moonslav59

You said "by all accounts" and all accounts do not agree on the points you made, so I pointed that out. You obviously won't ever answer if you agree Brez bungled, botched or whatever you want to call it. You hide behind "others said it not me" and act like truth is determined my majority opinion on sites you pay attention to, only. You won't cite your sources. You won't own what you post. You won't even answer a simple question: do you personally think Brez botched the negotiations? If yes, give specifics an what you think he did wrongly and why it had to be him and not JH drawing the line on some aspects that kept Breggie from signing here, like the money, the no trade clause and the deferments. Saying all the sites you listen to say the same thing is not fact and not specifically saying what you think and what Brez did wrong based on what he was allowed to offer. The fact that nobody knows what he was allowed to offer automatically means he cannot not be fully blamed for botching anything, until we know for sure the limits. You won't respond to this point, either. Then, you go on and on saying I am defending Brez and then denying i am defending him. WE DONT KNOW JACK- so blame cannot and should not be handed out like it is fact. He could be 100% to blame, we just don't know. No amount of think tank groupspeak changes anything,

I can understand if statements like that are made as hyperbole, but it's been pointed out several times that Contreras was a significant add, and he even agreed that it was significant but just not enough. I agree on the "not enough" point, but continuing the on with the same false statements is getting tiring. Our rotation has improved by leaps and bounds, and it's hard to know if that improvement does or will outweigh the losses on offense and perhaps defense, too (worse at 3B but better at 1B.) My hope is we add a 3B/2Bman without dropping off in another areas, except depth at OF or SPer. It may not be enough, and it will never be enough for some posters, but such is life.

While fWAR projections are notoriously low, even for players moving towards peak prime, there is some reason for optimism with the Sox over their winter changes, and I'll include losing Devers, too. There is no sugar-coating the loss of Devers and Bregman, and to a lesser extent Gio, Refsnyder, Wilson, Matz, Dobbins and a few others. Here is a breakdown of changes made, so far: 2025 FWAR used and projected fWAR Lost> Gained 3.5 Bregman> added nothing from outside the system 3.3 Devers (2 team total)> added nothing 1.0 Refsnyder> added nothing 0.3 N Lowe (BOS -0.7 fWAR at 1B)> 2.8 Contreras (projected 1.9) _________________________ 2.0 Giolito> 4.0 Suarez (3.3 projected) 1,0 Dobbins > 3.6 Sonny Gray (3.9 projected) -1.4 (-0.7 Buehler, -0.3 Houck, -0.3 Fitts, -0.1 DMay)> Oviedo (1.2 projected) 1.7 (1.0 Wilson, 0.6 Bernardino, 0.2 Wink, -0.1 Alcala)> Nothing added to the pen, so far. (Probably see Harrison, Crawford and other SP'ers moved to the pen.) This is an oversimplified way of looking at it, but it does highlight where we have improved and where we need improvement. Everyday players: Contreras might give us a +2 or 3 fWAR over 2025's 1B, but losing Devers, Bregman and Refsnyder has to be viewed as losing 4-6 fWAR. Maybe the overall loss at everyday positions is like 4 fWARish. Pitchers: It looks like +1.5 to 2 for Suarez over Gio, +2.5 to 3 for Gray over Dobbins and +1 to 1.5 for Oviedo over a mix. (I'm not even counting pluses from Sandoval, Crawford and Harrison here, but see the pen.) The rotation looks about +5 or 6 and should balance the loss on offense and then some. The pen lost 1.7, but maybe SP'ers in the pen can make that up. Overall, I see a +1-2 fWAR over 2025, with no more moves made. The gain is not what I hoped for, and probably most of us feel the same way or worse about the winter's overall moves. Hopefully we add a 2+ fWAR guy at 3B or 2B, and the gain looks much better.

You can find and or develop the best talent in the world, but if you cant afford- or aren't willing to afford- to sign them or keep them, does it matter?

Why does "not my words" make this position factual and without any context and nuances that go into most negotiations? You act like everything stated here is proven facts. Again, I'm not arguing Brez did not botch this. He very well might have, and as a secondary issue, if he did, I'm glad he did. My point is we don't know. I don't and you don't. This other person's words might be 100% right. They might not be. Why not cite the source? You claim "by all accounts," but notin just provided a source with a differing "account" than yours. (He also named the source.) It wouldn't surprise me if Brez goofed. The fact that I'm glad we didn't go higher for Breg would not change the fact that he bungled this, if in fact he did. We JUST DONT KNOW! If you were to hear that the no trade clause was the only stumbling block and Brez had no choice but to say we could not give him that, would you say Brez botched it? If the final dollar amount offered was as high as Brez was allowed to go, would that change your view? Is this even your view or some other guys? You won't answer, despite two times being asked.

