Craig Breslow: CBO of the Red Sox

[notin]

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Right, going cheap again had a lot to do with trading Sale.  I've been saying that all along. 

I don’t think so.  If moving Sale was about going cheap, they had a chance to move his entire contract to Texas.  But the return would have been negligible, per the rumor.

That they paid up to get a player they wanted instead was a good idea, right?  It looked to me as though they tried to not only fill the vacancy Sale frequently left in the rotation, but also a glaring hole at 2b.  It clearly went wrong in every direction, but that doesn’t make it about “going cheap,” especially considering the minimal reduction in payroll…

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

I don’t think so.  If moving Sale was about going cheap, they had a chance to move his entire contract to Texas.  But the return would have been negligible, per the rumor.

That they paid up to get a player they wanted instead was a good idea, right?  It looked to me as though they tried to not only fill the vacancy Sale frequently left in the rotation, but also a glaring hole at 2b.  It clearly went wrong in every direction, but that doesn’t make it about “going cheap,” especially considering the minimal reduction in payroll…

They don't make the trade for Grissom, if they had to pay for all of Sale, too.

It was about getting Grissom and saving some money to be able to up their $10M/1 budget on a SP'er to $19M for Gio.

It was both.

[Bellhorn04]

26 minutes ago, notin said:

I don’t think so.  If moving Sale was about going cheap, they had a chance to move his entire contract to Texas.  But the return would have been negligible, per the rumor.

That they paid up to get a player they wanted instead was a good idea, right?  It looked to me as though they tried to not only fill the vacancy Sale frequently left in the rotation, but also a glaring hole at 2b.  It clearly went wrong in every direction, but that doesn’t make it about “going cheap,” especially considering the minimal reduction in payroll…

Sorry, you're not going to convince me they didn't go cheap in 2024, especially after the 'full throttle' pronouncement.  Why do you think 'full throttle' came to piss so many people off?

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry, you're not going to convince me they didn't go cheap in 2024 after the 'full throttle' pronouncement.  Why do you think 'full throttle' came to piss so many people off?

I agree, the whole "full throttle" thing just made it worse, but even if it wasn't said, the spending fell way short of what we needed.

During the 2023 season, we had already dumped Kike's deal (a FA anyway) and Brasier, and then lost FAs:

$15M  J Turner

$10M Kluber

$7M Duvall

$32M in lost FA contracts.

We traded significant contracts with Sale ($22M, but paid $10M) and Dugo ($8.7M arb)

We added:

$39M/2 Giolito (the only real signing.)

$10M/2 Hendriks (more for 2025)

Less than $25M AAV in FA signings and nothing longterm.

$5.9M by trade w O'Neill (cost less than Dugo would have cost)

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree, the whole "full throttle" thing just made it worse, but even if it wasn't said, the spending fell way short of what we needed.

During the 2023 season, we had already dumped Kike's deal (a FA anyway) and Brasier, and then lost FAs:

$15M  J Turner

$10M Kluber

$7M Duvall

$32M in lost FA contracts.

We traded significant contracts with Sale ($22M, but paid $10M) and Dugo ($8.7M arb)

We added:

$39M/2 Giolito (the only real signing.)

$10M/2 Hendriks (more for 2025)

Less than $25M AAV in FA signings and nothing longterm.

$5.9M by trade w O'Neill (cost less than Dugo would have cost)

Cheap!!!

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Cheap!!!

We were cheap before 2024 and then spent less than we lost.

There is no other way to spin this.

cots opening day budget:

$207M 2022, $181M 2023, and $171M 2024.

end of season:

$217M, $203M, $188M

[Kimmi]

20 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry, you're not going to convince me they didn't go cheap in 2024, especially after the 'full throttle' pronouncement.  Why do you think 'full throttle' came to piss so many people off?

I was disappointed in the lack of spending in 2024.  I understood the lack of spending in the previous seasons, but I felt like the time was right to spend a little more and bust over the luxury tax threshold, if necessary.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Kimmi said:

I was disappointed in the lack of spending in 2024.  I understood the lack of spending in the previous seasons, but I felt like the time was right to spend a little more and bust over the luxury tax threshold, if necessary.

I was very angry that winter, especially after the "full throttle" quote.

In hindsight, maybe even another big signing or two would not have been enough, but we were played, that winter.

I liked what Brez did last winter, and while I thought signing a longer term pitcher made more sense than Buehler at $21M/2 and Sandoval at $19M/2, I can understand why the risk factor made them go short. The AAV for Buehler + Sandoval = Fried.

The Bregman signing restored my faith, but now, after the Devers dump, I'm back to square one.

[moonslav59]

Chris Sale transfered to 60 Day IL.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Chris Sale transfered to 60 Day IL.

Is he no longer chris freakin' sale?

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Is he no longer chris freakin' sale?

No, he actually morphed into Freakin' Chris Sale, over the last couple years with the Sox. (Earlier, if I'd thought of it.) 

He is what he is, but the Sox Nation still cries over his loss. It's a freakin' shame.

[Bellhorn04]

44 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

No, he actually morphed into Freakin' Chris Sale, over the last couple years with the Sox. (Earlier, if I'd thought of it.) 

