jacksonianmarch

Doubt he’s at $35 mil a year. I have a strong suspicion that he’s a Yankee next year. I could also see a scenario where Andujar is moved for pitching after that. Machado to 3B Andujar plus for DeGrom Sheffield moves into the rotation Frazier takes over LF Carroll or Kahnle move up to take over for Robertson Team would be reloaded

Exactly. We knew Gray was heading to NY last year, but before that the deal with CWS came with no chatter and the Stanton trade was already done and waiting his approval when it was leaked. When you hear the Yankees involved in a rumor, I would say most of the time it’s the other team leaking and may not even be true. He’s already said he’s doing something. In June he said the team had earned the right to be upgraded via trade. He’s not going to say that if he didn’t have an idea of what he could get. In terms of predicting what he’s doing.... I think he makes a deal for an innings eater, possibly a JA Happ or a Kyle Gibson. I also think he’s going to land another high leverage reliever.

I agree with you there. I do not agree that he's selling the farm for a starter. He could be setting up smokescreens and has his eye on something totally unexpected

He played through it. He'll be fine

And the Cubs were staring at a 108 year title drought. There’s a different pressure on your club when there’s a curse as some of you guys might remember. There will be no Machado deal for Andujar. I could definitely see Andujar dealt for pitching if we get Machado, but we won’t send an .800 OPS 3b in the majors who has 5 more years of team control for a rental. That’s just stupid. From the sounds of it, there’s been almost no offers for the Mets pair of aces. It seems initial requests scared everyone off. To this point, the Yanks have shown no willingness to deal Sheffield, as they’ve essentially labeled him as untouchable. Cashman has done this before where he’s seen the market and might upgrade a strength at a cheaper cost than upgrading a weakness

They shouldn't be. Machado is going to go for far less than most people realize. JD was dealt last year for 3 guys outside of the top 10 in a weak Arizona farm system. Rentals don't have value, especially when you can no longer get a pick for them

One had to remember that Machado is a rental. A rental that doesn't even come with draft pick compensation due to the trade. We bilked two desperate teams in 2016, one of them on a rental. We aren't a desperate team. We have a bright present and future. We don't have to blink and deal the farm. Chance Adams is a big price to pay for Machado. I know the kid is having a rough first half, but his stuff is top end and he isn't even on a 40 man yet. Swanson has high velocity and has been destroying our system before he got hurt. He's on a rehab assignment, so it isn't like he is damaged goods. Frazier is a top prospect who has done nothing but absolutely rake in AAA at a young age. The kid shouldn't be dealt for a rental

You clearly don't know anything about our minor leaguers.

That's what they are looking at. I read that the sox are looking at more than just a rental. They're looking for closers available for next yr as well in preparation of losing Kimbrel in FA.

It isn't overblown. The author isn't comparing it to the already high price the sox are paying by losing $1 mil in INTL bonus money for being over the cap as a large market club. Add that to the fact that they will pick 10 picks later and lost the change to sign a later round signability case and the dropoff is more significant. I agree with the author that the dropoff in the MLB draft after picks 1-10 is big. But the drop-offs after the 30 range are pretty significant as well. Dropping into what will essentially be the beginning of the second round will affect the talent level of the draft. That being said, if the difference is the sox winning a title or not, I think you pay the price

One has to wonder why Dalbec is still in High A ball as a 23 yr old.

Price is giving you some value. I think the Ellsbury and Pujols contracts are far worse. Those guys turned into either a sub replacement level player (Pujols) or a tin man who stopped being productive in Ells

Peter Angelos is taking a far less aggressive role in every day operations and his sons are taking over. They’re not as hard up against the Yankees as dear old Dad was. The most important thing for the Orioles is getting back the best they can get. If Manny goes to NYY and wins a title, but the package they get back ends up helping them then it’s a win win. I am still perplexed as to the why, though. Our lineup is the deepest in baseball already. When Torres and Sanchez come back, we will have a 1-9 that can hurt you almost equally throughout especially with Bird showing the power bat we know he has. My guess is a Machado deal is the first domino of a larger deal to get an ace which would involve Andujar. You don’t deal top prospects for rentals, so I think Manny will come cheaper than most think. But a guy like DeGrom or Bumgarner is going to be expensive as hell

Yankees made a “strong offer” for Machado. Cashman usually gets what he goes for. Sheffield is apparently NOT in the offer.

