Bellhorn04

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want Montgomery. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball last year. He seems like a Jon Lester type to me. Oh well, he's a non-issue as far as we're concerned. What trade targets do you have in mind?

Sonny Gray gets no respect. I think his $75 million deal looks pretty good, and E-Rod's $80 million deal isn't bad either. These are guys who have put up multiple 3-4 WAR seasons at prices that should be well within the Sox financial means. I suspect that when Snell and Montgomery sign we'll probably say they got overpaid, and not by us. It's not just this one offseason that's concerning. The Giolito contract is the biggest one they've given to a starting pitcher since Eovaldi in 2019.

Might as well put this here. Tom Werner vows Red Sox will go “full throttle” in effort to improve team Published: Nov. 02, 2023, 3:31 p.m. By Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com BOSTON — For much of the 20-plus year duration of the current ownership, the Red Sox spent as freely as any Major League Baseball franchise, almost always ranking in the top five in payroll, often in the top three, and occasionally, leading all teams. That, however, was not the case in 2023. As the Red Sox finished last in the AL East for the second year in a row and third time in the last four years, the Red Sox scaled back considerably with their payroll — depending on who was doing the measuring and how — slotted somewhere between ninth and 13th. Most calculations had them outside of the Top 10, and thus, out of the top third in the industry. Now, however with new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow officially introduced at a Fenway Park press conference Thursday, Red Sox ownership is giving the new executive its backing and a promise to spend as it did in the past. “We know that we have to be competitive next year,” said Werner. “So we’re going to be competitive next year. We’re going to have be full-throttle in every possible way.” Asked specifically if the Red Sox will pursue high-end starting pitchers on the free agent market, Werner responded: “Let me just say that we don’t have any built-in restrictions.” But Werner also signaled that the Red Sox have to take the long view on spending, and not throw money at free agents without regard to long-term consequences. “What I will say is that some years we’ve been below the CBT (competitive balance tax), some years we’ve been above the CBT,” said Werner. “It is important for us to make decisions that will not be just effective in 2024, but past 2024. So those are the decisions that will drive us. I think the inconsistency that we’ve had can be helped a lot by, as Craig said, making decisions that include going after expensive free agents but it’s just as important to develop a minor league system that produces the kind of talent that makes you consistently win.” In recent years, with the retirement of David Ortiz, the trade of Mookie Betts and the loss of free agent Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox have lost a significant amount of star power on their roster. With a more anonymous and interchangeable roster, some fans have decried the lack of Red Sox stars. As someone who has been successful in the entertainment field, Werner understands that appeal. “You need great players,” said Werner. “It’s not about selling (the appeal of the team); it’s about having great players. And generally, you need players who have high WAR to be a winner. Raffy Devers is a star who will be with us a long time. But we need to complement him with other talent. One of the great players of this past postseason was (Texas outfielder Adolis) Garcia, right? What was he, designated for assignment by two different clubs? “So I sometimes say that baseball is somewhat confounding. But obviously, when you look back, you need to have stars.

Right now I'm seeing everything through the filter of the Sox owners imposing an unjustifiably tight budget.

We don't know with certainty that it was all for show. But it seems abundantly obvious the Red Sox were not serious players for Yamamoto in any way, shape or form.

Probably looked at our guys like they weren't even there, would be my guess.

That's standard though.

Cotillo's column makes perfect sense when you look at what the Sox have been doing so far this offseason, plus all the other scuttlebutt about people in the industry talking about the Sox acting like a small-market team.

The Boston Bean Counters: "Under .500 is OK if we're under budget" is the new motto.

It's totally consistent with the story about how Eovaldi came back to the Sox last year to see if their offer still stood and Bloom telling him that unfortunately the budget didn't have room for it any more. It makes my blood boil. But that's just me.

A lot of Sox fans are upset about the Cotillo column about the payroll budget, which looks to be totally credible. It doesn't mean Breslow can't do a good job making the most of it. But I am really really pissed at Henry and Werner.

Yes. We can all pop some champagne - as long as it stays under budget.

And you left out "he's expected to get about 80 million".

Well, now we know what the deal is, folks. It's good in a way that they've been fully exposed on their real intentions.

It doesn't make sense to enrage your fans when you're making so much money from them.

There's no way they can justify cutting payroll with the money they're making. Certainly not after firing Bloom and sending the 'full throttle' message, and having reset the tax last year. Calls for them to sell the team will be deafening, seriously.

I'll pay for my own if this payroll cutting s*** is real.

Payroll, that is.

Pitchforks and torches are definitely in the picture.

As a wise woman once said: "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"

The early word is they plan to really take it easy on him in the regular season. They want him for the postseason.

I think something bigger is coming. (It sure as hell better be.)

It's not guaranteed. The quantity from Giolito needs to be coupled with some quality.

You're making it sound like the last 2 transactions make it less likely. I don't see why.

He hasn't really proved he's a #1 yet, but he was one of the top 10 pitchers in baseball last year using WAR.