moonslav59

You've said this as much as I've said "Botched." 🤪

I took the total games played. Sorry, if I misunderstood you meant season by season.

Looking at the winter as a whole, I do think spending most of our resources on 3 pitchers (Suarez, Gray & Oviedo) and a 1Bman (Contreras) looks misplaced, each move by itself looks okay to really good, to me. That doesn't mean I'm happy with the results, if this is it. I'm not. I had our biggest needs in this order: 1. Big bat with power (preferably RH'd) T2. 2B/3B T2. #2 SP'er (closer to a #1 than a #3.) Suarez certainly fills the 2nd need. Gray might have covered the same need. Oviedo filled none of the top 3 needs and maybe not even a top 6 or 7 need, especially when you factor in we added a solid #2 and a solid #3. While extra pitching does mitigate the other needs to some extent, we still need a 2B/3Bman. One could say Contreras almost filled the big bat need, so maybe the extra pitching can make up for that shortcoming, but that 3B/2B need is still glarin

I agreed both are injury prone. I do think saying 1 out of 4 when it was 2 out of 4 is misleading.

I doubt that happens. Also, last 3 years OPS (300+ PAs) .859 Anthony (smaller sample size by a lot) .817 Contreras (w STL) .810 Duran .803 Casas ______________ 2025 only .859 Anthony .826 Romy .791 Contreras ,786 Abreu .774 Duran

True. He basically played one full season over the previous 3 seasons combined, but it was not one season in 4 years. Mayer was in the minors, where seasons are shorter, so his 333 games in 4 years is not quite as bad as it looks... also, a bit misleading.

It is scary about their injury histories, but in the last 4 years they have played: 320 Games Story (That's 2 full seasons.) 333 games Mayer (minors + majors, which is 2 full seasons in MLB.)

Like sign stealing and cheating... LOL.

Didn't think this one out too much, but here is my last BTV trade offering: Duran, Sandoval, DHam, Masas & $20M (about half of what Masa is owed) for Baty (3B) & Vientos (DH/1B/3B) Between the $8M x 2 saved on Masa, $8M on Duran and $8M on Sandoval, maybe we can afford to sign a couple RP'ers. A simpler trade, also accepted was Duran & Hicks for Baty. That might allow us to sign E Suarez to DH and not get Vientos for that. However, we'd still have Masa. Maybe Duran + Masa + $18M for Baty, then sign Suarez.

Didn't we hear the Dodgers and Mets were why there was going to be a lockout last time?

I'm wondering if the price for E Suarez is so low, he is what is holding up trades being made. We are a better team with E Suarez than without him. I think we are better with ESuarez + Duran than Donovan minus Duran or Paredes minus Abreu. I do not think JH wants us over line 3. That might be why we hung firm on the Breggie deferments.

I do think Masa can hit .760-.810, which is pretty close to what Duran is projected to hit, so I can see the idea of keeping him around, as the trade value between he and Duran is miles apart. I also don't see anyone paying Hicks full boat, so maybe he gets a look, too. The deals I suggested with those two involved giving a rich team someone they really wanted, taking back someone of lesser value and evening the deal by making them pay for Masa or Hicks, or my trade suggestions involved getting back high salary, too, but someone at a position of need, of which DH and RH'd RP'er are not high on our list. Adding blocked players helped sweeten the pot for the other team to say yes, we'll pay your higher paid sunken cost, if you take ours, but only if you include ____.

So, if they were FAs, they'd only get minor league offers or near min wage ML ones? While BTV is certainly not perfect, they claim Masa is worth $5.6M (or $2.8 x 2 yrs) and Hicks is worth $4.4M (or $2.2M x 2 yrs.) That is not far from min wage, granted, especially Hicks, but look what some similar players have signed for... Joel Payamps signed for higher AAV than $2.2M, although it was just for 1 year, Jake Fraley signed for more than Masa's $2.8M BTV value. Hell, Dustin May signed for $12.5M/1 which is a higher pay than what BTV says Masa+Hicks actual production value will be! BTV gives payamps a value of $1.4M/1, which is 2/3 of the yearly value they assign Hicks. They give Fraley the exact yearly value as Masa ($2.8M.) Somehow the give DMay a value of 10.8M, so that kinda exposes their system, a bit, right? The thing is, trading both to even save what the BTV value is ($5M x 2) won't likely create enough budget room for anything earth-shattering, but we do need an infielder and maybe a couple RP'ers, unless we convert some starters. I guess Brez wants a catcher, too.

I think it's more likely Romy platoons at 2B or 3B than DH/OF. Of course, after we make a trade, that could change.

Don't forget the K Campbell OF option. He could play LF vs LHPs while Anthony gives Abreu or Duran the day off.

The way Romy hit LHPs better than DHam, last year, maybe Romy starts most games. Career vs RHP: DHam .667 and Romy .616, but that career .616 is almost identical to DHam's 2025 split vs R (.618.) If Romy can repeat .716 v RHPs, again, like he did in 2025, he may end up our FT 2Bman, assuming no moves are made and K Campbell doesn't get another 2B look.

