moonslav59

If we look at our top 9 batters going into 2027, it might look like this (in order of best batters listed first) Contreras (1B/DH) Mead (1B/2B/DH) Abreu (RF) Anthony (LF/DH) Rutschman (C) Rafaela (CF/2B) Yoshida (DH/LF) Casas (DH/1B) Durbin (3B/2B) Story (2B/SS) Gasper (1B/DH/C) Sogard (1B/3B/2B) Romy (DH/1B/2B) Seigler (2B) Monasterio (3B/2B/SS) White (OF) Jones (OF) Eaton (OF/3B) Campbell (LF/RF) Wong (C)

I'm wondering if knowing this, JH might allow Brez to "pre-spend" some of that money into a long term deal given to someone who won't pull a Story or Yoshida on us. Those two Bloom remnants still choke the budget of needed new spending, and while Brez seems to have a better record with mid level to major signings, it's not really a strong suit. He's done better with trades- some for higher priced players like Gray & Contreras but this time with the other team paying some salary down, unlike the Sale trade. Brez'z largest deals: (remember Devers was extended before Brez took over, but his deal kicked in his first season in 2024.) $170M/6 Crochet (trade then extension) $130M/5 Suarez $130M/8 Anthony (extension) $60M/8 Campbell $55M/6 Bello (extension) $50M/8 Rafaela $41M/1 Bregman $39M/2 Giolito $38M/3 Chapman (2 deals) $34M/2 Contreras (trade w STL paying $8M of $42M) $21M/1 Gray (trade w STL paying $20M of $41M) $21M/1 Buehler $18M2 Sandoval $10M/2 Hendriks

How about 2 arms, a leg and a beard?

Shoulda kept him and traded/DFA'd Wong. If we upgraded to Jeffers, he'd probably DH when not catching, but then what to do with Duran/Anthony and Mead/Story?

The 2027 Tax Budget: 28.3 Crochet 26.0 Suarez 23.3 Story 17.3 Contreras (STL pays the rest- $4M) 18.0 Yoshida 16.3 Anthony 13.0 Chapman 9.2 Bello 7.5 Campbell 6.3 Rafaela TOTAL $163M Options: 8.3 Whitlock (club) 30.0 Gray (club w $5M buyout & Gray optout if option taken) Assuming Gray opts out and Whitlock is brought back: Updated TOTAL: $171M Arbs: 7.7>8.0? Duran (3 of 4) Trade or non-tender 7.5>9.0? Rutschman (3 of 3) 4.1>4.2? Houck (3 of 3) 2.8>2.9 Crawford (3 of 4) 1.6>1.7 Casas (2 of 3) 1.6>1.7 Romy (2 of 3) 1.6>1.7 Oviedo (3 of 3) 1.4>1.5 Wong (2 of 3) .80>2.5 Abreu (1 of 3) .80>1.0 Monasterio (1 or 3) .80>1.4 Weissert (1 of 3) .80>1.1 Slaten (1 of 3) .61>.70 Kelly (1 of 3) .56>1.0 Guerrero (3 of 3) .34>.80 Jones (1 of 4) .27>.80 White (2 of 4) .24>1.5 Miller (1 of 3) .21>.22 S Martinez (1 of 3) About $34M in ARBs +$4M to CWS with Hicks $210M Total +$16M Benefits and $4M rest of 40 man roster & bonus pool: $230M The Tax line before any lock-out is $247M.

I think whatever JH sets the winter budget at will be a major factor in what we can do. I know- duh! Last year, we lost some salary, but we added AAVs of... 26 Suarez 21 Gray (after STL contribution) 17 Contreras (after STL contribution) 6 IKF (Not counting Crochet's extension.) I seriously doubt the budget will be high enough to get ... BLowe 1 from Suzuki, Arozarena or Acuna 1 from Gray, Nick Martinez or Morejon Not sure we'll need that much, but I'm sure some feel we need even more.

Maybe even worse than their projected offense from Yoshida was their belief he could play a decent LF. They didn't really sign him to be the DH, but here we are. Looking at the current all-healthy roster, we seems to have others being squeezed into DH: Arias at SS, so Mead or Story at 2B & DH. Duran or Anthony in LF & DH. We have some decent platoon options, too: Gapser- Jones Sogard-Romy Or, we could platoon Yoshida with Jones or Romy. All these options, and DH might still be the best place to upgrade.

Let's say we get lucky and find takers for Duran, Story and Yoshida and they pay the BTV Value- salary, we'd gain $6M for Story, $4M for Yoshida and Duran's arb costs they put at $16M over 2 seasons. That's $26M total.

For what it's worth, some BTV numbers: -24 Story (owed $30M) -22 KC (owed $33M) -14 Yoshida (owed $18M) -14 Bello (owed $31M) I think he's worth more. -1.4 Wong (owed $1.4M) Some interesting or surprising numbers: 33 Durbin (owed ~$79M) 14 Suarez (owed $144M) 11 Mead & AR 6 Slaten 4 Duran (owed $16M)

I mentioned BLowe last year, too- among many others who did not do so well. He plays 2B and OF, so we'd have some flex with him.

