moonslav59

With the $5M buyout, he's owed like $30M. At best, Brez might get someone to pay $5-7M. With Yoshida's $18M, maybe someone pays $4-6M of it. Trading KC would shed $7.5M from the tax budget.

Just how good will our everyday player bench be in 2027? Out of options players make setting the 13 difficult. C: Rutschman & Wong 1B: Contreras 2B: Mead SS: Story 3B: Durbin & Sogard LF: Anthony & Duran CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu DH: Yoshida & Jones or White Other than Wong, that's a decent ML bench AAA/AA bench: C: Jo Garcia, Nido/Baez, Ro Hernandez/D Rodriguez/H White 1B: Gasper, Casas (Brannon) 2B: Seigler, Rodgers, Cespedes SS: Arias, Cheng, McDonough, Godbout 3B: Monasterio, Romero, Winnay LF: Eaton (no options) Castro, Gutierrez CF: Ward, Bleis, I Jackson RF: Campbell. J Gonzalez DH: Romy, Brannon/Hickey, M White Not great but not bad.

I think Gasper's injury may keep him out until April- missing ST'ing. Maybe we add Jo Garcia (R5) to the 40, but he doesn't seem ready to be the ML back-up. I think we'll trade Johanfran and Wong and add a Catcher... maybe Rogers.

I wanted Alonso, and I was wrong. Red wanted Alonso and Brez was wrong. That sums up how Red sees things.

Update on 15 players... Durbin had surgery to repair his left pinky finger PIP joint. He had played through the partial dislocation over the final 3 months of the season. Anthony's right hand strains does not require surgery, but I have my doubts that they even know what's wrong, and more importantly, why it hasn't healed in the normal timeframe for these types of injuries. Crochet, Houck, Oviedo and Crawford were all back pitching at the end of the season and should be 100% healthy on day one of ST'ing. Whitlock played through a fractured tibia for about a month. He does not need surgery. He'll wear a boot for 4-6 weeks and apparently be 100% ready for ST'ing's start. T Guerrero had a grade 2 lat strain and shoulder strain. Apparently, he needs a month to recover, but we know how that goes with Sox pitchers. Yoshida had a serious left hamstring injury. He's another Sox player expected to be fully healed by the start of ST'ing. Romy had returned from his major shoulder surgery. He was playing. He should be 100% for the start of ST'ing. Eduardo Rivera had a lumbar strain and was pitching in AAA to end the season. He should be okay for 2027, but is a bubble roster player. Zack Kelly did return from elbow injury and pitched at WOO, but he may be non tendered. Gasper underwent distal right biceps tendon surgery and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. A ruptured tendon (torn from the bone) is serious. The surgery was Oct 2, so 6 months is April 2- missing all of ST'ing. He may be placed on thh 60 Day IL when ST'ing begins. Eli White had successful Lisfranc ligament repair surgery (right foot/ankle), which normally takes 6 months to heal. He is out of options and may be non tendered. Tristan Casas has been a walking time bomb. In May or '25 he ruptured his left patellar tendon but then strained his left abdominal/oblique earlier this year. Somehow, he hurt his left wrist along the way to recovery and had arthroscopic wrist surgery in August. There is no telling when or if he'll every be healthy again. He may also end up being non tendered.

Another big question is how big is the need to replace Gray or get him to return. One could argue Crochet's return is enough. One could argue Houck, Oviedo & Crawford's returns could offer enough slack, in case Crochet's return is not as glorious as we hope it is, of if someone else takes a big step back or gets hurt. I'd love to see us bring Gray back or add another quality SP'ers, but to me the big bat add is priority number one. (The pen also has needs.)

My guess is 80-90% of us think we need one. I do think we may get by with the summer add-ons plus a big return by Anthony, but I'm thinking a team needs to constantly improve their roster to stay highly competitive.

I kinda like "The Swarm."

