A Realistic View at 2023: Part I

[notin]

The Niko Goodrum era has begun. Another great signing by Bloom. It must have been the 5-43 he put up with the Astros that drew Bloom to him. You're killing me Smalls.

 

Minor league deal. Not sure what the issue is…

[Bellhorn04]

Cot now has our tax payroll at $185M. We're $48M under the cap.

 

Turner article in MassLive indicated that Devers needs to DH more in order to get him off of his feet and mitigate injury situation. I guess my concern is that the organization is concerned about his playing health. Again, Devers health is not my concern. But it does appear that the organization is concerned about it.

 

I'm now less than 50/50 on the Sox extending Devers. Ugh.

 

PS. Mets now up to $384M in tax payroll.

 

Cot's also shows projected tax bills BTW. The Mets projected tax bill for 2023 now stands at $111,577,500.

[Nick]

Cot's also shows projected tax bills BTW. The Mets projected tax bill for 2023 now stands at $111,577,500.

 

In my dreams, Mets are completely out of it by the All-Star break and they make Verlander available. Of course we are in contention so we swoop in and pick him up.

[Nick]

Just looking at the spray chart for Justin Turner. He makes tons of fly ball outs to opposite field. He just needs to pull it at Fenway. Most of his homers are to left/center, left field. His groundball outs are to the short. Just odd.

 

I predict his offensive production will be close to Xander's. He had more RBI's than Xander in 2022 in about 90 less at bats. He hit 13HR to 15HR for Xander. He just looks strong to me. OPS of .788 vs .833.

Edited December 21, 2022 by Nick

[Nick]

We are going below the luxury tax line in 2023.

 

Coming off the books after 2023,

 

$16.500M Devers

$10.000M Kike

$09.375M Barnes

$04.000M Paxton

$02.500M Brasier

 

Total $42.375M

 

Sure looks like we have the money to spend.

[mvp 78]

The Niko Goodrum era has begun. Another great signing by Bloom. It must have been the 5-43 he put up with the Astros that drew Bloom to him. You're killing me Smalls.

 

They had nobody to play SS at WOO. That's all it is.

[Nick]

Oops update on Cot's....does not have Justin Turner's payroll. We'll have about $40M to spend.

[notin]

They had nobody to play SS at WOO. That's all it is.

 

I do not get the point of complaining about minor league deals. They happen every off-season with every team, never hurt and occasionally actually help…

[mvp 78]

I do not get the point of complaining about minor league deals. They happen every off-season with every team, never hurt and occasionally actually help…

 

Even the moves at the bottom of the 40 man roster aren't really that big of a deal. Aside from not protecting Ward, I don't care about the Parks, Wyatts or the Orts of the world. They are completely fungible.

[Bellhorn04]

I do not get the point of complaining about minor league deals. They happen every off-season with every team, never hurt and occasionally actually help…

 

And besides, who doesn't like Good Rum?

[notin]

Even the moves at the bottom of the 40 man roster aren't really that big of a deal. Aside from not protecting Ward, I don't care about the Parks, Wyatts or the Orts of the world. They are completely fungible.

 

I liked Jacob Wallace more than I liked Wyatt Hill.

 

Of course at some point I should concede Bloom and company might be better at evaluating pitchers than I am.

 

(Or at some point maybe they should concede that they are not!)

[mvp 78]

And besides, who doesn't like Good Rum?

 

Ain't nothin wrong with cheap rum too.

[notin]

And besides, who doesn't like Good Rum?

 

How did he not make the beverage name list?

[Bellhorn04]

Ain't nothin wrong with cheap rum too.

 

And anything that's good AND cheap is an accountant's dream!

[Bellhorn04]

How did he not make the beverage name list?

 

Done.

[notin]

Ain't nothin wrong with cheap rum too.

 

… until the next morning…

[mvp 78]

I liked Jacob Wallace more than I liked Wyatt Hill.

 

Of course at some point I should concede Bloom and company might be better at evaluating pitchers than I am.

 

(Or at some point maybe they should concede that they are not!)

 

SoxProspects evaluated the Wallace deal as "he could have high end stuff and develop into a 7th/8th inning guy for the Royals, but he has lots of injury concerns and just really has loads of control issues (7.78 bb/9!!!) that may never be figured out." Wyatt could have a Schreiber like ascendancy if he can develop an offspeed pitch that can work against LHB.

