Video: Japanese Phenom Roki Saski Posted, Where Will He Sign?

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im not comfortable with the notion that because they are lining up plans b,c,d they arent truly trying for plan A. I think this may have become the case with Soto (started focusing more on secondary options, when the bidding reached uncomfortable levels), but wasnt the case from the onset.

Im not conspiratorial enough to think its pretend interest. Line in the sand, I can believe.

But the numbers for TH arent crazy. 3 yrs / 70m sounds reasonable.

I'm not saying the Sox are faking interest, just that Teoscar is MORE interested in the Dodgers and wants to stay there. He's going to try to squeeze more money out of them by bringing more bidders into the process. 

[moonslav59]

Even if JH & Co knew they were likely to be outbid on Soto, it does not make a $700M offer non serious or a ploy.

It certainly could have been just a public relations sham, or that might have been a factor in making the offer, but it doesn't mean they were 100% certain PLan A was an impossibility. The other point is, even if they thought it was close to impossible, does that mean they should not make a fair offer, anyway?

I will say, this is coming from a guy who thought the final offer for Lester was just for show, so I can see where some are coming from.

To me, I thought Fried was Plan B, and maybe like the Mets, the Yanks were simply not going to be outbid for him. I'm not sure what Plan C is or was. If It's Burnes or Bregman, and we get shut out again, it sure will look like this has all been taking the sham to a new level.

I suppose going for quantity with some quality, like signing Flaherty, Hoffman and Santander might ease my distaste for what has been going on, it would still fall short of what I hoped for.

[moonslav59]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm not saying the Sox are faking interest, just that Teoscar is MORE interested in the Dodgers and wants to stay there. He's going to try to squeeze more money out of them by bringing more bidders into the process. 

Last I heard, the Dodgers are far away from the number TH wants. Maybe they budge- maybe not.

If they don't I don't see the Mets of Yanks making a high bid, so this auction should be winnable for the Sox.

[drewski6]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm not saying the Sox are faking interest, just that Teoscar is MORE interested in the Dodgers and wants to stay there. He's going to try to squeeze more money out of them by bringing more bidders into the process. 

Understood, your take is more "line in the sand" as to why they are casting such a wide net.

[drewski6]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Even if JH & Co knew they were likely to be outbid on Soto, it does not make a $700M offer non serious or a ploy.

It certainly could have been just a public relations sham, or that might have been a factor in making the offer, but it doesn't mean they were 100% certain PLan A was an impossibility. The other point is, even if they thought it was close to impossible, does that mean they should not make a fair offer, anyway?

I will say, this is coming from a guy who thought the final offer for Lester was just for show, so I can see where some are coming from.

To me, I thought Fried was Plan B, and maybe like the Mets, the Yanks were simply not going to be outbid for him. I'm not sure what Plan C is or was. If It's Burnes or Bregman, and we get shut out again, it sure will look like this has all been taking the sham to a new level.

I suppose going for quantity with some quality, like signing Flaherty, Hoffman and Santander might ease my distaste for what has been going on, it would still fall short of what I hoped for.

I hear you on the Lester offer.  Also the "hold on I need a sec" from when Bloom heard Xander was leaving. But to think its all a continuing sham is too cynical and conspiratorial for me, not to imply there havent been some shams along the way.

[drewski6]

I still think its above 50% we get one of TH , Santander , Bregman. And I think TH is the likeliest of the three.

[mvp 78]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Last I heard, the Dodgers are far away from the number TH wants. Maybe they budge- maybe not.

If they don't I don't see the Mets of Yanks making a high bid, so this auction should be winnable for the Sox.

Last I heard, the Red Sox haven't even given him a number yet. 

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Understood, your take is more "line in the sand" as to why they are casting such a wide net.

Yeah, seems that's what has been their approach in recent years. Unfortunately, they aren't properly valuing the market and are being left behind in FA. 

[notin]

50 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm not saying the Sox are faking interest, just that Teoscar is MORE interested in the Dodgers and wants to stay there. He's going to try to squeeze more money out of them by bringing more bidders into the process. 

But with Conforto and Pages already on board, why would the Dodgers up their offer?  They’ve already removed Mookie from the overcrowded corner OF spots   Seems to me they could consider upgrading the defense by focusing on defense with a CF or a SS.

 

Or just flip flop Betts and Edman’s positions,.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yeah, seems that's what has been their approach in recent years. Unfortunately, they aren't properly valuing the market and are being left behind in FA. 

To me, this is more concerning than if  it's all just a sham.