Although cots is no longer the go-to site for accurate contract/tax budget information, they have us at $7.4M over the tax line, assuming all arb players are retained. It could be easy to get under the line by just non tendering or trading Duran ($10.9 estimated arb cost.) Other arb costs that could be eliminated might beL $4.8 Houck (I'd keep Tanner.) $2.8 Crawford (Keeper) $2.0 Wong (I'd replace with min wage guy.) $1.9M Romy (Bubble) $1.8M Oviedo (Keeper) $1.6M Casas (I'd keep but am okay with non tender/trade) $1.6M White (I'd keep Jones over him.) $1.6M Miller (Keeper) $1.3M Monasterio (I'd trade him.) $1.3M Weissert (Keeper at this cost.) $1.1M Kelly (Bubble) $1M Slaten & Guerrero (Both are Keepers) $900K Jones (I'd keep over White, as both are out of options.) Other AAV costs that we could try to trade/dump (part of all of the salary) : $23.3M Story ($25M salary w $5M buyout for 2028) $18M Yoshida ($18M then done.) $7.5M Campbell (Makes $3M in '27, $4M in '28, then 6, 9, 13, 16 and an option at $19M in '33 with $4M buyout.) If JH does not want to go over the tax line, Brez will have his hands tied, unless he makes some tough non tender choices and/or salary dump sort of trades. If we make no moves except maybe trading Duran for a prospect to get under the line, and non tendering Wong and trading/DFA'ing Eaton +White (both out of options) Burgos & Olds this could be our 26 and 40: SP: Crochet, Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Bello SP/RP: Houck, Oviedo RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Miller, Slaten, Guerrero, Moran (out of options) C: Rutschman & Gasper 1B: Contreras 2B: Mead SS: Story 3B: Durbin, Sogard LF: Anthony, Jones CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu DH: Yoshida, Romy The 40 in AAA: SP: Crawford, Paez, Wehunt (R5) RP Weissert, Samaniego, Gamboa, Rivera or Kelly C: Jo Garcia (R5) 1B: Casas 2B: Seigler SS: Cheng 3B: Monasterio OF: Campbell DH: Brannon (R5)

We may or may not have a Rule 5 Draft this year, but if we do these are some players worth mentioning: Serious consideration? 1A. Brooks Brannon (1B/DH/ Emergency C) 1B. Blake Wehunt (P) 3. Johanfran Garcia (DH/C) 4. Ronny Hernandez (DH/C) 5. Hayden Mullins (P) Long shots? Braiden Ward (OF) Mikey Romero (3B/2B) Brendan Rodgers (2B) Noah Song (P) Nathan Hickey (DH/1B/ Emergency 3rd C) Nate Baez (C)

Buzz might have drug-related comotations, but I like it better than "Bees." How about "Stingers" or "Swarm?"

That's another issue, but yes, if a floor becomes part of the plan, a majority of owners will be hard to obtain, unless set at a reasonable level.

Thanks for providing even more proof.

We both wanted Alonso, but apparently only I was wrong, because we didn't sign him. Not you. I'm suggesting we need to add a big bat this winter. Am I right to assume you don't, since I am "wrong again?"

The Bees seems lame, to me. It is better than the Utah Jazz or LA Lakers. The Sound is fine, as is. It's probably better than the Nashville Dollys.

Nobody expects the top spending teams to be in favor of a salary cap. My guess is most owners want one, and over half would never approach the number anyway.

Yes, like 95%. More if you don't count articles, pronouns and conjunctions used correctly.

I use my words as they are intended to be used. I don't make up new meanings. When I misuse words or say something I did not intend, I admit my mistake and explain what I meant. I don't deny I said it, double down on gobble-dee-goop or divert the topic to something else, like you do. I am fully aware my suggestions hardly ever happen. That's not how suggestions are intended to be viewed. For the hundredth time: suggestions are not predictions or projections. As bad as we are and how bad you think we are, have we been following your ideas and suggestions? As bad as we are, not following my suggestions could be viewed as a plus for me.

That 2021 team had enough remnants from 2018 to make a nice run. The in-season addition of Schwarber and to a lesser extent Robles, Travis Shaw, Iggy and Austin Davis helped too. Here was the end of season 2021 roster: SP: Sale, Eovaldi, ERod, Pivetta, Perez RP: Whitlock, Barnes & Davis (both not on PO roster) Robles, Taylor, Houck, Brasier, Ottavino, Sawamura & DHern C: Vaz & Plawecki 1B: Schwarber, T Shaw 2B: Arroyo (Arauz not on PO roster) 3B: Devers SS: Bogaerts (Iggy could not be on PO roster) LF: Verdugo, D Santana CF: Kike (Duran not on PO roster) RF: Renfroe DH: JD, Dalbec ERod was a FA to be, and Bogey, Nate, JD, Kike and Vaz had one year left. SP.com's top prospect list: 1. Casas, 2. Mayer, 3. Yorke, 4. Duran, 5. Downs, 6. Bello 7. Jordan, 8. Groome, 9. Jimenez, 10. Mata, 11. Seabold, 12. Wikelman 13. Winckowski, 14. Murphy, 15. Bleis, 16. Wong, 17. Walter, 18. Song Many of us felt the outlook was okay, if JH was willing to fill in some holes. There were some aging players and budget questions, but some hopes remained. IMO, some of the winter additions looked pretty good as Wacha, Hill & Strahm did well, but too many injuries and downturns occurred at once. __________________________ The roster at the end of 2023 (the Bloom era) was: SP: Sale, Bello, Pivetta, Houck, Crawford, Kluber/Paxton (IL) RP: Jansen, Martin (IL) Whitlock, Wink, Bernardino, Schreiber, Murphy, Joely C: McGuire & Wong 1B: Turner (FA to be) & Dalbec 2B: E Valdez, Reyes 3B: Devers SS: Story LF: Abreu, Refsnyder CF: Rafaela, Duvall (FA to be) RF: Abreu DH: Yoshida Jansen, Martin, Verdugo & Pivetta had 1 year left. Sale had one + an option. Top Prospects: 1. Anthony, 2. Mayer, 3. Teel, 4. Rafaela, 5 Bleis, 6 Yorke 7. Perales, 8 Abreu, 9 Wikelman, 10. Cespedes, 11 Zanetello 12 Meidroth, 15 Drohan, 18 Romero, 23 Dobbins

Wanting it to happen is different than thinking it will happen. I want Arias as our opening day SS, unless he looks awful in ST'ing, but I seriously doubt it happens.

