jacksonianmarch

I don’t think I’d jump if I were Baltimore at anything Groome related. I know he’s got great stuff, but his proximity is so far away and with the injury history and the off the field stuff, he’s lost the ability to be a headliner. That may change this year.

That’d be like the Yankees trying to convert Betances back to starting. Bard was a tall guy with huge stuff who couldn’t locate for s*** in the minors. He finds the zone for a short while in the pen as a big leaguer. You don’t mess with that. I will say from day 1, I posted on here about how stupid that idea was. There are guys who you can do that with. Guys with a history of severe command issues aren’t the guys to do it with

Andujar has the tools to be a plus defender. He just isn’t yet. He’ll get there. I’m fine with him perfecting it on the job. Heck, Devers was terrible defensively but his bat carried. I’d be fine with that for sure assuming he grows

did it go in looking like Damon and come out looking like Tavares?

We have good glove guys. Wade and Torres are good glove guys. Torreyes isn’t horrible. I’d rather not get a replacement level glove guy. I think Andujar has the skills to hit the crap out of the ball. I want him to get his chance. But Nunez would buy time for Torres and give Torreyes the boot long term

TV ratings, advertising money etc. Ticket sales are probably less than half of their yearly income

You have a lot to contend with in Boston with the Pats, C's and B's doing well. Some fans aren't able to multi-fan to the tune of 4 teams. Also, the sox hay day involved lethal offenses. I know the commish doesn't like long games, but there was a definite allure to the Manny/Papi and ARod/Jeter led squads of the mid 2000s and the 4+ hour slugfests that ensued. The offenses were crazy. Yes, you saw the final firing of Pedro's arm and the bloody sock and the curse end, but the games were fun because the offenses were ridiculous. Fast forward past 2004 and you have two clubs see-sawing in terms of competitiveness. The sox take 2007, the Yanks 2009, the sox 2013. But after 2012, the Yankees really became average and their offense stagnated. As 2016 came to a close, so did Papi and the offense in Boston cratered in terms of watchability thereafter. As much as a Boston fan wants to see the sox win a game, 90% of fans polled would like to see a 9-7 game with fireworks over a 2-1 Sale masterpiece. Pitching wins, but the longball sells. I watched a TON of sox games last yr as I live in MA and I watched a ton of Yankee games. The Yankees were more interesting to watch because they were always one swing away from changing things. The sox seemed to need a rally in order to get leads, something they did often, but they don't have a phrase "chicks dig the walk, single, sacrifice fly". The sox team also had a malaise attached to it. It was almost as if everyone knew the sox were going to get bounced in the playoffs. It was weird. That Boston bravado wasn't there and I think that partly was blamed on the mundane offensive game the team employed. This is another reason why you need a basher. It will help you win and it will help your team sell tickets. Signing Yu will help the team win, but like I said, people aren't going to be lining up to pay extra to see Yu Darvish throw in Fenway

Slav, if you sign Machado, you lose $1 mil in INTL funds, which also drops how much you can trade for btw. You also lose a 2nd and 5th rounder. By signing Machado and going over the final threshold, your 1st rounder will be 10 spots back. You're losing 10 spots in the draft including the slot allotment, 2 other draft picks one being a second rounder, and the opportunity to spend $1.8 mil in the INTL realm (you can trade for up to 80% of your allotment). That is an absolute season killer in terms of bringing in talent

If Price opts out, then you wont want him to. The only way he opts out is if he has a CY quality 2018