How can they be this far off on what they think an offer needs to be to land a FA?

Some of the reported offers have been so low, they look Lesteresque.

[notin]

31 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I still think its above 50% we get one of TH , Santander , Bregman. And I think TH is the likeliest of the three.

TH makes the most sense.  Unless the plan is to move Devers into a 1b/Dh role and trade/release/demote Yoshida, and actually use Bregman at 3b

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

TH makes the most sense.  Unless the plan is to move Devers into a 1b/Dh role and trade/release/demote Yoshida, and actually use Bregman at 3b

I'd rather they go the Bregman 3B route if I'm being honest. It becomes a little bit of a mess, but I'd keep Masa and trade Casas in a package for another starter. 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

TH makes the most sense.  Unless the plan is to move Devers into a 1b/Dh role and trade/release/demote Yoshida, and actually use Bregman at 3b

I still look at our roster and think: where are we strongest and weakest? (Hint: it's not the OF or DH.)

 

Strongest to weakest (assuming health, which is a stretch with Story at SS) :

DH: Devers, Casas, Yoshida-Ref platoon and Corner IF (except on D): Devers and Casas

OF: Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Anthony (Refsnyder/Yoshida in a pinch and maybe Campbell)

MI: Story/Mayer/Romy/Rafaela/DHam at SS and Campbell/ DHam-Grissom/Rafaela/Romy at 2B

SP: Crochet, Houck, Bello, Giolito, Crawford, Criswell, Priester, Fitts, Dobbins

Pen: Hendriks, Chapman, Slaten, Whitlock, Winckowski, Wilson, Guerrero, Penrod, Kelly, Booser, Weissert

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd rather they go the Bregman 3B route if I'm being honest. It becomes a little bit of a mess, but I'd keep Masa and trade Casas in a package for another starter. 

The lack of an ability to trade Yoshida makes this the best option. I feel like we'd be selling low on Casas, but it's hard to guess those things. We can get way more for Casas than Yoshida.

If we decide to give Anthony a FT OF role, we could trade Casas and Abreu for pitching.

1. Duran LF

2. Bregman 3B

3. Story SS

4. Devers 1B

5. Yoshida-Ref DH

6. Anthony RF

7. Campbell 2B or DHam-Grissom platoon

8. Wong-Narvaez C

9. Rafaela CF

(We could also play Campbell in CF, if DHam and Grissom are doing well at 2B)

Keeping Casas greatly improves the line-up but turns Yoshida into a bench waste and forces us to ...gasp, gasp, gasp...spend on pitching.

[Bellhorn04]

43 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To me, this is more concerning than if  it's all just a sham.

How can they be this far off on what they think an offer needs to be to land a FA?

Some of the reported offers have been so low, they look Lesteresque.

IMHO this is symptomatic of the Sox:

a) being a component of Fenway Sports Group, answerable to many powerful shareholders, and  

b) having too many voices involved in operations. 

It's clear that something just isn't right, that there's confusion and dysfunction about which way to go. 

And the Interest Kings thing is becoming embarrassing.  It's something the Sox are becoming notorious for.  Why would they want that?  It makes no sense.       

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Soto was never Plan A (more like C, as in Let's C what happens).

For this org, Crochet for prospects was always Plan A. 

Most real contenders would rather just pay market value for the free agents they need, instead of giving up actual players -- but not the Red Ink Sox.

Breslow bypassing Tanner Scott, this winter's marquee lefty reliever, and going right after past-his-prime Chapman says the bullpen was also part of Plan C.

Fried and Teoscar were probably Plan B, but once their sticker prices soared, the front office most likely sent all the VPs home for the holidays. They know when they get back to work, it won't take much to go to Plan G: just get another Giolito.

 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

IMHO this is symptomatic of the Sox:

a) being a component of Fenway Sports Group, answerable to many powerful shareholders, and  

b) having too many voices involved in operations. 

It's clear that something just isn't right, that there's confusion and dysfunction about which way to go. 

And the Interest Kings thing is becoming embarrassing.  It's something the Sox are becoming notorious for.  Why would they want that?  It makes no sense.       

How'd they go about fixing the confusion? They brought in Theo Epstein to add yet another voice to the cacophony!

Grape job everyone!

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Soto was never Plan A (more like C, as in Let's C what happens).

For this org, Crochet for prospects was always Plan A. 

Most real contenders would rather just pay market value for the free agents they need, instead of giving up actual players -- but not the Red Ink Sox.

