Hitch

Another point to all this - we know Breslow has a type when it comes to pitching. What's his 'type' when it comes to hitters? Does anyone know what sort of a hitter/player he likes? Other than young and cost controlled? Because I can't see a pattern unlike with his pitching acquisitions. Which makes it a lot more difficult to figure out what player he will even target/value.

Well I don't have a crystal ball, so hard to know, but the point is, if we're only spending $14,6m on Marte there WILL be extra funds to make the team better. Who says we can't get Bregman, too? We currently have $26m in space before the first line. Another $20m before we hit the 2nd line. So $46m in total for a hard cap. Only spending $14.6 on Marte leaves a lot of room to still get a Bregman/another. Who they'll go for is guess work, but as much as I really like Bo, I think we both assume that we aren't going the 7 x $30m it'll likely cost and that narrows your options considerably. I don't even think we should trade Mayer for Marte, as in the way the roster is constructed. But if they demanded it (unlikely as they seem to be all about the pitching), I'd do it and work out the rest, because it's all well and good talking about the average 100 Mayer's v 100 Marte's (again don't disagree with the logic in general), we are close to being able to win now. So you make the move that helps you win now. For the next 2/3 years Marte likely helps you a lot more than Mayer. A lot more. At some point we have to stop worrying about the future and try to win right now. We've lived in the future as fans for the past 6 years.

Which is all well and good in a vacuum. And I'd agree. but if we spend the $30m on Bo, we're pretty much done as it'll leave very little money to spend elsewhere. Whereas if we sign Marte there's still room on the payroll (14.7m on the LT) to get better.

General reports on the trade seem to be - Red Sox have got the certain starter with higher floor. Nationals have got the possible starter/possible bull pen piece with higher ceiling. Feels about right.

Mayer is incredibly difficult to value. He's shown next to nothing so far outside of good D and injury problems. He's lumped in with Anthony but is nowhere near his level. Could he be the next Yoán Moncada? Quite likely. But could he be a star? Also quite possible.

Rosenthal is reporting that with deferrals, Marte's contract is actually $14.7m on the LT.

$20m feels high for both of them. Not in the least bit worried we didn't get either. Consider Marte's $17m against these two. The prices have surprised me so far this off season.

Yup! And so the cycle continues.

I'm quite intrigued by Okamoto for sure.

This is very true, and something fans don't consider even for a second. The kind of personal worth a person would need to buy this organisation would have to be immense (or state ownership through PIF or even worse funds). And then everything would be at their whim. And what happens if they get bored? Are you cool with the Saudi Royal family owning the team if it mean't they spend more money? These are questions fans just don't ask themselves. This organisation's fault isn't the money it puts into the team (though it could be higher), it's that for the past 5 years or so, a lot of money has been invested incorrectly and terrible decisions have been made. These things take time to recover from. We haven't been cheap, we've been inept.

Another is that this team hasn't been great defence for a few years and strikes out too much. Alonso helps with neither. Who knows, maybe there is a better way to build the team? And that Alonso wasn't the only answer to this riddle? Also, he had, what, 3 offers? Why so few? Why did the richest team in the land say "no thanks, we're not even making an offer"?

The Alonso deal and the Winter Meetings in particular seems to have broken people's heads. I think the Winter Meetings has a lot to answer for when it comes to the utter insanity with which fans now react to everything. It is the event of the winter and so gives the illusion that it comes with some sort of deadline. You don't have to do anything at the Winter Meetings. In most cases it is better to wait and see what the market offers. Most deals happens outside the meetings. Take Bregman for example. He is clearly holding out at the moment, and it looks like if we want him back it's at a deal which will make his opt out of $120m over 3 years possibly look a little foolish. Neither Bregman nor Boras is going to want to accept that and so we have to wait until something breaks. There's also the Japanese players that have been posted and their deadlines coming up. This holds the market up, too. The one thing that is clear as daylight is that if we went out and 'just make it happen' as some demand, and say signed Bregman to 6 @ $165/180 - when he can't run in three years, and likely can't field either, and we will have a just a decent hitter at best blocking DH on near $30m, the same fans that demanded we go above and beyond to 'just get the deal done' would be bitching about the stupidity of signing him to that deal because nobody, NOBODY, has amnesia around their own demands like a sports fan. I wanted Alonso last year. I made several posts saying we should sign him and rotate him and Casas around the DH spot (or just trade Casas for pitching). I would have liked him this year. But $30m x 5 is a huge risk. He is a terrible defender. He turns doubles into singles, his running is so bad. If his bat goes, he is worthless. The idea that we have given up, or are cheap, just because we didn't want to sign a player with that profile is idiocy. Especially as we've see players of his profile turn worthless very quickly and very often. If we get to ST and the team is still nowhere near what it needs to be, then so be it, bitch away, call the FO cheap, Breslow an idiot, all will be deserved. But to be losing your mind and wailing like a child because we missed out on Pete Alonso, or haven't made all our moves yet - Jesus Christ. Get a grip.

Awful twitter account, awful podcast.

If this is true - We're not getting Marte. We won't give up what's needed, and I won't blame them, either.

Apparently they've been banging the drum about wanting to get better defensively. That would align with passing on Alonso.

It's definitely harder than ever to know/guess. The fact we made no offer to Schwarber and apparently a pitiful one to Alonso would indicate we weren't high on either of them. Or, that Craig just massively misread the market for Pete.

Young only as a poster! Those 400 posts are kindergarten around here! Ha! Yes, it was a somewhat odd comment, but I like Moon, so didn't want to come across too harshly.

You're too young as a poster for me to know if this is sarcasm.

But Marte comes with $14m less a year on the LT hit. $31m takes out almost all the remaining budget and we'd still have holes to fill, I'm not sure that Alonso (or Schwarber) was ever very high on their list. Almost all of Bres' moves have not been telegraphed. His trades (and some of his FA's) often surprise.

You crack me up. 😂

Yeah I saw this. The market for Bregman appears to be razor thin.

Bregman doesn't seem to have the market Pete did, though. I'm not sure who we'd be bidding against for Bregman.

Bregman feels absolutely certain now. Casas and Romy to ride out 1st for the foreseeable.

If Bres manages to get these two off the payroll, give him a 10 year contract. It ain't happening* *#reversejinx