Rays (Scholtens) vs Red Sox (Early): 5/8/26, 7:10pm

[moonslav59]

Just now, FredLynn said:

I would have been OK with signing both Alonso (or Schwarber or Bregman) AND Contreras and jettisoning Masa. His signing was a mistake. Time to cut the cord.

I could be wrong, but didn't you have Bichette on an earlier wish list?

Bregman has not been an elite bat, except for two half seasons for many years.

Schwarber's age worried me, but he was clearly the best winter bat for the short term.

I wanted Alosno, too, and I'd have been okay with Alonso & Contreras, booting Masa and trading an OF'er for a 2B/3Bman (good bat or not.)

[FredLynn]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I could be wrong, but didn't you have Bichette on an earlier wish list?

Bregman has not been an elite bat, except for two half seasons for many years.

Schwarber's age worried me, but he was clearly the best winter bat for the short term.

I wanted Alosno, too, and I'd have been okay with Alonso & Contreras, booting Masa and trading an OF'er for a 2B/3Bman (good bat or not.)

Bichette would have been an improvement over the three stiffs we ended up with. I would have been OK with Contreras and Bichette but I would have preferred Schwarber or Alonso instead. Just look at who we ended up with: three stiffs and a good but not a great player. The FO is too cheap to really make an investment in winning a ring. It will never happen again under Henry's watch.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, FredLynn said:

Bichette would have been an improvement over the three stiffs we ended up with. I would have been OK with Contreras and Bichette but I would have preferred Schwarber or Alonso instead. Just look at who we ended up with: three stiffs and a good but not a great player. The FO is too cheap to really make an investment in winning a ring. It will never happen again under Henry's watch.

Okay, so say we signed Bichette not Suarez and made all the same trades, minus Durbin's.

We'd still suck.

You'd still call them the flops.

You'd still say Brez and Henry need to go.

Right?

[FredLynn]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Okay, so say we signed Bichette not Suarez and made all the same trades, minus Durbin's.

We'd still suck.

You'd still call them the flops.

You'd still say Brez and Henry need to go.

Right?

Again: its not a case of Suarez/Contreras OR Bichette/Schwarber/Alonso/Bregman (preferably Alonso or Schwarber): all were available. Getting three stiffs? Not OK. So yes, Henry and BresLOW should go. All it would have costed is $$$. Henry is a billionaire and the team takes in a LOT of money. There simply is no real committment to winning.

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Again: its not a case of Suarez/Contreras OR Bichette/Schwarber/Alonso/Bregman (preferably Alonso or Schwarber): all were available. Getting three stiffs? Not OK. So yes, Henry and BresLOW should go. All it would have costed is $$$. Henry is a billionaire and the team takes in a LOT of money. There simply is no real committment to winning.

I'm not following. You call the guys you wanted "stiffs" or did I miss something.

Okay, not instead of Ranger Suarez.

Ranger, Willson plus one from Bregman/Bichette would still not have been okay with you.

Sub Alonso or Schwarber for one, and still no?

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

I don’t think comparing Alonso to the Con Man is the same as comparing Story to Gwynn.

Or understand the point he was making…

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Or understand the point he was making…

No hope for that ever happening.

[notin]

23 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Bichette would have been an improvement over the three stiffs we ended up with. I would have been OK with Contreras and Bichette but I would have preferred Schwarber or Alonso instead. Just look at who we ended up with: three stiffs and a good but not a great player. The FO is too cheap to really make an investment in winning a ring. It will never happen again under Henry's watch.

Bichette should have been an improvement.  To date, he’s been a platinum-coated Durbin with diamonds where his defense should be.

Contreras is as good as Alonso, but is a bit older.  So maybe some age regression?  But if it doesn’t happen this year, it’s probably someone else’s problem.  Can’t say that about Alonso…

[FredLynn]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not following. You call the guys you wanted "stiffs" or did I miss something.

Okay, not instead of Ranger Suarez.

Ranger, Willson plus one from Bregman/Bichette would still not have been okay with you.

Sub Alonso or Schwarber for one, and still no?

The stiffs are Durbin, IKF, and Gaspar. I would have been ok with Ranger+Contreras AND the other Suarez or Schwarber or Alonso. Less ok with Bichette or Bregman though even they would have been an improvement. All it would have costed is $$. 

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

Bichette should have been an improvement.  To date, he’s been a platinum-coated Durbin with diamonds where his defense should be.

Contreras is as good as Alonso, but is a bit older.  So maybe some age regression?  But if it doesn’t happen this year, it’s probably someone else’s problem.  Can’t say that about Alonso…

By the end of the year Bichette will have outperformed Durbin, who is terrible offensively.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

I don’t think comparing Alonso to the Con Man is the same as comparing Story to Gwynn.

In the sense that one compares strictly HRs to all-around hitting, they are similar.  We know that OPS is more closely related to scoring than HRs are.  More of either is good, but more OPS, and specifically, more OBP, is what results in higher scoring.