moonslav59

I'd say Whitlock is, too. Story and Masa are on the way down from peak prime. Chapman is way past ordinary prime. In terms of age, I'd say 28 is peak prime, so Romy is 28 & Crawford 29. Slaten, Narvarez & Abreu are close by age. So many of our best players are 2-4 years from peak prime: 26: Crochet, Bello, Abreu, Narvaez 25: Casas, Dobbins 24: Rafaela 23: Early, Tolle, Harrison 22: Mayer 21: Anthony

That's even more doubtful. "would be better" is not the same as "want the new owner to be..."

They are also shopping Teoscar.

Indeed, and through all the "ineptness," somehow they built up a top farm system that has created a 40 man roster loaded with so very many promising players under inexpensive team control for many years. Yes, other team have leapfrogged over our spending budget, in very recent year. (Some may not realize we were still a top 3 spending team in 2021, which is not ancient history.) Yes, we have avoided large and long FA contracts, but we have no avoided large and long extensions to younger players, which is actually a nice strategy. Yes, we sign a lot of 1-2 year deals, but at least we've jumped the AAVs from $10M/1 to $40M/1, $21M/1, $38M/1, $18M/1 and $13M/1. I do think we need to move outside the comfort zone and go a bit larger and a bit longer to fill a couple more big need areas out of these 3: 3B or 2B 1B SP2 One could be by trade.

Perhaps, but it would not be 100% agreement. We probably can't even get that number on saying the Crochet trade was great. LOL

Still unsigned: (my projection) Tucker ($440M/11) Bichette ($220M/8) Murakami ($200M/8) Bregman ($170M/6) F Valdez ($160M/5) Iami ($150M/6) Bellinger ($145M/5) Ra, Suarez ($120M/5) M King ($84M/4) Gallen ($80M/4) Okamoto & Grisham ($70M/4) E Suarez ($66M/3) Bassitt ($40M/2) Giolito & H-S Kim ($35M/2) Realmuto, N Martinez & Hearns ($30M/2) Littell ($25M/2) L Weaver, Fairbanks & S Dominguez ($20M/2) Big trade names: K Marte, Paredes, B Lowe, Donovan, Y Diaz, W Contreras, Lodolo, Ryan, Gore, Alcantara, P Lopez, L Castillo, M Keller and others.

He's got some nice upside, but so do others that won't cost picks.

The "full throttle" was so absurdly over-the-top and disingenuous that everything that comes after is doubted and should be. Plus, much of what they said after that has not come true. It's been a never-ending spiraling sham.

And while JH & Co. might view 5 years as large and LONG, it's not 6-10 years.

I agree. For all we know Anthony, Mayer and Casas could outshine most of the big bats signed this winter, and I'm talking just for 2026. Going forward, they might be the wiser bet to do better, but I still think Schwarber and Alonso have 2-3 big years in them and feel their 2-3 year numbers will eclipse lesser FAs signed and any in system players on the Sox, except maybe Anthony. We already got 300+ good PAs from Anthony, so if he gives us 650+ in 2026, it's a nice boost, but it's not a total boost. Signing Bichette would replace Bregman and maybe Ref's total PAs, and may not even match their combined production. I do like depth, especially with pitching, but trading Duran still leaves Campbell as depth and I know Brez & Co still see Masa as a LF option. (I'd prefer he stay an emergency option, but...) Masa in LF would have allowed Casas to DH, had we signed Alonso. Or, Casas at 1B and Schwarber at DH. In both cases, Duran was available to trade for a solid #2 (Ryan, Lodolo, Ragans, ___?) or a 2Bman (KMarte, BLowe + Y Diaz?) I'm not thrilled with the idea, but I think we'd have enough depth with Romy onboard, and if we wanted to, we could sign Ref for one more season. He loves Boston, and Boston loves him!

Of course, but that value is much more speculative. How many 23 year olds who have made it to the bigs last to 28. Then, how many of those do well. As a percentage of total players in those age groups, I wonder how the results look. Also, the thing about Polanco was the 2 year contract.

A healthy Ragans is worth 2 Durans, but...

Chances are we will have some injuries next year, so we can’t be counting on returning players as our saviors or to replace departing players. Yes, it’s just mid December but with reports about budget limits and no long term deals, it sure feels like another sham winter, to me. It can change but my hopes are low

Recent history was Crochet, Bregman, Chapman and a $21M and $18M/2 pitcher who failed.

Getting Greene would lessen the need for offense, maybe from 2 big bats to one. we both want the team to improve, and there are more than one way to do that

getting green would be huge! the two others combined would make us top 3 in the ALE.

