moonslav59

Agreed. They botched the last two, but asking to make up for inflation over those last years is not an absurd or unreasonable starting point.

Again, I get your point: I just disagree. My max might be 7 or 8 times the league average salary, the year before. This might begin a new era in free agency as several teams might make the same "top offer" to a free agent, and the player may actually select a team based on something other than money. I might allow the team having the rights to the free agent-to-be a chance to offer $1M more than the max. (Then, we'll find out just how much players liked their old team.)

If the owners gave in on other issues, I could see sticking to the $10M number, here, but of course, we'll see no such thing from these greedy bastards.

To me, it's not about how many people would love to make $500K. You could apply that to many entertainment industries, and apply it a thousand or more times to what the owners make. I'm not trying to open a can of worms. I respect your opinion, but with all the money being made off these highly-talented guys, I think they all should get $1M + a year. That would still leave plent more for the owners. (BTW, I'm okay with limiting the max contracts.)

I was surprised to see that, too.

Yes, I got a bit carried away and listed some notable players not in the 2022 mix, but still on their organizational depth chart.

There is also a wide gap on the lux tax limits and percentages for going over.

Sawamura has arb years after his contract runs out, per soxprospects.com. True on Sale having an opt out after 2022-same as Bogey.

To start, yes, but other teams who used to feel they had little chance of signing several good international FAs, might now see a bigger advantage of upping their scouting footprint across the world.

1. I think they'd accept $700K+ minor raises. 2. Many players don't ever make much more than the min, and they spent years in the minors before getting their one and often brief chance.

That was what exposed the owners. They did not even give their first offer for weeks. If they had any sense of urgency, or even the perception of urgency, they'd have had a halfway decent offer on day one. (Even their last and final offer is not what I call halfway decent, but it might have been a good starting point.)

I can't blame the players for not accepting that last and final, absurd offer from the owners. To me, it's 100% owners, hands down. Sure, the players' initial offer was absurd, too, but they backed way down and gave up somethings, too. Their last offer was not really absurd, and I think they showed a willingness to trade off and lower some of their last demands.

soxprospects.com has this for the depth chart... https://soxprospects.com/org.htm (I tweaked it a little to allow some players to be at multiple positions.) SP: Eovaldi, Sale, Paxton (injured), Hill, Pivetta, Wacha, Houck Seabold, Crawford, Winckowski, KHart, BKeller, BMata (injured), BBello, J Groome, TWard, C Murphy, V Santo RP: Whitlock, Barnes, Taylor, Brasier, Sawamura, DHern, ADavis Valdez, Bazardo, MFeliz, TDanish, SBracho, ZKelly, TCole, DGiles, KOrt, DFeltman, JSchreiber, CSimpson, GHartlied, FGerman C: Vazquez, Plawecki Wong, R Hernandez, Madden, KCottam, R Baldwin (NHickey) 1B: Dalbec, Casas, Kike, RRamos, TReed 2B: Kike H, Arroyo, Downs, Arauz, YSanchezz, G Williams, CCannon 3B: Devers, Dalbec, Kike, Potts, Howlett, Binelas (Jordan) SS: Bogaerts, Arauz, Arroyo, Kike, Downs, Fitzgerald, Hamilton (Koss, Bonachi, Mayer) LF: Verdugo, Duran, JD, Cordero, Castellanos CF: Kike, JBJ, Verdugo, Duran, Refsnyder, Rosario (Jimenez) RF: JBJ, Kike, Verdugo, Duran, JD, Stewart, Mieses DH: JD, Dalbec, Duran

I fear the answer to your question.

Well said, as usual.

Freddy Valdez, Jhostynxon Garcia and more... http://news.soxprospects.com/2022/03/scouting-report-updates-freddy-valdez.html Freddy Valdez: Wide range of possible outcomes, with future upside tied into how his hit tool develops. Power-over-hit profile right now, but has the potential for his power to be a carrying tool. Needs to improve his contact skills in order to tap into his power potential. Good low minors flier with some upside. (Turned 20 in December)

At worst (or best, depending on how you view it), I am tied for being the most rabid Sox fan in the world. I'm obsessed! I'm at the point where I really don't care, if the players bunker down and don't give in to the owner's BS and we miss a season. I'll be back, next year, but I will have lost some passion, and I'm not sure I'll ever get it back, unless we win a ring, real soon... LOL!

They are really miscalculating the different era we are in, as compared to the last work stoppage eras. There are way too many other viable options for entertainment out there, and people are creatures of habit. Once they get in the habit of a new hobby or activity, it might not be as easy to lure them back as it was before.

Maybe back in the Bob Cousy era.

Just about every team has used this strategy at some point in time, including the examples I listed for the Sox. I'm not saying the idea is bad, but to me, it doesn't fix the competitive balance issue, and it might make things worse.

We also got Jason Bay for Manny, and later drafted Workman with the pick we got when we lost Bay to free agency. We used the money saved in the AGon, Beckett & Crawford deal to win a ring in 2013, too.

Update on Salem RP'ers: http://news.soxprospects.com/2022/03/scouting-report-updates-2021-salem.html High minor depth arms: http://news.soxprospects.com/2022/03/scouting-report-updates-high-minors.html Low minor starters: http://news.soxprospects.com/2022/03/scouting-report-updates-wilkelman.html

Don't look, now, but every MLB star can choose where to play, too, unless they flame out before free agency- same as the NBA.

The Rays are the Rays due to mastering this strategy.

We did pretty good unloading Slocumb.