Spring Training game thread: Week of Feb 21

[moonslav59]

56 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

38.1%.

62% chance one of 3 get a chance.

It's 27.5% chance for each guy up.

[JoeBrady]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

62% chance one of 3 get a chance.

It's 27.5% chance for each guy up.

Ouch!  If it is okay with you, I am going to blame auto-correct.

[JoeBrady]

20 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I've never been one to put much stock in ST'ing numbers, especially just the first week of it, but we have some guys smoking it:

So Fred was right and we spent to much money on the offense?

[FredLynn]

13 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

So Fred was right and we spent to much money on the offense?

Fred is ALWAYS right. You guys should know that by now. However misquoting Fred will always lead to a correction. Henry kept his wallet closed as usual, being a cheap SOB and the results will make FLOPS fans weep this summer.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

 FLOPS = FL + OPS... or any good Spring Training stats of prospects that veteran fans immediately dismiss --

(unless a veteran big leaguer has good FLOPS, which surely forecasts a career year).

But FLIP = FL + IP... can always be excused because whatever any pitcher does in Florida is the result of stretching arms back into game shape, practicing new grips and prescribed gradual ramp ups.

So which posters are already wearing their FLIP FLOPS?

 

[notin]

46 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Fred is ALWAYS right. You guys should know that by now.

Fred is always right.  Reality is frequently inaccurate…

[moonslav59]

51 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Fred is ALWAYS right. You guys should know that by now. However misquoting Fred will always lead to a correction. Henry kept his wallet closed as usual, being a cheap SOB and the results will make FLOPS fans weep this summer.

Didn't you already agreed with the statement that had Brez spent the Gray and IKF money on a big bat, it would have been a good winter?

So, is it JH not spending enough or Brez not spending it wisely?

Pick a lane.

[moonslav59]

AAV added to the Red Sox, this winter...

$41M (-20M paid by STL) Gray

$26M Suarez (5 year deal)

$21M (-$4M paid by STL) Contreras

$6M IKF

One could argue the $18M/2 spent on Sandoval last winter was all about 2026.

That's $94M added ($112M if Sandoval added)

$70M if you subtract what STL is paying ($98M w Sandy.)

To say JH has not spent is most absurd.

Then, add the two major extensions that kicked in:

$16M Anthony

$8M Campbell

$94M or $112M w Sandy

$118M or $132M counting the STL's payments.

I'm not even sure the Dodgers spent this amount, this winter.

[FredLynn]

26 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't you already agreed with the statement that had Brez spent the Gray and IKF money on a big bat, it would have been a good winter?

So, is it JH not spending enough or Brez not spending it wisely?

Pick a lane.

IKF is useless. We have guys like that already on the roster. There was no need to spend a dime on him. Gray was a good signing as long as he wasn’t regarded as our #2 SP. no problem with adding Gray ALONG WITH a big bat, which never got done. That’s my lane. We all know why we didn’t finish the job of completing a competitive roster, don’t we.

[FredLynn]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

AAV added to the Red Sox, this winter...

$41M (-20M paid by STL) Gray

$26M Suarez (5 year deal)

$21M (-$4M paid by STL) Contreras

$6M IKF

One could argue the $18M/2 spent on Sandoval last winter was all about 2026.

That's $94M added ($112M if Sandoval added)

$70M if you subtract what STL is paying ($98M w Sandy.)

To say JH has not spent is most absurd.

Then, add the two major extensions that kicked in:

$16M Anthony

$8M Campbell

$94M or $112M w Sandy

$118M or $132M counting the STL's payments.

I'm not even sure the Dodgers spent this amount, this winter.

What’s the current percentage of revenue spent on player salaries? Last I checked we were 23rd in baseball.

Unacceptable.

[FredLynn]

37 minutes ago, notin said:

Fred is always right.  Reality is frequently inaccurate…

I can live with that assessment. 

[notin]

12 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

What’s the current percentage of revenue spent on player salaries? Last I checked we were 23rd in baseball.

Unacceptable.

Without numbers, that’s just some shock value.  Can we say data on who is above and below and how tight that range is?

 

Also you’ve been using it along time through multiple acquisitions.  Is it even accurate anymor?

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

IKF is useless. We have guys like that already on the roster. There was no need to spend a dime on him. Gray was a good signing as long as he wasn’t regarded as our #2 SP. no problem with adding Gray ALONG WITH a big bat, which never got done. That’s my lane. We all know why we didn’t finish the job of completing a competitive roster, don’t we.

We didn't sign Gray- we traded for him.

So, what lane did you pick? I assume you wanted a big bat over Suarez & IKF (like Alonso for about the same AAV.) That means it's on Brez and not the "low spending" by JH.

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

What’s the current percentage of revenue spent on player salaries? Last I checked we were 23rd in baseball.

Unacceptable.

Broken record.

You make this the number one issue, so you tell us.

Stop saying JH does not spend, when he may have added more salary than any other team, this winter.

You can make a valid point without saying something false over and over.

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, notin said:

Without numbers, that’s just some shock value.  Can we say data on who is above and below and how tight that range is?

 

Also you’ve been using it along time through multiple acquisitions.  Is it even accurate anymor?

It's at least two years old, and we don't know how accurate that one data source was when they said what they said.

We've added a big chunk of spending since 2024. So have some others, but mostly by just a handful of teams thatw ere already ahead of us.

