Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[Duran Is The Man]

7 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

just give me one good fight this year and im happy.

When was the last time a baseball player got punched in the mouth?

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[drewski6]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

...and also that he's spending but not on the high end players, so it doesn't count. 

$28M Bregman > $42M Gray + Contreras.

We played 38 for Gray and Contreras, Bregman would have costed 175 and a NTC

Yes this team has always been willing to give out 1 yr deals, even at inflated AAV to avoid commitments. 

Unfortunately, very good players who are south of 33 require commitments, and so we switch up to these YES CHEAPER options.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Duran Is The Man said:

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[drewski6]

Just now, Duran Is The Man said:

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While I think Pedro caught too much flack for that, thats not necessarily what Im talking about haha

Im talking about Duran beating the snot out of a fool and takig his 10 game suspension.  

Oh thats cute, you have a young 21 yr old boy you are sooooo excited about.  Oh, he doesnt work out? BUt you loooooooooove his defense.  Would be a shame if someone came over and left, right, left'd him.

Oh pitchers arent scared of our lineup? Well I know a way to make them scared.  A little left, right, left

 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Thats more what Im talking about

[drewski6]

^ This is what I pesonally wanna see out of Duran.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

If I was Jarren Durans agent , I would be whispering things in his ear.  Devilish things.

 

He has enough voices in his head. Not sure he needs his agent's too. 

[Duran Is The Man]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Thats more what Im talking about

yeah, i wanted to find Ryan punching Ventura or Varitek and Arod but couldn't find a giph of either.

[mvp 78]

Just now, Duran Is The Man said:

yeah, i wanted to find Ryan punching Ventura or Varitek and Arod but couldn't find a giph of either.

Jose Ramirez punching Tim Anderson is the most recent KO that I know of. 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He has enough voices in his head. Not sure he needs his agent's too. 

Shut up and silence
Add a little violence

-nine inch nails.

[JoeBrady]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

they are using cash paid, not lux tax basis, in determining operating income for the year

I'm not a tax guy, but that doesn't sound right.  I think teams would have to accrue for salaries they pay in future years.  Deferrals would make no sense otherwise.  The LAD would be paying income tax on $40M more on Ohtani's salary if the tax was based strictly on a cash basis.

[drewski6]

I saw nine inch nails in concert like 3 months ago, reznor still has it.

[mvp 78]

Just now, JoeBrady said:

I'm not a tax guy, but that doesn't sound right.  I think teams would have to accrue for salaries they pay in future years.  Deferrals would make no sense otherwise.  The LAD would be paying income tax on $40M more on Ohtani's salary if the tax was based strictly on a cash basis.

That's not how GAAP accounting works. Sorry. 

The deferrals are based on net present value of the contract, I believe. They push the $$$ to get the net present value lowered enough to fudge the CBT number because it's fake. In '24, the Sox didn't have payroll expense of 9M for Bello, but cash payments of 1M. The luxury tax calc is purely a function of calculating the tax itself. It has nothing to do with how the company would record the salaries on their books. 

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I saw nine inch nails in concert like 3 months ago, reznor still has it.

That's what my friends said. They also said it was unbelievably bright. That there was like an insane spotlight on the crowd the whole time or whatever. 

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

That's not how GAAP accounting works. Sorry. 

The deferrals are based on net present value of the contract, I believe. They push the $$$ to get the net present value lowered enough to fudge the CBT number because it's fake. In '24, the Sox didn't have payroll expense of 9M for Bello, but cash payments of 1M. The luxury tax calc is purely a function of calculating the tax itself. It has nothing to do with how the company would record the salaries on their books. 

Yup, exactly. It just gives people who root for bank accounts a tangible number to root that we stay behind, when in actuality its just pennies and no real penalties.

Obvs when you smoke it and blow right by, it starts becoming an actual thing.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

That's what my friends said. They also said it was unbelievably bright. That there was like an insane spotlight on the crowd the whole time or whatever. 

Prob at the same show at the garden.

[FredLynn]

33 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Suarez was a major signing. Calling him a lillipop is hyperbole, I hope.

I guess JH could have not allowed $21M for Gray and $21M for Contreras, and instead signed Bregman, and you'd say he was spending agian?

I didn't call SUAREZ a lollipop. I called Henry deserving of a lollipop because he did something right-but not nearly enough. Its like a child who finally cleans up his room that has been a mess for two years. One good act does not deserve disproportionate credit.

[Hugh2]

49 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

And teams can trade players before they actually have to start paying them the large extension $$$'s at the end of their contracts. The luxury tax is just a function of the CBA. Aside from calculating the additional tax (pennies TBH) and draft pick issues, most of the arguments on here have been "well shouldn't the owners be able to make money." Well, they are using cash paid, not lux tax basis, in determining operating income for the year and what to pay out as distributions. 

Right, but if teams are making a lot of money I think they really care about the LT number.

obviously cash payroll matters too.  If you’re literally spending money you don’t have you go out of business but last I checked the Sox are making a lot more money than they’re spending on payroll.  
 

both obviously matter.  But to say the LT doesn’t matters is absurd, going over the LT literally increases how much cash you spend.  1 dolllar becomes 1.2 dollars or 1.42 dollars.  LT payroll matters because cash matters 

[Hugh2]

52 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

There’s intrinsic value in a lineup that goes beyond simple apples-to-apples WAR comparisons. Roster construction is about composition and fit. Just like any good relationship, players fill different roles and cover for each other’s weaknesses.

