moonslav59

So, Paredes doesn't count. (He's over 50 points below .820, career and 30 below over the last 3 seasons combined. He was 10 below in '25. Since 2016, these are the only 2B and 3Bmen above .820: .879 Ramirez .862 Altuve... LOL .855 Devers .854 Arenado... LOL .846 Bregman (I doubt he hits .820 over this contract) .835 Machado .833 Muncy .827 KMarte .826 Riley

If we dont add an infielder, I'm assuming Mayer is at 3B FT and DHam/Romy platoon at 2B. It would look like this: C: Narvaez/Wong 1B: Contreras 2B: DHam/Romy SS: Story 3B: Mayer LF: Anthony (some RF) CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu DH: Duran (some LF & CF) with Masa/Casas/Romy as secondary options with Paredes minus an OF'er: C: Narvaez/Wong 1B: Contreras 2B: Mayer/Romy SS: Story 3B: Paredes LF: Anthony or Duran CF: Rafaela RF: Anthony or Abreu DH: Masa/Casas/Romy as secondary options ___________________________ That's if we don't play Rafaela at 2B.

Well, "the process" involves watching suspects become superstars, but you poo-poo that idea. Can you for just once answer what you think? Did Brez botch the negotiations? Iy yes, do you think Breggie signs with the Sox if Brez does everything right but can't offer the no trade clause or even match the Cubs numbers?

That could very well be true, and also the next step. They felt they made a competitive offer to Breggie, and for once, I agree that they did, and when they were outbid and beat by a no trade clause, they knew they were not taken out of the Suarez bidding, since it was lower.

Ive never argued against the need to go large and long on the right players. I thought Alonso fit the need, until we got Contreras, of course. To me, Suarez just barely meets the requirement of "large" or "long" and some players make 3-4 times what he got and 2-4+ years more, but it was a significant signing. I'm not happy with just one year deals, but Contreras has 2 years plus a team option for year 3, so you missed that. We have locked up 4 young players for long term, when we used to have zero to one, at any given time. That is a positive shift in one area. I'm with you on hoping we start paying what it takes to get the best of the best, which normally means large and long.

With no trades, I see Duran at DH nearly FT. The other OF'ers are just too much better to have any sort of rotation beyond just norm rest time at DH. I don't think Cora plans on platooning Abreu and he never has with Duran, except maybe year one. Maybe Romy could DH vs LHPs, but we'd need him at 2B (unless Rafaela is there.) I'm against the idea of Rafaela at 2B for any time, except as an emergency, but that is one way to play Masa more at DH. I'm not sure I'm even saying those words. Why am I moving a GG CF'er off position so Masa can DH not Duran/Romy/Casas/Campbell.

What does "back down" mean? He didn't go higher than his top offer? Sorry, I'm just not sure he "botched" anything. Even if he misread the room and didn't believe the Cubs offer was that high: so what? It doesn't matter if he was never going to go higher and give the no trade clause. That's not to say I'm not concerned, if Brez is continuously "misreading the room," but negotiations often take turns like this. The Cubs aren't going to tell the Sox what their offer was, and if they do, they could be lying.

I've been searching and re-searching any and almost all options. If it's a defensive guy, I'd hope he's on the young side with some O potential, but that will be costly. We can't afford to offer Mayer for an infielder, because we'd still be one short. K Campbell has too much serious upside to sell low, now. Plus, I'm not sure he brings us a solid infielder. (I doubt HOU gives us Paredes for KC and Sandlin.) Duran for a young infielder has to be to a contending team not in need os said young infielder. Who is that? The 4 years of control on Abreu makes him more attractive to all teams- win now and those looking 1-3 years down the road. That seems like Houston, but I'm not sure the Paredes value is close enough to swap for Abreu. I'd probably do it, if they added King and maybe for Sousa or Janek. One year of Abreu thrown in doesn't quite get me to yes, but then I think: for 2 years we'd have a better line-up with Paredes over Abreu, since whoever replaces Abreu looks just as good, so there is little drop off, except on D. Lastly, I consider Tolle or Early, and I recoil at the idea of trading one, but it seems like as long as they are options, other teams don't want Crawford, Sadnoval, Harrison and maybe even Bello. (I'm not sure Bello for Paredes is fair, either, but again, we'd be better with Paredes and they guy who replaces Bello than DHam/Romy at 2B.) I'm at a loss on who we can get. I've made a few suggestions, and maybe one comes true. I do think we certainly need one more guy.

