moonslav59

I could see him trading prospects for a one year window, maybe 2 years. Getting Duran might make it 3 years, if he keeps Schwarber in Philly. I'm not sure he gives up Painter, but we might flip him for Ryan.

What a great day for the Hoosiers! WOW! I'm thinking Alabama lost by enough to bounce them, but even with 3 loses, they are probably a better team than ND and MIA. I can't see how the committee jumps MIA over ND, when neither played nor saw their strength of schedule get better or worse with any action today. MIA did barely beat ND, but they lost to Louisville and SMU. ND lost to MIA and TEX A&M. VA lost, so I can't see Duke getting in at 8-5. I think this will be the final rankings: Byes: 1. IN 13-0 2. OSU 12-1 3. GA 12-1 4. TX Tech 12-1 __________ 5. Oregon (I'd put Ole Miss 5th) 6. Ole Miss 7. TX A&M (I'd put ORE here) 8. OKL 9. ND 10. ALA 11. Tulane (What a joke these conferences get preference) 12. James Madison (Gotta go over Duke.) MIA should be #11 Vandy or TEX should be #12. So.... James Madison at Oregon Tulane at Ole Miss Alabama at TX A&M ND at OKL To me, ORE might be the worst home team.

Off loading Masa would clear a spot for Casas or even some sort of Campbell-Romy- Duran combo. Get Alonso is primary. (Schwarber, if not, and then off-loading Masa is priority #2) I like Bregman more than Polanco, because I don't want Romy at 3B in a platoon with Mayer, but it would be ok. Polanco will cost less and maybe for half the years. Alonso and Marte would be king, but trading for Marte probably means no trading for a #2 SP and just rolling the dice with Gray.

I've only worked for companies with make-believe money.

HOU is platinum.

Pick up a bong, dude! Pack a big bowl and light er up. My stoney memory is better than yours! I'm looking at Brez and seeing more good than average or bad. Good: Crochet, Narvaez, Slaten, Fitts & Weissert for Dugo, scraps for O'Neill, Yorke for Priester OK or TBD:, Sonny Gray, minor deals- Steve Matz, Sandlin Bad: Sale, Devers (so far) Priester (so far), minor deals-L Garcia, L Sims, Paxton, D May

Okamoto is growing on me, but I've had my mind set on player that are proven and durable- something novel to this team's 7 year strategy.

Except Crochet...and oh yea...Narvaez...

Can we trade Masa and Hicks for Devers? Maybe throw in Harrison?

The Contreras deal is about equal to Masa's, so if STL is trying to dump salary, I think cash has to be part of the choco-deal. (Maybe just add Casas not Crawford, or sub Sandlin or Mullins for Kutter.)

I know Alonso's D at 1B is about as bad as Casas, and maybe one will end up being the DH before too long, but the guy has the power we need. 80 XBHs, last year. He hit 38 HRs and still managed to lead the league in doubles. We know none of them were "leg doubles." He K's a lot, but he walks more than enough to make up for that. He had a .347 OBP in 2025. That was better than any Sox player with 350+ PAs, except Bregman, who might be gone. He's a RHB that hits well in both splits. He has career reverse splits, so he's not really a lefty killer like he is to righties. Schwarber has had reverse splits, recently, but he hits both types very well. He's not ideal for 1B, but if Casas gets hurt, he can't be all that mush worse than he is on D. To me, K Marte is the only other big bat that is seemingly available to match those two, and he plays 2B. K Marte & Bregman would be a nice combo.

Harrison won't be the headliner for a big bat. I'm not even sure K Campbell, Harrison & Arias would be enough, but probably would be.

Duran is win now plus 2 arbs, so now and soon. Pitchers like Crawford and Harrison are experienced ML'ers and have several years of control. Thay could be viewed as win now & soon, as well. K Campbell, Dobbins and Perales are longer range, as are Tolle and Early. The Sox can tailor an offer to meet the needs of almost any team. If not, then pull in a third team. Not many teams have SP'ers to spare, even #4-5 types.

One series does not predict what we get going forward. I'm fine with out OF, even if we trade one (not Anthony.) I also think K Campbell offers nice depth and a RHB option. We need some power from the infield or DH.

