Hitch

If take LoMo or go for a risky roll of the dice on Duda. I'd also bring back Nunez.

I hope we sign somebody on a cheaper deal that has shown consistent power. Then make a run for one of the big boys up for grabs next year.

By definition, any time you try to guess what is going to happen in the future, it's a guess. Even with data to draw your conclusions on. If we didn't have to guess we'd all be very rich.

Certainly feels that way. There's zero choice he takes a 1 year contract somewhere else, though. Unless him and Boras collectively lose their minds.

LOVE that.

Quite literally the worst argument I've ever seen put forward in an article. Absolute drivel.

I would cry if we gave him that. Cry real tears of pain. It would be an absurd deal.

Haha I'm not against capitalism as a whole. It's brought billions out of poverty and brought up the poverty line in the worst areas of the world, as a direct circumstance of that. Not to be sniffed at, at all. But I also think it has flaws that has led to a widening in the parity of wages and living conditions within the in the modern world. The gap between have and have nots is getting worse, which I very much don't like. Same with all the political ideas. Socialism has many problems with it's ideas but I very much like one of it's main staples which is every person in the country should get free health care and education. And if life deals you a real s*** few months and your life falls apart the state will help you. My personal hope/belief is that one day (hopefully soonish) our political ideas will evolve into something better than everything we have managed to come up with, up to this point. Anyway stepping aside from any potential politics again, I think it's a really interesting discussion Baseball wise. On one hand I very much like that there is a salary cap and that revenue is shared. I am utterly of the belief that sport should be as fair as possible and not come down to who has the biggest pockets. I know that's not often the case, though. So the salary cap does stop teams from just outbidding all the smaller outfits and turning it into a battle for the ring for the same few organisations every year. That said, there is obviously flaws in this approach too. As has been pointed out, I think some owners are getting away with murder and not fielding anything like the team they could and cheating everyone. I'm not sure what we should do about it, but it definitely needs looking at. 100% agree with that. The one thing that can't change is the revenue sharing. That needs to stay. A different sport but an example for you: Soccer in Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two biggest teams by a mile. They have been for years. A long time ago, seeing as they had so much power, they got together and made the Spanish league give them 80% of the TV rights money because they argued that most people only want to watch them. At the time there was a European super league being talked about and they were petrified of losing their two biggest teams to a super league and they gave in. Now no other team has a chance of winning the league. Except for the odd unusual surprise one of them win it every single year. There are 20 teams in the league and only 2 of them ever have a chance of winning the whole thing. 10% of the league gets 80% of the money. That's tragic to me. I really don't want baseball to go down a route where the same teams dominate year in year out. But I do agree that the system they have in place now is far from perfect, too.

If it's about free market principles helping a sport/club thrive or not, I think there is a very interesting discussion to be had there, without even touching politics.

Yup agreed. It's just not a very good list of players this year, and next year is a huge one. That's why I hold up hope we get JD for a very reasonable amount. The market is depressed at the top end this year which is very handy for us. edit: Me cp? Now you HAVE TO go for it.

A think tank which has brought the ungrateful sod two 93 win seasons no-less!

He's just continuing the last word joke. I hope Dave knows the lack of signings are causing much crankiness down here at TS!

It's because his power output (albeit over a relatively short number of games) was tantalising. It may come to nothing, but it's natural to get excited when you see a young lad starting hitting the ball out of the park.

It feels to me like a Boras leak. We would not benefit at all from leaking this. If it's from their side however, it shows the entry point is low and it might encourage teams to come in and test the water. Suddenly the market for JD has grown considerably.

Why so defensive? WAR backs up the obvious conclusion that the money for Bradley is well worth it.

I'm hopeful of good things from Workman this year. Always liked the kid.

Yeah. Quite a disparity between what he wants and what looks to be on table. I walk away from 6 @ $180m. http://www.weei.com/blogs/rob-bradford/red-sox-target-jd-martinez-digging-contract-demands Spring training might not be the end of this offseason, after all. According to FanRag Sports, Red Sox free agent target J.D. Martinez is willing to "hold out" for one more year than the Sox are currently offering, suggesting that the slugger could remain unsigned heading into February. Multiple reports have stated that the Red Sox' offer to the 30-year-old is for five years, with Jon Heyman reporting that at least one other team willing to commit to the same duration. Writes Heyman: In any case, word coming out of Miami is that Martinez, 30, believes it appropriate that he get a six-year deal. It isn’t known what kind of total dollars the Red Sox, Diamondbacks and maybe others are offering (the Jays also have been showing interest and met with Martinez at the Winter Meetings), but sources suggest that Martinez is seeking $30 million-plus annually — $200 million if he can get it but at least $180 million, following his boffo season, first in Detroit and then Arizona. The interested teams are believed offering somewhere in the $120 million to $150 million range (yes, that’s a big range, but the offers to this point are unknown). So it’s believed he’s in the neighborhood of around $50 million short of the asking price at present. That sounds like a lot. But Martinez’s willingness to wait is bolstered by the reality that there are multiple teams involved (Arizona’s involvement may have been underplayed to this point) at somewhat similar levels, and also the fact that there is no one comparable – at least when it comes to 2017 performance. Jay Bruce and Carlos Gonzalez have been productive offensive performers, but Martinez’s 2017 season was extraordinary while Bruce’s was just very good and CarGo’s uncharacteristically unproductive (at least until the final several weeks). Besides the obvious overall power production supplied by Martinez over the past three years, the outfielder/designated hitter has received universal praise from coaches who have worked with him. For more insight, read comments made by Arizona hitting coach Dave Magadan to WEEI.com and listen to Martinez's personal hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc on the Bradfo Sho podcast.

I've been reading this board for 4 years and haven't seen you so much as hint at being wrong. Never had your mind changed. It's alright, you're that kind of guy. Takes all sorts. And seeing as you believe it so poor, it's a good job I wasn't educated in your educational system, then.

His circuits would overheat at the mere thought.

Oh! It was sarcasm. https://media.giphy.com/media/11a8FLrVeoLnna/giphy.gif

Because he starts in front of the DH every single day of the week. He will play constantly and get paid very well to do it. He would have a shot at a ring. There some fairly obvious reasons to come here.

Sure. That's got nothing to do with my point, however. I don't want us to stand still.

It' soooooooo bloody slow this winter! We need something to continue to argue over.

No, but you have said that it is a myth and that it's existence cannot be proved. It's in your signature. You'll understand if people fine it difficult to understand when you find the cliff a myth and yet feel that we need to make signings now to be able to win before the possible cliff comes.

So there is a cliff?