moonslav59

With inflation, I guess $300M is the new $250M. Of all our stars who deserved over $300M, it was Betts. To me, Devers was second and Bogey 3rd. Yes, defense issues clouded both of these two's value calculations, but is there another $290M player you wished we signed, instead?

The Devers contract details were finally announced. The tax hit begins in 2024, which seems strange to me, unless we plan on spending $20-21M more, this season. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/rafael-devers-extension-goes-into-effect-in-2024-for-luxury-tax-purposes.html There are deferrals included, so the "tax hit" after 2023 will be about $29+M not $31+M, as previously thought. The signing bonus part, again, looks confusing, since it appears he gets that, now, but it doesn't count on this year's tax line. Go figure. Here is the MLBTR quote" Devers receives a $20MM signing bonus, followed by his established $17.5MM salary in 2023. He receives salaries of $27.5MM annually from 2024-26, $31MM per year from 2027-30 and $29MM salaries between 2031-33.

The plan seems to be not to trade any meaningful prospects- no matter what the needs are on the team. This idea actually started whole DD was in power, and may have been one source of the friction that grew between him and top brass. In the summer of 2018, we traded Beeks for Nate and Espinal for Pearce- not really earth shattering prospects, at the time. Since then, our highest prospect tarded was Aldo Ramirez for Schwarber. We are going on over 5 years with no major prospect traded away. This has been a big shift from the earlier DD years. With the apparent mandate to reset the tax, this year, we are limited in spending choices and actual available free agents, at this point in the winter. It seems like paying Andrus makes a lot of sense, or maybe a trade for MRojas and/or Wendle from the Marlins. There are a few other SSs on the trade block that should not be too costly, but our middle IF has taken about as big a hit as ever.

It would be interesting, if he was the only one who "knew."

Have we ever had a medical staff anyone thought was even just okay?

Now, that is an objective statement. Good for you! There is hope for you, yet!

Do we still have the same doctors from the 70's? It sure feels like it!

So, it doesn't take two to keep the ball rolling, and I'm the subjective one?

At the time we started this, we thought Story could play 2B.

It takes two. This objective observer knows that.

Green = Sarcasm.

I believe, they've already said Chisolm is moving to SS.

I'm talking as a bridge SS to Mayer and as a better choice than Wendle. Now that Story is out, we need Rojas and Wendle.

If you let it go, the rolling would stop.

The players we traded for actually did better than those we gave up, and what did you expec t for Groome, a guy we weren't even going to protect from Rule 5? I'm glad we have McGuire, but ask me in July. I'm glad we got Abreu, Valdez, Ferguson and Rosier, but ask me, next July. I'm more upset about not resetting the tax, but it looks like that might not matter, either.

...but, but, but we had "8 pitchers coming off the IL, and all was gonna be good!" It just seems kinda funny to me that many (not all) of the posters most critical about how the 2022 team sucked, and they still are saying it now, you know the team with many massive holes, especially at closer, and the team led by an idiot GM, were the posters that did not want a firesale, because they held out hope for the team longer than the ones who jumped ship, first. Then, the guy who thought we sucked so bad, we should have given up on 2022 and focused on the future is accused of polishing a turd and brown-nosing the GM who failed to have the essential fire sale. For some reason, they don't view that as criticism of Bloom & Co, because they didn't agree we should have fire-saled, back then.

You obviously don't even know what strawman means, which is not surprising. I was very happy with DD. You created a position I never held and built a strawman to take my place and pretended it was me. When you keep doing that, I'm going to keep calling you out on it.

Why no love for M Rojas, and no, don't call him a utility IF'er.

Totally logical question, but someone leaped right into it being Bloom's fault- by default, it seems.

Like clockwork. "at least he should have" does not mean there is doubt he did look at the reports. Got it. I misread your clear statement. Rinse and repeat.

I was harshly criticized for calling the JBJ trade horrific and a "head scratcher." I said the Diekman trade was "horrific." I hated the Paxton, Richards and Perez signings and a lot of things you didn't hate, so you don't see it as criticism. Like, I wanted a fire sale, and you did not. It was a huge mistake not to have a fire sale, or at least a mini one to get under the tax line. You criticized me for giving up, and didn't even notice that was a Bloom (and Henry) bash. I did not like many of his signings in 2020 or 2021. I said it then. When people criticize Bloom for things I might even agree with but that might need context added, or for things I do not think he deserves to be criticized for, I speak up. Because the bashing is so absurdly frequent and obsessive it makes it look like I'm only posting glorifying posts about Bloom. That's how you see it, when I see it as just countering absurd extremism. I don't blame Bloom for being handed a farm that produced just Houck since the Devers call-up in 2017 (5 years). I don't blame Bloom for not signing superstars when made to massively cut the budget year one and to slowly add over the next 2 winters. I don't blame Bloom for not trading top prospects so his resume looks better, today. I don't blame Bloom for the Betts or Beni trades. Both made sense under the circumstances handed to him. I'm not happy about them, but I don't Blame Bloom for those two deals. He should have extended Betts, Bogey and Devers, long ago. Maybe DD shoulda-coulda, too, but Bloom can and should be criticized for not doing so. I'm glad he did not extend Beni, JBJ, ERod and some others that declined. (No credit given, there.) He should have done better with many of his signings, but again, I did not expect greatness from $5-7M contracts. I weigh the good and bad and look at the circumstances he had. I wish he'd done better, but I like the direction of the farm and the influx of young players we should start seeing, this season. I think that's what he was hired to do, and has not missed that mark. If you call that brown-nosing, I'd say it's your warped sense of perspective that is the issue. You are the extremist. I try to take a balanced approach and always have. ..

Where did I ever come close to refuting this? And when you say, "No, but he gets the reports, or at least should have." It sounds like you think he might not have read them, or why say, "at least he should have." But again, words have totally different meanings to you, so I must just be overanalyzing, again, something you always say when someone points out your words have a certain common meaning to everyone in the world but you.

The same people that think we sucked the most in 2022 are the ones who were against a fire sale or mini fire sale. Maybe some even wanted us to trade prospects for rentals. LOL!

Exactly, but what gets me is how many of the 2022 Sox and Bloom's biggest bashers did not want Bogey (or anyone else) traded.

We're down to Yoshida & Sale. Geeesh!