Red Sox: Off Season '23-'24

[jad]

Who needs greatness. I'll take playoffs.

 

What is 'playoffs'?

[moonslav59]

Best case for no trade would be the vesting option kicking in.

 

...and even that could not tip the scales.

 

Grissom could end up being a big plus.

 

Sale could get hurt, again, in 2025.

 

Or, both.

[moonslav59]

What is 'playoffs'?

 

2021 was just 3 years ago.

 

You forgot, already?

[moonslav59]

MLBTR reports...

 

A source tells Bowden that Montgomery has long-term contract offers from two teams. Bowden adds that a signing is "probably going to happen this week." Although the identity of clubs that made the offers and the number of teams currently in the bidding for Montgomery are unknown, Bowden writes that the Yankees and Red Sox "are still involved to some degree." He also mentions the Orioles and D-backs as teams to watch.

[Elktonnick]

Or, they looked at his baseball-reference page and noticed he was due $27million this year and had only pitched a total of 151 innings in the past four seasons.

 

They possibly also noticed that he hasn’t been the same pitcher since 2018…

Like I said it was an actuarial decision.

[jad]

2021 was just 3 years ago.

 

You forgot, already?

 

Oh right, one playoff in five years! Can't believe how I misjudged recent RS glory.

[moonslav59]

Oh right, one playoff in five years! Can't believe how I misjudged recent RS glory.

 

It's not like it's ancient history.

 

1 in 5 sucks, no doubt.

 

1 in 3 is about average.

[jad]

It's not like it's ancient history.

 

1 in 5 sucks, no doubt.

 

1 in 3 is about average.

 

I'm lost. You were objecting to my suggestion that the RS have not had successful playoff runs in the last few years?

[moonslav59]

I'm lost. You were objecting to my suggestion that the RS have not had successful playoff runs in the last few years?

 

No. You did not say "successful" playoff run, but yes, they had a playoff run in recent years. They had one, 3 years ago.

 

A guess a "few years" can be 2 years long.

 

If we had gone 4, 5 or maybe even 3 years without one, I would not have said a peep.

 

I'm not arguing we have had a good or even okay 3 or 5 year run, but we have had a playoff run in recent years, right?

[notin]

MLBTR reports...

 

A source tells Bowden that Montgomery has long-term contract offers from two teams. Bowden adds that a signing is "probably going to happen this week." Although the identity of clubs that made the offers and the number of teams currently in the bidding for Montgomery are unknown, Bowden writes that the Yankees and Red Sox "are still involved to some degree." He also mentions the Orioles and D-backs as teams to watch.

 

Bold Prediction: Once it is revealed Shohei Ohtani has been betting on baseball games (including his) and is banned, the Dodgers use the money from his voided contract to sign Montgomery…

[moonslav59]

Bold Prediction: Once it is revealed Shohei Ohtani has been betting on baseball games (including his) and is banned, the Dodgers use the money from his voided contract to sign Montgomery…

 

It won't be the Sox.

 

Not so bold.

[Duran Is The Man]

Bold Prediction: Once it is revealed Shohei Ohtani has been betting on baseball games (including his) and is banned, the Dodgers use the money from his voided contract to sign Montgomery…

 

if he did, do they ban him for life like Pete Rose?

[moonslav59]

if he did, do they ban him for life like Pete Rose?

 

Of course, but banning from something he's never had is not much.

 

It's the money lost.

[notin]

if he did, do they ban him for life like Pete Rose?

 

If he bet on games he is involved in, he is banned for life per Rule 21. (Betting on baseball games he is not involved in gets him banned for one year per the same rule.)

 

This is the rule Rose violated. And it is posted in every MLB clubhouse…

Edited March 25, 2024 by notin

[notin]

It won't be the Sox.

 

Not so bold.

 

Not bold??

 

Of course it was bold, just based on timing alone. The Ohtani investigation could go on all season!!

[notin]

i get the idea of trading Sale because he hasn't done s*** the last few years but this is the same dumbass front office that signed Paxton, Hendricks, and Aldaberto to do the same exact thing -sit on the bench and get paid to rehab.

 

 

Haven’t they been doing that with Sale for the past 4 seasons?

 

And all those guys were signed by a different front office.

[notin]

Best case for no trade would be the vesting option kicking in.

 

Vesting option question.

 

Per baseball-reference, Sale makes $27mill this year, and has a vesting option for $20mill if he finishes in the top ten for Cy Young voting in 2024. So a great year gives him a $7mill paycut. But if that had happened, Sale already agreed to it. There is probably more to this option but let’s pretend there isn’t for now. (And that he wasn’t traded.)

 

But what if he just misses? What if Sale is 11th in Cy Young voting?