It seems like the criteria changes when looking at other teams. I've mentioned how Sox fans have zero faith in any of our pitchers who are injured or projected to start the season on the IL, but somehow highly value the Yankee rotation, knowing Rodon, Cole and Schmidt. The O's have greatly improved their line-up, but their pitching staff scares nobody. Maybe Cease rebounds and 35 year old Gausman has another good year in him, but god forbid anyone to expect the 36 year old Sonny Gray to have a good year. To me, if we add a high quality infielder without opening up a new hole, we will be close enough to even or better than every other AL team.

We need a big bat, but why say "no help?" Contreras offers a solid solution to a 1B issue we have had for a long time. Sure, we've had brief moments of competency at 1B, or someone who can hit well but sucks on D, but we added "help." It's just not enough.

Congrats Maddie!

We've been left holding nothing several times in recent years, so certainly we may end up with DHAM & Romy at 2B and an injury-prone Mayer at 3B, with just Eaton & Romy backing him up, but it would really make no sense. We have a couple logjam areas that teams are desperate to fill on their teams. We can do this without adding a cent to the budget, so that need not be a deterrent. We could even find trade offers where we cut salary. This need not be about money. Just get it done, Brez! I don't care when, just have a better 2Bman or 3Bman on the roster by ST'ing. I have to think he knows this and has some deals in the works. He may even have a few deals already agreed upon, but is trying for a better one. Hell, we may see two deals made.

Yes, that is the bigger issue. I was responding to comments made about us stooping to Ozzie talk,

The fact that no counter offer could be a result of their money offer was as high as they were ever going to go. That would not be "misreading the room." If they were prepared to go higher and bungled the talks, then it would be botchery- some might call it debauchery. The no trade thing is probably an organizational thing, not specifically Brez, but if it is then he'd deserve some criticism for that, but again, does anyone know who made that rule? I'm not sure we know or anyone knows. We may never know, for sure. To me, this whole obsession to lay blame on one guy goes too far, and often it is done before all the facts are known.

Yes, like we have avoided talking about them, lol!

Ragans has had major injury issues. Duran for a catcher, when we have Narvaez? I can see wanting something else. The Tolle & Mayer offer is something I did not hear. That's kind of a close call, too. I love KMarte, and he does fill a big need, but including Marte forced yet another trade for a 3Bman. Maybe Duran for Paredes and King, and we have Marte and Paredes. I don't know. Let's see what goes down. Maybe waiting works for the best, The teams that missed out on Tucker & Bellinger might up their offers for Duran.

He had some major blind spots, for sure. That being said, he left a decent foundation for Brez, including some decent pitchers- some of whom were DD guys, but still. He did add Whitlock, Tolle, Valera and some decent everyday players.

We don't know, but you seem to. Does misreading the room mean you think bungled or botched it? You still have not answered if you believe "all accounts" or not.

MN should, too. Sub Mullins or a prospect 10-20ish., if they prefer.

It's not hard to believe. It's hard to know for a fact he botched it. We've talked a lot about the no trade clause and deferments being factors that may or may not have been under Brez's control. We know it might not have been about the money. Maybe it was and the amount Brez offered was all he was allowed to offer. We don't know. It's not about having a hard time thinking of the various possibilities.

I have a couple suggested trades on BTV where Wong and Jeffries are included. Of course, I couldn't resist adding more players to both side. I'd give Wong and Sandlin for Jeffries.

I wasn't making my point as it being a bad thing. Our pitching scouting, development and MLB valuations were horrible before Brez. The change looks good, despite the Sale and Preister deals. I'm thrilled with the focus on pitching, and the results have been better, so far.

That's sick! And it's not like the Sox and Padres are slouches. Now, add the tax that would have been on the deferred money, had their not been a clause in the CBA.

Rafaela is my favorite player. I spent half the summer's game threads taking Fred off the wall on Ceddanne. (It didnt work.) I'd rather trade Duran and then Abreu before him. He's younger, too, so using career OPS should put him at a disadvantage.

I replied with OPS and homers. You replied about using just OPS. I replied with career BA, HRs, 2B+3B, RBI, OBP, SLG and the one area Rafaela won- SBs.

Those three might not be untouchable, but you still have to get what you think is a plus, right?

I think they may adjust the referral thing as it pertains to calculating the AAV for the tax budget, but maybe past deals will be grandfathered in.