No way just Gray and Bichette make us better than 2025. fine if anyone disagrees but acting like my position is absurd is kinda strange to me

I think that’s true, and some won’t be happy no matter what

maybe top 3 in ALE

I guess I'm a greedy and entitled brat. To me, one major addition might get us back to even with 2025, which was not a highly competitive team. If we do just one big add, I'll think we have a shot- maybe a long one or one pinned on the hopes for next to no injuries and or major jumps by our younger players, but a hope nonetheless. We need two to be a top 3-5 contender. Does anybody think we would be a top 5 team with just a Bregman or Bichette signing before opening day?

Fred, can you please stop with the last 5 years line. Last winter was not dumpster diving, and it wasn't even close. I share your concerns and doubts. I don't share in your surety based on a falsehood. You'd do better trying to make your points without repeating the same misinformation over and over. We trade for and extended a top 5 MLB pitcher. Nothing close to that has happened since 2018 or before. That was so far from a dumpster dive, that this move alone breaks your point into shreds. We shattered the Devers team record AAV by signing Bregman- not a dumpster dive. We signed Buehler to the highest AAV for a FA pitcher since Price. We signed Sandoval to the second largest FA contract (to Gio) since Eovaldi in 2019, and one could view that as an extension or non upgrade signing. We signed Chapman to $11M, which was a lower AAV than Jansen, but still significant, The AAV spent on Crochet, Buehler and Sandoval topped $50M. Add Chapman and Wilson, and we spent over $65M on pitching, alone. That number might come close to 2020-2024 combined, if not for the Gio signing. The Bregman signing on the heels of the Devers extension was not a continuation of the 4-5 years before 2025. No way. No how. Please stop passing over the 2025 spending and trend-breaker. If we return to the previous trend, I'll be joining you in the condemnation and negative feedback, but let's not rewrite history to make our points.

I'm a Casas supporter, but I feel it's a big presumption that he will fix the 1B offensive numbers. I think Brez & Co are making that choice. YES! Fix 2B. I'd love to get Marte. My own personal choice is to pass on a large and long deal with Bichette. We haven't had a L & L deal for a FA in a long time. He would not be my choice, but assuming he's okay playing 2B, it would be a big help. My fear is that his contract will restrict our spending for too many years to come. My other fear is that we would be just flipping the big need from 2B to 3B by signing Bichette and not Bragman or Suarez. Either way, Mayer will be expected to fill the "other" need, and coupling that expectation with the Casas one is just too much to ask, in my view. IMO, we needed and still need two big bats to replace Bregman, Devers, Ref and Lowe. That's over 1150 PAs lost. Bichette, alone, might knock that down to 500. The great hope would come down to Mayer, Casas and then some more PAs from Anthony, along with assuming very minimal injuries to key batter. It also assumes we don't lose Duran/Abreu's bat, and we DH Duran and sit the $18M DH who should be able to hit .775ish (about what Duran might hit.) IMO, Gray did not fill the need for a solid #2 SP, but he might be good enough. We need two power bats, and have watched the best two go elsewhere. Bregman or Bichette would be a move that just barely keeps us even with the 2025 season that was not great to begin with. Counting on players returning from injury and prospects to shine has been our plan for many years, now. Forgive me for not wanting that same plan continued at a point in this team's development that is screaming for throwing the window wide open with just 2 key & significant moves to be made. Not one.

Of course this is about opinions on players, but also the amount of spending. IMO, we spent enough, last winter, and I've said that many times. I viewed last winter as a possible sign the trend was changing or "the cycle" of upward spending had begun, but then we traded Devers and basically undid those signs. The oprouts given to Gio and Bregman added more pressure to either continue the trend or cycle or not. I've pointed out the much higher AAVs given to Bregman and Buehler. Breggie worked out, but not Buehler. That's on Brez not JH. I see the Gray trade and cost as cancelling out the Gio loss- money and maybe productionwise. I'm not confident we replace Devers, Bregman, Ref & Lowe in kind, and when I hear a poster saying I'm entitled when I expect more than just Gray and maybe Bichette, I'm gonna counter by saying that is simply and categorically false. Is $260M enough? At this point, that doesnt even pay for Bichette, unless we dump some other salary, so I'm not sure why and how you came up with that number.

I'm not convinced. The team is not crap. If it was, I wouldn't be so pissed about the possibility of the window closing. I went 30+ years seeing a crap team and owner. We don't win one ring without JH & Co taking over. There are 29 other teams trying to win. Again, no excuses, the last few years have been a sham, despite building up a top farm team along the way. JH has a chance to go all in for this window. Let's see what he does. I know pessimism rules in your mind, but it's not over until Yogi says it is.

I agree. I'd rather have Suarez than those three- maybe even Imai. King is a big Q mark, but maybe better than Valdez. No way on Gallen.