A Realistic View at the 2027 Red Sox Part I

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's a very weird case and I wish Statcast was around for his early run so we had more visibility into what went wrong. 

He swung at everything, including pick off throws to 1b…

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, some of us expected Roman to take up some of the slack for losing Devers & Bregman.

Some laughed at the idea Willson taking up some of the slack.

Some of us hoped we got Alonso or ______ to further fill the gap in our offense.

Some expected Duran to bounce back and scoffed at the very idea of trading away "one of our top offensive weapons." Was there "too much Duran hype?" Where is all the talk on that and finger pointing at posters against trading Duran? (Note: some are the same posters now lobbing bombs at the ones thinking Roman might or should take up the slack.)

It's common for players to fall short of what we hoped and or expected. We all get projections wrong, and I'm as bad as anyone else doing that. I'm not calling anyone out more than myself, but I don't think anyone gets it right all that often.

 

You are trying to frame me as being inconsistent for pointing out that we put too many eggs in the roman basket when a yr ago, I thought our offense was too thin to trade Duran.  Yes, this is why I asked for pause when Joe Brady suggested trading Duran for a pitcher (we had at the time Crochet, Tolle, Early, Gray, Suarez, Oviedo, Bello, Dobbins but not yet Durbin and Contreras). I tried to explain that we just signed a bunch of pitchers and our offense which couldnt hit against the yankees in 2025 playoffs is looking like its gonna get worse already losing Bregman. So I am not for trading Duran for another pitcher at this time (we didnt have contreras or dubin yet).

This is also why I again asked for pause when you high fived Joe Brady because other teams were paying Devers, Bregman, Alonso.  

You are right that all of us are wrong often, but Joe Brady literally said we didnt need offense last offseason, and is still trying to justify a victory lap.  "Nobody could have predicted that Story would have gotten hurt or that Duran would be inconsistent" (he says).  Sure, bud (eye roll).  Honestly Moon, Im not sure why you dont see the similarities between never-wrong Brady and another cartoon-level never-wrong who (this week) got some overdue comeuppance.  Both will continue marching on believing themselves to be correct, blameless, and undefeated on any and all things.   

Ive been wrong about so many things and maybe Duran included.  I dont run from that.  I am always questioning , processing, reassessing, introspecting, critiquing myself, my beliefs, my logic and my thoughts.

And I will concede that a lot of this is a secondary correlation to Roman's hype and not a direct effect.  I get that.  Just because Joe Brady used Romans hype as a talking point to campaign for no offensively focused signings  - that doesnt mean the issue is actually romans hype.  I get that.  Kind of like when people use religion to justify doing bad things, that doesnt mean the religion itself is inherently bad.  I get that.

Romans hype was not and is not inherently bad.  But it was a talking point of the anti-get-bats contingent to propagandize us into accepting we didnt need external offensive help.   

[drewski6]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

You’re on!!

Early score - notin 2 moonslav 0

Nope. Moonslav 2, notin 0...you thought you were making the joke that he himself just made.  Note his use of the word "bet"

[drewski6]

 

9 minutes ago, notin said:

He swung at everything, including pick off throws to 1b…

2-1

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

You are trying to frame me as being inconsistent for pointing out that we put too many eggs in the roman basket when a yr ago, I thought our offense was too thin to trade Duran.  

I don't blame you for thinking this is what I meant, but the point I was trying to make is that we can and are wrong about what we expect of players.

We were wrong about Roman- some more than others, but also I think some assumed many of us expected and talked of greatness year one, when I don't recall anyone holding that view.

How that relates to Duran? This was more about some "believing the hype" on Roman, and I wanted to relate on how was that any different than people expecting more from Duran than what he gave us.

Hell, I wanted Duran traded, but I was way wrong on just how bad he would get in 2 years. I wasn't trying to single you out. I was singling all of us out.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

This is also why I again asked for pause when you high fived Joe Brady because other teams were paying Devers, Bregman, Alonso.  
 

