Spring Training 2020

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Bellinger is repeating what everyone in LA is already stating. The LA City Council wrote a damn letter to the MLB demanding the WS trophy be presented to them. You may not like him talking about the Astros, but Bellinger, Turner and many other Dodgers are going to continue to go after the Astros for some time. I believe the LA fans want them to do so.

 

The Dodgers' bitching and moaning could work in Boston's favor: do you think Manfred may go easier on the Sox to prevent further backlash from within the shiny new LA ranks? Imagine the delicious dissension if Betts and Price are branded as outlaws in the same clubhouse with their victims? Call it hype if you want, but the MLB has taken such a hit in the public eye and among other pro sports lately that the last thing it needs is further uproar from The Great Blue Hope.

[mvp 78]

The Dodgers' bitching and moaning could work in Boston's favor: do you think Manfred may go easier on the Sox to prevent further backlash from within the shiny new LA ranks? Imagine the delicious dissension if Betts and Price are branded as outlaws in the same clubhouse with their victims? Call it hype if you want, but the MLB has taken such a hit in the public eye and among other pro sports lately that the last thing it needs is further uproar from The Great Blue Hope.

 

My worry is that they are going to lean into the "it's not their first offense" and overpunish the Sox.

[a700hitter]

My worry is that they are going to lean into the "it's not their first offense" and overpunish the Sox.

I hope that Henry has to surrender one of his shrunken testicles.

[mvp 78]

I hope that Henry has to surrender one of his shrunken testicles.

 

Is he on the juice like Canseco?

[Kimmi]

Because of Mookie or the cheating of previous years?

 

I have nothing against the Dodgers. I have nothing against Mookie or Price.

 

I just don't want to listen to all of the 'we should have never traded Mookie' rants.

[mvp 78]

I have nothing against the Dodgers. I have nothing against Mookie or Price.

 

I just don't want to listen to all of the 'we should have never traded Mookie' rants.

 

They’ll go away for the most part once the games start.

[Swiharts Ghost]

I have nothing against the Dodgers. I have nothing against Mookie or Price.

 

I just don't want to listen to all of the 'we should have never traded Mookie' rants.

 

Omg greatest post of 2020 by a mile ! Has to be said more often .

[notin]

They’ll go away for the most part once the games start.

 

.... unless Mookie has a good year.

[mvp 78]

.... unless Mookie has a good year.

 

I’d agree if he had stayed in the AL.

[Larry Cook]

Betts? Who is that?

[notin]

I’d agree if he had stayed in the AL.

 

I'm sure it will come up regardless of league. There will be those bemoaning Betts even if he is in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

[Hitch]

Yeah I think there's little to no chance people stop bitching about the Betts trade, unless we hit the ground running and/or Verdugo tears it up.

[mvp 78]

I'm sure it will come up regardless of league. There will be those bemoaning Betts even if he is in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

 

Don’t listen to those idiots.

[cp176]

Well well so the Mookie yak continues. Being one who continues to hate losing one of the best ever, let's make a deal. Personally i won't say one more word about giving Betts away when all of the ******** stops about how DD was such a lousy GM and how he ruined the farm.

[Bellhorn04]

Personally i won't say one more word about giving Betts away when all of the ******** stops about how DD was such a lousy GM and how he ruined the farm.

 

That's the stuff, don't lose your sense of humor.

[Slasher9]

I'm sure it will come up regardless of league. There will be those bemoaning Betts even if he is in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

 

every. single. gamethread.

[Slasher9]

i wonder if i should do a Betts vs Verdugo/Pillar game-by-game comparison this season.....hmmmm.....

[Bellhorn04]

every. single. gamethread.

 

The Betts Buzzards.

[mvp 78]

every. single. gamethread.

 

AKA the worst part of TalkSox. I'm going to try to post more this year in them, but they tend to be very frustrating and not enjoyable.

[mvp 78]

The Betts Buzzards.

 

You're already buzzarding for buzzards? Typical.

[notin]

every. single. gamethread.

 

Exactly.

 

And how many of them will call Henry out for being cheap and not extending Betts?

 

Betts asks for $420mill. And somehow Henry will be the unreasonable one...

[mvp 78]

Exactly.

 

And how many of them will call Henry out for being cheap and not extending Betts?

 

Betts asks for $420mill. And somehow Henry will be the unreasonable one...

 

Betts was being reasonable.

 

And if you wanted others to stop talking about Betts, the worst way to do it is for yourselves to constantly talk about Betts and assume what other posters are going to say on some theoretical gamethread months from now.

[notin]

Betts was being reasonable.

 

And if you wanted others to stop talking about Betts, the worst way to do it is for yourselves to constantly talk about Betts and assume what other posters are going to say on some theoretical gamethread months from now.

 

There is no way to get people to stop talking about Betts. We're even doing indirectly now by talking about not talking about Betts.

