I agree with this wholeheartedly. The Sox have one of the largest FO's in baseball (maybe even the largest) and a lot of it is at the tippy top. I can see having a lot of voices down on the farm working with individual players, but the sheer amount of EVP's this org rolls out is staggering. Because of this, no matter what direction Crag wants to take the team, there is going to be a dissenting opinion from another higher up that will be leaked to the press. It is not an ideal workplace and it's not one where quick decisions are probably fostered.
If we look at years of control at the time of the trade, it would be Rubby De La Rosa. Loney was good the following season, but his contract was up after 2012.
Some players take a hometown discount. That is the only exception to the rule, but it's very, very rare. Tek, Nola, anyone else?
75M was just an example, it wasn't a specific amount for a specific purpose.
Bogaerts was massively overpaid by SD. I don't think that's an issue. Not sure anyone outside of 495 cares about the CBO drama the media ran with. Yeah, Mookie shouldn't have been traded, but he's not the only star player that has left an organization. The way us as fans perceive the negative internal workings of the Red Sox isn't the same as someone outside like Yamamoto. He just wants to get paid and live somewhere he likes. Maybe Masa will have nice things to say?