moonslav59

Here is what AI says about opinions on how Brez handled the Breggie negotiations: Opinions on Craig Breslow’s handling of negotiations with Alex Bregman, which saw the star third baseman sign a five-year, $175 million contract with the Chicago Cubs in January 2026, are deeply divided, ranging from criticism of perceived lowballing to defense of fiscal responsibility. Criticisms of Breslow and Negotiations: Failed to Land "Golden Goose": Many fans and analysts expressed severe disappointment that the Red Sox lost a key producer, viewing it as another failure to secure top-tier talent. Sub-par Offer Structure: Reports indicate the Red Sox's final offer was around 5 years/$165 million, which was $10 million less than the Cubs' deal. Furthermore, Boston's offer included "heavy deferrals" and did not include a full no-trade clause, making it less attractive than Chicago's offer. Misreading the Market: There is sentiment that the front office failed to properly read the market, resulting in a "close-but-no-cigar" outcome. Lack of Urgency: Critics argue that after trading away Rafael Devers (previously, for, in part, to make room for a team overhaul), losing Bregman puts the team in a tough position, with some viewing it as a lack of commitment to winning from ownership. Defenses of Breslow and Strategy: Avoiding Overpay: Some perspectives suggest 5/$175M was an overpay, and that passing on the deal was a wise move, as Bregman may not maintain that level of production. Focus on Alternatives: Supporters argue that the team is not in a "Bregman-or-nothing" situation, noting that money can be better utilized for other, potentially higher-upside, acquisitions like Bo Bichette. Strong Offseason Moves: The team has made other key additions, such as trading for pitchers like Sonny Gray, suggesting a focus on building a stronger overall team rather than spending on one player. Ownership Constraints: Some observers place the blame on ownership's financial constraints rather than Breslow's negotiating ability, suggesting he would have matched the offer if allowed. Breslow himself acknowledged the disappointment, stating, "Any time you are active in trying to bring a player in, it's disappointing to lose out," while maintaining that the team is committed to improving the roster for 2026.

Another non answer. I don't have a narrative other than we don't know, so no AJP does not fit my narrative. He clearly is not saying Brez botched or didn't batch anything, so what are you reading into his comments that I am missing? I pointed out that "all accounts" are not saying or even implying Brez botched the Breggie negotiations. You can choose to think AJP fits into "all accounts." if you want, but to me it does not. He doesn't "fit my narrative," and he surely doesn't fit yours or your "other peoples words," either. Are you laying blame on Brez or not? Just answer. Tell us what he specifically did wrong other than "reading the room wrongly." which is not anything specific. Not believing the Cubs made a better offer could very well have happened, and I suppose that is "misreading the room," but if he wasn't ever going to offer more or give the no trade clause, it doesn't matter. I thought to you the bottom line was results. You are glad we didn't pay Breggie what he got, so the end result should be viewed as positive, yet you move the goalposts to the perceived process failure on this one- not the end result. Sure, it's worrisome if Brez is a bungler. I do worry, if he overanalyzes things and doesn't realize that sometimes overpaying is needed to improve the team. That is probably a common thing many or all GMs do, at times. He doesn't seem paralyzed to inaction, like Bloom appeared to be most of the time. He's got a lot done for a bungler and botcher. Most has been positive, so maybe he's just lucky for a 12th round guy.

I actually like that progression of plans, if that is what it was. When I look at the dollar amounts of each deal, I like the Suarez deal better, so I'm having a hard time viewing this as a Brez botch or Brez bungle. That's not to say he didn't make some mistakes or misjudgments in the Breggie negotiations, and even if he did, it's not like he's the only GM that ever misjudged and lost out on a signing. I'm glad we didnt pay $165M or more for Breggie. That's my bottom line. If Brez has serious issues with negotiations, that is a problem. It can be a big problem. He did miss out on adding key pieces last summer, after saying he wanted to add quality players. Matz worked out well, but D May fell way short. I have to think he wanted more, but not getting more does not prove he negotiated badly. It could just mean he refused to overpay grossly, and no significant mistakes were made. Maybe he botched a key deal or two. We may never know. I look at our roster at the end of 2023. I look at our farm, especially the pitching. I look at the overall system, direction and winning trend, an I see it as being mostly positive. It could have been better, but I'm happy we look better and the future looks even brighter. We need one more significant player added to the infield. I suppose Brez may be judged primarily on how he fills that need, but the Suarez, Gray, Contreras and other additions should be a big part of the final judgment, too. How well Bregman, Devers, Hicks, Harrison and others do going forward will be heavily discussed, too.

