mvp 78

It "dwarfed" a FA deal from 15+ years before. Don't all large FA deals do that? You can't compare FA deals from one decade to the next. The prices keep going up and up. For example, the Crawford deal was a HUGE splash, but the Story deal is almost an afterthought.

I think they realized their mistake and heard the fan backlash. Should have probably just given the money to Lester.

Yeah, if you walk along the Embarcadero, you're fine. If you start walking towards Market St, it's garbage. Aside from the Tenderloin, SoMA is just the worst part of SF. There's not much of a reason to be in the Tenderloin though as it's easy enough to walk around.

Just pretend that TalkSox is an Etch-a-sketch that yeszir shakes to reset at 7AM everyday. Previous opinions and arguments don't matter.

Murphy is really an afterthought for me. I just don't see much there. I know his statcast page looks interesting because he limited hard contact, but his OPSa for RHB was still 782 and he wasn't really a LHB killer. When you look at his career numbers he's always had high ERA's except for '22 in AA when his xFIP was still almost 4. I wonder if Murphy and Walter are only on the 40 man because of a lack of better LHP options in the org. LHP Projected per SoxProspects AAA: Walter/Muphy/Booser AA: Penrod/Benitez/Olivarez/Cellucci A+: Rogers/Wu-Yellend/Dean/Landry A-: Early/Mullins/Fogell/Butler/Ingrassia FCL: NONE! DSL: De La Cruz/Sanchez (both rosters) Of those guys, I guess Penrod, Olivarez, Rogers, Early and Mullins are kind of interesting. Penrod is the post-indy ball guy with control issues, but was a potential Rule 5 pick. Olivarez is the Mata-esque signing the Sox made (injury history, once highly regarded prospect, high BB rate). Rogers is a bulk reliever like Murphy most likely. Early could stick as a starter due to his frame and mix. Mullins can't stay healthy, but strikes everyone out. Early is probably the only guy we're still talking about seriously in a few years.

The Price deal shocked Red Sox nation? That's back when we signed those players all the time. Things didn't change until they put Mookie out with the recycling bin on Friday AM.

They used to outbid teams. They are playing things close to their vest this year. We'll see if they can bring back some of that old time religion.

Have the player sign an amendment that states "is it ok to fire the crappy CBO: check box YES [ ] NO [ ]"

I think it all depends on who they acquire. Pivetta should be the #5 and just leave him there. He's fine enough in that role. Crawford can go into the pen and then move him back into the rotation once Sale's body breaks down again. I wouldn't move Houck or Whitlock back into the rotation. I think there are now other guys you could us in emergency roles (Fitts, Gambrell, Gonzalez). SP1 SP2 Bello Sale Pivetta

The risk of adding guys to the 40 man too early is that they'll run out of options at some point. Perales is far away and could have a similar issue at some point. Even if Mata has a solid ST, I'd be tempted to DFA him just because his history so far has not been great. Last year was rough.

I don't want to overthink the bullpen too much. The bullpen was fine last year and it seems like they've added nicely to the depth. The real problem is the bullpen tiring out from not having reliable starters. Getting 2 horses should fix things in '24. The only bullpen guys that have left are Bleier, Ort, Brasier, Garza, Rodriguez and Robertson. None of those guys were valuable last season. All the important pieces return this season.

Imagine that Yamamoto signs a similar deal with the Sox and Old Red is stuck with Crag for 10 years............

Yeah, Sox aren't allowed to sign MiLB contracts anymore I guess? May as well not even field a team in Worcester!

I think the money was "comparable" but he Dodgers offer was higher. The Dodgers also are a better team right now and Ohtani already has a residence in the area and is comfortable there. It's the easiest transition for him. I think SF has a perception problem driven by the media for sure. It doesn't help that the stadium is in the absolute worst part of the city so players commuting in or visiting would only see that.

I would just see which looks best in ST and keep them. Mata has lots of control problems which will be exacerbated in MLB. Slaten probably fits better. Most likely we see a Mata DFA. Mata also has an extensive injury history so he may not even make it out of ST healthy.

I'd keep Slaten as the 26th man and some one of those guys to AAA. What's the harm in using an option year if you like Slaten? Injuries happen so the guy you send down will be back soon enough. Bernardino is likely to be a one hit wonder candidate anyway.

That has them retaining Slaten AND Mata on the 26 man roster which I don't see happening.

Ok?

It's nougety.

Yeah, no. It’s just the money.

They said it was "comparable."

They could trade or DFA any number of guys at the bottom. There is no crunch.

He was offered the same exact deal with the same deferrals? I find that a little hard to believe.

If they miss out on Yamamoto, they are going to settle for either Monty or Snell IMO. They will overpay for one of those guys.

I'm hopeful, but skeptical and I'll leave it at that. I'm not going to judge Crag until the big fish ACTUALLY get away and until ST ACTUALLY starts.