One quick point about the payroll figures is that there's a reasonably good chance that Napoli's 5 million will become 13 million.  So that would leave about 8 million below the threshold. 

I think the AL East is up for grabs.  All five teams have a realistic shot of winning the division.

Lester needs to pitch like an ace that he is.

I expect Ellsbury to have a great year (like he did in 2011).  After all, he will be a free agent after this season.   I'm sure his agent Scott Boras told him to perform better this year.  LOL

Ellsbury seems to often start slow. We just have to keep him healthy through to June and the retro rockets will kick in again.

Ellsbury seems to often start slow. We just have to keep him healthy through to June and the retro rockets will kick in again.

In response to RedsoxProspects's comment:

Ellsbury seems to often start slow. We just have to keep him healthy through to June and the retro rockets will kick in again.

I'd settle for a small firecracker....retro rockets?

Hey , this guy is getting paid to put it in high gear for a WHOLE SEASON....why do we forgive him for "starting slow?"...maybe they should pay him slow...maybe when he stops seeing dollar signs , he'll turn it up a notch...I doubt it though.

These money/fame seekers don't play for the love of the game....no consistency...one good season and they want that big contract , so they can put it on cruise control.

They should have dumped him when his value was higher, when they finally try and peddle him , they will be lucky to get a good backup catcher....for the Pawsox!!

One quick point about the payroll figures is that there's a reasonably good chance that Napoli's 5 million will become 13 million.  So that would leave about 8 million below the threshold. 

Also these 2, 3 for 1 deals you have been talking about.... who did you have in mind?? im assuming we're talking about BP arms (our biggest trade asset) for pitching prospect(s)?

I have always liked Gavin Floyd, but he's only got 1 year left and may not be much of an upgrade over what we have. If we could extend him, I'd consider something like this...

Trade: Salty, Morales, Miller, & Mortensen

For: Gavin Floyd ($9.5M) & Jesse Crain ($4.5M)

This would put Lavarnway and Tazawa on the 25 man roster, but would not help us going beyond 2013, unless we extended one of these guys. It would also put Doubront in the pen, unless someone gets hurt or looks terrible in ST (Lackey?).

I could also see a Miller, Moretensen, and low prospect for Jesse Crain deal work for both teams.

In response to moonslav59's comment:

Also these 2, 3 for 1 deals you have been talking about.... who did you have in mind?? im assuming we're talking about BP arms (our biggest trade asset) for pitching prospect(s)?

I have always liked Gavin Floyd, but he's only got 1 year left and may not be much of an upgrade over what we have. If we could extend him, I'd consider something like this...

Trade: Salty, Morales, Miller, & Mortensen

For: Gavin Floyd ($9.5M) & Jesse Crain ($4.5M)

This would put Lavarnway and Tazawa on the 25 man roster, but would not help us going beyond 2013, unless we extended one of these guys. It would also put Doubront in the pen, unless someone gets hurt or looks terrible in ST (Lackey?).

I could also see a Miller, Moretensen, and low prospect for Jesse Crain deal work for both teams.

i've got to say i'm not as high on Floyd as you are but i do like the crain aspect (even though he is only under control for 1 season). OTOH I would like to see us nab another solid pitching prospect to further bolster our crop and thus bettering our chances in 2014 and beyond. Or at the very least a good reliever with starter capabilities and 3+ years of TC left. I know our farm system is pretty well stocked with Pitching but like the addage goes "you can never have too much pitching" especially since a good portion of them being prospects won't work out..

Doobie is another question mark going into this season. While there is not as much caution swirling around him as some other pitchers on the staff I feel he could go either way this season, his work ethic isn't the greatest as we've seen. If GMs are asking about him i would strongly consider moving him. We have a comprable pitcher in Morales (albeit with lless TC than doobie) who can immediately be slotted in the rotation (if we didn't get a starter in the deal) and RDLR who should be ready to take a spot in the roto by the AS break. Overall doobies #s from last season were mediocre... some good (9.3 SO/9, .259 oBA) some bad (1.447 WHIP, 4.86 ERA) granted he hit the wall pitching more innings than ever before and was experiencing some sorness.

All things considered, his trade value won't be extremely high (you could probably trade him straight up for another young, inexperienced starter with "Meh" stats -not ideal) but i'm thinking a pool of him, iggy, lava, BP arms and/or midlevel prospects could net us a valuable piece which could help us in 2014 and beyond. I would even consider *wince* Ellsbury if we could get a top notch pitching prospect or ToR starter-unlikely.

In response to mef429's comment:

In response to moonslav59's comment:

Also these 2, 3 for 1 deals you have been talking about.... who did you have in mind?? im assuming we're talking about BP arms (our biggest trade asset) for pitching prospect(s)?