IKf we don't get "that guy" I'll be joining in on the choir, but yes, 6 weeks to get one guy should not be reason to crying that the sky is falling. Suarez Gray Contreras Oviedo Returning players like Crawford, Sandoval and hopefully full seasons from Anthony, Mayer, Harrison, Slaten and others could help, too. Of course, several players will get hurt, some of whom I just mentioned might be on the IL. Other teams have key players starting the season on the IL or who have long histories of injury or have shown recent decline due to age. Our team is no different, and we are actually younger than most of our closest competition, so expect growth could be higher for us. This looks like a damn good 13 man pitchings staff: Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Bello & Oviedo/Sandoval/Crawford/Harrison Chapman & Whitlock project to be one of the best one-two punches in all of MLB. The rest of the pen has some questions, but I think it matches up pretty well with the vast majority of MLB teams: Slaten, Weissert, Harrison/Crawford/Sandoval/Oviedo plus Watson/Moran/Hicks/Kelly/Sandlin and Uberstine/Drohan and others. Then there are Tolle and Early who represent some serious upside wildcards that few other teams have the luxury to start in AAA. The line-up and defense have a hole or two, but don't most? Defense looks suspect at 3B, SS and maybe 2B, but the OF might be the best in MLB on D. We look fine at 1B and catcher. The offense lacks a true clean-up hitter, and when we look at our 4 ring teams, they seemed to have two great middle order batters, so we naturally feel a sense of hopelessness unless this issue is fixed. I feel worried, too. Very concerned. I dislike hoping on rookies to carry a team. "Hope" is not a strategy. It should not be "the plan." While I do think we should see an overall improvement from our vast number of our pre-prime and prime batters. Only Story and Contreras are not on the upside of their careers, but neither is post prime enough to think they cannot have a very nice season. Anthony 22, Mayer 23, KC 24, Rafaela 25, Casas 26, Abreu & Narvaez 27, DHam 28 and Duran & Romy 29 represent 10 players that could have career years in 2026. Some will likely have off years. Some may stay the same, but overall, we should really expect more than we got in 2025. If we can add someone like Paredes, I think our offense should be good enough to see help our team win 3-5 more games. The hopes of our youth improving greatly could boost that total to 5-10 more wins.

You said "by all accounts" and all accounts do not agree on the points you made, so I pointed that out. You obviously won't ever answer if you agree Brez bungled, botched or whatever you want to call it. You hide behind "others said it not me" and act like truth is determined my majority opinion on sites you pay attention to, only. You won't cite your sources. You won't own what you post. You won't even answer a simple question: do you personally think Brez botched the negotiations? If yes, give specifics an what you think he did wrongly and why it had to be him and not JH drawing the line on some aspects that kept Breggie from signing here, like the money, the no trade clause and the deferments. Saying all the sites you listen to say the same thing is not fact and not specifically saying what you think and what Brez did wrong based on what he was allowed to offer. The fact that nobody knows what he was allowed to offer automatically means he cannot not be fully blamed for botching anything, until we know for sure the limits. You won't respond to this point, either. Then, you go on and on saying I am defending Brez and then denying i am defending him. WE DONT KNOW JACK- so blame cannot and should not be handed out like it is fact. He could be 100% to blame, we just don't know. No amount of think tank groupspeak changes anything,

I can understand if statements like that are made as hyperbole, but it's been pointed out several times that Contreras was a significant add, and he even agreed that it was significant but just not enough. I agree on the "not enough" point, but continuing the on with the same false statements is getting tiring. Our rotation has improved by leaps and bounds, and it's hard to know if that improvement does or will outweigh the losses on offense and perhaps defense, too (worse at 3B but better at 1B.) My hope is we add a 3B/2Bman without dropping off in another areas, except depth at OF or SPer. It may not be enough, and it will never be enough for some posters, but such is life.

While fWAR projections are notoriously low, even for players moving towards peak prime, there is some reason for optimism with the Sox over their winter changes, and I'll include losing Devers, too. There is no sugar-coating the loss of Devers and Bregman, and to a lesser extent Gio, Refsnyder, Wilson, Matz, Dobbins and a few others. Here is a breakdown of changes made, so far: 2025 FWAR used and projected fWAR Lost> Gained 3.5 Bregman> added nothing from outside the system 3.3 Devers (2 team total)> added nothing 1.0 Refsnyder> added nothing 0.3 N Lowe (BOS -0.7 fWAR at 1B)> 2.8 Contreras (projected 1.9) _________________________ 2.0 Giolito> 4.0 Suarez (3.3 projected) 1,0 Dobbins > 3.6 Sonny Gray (3.9 projected) -1.4 (-0.7 Buehler, -0.3 Houck, -0.3 Fitts, -0.1 DMay)> Oviedo (1.2 projected) 1.7 (1.0 Wilson, 0.6 Bernardino, 0.2 Wink, -0.1 Alcala)> Nothing added to the pen, so far. (Probably see Harrison, Crawford and other SP'ers moved to the pen.) This is an oversimplified way of looking at it, but it does highlight where we have improved and where we need improvement. Everyday players: Contreras might give us a +2 or 3 fWAR over 2025's 1B, but losing Devers, Bregman and Refsnyder has to be viewed as losing 4-6 fWAR. Maybe the overall loss at everyday positions is like 4 fWARish. Pitchers: It looks like +1.5 to 2 for Suarez over Gio, +2.5 to 3 for Gray over Dobbins and +1 to 1.5 for Oviedo over a mix. (I'm not even counting pluses from Sandoval, Crawford and Harrison here, but see the pen.) The rotation looks about +5 or 6 and should balance the loss on offense and then some. The pen lost 1.7, but maybe SP'ers in the pen can make that up. Overall, I see a +1-2 fWAR over 2025, with no more moves made. The gain is not what I hoped for, and probably most of us feel the same way or worse about the winter's overall moves. Hopefully we add a 2+ fWAR guy at 3B or 2B, and the gain looks much better.

