moonslav59

I woke up the echoes!

There is one indisputable fact: no poster on this site did more bong hits than I did from 1977-1981.

Hard to get the top quality on one year deals, and that has been a major issue for years. Story and Yoshida are the two FA contracts over 2 years in a long time. We have done a few 2 year deals, like Gio, Jansen, Martin & Sandoval. We need to break that mold, this winter and 2 or more times.

I could see a Duran, Harrison & Crawford deal for a solid #2 or a big bat like K Marte.

Fixed it for you.

Bongs are so out of fashion. Probably that nasty bong water had something to do with that.

I also could see the Mets spending big on everyone but Alonso, so I think we are still in on Schwarber, Alonso and Bregman. I'm not sure I believe that talk about us maybe adding 2 of the 5 targets mentioned, but if one is Okamoto, maybe we might.

If Criswell is claimed, as he likely will be, he won't have a choice.

No, he wasn't. Many of us did not like that signing, but to me he seemed like a better shot in the dark than the Kluber and Richards types. We need to do better. I see Gray as a better shot than Buehler, but is no given.

He was a fine #3 in 2025. Some stats show him as top 60, so maybe a #2, but he did drop off in SEP. I'm not sure we can read into that too much and claim he can't be trusted in the PS. He only had one shot.

Oviedo since 2022: 274 IP at ages 24-27: 3.97 ERA and 110 ERA+ 4.40 FIP due to 4.2 BB/9 His K/9 has ticked up- post TJS- from 7.8 to 9.4 in a small sample size in 2025 (40 IP) He has a 91 ERA- since '22, which is better than Joe Ryan, Pivetta, Lodolo, Bassitt, Kirby, Bello and others. (8th out of 205 pitchers with 250+ IP- tied with Cease & Rodon.) This shows he's close to #3 level, but look at his FIP.... His 4.40 FIP placed him at 147th out of 205, which is maybe #5 territory.

I did not mean to imply it shouldn't be talked about. I talk about it a lot, too. I'm not happy with JH slowing the spending and avoiding large and long deals, although I can understand why, when the vast majority fail. I'm in the camp of "I'll believe it when I see it," and since JH has spent big before, it could happen again, but I'm only making suggested moves based on the idea that JH is not going to blow past the second tax line. I'm not even sure he goes past the first line or barely over.That's not close to "praising" greedy rich people. It's not licking boots by claiming it's "not happen," is "not likely to happen," or "probably won't happen." I call that being realistic not accommodating or accepting it has to be that way. It is what it is. It doesn't have to be, but I'm assuming we stay near the first tax line to maybe just below the second line. There is a chance we got near the second line, but I'll be surprised, if we do. I don't like it. There have been times I have presented suggested moves based on big spending, so I was being hypocritical to say others should not do that. I was wrong on that. IMO, JH is not going to go "full throttle" this winter. I'm fine with others thinking he might. Most of us think he should. Maybe only Kimmi is against that idea, but she seems to only be against large and long overpay deals.

I think you may be right. To me, Crawford and or Oviedo is bound for the pen, barring SP'er injuries.

Gray was the 40th- taking Fitts' slot.

I think he keeps Perales as depth and trades 1-2 SP'ers who have trade value- like Crawford, Harrison or if the right return Early or Tolle. I'm not sure Dobbins or Perales have enough trade value to be worth trading, now. I don't see us trading Bello, but Brez likes to shock the fans.

Name one person who said he's a "lock." I'm probably his biggest supporter and I said I think, if healthy, he has the inside track on the 4 slot, assuming he looks okay in ST'ing. If all these guys look about the same in ST'ing and are healthy, I would guess only Crochet, Gray and Bello are "locks." Here is my pecking order: 4. Sandoval 5. Crawford or Oviedo 7. Harrison 8. Dobbins or Early/Tolle