Wrong. I was okay with paying devers even more money.

I wanted Alonso at what he got.

You are right on Breggie.

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Romans hype was not and is not inherently bad.  But it was a talking point of the anti-get-bats contingent to propagandize us into accepting we didnt need external offensive help.   

I've agreed with Joe on a lot of thing, and you too, but not on the need to add more offense.

My thing with Breggie, and I was wrong about 2026, was that he is not an elite bat. Sure, he's better than Durbin, but I wasn't even sure he'd have a better 4 -5 year OPS than Durbin, and I was glad we didnt sign him, specifically. 

I'd still rather have Suarez than Breggie, despite the fact that we still need a bat.

I like Mead more than most.

I see the upgrade of AR v Narvaez as being as good as an upgrade from a .775 to an .850 batter, but I still don't think we've replaced what Devers and Breggie gave is in 2025.

Yes, I mentioned being glad we no longer have Devers' contract, but only because it was the only plus side to a trade we simply had to make, anyway. I wanted a big chunk of his offense replaced, and I knew it might take 2-3 positions to do it. I still do.

Maybe we improved 2, but we needed 3 for Devers and one for Breggie's 2025 production.

I don't think we see things as differently as it may look. I have bigger issues with your pessimism and continued talk about how JH can do it, while knowing he won't. I realize that's a legit point to discuss, and I don't want to say you can't voice your opinion, but it rubs me the wrong way (and that's on me- not you) when we are talking about who we can add, and we get beyond what we all know JH will never approve. It seems like wasted breath.

[drewski6]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

 

I don't think we see things as differently as it may look. I have bigger issues with your pessimism and continued talk about how JH can do it, while knowing he won't. I realize that's a legit point to discuss, and I don't want to say you can't voice your opinion, but it rubs me the wrong way (and that's on me- not you) when we are talking about who we can add, and we get beyond what we all know JH will never approve. It seems like wasted breath.

Isnt that optimism?  

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

He swung at everything, including pick off throws to 1b…

Bzzt! 

Zone swing %

'12 63.2% 212 out of 347

'13 64.5% 147 out of 356

'14 58.2% 320 out of 349

O swing %

'12 28.7% 198 out of 347

'13 30.5% 160 out of 356

'14 27.7% 240 out of 349

The only problem I'm noticing is that his contact rate in those three years was 20-25th percentile each year. It wasn't that he was swinging too much, just not making enough contact when he did swing.

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Isnt that optimism?  

In one limited way, I guess, but it's not happening.

I'd prefer to think the budget is limited, so let's find ways to spend what we got better.

MVP says I'm supporting JH's checkbook, but I don't support it. I take it for what it is and hate it. Accepting something is not agreeing with it.

In many choices it's either or, and someone saying we should get both is not wrong, but it's not realistic, and that bugs me.

Again, that's on me not you and others. (The bugging part.)

JH is not going anywhere. He may or may not change his spending ways, but I'm choosing to take the view that I'll believe it when I see it, and I'm not getting my hopes up. Yes, that can be considered pessimistic.

You certainly aren't as pessimistic as Fred or Red.

[Old Red]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

 

Players and prospects often fall way short of hopes, wishes and expectations.

This is baseball.

Players often exceed expectations.

This is baseball.

Whatever you view "hype" as defined, so what?

Is the issue that too many people "fell for the hype?"

The hype was unreasonable to begin with?

or

Too many of us are dumb for believing the hype?

Did we believe the hype hook-line and sinker, or did we just hope the met the hype?

Does it matter or should it matter so much to some that seem HYPER focused on showing how others were wrong?

The guy who calls every prospect "suspect" was right about the big three but never mentions Tolle. I wonder why? Now, see I'm focusing on showing someone was wrong. Whoop- dee- freaking-doo!

