jacksonianmarch

65% of the teams spend a lot of money now. The luxury tax has proven to be a tremendous hurdle to even the richest teams. There’s only a few truly impoverished teams that spend nothing. Two of those teams (Oakland and TB) keep finding ways into the playoffs because they don’t get hamstring on contracts and keep a very strong farm system. This isn’t the old days when the Yanks spent way more than everyone and the Sox were second well above the rest. The dial has moved, the markets have changed and TV money has given every team enough capital to be competitive. Having cap space is important for filling out a roster, but you don’t team build through FA anymore. You build through trades or promotions and in order to do both, you need prospect capital. DD sold all of it to win in 2018, seemed indifferent to building it up again and when the jenga tower collapsed after 2018, there was nothing left to roster build. Bloom is doing exactly what he did in TB, except he has the finances to make a move like Ottavino and essentially buy a prospect. Your farm is in a much better place, but it’s got a LONG way to go before it starts replacing gap fillers or expiring contract vets with cornerstone or even standard regular players. There is ZERO point for the Sox to spend like maniacs and blast through the Lux tax cap if you’ve got no prospects to fill the rest of your roster. I’ve said before that the Sox might not be regular PO contenders again til 2024. I truly believe that not because the Sox can’t spend, but because they need the sustainable farm production to roster fill and then they be can spend on their deficiencies. Right now, the holes are so big and the gap between prospect and big leagues so large that there’s no point to expedite the process

Post season career (small sample size clearly) 7.2IP, 6ER. When the lights shine the brightest, he shrank the smallest

I guess everything is potential in January. Just like the Sox are potentially going to finish with a .450 win percentage and have viewers tuning out by late April? You’ve become the last hold out of the die hard Kool Aid, pink hat homers that I’m gonna enjoy twisting the knife a bit. Hope you don’t mind

Kimmi is one of the last bastion of Sox homers who thinks the Sox have a chance in 21, so she’s projecting her hopes rather than real likelihood’s or what she actually knows is true. You cannot keep all your prospects. 2 were already on the 40 man and Smith could have needed to be added by the end of 21. And we dealt NONE of our top 14 prospects. Zero, zilch, nada. And we got a guy with ace stuff and ace upside who will leave Pitt and adopt the same philosophy that Cole did when he left Pitt. This kid is healthy now and under control for two seasons. I’m expecting huge things out of him

The Yanks gave up a rattled reliever and a prospect who is likely to be a pen arm and is buried to get the financial cushion to bring a team leader back and have some extra funds for a mid season acquisition. When the Yanks make that mid season move to address whatever their needs become, you can thank Bloom for helping them out. Now the Sox got something here, but it’s only a reasonably fair deal if Ottavino performs in Boston and can be handed off for a good return.

FYI, this is a smart move for Bloom too. Ottavino is still a good reliever. He’s just been broken since Springer tagged him in the 2019 ALCS. Change of scenery to a team not likely to compete, and I bet he closes for you. If he does well, you ship him at the deadline. Ultimately it doesn’t help the fan base that you helped out your rival, but it does help build your farm

Rumor is Sox are picking up most if not all of the contract. If the Yanks shed $9mil for German, that’s a f***ing steal. Yanks were about $5-6 mil from the Lux tax line after getting Taillon. Shedding Ottavino should sneak us under $12-$15 mil. Yanks are expected to re-sign Gardner. Wondering if we take the savings and get another reliever or hold a cushion for a mid season acquisition.

German is a power arm who will be groomed as a starter, but will fly through the system once converted to his expectation, relief

Not sure what’s coming back. Weird!

Taillon has more been snakebit than anything else. Testicular cancer after his debut then TJS in 2019? Taillon has a predictable recovery and should be pretty solid in 2021. Kluber, I have literally no idea what to expect as he was snakebit in 19 then had an injury that has proven to sap power (same muscle that Jake Peavy tore, although Kluber didnt need surgery like Peavy did). Kluber is also 36. I would also put Richards in the snakebit category, although of his own decision. If he got TJS when he first hurt his elbow, he would be 3 years past it by now and would have gotten a pretty lucrative deal. The biggest part of your point is the depth. The sox have Pivetta still in the rotation on OD. That's not a good plan to win. Eovaldi and Perez in the rotation too where both have been less than stellar additions. Depth beyond the top 5 is pretty thin until Sale returns.