 

The option doesn’t vest. But can the Sox exercise that option? If so, can Sale decline it? Because presumably he would get a much better deal in free agency than 1yr/$20mill…

[moonslav59]

Not bold??

 

Of course it was bold, just based on timing alone. The Ohtani investigation could go on all season!!

 

It's not bold saying Monty won't sign with the Sox.

[mvp 78]

It's not like it's ancient history.

 

1 in 5 sucks, no doubt.

 

1 in 3 is about average.

 

Is going to the playoffs every 3 years the average? Or is that just because 30/12 playoff teams = 2.5 years?

[notin]

It's not bold saying Monty won't sign with the Sox.

 

I never mentioned the Sox.

 

I made a very specific prediction based on current events and off-season spending trends. And a bold one becaus it’s extremely unlikely.

 

Predicting Montgomery to the Sox would be bold, but it’s actually not the only potential bold prediction.

 

If the weatherman in Houston predicted it to be partially cloudy with a chance of zombie apocalypse later today, bold or not bold? And while zombies were devouring every living brain in and around Galveston Bay, would you call him out for not being bold enough to predict Armageddon?

[notin]

Is going to the playoffs every 3 years the average? Or is that just because 30/12 playoff teams = 2.5 years?

 

I’m the 54 years since divisional play started, the Sox have gone to the postseason 18 times…

[mvp 78]

I’m the 54 years since divisional play started, the Sox have gone to the postseason 18 times…

 

4 out of 25 years prior to the start of the damn Wild Card.

 

14 out of 29 since the damn Wild Card. Almost once every other year!!!!

[notin]

4 out of 25 years prior to the start of the damn Wild Card.

 

14 out of 29 since the damn Wild Card. Almost once every other year!!!!

 

Yeah it was obviously going to be much tougher when just division winners went. The 1978 Red Sox had the second best record in all of MLB, but they missed the postseason…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Yeah it was obviously going to be much tougher when just division winners went. The 1978 Red Sox had the second best record in all of MLB, but they missed the postseason…

 

... but they had a playoff game!

 

Most intense one-game everything-on-the-line showdown between the two best teams who also hated each other the most.

 

(I actually had predicted a Red Sox-Yankees one-game division tiebreaker, back when my pals and I made annual preseason predictions every year... only, it was in 1976 -- when NY exceeded and Bos failed).

[mvp 78]

Yeah it was obviously going to be much tougher when just division winners went. The 1978 Red Sox had the second best record in all of MLB, but they missed the postseason…

 

Thanks to a damn hamster in a Red Sox uni that wouldn't let Bill Lee start some games down the stretch.

[moonslav59]

Is going to the playoffs every 3 years the average? Or is that just because 30/12 playoff teams = 2.5 years?

 

Yes, I was speaking to the 30/12 averaging about once every 3 years.

 

Again, I'm not holding this up as any sort of great accomplishment. I was merely responding to a statement made in frustration about the Sox "not making the playoffs in recent years."

 

To me, 3 years ago is "recent."

[moonslav59]

I never mentioned the Sox.

 

 

I know. I did.

 

I said my prediction was not bold.

[moonslav59]

Thanks to a damn hamster in a Red Sox uni that wouldn't let Bill Lee start some games down the stretch.

 

That was unfortunate, although Lee did have a rough 4 starts to begin August of 1978:

 

23.2 IPy

32 Hits

8 BB

6 Ks

5.32 ERA

6.56 FIP

.954 OPS Against

 

His last 3 starts in July (5.00 ERA/4.09 FIP) were not all that good.

 

His last 7 starts of 1978, before being banished to 3 pen games the rest of that season:

 

The team went 0-7

5.18 ERA

5.49 FIP

.870 OPSA

 

IMO, Lee should have been given a chance to get back in the rotation. He was pitching very well over the first 4 months. (3.21 ERA/4.28 FIP)

[notin]

Thanks to a damn hamster in a Red Sox uni that wouldn't let Bill Lee start some games down the stretch.

 

Zimmer was clearly a double agent.

 

He really didn’t get enough mention as the worst Sox manager, given his people management skills that forced out players he simply couldn’t handle. Grady Little gets ripped much more for not using a bullpen that was largely ineffective all season, but Zimmer whined apart one of the best teams in Sox history..

[notin]

... but they had a playoff game!

 

Most intense one-game everything-on-the-line showdown between the two best teams who also hated each other the most.

 

(I actually had predicted a Red Sox-Yankees one-game division tiebreaker, back when my pals and I made annual preseason predictions every year... only, it was in 1976 -- when NY exceeded and Bos failed).

 

In 1978, those tie breaker games (this was the second one in MLB history) were considered regular season games. Statistics accrued went on the players’ regular season stats. And the results were reflected in the teams’ records…