The fact is there are so few facts to explain anything that was done and not done in this whole Bogey situation.
We all agree the initial offer was a lowball and insulting one. We might not agree that it was all Bloom's doing or how much of an influence JH had on that offer.
We all agree no further offers or counteroffers were made, at least until that reported $162M/6 offer.
We are all trying to figure out why, and have come to a variety of conclusions based on what we know and beliefs or biases we held all along.
Nobody can claim they are right or the other is wrong until (and if) we ever get more specifics.
"Misreading the room" is certainly a viable opinion, although it is sort of nebulous and vague on what was actually misread. If they really thought they could have signed Bogey at $162M/6 and misread the market. Thats sounds totally plausible. It also does not negate what I believe happened along the way, or what others think happened.
My point all along is a pretty simple one, and IMO, not even close to "overanalyzing" as Red accuses me of doing. I think the Sox, whether it be Bloom only, half Bloom and half JH or mostly JH, felt they never wanted to pay Bogey what they thought he'd accept- whether that was near market value or not. I guess if they felt he was only worth $150M/6, last off season and $162M/6 a couple weeks ago, one could say that was "misreading the room," too, bjut in a much different way than the example above. That is one reason I keep asking Red, what exactly he means by "misreading the room," but maybe the "publications" never gave details, so Red has no foundation to explain. I'd be okay with calling this "misreading," too, but again, the final evaluation of that opinion is to be determined after we see what Bogey does, and it's merely opinions, right now.
I just want to know the specifics on where Bloom "misread the room," according to Red. I could be wrong, but I think he mentioned, one time, that Bloom misrepresented Bogey's value to JH, and JH went with Bloom's valuations of Bogey, and that Bloom misread Bogey's true value-making it NOT JH's fault. That is certainly a defensible position on the valuation aspect, but I'm not so sure about pulling the wool over JH and other upper management people on Bogey's value. I think the Sox have a set way to place value on players that the whole top brass involved in deciding who to sign or not knows about and likely trusts. Just my opinion, here.
I'm still not sure what is so crazy about believing the Sox never felt Bogey was worth offing a deal he'd accept all along the timeline. I'm not sure how it is a "conspiracy theory" or worthy on a nonspecific "WOW!" like I can't believe you actually still think this crazy idea.