You are the guy that always says the final result is all that matters. Does the result or process matter to you? You didn't want Breggie at that price, and neither did I, but now, for some reason, the results are not what matters, and you seemingly are going along for the Brez roast ride. Would you be happier if Brez did not botch the talks and we got Breggie for $180M? (Still waiting for the answer from the last question I presented 3 times.)

Could very well be. I've never claimed Brez botched or didn't botch it. They have their opinions and supposedly some facts. They could be right. My position is I don't know, and I'm glad Brez didn't offer more. I like the results, even if the process was messed up (or not.)

Yup. Because the Cubs offered more, Brez misread the market? The Cubs offered more. Whether Brez thought they did or not doesn't matter, if $165M was all he'd ever offer, not to mention no trade clauses and...

I'm pretty comfortable thinking JH & the rest of the top brass determined the no trade thing and set some sort of short and long term budget guideline that takes approval, if a GM intends to stray too far from the blueprint. Maybe Brez had some budget space to offer Bregman more, and it wasn't JH giving a firm "No." Maybe JH said, "okay, but X amount needs to be deferred." Maybe it was all Brez's call. I'm not it matters much. We didn't grossly overpay for a 32 year old player, and we somewhat overpaid for a 30 year pitcher, instead. I have no issues with the results: I'm glad we got Suarez.

I suggested that? When? Where?

It's really... 3B Paredes & DH Masa/Romy/Casas vs RF Abreu & DHam/Romy at 2B (No Masas at DH, as Duran DHs)

Do you think, if not trade is made, Masa DHs over Duran? The only way Masa starts over Duran is if an OF'er is hurt or Rafaela is at 2B.

When you think about it, that one major "sidetrack" is the difference maker. We may not have gotten Contreras, had we still had Devers and he was okay w 1B. 1. L Anthony LF 2. L Devers 3B 3 R Contreras 1B 4. L Dura DH 5. R Story SS 6. L Abreu RF 7. R Narvaez C 8. L Mayer/ R Romy 2B 9. R Rafaela CF

I'll be really upset, if we don't add a decent 3Bman/2Bman. That's already me walking back from "We need KMarte." The Suarez addition made us better in another area, so there is some justification in the walk-back, but we still have not replaced the Devers bat and the Bragman glove. Once can argue Contreras replaced Bregman's bat, and I guess it's close enough to not make a big deal about, but we need a 2B/3Bman and a big RH'd bat. I don't see any one player who fits both needs perfectly, since KMarte is off the table. Paredes might come closest. Suarez might give us the power RHB, but the Ks and OBP are not ideal, and he sucks on D. Going for a young up and coming 2Bman sounds great, but bye-bye Tolle & Arias plus maybe more.

I could certainly see that happening, as Brez has proven he sets a price/value and does not back down. He does not want to lose a trade w Duran or Abreu, and I respect that. We could, however win the war after losing every battle, as Bob Dylan once sang. Even if Duran and Abreu are better than Paredes, maybe we're a better team with Paredes at 3B, Mayer at 2B and Yoshida/Romy/Casas/Campbell at DH.

But, really the line-up comps are... Duran/Abreu vs Yoshida and Paredes vs DHam v R/ Romy v L Which mark-up rates to be higher? If we get a piece added to the deal, that is a consideration, also. On defense comps, if we trade Duran, the D stays about the same, depending on how you view Paredes 3B/Mayer 2B vs Mayer 3B/DHam-Romy 2B. If it's Abreu, we get worse on D, but the infield part is up for debate. (Anthony in RF is not bad, but Anthony in LF over Duran and Abreu in RF is significantly better.)

I don't think he lets that DHam/Romy at 2B ride. If Romy was the one getting 450 PAs and DHam 150, maybe, but the strongside spit is just too awful to allow.

There is more to the problem on moving Rafaela to 2B than removing a GG fielder from an important position. The move does not address the missing big bat issue any more than DH'ing Duran. It would if we play DHam at 2B, but I'm not sure a DHam/Romy platoon at 2B is worse on O than Rafaela.

I have spoken about that and fully agree that JH can and should spend more, but I'm not going to lie and say he hasn't been spending more when we are $50M ahead of 2023. Yes, from 2019 to 2023 it was absurd. He deserves everything said about him, but there is no need to make the point by telling mistruths or being deceitful. (not you.)

One major reason is likely the restrictions put in place on spending & negotiation by JH. (Money, years, no trade clauses & deferments to name a few.) That's not to say mistakes can't ber or weren't made, but who here knows Brez botched it?

Okay... $32M Alonso > $42M Gray+Contreras

...and also that he's spending but not on the high end players, so it doesn't count. $28M Bregman > $42M Gray + Contreras.