moonslav59

I'd be happy with that, but we'd be under the cap by enough to get a 2Bman. Why not? (Maybe include EValdez in a trade.)

100%. Remember, I'm the guy who wants 3 quality SP'ers over anything else. It won't happen, so yes, get two major quality SP'ers and if anything is left over, get a 2B who can hit lefties well.

I figured Burnes was better than Monty, and that evened up the drop from Polanco to Merrifield. I would prefer Polanco to Merrifield, for sure, but trading for Burnes and Polanco might be too much of a hit on the farm. The budget would likely come under the tax line. It seems we should go over the tax line and get the best we can with the money and save the prospects for one key move. Trading more prospects and staying under the tax line makes little sense to me. JH might think differently, and maybe he holds off for a major splurge after 2024, but again, I'll ask... How Soon Is Now?

Or call it unlucky he wasn't the same in '22 and '23.

Weren't the Sale, ERod (COVID), Nate, Story and other injuries major factors in our poor records from 2020-2023?

Wow! Those 2013 additions looked fantastic, at the time... NOT! (Did anyone expect them to do what AGon, Beckett and CC were expected to do in 2013?) The win totals from '12-'15 were almost identical to "20-'23. The great "JH era" was actually from 2003-2011 and '2016-2018. One could count 2019 and 2012, as hopes were high before the season started. (Hopes were not high before 2021, so in that sense, 2020-2023 was worse, I guess.)

While lacking in big splash moves, the Royals have sure made some significant additions, recently. Maybe more quantity than quality, and we saw how that worked for Bloom, but when you were as bad as KC was, this looks like nice step forward: Wacha Lugo Will Smith Renfroe Chris Stratton

I remember thinking, at the time of the Price signing, that no pitcher has looked like a surer bet than he was. I liked Scherzer, the year before, and I'm not talking hindsight, but I felt like the market was better the following year for SP'ers. It made sense, to me, in theory as a two year rebuild plan to go O in '15 and Pitching in '16. We failed, miserably on all 3 signings: Pablito, HRam & Price. Now, the late '22 and 2023-2024 looks like Story, Yoshi and ______. Yikes!

I'd be happy with Monty, Imanaga and Polanco, or Burnes, Imanaga and Merrifield.

The Clerk assured her it was clean.

Maybe deferring pay can get them under the 2nd tax line.

I wasn't talking AAV, and I wasn't implying we would or could pivot to signing both Monty and Snell. I was just pointing out the types of players one could get for $400M. There comes a point where the price gets so high, alternative additions look better. I know AAV counts, bigtime, and $400M/12 vs $200M/6 + $200M/6 would kill our tax budget for 6 years, but to JH, $400M is $400M, or whatever absurd amount Yamo ends up getting. I really like Yamo. The age 25 thing grabs a hold of me. I'm just saying, there comes a point where the price is just too absurd, yet we will blame JH (or Breza) for not going higher. Of course, a good plan B could quite the restless fans, but it looks like any plan B will get absurd, quickly, too. I had hopes, last winter, when it appeared we had enough fund to add a top SP'ers and more. Bloom chose to spend on the pen and offense, but also the absurd signing costs of Bogey and other exposed bad timing on our owner's part. (Not that salaries haven't been spiking before 2022-2023, but deals like Castillo and Gausman look like steals, now. Now, it's either too late, or we need JH to become an absurd spender, too. I think I know what the answer is.

I'm not sure how much different these past 4 years are from 2012-2015. Some view the 2013 ring season as a fluke. Once could view 2021 as one, too. 69, 97, 71, 78 were the win totals from '12-'15 65*, 92, 78, 78 were the win totals from '20-'23 (*2020 pro-rated) This isn't the first time we have had a long stretch of questionable commitment to winning. After the big Dodger salary dump trade, who did we replace AGon, Beckett and CC with? Vic, Napoli & Dempster. At the time, many felt that wasn't even a half-hearted try at building a winning team. I'm not saying history will repeat itself, and ship will be righted, but I don't think we should use a broad brush to paint the 2004-2018 era as all glory and no suffering times. This post is not intended to encourage anyone into thinking JH will do what it takes2, as he did after 2015. I have no idea what he is thinking. I have no optimism he will re-commit himself and the organization to winning. I'm optimistic about the promising farm and decent foundation. In a league that is perhaps as balanced as it has been a long time, I could see us getting relevant, again with just 3 major additions (SP1, SP2/3 and 2B w big RH bat,) and we seem to have the budget space and trade capital to make it happen, but I see no signs it will get done. Winning the Yamo sweepstakes would be a major step forward, but that seems like a small chance. I'm not sure Monty, Imanaga and Merrifield is enough to even make us a favorite to be a WC team. A big trade would have to happen, and that would weaken the longer term outlook, in terms of young, low cost talent joining the team in the next few years. I'm not optimistic, at all. I'm barely hopeful, but history could possibly repeat itself.

