Red Sox Offseason News and Notes

Red(s)HawksFan

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I'm risking being 126% wrong because I haven't looked, but it seems pretty rare for a major league pitching coach to have never had a job coaching anything anywhere before getting hired as a major league pitching coach.
Plenty of managers get hired with little to no coaching experience. I don't know the history of pitching coach employment, but I can't imagine teams would be more precious about needing experienced pitching coaches than they are about needing experienced managers. That said, I don't think the Red Sox will choose not to hire Schilling because he's never held a coaching job before. I imagine compatibility with the team's overall plan and philosophies, not to mention with Alex Cora himself (no idea what relationship, if any, the two have), would play a larger role.

I expect Schilling's chances are better for getting the Phillies' managerial spot, but even those are slim. Gabe Kapler had some experience as a coach/manager, but not a lot. Bringing in a totally green rookie as his replacement doesn't seem a likely next step.
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

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So not so sure where to put this but Curt Schilling is interested in getting back into baseball...either with the Phillies or Red Sox.
View: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2857644-mlb-rumors-curt-schilling-interested-in-phillies-manager-red-sox-coaching-job
I didn't know the Penal League gave their teams major league names.

Without even getting into his politics, I don't think Schilling's prep is all that special in today's environment as grounds for him being a good coach. He might have been ahead of the curve of his peers for a little while, but the game has since surpassed him.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Be awesome if he could share why it would make sense.
Tough to elaborate much in a 280-character tweet.

His pitching staff in Arizona was #5 in the NL in runs allowed two years in a row (fronted by Brandon Webb), though they plummeted in his final season before he moved to Cincinnati. The Reds staff was #1 and #4 in the NL in the 2012 and 2013 seasons respectively (fronted by Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, and Homer Bailey).

Only thing I can really derive from that is as a pitching coach, he doesn't screw up a good thing. When he's got horses, his staff does well. Of course, that can be said about just about every pitching coach in the history of the game.
 

Ale Xander

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Didn;'t mind the other 2 guys too much as AAA depth, but thank god no more Owings.
 

DeadlySplitter

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I read that we got Fatse as assistant hitting coach? Sorry for no link, exhausted and forget where I read it.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Price becomes a 10/5 guy at the end of the upcoming season, just sayin'
If, as the article says, the Rangers are likely going to pass on a free agent like Gerritt Cole because of the price tag (north of $30M AAV), are they really going to trade for an older guy with a lesser track record (recently) making $31M AAV?

Eovaldi strikes me as a more reasonable target for them. Not as flashy, but potentially more cost-effective.
 

jon abbey

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If, as the article says, the Rangers are likely going to pass on a free agent like Gerritt Cole because of the price tag (north of $30M AAV), are they really going to trade for an older guy with a lesser track record (recently) making $31M AAV?

Eovaldi strikes me as a more reasonable target for them. Not as flashy, but potentially more cost-effective.
These kind of deals totally depend on their timeframe to try to get under $208M. If they're actually trying to do it in 2020, then they almost certainly can't be taking back guys like Choo or Odor or Cespedes or Lowrie (all mentioned in the Sherman piece).
 

WestMassExpat

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No love for Mile Tree Elementary? Stony Hill? We left Wilbraham before my high school years, but I believe I did take swim lessons at Minnechaug.
I went to Memorial and Soule Road. Moved right before middle school. Woulda been class of ‘01
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
If, as the article says, the Rangers are likely going to pass on a free agent like Gerritt Cole because of the price tag (north of $30M AAV), are they really going to trade for an older guy with a lesser track record (recently) making $31M AAV?
Yeah, that puzzled me too. Grant said something about passing on Cole to avoid "paying retail," but Price at this point in his career/contract is beyond retail -- he's MSRP.
 

Manramsclan

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Dallas Morning News (per MLBTR) says that the Rangers may be in the market for one of the Sox' highly paid starters.