Whoop-Dee-freaking-doo! Wow! As Chris Cotillo said a couple of weeks ago something about all players are more suspect than prospect to begin with. Now where have i heard that before? The original big 3 plus 1 in KC have not yet lived up to ranking, hype, or anything else you want to add, and maybe they will, and maybe they won’t. Those were the Red Sox top 4 guys though along with Casas, so there might have to be a change in plans from what the original plan was to be AWESOME. You seem to have an inferiority complex about being wrong maybe, because you are to often IDK. I wasn’t necessarily trying to show how others were wrong only to say the highest ranking prospects haven’t turned out as expected, predicted, or anything else you want to call it.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Whoop-Dee-freaking-doo! Wow! As Chris Cotillo said a couple of weeks ago something about all players are more suspect than prospect to begin with. Now where have i heard that before? The original big 3 plus 1 in KC have not yet lived up to ranking, hype, or anything else you want to add, and maybe they will, and maybe they won’t. Those were the Red Sox top 4 guys though along with Casas, so there might have to be a change in plans from what the original plan was to be AWESOME. You seem to have a inferiority complex about being wrong maybe, because you are to often IDK.

We are all wrong a lot. I'd rather know when I'm wrong and be willing to admit it than live in denial.

You are totally wrong than anybody expected "AWESOME" from all these guys, and specifically in their first 1-2 seasons in MLB. Of course, you won't admit it, or claim you don't think that and do some kind of warped circle jerk and say I'm overanalyzing, but people are wrong with their expectations on more than just prospects & hyped prospects.

Duran was hyped.

Crochet was hyped.

I was hyping up Abreu as about to "bust out." I was no more right or wrong about him as I was about some of these prospects.

Just curious why you rarely talk about the big suspect named Tolle?

I know why, but  do you?

 

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

In one limited way, I guess, but it's not happening.

I'd prefer to think the budget is limited, so let's find ways to spend what we got better.

MVP says I'm supporting JH's checkbook, but I don't support it. I take it for what it is and hate it. Accepting something is not agreeing with it.

In many choices it's either or, and someone saying we should get both is not wrong, but it's not realistic, and that bugs me.

Again, that's on me not you and others. (The bugging part.)

JH is not going anywhere. He may or may not change his spending ways, but I'm choosing to take the view that I'll believe it when I see it, and I'm not getting my hopes up. Yes, that can be considered pessimistic.

You certainly aren't as pessimistic as Fred or Red.

Ah another shout out. Pessimistic, or I’ll believe it when I see it mode? Now does it bug you, or grind you? You’ve used both.

[Old Red]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We are all wrong a lot. I'd rather know when I'm wrong and be willing to admit it than live in denial.

You are totally wrong than anybody expected "AWESOME" from all these guys, and specifically in their first 1-2 seasons in MLB. Of course, you won't admit it, or claim you don't think that and do some kind of warped circle jerk and say I'm overanalyzing, but people are wrong with their expectations on more than just prospects & hyped prospects.

Duran was hyped.

Crochet was hyped.

I was hyping up Abreu as about to "bust out." I was no more right or wrong about him as I was about some of these prospects.

Just curious why you rarely talk about the big suspect named Tolle?

I know why, but  do you?

 

Now I agree with you about their first 1-2 seasons, but that doesn’t appear to be what the master plan was. Maybe some seasoned veterans would have helped too like Raffy, and Bregman, but that didn’t work out either. Ah the old warped circle jerk. How original. Abreu, RAF Man have been fine, and Toll Man was fine his first full year too, but they were not billed to be the stars of the show, and Casas, Mayer,Teel,  KC, and little A were. Seems like someone on here cautioned three years ago about the bumper crop from the farm might not turn out as good as expected. Have a good day.👋

[Hugh2]

5 hours ago, Nick said:

Little voices always tell me to trade young players (pre-arbitration) at the height of their hype/value.

Two years ago at the time of the All Star break, the Sox management would have been crucified had they traded Duran. Now look at his trade value.

My instincts tell me without any data, more often than not a projected high level player will fail.

