iortiz

Hopefully it is via FA Fred. I do not want to give up prospects either.

Don't remember the name, but last offseason Boras shitted the bed with this FA, refusing a deal and then this FA got less, I just can't remeber the name. Anyway, do u still see he getting more than 200 M?

Btw MVP, my 200M take it or leave it offer to Scherzer seems these days like a massively overpaid offer and probably could have worked it out haha. I don't see Scherzer making more than 170 M.

Regarding long contracts, I haven't heard anything about Shileds or Scherzer lately. Maybe some teams are making some negotiations under the radar or have lost a little bit of interest considering what they are asking. Hopefully Ben is in the hunt of one of them.

8 usd a beer? Geez! Seems like my trip to Boston will cost me more than I thought LOL! Well they better land an ace, and make my trip to Boston worth. Haha

Seems like games between ALE teams going to be slug parties. I'd go overs all the way all season long LOL!

Well if we end up with a 84 W record with the current rotation (still I do not see it), a No 1 should provide you at least 15 W more. Another No 1 or another solid No.2 as I've been suggesting? 10 more or something. They could make the difference, no doubt about that. Sure you still have to subtract some of the potential Ws of the other arms but it easily could end up at least at 90 Ws.

Well, 2013 was kind of magical IMO. I do not want to take credit away from anybody but I think that some special things happened. Buch, pitched like an ace. Lackey came back like the phoenix from hell. Lester bounced back. Our set up/closer combo performed like out of this planet. Ortiz was simply ridiculous. I mean if the stars align again, yeah, we can win it all again, but trying to be objective I do not see it.

Well a lot have been said. I could make an assessment in the opposite direction as well. If you and others feel comfortable with this, great. I do not Pal, at all.

Honestly, I do not see a clear/solid No.2. I still see big black holes at the front-end of the rotation. I see a sea of ?s and Ifs as well. If they go like this, hopefully not, I'm going to keep my crossed fingers.

A rotation like this could be slaughtered by even mediocre lups, this is what worries me more; and not to mention that this current rotation is not by any means a PO rotation one.

Well, if we go like this, you bet.

If we want to trade a No. 1 like Cueto, JZ, Hamels, Sale, etc, it will always cost us a package around a top prospect(s) or a very good player. If the FO is thinking going that way, wonder what are they willing to give up?. I do not like that way at all mostly if we are going to only one arm and since out there still are a couple of FAs. If the scenario were going for two arms as I have been suggesting I would explore that way, though.

Seems like the Rays are draining all the good things that they achieved in recent years just like that, or what am I missing?

I haven't seen his numbers but I clearly remember a friend who roots for the Braves, complaining all the time when this guy was on the mound haha

... and the the 2011 epic collapse. Aside 2013, most of our issues in recent years have been the lack and the ability to assemble good pitching staffs. Sometimes it was the BP. Sometimes it was the SP. Sometimes it was the lack of depth. Sometimes we went with the low-risk/high-reward mentality which turned into disasters, and sometimes it was the combination of some of the above. Thing is, Since 2011 I've seen this debate over and over again, and for each pitching situation turned into a nightmare and made by our FO, I saw here a lot of brilliant and specific ideas/solutions of how those situations could have been addressed before those decisions were taken by the FO (like the Lester thing). All I'm saying is that you do not need to be a super genius in order to emit an opinion of how this team should be assembled, since our FO has shitted the bed big time as well so many times that I just can not remember how many. They are not the twelve olympians who have everything figured it out and immune to questions and explications by those who load their wallets. Funny thing is that some here and there still think that our FO is a deity or something just because we won 3 WS. When we entered into the 2015 offseason we all knew all along AGAIN, that we needed solid SP, at least 2, IMO. When you see the recent acquisitions and see how they lost Lester, I say to myself, oh boy, here we go again. Sure, There's still time to round the team but considering the recent past hopefully this is not one of those years when I said, I told u.

LOL, yeah! I think that if they round this team with at least one No1. SP, they could be competitive given the division. Also, Hopefully one of this combo or Buch or Kelly turn into a solid No. 2 and the others eat the innings that everybody is projecting.

As I said, Beyond the business operations, I have seen better baseball ideas in this board than some executed by our FO. Happens the same in soccer, some people specially players are always trying to sell us that the sport industry is rocket science, and it is not.

I would say that there is a big difference between CREATE a business and RUN a business. Most of MBA professionals should be capable to run any kind of business like baseball or chemical companies, on the other hand only few MBA professionals are capable to create successful business from the ground up like probably JH did.

haha I have never said that he is not successful business man. What I'm saying is that a decent MBA professional should be capable to run a professional baseball team as well since MBA professionals are supposed to be prepared to run any business regardless the industry or the size, that's all.

yeah, why?

As a fan, even with successful/big/historic teams you can emit an opinion when somthing don't like you regardless the sport, like the Lester thing; this is pretty much my point. Also, I do not think that this is rocket science, IMO a decent MBA person with some kind of knowladge of the game could run this, sorry but I do not see a big deal here. As I said, I've seen here better ideas than some showed and executed by our FO in the recent years. Again, IF they go like this, this team will likely suck, no matter how many experts they have... IMO.

Oh my bad! Well if that is the case, an extra 25-30 won't hurt us more LOL

Yeah, I was comparing the 2014 starting rotation with the current one. Let's put it this way, If you give Lackey and Lester for this combo, I'll do it in a heartbeat. As I said, Offseason hasn't finished, but as it is we have two big black holes in the rotation right now and a sea of ?s and ifs. I think I said it before as well, if they are thinking to use the current staff to round the team around 2 No1 SPs, I'll put all my money on the Red Sox, and I'll be the first one to celebrate the performance of our FO this offseason. I need to see the finished product to make my last call about the team though.

As it is, at BBR estimate 177 M. If we go after Shields or Scherzer we will be over the LT.