moonslav59

We also dumped all of the remaining Diekman contract. It was a decent deal on both ends.

I'm just glad they took Diekman.

He looked okay on D, but nothing special. I do think the odds are 2025 was an outlier, but maybe not. I do not hand hima FT job- for sure. What impressed me most was his okay numbers vs righties. I thought he might be our next Refsnyder, but maybe he can be more.

There is no possible way we let Crawford walk. At worst, we trade him.

Lodolo for Duran even saves us $3.5M. That may not seem like much, but if the goal is to spend up to but below the tax line, $48M might get us two really good players while $44.5M may get just one plus a decent other one.

Dreaming of dumping.... Yoshida ($37M/2) Hicks ($24M/2) Casas (3 arbs) Crawford (3 arbs) Clarke & Sandlin Sonny Gray ($40M/1 and $25M AAV) & Willson Contreras ($41M/2 and $17.5M AAV) We give up about $41M AAV for $43M AAV. Yes, only a dream.

The O's are still paying Chris Davis something like $9M a year.

We might be able to get Suarez and Merrill for around the $45M or so we have to spend and stay below the tax line, assuming that is the budget. Any subsequent trades would have to be even money, at worst. Duran's AAV is $8M and Campbell's is $7.5M.

I think we need more of a power bat, and I think he probably wants to be a SS, at least for a few more years. I'd take Alonso at the prices I listed, but getting Suarez might allow us to get a second major FA (not on this list.)

Romy even hit near the league norm vs RHPs (.718.) Was it a fluke, or does he deserves a shot at much more playing time? He was 5th on the team in PAs (283) from June 2nd on.

You did say "coming off the books, this winter," but I don't really want to nit-pick. I will say, if you are counting the possible $2M cut in pay to Muncy as part of the $96M, then why not count: Plus 5M Scott, 4M Treinen, 2M Yamo, 1M Snell

We could extend every promising prospect and young MLB player, but we aren't getting over the hump with what we have. Plus, we have to replace Bregman, Gio, Wilson & Refsnyder. Just replacing these 4 in kind may take a deals longer than 3 years. Then, asking to significantly improve with no long deals is like asking for Bloom to find ges in the ruff x 5. How did that work out?

We've done this, and may end up missing on one or two, but we aren't likely to win without some kind of major boost. 4 years deals don't get those big boost guys, anymore

Would you do Duran, Campbell or Garcia plus Clarke for Greene?

Thanks GG. We can't even just replace Bregman with Bregman and Gio with Gio. We can't think running back he same team with hopes that Anthony and Mayer stay healthy and improve will be enough. We can't pin our hopes on IL-returning pitchers like Crawford, Dobbins and Sandoval. We need 3 major additions. Maybe we can get by with two mega ones and a decent fill-in.

If the Sox add just one big bat, this winter, via free agency, which player would you hope we sign? $150M/5 Alonso (31) or Bichette (28) $125M/5 Bregman (32) $110M/4 Schwarber (33) $70M/3 E Suarez (34) I know my numbers might be way off, but choose just one

If we decide to add just one SP'er and it's a free agent, which of these single pitcher would you want? $75M/4 Giolito or Gallen $45M/3 Eflin or Civale $35M/2 Bassitt or M Kelly

You guys are forgetting the second biggest signing behind Garver: Juan Nicasio for $17M/2 back in 2018. How about the days of Chone Figgins at $36M/4 back in '10? He's their 5th biggest non pitching FA signing, ever!

They might like the extra year of control, the much better defense and the added power. I think Abreu could be done with the platoon label, but he's also gotta stay healthy. For Greene, we'd need to add key pieces with either Duran or Abreu, and better ones, if it's Wilyer. I'd be happy with Abreu for Lodolo, but I'd prefer to keep Wilyer for RF. With no trades made, I see Duran as our 2026 DH and an OF of Anthony in left, Rafaela in center and Abreu in right. Trade the DH not the RF'er.

I was gonna ask where the $100M number came from. It's pretty amazing they have 5 players make $23M or more in 2026 (4 over $25M.) Yamo starts making $30M in '27. They have 6 other players making $12-17M. The Mets have 4 players making $20M+ but 8 making $11-19M.

I'm not sure I'd use the word "laziness," but there was certainly no sense of urgency after 2018. We let Kimbrel & Kelly go and did nothing to replace them, then followed that up with the Betts trade. There was no sense of urgency in 2020, because there was no need for it. The shocker of 2021 actually spurned the only significant deadline activity from Nate onwards. That's one deadline in 7 years. The 2021 season caught them off guard, and they sorta lucked into Schwarber returning from an injury and Robles doing very well. (They also added Iggy and Shaw, later.) Maybe the Devers trade made them think 2025 was a write-off season, despite how well we were looking near the deadline. Remember, Anthony, Abreu and others were not hurt, yet and Bregman was back and hitting over 1.100 in the 5 games before the deadline. No sense of urgency. They made their offseason plans and moves. They refuse to overpay, and that's what happens at deadlines. Maybe there are too many hands to go through to get major things approved, but I doubt that's it. There seems to be a sense of complacency and that the main goal is to have fans believe we have a shot and the excitement level being just high enough to keep raking in the money, hand over fist. We are clearly in the midst of a serious "window" that could be at least 3 years open- more if we invest in strengthening and extending it. I know we keep saying, "This winter should show us how serious they really are." Last winter, it looked like we made a major step in the direction, then we dump Devers, sit on our hands at the deadline, then watch Bregman opt out and likely Gio, too. We are back at the exact same place as NOV 2024, except a few kids got extended along with Crochet. Not all is quite as bad, but unless we do something more long-lasting, it looks like more of the same as a strong possibility. This is not the time to continue the sham. At least there was an excuse for 2022-2024: we weren't 2-3 key players away. Now, we are. Do something about it, dudes!

I think it would have to include Duran or Abreu.

We have "specific needs" too, so it's about even on who needs what the other team has more, IMO. We need a #2 SP'er, and they have 3-4 of them. They need an OF'er or two and we have 5-6 of them. I also don't see a GM thinking, "This team desperately needs __X___, so I'm going to force them to pay more than teams that don't need __X___ as much."

I really do think we can add 3 major players, and we should focus on more quality than quantity. Since the tear down starting with the let go's of Kimbrel & Kelly and then the Betts trade, we've worked on deepening the roster, often with barely average players and promising prospects, but we are beyond that phase, now.

We'd be pinning a lot of hopes on Campbell and/or Garcia to do very well. Too great a risk- agreed. I doubt CIN does the deal for Rafaela, Campbell, Perales & Clarke.