moonslav59

I figure we have about $48M to spend and not go over the tax line, but we have gone over the line as soon as 2022. Maybe he'll spend up to $68M to avoid going over the second line. If you believe like I do, that we really only need 3 major additions for 2024, he may not need to spend more than $48-68M, this winter. (Note: he spent about $80M AAV, last winter.) $25-30M per on an ace $15-20M on a solid #2 $8-18M on OF'er Of course, I could be wrong.... again.

maybe 5.

Not sure how BB would have done with a checkbook

No doubt in my mind: No JH- no rings. (Okay, maybe one with someone else willing to spend, but does "someone else hire Theo?)

That 2018 team certainly had plenty of FAs, some pretty highly paid (Price & JD,) but the rest was mostly traded with homegrown stock or homegrown studs like: Betts Bogey JBJ Beni Vaz Devers (Traded for: Sale, ERod, Nate, Porcello, Kimbrel, Kelly, Holt, Nunez, Pearce, Hembree) It looks like we need 2-3 big signings to get close to competitive. Sounds doable, but we'll see,

He made a lot of money, when we were winning, too. I think he'll spend big, again, soon, but who knows. I don't blame anyone for being cynical, especially right now.

SAL won 8-3 as Soto pitched 1 hit ball over 4IP (1BB and 6K) 3-4 Asigen (3 doubles) 2-3 Anderson 2-4 Garcia (w 3b) 3-4 Yuten GRE lost 5-3 1-3 Paulino w BB POR continues losing, this time 3-2 2-4 Jordan WOO is winning 3-2, late Murphy 4.1, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 7K DHam 1-2 w 2BB and his 54th SB Scott 0-2 w 2BB Zimmer homered

Yes, mediocre, despite some things working out better than expected (Paxton, Crawford, Wink, Casas, Duran, our catchers- and a few more) and some worse (Whitlock, Houck, middle IF, Kluber and a few more.) I think we improved the foundation we will pass on to 2024. It's better than the one 2020 passed on to 2021, and the one 2021 passed on to 2022. To me, we have 3-4 major needs for 2024: SP 1 SP 2 OF Maybe LH'd RP We had like 20 slots open before 2020, 14 before 2021, 11 before 22 and 8 before 2023. I'm not sure how many prospects will be helping in 2024, but Rafaela and Abreo look very promising. Maybe EValdez and some surprises?

realistically, we are toast.

Most are minor or pushes, but if you throw those out, I see: Plus: 1. Pivetta 2. Ottavino & German (Denlinger) 3. Schwarber 4. McGuire 5. Abreu & EValdez (or incomplete) 6. Reyes (or minor deal) Count it as 5 wins Incomplete: 1. Wink & Gambrell 2. Rosier 3. Urias Minus 1. JBJ, DHam & Binelas 2. RHern Just 2 clearly bad trades, but I'm sure many will list Dugo/Wong, here for 3. I left the Betts trade unscored, because it was forced and in some regards a good deal, when you consider 1 year of Betts for 10 years of Dugo+Wong.

Sounds familiar. Someone reposts something, then disavows it's meaning. At least comment on what you don't agree with when reposting, please.

That sure looks like the season-ender.

Had to trade 1 year of Betts and got 5 years of Dugo and 5 years of Wong. I'm sure you call this a bad trade, despite a gun being held to his head. Beni for Wink & Gambrell is not over yet, and the money saved helped us sign Renfroe. You must count this as a loss and not an incomplete, right? Springs and Mazza for RHern- a clear loss. 2 months of Workman & Hembree (who both sucked afterwards) for Pivetta: You call this a loss? Renfroe for JBJ and DHam & Binelas- I'd say this is far enough along to not expect much from DHam, so calling this a loss is fine by me. (I'm still scratching my head.) Nothing for 1 year of Ottavino & F German (then German for Denlinger) Aldo Ramirez for Schwarber- really? A loss? Diekman for McGuire- was good if only as a salary dump- no dispute Groome for Hosmer, Cory Rosier (looking real good) & Max Ferguson 2 months of Vaz for Abreu and EValdez- a loss? Really? Cash for Reyes- a loss? Blaylock for Urias? (Some of the above could be called "minor.") Minor trades: Moreland for Rosario & Potts Pillar for Jacob Wallace for Wyatt Mills Scherff for Robles Northcutt for Pham JTaylor for Mondesi Barnes & $ for Bleier I'm not seeing anything close to 95%. Most are pushes.

