mvp 78

Yeah, I think that impact on ranking is stupid. I agree that it happens to an extent, but it seems like Law has pushed it a little over the top in his rankings. BA and MLB Pipeline have Casas in the 20's and he's already in MLB, Law has him in the 40's. Casas already had a decent showing at the end of the MLB season last year. Rafaela's AA OBP was lower than Casas' MLB OBP. It'd be one thing if we thought Rafaela was going to make the BOS roster early on this season, but that doesn't appear to be the case. He's still got a lot of development left to do in that bat. My worry with Rafaela is that people are really just saying "his defense is going to be so good that it will outweigh how low his OBP will be," but we don't really know how low it will actually be. He doesn't have the BB rate to put up a 3 fWAR JBJ season. That's good enough to be a 1.5-2 fWAR guy? That's fine, I guess? But 1.5-2 fWAR for 1B is Ryan Mountcastle who had a 106 wRC+ or Josh Bell who had a 120 wRC+ last season. Casas had a 120 wRC+ in his first sniff of the majors. Probably going to improve on that. The normal yearly outcome is going to be Casas with a higher fWAR than Rafaela because of Rafaela's lack of patience at the plate.

If anything, Bloom was much calmer and kinder to Sox fans than the rest of the ownership group. Not sure where you are pulling this dig out of. Sure, he had the ill advised "bets" tangent and couldn't stop saying it, but at least he comes across as honest. The thread that links Varitek lowballing to Lester lowballing to Betts lowballing to Xander lowballing isn't Bloom, but John Henry. Tom Werner, who was not on the stage, is apparently on the side of using the checkbook and spending. It's John Henry who doesn't want to go over the luxury tax. Sam Kennedy is there solely to keep John Henry in line and speak for ownership, because when Henry goes off script he ends up taking his 12 speed bike to the local radio station and acting like a bufoon.

Fine, let's just go with 25x7 for arguments sake. I can safely say that he'll play better than Story will over the next few years. I don't think Bogey will be worth the Padres contract, but the reported lower contract he would have accepted seems attainable. He would need to amass about 22 fWAR over the next 7 years, which seems doable. And if they kept Xander for this one season, why would they necessarily have to get under the cap this season? They could still sign the same guys you mentioned, but wouldn't need Duvall and could get Turner on a 1x15M. They could just use next year to reset. Or just don't bring in Turner either and get someone cheaper in as a DH option like Jesus Aguilar or whoever. Duvall is only here because Kiké was moved to the IF because Story was moved to SS but got hurt. If Xander stays, Story stays at 2b and you Story's injury still leaves Arroyo as the starting 2B, which is where we are at anyway.

Well, they were wrong about that part. They ended up needing him since Story was damaged goods. With the added upper AAV swing in SS contracts, Xander could have either been dealt elsewhere or kept as a below market deal.

37. Ceddanne Rafaela "...His defense is elite and he’s a 70 runner as well, so he doesn’t have to hit that much to be a solid big leaguer, and he could be an above-average regular as a low-OBP, 20+ homer guy. The hope is that he improves the choices he’s making as a hitter and that he recognizes pitch types sooner with experience and reduces some of that chase to give himself a chance to be a high-average hitter and potential star on both sides of the ball." 40. Triston Casas "He’s a first baseman who rakes, and should be the traditional slugger for that position, hitting for some average with a ton of walks and either 40-odd doubles or 25-plus homers."

Rafaela should NOT be higher than Casas. Rafaela is 86 on MLB Pipeline and 71 on Baseball America. Law is way too high on him.

They tanked 2020 and got a great draft pick out of it. Mayer is already a top 10 prospect by some accounts. Too bad we couldn't get a second one for last season's LAST PLACE FINISH.

I was saying the 2019 was the same as the 2018 team. Calling the 2019 just a .500 team is underselling the talent that squad had.