Upgrading Wong would be nice, but we won't see anything major, since we just gave 2 arms and a leg for AR.

FA Bats: Suzuki is 32 and has been over .800 and 20 HRs for 4 straight season. (Trade Duran and fine) Arozarena will be 32 in FEB, has 53 HRs and a .811 OPS from 2025-2026. He bats RH'd. (Maybe?) BLowe just turned 32 and had one of his best career seasons and best since 2021. He's hit over 30 HRs 2 years in a row. He's a LHB. He's my first choice add. He can play 2B or LF. Springer is 37 and declined at 36. (Nope.) and please GOD! No Bichette. Joc Pederson iws 34 and up and down like a yo-yo. He does bat lefty but has over 23 HRs in a season once since 2019. (Nope) Jeffers is 29 and a RHB. Would be a nice back-up catcher /DH type. A .782 OPS since 2023 is not what some want, but he does hit about 22-23 HRs per 650.

I think Gray enjoyed his season with BOS. He's moved around a lot, so I'm not sure that matters, of the last game snafu either. Most likely, he signs for the best contract. STL isn't paying $20M of it this time around. Nick Martinez is another aging, quality SP'er who won't be getting any long term offers. I don't see many other options out there. We could maybe sign Morejon to the pen, but without replacing Gray, we'd need Crochet to be back strong plus the depth to come through, too (Crawford, Houck & Oviedo to replace Early, Sandoval and all the pen games we saw in 2026.) It's doable but risky. Even Morejon will be very costly, and it seems many here think the Bats are priority 1-2 and 3.

Excuses for lying don't help your case. It's hard to imagine hurting another finger while using your pinky during a pinky-swearing incident, but the guys at the gym you listen to, must know more than the rest of us. We can't trust the internet, but a simple search brought this up. Of course you'll believe what fits your preconceptions anyway... Roman Anthony hurt his finger on May 4, 2026, in Detroit while suffering a partially torn tendon and ligament strain on a check-swing foul ball. [1, 2, 3] The Diagnosis: It was initially described as a minor wrist/hand strain by the Boston Globe, but it was later revealed to be a partial tear of the tendon and ligament in the joint connecting his right ring finger to his wrist. The Incident: He felt the damage occur while attempting a check swing during an at-bat.

I guess you view it worse than I do. Prison awaits! LOL.

True, but at the time, I think Grissom still had some trade value and hopes. A guy who is not very good at SS defense often does fine at 2B. He had a 105 OPS+ w ATL before the trade. Our 2B OPS+ had been horrible for years. The hopes that Sale could ever be healthy again were pretty low for about all of us. The hopes that he could get healthy as be a CY Young candidate were not high at all. There was some logic to the trade, at the time. It's easy to say it sucked, now. I'll say it, now too. That is Brez's worst trade. Others are pending and off to concerning starts, but even the Priester deal might end up a plus for us.

Jo. Garcia had an .803 OPS this year with POR. 18 Hrs looks nice but "the ball is juiced," I'm told. Only 13 dbls hurts his power profile, but these days a .284 BA is rare. He had 320 ABs, so 31 XBHs is not bad. He defense at C is highly suspect, so maybe they risk losing him to Rule 5 (assuming there is one.) Brannon was second in Sox HRs on the farm with 22, and he had 30 2B+3B, making it 53 XBHs in 350 ABs. Better than Johanfran. His .280 BA is about like JGs, but his .355 OBP is better. With both, it's the Ks that work against them: 115 in 350 Brannon 103 in 320 for Garcia Both were at POR all year.

Jh Garcia went to PIT. His brother Johanfran Garcia is a DH/C type who maybe can play 1B someday. I think both are better than Eaton, Duran, and a few pitchers on the bubble.

Brez did a great job building up the roster depth, and it's true about not getting to 40 stars. Hell, even 26 is near impossible on this budget. There is room for Gasper, Sogard, Seigler and White/Jones, but maybe not Cheng and Monasterio. Maybe not Jones and White. Do we add Brannon or Jo Garcia?

He's good enough to be on the 40, but if we add a big LH'd bat. his actual value would fall and rely on injuries. Being able to catch in a pinch is a plus, in terms of being the 39th or 40th player on the 40.

You make some good points about positions being secondary, but secondary does not mean putting an OF'er at 2B.

I agree that LF/DH is one slot we can upgrade to high quality. With Arias, Mead & Story plus a bunch of decent depth at middle infield, I doubt we add there. Mead can be a stud. Story is paid a lot, and Arias is the #1 prospect and at or near ML ready. I get your point about upgrading Durbin, but we won't. I don't think being 5-11 precludes him from improving. He showed much improvement over his second season in MLB. If we can trade Story, yes. Maybe we could trade Arias and Duran for a stud LF'er and then trade Durbin anad ____ for a better 3Bman. I doubt it.

You can't be serious.

Grissom was not a bum, at the time. Sale was not projected to do anything at the time.

Yes, and last year it was an oblique strain. 2 incidents do not indicate a pattern of various injuries, but I'm concerned.