He is what he is, but the Sox Nation still cries over his loss. It's a freakin' shame.

Most sports fans are a bunch of hypocrites with 20/20 hindsight.  If Mookie Betts had a career-ending injury in 2020, people would be talking about how we got away with one.

I've tried to explain my position about the Sale trade a million times (I would have been OK with it if we did more than sign Giolito) but it often gets interpreted as me saying they should have known Sale would do great in 2024. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No, he actually morphed into Freakin' Chris Sale, over the last couple years with the Sox. (Earlier, if I'd thought of it.) 

He is what he is, but the Sox Nation still cries over his loss. It's a freakin' shame.

So is raffy now "devers never forevers"?

[moonslav59]

On 7/2/2025 at 10:30 AM, Bellhorn04 said:

Most sports fans are a bunch of hypocrites with 20/20 hindsight.  If Mookie Betts had a career-ending injury in 2020, people would be talking about how we got away with one.

I've tried to explain my position about the Sale trade a million times (I would have been OK with it if we did more than sign Giolito) but it often gets interpreted as me saying they should have known Sale would do great in 2024. 

I get what your opinion was.

You and I both thought and expected they'd do more than just Gio. After the Gio signing, we both agreed it was okay, but only if we added an even better SP'er. Sadly, we didnt even add a worse one.

[moonslav59]

19 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

So is raffy now "devers never forevers"?

No, It's Devers Fordevers. (as in only for himself)

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

Rafael Devers isn't the only Red Sox move Craig Breslow needs to answer for

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No, It's Devers Fordevers. (as in only for himself)

Funny how you never called him that until he was booted out of town.

[Kimmi]

On 7/1/2025 at 7:33 PM, moonslav59 said:

I was very angry that winter, especially after the "full throttle" quote.

In hindsight, maybe even another big signing or two would not have been enough, but we were played, that winter.

I liked what Brez did last winter, and while I thought signing a longer term pitcher made more sense than Buehler at $21M/2 and Sandoval at $19M/2, I can understand why the risk factor made them go short. The AAV for Buehler + Sandoval = Fried.

The Bregman signing restored my faith, but now, after the Devers dump, I'm back to square one.

Yes, the FO really needs to speak carefully.  That's not the first time one of their comments has come back to bite them.

As many have said many times, we'll now have to wait and see what they do with the freed up Devers money.

[Kimmi]

On 7/1/2025 at 9:38 PM, moonslav59 said:

Chris Sale transfered to 60 Day IL.

That's a shame.  I've always liked the guy, even when he was pitching his way to a Cy Young with another team.

[Kimmi]

2 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Funny how you never called him that until he was booted out of town.

It's the nature of being a fan.  We root for the laundry, not the player.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

36 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

It's the nature of being a fan.  We root for the laundry, not the player.

My point is that it was obvious that devers forevers was about himself and not the team while in a sox uniform.

[moonslav59]

59 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

My point is that it was obvious that devers forevers was about himself and not the team while in a sox uniform.

Before, this year, what sign did Devers reveal about being only about himself?

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Before, this year, what sign did Devers reveal about being only about himself?

you were still in love with him earlier this year.....

[Kimmi]

On 7/3/2025 at 6:08 PM, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

My point is that it was obvious that devers forevers was about himself and not the team while in a sox uniform.

I think that most of us acknowledged that Devers was being selfish.  That doesn't mean that we stop rooting for him while he's still a member of the team.

[Soxlover]

On 7/4/2025 at 7:37 AM, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

you were still in love with him earlier this year.....

You didn’t answer my question, but I’ll answer yours: yes.

i still wish he was our DH/1B man. 

I can dislike what someone did but still miss his contributions to the line-up.

BTW, for some reason I can’t log in to this site from my cell phone, so this is moonslav’s alternate moniker.
 

 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

On 7/7/2025 at 3:46 PM, Kimmi said:

I think that most of us acknowledged that Devers was being selfish.  That doesn't mean that we stop rooting for him while he's still a member of the team.

I always hated Reggie Jackson even though I am a Yankee fan.

I rooted for him on the field, but I would never praise him along the lines of calling him something akin to "devers forevers"

[Bellhorn04]

On 7/7/2025 at 8:30 PM, Soxlover said:

You didn’t answer my question, but I’ll answer yours: yes.

i still wish he was our DH/1B man. 

I can dislike what someone did but still miss his contributions to the line-up.

BTW, for some reason I can’t log in to this site from my cell phone, so this is moonslav’s alternate moniker.
 

 

I must be going senile because I didn't catch on that it was you LOL

[Soxlover]

13 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I must be going senile because I didn't catch on that it was you LOL

Perhaps I should have mentioned it a few times.

i return from Cancun, today.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I must be going senile because I didn't catch on that it was you LOL

Needs to change his alt to VacationHater. 

[Kimmi]

6 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I always hated Reggie Jackson even though I am a Yankee fan.

I rooted for him on the field, but I would never praise him along the lines of calling him something akin to "devers forevers"

It's kind of the way I feel about Chapman.