In 2024, we were 23rd ranked at 42.1%. We were just 0.8% from the middle tier (42.9% for #20 STL and 7.8% from 49.7% for #11 NYY)

We were 7.8% from top 10 (BAL at 49.9%.) This was two years ago.

cots had us at $226 AAV in 2024 and $266 for 2026. Do the math, and we should insist Fredd give us the 2026 numbers, if he wants to make this the central point of his case.

[FredLynn]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

Without numbers, that’s just some shock value.  Can we say data on who is above and below and how tight that range is?

 

Also you’ve been using it along time through multiple acquisitions.  Is it even accurate anymor?

It doesn’t matter how close the range is-the Flops should not be  below average in that category. 

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's at least two years old, and we don't know how accurate that one data source was when they said what they said.

We've added a big chunk of spending since 2024. So have some others, but mostly by just a handful of teams thatw ere already ahead of us.

It’s the most recent data available. If you can update it by all means do so. Until then I’ll keep repeating it to support my contention that Henry is a cheap SOB

[FredLynn]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Broken record.

You make this the number one issue, so you tell us.

Stop saying JH does not spend, when he may have added more salary than any other team, this winter.

You can make a valid point without saying something false over and over.

I can live with “Henry doesn’t spend ENOUGH “. 
Can you?

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I can live with “Henry doesn’t spend ENOUGH “. 
Can you?

Yes. Just say this a thousand times, and you'll be even with your "JH never spends" or "JH won't open his wallet."

The way I see it, JH went way too long spending so little, that by a lot spending now, it is deceiving. He's barely got us to where we were 7-8 years ago, without factoring in inflation and the massive upticks in spending by a few teams at the top.

He HAS spent a lot in the last 2 years. That's a fact that cannot be denied. He may have spent more on winter spending in the last two winters than any back-to-back winters in Sox history.

Yes, the context I mentioned is important, but saying he's "not spending" is just not true. The issue is that he got us to such a low point in spending that he needed to do even more spending to get us where we needed to be to be a top 4-5 contender. (I think we got close: we maybe be a top 6-10 contender, depending on who is doing the projections.)

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

It’s the most recent data available. If you can update it by all means do so. Until then I’ll keep repeating it to support my contention that Henry is a cheap SOB

You are the one using 2 year old data as your foundation. Why is it up to me to verify your foundation?

I'll do one cursory calculation for you based on old and questionable data. We are at $266M, now. 265/574 is now $46.3%.

That would put us at #16 in MLB. Right smack in the middle.

Not high and not low.

[moonslav59]

Durbin with a nice RBI, today.

Saurez went 3 innings. He looked better than his last start.

[FredLynn]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You are the one using 2 year old data as your foundation. Why is it up to me to verify your foundation?

I'll do one cursory calculation for you based on old and questionable data. We are at $266M, now. 265/574 is now $46.3%.

That would put us at #16 in MLB. Right smack in the middle.

Not high and not low.

We should do better if Henry was honest about winning being important. I think we should AT LEAST be top third, probably top five in spending. Being in the middle when you have the resources Henry has for me means he’s cheap.

[FredLynn]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Durbin with a nice RBI, today.

Saurez went 3 innings. He looked better than his last start.

Contreras absolutely crushed a HR too. Not watching too many ST games. Let’s get the season started.

 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, FredLynn said:

We should do better if Henry was honest about winning being important. I think we should AT LEAST be top third, probably top five in spending. Being in the middle when you have the resources Henry has for me means he’s cheap.

Being in the middle is being in the middle- not "cheap."

Can he spend more and way more? Of course.

Should he? I'd say yes, but these guys are about making money, as are 95% of all owners. We live in a capitalistic world, but we insist JH act like a commie.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Contreras absolutely crushed a HR too. Not watching too many ST games. Let’s get the season started.

I do think Contreras out OPSs Bregman, but wouldn't it be nice if he out OPSs Alonso?

Would you go quietly into the sunset?

😏

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Being in the middle is being in the middle- not "cheap."

Can he spend more and way more? Of course.

Should he? I'd say yes, but these guys are about making money, as are 95% of all owners. We live in a capitalistic world, but we insist JH act like a commie.

I have said all along that it’s Henry’s money to do with what he pleases. With his resources it IS being cheap to be in the middle of the pack. He’s prioritizing profits above winning but claims otherwise. Thats dishonest.

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I do think Contreras out OPSs Bregman, but wouldn't it be nice if he out OPSs Alonso?

Would you go quietly into the sunset?

😏

I might consider going quietly into the sunset but I realize how much people here would miss me. I just couldn’t do that to you all. 😉

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

It doesn’t matter how close the range is-the Flops should not be  below average in that category. 

1.  It’s old data.

2.  Thr range absolutely matters. As does the teams below them.  Where are the Yankees and Dodgers on this list?  If the 23rd highest percentage is spending, say, 15% on the roster, what percentage does the top team spend?  If it’s 17-19%, what exactly are you holding against them?

I’d like to see this ranking. I bet the higher revenue teams are mostly in the lower third, just like Boston…

[notin]

34 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I might consider going quietly into the sunset but I realize how much people here would miss me. I just couldn’t do that to you all. 😉

Maybe we just don’t deserve you..

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

We should do better if Henry was honest about winning being important. I think we should AT LEAST be top third, probably top five in spending. Being in the middle when you have the resources Henry has for me means he’s cheap.

Where is your data from?

If you use the 2024 team valuation against the Sox 2025 payroll (as they didnt have any 2025 revenue yet, or at a minimum the picture was incomplete), the Sox rank 11th in percentage of revenue (per Forbes) spent on payroll (per Sportra)…