Dave Dombrowski built a team that is on pace to win 111 games going into the final series before the ASB. You have to be happy with him

Let's look at money for next year right now in terms of predicting next year's club and what work they'll do at deadline 2018 AAV as it pertains to the cap Stanton $22 mil Tanaka $22.1 mil Ellsbury $21.8 mil Chapman $17.2 mil Gardner $2 mil buyout Gregorius Final arb year (est $12 mil) Gray 3rd arb yr (est $7 mil) Betances final arb year (est $8 mil) Hicks final arb year (est 8 mil) Kahnle second arb year (est $2 mil) Romine final arb year (est $2.5 mil) Severino first arb year (est $8 mil) Bird first arb year (est $2 mil) That's $135 mil in terms of non renewable contracts. There are 27 other guys should we not add anyone who would be making the minimum, so that adds $6.5 mil to the ledger. We will have an estimated budget of $141.5 mil then add in the $13-15 mil or so in benefits and we are at $155 mil. The lux tax phases up to $206 mil in 2019. We could theoretically spend $51 mil on our club in the offseason and not hit the lux tax. We could spend almost $40 mil above that before we hit the final marker. We are poised to add significantly in the FA market next year. We have approx. $16 mil to spend this year before hitting the tax. We can add anything. We could deal for Manny for peanuts then re-sign him and not lose a draft pick.

Agreed, if we empty the farm, we get a pitcher. If we can get Manny for peanuts, we do it Thing is, we will have stupid amounts of money being available. We don't need Manny this year. We might be getting him for next year plus adding a pitcher. We will reset our debt and then see $38 mil come off the books with Sabathia, KRob and Gardner moving on. We are below $190 mil as a team. We will be around $160 mil with minimal arb raises next year. We can go as high as $240 mil. We technically will have $80 mil to play with in the offseason, in addition to a 100 win team that comes back with a stocked farm and MLB ready replacements for outgoing players

Disagree with that sentiment. We’ve got two all stars returning after the break. I also think we’re better equipped for playoff baseball with our pen. That being said, the Sox go thermonuclear against bad teams and no matter who we add, we may not be able to catch them for the division

I disagree on the TOTR starter. I think we need an innings eater type to save our pen come post season. Once we get into the postseason, that innings eater or Gray (whomever is sucking the least) can “start” game 4 of any series we play with the pen rescuing them at the first sign of trouble. We’re going to follow the 2015 Royals method of playoff staff management. Sevy, CC and Tanaka will get a few innings leash then will go batter by batter with the pen coming in for the rescue. The fourth slot will be filled by a “starter” who’ll get bounced after a couple innings at the first sign of trouble. Also, in the playoffs, the spacing is different. You can use a reliever literally every game and they’ll still get standard rest as long as they’re only going one inning a game. As it stands, we’ve got Holder, Green, Warren, KRob, Betances, and Chapman who are all pitching well. Kahnle should be back up soon as he’s dominating in the minors again. That’ll be 7 guys with lights out stuff and numbers. We can take the game from the 3rd inning on and have our pen shut it down

Exactly. Thing is, we rise to our competition but we have been sinking to the competition in division. We are 5-2 vs HOU, 3-0 vs CLE and 4-3 vs BOS. That’s a .705 win % vs the division leaders. Yet we have a losing record cs the O’s The Sox have just been decimating bad teams and holding their own vs the good ones.

I think the Sox we’re trying to bump his stock for a trade and thus far, it’s backfired

The tough thing to realize as a fan is that trying to keep up with the Sox at this stage is a fools errand. We’re on pace for a 106 win season after today’s loss. If we win 106 games and end up in the WC game, then so be it. We haven’t hit 100 wins since 2009. We haven’t gone past 103 since 1998.

Your lineup is already good 1-5. Adding Machado would make it deadly

If the price drops enough, I could absolutely see the Sox getting Machado. Throw him at 2b and roll with a stupid lineup

Tanaka spit the bit but our pen really sucked. 5 runs should beat the O’s