moonslav59

I don't think my statement opposes this one. Had Bloom done better with more of his bigger signings, we might not have finished in last place 2 of the last 3 seasons. Story Yoshi Richards Kluber Kike II Perez I & II Only Jansen made more than some on this list and did better. It's not absurd to think someone else could have and will do better. I only feel bad for Brez, if they lied to him about the budget.

Okay, you don't think he will. I think he might. No need to "explode" over it.

hyperbole

You also like to misquote and assume things not there. I said he "might" take less. (maybe it's $10K less.) You quote me as saying he "would." If I try to go into great detail to explain my position, so you don't misunderstand it, you accuse me of having posts that are too long.

I said he "might." Because he wants to play there, apparently. Less taxes. Cheaper cost of living Winning team I'm not sure why you exploded that comment.

It doesn't make me any less pissed at him about 2020-2023 and maybe 2025.

Is STL offering more than TEX?

I heard the viewer share on NESN went from a high of 12 in 2007 to 3 in 2023. Did that make JH jump to attention?

I'm actually very optimistic... about 2025 or 2026.

It does, but it's better than pretending on 2024 and being worse in 2025 and beyond because of the pretending.

Maybe we can sign urias before his trial.

If Clev is okay, we might as well take a flyer on Bauer.

That's the biggest plus about adding Clev and or Paxton. Maybe July trade value, as well.

Monty might take less to play for TEX, so I'm not sure he can be used as a barometer, but you are right, several pitchers are signing for less than projected. We aren't getting Monty or Snell, so if they sign for way less, even that won't matter, except to fans who will wonder why we can't pay even lower-than-expected prices. I guess we tried to shop Yoshida to save some budget space for a pitcher, but my guess is teams wanted us to pay more of his deal that we felt was worth it. I'm thinking Jansen could be traded at face value, but that hardly makes us better in 2024. Even if we added Monty with the savings plus other budget space, we don't get better by enough to catch the 3rd or 4th place teams in our division. To me, if we are giving up on 2024, then do it "full throttle!" It may help to wait for the deadline on some players, like Gio and maybe Jansen, but go ahead and trade everyone not nailed down beyond 2024: Janssen Martin (hate to see him go) Pivetta Deadline: O'Neill & Gio. I might even look at 2 year guys: McGuire & Refsnyder, but what would they bring us? Sign guys to 1 year deals with the intent of trading them in July. .

The cherry on top was the "full throttle" lie. I'm glad I chose not to believe it, at the time, but it that does not soften the anger and frustration I feel about this winter. Go WOO! Go Sea Dogs!

Think of how many bad choices Bloom made, even within the context of the tight budgets handed him and what I believe was not only a mandate to trade Betts and dump Price, but also to not replace their salaries for 2-3 years afterwards. I don't think it is absurd to think another GM could have done better under the same circumstances or might do better going forward. I'm not saying the tight budget is not an issue, but several teams pay out as much as we do or less, and win more than we have been doing, recently. That being said, some context is needed. To get the team to finish in just 4th place, we have to do more than any MLB team in any other division than the ALE. This team had a significantly long low point in farm production, and then had a GM that decided to draft mostly HS players for a few years in a row. Bloom's top draft picks are still about 1-3 years away from expecting significant impact. That's not Breslow's fault, but he has to deal with it. DD's prospects are almost all graduated or are about to (Rafaela, except Perales & Wikelman). It's not like the foundation left to breslow is bare or weak, it just has some major holes (like SP) and replacements that are too far away to help, now. It looks to me, like the plan is all about 2025 or 2026, but for obvious reasons, they don't want to tell frustrated fans that truth.

Well said. It's hard to know how much some in the organization has been lied to or misled, but it does seem like it occurs.

Exactly, he has to have smarter and better guys in charge than the others, while staying ahead of the changes being made. You can bet the teams that have mastered staying good while spending less are not just repeating what they do, every year. They are making changes and adjustments, all the time. Trying to copy last year's Rays does not mean you will beat this year's Rays.

I get your point, but what are these guys getting paid?

He was very good from 2017 to 2020, but only started more than 21 games, once in that time period (8 out of 12 in '20.) We need a 30 start/ 175+ IP starter. THe only one we might have, Pivetta, is a 5th starter type. This guy missed 2021 and averaged 23 GS & 123 IP, the last 2 seasons. He'd still be our #3, due to his 4.03 ERA (103 ERA+) and 4.61 FIP (1.213 WHIP,) but I really hoped for much better. I almost think Paxton on a 1 year deal might be just as good a bet.

He must think he's smart enough to pick the right quants to get the job done.

The goal has been lowered to trying to finish in 4th place without spending. Until we do that, Breslow gets no more money to try for 3rd place, the following season.

Isn't just about every pitcher who is really good, somewhat of an egomaniac?

$37M/2 w vesting option, which would make it $55M/3.

Plan B s dropping, quickly.