 

And no, best player or second best player or whatever, $420mill is not a "reasonable" contract extension by any definition of the word. He will very likely get it, but asking for the most valuable contract in pro sports history is really not being "reasonable." Bryce Harper has the current largest contract in MLB free agent history. Is it reasonable?

[mvp 78]

There is no way to get people to stop talking about Betts. We're even doing indirectly now by talking about not talking about Betts.

 

And no, best player or second best player or whatever, $420mill is not a "reasonable" contract extension by any definition of the word. He will very likely get it, but asking for the most valuable contract in pro sports history is really not being "reasonable." Bryce Harper has the current largest contract in MLB free agent history. Is it reasonable?

 

I wouldn't pay Harper for that, but it seems reasonable considering all of the money in baseball right now (tv contracts, team valuations, etc.). I do think there is a bubble coming at some point.

[jad]

I wouldn't pay Harper for that, but it seems reasonable considering all of the money in baseball right now (tv contracts, team valuations, etc.). I do think there is a bubble coming at some point.

 

Why isn't 420 million reasonable? It's the entertainment business and others are willing to pay it. You can't get into that business then complain it's not being run like WalMart.

 

[if by "reasonable" you mean something abstract like 'good for a civilized society,' then I'm with you. But far more 'unreasonable' is the bare fact that individuals in a society have billions of dollars to spend on what to them are essentially playthings. None of these people should be able to steal and hoard money and resources like that, and wouldn't, unless they were supported by envious sycophants and the machinery of a police state. ... OK. That's a different discussion: most of us are here on a sports board precisely because we want to escape for a moment things that truly matter in our lives!]

[mvp 78]

Why isn't 420 million reasonable? It's the entertainment business and others are willing to pay it. You can't get into that business then complain it's not being run like WalMart.

 

[if by "reasonable" you mean something abstract like 'good for a civilized society,' then I'm with you. But far more 'unreasonable' is the bare fact that individuals in a society have billions of dollars to spend on what to them are essentially playthings. None of these people should be able to steal and hoard money and resources like that, and wouldn't, unless they were supported by envious sycophants and the machinery of a police state. ... OK. That's a different discussion: most of us are here on a sports board precisely because we want to escape for a moment things that truly matter in our lives!]

 

Did you miss the post where I think 420 is reasonable for Betts? I don't think I would have given Harper his contract, because I just don't think he's close enough to Betts.

[mvp 78]

@PeteAbe

RHP Chih-Jung Liu, the hard-throwing 20-year-old from Taiwan the #RedSox signed in October, should arrive in Fort Myers on Friday or Saturday.

 

Sox are eager to get working with him.

[Slasher9]

@PeteAbe

RHP Chih-Jung Liu, the hard-throwing 20-year-old from Taiwan the #RedSox signed in October, should arrive in Fort Myers on Friday or Saturday.

 

Sox are eager to get working with him.

 

2 weeks from friday or saturday i expect COVID 19 to be running rampant at the Fort....

[notin]

Why isn't 420 million reasonable? It's the entertainment business and others are willing to pay it. You can't get into that business then complain it's not being run like WalMart.

 

[if by "reasonable" you mean something abstract like 'good for a civilized society,' then I'm with you. But far more 'unreasonable' is the bare fact that individuals in a society have billions of dollars to spend on what to them are essentially playthings. None of these people should be able to steal and hoard money and resources like that, and wouldn't, unless they were supported by envious sycophants and the machinery of a police state. ... OK. That's a different discussion: most of us are here on a sports board precisely because we want to escape for a moment things that truly matter in our lives!]

 

So do you think Henry should have just had the contract drawn up for $420 million? And that Henry was just being cheap here?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

There is no way to get people to stop talking about Betts. We're even doing indirectly now by talking about not talking about Betts.

 

And no, best player or second best player or whatever, $420mill is not a "reasonable" contract extension by any definition of the word. He will very likely get it, but asking for the most valuable contract in pro sports history is really not being "reasonable." Bryce Harper has the current largest contract in MLB free agent history. Is it reasonable?

 

People just can't stop citing numbers. Is it reasonable for Mookie Betts to ask for a top of the market contract? Is it reasonable for him to think he's worth more than Harper and Machado? Is it reasonable for him ask for Trout money two years after Trout signed and salaries have continued to rise? Is it reasonable to ask for the same AAV as Cole -- a pitcher who only plays once a week and who's only had three great years, while Betts has had five?

 

The Red Sox front office will never admit it, but it seems like every time they reportedly made a big offer to Mookie that it was still slightly below his market value at the time. I think fans would really like to see the actual numbers on Henry's futile "offers" -- to see just how much they were prepared to pay Mookie, and when, compared to other star salaries. All we heard was the last one they leaked to Merloni that in retrospect was a lowball offer compared to what others got, along with Mookie's highball counter offer.

 

I would think if Boston had actually tried to negotiate and meet him in the middle, that their high bid would've been the one that was leaked.