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Bellhorn04

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Everything posted by Bellhorn04

  1. Bellhorn04
    With regard to the Red Sox luxury tax situation going into 2020, it's totally fair to say that it was on Ben as much as Dave. In 2018, the first year they went over the limit, the threshold was 197 million and the payroll for tax purposes was about 240 million. That 240 million included 55 million for HanRam, Pablo and Pedroia. If not for the 55 million of dead money they would have been at 185 million and paid no tax. That doesn't include the 12 million for Castillo that didn't count for tax purposes. So if you want to point fingers at who put the Red Sox into the tax squeeze, point one at Dave and one at Ben.
  2. Bellhorn04
    The Red Sox offer was $300 million. Mookie signed for $365 million. (Leaving out the pandemic and the deferred money factor which brought the present value down to *ugh* $307 million.) It all came down to a difference of $65 million. Less than we blew on Pablo, or Hanley, or Castillo, or any of Dave's big contracts. A pittance in the overall picture.
  3. Bellhorn04
    With side orders of pandemic-related losses and uncertainty about 2021.
  4. Bellhorn04
    You said Dombrowski is 100% responsible for the Sox not being able to keep Mookie. Do you believe that or not?
  5. Bellhorn04
    To me, blaming Dombrowski for Mookie is scapegoating. It's finding a convenient target. Is it Dombrowski's fault that Mookie turned down $300 million or that he always seemed so determined to become a free agent? Obviously not.
  6. Bellhorn04
    Well, I disagree 100% about the 100%, and I'm surprised you think so. John Henry and Tom Werner are the guys who decide when enough is enough. And they did offer Mookie $300 million, and he turned it down. No one has disputed that.
  7. Bellhorn04
    As a manager, his teams have won 6 pennants and 3 championships, and made the playoffs 14 times. (The other ring was as an executive with the Red Sox.)
  8. Bellhorn04
    Kimmi, that post was directed solely at notin. He and I have been having a spirited running debate about whether DD is the guy who was really responsible for the Sox not being able to keep Mookie. And let me make clear - although I defend DD against certain criticisms, I'm happy that we replaced him with Bloom.
  9. Bellhorn04
    And you're also not a fan of bullpen games, or starting pitchers getting pulled so early. So you do sort of have some contradictions going on, maybe.
  10. Bellhorn04
    Yeah, it's not really necessary to list every single player that becomes available here.
  11. Bellhorn04
    Yes, there were a lot of changes before analytics. But they came (and went) a little more gradually. The recent ones have come in more of an onslaught...
  12. Bellhorn04
    The effect on the actual game is much more noticeable now. -Defensive shifts. -Hitters trying to launch the ball, producing more home runs and strikeouts. -Bullpen games. -Starters being pulled early so they don't face hitters a third time. As I say, it'll be the fans who ultimately judge whether the game is better or worse as a result.
  13. Bellhorn04
    I expect NFL football to be a highly technological game. It has been for a long time. I don't like it so much with baseball. And I know a lot of other people feel the same. It's not about being right or wrong, there's no such thing. What ultimately matters is whether it has a major impact on fan interest or not.
  14. Bellhorn04
    That play a couple of years ago when Mookie made a catch and then pulled out his cheat sheet and waved it because he was perfectly positioned. Some people thought that was great. But it made me kind of sick to my stomach.
  15. Bellhorn04
    Analytics are clearly having a massive effect on how the game is played and managed. And personally I'm moving into the camp that the total impact is not good for the entertainment quality of the game.
  16. Bellhorn04
    You've got me, I can't answer these questions. It's hard to know what their true plans and intentions were. It was a bit surprising though, when Sam Kennedy expressed disappointment about Mookie signing with the Dodgers. It sounded like he wasn't expecting it.
  17. Bellhorn04
    It's not really all that silly when you look at a guy like Boone. Whatever the Yankees are paying him is a tiny fraction of their expenditures. Why would Cashman hire a guy with no experience? It seems to me a reasonable explanation is that he wanted a guy who would do what he was told to do by Cashman and the analytics people. Which is not to say that Boone doesn't have a lot of input and doesn't do things on his own. I'm sure he does, within the parameters that are set out for him. I don't find this far-fetched at all.
  18. Bellhorn04
    Yankee fans have been saying the same thing about Boone - that it's Cashman and the analytics people making calls before the games start - as with Game 2 vs. the Rays.
  19. Bellhorn04
    I think when you look at how that trade went down, both Bloom and Friedman showed that they are really good at their jobs.
  20. Bellhorn04
    Of course I agree that they shouldn't. But if we're using $180 million as a threshold, the Yankees have exceeded that every year for a long time. And they can easily afford it, because of their revenues. If they're spending less than $180 million, that means a lot of money is being pocketed by Hal and the other shareholders.
  21. Bellhorn04
    I think they should have avoided trading him to the Dodgers if they had strong hopes of re-signing him. That's all I'm saying.
  22. Bellhorn04
    BTW, there is a narrative out there that Cash didn't even make this decision - that is made for him before the game by his higher-ups and analytics people.
  23. Bellhorn04
    Your concerns about his attitude and conditioning may be valid ones, it's hard to say. Some think this is another reason to re-hire Cora, that he was great with Devers.
  24. Bellhorn04
    One thing is for sure - if the actual plan is to trade him and re-sign him, you don't trade him to the freakin' Dodgers, of all teams. That was my first thought when I heard about the trade negotiations. When we traded Lester, we traded him to the A's, who had no chance of keeping him. And I'm not blaming Bloom for trading him to the Dodgers. I'm pretty sure he was told to trade him for the best offer, period.
  25. Bellhorn04
    I would agree with that. But the next question is, if you're the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, and you can afford to spend more than $180 million, shouldn't you do so?
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