Thursday, January 12, 2017

Should Sox Have Waited Longer For Slugger Solution?

Mitch Moreland
The Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson suggests that it might have been more prudent for Dave Dombrowki to wait out the slugger market instead of signing Mitch Moreland (just 22 HRs in 2016) way back in December. The way the market has regressed for big bats, MacPherson is probably right. While the Red Sox only needed to shell out $5 million for Moreland—he is hardly the kind of hitter who can replace the "on-base capabilities" of David Ortiz (to paraphrase a former Red Sox GM). Still out there ripe for plucking are the likes of José Bautista, old buddy Mike Napoli and Mark Trumbo—along with lesser lights like Chris Carter and Pedro Alvarez. But, we will likely have to 'go to war' with Moreland—not the most appealing of all possibilities.