That’s why someone like Pete Alonso would’ve been a massive addition, even if the WAR gap looks small on paper. He’s the bat that changes how the entire lineup is pitched. He’s the guy everyone’s afraid of making one mistake to.

With Roman Anthony, pitchers aren’t thinking “intentional walk.” They’re thinking, “Stay off the inner half and live with a walk.” That’s manageable, especially when you know the next two hitters have to string something together.

With Alonso…… or even someone like Eugenio Suárez…… one bad pitch and you’ve given up 2 runs. That kind of threat forces different pitch sequencing, to Roman, and that creates mistakes, and elevates everyone around him.

WAR doesn’t capture that.

No, Aaron Judge changes how you pitch to a lineup.  I think guys who really get in a players mind are walk a heck of a lot more than Pete Alonso.  He’s a one trick pony.  He just happens to be very very good at that thing. 
 

I like Alonso, and advocated for his signing, but he’s clearly being overvalued here

[Hugh2]

Home runs can really be blinding I see.

we didn’t sign Alonso….give it up guys

[mvp 78]

30 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Prob at the same show at the garden.

The Garden in Nashville? 

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Right, but if teams are making a lot of money I think they really care about the LT number.

obviously cash payroll matters too.  If you’re literally spending money you don’t have you go out of business but last I checked the Sox are making a lot more money than they’re spending on payroll.  
 

both obviously matter.  But to say the LT doesn’t matters is absurd, going over the LT literally increases how much cash you spend.  1 dolllar becomes 1.2 dollars or 1.42 dollars.  LT payroll matters because cash matters 

I didn't say the luxury tax number doesn't matter. I said it's a number derived from the CBA. Teams are supposedly trying to make money (job #1) and that would come from the cash number. That's all. Some teams care about the luxury tax number. 1/3d maybe? 

[Hugh2]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I didn't say the luxury tax number doesn't matter. I said it's a number derived from the CBA. Teams are supposedly trying to make money (job #1) and that would come from the cash number. That's all. Some teams care about the luxury tax number. 1/3d maybe? 

The teams that care about are the teams who can spend enough to care about it.  The Oakland A’s obviously don’t give a hoot but I bet you they would if the number was more in line with their revenue.

i suppose the A’s aren’t best example but you know what I mean.  
 

by the time you’re around the LT why would t it matter? If cash spent matters the gen ever dollar you spend over is taxed handsomely and unlike other payroll/bonuses/deferral’s you can’t pay that in another year. 
 

making money is #1 winning games has a pretty big effect on that too.  Handcuffing your spending in future years and losing draft capital is directly effecting that 

[Old Red]

24 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Home runs can really be blinding I see.

we didn’t sign Alonso….give it up guys

Yes HR can be blinding, and why not? They go up on the scoreboard right then, and there.

[Hugh2]

Just now, Old Red said:

Yes HR can be blinding, and why not? They go up on the scoreboard right then, and there.

Yup, I still say there overvalued.  When a guy hits 50 home runs a year and literally nothing else he gets overvalued.

id say Saurez fits that narrative better than Alonso does but Pete still ain’t no judge

[Old Red]

28 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

No, Aaron Judge changes how you pitch to a lineup.  I think guys who really get in a players mind are walk a heck of a lot more than Pete Alonso.  He’s a one trick pony.  He just happens to be very very good at that thing. 
 

I like Alonso, and advocated for his signing, but he’s clearly being overvalued here

Not overvalued to me, but just another one the RED Sox didn’t get. The Red Sox met with him not once, but twice, so I think there was more than a little interest. I think the Red Sox had their sights, and money set on Bregman though, and didn’t want to have two long term contracts, so only offered 3 years.

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Yup, I still say there overvalued.  When a guy hits 50 home runs a year and literally nothing else he gets overvalued.

id say Saurez fits that narrative better than Alonso does but Pete still ain’t no judge

We value things differently. 

[Hugh2]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Not overvalued to me, but just another one the RED Sox didn’t get. The Red Sox met with him not once, but twice, so I think there was more than a little interest. I think the Red Sox had their sights, and money set on Bregman though, and didn’t want to have two long term contracts, so only offered 3 years.

Would you rather have the Sox not in on people? You know I’ve been very critical of this FO this offseason but all these teams are checking in on guys; you just read about here because this is the Sox FO.  This is what happens in FA with teams and agents.  Everyone is “checking in” with everyone.

i get mad/excited about the final product.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

That's not how GAAP accounting works. Sorry. 

So, just as an extreme example, if the RS were to have taxable income of $20M this year, all they would have to do is pay Contreras his 2027 $20M on 12/31/2026, and the IRS would accept that the RS had -0- taxable income in 2026?

Or conversely, for GAAP purposes, the LAD could defer everyone's salary until 1/1/27, and show operating income of like $700M?  Last time I did this, we had to match our expenses to the period in which the income was earned.  And real recently, we still accrued salary expense from the first January payroll.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Would you rather have the Sox not in on people? You know I’ve been very critical of this FO this offseason but all these teams are checking in on guys; you just read about here because this is the Sox FO.  This is what happens in FA with teams and agents.  Everyone is “checking in” with everyone.

i get mad/excited about the final product.

I just think if the Red Sox weren’t all in on getting Bregman they would have offered a better contract to Alonso. It was reported they actually met twice with Alonso, but I don’t know of any other reports them meeting someone else. Of course that doesn’t mean they didn’t.