ORS

Jacko with the consolation that's really a dig. The backhanded compliment. No surprise. The reality is they played to their pythag. They were as good as their record, but they did it in hot/cold fashion, and the cold showed up for the playoffs. Take the good with the bad. My consolation? Don't need one, I'm not upset and don't need consoling. On to fixing the team.

I'll address this later in an idea for a thread I have, but I don't plan on starting it until the season is officially over.

I've been impressed with LSU's effort tonight. I thought if Tebow played, the quality of Florida's defense vs. LSU's undeveloped offense would kind of make the game a laugher. Kudos to LSU. It's looking like the bigs are starting to hold serve. If that continues, Florida and 'Bama will battle it out for the right to play Texas.

The issue with the other packages is there's less surety that you are getting someone who will actually contribute. Buchholz is at the point where the last piece of the puzzle is consistency, but since it hasn't come, I don't know how "likely" it is he eclipses Gonzalez in WARP who has. As far as $/W goes, for a team like the Sox who can afford to pay the extra coin for the extra win, which can determine the fate of seasons, I don't think they should blink when it comes to filling a spot of noticeable deficiency.

What is the point? It's my opinion. That's the point. I'm informing someone that you need not bother with the specifics when it comes to reading a Dojji post. See the name Dojji, assume a deficiency of perspective as it pertains to consideration of all parties interests in consumating a deal, assume a deficiency of analysis as it pertains to consideration of player production and worth, etc, etc. This is only my opinion. However, the frequency of similar posts by other members should tell you something about your thought process, or lack thereof.

People take the reported "...they could have closed the deal for $190M / 8 years..." as gospel. I'm skeptical of anything that gets reported when it comes to contract negotiations, particularly when they come before any deal is struck. It's not only reasonable, but I can think of no reason why Boras would agree to strike a deal before the Yankees had a chance to counter, so your suggestion that only a ludicrous deal ends that meeting with ink on a contract is most likely right. When/if the Red Sox blanched at such demands and backed away from the table, it would be in Boras interest to get them back to the table after talking to the Yankees. What better way than leaking the offer that "could have got the deal done" to put fan sentiment on the side of continued negotiations? Now that I think about it, who broke that reported offer? If it was Heyman, you can bet it was Boras propaganda. Anyway, I think the FO still could have handled it better. After they walked away from the table a statement like the following would have been helpful (if it is what happened): "We entered negotiations with the intent of getting a deal done today. We were informed that in order to strike a deal today it required an exorbidant offer. We can only assume this means our best and final offer would be shopped to other teams (read Yankees). Our best and final offer remains on the table."

In fact, let's do this. You are the San Diego GM. You just got hired. The guy you replaced was fired for not building a winner. This is your first offseason. You've got some financial constraints, and the outlook on future talent in your system is a little bleak. The Red Sox are interested in trading for your lone shining star. What is your line in the sand in regards to the return package? EDIT: Oh, and you know the Red Sox are desperate for a 1B masher, which your guy is. There's nothing on the market for them to purchase, and their decision to be cautious last year when there was an elite guy available blew up in their faces.

No, but Saltalamacchia was MLB ready. His minor league development was pretty much done. Furthermore, there was no season of suck at the MLB level to cast doubt on his potential. And, keep in mind, right now we are only comparing one package to another, in the given scenario, the team will have to come up with two packages for young elite players. There's no way Buchholz doesn't make it into one of them. Think about it from the perspective of the other team. Do you give up your best young player and not demand Buchholz in return? I don't, because I'm not making trades that don't make me better, and there are few packages the Sox could put together without Buchholz that make me think I'm improving while giving up an Adrian Gonzalez or Felix Hernandez.

Doubtful. Not if, as Keeper stated, the Sox are acquiring both. It just doesn't work like that. When you trade for an already established elite player, you are giving up your best, brightest, and closest to MLB ready prospects. Look at the Teixeira to Atlanta trade for reference. Texas got Saltalamacchia, who was Atlanta's best prospect at the time, + Neftali Feliz and Elvis Andrus, two guys with tons of talent who were at lower levels in their development. Casey Kelly, at this stage of his development, is an add-on for a young established elite.

So, let me get this straight, now Felix isn't worth going after at the cost of Buchholz? Is this another marginal upgrade like Teixeira over Lowell last offseason? If so, I can't help but think Gonzalez is going to become a "luxury" in the near future since it will block the 20 year all-star.

You forgot the part where Dojji attempts to steer the topic away from the initial argument where he's a sinking ship taking on water.

This just isn't true. There is no shortage of guys with excellent power who are very flawed in other areas. The shortage is guys who can field, run, hit for average.....and hit for power. Power on an island is not more sought after than quality pitching. It just isn't. You value it very highly, but the league does not agree with you.

This is a good point. With added resources comes the expectation of using those resources, which exposes GMs from big market teams to more risk of signing a bust that smaller club GMs don't have to worry about.

Sub-par? This again? I asked you to compare him to his peers, ie to establish "par". Please do so, because your resources argument is a cop out. You mention Beane as being somebody you'd trust more with the Red Sox resources? Really? The same Beane that made Chavez and Crosby, two complete busts, the cornerstones of his franchise? If you think the Drew and Lugo signings were bad, take a look that those two guys. The same Beane who traded Tim Hudson for 3 busts? The same Beane who traded away Ted Lily for Bobby Keilty? This is his Arroyo for WMP moment. This guy? I'll admit, Beane is limited by the salary constraints, but he hasn't won anything either.

While not everyone is a model of consistency, so therefore, to some degree, everyone goes on good and bad streaks. I'm suggesting this collection of players is streaky relative to the normal ebb and flow. This doesn't make them incapable of winning a championship, but it does make the accomplishment less likely when they perform to the ebb in the playoffs. Particularly when the ebb seems to be aggravated by being on the road.

Nice try, but if you go back and look at the game logs, when they are hitting well they hit everyone, and when they were in a funk Paul Byrd clones shut them down. They are streaky, both as a group and as individuals.

Suckball, suckball, suckball. Overrated pitcher, and the "proven postseason" pitcher stuff is bunk. He's inconsistent. Regular season, playoffs, whatever.

While Beckett is right, they never f***ing call that. Maybe it would help if he didn't throw the suckball.

He's probably waiting to see if the guy slides off the base.