Red Sox Napoli gets paid.

[steveringo]

His $39m/3 got renegotiated to a $5m/1 deal with incentives - because of 'bad' hips...

Well, he made it to 165 days and just got an extra $8 million.....


Now, the question is: Do they bring him back next year? (Or shift Middlebrooks to 1B, Bogaerts to 3B, then re-sign Drew and wait for Cecchini and Marrero?)

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

I don't think you shift Bogaerts unless you don't think he can remain a SS at the MLB level. If he's your future shortstop, you leave him there.

Edit: By the way, it's nice that I can post "a SS" without getting an error message for profanity like we used to on E!SPN.

 

[rokketmn]

Give him the money he should have gotten in the first place. Extend him for 2 yrs/$25mm with no contingencies on his hips.

Or...they could go the Lackey route, and add in that an option for 2016 kicks in at the major league minimum if he misses significant time with a hip injury in either 2014 or 2015.

I would really like to see him back.

 

[rokketmn]

Now, the question is: Do they bring him back next year? (Or shift Middlebrooks to 1B, Bogaerts to 3B, then re-sign Drew and wait for Cecchini and Marrero?)

The scouting reports on Bogaerts suggest he may need to move from SS down the line, but he can stay at the position for now. If we had a decent SS on the roster, I would even suggest that Bogaerts start 2014 at AAA and get at least 250-300 more AB's there.

I wouldn't re-sign Drew if that is the case, because it may take a 2 or 3 year deal to get him to sign, and we could use that money elsewhere.

Ellsbury is obviously the free agent "elephant in the room", but what should the Sox do about Salty? He is a pretty good offensive catcher. I would re-sign him if we could get him fpr 3yrs/$25mm.

 

[navamind]

The scouting reports on Bogaerts suggest he may need to move from SS down the line, but he can stay at the position for now. If we had a decent SS on the roster, I would even suggest that Bogaerts start 2014 at AAA and get at least 250-300 more AB's there.

I wouldn't re-sign Drew if that is the case, because it may take a 2 or 3 year deal to get him to sign, and we could use that money elsewhere.

Ellsbury is obviously the free agent "elephant in the room", but what should the Sox do about Salty? He is a pretty good offensive catcher. I would re-sign him if we could get him fpr 3yrs/$25mm.

Agreed. Happy with what the Sox have gotten from Drew, but the money could be used elsewhere. I don't even think Bogaerts really needs more time in AAA. He batted .284/.369/.453 with 28:44 BB:K as a 20-year-old. I think he's ready.

WMB has shown a lot of improvement in the 2nd half. After walking just 9 times and striking out 60 times, he has 10:21 BB:K in 108 PA since getting recalled. Not a huge sample size, but it's encouraging. He's brought the K% down from 27.8% in the 1st down to 19.4% in the 2nd.