Your lineup would certainly be formidable with JD Martinez and Machado. But like I said, that's a pipe dream. I think the O's owner is so full of dogshit that he wouldn't dare deal Machado to Boston, even if he would get the best return. So that leaves FA. I am one who entirely thinks JD ends up in Boston, which would push your salary close to the upper tax limit. After 2018, your arb guys get even more expensive and you need to either re-sign or replace Pomeranz and Kimbrel. I don't think the sox have an internal candidate to replace Kimbrel, so you'd need to foray into the closers market which will be bonkers and Kimbrel might end up close to $20 mil a season. JD slides back into the DH slot so you wont have to replace HanRam and his $22 mil comes off the books which gives you some breathing room to go after another #2/3 starter and closer, but most of that would be eaten by arb raises to the killer B's. I know Henry can afford crossing any tax limit, but there is a new wrinkle in the CBA that really hits overspending owners. The tax on money above $230 mil is 90% and your top draft pick drops back 10 spots. If you consider the sox are already at a disadvantage due to a decimated farm AND they will be picking at the back end of the draft (presumably due to a probable playoff run), a deal for Machado would knock out their 2nd and 5th rounder (as comp for signing a QO player), they'd lose $1 mil of INTL funds, and your 1st rounder would effectively be moved to the end of the sup round or into the beginning of the 2nd round. That would be death on a team staring into the abyss ont he player development end

Baseball is making far more money than they are letting on and with revenue sharing, all the teams are very capable of paying the rent. You have to remember, MLB could break even and then some on TV deals alone and those deals aren't up for re-negotiation for years. Teams are creating their own networks to rake in the cash even further. There is a reason a franchise like Miami was worth $2.1 billion.

If you sign JD, there’s no earthly way you also sign Machado. You be so far over the upper tax limit that Henry would need to refinance

I was thinking more a 10 year $300 mil contract for Harper with $120 mil over the first 3 years then $180 mil over the final 7 with an opt out after 3. In terms of JD, you’re not getting him to bite. Harper would want that opt out around the age of 30 so he can cash in again on a long term deal. JD is already 30, so this is his last big contract. You might be able to sign him for 5 yrs $130 mil and have $100 mil over the first 3 seasons with an opt out if you want to, but it’s have to be an obscene front loading for him to opt out at age 33

There is not jd. As a matter of fact, I think that’s the thing Harper will be asking for in his deal. Front load the contract with an opt out then smaller purses after the opt out. Allows the player to have security for injury or ineffectiveness as well as a chance to make obscene cash and allows the team to have a lower lux tax hit

Exactly. Few balls out of YS in LF will not get out in Fenway

Every hitter hits line drives. Every hitter also hits fly balls. RH hitters will, on average, hit more fly balls to LF than lefties would. Fenway is a place where a fly ball to LF has a better chance to leave the park or hit the wall than it would in other parks where similar hits would be outs. I get the doubles nonsense. But Fenway has also claimed its share of cans of corn to LCF and turned them into HRs

Fenway is absolutely a RH hitters HR park. It’s death to lefties for power.

Look again at Scott. His HR rate was immense

Every single FA gets linked to NY at some point. I briefly heard Alex Cobb, but that makes no sense. The one name I recently read was Nunez and that makes a ton of sense. I’d start Nunez at 2b and let Andujar take 3b out of the gate. If Andujar falters, then move Nunez to 3b and bring up Torres once he shakes off the rust for a bit in AAA. I don’t fill both 2b and 3b with vets. But I’d be fine getting a guy capable of playing both

Because DD doesn’t want to give Boras what he wants. Boras wants 7 yr $210 mil. I bet DD sent over a 5yr $125 mil offer

He’s destined for AA and unless he continues to hit 30+ HR, he’ll be manning a position in the field when he debuts. And I don’t think he’s a 30+ HR guy annually

I still think JD ends up in Boston. The only problem with the JD thing is that him dragging this out decreased Boston's contingency options. A part of me wants to see the sox move on and leave Boras without a suitor

If he gets JD, then the salary will be right up against the upper limit of the penalty. It’s more an either or rather than a both

New report that DD is waiting on JD. He feels he has the best offer out there and is just waiting for JD to decide where to go. Once he decides, the sox can either move on or be done

Chavis might be a CIF later in his career, but by the time he is ready, you'll be fighting mediocrity in lux tax hell. Your window is now. If you can get a guy who can win you a title in 2018, you do it