So why not trade say Tolle and Arias for 3 years of De La Cruz who has a proven track record after three years in the majors? His high end arbitration 1 number is projected to be at $8.51M. 

Pick up another FA bat, Randy Arozarena? Trade away Duran. Remember $41M frees up in 2028.

What young player have we traded turned out to be an absolute stud?

That's fine, but you will never have a cost controlled cornerstone franchise player if that is your philosophy.  Ever. 

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

You are trying to frame me as being inconsistent for pointing out that we put too many eggs in the roman basket when a yr ago, I thought our offense was too thin to trade Duran.  Yes, this is why I asked for pause when Joe Brady suggested trading Duran for a pitcher (we had at the time Crochet, Tolle, Early, Gray, Suarez, Oviedo, Bello, Dobbins but not yet Durbin and Contreras). I tried to explain that we just signed a bunch of pitchers and our offense which couldnt hit against the yankees in 2025 playoffs is looking like its gonna get worse already losing Bregman. So I am not for trading Duran for another pitcher at this time (we didnt have contreras or dubin yet).

This is also why I again asked for pause when you high fived Joe Brady because other teams were paying Devers, Bregman, Alonso.  

You are right that all of us are wrong often, but Joe Brady literally said we didnt need offense last offseason, and is still trying to justify a victory lap.  "Nobody could have predicted that Story would have gotten hurt or that Duran would be inconsistent" (he says).  Sure, bud (eye roll).  Honestly Moon, Im not sure why you dont see the similarities between never-wrong Brady and another cartoon-level never-wrong who (this week) got some overdue comeuppance.  Both will continue marching on believing themselves to be correct, blameless, and undefeated on any and all things.   

Ive been wrong about so many things and maybe Duran included.  I dont run from that.  I am always questioning , processing, reassessing, introspecting, critiquing myself, my beliefs, my logic and my thoughts.

And I will concede that a lot of this is a secondary correlation to Roman's hype and not a direct effect.  I get that.  Just because Joe Brady used Romans hype as a talking point to campaign for no offensively focused signings  - that doesnt mean the issue is actually romans hype.  I get that.  Kind of like when people use religion to justify doing bad things, that doesnt mean the religion itself is inherently bad.  I get that.

Romans hype was not and is not inherently bad.  But it was a talking point of the anti-get-bats contingent to propagandize us into accepting we didnt need external offensive help.   

Now Alonso, Raffy, and Bregman would have been a lot better big 3, but as you said the Red Sox would have had to pay them.

[Hugh2]

5 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Another pet peeve of mine.  Some posters conveniently forget the guys that have worked out quite well.

``Like, We could have traded Tolle and Arias for JOE RYAN 1.5 years ago. 

 

Thank god we did not

[Hugh2]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Well, it was far more prevalent before 2012 when MLB implemented the slotted bonuses.  There were still occasional players who had higher demands, notably Jay Groome who was also the top talent but fell down to, was it 12? for that reason…

Pretty much, but the reasonings are much different now.  Teams like the Sox and the Yankees could easily throw money at players they like in the later rounds.  I think typically, those are the guys you see who don't sign now a days. 

 

[notin]

15 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

That's fine, but you will never have a cost controlled cornerstone franchise player if that is your philosophy.  Ever. 

Not to mention the loaded question.  “What young players did the Red Sox and only the Boston Red Sox trade away that went on to become an absolute stud?? And not counting Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Anthony Rizzo, Hanley Ramirez, etc.”?  The main reason it’s been so long since the Sox have traded away a minor leaguer who then became a superstar was the Sox have been keeping most of their better prospects of late.
 

Engage in this practice often enough and you will be sharing the downside with other teams.
 

And if anyone still isn’t sold and needs an example of a young minor leaguer traded away that went on to become an absolute stud, the NL will be naming one MVP shortly.