Breslow bypassing Tanner Scott, this winter's marquee lefty reliever, and going right after past-his-prime Chapman says the bullpen was also part of Plan C.

Fried and Teoscar were probably Plan B, but once their sticker prices soared, the front office most likely sent all the VPs home for the holidays. They know when they get back to work, it won't take much to go to Plan G: just get another Giolito.

With Scott, it shows that they don't believe in long contracts for relievers. If Scott was going to sign for 3 years, he'd be here by now IMO. 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

IMHO this is symptomatic of the Sox:

a) being a component of Fenway Sports Group, answerable to many powerful shareholders, and  

b) having too many voices involved in operations. 

It's clear that something just isn't right, that there's confusion and dysfunction about which way to go. 

And the Interest Kings thing is becoming embarrassing.  It's something the Sox are becoming notorious for.  Why would they want that?  It makes no sense.       

Does JH and Brez really need permission for every signing?

I think there is merely input on what the spending budget is and then it's not all that complicated.

[Bellhorn04]

The guys at Over the Monster, who I think do some great work, have indicated that they think Breslow has been delivering subtle little messages that he'd like to be doing things differently (being more aggressive) but his control over what's going on is very limited.  

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Does JH and Brez really need permission for every signing?

I think there is merely input on what the spending budget is and then it's not all that complicated.

How do we know every signing and offer doesn't go through votes or whatever now?  We really have no clue how they're running things.  When it comes to that stuff they keep secrets better than the Mafia.

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

How do we know every signing and offer doesn't go through votes or whatever now?  We really have no clue how they're running things.  When it comes to that stuff they keep secrets better than the Mafia.

Yes, I asked the question.

I do not think small signings need a boards approval. I doubt moderate ones do, either, unless they bring the budget over what was set.

I'm not sure how they do it, especially on major deals. That may indeed be a big part of the problem, and why it seems to take forever for a formal offer to even be made.

What seams troubling to me, if we hear rumors of player A getting $200M/6 offers, and 2 weeks later, we hear we offered $180M/5.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

How do we know every signing and offer doesn't go through votes or whatever now?  We really have no clue how they're running things.  When it comes to that stuff they keep secrets better than the Mafia.

Except that ex-front office exec who recently said Mookie would have signed in Boston didn't have to change his name, move to the southwest, grow a stash, and take a Cinnabon job at some mall.

[vjcsmoke]

On 12/19/2024 at 8:21 AM, mvp 78 said:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sawamhi01.shtml

Ok. You found a japanese pitcher after Uehara. But it was also only a 3m dollar deal.

I'm talking about big money in their prime japanese pitchers.

Even Uehara didn't break the bank at 2 years 18 million for the initial deal.

I don't see a chance of us making a serious offer for Sasaki.

Even if they put forth an offer they will make sure that it's 2nd or 3rd so they won't have to actually pay up.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, vjcsmoke said:

Ok. You found a japanese pitcher after Uehara. But it was also only a 3m dollar deal.

I'm talking about big money in their prime japanese pitchers.

Even Uehara didn't break the bank at 2 years 18 million for the initial deal.

I don't see a chance of us making a serious offer for Sasaki.

Even if they put forth an offer they will make sure that it's 2nd or 3rd so they won't have to actually pay up.

Two...

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/uwasana01.shtml

[vjcsmoke]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Two...

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/uwasana01.shtml

Ok I do have to push back here. A trade for a JP pitcher does not count as a posting signing. And that is the context of this thread, will Red Sox go after prominent postings from JP such as Sasaki.

Naoyuki Uwasawa traded to Red Sox from Rays for cash

• Associated Press

Mar 28, 2024, 01:32 PM ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Reliever Naoyuki Uwasawa was traded to the Boston Red Sox from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash.

Boston selected the contract of Uwasawa to the 40-man roster before Thursday's opener at Tampa Bay, then optioned him to Triple-A Worcester.

 

 

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, vjcsmoke said:

 

You do know this isn't a "bidding war" for Sasaki, right?

[Behindenemylines]

Sasaki would be a huge get! Since money is not going to be the top factor the Sox need to sell the outside $$$$ that can be earn in Red Sox Nation, the success of past Japanese pitchers, and the new pitching plan the Sox have in place. Sox are in the conversations but not one of the favorites. Would be a good fit for a young team and could join Crochet at the top of the rotation.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Sasaki to the Red Sox will be gaining momentum now.

Roki was just waiting for Sandoval to sign, to see how much money a pitcher can soak Boston for, when he's rehabbing from inevitable Tommy John surgery.