There aren't many top alternatives. Maybe Bellinger to the Mets or Jays, if they miss out, plus a 2nd or 3rd tier SP. Kershaw to LAD. Does Hader count as a major score? Snell or Monty to a team that falls short on Yamo. Then what? There are at least 6-7 teams looking to make a major addition and only 4-5 high impact FAs available. Even 2 pitchers from the next tier falls way short, IMO. Maybe, Imanaga does better than expected, then there are... Stroman Giolito Clevinger Someone will be left out in the cold. It's easy to imagine it being us. It's been out M.O. for 5 years. The trade market might blow up, after these guys are all signed.

I like Monty slightly better than Snell, but I would not call him "full throttle." Monty and Burnes, yes. Monty and Framber, yes. Monty and Imagana, not really.

If we lose out, yes. No matter what we did, if we don't sign him, fans will bitch about not doing enough. If it turns out we were close in the bidding but did not go more, JH is going to get the blame. BTW, it was mostly his fault under Bloom, too.

"Pending Dorks of the Week."

The Yankees are in decline. They have Soto for one year. Their budget is a mess. They are loaded with injury prone players- more than even the Sox are. Their farm is not what it used to be. They are an aging bunch of overpaid players who haven't even been to the WS in 2 decades. Most of their best players are old. How many of these guys are their top 10-15 players? Age 35 LeMahieu $15M x 3 34 Rizzo $20M x 1 34 Stanton $25M x 5 33 Cole $36M x 6 31 Judge $40M x 8 31 Rodon $27M x 5 31 Trevino 1 more arb 30 Holmes last arb Last arbs: Torres, Dugo, Kahnle 7 Loaisiga Maybe they decide to spend like the Mets, but they've held off spending real big for a long time. MLB Pipeline ranked the Yanks farm #21. (Sox 16th mid 2023.) Bleacher Report 2024: Yanks 19th and Sox 3rd.

We don't know how the Sox-Yamo meeting went. Maybe we pulled out all the stops: maybe not. I don't disagree on Sox fans needing a big splash to ease the unrest. The Devers extension was not enough.

So, Wacha got $16M x 2 (KCR). Martin Perez $8M/1 w PIT.

I agree. I think he is worth the risk, but I also know that money spent on him will not be spent on others, later. We pretty much know JH won't ever have a limitless budget.

So, if Cohen let's his GM go to $400M, not allowing Brez to match or top that shows a lack of commitment to success? We can maybe get Monty and Snell for that. Maybe Monty, Imanaga & Stroman. Certainly, we can get Monty, Imanaga, Garver and Merrifiled. The thing is, we need more than just Yamo to win in 2024. Adding just Yamo & Merrifield will not be enough. We'd need a trade, too- or more.

I guess one could be viewed as forcing on just what is happening in the off season, and the this one is about how the 2024 team outlook is. Both are related to each other, and often are on the same topics. It would not be the first time.

You hear a lot about the Japan leagues being at a level between AAA and MLB. Imagine a AAA pitcher with an ERA of about 1.50 (about what Yamo has had in Japan) over the last 3 years being signed to these numbers. This guy does really seem like the real deal, but man, what a huge risk a team will be taking. I think he's worth it, but at what point does it become too much? One could argue, the bidding is already past that point, but such is the nature of top FA bidding wars.

My guess is he has been thinking about it for a long time, starting before he visited teams. He may have already had a team he wanted to play with and was seeing if someone could talk him out of it. He may have had a list of 2-3 faves, all along. Maybe 1-2 have dropped out of the bidding. Total guess, but it's probably down to 2 teams, now.