 

[Hugh2]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

Not to mention the loaded question.  “What young players did the Red Sox and only the Boston Red Sox trade away that went on to become an absolute stud?? And not counting Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Anthony Rizzo, Hanley Ramirez, etc.”?  The main reason it’s been so long since the Sox have traded away a minor leaguer who then became a superstar was the Sox have been keeping most of their better prospects of late.
 

Engage in this practice often enough and you will be sharing the downside with other teams.
 

And if anyone still isn’t sold and needs an example of a young minor leaguer traded away that went on to become an absolute stud, the NL will be naming one MVP shortly.

 

It's like, you know you won't be getting Mookie Betts and family too. 

[moonslav59]

45 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Now I agree with you about their first 1-2 seasons, but that doesn’t appear to be what the master plan was. Maybe some seasoned veterans would have helped too like Raffy, and Bregman, but that didn’t work out either. Ah the old warped circle jerk. How original. Abreu, RAF Man have been fine, and Toll Man was fine his first full year too, but they were not billed to be the stars of the show, and Casas, Mayer,Teel,  KC, and little A were. Seems like someone on here cautioned three years ago about the bumper crop from the farm might not turn out as good as expected. Have a good day.👋

You agree on 1-2 years then claim they haven't turned out as good as expected. It's only been 2 years, so once again, circle jerk nonsense.

Not one poster projected AWESOME in 2 years. I'm not even anyone said 3-4 years. Maybe they did, but certainly not the amount of posters you imply were overestimating to AWESOME.

[moonslav59]

44 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

``Like, We could have traded Tolle and Arias for JOE RYAN 1.5 years ago. 

Thank god we did not

Trading suspects can never be wrong. LOL

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, notin said:

Not to mention the loaded question.  “What young players did the Red Sox and only the Boston Red Sox trade away that went on to become an absolute stud??

Not many or any.

We wait until they become studs, then trade them or let em walk.

Six soxprospects began, here are top prospects traded early in their careers or as prospects. (sp.com rankings)

None (other than the ones you mentioned) became great....

Here are others...

1 in '03: Freddie Sanchez

1 in '03 Jorge de la Rosa

2 in '04 Brandon Marsh

3 in '04: Shoppach

2 in '05 Craig Hansen

3 in '08 Masterson & Reddick

1 in '09 C Kelly

3 in '16 Espinoza

1 in '22 Mayer

3 in '24 Teel

3 in '25 Perales & Early

2 in '26 Eyanson and 3 in '26 Witherspoon

[oldtimer]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I don't blame you for thinking this is what I meant, but the point I was trying to make is that we can and are wrong about what we expect of players.

We were wrong about Roman- some more than others, but also I think some assumed many of us expected and talked of greatness year one, when I don't recall anyone holding that view.

How that relates to Duran? This was more about some "believing the hype" on Roman, and I wanted to relate on how was that any different than people expecting more from Duran than what he gave us.

Hell, I wanted Duran traded, but I was way wrong on just how bad he would get in 2 years. I wasn't trying to single you out. I was singling all of us out.

Why not ditch the blame game attitude and talk about what we can do to improve for the coming season. Any talk od JH being unwilling to spend as was posited earlier in this thread ignores the fact that two low budget teams played in the WS. Spending more doesn't guarantee anything. Look at the Mets for instance. Our front office does has to avoid laying eggs and we also need to be a little luckier. 

Yes, Duran bombed, Anthony had a long term injury and Story was nursing injuries. For 2027, we have Mead for a season, Arias is a good defensive shortstop who could also give us a decent bat. Anthony will be back and  Rauschman give us a boost at C. So try to trade Duran, Story and Yoshida while looking for a power bat for DH. Don't forget Casas still has potential. 

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

Why not ditch the blame game attitude and talk about what we can do to improve for the coming season.

Exactly.

Everyone was wrong about somebody. We don't suck because some were wrong about Duran and others about Anthony of others about both or none.

We sucked because our offense sucked.

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

In one limited way, I guess, but it's not happening.

I'd prefer to think the budget is limited, so let's find ways to spend what we got better.

