So, this is the big winter for Cashman, he is under the cap and (should be) ready to spend big to fill holes. The most obvious FA target from a pure talent perspective is Manny Machado, so a quick list of pros and cons:
Pros:
He is amazingly only 26, two months younger than Aaron Judge (!!).
He is a spectacularly good defensive 3B and a seemingly solid defensive SS (his numbers at SS were much better after going to the Dodgers).
Boston fans absolutely (rightfully) hate him already.
Cons:
He has a .761 career OPS on the road (.887 at home), so it's possible that he is a lateral or even slightly down move offensively from Miguel Andujar (3 years younger and .813/914 road home OPS splits so far).
He is going to cost a lot, although probably less than if the last few weeks never happened.
He is a dirty player, as evidenced four different times at 1B and 2B in the last two series. The spike on Aguilar in the NLCS was absolutely ridiculous and should have gotten him suspended.
There's more but that's enough to start a thread.
Pros:
He is amazingly only 26, two months younger than Aaron Judge (!!).
He is a spectacularly good defensive 3B and a seemingly solid defensive SS (his numbers at SS were much better after going to the Dodgers).
Boston fans absolutely (rightfully) hate him already.
Cons:
He has a .761 career OPS on the road (.887 at home), so it's possible that he is a lateral or even slightly down move offensively from Miguel Andujar (3 years younger and .813/914 road home OPS splits so far).
He is going to cost a lot, although probably less than if the last few weeks never happened.
He is a dirty player, as evidenced four different times at 1B and 2B in the last two series. The spike on Aguilar in the NLCS was absolutely ridiculous and should have gotten him suspended.
There's more but that's enough to start a thread.