Hitch

"It makes sense they didn't offer him one, they'd rather of spent that money on pitching and effectively did with a Buehler signing." "The front office obviously has a budget, I'm not spending $21 million a year on O'Neill if that meant not signing the pitchers we did this offseason." "but if my options are Buehler and bank on Campbell/Anthony vs. O’Neill and bank on Richard Fitts I’ll take the former." These are your quotes. You clearly believe we are near our budget as you state resolutely we would not have signed Buehler if we had O'Neil. I have absolutely no idea why you're bringing up the other points. I don't know if you're arguing against other people and using the reply to me to get your thoughts down, or you're arguing against a voice in your head. Either way, at this point I feel like I'm having a discussion with someone shouting at me on the freeway. While driving the other way. Neither of us would actually want O'Neil to be signed for $20m at the outset. But I sure wouldn't mind him instead of the absolute nothing we have here now. Especially on a one year deal. Hopefully the FO still has surprises to hand out and deliver us the RH power bat we badly need.

I think Rafaela will be an everydayer. Whether he is good enough to improve his batting we'll have to see, but I think he's out there every day.

I don't know what you've been reading, but it certainly is not me acting like it's a forgone conclusion we get Bregman. I don't think we get him, even a little bit. I do think we have made an offer, which rubbishes your continued point that if we did keep O'Neil we wouldn't have got Buehler. We're definitely on a budget, no doubt. But it's also pretty clear it's not the exact price point we're at now.

It was me that mentioned it was hard to argue with the logic (of Sean McAdams). As I mentioned a few posts up, I didn't want O'Neil, still don't really. But I would much prefer we had him over the absolute nothing we have in RH'ed batting at the moment.

Again with the either/or. Why are you so convinced we are it now? When more or less every report has us in on Bregman but only at 4 years? Stop inventing parameters in your head that don't exist to make your point seem more secure.

You keep mentioning the finite budget as if we are it now, as this is the level they want to set it at and no more. Even with O'Neil (who I didn't even want back, but would sure as s*** take over nobody), would have us way below the cap. So what if's $21m? It would have been a one year gamble, over not spending $21m and having nothing.

Well we can only guess at that (and everything) and go by what the journalists closet to the team say. And from all that it seems we did try to move him. Maybe Pittsburgh and KC would like him but weren't offering what we wanted or didn't match up with us? There's no point just listing teams and saying well he would have gone there if he was available. It's obviously a lot more complex than that. There's also the possibility, that like Casas, he's worth more in our eyes than other teams.

Me and the butcher's daughter, obviously. We have Abreu, Duran, Ref, Rafaela, Yoshi and Anthony coming. We are not getting rid of Yoshida it seems, and we have other holes. He's cheap, and a GG defender, but also practically a platoon player, which can make up for other holes we have, such as 2nd base and the pen. We obviously shouldn't give him away, but he's hardly indispensable to the club. It may not concern you, but it's concerning the management, judging by the amount of times they have brought it up.

Weird reply. We've been trying to move him all winter regardless of us having O'Neil. And when we move him, which we should now, it'll be for other pieces we'll need. With Anthony coming, we're set long term in the outfield.

Same. I really liked that trade.

Not a universally loved idea then? 😅 I'll respond to all the points in here rather than individually or I'll be quoting for days. Yes he may have rejected it and then that would have cratered his market and he ends up in Japan, Highly unlikely, but who cares either way? Nothing lost. He led the Sox in HR's despite missing a 3rd of the season. So yes, he's inconsistent, and injury prone, but he hits for power and is RH'ed. Two things we still badly need. I would argue that a one year deal is very much the time to take an expensive gamble. The hurt is shallow and short-lasting if it goes wrong. And it's the kind of thing we like to do. See - Walker Buehler. Also, in the words of Andrew Friedman - sometimes you have to overpay, or you'll finish 3rd. A one year is the opportune time for that. This move wouldn't have been instead of the pitching we've seen added. but alongside it, clearly. Even with him signed for $21m, we're under the cap. Yes, there'd be a log jam, and this is where Abreu most certainly gets moved. Fine by me. And I think the Sox (as wrong as it would be) would LOVE to keep Anthony down until June 1st. Regardless, we'll get injuries, like we do every season. I guess what it comes down to is, would you be okay seeing O'Neil on the team now for a year, because the way our line up looks, I'd have no issues with it (if we make other trades to balance out).