I don't want the Sox to trade away much of the future, so they don't have to spend money to fill every hole and upgrade a few slots, but there should be some leeway on trading a couple or three decent prospects or young players to fill a big hole or two. While we do have a few higher-priced and a couple over-priced players on the roster, and Houck taking up a 2026 slot without pitching one inning, we have some very inexpensive and reasonably priced players under team control form 2+ years. SPers: Crochet- 6 yrs at $28.3 Bello- 5 yrs at $9.2 Gray- 1 yr at $21M & Sandoval 1 yr at $9.1M Crawford- 3 arbs Houck & Oviedo- 2 arbs Pre-arb: Harrison, Dobbins, Tolle, Early and more... RPers: Chapman- 1 to 2 yrs at $13.3M Whitlock- 1 yr at $7.5M Slaten & Weissert- pre-arb Hicks- 2 yrs at $10.3M Pre-arbs: Moran, Kelly, Sandlin, Mullins and many more.... C: Narvaez- pre-arb & Wong- 3arbs 1B: Casas- 3 arbs 2B: Romy- 3arbs & DHam- pre-arb SS: Story- 2 yrs at $23.3M 3B: Mayer- pre-arb LF: Anthony- 8 yrs at $16.3M plus option Duran- $7.7M then 2 arbs Campbell- $7.5M for 7 yrs plus 2 options CF: Rafaela- 6 yrs at $6.3M RF: Abreu-pre-arb DH: Yoshida- 2 yrs at $18M _________________ We lose Gray, Sandoval & Whitlock after 2026. That's it! That's about $35M coming off the books, too. W4e lose Duran after 2027, if he's not traded before then. We also lose Yoshida and $18M and Houck plus Oviedo. We are nicely set up for a 3+ year window.

I think Campbell is now viewed as a LF'er, so Garcia was knocked down a peg.

We are at 40. We lost JG and DFA's Criswell and added two to the 40.

'31 is a player option year, but yes. 2.1 is pretty good. Look at our 2B WAR numbers for the last decade.

We had "great depth" last year, so much so, we felt the need to trade Priester (and Newcomb.) Then, we ended up trading for May and relying on rookies to start big games for us down the stretch. That being said, I'd prefer a move toward more quality not quantity.

Was Dobbins the 2025 version of Criswell? I think we might see Crawford in the pen, if he's not traded. To me, he seems the most likely to be moved. They might have seen something in Harrison that they want played out, but maybe they realized he is not "fixable" as he never really got a shot in 2025 with us, despite the label "ML ready." We handed the ball to Tolle & Early, and even gave Criswell a start over Harrison. Maybe he's the one we trade. If I were a betting man, I might take the over on 1,5 SP'ers being traded before opening day.

Indeed. The previous "administration" had some luck with guys like Pivetta, Schreiber, Bernardino and several others I can't think of, and Brez & Co did okay with Slaten, Criswell, Weissert, Booser and maybe we can count Gio, but the jury is still out.

It is a certainty that we will not start the 2026 season with 14 SP'ers on the 40. Even if we plan to convert a couple to the pen, even if just temporarily, our roster would be dangerously unbalanced. Something is in the works. Teams need pitching and are overpaying for it. We need a big bat and can put together a wide variety of packages to suit almost anything a team is looking for: top prospects, ML ready pitchers and a dynamic OF'er. The only thing we can't spare is a FT infielder. I gotta think the budget will be tight enough that at least one major trade will be made to add a bat (or two.) Hopefully, we will also sign another one, but we'll see. Here's how I see our SP'ers, and I know how much you love numbering them... (lol) #1 Crochet (top 5) #3 Gray & Bello (both closer to #2s than #4s) #4-5 Sandoval (if healthy) #5 Crawford & Harrison #5-6 Oviedo & Dobbins Unknowns: Tolle, Early, & Perales AAAA: Sandlin, Uberstine & Drohan

This is all true, but the real conundrum is this, We need to improve our offense- it's one of the very few things everyone agrees on. We lost these top OPS+ guys from 2025 1. Devers 151 3. Refsnyder 131 4. Bregman 128 6. Lowe 121 Yet, it appears like our #8 OPS+ guy is blocked. In this context, and in a vacuum, it makes zero sense to trade Duran. The only returning players with a higher OPS+ in 2025 are: 140 Anthony (played half a season) 128 Romy (looks like a platoon guy, mostly) 116 Abreu (has been a platoon guy for years) All of this being said, I still think trading Duran makes the most sense, but ONLY if we add two big bats in the infield (or DH.)