Red Sox may look to shed payroll and sources say Rangers have had internal discussions about the possibilities
This made me very excited until this

The Rangers, on the other hand, have $21 million committed to DH Shin-Soo Choo for 2020 and $37 million committed to second baseman Rougned Odor for three years. With Dustin Pedroia’s future very much in the air, Boston might have need for a second baseman, too. Of course, Choo would have to approve any trade since he’s got complete no-trade protection. See, it gets complicated. And we haven’t even brought any other possible trade partners into the mix.
I have no idea why the Red Sox would trade any of the starters for either of those contracts or players. The whole issue is that these pitchers can be elite if healthy, and if they are not they are a huge drag on payroll. If they are going to trade one (Price would be my preference due to the money committed and the potential upside), it's got to be for significant salary relief right now. It's pie in the sky to think they will be able to trade damaged goods for something useful. I think it's possible, however, that they find a club willing to gamble on the player for a portion of the contract, and that portion is enough to entice the Sox to eat the remaining portion.

Where is that line? I don't know. But it's very difficult to see them taking on a roster clogging $20million player who will keep them over the tax and triggering whatever penalties come from it.
 

sean1562

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i guess because choo is gona after next season and we can take that money and sign mookie? nobody is trading for price straight up. we are gonna have to take something back to move that contract
 

Plympton91

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These kind of deals totally depend on their timeframe to try to get under $208M. If they're actually trying to do it in 2020, then they almost certainly can't be taking back guys like Choo or Odor or Cespedes or Lowrie (all mentioned in the Sherman piece).
Choo was really good last year and would replace Martinez nicely. Lowrie, assuming he’s currently healthy, could fill the gaping hole at second base. Both at massive savings to David Price’s salary. What am I missing?
 

RedOctober3829

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Posted this in the Yankees thread as well, but Edwin Encanarcion just became a free agent. If JD opts out, I'd think long and hard about him being JD's replacment if Bloom/Cora want to fill that role with a full time DH. His career numbers at Fenway are great(.284/.351/.549/.899 with 20 HRs in 288 PA's). In an injury filled season that saw him only play just over 100 games he still had 34 HRs and an .875 OPS.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Posted this in the Yankees thread as well, but Edwin Encanarcion just became a free agent. If JD opts out, I'd think long and hard about him being JD's replacment if Bloom/Cora want to fill that role with a full time DH. His career numbers at Fenway are great(.284/.351/.549/.899 with 20 HRs in 288 PA's). In an injury filled season that saw him only play just over 100 games he still had 34 HRs and an .875 OPS.
What sort of salary will he command? He's going to be 37, so he won't require a long deal, but he's also coming off a 3/$60M deal so odds are he's not going to take a pay cut (not after hitting 34 HR despite missing 53 games). That would mean he's likely to require roughly the same amount in AAV that Martinez is on the books for. If the Sox are looking to shed salary, exchanging JD for Edwin isn't going to save them much.
 

BoSox Rule

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Why wouldn’t he have to take a pay cut? It’s not like he just had a monster, healthy year and opted out to test the market, his $20 million option was declined.
 

Plympton91

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Yeah for the DH market, you have to look at Nelson Cruz last year. 1 year $14 million with a $12 million club option. Kendrick is a FA and If JD opts out, you’ve got 3 850-950 DH on the market. Plus Abreu and Smoak if you don’t want DH only. Angels and A’s and Astros have DHs, Have to think the Yankees are not buyers, nor are Cleveland or Tampa. Maybe Texas and Toronto plus the White Sox are buying in that market?
 

chawson

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Are we using this thread for speculative stuff? I figured it would be for hard news.

If JDM opts out, it’s possible Bloom may sign an outfielder, or a 1B/OF-type, who he could stick at DH just in case Mookie stuff drags on or he doesn’t find a deal. A lot of guys fit that bill without being super high-cost: Dickerson, Gordon, Pence, Avi Garcia, et al.

In other words, plugging the DH hole with a first baseman isn’t great, because we’d still need a first baseman, and then neither guy would likely be able to cover the outfield in case any of those three are traded.