Elrhino

I have absolutely no idea if he's a good hitting coach, but the 9 year old me approves.

LOL, in a crap free agent crop the FO have shored up their biggest roster holes this offseason for another WS run without any monetary commitments beyond this year with surprisingly high quality players.

Man, people really went from "Give him a blank check" to "Get rid of the bum" awfully quick after some utterly predictable mean regression.

I appreciate how historically dominant Chapman has been, but I would be really scared about that contract. The way he was hittable under Maddon's playoff workload might be a preview of what things will look like when he loses just a slight tick of velocity off that arm. I'm not sure he's someone who is going to compensate with better movement, control and/or pitch IQ with age.

I'm still holding onto my "Pierce Johnson can be a valuable bullpen arm" dream. Too sentimental about Pierce Johnson Days following the minor league threads of yore.

At the end of the day, I like Davis ceiling on this club more than Soler's. And even if his arm explodes in spring training, I'm not sure the floor is really that lower either. I think Maddon is still going to use Bryant and Contreras in LF on occasion. We can hold out for hypothetical trade destination that would have gotten us better return. I don't see it. He only has value in the AL, and only to a team that has a need for DH. I'm not sure what the Rangers would offer. Jeffress?

I would rather allocate $90 million towards an Arrieta extension than Jansen or Aroldis.

With our glut of corner outfield options, all better than Soler, he was never going to be given a chance to really improve his trade value than what it is currently.

This is very much like the Vogelbach trade to me, Soler has value but only for AL teams that have a specific need for DH. That was always going to limit his trade market. Cubs are looking for specific current roster upgrades for another World Series run in 2017, and Davis exactly fits the bill. The Cubs maxed whatever value Soler had under those stipulations. I am not comfortable allocating $70 million to a reliever, but more than okay allocating a 5th or 6th outfielder.

Sale is going to be awesome local Boston media and sportstalk radio fodder. Looks like they're already taking a calm and measured approach to the trade. http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/12/06/red-sox-chris-sale-trade/

I would do Davis for Soler + throw-ins in a heartbeat.

There are reportedly fiftyleven teams bidding for 39 year old Carlos Beltran this offseason. I think Soler at $3 million could be a nice trade piece, particularly for an AL Team that can DH him.

That Almora tag up was a beautiful demonstration how everyone played some critical role at some point in the playoffs when needed to get us to the finish line when called on, even if the role was just pinch runner. Must be crazy for Montgomery to look back on the journey of where he started the season to throwing the final out of the World Series in extra innings of Game 7.

I'll say this for Chapman, I was so destroyed after that homerun I had to turn off the TV for 5 minutes because I couldn't even deal. That stadium was going completely nuts. I don't know how he was able to compose himself and make it through the 8th and then go back out there in the 9th for three more outs. Given the accounts of how emotional he was, he was aware of the infamy and the legacy he was staring at. I don't know how he didn't fall apart. Physically running on fumes to boot.

I knew this group was going to win it all at some point, but I'm glad we got it over with now. Glad we don't have the anxiously watching our window closing wondering if it's going to happen.