I think the biggest point here is that you have to be realistic with your expectations and that "going for it" which won the 2018 WS has its costs. This is it

People who are considering the 2021 sox a finished product are going to be mistaken at any point this year. You dont have to like it, but this is a rebuilding team. The rebuild isnt going to be perfect along the way. Let's be honest, the sox are a distant fourth in the division in talent. They're gonna slow play Sale, ERod will take some time to return to his prior conditioning. Richards will be needed to be a horse, something he hasnt done in awhile, not impossible for him, but hasnt done it in awhile. Eovaldi will need to be healthy, which he has never shown he can do. Perez is a 5th starter punt. Pivetta is a failed prospect with potential, but zero expectations. The pen has a few guys with talent, but on the whole it is a s***** pen. The lineup has a some question marks and a gaping hole in CF that may include LF if Beni is moved. It isn't a good team. Could it surprise and be a playoff contender, maybe, but in a division where they are clearly 4th and with the play being so centered around your division, there is a good chance this team wins 75 games if they are lucky and is out of it early.

Very high on Taillon. The market didnt dictate sending Dominguez. Also, anyone who has seen Dominguez sees a guy who should be a top 10 prospect. Dominguez has one of the highest ceilings in the minors.

You included Sale but forgot Sevy

1. Cole 2. Kluber 3. Taillon 4. Montgomery 5. German 6. Garcia 7. Schmidt 8. King 9. Loaisiga Sevy returning mid season. f***ing loaded rotation now. Time for #28

I totally forgot about German. As it stands, right now, Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt are likely to be the 1-2 punch in our AAA rotation. Then when Sevy comes back, we shall see who gets bumped.

I respect what Sale was. I also am aware that he was losing his power due to a shoulder injury. Then his effort increased, which is why his control suffered and why his elbow exploded. I don’t think you’re gonna see vintage Sale ever again. I also don’t think you’re gonna see vintage ERod until mid season.

From his prior performances. His last two healthy years were 3+ war. He had an injury that players recover from over 90% of the time. It’ll either be zero or back to 3+. Assuming he’s just gonna be a Porcello is a farce

You’re such a homer, lol. There’s now high ceilings, performance, and depth. Our 5 and 6 are top 100s. We have a guy in the wings for June or July who isn’t far removed from back to back top 10 cy young finishes in Sevy. You also don’t have Cole, who is far and away the best and most durable pitcher between the two squads. While adding Richards helps your squad, your rotation is now FAR and away behind the Bronx’ squad. Just like all phases

Steamer and ZIPS are pulling numbers out of their ass since he was hurt from mid 19 through all of 20. Taillon, if he can stay healthy, is a 3+ WAR starter. And getting away from Pittsburgh lends the chance he becomes something more. It wasn’t that long ago that a guy with huge stuff just off TJS left Pitt and became one of the top 3 pitchers in baseball. Taillon has that level of potential

As I’ve said before, that site is junk! And hey, maybe one of them pops and makes it worthwhile. But if they value our minor leaguers like that, we should be able to get anyone!

I’m a prospect-nick of sorts. I never like seeing good prospects go. I am ecstatic for this move

I’m not gonna lie, but this deal is like a f***ing Christmas present in January. Per MLB, these are the 15th, 19th, 27th and unranked prospects in the system. I think Contreras was higher (MLB had Yajure higher) but none of these guys were the top prospect at their position in the organization. We dealt off guys who were likely blocked for an established top notch 29 yr old starter with two years of control left. This kid should be ready to roll out of the gate and I expect big things with him, especially once he adopts the Yanks pitching philosophy. Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole blossomed once they left Pitt and used their power more frequently. I expect the same with Taillon

And the one time they try to upgrade their team, they trade a future ace and middle of the order hitter and the guy they acquire (Archer) immediately implodes!

The only actual loss is Contreras. He has quite a future with front of rotation type stuff. Yajure is more a back of the rotation type of guy who made his big league debut last year, so he likely slots into one of their rotation spots now. He has the highest floor. Smith is redundant in the outfield, yanks have multiple prospects behind him with much higher ceiling for the outfield. Smith is more a high average, 10 to 15 homer kind of player long term, but he also may just be a fourth outfielder type.Escotto has quite a ceiling as a middle infielder. He destroyed rookie ball in 2019. But he has a long way to go before he is relevant. Either way, this is a light return for Taillon. I expected Schmidt to go for him. I’m happy!