I have always liked Gavin Floyd, but he's only got 1 year left and may not be much of an upgrade over what we have. If we could extend him, I'd consider something like this...

Trade: Salty, Morales, Miller, & Mortensen

For: Gavin Floyd ($9.5M) & Jesse Crain ($4.5M)

This would put Lavarnway and Tazawa on the 25 man roster, but would not help us going beyond 2013, unless we extended one of these guys. It would also put Doubront in the pen, unless someone gets hurt or looks terrible in ST (Lackey?).

I could also see a Miller, Moretensen, and low prospect for Jesse Crain deal work for both teams.

i've got to say i'm not as high on Floyd as you are but i do like the crain aspect (even though he is only under control for 1 season). OTOH I would like to see us nab another solid pitching prospect to further bolster our crop and thus bettering our chances in 2014 and beyond. Or at the very least a good reliever with starter capabilities and 3+ years of TC left. I know our farm system is pretty well stocked with Pitching but like the addage goes "you can never have too much pitching" especially since a good portion of them being prospects won't work out..

Doobie is another question mark going into this season. While there is not as much caution swirling around him as some other pitchers on the staff I feel he could go either way this season, his work ethic isn't the greatest as we've seen. If GMs are asking about him i would strongly consider moving him. We have a comprable pitcher in Morales (albeit with lless TC than doobie) who can immediately be slotted in the rotation (if we didn't get a starter in the deal) and RDLR who should be ready to take a spot in the roto by the AS break. Overall doobies #s from last season were mediocre... some good (9.3 SO/9, .259 oBA) some bad (1.447 WHIP, 4.86 ERA) granted he hit the wall pitching more innings than ever before and was experiencing some sorness.

All things considered, his trade value won't be extremely high (you could probably trade him straight up for another young, inexperienced starter with "Meh" stats -not ideal) but i'm thinking a pool of him, iggy, lava, BP arms and/or midlevel prospects could net us a valuable piece which could help us in 2014 and beyond. I would even consider *wince* Ellsbury if we could get a top notch pitching prospect or ToR starter-unlikely.

I agree.

A 2 or 3 for one deal for a solid pitching prospect would be my idea of a good plan as well, or at least a pitcher with 3+ years of team control.

In response to moonslav59's comment:

In response to mef429's comment:

In response to moonslav59's comment:

Also these 2, 3 for 1 deals you have been talking about.... who did you have in mind?? im assuming we're talking about BP arms (our biggest trade asset) for pitching prospect(s)?

I have always liked Gavin Floyd, but he's only got 1 year left and may not be much of an upgrade over what we have. If we could extend him, I'd consider something like this...

Trade: Salty, Morales, Miller, & Mortensen

For: Gavin Floyd ($9.5M) & Jesse Crain ($4.5M)

This would put Lavarnway and Tazawa on the 25 man roster, but would not help us going beyond 2013, unless we extended one of these guys. It would also put Doubront in the pen, unless someone gets hurt or looks terrible in ST (Lackey?).

I could also see a Miller, Moretensen, and low prospect for Jesse Crain deal work for both teams.

i've got to say i'm not as high on Floyd as you are but i do like the crain aspect (even though he is only under control for 1 season). OTOH I would like to see us nab another solid pitching prospect to further bolster our crop and thus bettering our chances in 2014 and beyond. Or at the very least a good reliever with starter capabilities and 3+ years of TC left. I know our farm system is pretty well stocked with Pitching but like the addage goes "you can never have too much pitching" especially since a good portion of them being prospects won't work out..

Doobie is another question mark going into this season. While there is not as much caution swirling around him as some other pitchers on the staff I feel he could go either way this season, his work ethic isn't the greatest as we've seen. If GMs are asking about him i would strongly consider moving him. We have a comprable pitcher in Morales (albeit with lless TC than doobie) who can immediately be slotted in the rotation (if we didn't get a starter in the deal) and RDLR who should be ready to take a spot in the roto by the AS break. Overall doobies #s from last season were mediocre... some good (9.3 SO/9, .259 oBA) some bad (1.447 WHIP, 4.86 ERA) granted he hit the wall pitching more innings than ever before and was experiencing some sorness.

All things considered, his trade value won't be extremely high (you could probably trade him straight up for another young, inexperienced starter with "Meh" stats -not ideal) but i'm thinking a pool of him, iggy, lava, BP arms and/or midlevel prospects could net us a valuable piece which could help us in 2014 and beyond. I would even consider *wince* Ellsbury if we could get a top notch pitching prospect or ToR starter-unlikely.

I agree.

A 2 or 3 for one deal for a solid pitching prospect would be my idea of a good plan as well, or at least a pitcher with 3+ years of team control.

