Bogaerts himself said he was just expecting a good fair negotiation and that the offer he got (one extra year for $30 million) was so disappointing that they didn't even respond to it.
And he had shown himself to be very fair on that first extension, regardless of Boras.
Except things went to s**t in 2019, with the firing of Dombrowski a clear indicator that all was not well at the top.
The bottom line is they didn't make an offer that was attractive enough.
That's not the argument though. Everyone agrees the contract he actually got was ridiculous. The argument is that they could have retained him for a much more reasonable number if they really tried, instead of letting it get to the auction stage.
I appreciate your positivity. I'm just venting. The Chapman signing bummed me out and made me question the judgment of our front office all over again.
OK, well, it's all speculation, I get that.
But we also have to keep in mind that the Dodgers were an attractive destination in many ways, and that must have factored in as well.
With Mookie it all has to be viewed through the lens that he was and is one of the best ballplayers in history - a truly complete player, which is really hard to find. You can't lump him in with regular good players.
Soto is great and yet he's not as good as Mookie.
Maybe all the more reason the Sox should have kept Mookie, if it was thought that prices might be affected by COVID.
And when you look at the basket of crap they got back for him...
Not enough lipstick in the world to cover this pig.
Agreed. But he also confirmed they had a number they were unwilling to exceed, and that was non-negotiable. And in retrospect, their number was clearly too low. So it still works out to they screwed up hugely.
Were you excited at the time about it? I was kind of in the "scratching my head" group. It just seemed so blatantly obvious he was here to replace Xander.
The Story signing was one of the most underwhelming big money signings ever. Partially because, of course, many assumed he just represented a cheaper replacement for the soon-to-be-gone Xander.
The yucks just keep coming the last last 5 years.
If that's what happens, "some will say" the Red Sox pursuit of Soto was a big waste of time, and they should have known from the start no one would outbid Cohen. And it'll be two years in a row they made their top targets guys they had no chance at (Moto last year), so that's kind of dumb in itself.
And I realize that all sounds like it came from a spokesperson for the Fellowship of the Miserable!
Fair question. Altuve and Bregman were the big stars on that team and I think they shouldered a lot of the blame because of that. And Bregman just seems unlikable, rightly or wrongly.
So I can't say there's much logic behind it.
Falling short on Soto would not, in itself, be an embarrassment.
On the other hand, trying for Soto doesn't, in itself, mean this offseason won't end up an embarrassment.
Yes, Zack Scott has been talking a lot about the Mookie situation. One thing I seized on is that he seemed to confirm that the final offer to Mookie was close to, but under, $300 million. He confirmed the $200 million offer and then said the next year they offered "almost $100 million more."
This supports Mookie's claim that their offers never got to $300 million.
Betts was 2 years older at the start of his extension than Soto will be at the start of his contract.
But that sure doesn't account for a $300 million difference, does it