2018 Red Sox roster building

How so? Darvish or Arrietta would replace Wright on the roster. It's an upgrade, sure, but not nearly the upgrade that JDM is over Brentz.

A huge upgrade over the best of Wright, ERod and Johnson?  Those are the #5, 6 and 7 starters.

I can't think of a worse way to spend money than on a starting pitcher.

You're right, they need JDM more than they need Arrieta. But if they don't have the option to sign JDM for whatever reason, going after pitching wouldn't be a terrible decision.



ERod can't stay healthy, Johnson sucks and Wright can't stay healthy and (probably) sucks. That's an underwhelming group and the rest of the rotation isn't rock solid either. Porcello wasn't very good last year, Price is an injury risk, Pomeranz could hit a wall, it could all go south very fast. They need a big bat more than they need pitching, but if they're unable to land JDM I like going for Arrieta more than I like going after another expensive bat in the market.

Cough/////Jason Varitek/////Cough Cough

I think Tek told Boras to get him the best deal he could - with the Red Sox, which kind of limited Scott's options or basically the potential to maximize earnings. That said I think the Red Sox mgmt. (Theo) respected Varitek enough that he got a very fair deal. That situation was unique. You don't often see players who can get another gig thru free agency basically dictate that his agent talks to only one team - his current one.

Tek (like Wakefield and Ortiz) was and is a Red Sox through and through (and like Wake and Ortiz came from a different organization although Tek never had a major league AB with another organization.). We shouldn't forget that Pedroia is one these types of guys, too, although he actually can say that he's never been in another organization ever. It's really kind of rare these days to see a player play an extremely long time (like a dozen years) with a team or play with only 1 team. I actually sat around thinking one day about all franchises and who has stayed with just that one team their entire careers. I think it was more common in the days prior to free agency, but a lot of players wound up getting traded as they declined as it was out of their hands.

Growing up Yaz, Rice, and Stanley played their entire lengthy careers with the Sox and Dwight Evans came close as he played his last season with Baltimore because Lou Gorman thought he was going to retire after 1990 and wanted Jack Clark to DH. And just before I became a Red Sox fan Rico Petrocelli was one of those guys, too.

Well, they did negotiate with him when they re-signed Varitek a month later, so...

I think it's being underestimated how good an offensive player JD Martinez is. Hanley will either play 1b or platoon with Moreland. I prefer the former scenario but the latter scenario is more likely. Between Benintendi, JBJ, Betts, JDM, and Moreland it's not hard to imagine that at least one of those players will see DL time during the season. If so the plate appearances will work out fine.

The bottom line is that a DH who can hit the way JD Martinez can is a huge asset. This is a .300 hitter with 35+ home run power who IS the cleanup hitter so guys like Ramirez and Moreland won't be. The Red Sox need this kind of hitter most. As a DH it's not hard to see him playing at a high level for another 3 or 4 seasons. Even as a DH he can be quite valuable. Ortiz certainly was. Where would the Sox have been without his bat? Martinez isn't Ortiz but his numbers would fit alright in Ortiz's annual stat lines.

To be honest, there is no one else on the FA market who is as good as JD Martinez, and it's really not close. He is by far the best hitter. Again, Hosmer would have fit in Boston, but not now that Moreland is back. Everyone else in free agency (hitters) is not worth signing to more than a one year deal. As I've stated before, I feel that if Martinez is gone, either sign a guy to a one year deal to help out or make a trade than does not involve trading away all our prospects, like McCutchin.

Jay Bruce on a one year deal to split time at DH and be the 4th OFer, is for one, not a great fit as Benny and JBJ are both lefties and way better defensively. Moreland is a lefty and a better 1B. Hanley, if healthy, is a better hitter. So.... Bruce to the bench or to DH against a few RHP, seems silly.

Also, signing him to a 10-15 mil a year deal, for even 2-3 years, will probably prohibit the Sox from resigning Pomeranz or Kimbrel.... or going after Machado or Harper.

Same with Arrieta or Darvish.... if signing them means we cannot bring back Kimbrel next year or Sale the following year, I'd pass.

JD Martinez is the only player worth signing, who fills a needs, and will significantly improve this team. If the Sox cannot resign a player because they signed a clean up hitter who can hit .300 with 35 HRs, I can live with that.

All in my opinion, of course.

Just to piggy back this post, the Yankees seem like a quiet threat to sign him and that would kind of upset me. Cobb was really effective against the Sox last year.

He was effective while shying away from his split-change up too. I think Umass was the one to point out that he threw this pitch like 17 percent of the time, or something like that. I remember posting in the gameday threads last year "where did Cobbs change up go" at least 2 or 3 different times in different gameday threads.

Maybe Cobb was staying away from the stress of throwing that pitch just removed from Tommy John surgery, but if he can integrate that pitch a lot more, there could be elite results coming from that adjustment. It's a elite pitch that plays off his nicely placed fastballs.