MVP says I'm supporting JH's checkbook, but I don't support it. I take it for what it is and hate it. Accepting something is not agreeing with it.

In many choices it's either or, and someone saying we should get both is not wrong, but it's not realistic, and that bugs me.

Again, that's on me not you and others. (The bugging part.)

JH is not going anywhere. He may or may not change his spending ways, but I'm choosing to take the view that I'll believe it when I see it, and I'm not getting my hopes up. Yes, that can be considered pessimistic.

You certainly aren't as pessimistic as Fred or Red.

So you prefer to develop a shield of lowered expectations so you wont get disappointed - and acknowledge that some might call that pessimistic and your crossed with me because I was hopeful to get both Bregman and Alonso which you think is unrealistic and it bothers you because it clashes with your shield.

I can understand that.  I can also understand how asserting something like "Ill forgive JH if we get Bregman and Alonso"  can come across as disingenuous if you believe there is a 0% chance that can happen.  This would be complainy in disguise: "I know Ive been hard on the team, but if they spend 600m and win 11  championships, Ill eat crow.  And Ill even give them a fresh start and maybe theyll do it"

That would be setting the bar unreasonably high, and really a manipulation tactic to try to come across as reasonable and reachable - when in actuality the person is being dense and incredulous.  

But Alonso and Bregman got like 330m combined and there are multiple 700m contracts in the mlb.  And both Alonso and Bregman were perfect fits.  Alonso is a premier power hitter and Bregman is a very solid hitter and even better all around player who had extra value from mentoring Roman.  It may have been under 50% that we get both, but it wasnt some fake / unrealistic / manipulative ask.

We could have (and I believe should have) gotten both - and I still believe it would have been great if we had.  We might have even beat the Yankees.  And regarding the likelihood of it, JH made a billion dollars recently buying the penguins for 1b and selling them 2 yrs later for 2b.  He put a ton of that money into liverpool.  He also recently bought into f-1.  He does spend/invest.  Maybe not as much on us as he use to, but get Bregman and Alonso and we go from like 11th in payroll to 5th? I dont think thats painfully unrealistic.  Maybe slightly greedy, but I dont think its "wasted breath" territory.

I dont think of you as a JH/billionaire wallet lover or as a boot licker.  Just because MVP says that about you, doesnt mean you should take offense when I say it about Joe Brady who literally said to me once, if it wasnt for billionaires, we wouldnt have cell phones so give em a break, will ya!  (hes weird)

And I dont think you were massively wrong or more wrong than the next guy.  I think the only one of us who was so wrong, he he should prob pick a different sport is Joe Brady.  He said that we didnt need offense  ( the only thing you were wrong about , Moon, is when you said nobody said that we didnt need more offense - but I dont blame you for not memorizing Joe Bradys every word, most of them are dismissible). JB also said that nobody could have predicted Storys injury, that gay people pretend to be gay for attention, and a bunch of other wrong stuff.

So just dont personalize it when Im going after him.  I dont want you to be disappointed, I dont try to build up your hope as some kind of evil plot.  I was actually excited at the possibility of getting Bregman and one of Alonso or Schwarber.  And I still dont think it was "wasted breath" to ask for it.  But I do feel bad if it built your hopes up for them to eventually be knocked down.  So Im sorry for that.  Ill tell you who does want you to be disappointed tho....Joe Brady all the time says things like "this offseason I think it would be wise for the red sox to focus on resetting the luxury tax and cutting payroll and i cant wait to watch people freak out and scream at the sky. Red Sox fans are the worst!" <- This is literally how he talks.

And theres just been too much of that over the last 10 years.  Too much bitterness.  Too much trying to burn the world down because it will cause other people misery.  Too much rooting for rain.  Thats probably why grumpy old men with this worldview got pretty handedly rejected this week.  

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

So you prefer to develop a shield of lowered expectations so you wont get disappointed - and acknowledge that some might call that pessimistic and your crossed with me because I was hopeful to get both Bregman and Alonso which you think is unrealistic and it bothers you because it clashes with your shield.
 