One would have to be Early or Tolle for sure- maybe Bello, but losing Bello just opens another big hole. Do we offer Tolle or Early plus one from Crawford, Harrison or Dobbins? I doubt they'd agree to three from Crawford, Harrison, Dobbins, Witherspoon and Perales plus Arias or Gonzales. Does AZ want Duran or K Campbell? Does MIL (Peralta +), CIN (Lodolo) or MIN (Ryan)?

We can do both. Bubic or Peralta might be the cheapest due to one year of control. Ragans would be costly, as would Ryan or Lodolo. Skubal or Greene are pipedreams. We can also sign 2 big bats, instead of trading for Marte, but that depends on JH changing his ways.

We did that with 334 PAs from Devers (15 HRS .504 SLG) and 495 PAs from Bregman (18 HRs .462 SLG) not to mention 11 HRs from 328 PAs by Refsnyder (.484 SLG) and Lowe (.420 SLG). That's 44 HRs out of 186. Devers and Ref were 1-2 on the team in SLG, with Bregman 6th and Lowe 9th. We need power and a big RHB. To me, more than we need a #2 SP'er. I think we need 2 big bats.

Big win by Texas Tech. That assures ND a slot. The big question is on Alabama, did they lose big enough to knock em out? (I hope so.) Does Virginia get a slot with a win? (I don't think they should.) Does IN drop out of the top 4 with a loss? (I'd say yes.) Can Texas sneak in? (How do they jump teams that are not playing?) TEX or Vandy would replace BYU, unless they go with VA. Would James Madison be in had they not lost any games? (I'd say no.) Let's say OSU wins, I might go... 1. OSU 2. GA 3. TX Tech 4. Ole Miss 5. IN 6. TX A&M 7. ORE 8. OKL 9. ND 10. MIA 11. ALA 12. VA with a win? or Texas/Vandy/Tulane who won? Should 2 loss Vandy jump 3 loss ALA? If IN wins, OSU stays top 4.

Kim or Polanco, right? No place for Story with both, unless someone plays 3B. I like these ideas but am not sure about Kim.

Exactly, and that is the impetus for a trade. The best trades are ones that give another team a player they need more than we do and we get someone we need more than they do- at least in theory. Of course, a team like MN and CIN "need" Sp'ers like Ryan or Lodolo, but they have other options and or money issues and other needs that we can fill. I'd love to be able to do this: Duran, Hicks and $8M to CIN for Lodolo Masa, Crawford & Casas and $12M for W Contreras Sign Schwarber & Bregman then, I woke up.

I could see that happening, but I get the sense Brez & Co are content with Casas at 1B. I'd rather Casas DH and go with Alonso at 1B and maybe Polanco at 2B (Mayer/Romy at 3B). The other big option would be Schwarber at DH, Casas/Romy at 1B, Mayer/Romy at 2B and Bregman or Suarez at 3B. (Suarez will be cheaper and shorter term, and with a KS signing, even he might be too expensive for JH.

Who else can we get to fix the power void? If we don't get a top bat like Schwarber, Alonso or K Marte, we'll probably need two. Bregman and Bichette have a lot of value, but neither fixes the power problem. Suarez is old. Polanco might have had a lucky season. I'm not seeing anyone else available. Who are you a fan of?

I totally agree. Top money draws the top CEOs and managers, too. Every business and every team tries to make money. Most try to win as many games as possible within some sort of player budget guideline. How that budget is set tends to affect the chances of winning with many teams, but some high spending teams often fail, while a few lower spending teams often win more than expected. That's not too different from other businesses run by managers of varying competency levels.

I was no fan of the Gio signing, but it looked like we finally signed a pitcher that appeared reliable and or wasn't 34+ years old. BAM! What a "dumb signing!" We dealt with years and years of Sale injuries, and we finally decide enough is enough. We trade him away for a promising player that was our best bet to finally solve the decade long 2B problem, then BAM! Grissom sucks and Sale resurges at a very late age. "Stupid GM!!!" I could go on and on...

The flip side is that it's never bad luck when someone we sign sucks or gets hurt. It's "stupid, bonehead GMs!"