Word is the Sox are shopping Hicks, and some are interested in Bello & Sandoval. Common denominator? All have AAVs around $9M or more. That leads me to think money limits are in place and maybe that affected the Breggie offer. Maybe the Ranger signing was made with the idea that budget cuts would be made afterwards, to help pay for him. Maybe it's to make room for a signing or two- like E Suarez or a couple RP'ers. Word is we are looking for catching help, too. (Source: MLBTR)

Equal to your "GO FISH" comment.

1. I would not call misjudging if it was a bluff or not a "botch." It happens all the time. 2. More importantly, my main point is that the possible limits placed on Brez concerning NTC, deferments and top dollar offer are unknown, so getting Breggiie might have been impossible. This doesn't change the narrative, to you? Again, maybe Brez botched it. Maybe the real botch was spening on Contreras or Gray, instead of Breggie. IMO, spending on Ranger was a better idea, so I don't count that as a possible "botch."

I mentioned Crawford over Bello, because he is cheaper, and maybe they like him better as a pitcher, just as you do. If both Crawford and Bello are at full health, I probably like Kutter more, too. Our offense is in such high need of help, that I now think trading from pitching depth makes more sense than trading Duran. While I hate the concept or DH'ing Duran, when his value to another team should be much greater as an OF'er, we simply need his bat. Besides, pitching is more widely sought after, and teams are nearing desperation points on adding a SP'er. There are a few FA SP'er dominoes to fall, and maybe that is what is holding back trades that might already be agreed upon or close to being done. I love having top SP'er depth, and it this is something the Sox rarely have. Couple that with the fact that by nearly all accounts, we have the best starting 5 in MLB. That gives us enormous advantages in trade talks that few team can match: We could trade two SP'ers and maybe not miss a single value point, as the others would step in and give equal value, when needed to pitch. For example, we could trade Crawford and Harrison and watch 2 from Oviedo, Sandoval, Early or Tolle have better seasons. Hell, all 4 might! Just get it done. It doesn't have to be today. Maybe after Framber, Gallen, Gio and a couple other sign, the trade market for SP'ers will get red hot.

I'd be first in line saying Brez muffed the winter, if that happens. (I would word it differently: Mayer at 3B and DHam/Romy at 2B.)

That's why I think we end up with Donovan.

Agreed, but when paired with Romy, who would have to hit against a few RHPs, too, their combined OPS might project to .775 to .800, or better if you think both can improve. I'd be okay with a Mayer/Romy platoon at 2B- not so much at 3B, but it would be bearable, as long as we get a more than capable player to play 3B or 2B, and we don't create a new hole to get that guy. The position we are in is not ideal. We still have two major holes, and it looks like filling only one is possible: getting a decent 2B/3Bman by trading from our logjam areas (OF/ SP depth.) Forget about the big, power RHB. That will have to be Contreras doing the best he can to limit the loss of power and offense from losing Devers, Breggie, Ref and to a lesser extent N Lowe.

One word: Devers

For the last time, I don't have a position and am not defending anything except maybe the truth, but since the truth is unknown, I have no position on who botched what. If someone said Brez had nothing to do with losing out on Bregman, I'd question that just as much. Blaming anyone before all the facts are known is wrong in my book. That being said, I do think if the "by all accounts" reports are true, Brez did look comical or "funny" as I have stated before. He called a bluff and lost, perhaps. That's kinda funny in poker, but not so funny, if it's your money lost. It's not unreasonable to think Brez thought BorA$$ was bluffing, but at the same time had limits that disallowed movement on 1, 2 or all 3 of the areas the Cubs beat his offer. To claim Brez is to blame is to believe he could have moved on enough of those areas to equal or top the Cubs offer and get Breggie to sign. Maybe his buffoonery did botch even that idea, as he pissed Breggie off by enough to sign with the Cubs, anyway. That is possible, too. How does anyone know the facts needed to determine if Brez had the capabilities to up the offer in just enough areas and by just enough to get Breggie to BOS? Show me those facts and I'll be driving the Bumbling Brez Botched it wagon. Now, if someone wants to argue that had he not traded for and paid over $20M each for Gray and Contreras, he'd have had enough resources to offer more money and less deferred money to Bregman, you'd have a point to be debated. I might even agree with that, but the NTC issue would still be an unknown aspect on deciding who is to blame, if Breggie said no based on just that. See it the way you want. I don't know if what Brez did and didn't do was all his fault. It very well could be. I agree he is a poor communicator, but an offer is an offer, and usually the words aren't what gets a guy to sign or not. Our offer fell short in 3 key areas. That seems factual. It seems those areas mattered to Breggie & BorA$$. If Brez had the power to solve the needed issues, then yes, it's on him. (And, I'd still say we grossly overpaid, and I'd rather have Ranger.)