A Rays-Brewers WS would not help the owners claim money has taken over, and we need a salary cap.

More aimless gibberish. Instead of lame questions, why not suggest some answers?

The Salt Lakers? The Nashville Songsters? The Rednecks? (LOL) The Grand Oles?

Agreed, and while that 2021 team made a decent run in the playoffs, 1 in 10 years is embarrasing. I think we have a solid core and solid depth nearly everywhere. We lack a good back-up catcher and minor league SP'er help, but with Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Oviedo all apparently healthy, now, that could be fine or even more than fine. We have decent quality and quality depth, but we lack star power everywhere but the rotation, top two RP'ers and maybe 1B. We compare well to other teams at Catcher, RF, CF and maybe LF/DH (Anthony) and 2B (Mead/Story,) but don't blow most teams away. I'd order our current positional comparative value as such: 1. Rotation 2. 8-9th inning RP'ers 3. 1B (Contreras, Mead/Sogard/Romy/Gasper/Casas) 4. RF (Abreu) 5. CF (Rafaela) 6. C (AR but #2 C sucks) 7. 2B/DH (Mead/Story/Sogard/Seigler/Monasterio) drop off... 8. LF/DH (Anthony, Duran-Jones/White) 9. 6-7-8 SP'ers (Houck, Crawford, Oviedo) 10. 3B (Durbin, Sogard/Monasterio) drop off... 11. DH (w Anthony in LF & Mead at 2B, we'd have a Yoshida/Gasper and Jone/Romy platoon) 12. SS (Arias/Story) 13. Pen depth (Miller, Weissert, Guerrero, Slaten, Moran...)

I don't think we have the trade pieces to get a top quality bat, unless we trade Arias or Anthony. Doing that might seriously hamper the long term outlook of success. Unless we get an OF'er back in an Anthony trade, we'd be downgrading to a Duran/Yoshida- Jones LF platoon. The upgrade at another position would have to exceed this downgrade significantly. If we trade Arias for a non SS, we've locked ourselves into Story at SS with back-ups Monasterio (no bat-no glove), Cheng (no bat- good glove) and maybe Sogard (good bat- meh glove.) I don't see either happening, especially since neither is being paid much in 2027 and the near future beyond '27. If we can't trade for s stud bat, the next idea could be to attempt to trade packages (quantity) for an upgrade (high quality but maybe not starpower.) I don't think this fanbase can stomach another offseason designed to create several mini-upgrades in hopes they all add up to a big enough improvement to see us advance in the 2027 playoffs. I'm not for this approach either, as I think that is what we've done for a few years, and we have gotten to the point where we have no clear and identifiable singular great need at any position. We even have very good depth everywhere, except catcher. We are going to greatly improve our offense and team by replacing only Wong. In a sense, the summer moves made by Brez can already be viewed as significant upgrades at Catcher with AR and 2B/DH with Mead, and some might view this as enough or possibly enough, if we can stay relatively injury-free into late 2027. I'm not so sure. I'm big on Mead and feel confident AR will add 100+ points to our Catcher OPS, and he plays good defense too. Here are the numbers put up at 2B and C in 2026: 2B (.673 in 2026) .737 Seigler in 165 PAs at 2B (.727 overall) .855 Sogard in 150 PAs (.727) .564 Mayer in 147 (.594) .508 IKF in 104 (.633) .585 Monasterio in 39 (.655) .760 Romy in 18 (.572) C (.626 in 2026) .628 Wong in 226 PA (.655) .538 Narvaez in 196 (.535) .702 AR in 116 (.710) .648 Gasper in 49 (.823) If Mead hits .763, it's 100 points higher. If ER hits .726, it's 100 points higher. One could imagine them both adding 120-150 points, but the back-ups might bring it back down to a 100 point overall positional OPS gain at 2B and C. One could ask, isn't that enough? Add to that methodology the idea that maybe Anthony could his .827, which is 200 points higher than Duran's .627 in 2026, and we could see some major gains on offense with no moves made but much better health. I'd rather be safe than sorry and try to significantly upgrade one position or maybe two by some tangible amount. I see the SS and LF/DH (the non Roman position) as the top two slots ripe for offensive improvement. Next might be 3B.