 

MLB 2022:

639 OPS RHB

815 OPS LHB

 

AAA 2022:

491 OPS RHB

910 OPS LHB

[mvp 78]

And anything that's good AND cheap is an accountant's dream!

 

No Pappy Van Winkle in my house.

[mvp 78]

… until the next morning…

 

Always hydrate.

[notin]

Always hydrate.

 

That’s what created the problem!!!

[moonslav59]

The Niko Goodrum era has begun. Another great signing by Bloom. It must have been the 5-43 he put up with the Astros that drew Bloom to him. You're killing me Smalls.

 

Maybe, he's just the next Park and will be DFA'd before he even tries on a uniform.

 

Some of these fringe roster moves are real head scratchers. We let TWard go to Rule 5, so we can make a spot for Park, knowing he's the first to be DFA'd upon a signing. Okay, we traded Park, but we could have traded TWard, too, and without him having the need to stay on a 26 man roster, all year, one would think his trade value was worth more than his Rule 5 value.

[moonslav59]

We are going below the luxury tax line in 2023.

 

Coming off the books after 2023,

 

$16.500M Devers

$10.000M Kike

$09.375M Barnes

$04.000M Paxton

$02.500M Brasier

 

Total $42.375M

 

Sure looks like we have the money to spend.

 

We have that, now with nobody to spend it on. Even signing both Kluber and Andrus would leave over $15M on the table.

 

Maybe we trade for a salary dump and someone more promising attached.

[notin]

Maybe, he's just the next Park and will be DFA'd before he even tries on a uniform.

 

Some of these fringe roster moves are real head scratchers. We let TWard go to Rule 5, so we can make a spot for Park, knowing he's the first to be DFA'd upon a signing. Okay, we traded Park, but we could have traded TWard, too, and without him having the need to stay on a 26 man roster, all year, one would think his trade value was worth more than his Rule 5 value.

 

Isn’t Goodrum on a minor league deal?

 

If so, he can’t be DFAd, as the purpose of DFAing is to remove a player from the 40 man roster. MiLB contracts are not on the 40 man…

[mvp 78]

Maybe, he's just the next Park and will be DFA'd before he even tries on a uniform.

 

Some of these fringe roster moves are real head scratchers. We let TWard go to Rule 5, so we can make a spot for Park, knowing he's the first to be DFA'd upon a signing. Okay, we traded Park, but we could have traded TWard, too, and without him having the need to stay on a 26 man roster, all year, one would think his trade value was worth more than his Rule 5 value.

 

Why would you DFA a guy on an MiLB contract?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Minor league deal. Not sure what the issue is…

 

... maybe reaction has nothing to do with Niko or Worcester, but that it was announced the same day the Mets signed Correa...

 

... the Mets -- who now will pay market rate to have two All-Star shortstops (which is only two or three less than the Padres!).

[mvp 78]

Isn’t Goodrum on a minor league deal?

 

If so, he can’t be DFAd, as the purpose of DFAing is to remove a player from the 40 man roster. MiLB contracts are not on the 40 man…

 

Bloom will find a way!

[mvp 78]

... maybe reaction has nothing to do with Niko or Worcester, but that it was announced the same day the Mets signed Correa...

 

... the Mets -- who now will pay market rate to have two All-Star shortstops (which is only two or three less than the Padres!).

 

How does the Red Sox signing a WOO SS relate to the Mets signing Carlos Correa? If the Sox signed Niko over the weekend, the same people would have the same complaints.

[notin]

... maybe reaction has nothing to do with Niko or Worcester, but that it was announced the same day the Mets signed Correa...

 

... the Mets -- who now will pay market rate to have two All-Star shortstops (which is only two or three less than the Padres!).

 

That’s just people looking to complain. And if you need to fabricate complaints this off-season, you’ve entered a whole new cosmic realm of pessimism…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

That’s just people looking to complain. And if you need to fabricate complaints this off-season, you’ve entered a whole new cosmic realm of pessimism…

 

It's the same morning the Mets -- who didn't need him -- signed Carlos Correa. The Red Sox just happen to be a team that could really use a shortstop, and a star player. We're not galaxies apart on this cosmic reality, are we?

[Tedballgame]

Minor league deal. Not sure what the issue is…

 

The point is that the big boys are playing chess and Bloom is playing checkers.