It would be nice if we could put something together with the Pirates for Taillon or Cole. I would like Seattle as a possibility, but I don't see them moving Taijuan Walker.

In response to carnie's comment:

In response to moonslav59's comment:

In response to mef429's comment:

In response to moonslav59's comment:

Also these 2, 3 for 1 deals you have been talking about.... who did you have in mind?? im assuming we're talking about BP arms (our biggest trade asset) for pitching prospect(s)?

I have always liked Gavin Floyd, but he's only got 1 year left and may not be much of an upgrade over what we have. If we could extend him, I'd consider something like this...

Trade: Salty, Morales, Miller, & Mortensen

For: Gavin Floyd ($9.5M) & Jesse Crain ($4.5M)

This would put Lavarnway and Tazawa on the 25 man roster, but would not help us going beyond 2013, unless we extended one of these guys. It would also put Doubront in the pen, unless someone gets hurt or looks terrible in ST (Lackey?).

I could also see a Miller, Moretensen, and low prospect for Jesse Crain deal work for both teams.

i've got to say i'm not as high on Floyd as you are but i do like the crain aspect (even though he is only under control for 1 season). OTOH I would like to see us nab another solid pitching prospect to further bolster our crop and thus bettering our chances in 2014 and beyond. Or at the very least a good reliever with starter capabilities and 3+ years of TC left. I know our farm system is pretty well stocked with Pitching but like the addage goes "you can never have too much pitching" especially since a good portion of them being prospects won't work out..

Doobie is another question mark going into this season. While there is not as much caution swirling around him as some other pitchers on the staff I feel he could go either way this season, his work ethic isn't the greatest as we've seen. If GMs are asking about him i would strongly consider moving him. We have a comprable pitcher in Morales (albeit with lless TC than doobie) who can immediately be slotted in the rotation (if we didn't get a starter in the deal) and RDLR who should be ready to take a spot in the roto by the AS break. Overall doobies #s from last season were mediocre... some good (9.3 SO/9, .259 oBA) some bad (1.447 WHIP, 4.86 ERA) granted he hit the wall pitching more innings than ever before and was experiencing some sorness.

All things considered, his trade value won't be extremely high (you could probably trade him straight up for another young, inexperienced starter with "Meh" stats -not ideal) but i'm thinking a pool of him, iggy, lava, BP arms and/or midlevel prospects could net us a valuable piece which could help us in 2014 and beyond. I would even consider *wince* Ellsbury if we could get a top notch pitching prospect or ToR starter-unlikely.

I agree.

A 2 or 3 for one deal for a solid pitching prospect would be my idea of a good plan as well, or at least a pitcher with 3+ years of team control.

It would be nice if we could put something together with the Pirates for Taillon or Cole. I would like Seattle as a possibility, but I don't see them moving Taijuan Walker.

Here are the top SP prospects as rated by MLB.com

2) Dylan Bundy (Bal)

5) T Walker (Sea)

7) J Fernandez (Mia)

8) Z Wheeler (SF)

9) G Cole (Pitt)

10) T Skaggs (AZ)

15) Taillon (Pitt)

17) T Bauer (Cle)

18) D Hultzen (Sea)

24) A Bradley (AZ)

25) S Miller (StL)

29) Syndergaard (NYM)

31) J Teheran (Atl)

33) C Martinez (StL)

34) Zimmer (KC)

35) A Sanchez (Tor)

36) Gausman (Bal)

38) BARNES (BOSTON)

40) A Meyer (MN)

Nobody is looking to trade away thei top pitching prospects, but teams that are in strong contention might be persuaded to deal for a key piece to their puzzle.

Pittsburgh and KC seem to be making a push to get over the hump.

from MLBTR:

The Blue Jays are still in the bullpen market along with the Mets, Heyman reports. The Marlins, Astros and Dodgers might also be involved in pursuit of relievers.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#dD5F6QjDzUG5Bbu2.99   don't like the looks of this, we can rule the Jays out. the mets, marlins and astros are likely to be in the basement and probably aren't looking to give up pitching prospects and LAs best pitching prospects are already in our organization.

In response to mef429's comment:

from MLBTR:

The Blue Jays are still in the bullpen market along with the Mets, Heyman reports. The Marlins, Astros and Dodgers might also be involved in pursuit of relievers.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#dD5F6QjDzUG5Bbu2.99   don't like the looks of this, we can rule the Jays out. the mets, marlins and astros are likely to be in the basement and probably aren't looking to give up pitching prospects and LAs best pitching prospects are already in our organization.

That's why the best policy is probably to wait and see how the market develops. Teams that think they're on the brink are a lot more likely to overpay closer to the trading deadline (see Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson). Plus a guy like Bailey will be a lot more valuable if he's pitching like the all star he was in Oakland.