I figured we could use a companion thread to the Play-Off thread. I wanted to reply to off-season stuff for the Red Sox.
The biggest issue for Boston is Sonny Grey is likely to walk away. They don’t have enough starters with him. On the bright side for them, he’s probably their only worry.
Yanks free agent losses are actually positives. Grisham will be gone and Chisholm will probably be gone. Won’t be gone, but costly, David Bednar will command a large salary increase.
Decisions for Yanks: Should be time to let Goldschmidt leave with Rice & Luis Garcia under contract.
Catcher & 3rd Base will be tricky.
I think Lombard at SS and Volpe at 2B is solid.
I really like Judge, Jones and Bellinger as the starting outfield.
DH: I don’t love Stanton having one more year at $25 million, but so be it.
Yanks biggest strength: starters: Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Ryan Weathers, Will Warren & Luis Gil is still around.
Yanks need a better right-handed back-up catcher than Sanchez. Rice needs to reach competence at first base. I wouldn’t be upset of Chisholm jr. leaves, but I’m not convinced that Volpe is the answer at second base. And if Stanton isn’t ready to go when the season starts, release him.
All in all, the roster looks good next year. If there is a next year.
In Chicago, both Cub corner outfielders Ian Happ had Seiya Suzuki are free agents. I can see Chicago letting one walk and replacing him with supersub Matt Shaw. Suzuki had better numbers, but Happ has a better glove (4 Gold Gloves), is a switch hitter, and is the longest-tenured Cub. It wouldn’t surprise me if he accepted a qualifying offer to remain a Cubbie for life.
Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, David Peterson, and Aaron Civale are all unrestricted free agents on the pitching staff. I’d like to see Peterson and Gausman resigned. Civale was decent out of the bullpen, and I’d like to see him stay.
And the Yanks extend Cashman for two more seasons. Has any team spend more on player salaries than Yankees during his reign? I doubt it. The team is a money-maker and that’s all that matters to the Steinbrenner offspring.
Aaron Boone will manage the team for at least one more season. Boone fans point to his .583 winning percentage over his tenure as proof of his abilities. With a top 3 payroll every year, a team will win a lot of games (unless you’re the Mets.) Whoop-de-doo. Dave Roberts has .621 winning percentage as manager of the Dodgers. But you know what is actually impressive? In his twelve years as Rays skipper, Kevin Cash has .540 win percentage. That is an amazing operation, top to bottom.
Is the Cashman extension good news for the rest of the AL East?
“We’re locked and loaded,” said Cashman.
“Cashman” is such a perfect name for a Yankees GM.