

2/15 with additional incentives based on performance.

Gray and Eovaldi...I'm telling y'all.

In my opinion, trading for Gray and signing Nate Eovaldi is the best route the Sox could take to fill out the starting rotation. Rodon/Lopez/Eovaldi/Gray/Giolito is not bad at all.

My bad, I didn't see your original post as it was buried on the first page in this thread. I guess I wouldn't completely opposed to it if the Sox could get Greinke for essentially 3 years and $45 million without giving up anything significant in terms of prospects, but that seems highly unlikely as of now. Although I have heard that the Diamondbacks want to blow everything up, so who knows.

Age is just part of it. His contract is the biggest factor. 2019: 34.5 million 2020: 35 million 2021: 35 million I wouldn't want him even if Arizona ate half of his deal. Despite the fact that he hasn't shown any signs of aging yet, it's way too risky.

Greinke is a terrible idea. Beyond awful. The dude is going to be 35 on Opening Day.

Trade for Gray and sign Nate Eovaldi. Rodon, Lopez, Eovaldi, Giolito, Gray. Boom.

Bobby Witt Jr or bust!

I see what you're getting at, but it's impossible to know what the situation will be 2 years from now. We know for a fact that Harper and Machado will be up for grabs this offseason. That's why they should make their move now.

Yeah, a 2 or 3 year opt out wouldn't make any sense and I do agree that going to a contender would probably be Machado's preference. However, the Sox can significantly frontload a deal which works to their advantage. They could conceivably make him the highest paid player in baseball on a per year basis over that 4 year period and still have financial wiggle room because of how low the payroll is right now. Ultimately, my point is that Hahn can't sit on his fanny and do nothing. He has to add impact talent in some form this offseason.

I'm not singling you out by any means, but this mindset is one of the main reasons why I think the Sox have been bad for so long. The front office is afraid to take any risks in free agency. The most expensive contract they have ever given anyone was $68 million for Jose Abreu, which is chump change in today's game. Even though they were rumored to have been in on ARod and Tanaka back in the day, they have never actually spent significant money on anyone. Even in a best case scenario in which Eloy becomes a superstar, Moncada improves, Kopech comes back from his injury, Cease pans out, etc, I find it hard to believe that this team could be a World Series contender without going out and getting that guy to put them over the top, like the Cubs did with Jon Lester. I would rather risk Machado opting out and having him for 2020, 2021, and 2022 than not going after him at all and trying to fill that hole with stopgaps and wasting the cheap, controllable years of the rest of the core.

It would allow the player to maximize the most of their peak years from a financial standpoint and allows them to cash in on a new contract around the age of 30 in Machado's case when he should still be in his prime. It makes sense for both sides. The Sox can afford to do it, and Machado can become one of the highest paid players in the game right now and then cash in again in a few years.

Money talks. They should go after Machado by significantly front loading a deal and including an opt out after year 4. It's not like they don't have the money to do that. They virtually have no significant payroll obligations heading into the future and it would give the Sox his services for 2019, 20, 21, and 22 which would hopefully be 3 years of their window to contend.

I can't believe how many people here don't think they should even attempt to sign either guy. How can anyone expect this rebuild to get to the next level without bringing in an elite talent from outside the organization?

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:31 PM) Right, and the thing that scares me is Hahn is the one in charge of the rebuild. Other than giving away Tatis, I really don't think any of the trades under his regime have proven to be that bad yet. I was never a fan of the Rutherford deal but even he still has potential. If the Sox are still this bad in 2 years, then I'd agree with you, but I think it's still too early to say.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:20 PM) Yeah this team isn't suppose to win but still this looks like a out and out DISASTER. This team looks like it can rival the 1962 Mets team for losses. (They lost 120 games that season) Hahn has been here for 6 seasons, seasons "Mired in Mediocrity" as he has said. His contract should have never been renewed last year. You do know the Sox are in the middle of a rebuild, right?

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 05:09 PM) Tampa Bay is a team w Denard Span and 8 other hitters you never heard of. Where have you gone Evan Longoria.................... Don't you dare disrespect Joey Wendle like that!

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 04:44 PM) to everyone griping about Benneti, go listen to the Angels broadcast and be thankful theres a semblance of personality in our booth Benetti isn't funny and his schtick is already tiring.

Benetti is so awful.

Moncada looks amazing one game, awful the next.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 02:29 PM) If he never fixes his command he'll be a reclamation project the rest of his career. I've noticed that his command generally gets worse as he fatigues during a game, so my hope would be that he can go all out for an inning as a reliever and be elite in that role.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 02:23 PM) With Rodon, Kopech, Gio and Lopez I don't see Fulmer as anything more than back of the rotation arm anyway...he'll be a good long man, and could potentially be a nice setup guy if he can find 2 pitches to locate. He's very good if he only has to pitch an inning or two at a time. Obviously that isn't what we hoped for when the Sox drafted him, but he could still be a valuable contributor on the next good Sox team.

Fulmer will be an amazing reliever.

I'd rather have Leury as the backup infielder with Cordell as the 4th outfielder. Saladino is terrible and it baffles me why he is still on the team.