moonslav59

Probably not many non-pitchers, but the 26 man roster is rather new, so maybe that may change.

We traded for him. The list was for all the "greats" brought up through the Sox system since Buchholz.

That helps me understand your mentality.

I think it is pretty clear why Maldanado is the starting catcher for the Astros, despite his .300 OPS.

As long as the guy is good at handling the staff and decent at other defensive aspects, I'm on board. I know very little about other teams' catchers and staff-handling.

Is that your goal?

There is a difference between what I want to happen and what I think will happen, but in this case, both point to no mega deals, this winter. $30-40M to spend: 4-5 slots open. That does not leave much room for a $30M deal, unless we sign Scherzer and 3 Iggy types.

It's not about Plawecki being great with the staff, except maybe Eovaldi. It's about Vaz being worse or much worse than whoever else is our back-up.

We need another quality SP'er, IMO. That is our highest priority. Depending on where Houck and Whitlock end up, we need another pitcher at Starter or relief. If we have a much higher spending budget, I'm fine with adding Baez and or Schwarber. ERod Verlander Schwarber Iggy or ERod Scherzer Baez

Who knows who other teams might trade, but it's not easy to find good one. We could sign Pina. We could try Wong, but I'm not sure how well he handles pitchers, either.

Ok. Good point. I've also said the pitching is better than the numbers indicate due to poor defense, and Vaz is part of that position, although not much to do with the high BAbip. I won't be hurt, if we bring Vaz back. I just don't think he's worth $7M, especially if he can't hit over .675.

He's saying he would not protect him, and maybe he would have been had he hit well, this season. I get your point about this season, but it would have been a closer call, had he done well. There are teams out there in total rebuild mode, who can stash a player they will never play as their 26th man, if they really think he will be a good one. Jimenez has not indicated he is that type of player.

I've said things like "not much of a crunch." I'm thinking guys like Rosario and Potts are out there for the taking on minor league deals. Sure, they "might help" but at no better chance than who we replace them with, so our 40 man gets better by replacing them. That's the point, and that is hardly a meaningful "crunch." To me, a meaningful crunch might be needing to DFA Bazardo or Davis, and even those two are not much better than what's out there in the minor league FA market or players that will be shed by other teams when they hit their crunch.

I did not think he was as "good" as Ranaudo. The whole point was sarcastic, but I see you enjoy picking everything I say apart (not that I don't do the same pretty often). I'm fine subbing Ranaudo for Weiland in my sarcastic post. Now, I'll wait for you next nit-picking comment.

not in CMs

Like your pick of Ranaudo over Weiland?

Okay. I'll sub Ranaudo for Weiland. It's such an important fix.

True, but in general, we spent about $43M, last winter, and about $30 was "freed up" by not signing Betts (minus what Verdugo cost us.)

He's saying "if he had...," but he didn't, so he won't be protected.

Not a big roster crunch. Not like other teams with deeper 40 men rosters and lots of Rule 5's. If we sign 4 free agents, we only have to DFA Rosario and Potts. If we sign 5, maybe Ronaldo Hernandez or Plawecki. You call that a crunch? There is also Davis, Arauz, and a couple other players I won't cry about being DFA'd or traded for scraps.

I would not bring Vaz back at $7M. I'd trade him, if we do bring him back. Where is the disconnect?

Maybe some GM will offer a far off prospect for him. Find that out before you say no to his option. I would not pay him $7M for reasons everyone knows, but some GM might. He did hit neat .800 from 2019-2020, so that ups his value a little. Not many catchers have ever done that in recent years.

I'm not sure we keep 4 catchers on the 40 man: Vaz, Plawecki, Wong and R Hernandez. RH's stock fell, this season, but he offers more future hopes than Plawecki or Vaz. I think we trade or non tender one (not Wong.)

It wasn't hard to "hit like Vaz," this season. I think $7M is too much. I'd trade Vaz or don't offer the option, if nobody will trade for him. I really like Schwarber, too, but it's a luxury I don't think we can afford to divert funding to.

Here’s a look back at last year’s signings and additions: $Millions 10 Richards 8 Ottavino 7 Kike x 2 6 Perez 3.5 Andriese 3.1 Renfroe 3 Marwin 1.8 Santana 1.2 Sawamura -2.8 Beni We spent a little over $40M, and people accuses Henry of going cheap. We picked up some more salary at the deadline. This was 9 players plus 3 at the deadline and Shaw and Iggy, later. (minus Andriese). If we spend $35-40M, this winter on just 4-5 players, we should be able to get higher quality. It will be $7-10M per player not $4-5M average per player, last winter. As you can see from last winter, Bloom did not "hit" too well with his biggest additions, so let's hope he does better in that area, this winter. My projected 40 man roster, opening day: Vaz Wong RHernandez (or Plawecki) Dalbec Casas Arroyo _____ (Iggy?) Arauz Bogaerts Downs Devers Verdugo JD Kike Duran Renfroe Eovaldi _______ Sale _______ (ERod?) Pivetta Seabold Groome Crawford (5) Winckowski (5) Bello (5) Santos (5) Mata Houck Whitlock Barnes Taylor ______ Brasier DHern Sawamura Davis Valdez Bazardo Feltman (5)