Not like that at all.

I'm not going to expect something from JH that happen or has less than a 1% chance of happening.

We spent enough to get Alonso and Bregman, but again, I did not want Bregman at even our lower offer cost. $20M on Gray, $18M on Willson and $26M on Suarez gets us both. Add the $6M for IKF and the money we could have saved by trading Duran, we maybe we could have gotten Alonso, Murakami and Gray.

It's not a "shield" as I often argue JH can and should spend more and point out that he has spent in cycles before and seems to be upping the spending recently, despite the Devers dump plus the Breggie bolt.

I can understand that.  I can also understand how asserting something like "Ill forgive JH if we get Bregman and Alonso"  can come across as disingenuous if you believe there is a 0% chance that can happen.  This would be complainy in disguise: "I know Ive been hard on the team, but if they spend 600m and win 11  championships, Ill eat crow.  And Ill even give them a fresh start and maybe theyll do it"

Like I said, I agree with being highly critical of JH for not spending, and I'm not trying to stifle that debate, but it bugs me when posters blame Brez for botching it by not spending more. I will never say your point about signing Alonso and Bregman, instead of Suarez and Contreras is unrealistic, because it isn't. We spent that much. When people say we "could have done them all," they are not wrong and do have the right to say it, but it bugs me when they misplace the blame on Brez not JH.

...And theres just been too much of that over the last 10 years.  Too much bitterness.  Too much trying to burn the world down because it will cause other people misery.  Too much rooting for rain.  Thats probably why grumpy old men with this worldview got pretty handedly rejected this week.  

I skipped over the middle part I mostly agree with, and I'll speak to this final part of your post:

I'm as pissed as anyone over the last 8 years (not 10.) The whole mess started before 2019, so in a way 10 years is accurate. One thing I did get right was the pending "cliff," because I knew JH is never one to keep spending more and more and more without having check-back 2-3 years of limiting spending and preparing for the next cycle. I kept expecting the uptick to start at anytime and was disappointed over a few winters, when they talked of going "all in" and never came close. Call it "lowering expectations," and I guess it kinda is, but I don't think I ever lowered what I expected and thought JH should do, but I resigned myself to the fact that he wasn't going to do it- maybe never again or at least until he felt a pretty sure window is upon the team. I felt like 2025 and 2026 were "the time," and I was a little encouraged by pretty significant spending increases, but we were starting from a pretty low point- lower in spending ranking than any other time under JH, so significant uptick in spending was in reality, just getting back to where were were around 2021, and the team was left to fend for themselves without any major money-fueled additions.

Our CB Tax and EOY budgets have increase for 2 straight years. The CB budget by over $45M in 2 seasons, but I don't feel encouraged it will continue this winter- lock out or not. I feel saying I've set expectations low has the connotation that somehow I'm okay with it or aren't as pissed as anyone else, because I don't bring it up after every big named guy we show "interest in" then get outbid on. I do think Brez has made some mistakes, and one biggie was the lack of an elite bat add over the winter. We've agreed on that all along. I do think he should get props for getting a .900 batter for $18M and Fitts. I do think he at least realized his mistake (unlike Bloom) and made a major attempt at fixing that over the summer with two major upgrade stabs (Mead & AR) as well what looked like a really good pen add (Miller,) only to see that plan fizzle with injuries and drop-off when we needed it most. 

The Sale trade still haunts us. The Devers trade was needed, but not replacing his offense was our downfall. That's on Brez. He had the money to spend on it, and chose $20M on Gray then $26M on Suarez. I'm big on pitching, but that unbalanced the roster. The Mead for Early and AR for MiLB pitching was an attempt to rebalance that failed, but he was on the right track, and I'm optimistic he knows what he's doing.

I think the 2026 roster was better than 2025 in many areas, and we look good going into 2027,  but we lack that elite bat. I think we  both know that.