moonslav59

So, maybe he signs Conforto and saves the rest for the deadline, like he did when we were able to add Schwarber and others in 2021. The interesting thing will be, if we are out of contention at the deadline or hanging close to being on the outside, with little hope of advancing in the playoffs, if we squeak in. Will we see a fire sale that would surely add to our promising longer term outlook? Trade Bogey, Eovaldi, JD, Vaz and Kike- maybe even guys like Barnes (assuming he's doing well). (I won't talk about trading Devers, because it would sicken me.)

Agreed, but Robles will likely be our 8th RP'er.

The one year opt out would not solve the problem the Sox have, and with Bogey balking at playing 2B or 3B, it wouldn't make sense, unless we traded Bogey to a team who lost out on Story & Correa. $32M/yr also puts us over the tax line by about $16M, and for some reason, that still seems like a high priority to avoid doing that.

To me, it's more about roster space (and other more pressing needs) than the money it would take to add Pham to a Conforto signing.

Suzuki and Baez, who was fine with playing 2B, despite being a better defensive SS than Bogey, made the most sense to me. Of course, signing a better pitcher made the most sense, but I really didn't see a "wow" name out there to go large and long on, so I give Bloom a pass there- for this winter only.

One question remains for me. Is this a result of strict guidelines from Henry, or is this who Bloom is? I think next winter will answer that question.

True, and maybe Bloom did make some calls to these agents but hung up once he heard the asking price without ever even vocalizing a ball park figure.

I'm not sure I've even read that the Sox made an offer, even with no money mentioned.

I'm getting the feeling some of us are becoming like Swihart's Ghost- just looking to the next shiniest piece available, even if the fit seems convoluted. I'm not pessimistic about our chances in 2022. We have a solid base and some promising players who can add to what we did in 2021, but I'm not going to lie and say I'm happy with this winter's moves. I'm also not optimistic about us doing anything serious in the next few days. True, I've put out some hopeful suggested trades or signings, but I fully realize the odds they happen are slim to none. Maybe we make the playoffs, this year and surprise a few rounds, but if nothing serious happens, next year, I'm going to be voicing a lot more displeasure- not necessarily at Bloom, but at team ownership for shutting off the spigot.

There is only so far you can go on spending large amounts of money by spreading it as thin as you can. There are only 40 roster spots, but your point is well-taken. I never expected the '19-'20 winter to be the "next winter," and I was disappointed with the '20-'21 winter, despite how well it ended up working out. I did think there was a good chance we'd make 1-2 bigger moves, this winter- maybe not breaking the bank, but solid moves that helped us for 2022 and beyond. When the Lux tax line was raised, I had some renewed hopes, but those have been dashed, so far, and this whole Story signing idea perplexes me, unless the idea is to trade Bogey, which seems rather extreme, after we just lost Betts & ERod. I felt we had less holes to fill, this winter, as many of are departing players looked more like additions by subtractions than serious holes to fill. I get the fact that replacing the innings from Richards and Perez would not be cheap, but I was hoping we'd spend the $45-55M on 4-6 slots and not 7-8, like we have. Since many of this winter's signings are also 1 year deals, it's hard to really call this serious long term building up of team 40 man roster depth. Yes, the building up of the farm will eventually spill into the 40 man roster, at a low cost (although Binales & Hamilton cost us a pretty penny.) What moves have we made that improved our outlook for 2023 and beyond, except maybe the JBJ & Prospects deal? Paxton (1-3 yrs)? Diekman (2 yrs)? Maybe the whole 40man roster depth rebuild is just a mirage, and it's really just about building the farm up.

Conforto or Pham may be a pipedream. Both are impossible.

Like Lester redux. Make a final offer you know will not be taken.

I do wonder, if it's all been a smoke screen to feign seriousness about improving to the Sox fans and media. Throw a tid-bit here and there, but in reality, I think it just frustrated the more interested and attentive fans. How many big to somewhat big names were we seriously linked to? (And I'm not even sure how "serious" they really got.) Baez Suzuki Story Steven Matz Maybe false links? Semien Freeman Chris Taylor Schwarber I would not be surprised to find out we never came close, in our final offers, to any of these, and likely did not even make actual offers to some or most of these guys.

We've basically added 6 new names to the 26 man roster and 5 were pitchers. True, most just replaced who we had in the same slots, last year. JBJ Paxton Wacha Hill Diekman Strahm (We kept Barnes, Robles and Vaz + arb players) Sadly, I think we are done adding pitchers before opening day. Here's a breakdown of the innings lost from 2021 and who might replace those innings in 2022: 158 ERod (100 ERA+) Maybe 58 more from Sale & 100 from Paxton 137 Richards (97) Maybe 137 from Wacha 114 Perez (100) Maybe 114 from Hill 62 Ottavino (113) Maybe 32 more from Houck & 10 more from Barnes, Taylor & Saw. 37 Andriese (79) Maybe 61 from Diekman 24 Y Rios (129) (61 from Diekman) 20 Workman (97) + ~40 Brice, Weber, Peacock & others - Maybe 60 from Strahm & Robles combined Lots of wishful thinking, here.

That's what you told us about Big Nate.

Agreed, but will 3 good seasons out of his last 5 really up his pay and years all that much over the current 2 our of 4 reality? He'll also be a year older, and his age was one of the biggest factors in his value. (Defense being the other)

Do we really know how much of Bloom's moves are related to budgetary restrictions or guidelines? Give any GM $41M with 7-9 slots open on the roster, and would any spend $25-33M on one guy? Now, if he really had $57M to spend, then maybe there was room for 1-2 bigger signings, and maybe Bloom signs one big name. Next winter almost surely will be the "big tell."

Exactly, and in some ways, we got weaker at the top of the 40man roster (ERod/Schwarber/Ottavino/Renfroe) while just replacing the bottom 40 with similar player profiles. I knew we might be frugal for another season, but this is a disappointing, so far. Adding Story would change the narrative, but it creates too many issues with team harmony, positional concerns and the future budget. It would also end the Bogey era in Boston, either by forcing a trade or watching him walk, next winter.

He was clearly asking for too much and was unwilling to drop his demands low enough to cash in on a longer term deal. $32M/yr is not chump change, but a 1 to 3 year deal is way lower than he wanted. They guy has been hurt and has had two off years in his last 4 seasons. The defense is great, but guys like Story and Baez can do that and hit pretty well, too. The Seager deal blew everything away, and I think it made Correa wide-eyed.

We've spent over $41M LUX Tax on 6 FA players (Paxton, Wacha, Hill, Diekman, Strahm & Robles) and JBJ. We added another $16.4M taking Vaz's option and extending Barnes. Then, the arb raises. We've spent, this winter, but like last winter, it's been sread out over many players (almost all pitchers.) I had hoped we were looking beyond continued farm and lower 40man roster slot rebuilding, but sadly, it appears we have not... yet.

So, we've spent about $41M on free agents- about the same as last winter- and we are about $16M under the tax line. If we spend maybe $15M, we'll be at over $55M in FA spending, this winter. This has to be the quietest $41-57M ever spent.

Let the old saying "he's asking for $____" be laid to rest.

To me, that is plan A, despite the flaw of the fragile Arroyo playing 2B, everyday. Duran or Dalbec in LF, when Kike plays 2B. Verdugo in RF & JBJ in CF is the rest of plan B.

It will change the genre to a mystery novel.

He's one of, if not the most hopeful signings by the Sox this winter, which is not really a ringing endorsement.