There are a lot of questions about the Red Sox as they start a 10-game homestand with David Price scheduled to take the mound tonight against the Royals, and the Yankees now a half-game behind Boston in the AL East.
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Rusney Castillo is not a “young player” – he is 30 years old. He is also not on the 40 man roster – this makes it harder to bring him up.
There are. But as you might expect, those options are expensive. And I think the Sox have to ask just how much better those options would be than Johnson, especially given the fact they were already in search of bullpen help. At some point, they have to prioritize.
Opinion on John Farrell’s job security?
Yes there’s a lot of drama these days, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that the team is in first place in a competitive division.
By and large, that’s what Davis has been preaching, but executing it on a consistent basis has proved problematic for some.
Agree, also, that there’s some underperformance going on here, with virtually all the regulars producing somewhat less than expected.
The miracle is, I guess, that depiste all that, they sit — for now — in first place.
(Because they would most likely want that % of money over the luxury tax they must pay to reset.)
Okay to steal an old Eddie A. line, let’s look at the blame pie. Front office blunders, players not performing and manager issues. Who gets the biggest slice here?
I am leaning heavily on the front office. What’s your take?
It seems that the issues at hand are bigger than a move before the deadline can address.
I agree that this isn’t going to be rectified by Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. With a healthy Price, they at least had arguably the best rotation in the league. They could add a reliever and hope that the lineup began to produce more consistently. But with Price on the shelf, it’s a far darker scenario.
As for the “blame pie” — plenty to go around. Farrell could have done a better job controlling the clubhouse chaos and Dombrowski’s deals — for Smith and Thornburgh — have backfired big-time.
Finally, thanks for the kind words. It’s great to be back.
Could you or has anyone asked Dave Dombrowski has been told he cannot go over the luxury tax?
Thanks