On the O'Neil subject, Sean McAdam stated on the podcast recently that we made a major error in not extending O'Neil the QO. If he says no, we get another compensatory pick and if he takes it, yes we've overpaid but only for 1 year and our RH power bat is taken care of. Hard to argue with the logic.

I may lose it if we sign him and then stick him at 2nd base.

I mean sure, if there's injuries, things can change a little, but I don't think the Yankees are anywhere near him or Boras would be shouting it from the rooftops. At this stage, more clubs know where they are, with some still scrabbling around to complete their rosters. I don't think we're getting much of any surprises with Bregman going froward. He'll know the teams that are after him, and likely their ballpark figures. I might be wrong - a team may come in and blow him away. But I would most certainly be surprised to see him top Houston's offer (which I don't believe is there anymore).

This seems to be the Sox's strategy. If we believe they do actually want him.

He's not in a bidding war. There seem to be some teams tentatively interested. I'm saying I find it hard to believe that there are teams wiling to beat that figure (which he would know by now), and therefor find it hard to believe that exact deal is still on the table. Especially as the Astros have made other moves.

Possibly, but as pointed out by Moon, not a full salary dump. I'm having a hard time believing that the Bregman offer from Houston is really still on the table. Despite Dana Brown's comments, and reports that the six-year, $156 million offer is still there, I find it hard to believe Bregman wouldn't sign that today if it was. He doesn't seem to have a huge market and I'd be very surprised if he can top that.

Fair points. I understand that there is a level of secrecy with these things al the time, and not tipping your hat, but being a but more straight up about things would quash a lot of the frenzy people get themselves into, ready clickbait articles that make it appear like the club are in on, and missing out on, everyone. But then, maybe they just don't care about things. There's possibly a difficulty in being open about things, if as suggested, Cora and Breslow come down on different sides of the Bregman debate.

Seen a few mentions of trading Casas for Vientos of the Mets. Vientos is a right handed 3rd baseman who's just come off a breakout season. Has decent defence with room to grow. Seen as possibly a 1st basement long term. One more year of control than Casas.. Intriguing, but I think it would somehow annoy both fan bases. Would also take out the Mets from the Vlad bidding you'd imagine

A little off topic - If we don't sign Bregman I'm fine with that. We have the best prospects in the game almost ready - I want to see them play over Bregman, especially over the idiotic idea of playing him at 2nd. I don't want us to spend money just to say we've spent it. But one of the biggest reasons there's anger about the organisation comes from Kennedy and his tendency to speak out of both sides of his mouth, simultaneously saying nothing and overpromising. It's a hell of a talent. How much better would the atmosphere be if management were more honest in the way Cohen has just been. This followed chants from the crowd to sign Alonso, and ended with a round of applause. “We made a significant offer to Pete,” Cohen said. “He’s entitled to explore his market. That’s what he is doing. Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, Soto was tough — this is worse. “A lot of it is, we made a significant offer … I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. It’s highly asymmetric against us. And I feel strongly about it. I will never say no. There’s always the possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward. And as we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have. That’s where we are. And I am being brutally honest. “I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Listen, maybe that changes. Certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we are going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have.”

Drop in the ocean when you get an $8bn TV deal.

Amazing. You have to hand it to them. I'm both disgusted and jealous.

I'd like to firmly endorse this post.

I don't think any player can assume to get an auction similar to Soto's. But the fact it could get big is why trading prospects (which is all they are right now) for real value is sometimes the route taken. Put it this way, I doubt he says no to 430/450 now. But it could easily spiral next year if teams get desperate. There's no way he knows that right now.

Nice. 👍