@bnicholsonsmith Here are the new Rogers Centre dimensions LCF now 368 (was 375) with a wall that's higher. RCF now 359 (was 375) with a wall that's much higher. Rogers Centre’s New Outfield Dimensions and Wall Heights LF Line: 328' (same) Wall: 14'4" (prev 10') RF Line: 328' (same) Wall: 12' 7" (prev 10') LC: 368' (prev 375') Wall: 11' 2" (prev 10') RC: 359' (prev 375') Wall: 14' 4" (prev 10') LC Power Alley: 381 feet (previously 383 feet) Wall: 12 feet 9 inches (previously 10 feet) RC Power Alley: 372 feet (previously 383 feet) Wall: 10 feet 9 inches (previously 10 feet) Straight Away CF: 400 feet (no change) Wall: 8 feet (previously 10 feet)

I'm sure I will have completely forgotten about Arias in a few weeks.

Which was basically the same roster from the year prior where they won like 120 games including the playoffs...

It's the candy aisle at the Dollar Tree.

They are looking at Perez for C and Moore for LHP. Maybe finding another scrap heap MIFer?

I think 2022 was worse than 2020. The results in 2020 were horrific, BUT I don't think he anticipated Sale AND ERod missing the whole year. Once the pandemic hit, there was no real point in trying to compete anyway.

I mean, we're at that point in the offseason.

Stock was good. Sorry that you have an unending love for two losers like Weber and Valdez.

No. Robert Stock 0.2 fWAR Valdez 0.1 fWAR Weber 0.0 fWAR

Total projected payroll is 62M.

We watch on MLB.tv using an Amazon Fire Stick. Very dangerous for him.

@AdamMcCalvy The Brewers have signed righty Robert Stock to a Minor League contract with an invitation to big-league camp. He pitched in South Korea last year after appearing in the Majors for the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs and Mets from 2018-21. The only good 2020 reliever.

The combination of trading their best MLB players and development.

Don't stare too hard.

Quite a fall for that guy.

IDK, I guess I'm just not a long term Springs believer. We'll have to see how it goes. Seems like Rays get guys to pop for a year or two then they fall off the map. I think Springs won't be worth the 10M when the contract reaches that amount.

https://www.milb.com/player/skylar-arias-670404 The Red Sox signed left-hander Skylar Arias to a minor-league contract for the 2023 season, per the club’s transaction’s log. He will be assigned to Double-A Portland and he awaits his spring training date assignment. Arias comes to organization drawing comparisons to another big time left-hander in Chris Sale. While playing at Tallahassee Community College, his coaches compared his delivery to that of Sale’s. “I think it’s pretty cool. To be compared to someone who’s had success at the highest level for such a long time,” said Arias. “That’s kind of been my comparison for awhile now. I don’t see it but maybe the arm slot and we both throw weird.” The new Red Sox minor leaguer offers a three pitches in his repertoire, a low-90s fastball, low 80s slider and low-to-mid 80s changeup according to Baseball America. “He has an unusual four-seam fastball that’s heavy with side spin, but lacks hop, moving almost like a sinker from a flat vertical approach angle. This allows the pitch to play above his below-average velocity. “His slider is far and away his go-to swing-and-miss offering, with a whiff rate above 50 percent despite accounting for a quarter of his usage. From a shape perspective his changeup may be his most intriguing pitch. It sits 82 mph with average velocity separation from his fastball. He does an excellent job of killing the lift on the pitch, which gives it plenty of tumble. It also has hellacious run,” wrote Baseball America back in December 2021. Arias comes to his third organization after spending parts of seven seasons in Cleveland and the White Sox system. The Florida native is excited about his new opportunity with the Red Sox organization and is prepping for spring training. “Right now I’m still waiting on a report date to spring training. The offseason has been going very well and I’m ready to get going with an awesome organization,” said Arias. “This game can be very challenging and you have to learn to enjoy the ups and downs and learn from it. I’m very excited to meet my new teammates and coaching staff.”