I realize Cora needs to weigh how important it is to get Jansen some work and if eventually it would get to be so long he might be ineffective in his next game vs maybe needing him 2 games in a row in the following two games. It's not an easy choice, but it's certainly okay to discuss its merits. I never said it was a horrible or even a bad mistake. I just mentioned it, because it may have (see emphasis on "may") been a factor in why he pitched poorly, last night. I'm still a huge Cora fan and rarely question in game decisions. I'm not sure he made a mistake on this one.

How about this Kristian Campbell kid? He was the comp pick we got in the 4th round from Georgia Tech. Small sample size, for sure (just 49 ABs), but with just 1 HR, he leads our farm in OPS at 1.079 (among all players with 49+ ABs) .508 OBP .571 SLG Another SS drafted by the Sox! UGHHH!

So, did someone miscalculate a bonus, last year, or WTF happened? Not that it mattered for this year, we weren't going over, this year, anyway. The drop in comp pick slots hurt.

That's right. It was Abreu not Duvall in CF. My bad. If they call that an error, like they should, all 3 runs were unearned. Later, Jacques hits 2 batters with the bases loaded, which adds 2 runs scored to Crawford, and the excuse he lists first is "Crawford sucked." Okay, he let up the homer before out #4 in the inning. He did not pitch well, but losing is a team event, and defense is part of the team

Yes seven times. That's why we lost. We also lost because Jansen sucked. Why do only your reason count and ours go to Aunt Fanny? We won't know how Jansen might have done had he not pitched on Sunday. That does not mean we can't hypothesis about it. There are many reasons we lost- one was Jansen. You bashed me about saying the runs allowed to score because of Duvall's blunder, and now say you did not see it. Please stop, Max. All 3 runs scored should have been unearned vs Crawford in that inning. The next 2 were allowed to score by Jacques on HBPs with the bases loaded. I could easly cry, "Send your Craford stunk comment to Uncle Benny!"

I agree that pitching is the main issue- same as you. I've been beating the drum on pitching every year for 50 years, Max. The reason we did not win, this year, is because we did not add 2 capable SP'ers. We could have won with 2, despite the poor defense. That does not change the fact or minimize the impact our poor D had on our wins and losses, and be enough that we could have been a contender. Do you deny less erros are being charged, this year? Errors called per game: .060 in '21 .059 in '22 .057 in '23 it's a fact. It does affect the ERA, but ours would still suck, even with average D- just not as badly. You seem to deny the chance there could be more than 1 or 2 reasons a team can lose. Nobody is saying defense is the number one reason. I don't think anyone is saying it's even close to pitching, namely the rotation. I have posted dozens and dozens of posts about our s***** rotation. The main reason I have been talking about defense, recently is in response to your denying it has had a significant effect.

Despite the injury, he really didn't jump out and impress. He's young and has plenty of time to grow, but I have to think these farm basher people are going to go off on Mayer, while others say he's "untouchable."

That $4.15M has to be accounted for somewhere. I do wonder, if it might end up counting on the 2023 ledger, and maybe that was part of the reason we "left a few Million" on the table. Do bonuses count on the lux tax? Tuner has already earned $800K for reaching 544 PAs and gets another $200K for getting to 560.

Worse is answering a stupid question 3 times, despite the questioner agreeing with your first reply. Besides, my question was more directed at the wording of the "buy out," which you admitted "wasn't great." I know, I know, you can't help yourself.

I know what many here think, but I am almost certain both Cora and Bloom's jobs are safe.

Well said, but I have to dismiss this, out of hand (open or half opened.) I can't see why Bloom would willingly create an inferior team by leaving a lot of money on the table.

BINGO, and someone pointed that out, at the time. We did not need him, that game. Another ding on Cora.