Cobb would definitely be my second target if the Sox missed put on J.D. Martinez.

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I don't think Darvish or Arrietta would replace Wright on the 25 man roster. I think either one would replace a bullpen arm. Of course this is a decision for the coaching staff. Of course JDM is an upgrade over Brentz. No argument. I postulated that IF you go the FA route for a bat JDM is an upgrade to Bruce. My contention is that the team will benefit more with the addition of a front line starter than a future DH. Sign JDM and almost immediately Cora has problem with PA's, and the NYY's still have a better offense. I'd rather give Aaron Boone a headache than leave Alex Cora with a potential clubhouse problem.

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I think it's being underestimated how good an offensive player JD Martinez is. Hanley will either play 1b or platoon with Moreland. I prefer the former scenario but the latter scenario is more likely. Between Benintendi, JBJ, Betts, JDM, and Moreland it's not hard to imagine that at least one of those players will see DL time during the season. If so the plate appearances will work out fine.

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The bottom line is that a DH who can hit the way JD Martinez can is a huge asset. This is a .300 hitter with 35+ home run power who IS the cleanup hitter so guys like Ramirez and Moreland won't be. The Red Sox need this kind of hitter most. As a DH it's not hard to see him playing at a high level for another 3 or 4 seasons. Even as a DH he can be quite valuable. Ortiz certainly was. Where would the Sox have been without his bat? Martinez isn't Ortiz but his numbers would fit alright in Ortiz's annual stat lines.
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Yes, the addition of JDM is a considerable asset. It would make for many slugfest games and one-sided wins over sub .500 teams. But no, it does not vault the RS above the NYY's or 'Stros. Both the Yanks and Astros will add pitching. The Yanks will have a full season from Gray and the 'Stros will have a full season from Verlander. JDM alone does not make the RS offense better than either team..... particularly with their improved pitching staffs. To beat Houston and New York in 2018 a top of the rotation pitcher is needed. Remember David Ortiz was released and signed by the RS for peanuts. Not saying we could get this lucky again, just pointing out that elite hitters are easier to come by.

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Yes, the addition of JDM is a considerable asset. It would make for many slugfest games and one-sided wins over sub .500 teams. But no, it does not vault the RS above the NYY's or 'Stros. Both the Yanks and Astros will add pitching. The Yanks will have a full season from Gray and the 'Stros will have a full season from Verlander. JDM alone does not make the RS offense better than either team..... particularly with their improved pitching staffs. To beat Houston and New York in 2018 a top of the rotation pitcher is needed. Remember David Ortiz was released and signed by the RS for peanuts. Not saying we could get this lucky again, just pointing out that elite hitters are easier to come by.

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No, the addition of JDM doesn't vault the Red Sox ahead of the Yankees or Astros. What it does it narrow the gap in the offense between Boston and those teams. Think of it in 2016 terms. If JDM can give them 90 - 95% of the offense Ortiz gave the Sox in 2016 and you mix in comebacks by Betts, Bradley, and Bogaerts and continued maturation by Benintendi and Devers who is there for a full year, and perhaps between Hanley or Moreland they get better production at 1b - this could put the Red Sox back in 2016 offense territory when they actually led the league in offense.

On paper the Red Sox already have front line pitching that the Yankee don't have. The Sox already have Sale, Price, and Pomeranz penciled in and Porcello is the 2016 Cy Young winner - they hope he can be somewhere between his performance of 2016 and 2017, and they have E-Rod who has a pretty high ceiling and Steven Wright who was an all-star before Farrell thought he'd make a good pinch-runner. That's 6 viable options. On paper that's quality and quantity.

The bullpen is more iffier, but they do have the best closer in the league in Kimbrel. I know you want Reed back but the odds are he wants to close and that's not happening in Boston. The Sox are hoping that Carson Smith is what he was in Seattle. If he is then the Sox have a quality setup/high leverage guy. If Thornburg reproduces his 2016 season then the Sox have another quality/high leverage guy. I don't honestly think Thornburg will bounce back, but we'll see. We know Kelly has the stuff to be high leverage but we certainly can't count on that. Workman is capable of being a solid reliever. I'm sure the Sox hope that Barnes finally takes the leap forward that he's capable of, but again there's uncertainty there, too. The good news is that if they need an Addison Reed, they can always get a guy like (with an expiring contract) that on July 31st for a reasonable price.

So if you look at what the team needs on paper, it's offense first and bullpen help second. My gut tells me the offense will be a lot better and the pitching will have unanticipated issues, but you can't solve issues based on a gut feeling - you have to look at what's in front of you, and the best way to solve that is JDM. His addition, I think, also takes the pressure off of the other guys who don't have to be "The guy". I think that messed with them without Ortiz around to be "That guy" in the lineup that pitchers dread pitching to. Without JDM then they have to rely on bouncebacks and good health and if that doesn't happen then their offense will be light years behind New York and Houston's. JDM closes that gap and gives them a chance to have the best offense in the league or at least be up there.