You can find and or develop the best talent in the world, but if you cant afford- or aren't willing to afford- to sign them or keep them, does it matter?

Why does "not my words" make this position factual and without any context and nuances that go into most negotiations? You act like everything stated here is proven facts. Again, I'm not arguing Brez did not botch this. He very well might have, and as a secondary issue, if he did, I'm glad he did. My point is we don't know. I don't and you don't. This other person's words might be 100% right. They might not be. Why not cite the source? You claim "by all accounts," but notin just provided a source with a differing "account" than yours. (He also named the source.) It wouldn't surprise me if Brez goofed. The fact that I'm glad we didn't go higher for Breg would not change the fact that he bungled this, if in fact he did. We JUST DONT KNOW! If you were to hear that the no trade clause was the only stumbling block and Brez had no choice but to say we could not give him that, would you say Brez botched it? If the final dollar amount offered was as high as Brez was allowed to go, would that change your view? Is this even your view or some other guys? You won't answer, despite two times being asked.

It seems like the criteria changes when looking at other teams. I've mentioned how Sox fans have zero faith in any of our pitchers who are injured or projected to start the season on the IL, but somehow highly value the Yankee rotation, knowing Rodon, Cole and Schmidt. The O's have greatly improved their line-up, but their pitching staff scares nobody. Maybe Cease rebounds and 35 year old Gausman has another good year in him, but god forbid anyone to expect the 36 year old Sonny Gray to have a good year. To me, if we add a high quality infielder without opening up a new hole, we will be close enough to even or better than every other AL team.

We need a big bat, but why say "no help?" Contreras offers a solid solution to a 1B issue we have had for a long time. Sure, we've had brief moments of competency at 1B, or someone who can hit well but sucks on D, but we added "help." It's just not enough.

Congrats Maddie!

We've been left holding nothing several times in recent years, so certainly we may end up with DHAM & Romy at 2B and an injury-prone Mayer at 3B, with just Eaton & Romy backing him up, but it would really make no sense. We have a couple logjam areas that teams are desperate to fill on their teams. We can do this without adding a cent to the budget, so that need not be a deterrent. We could even find trade offers where we cut salary. This need not be about money. Just get it done, Brez! I don't care when, just have a better 2Bman or 3Bman on the roster by ST'ing. I have to think he knows this and has some deals in the works. He may even have a few deals already agreed upon, but is trying for a better one. Hell, we may see two deals made.

Yes, that is the bigger issue. I was responding to comments made about us stooping to Ozzie talk,

The fact that no counter offer could be a result of their money offer was as high as they were ever going to go. That would not be "misreading the room." If they were prepared to go higher and bungled the talks, then it would be botchery- some might call it debauchery. The no trade thing is probably an organizational thing, not specifically Brez, but if it is then he'd deserve some criticism for that, but again, does anyone know who made that rule? I'm not sure we know or anyone knows. We may never know, for sure. To me, this whole obsession to lay blame on one guy goes too far, and often it is done before all the facts are known.

Yes, like we have avoided talking about them, lol!

Ragans has had major injury issues. Duran for a catcher, when we have Narvaez? I can see wanting something else. The Tolle & Mayer offer is something I did not hear. That's kind of a close call, too. I love KMarte, and he does fill a big need, but including Marte forced yet another trade for a 3Bman. Maybe Duran for Paredes and King, and we have Marte and Paredes. I don't know. Let's see what goes down. Maybe waiting works for the best, The teams that missed out on Tucker & Bellinger might up their offers for Duran.

He had some major blind spots, for sure. That being said, he left a decent foundation for Brez, including some decent pitchers- some of whom were DD guys, but still. He did add Whitlock, Tolle, Valera and some decent everyday players.

We don't know, but you seem to. Does misreading the room mean you think bungled or botched it? You still have not answered if you believe "all accounts" or not.

MN should, too. Sub Mullins or a prospect 10-20ish., if they prefer.

It's not hard to believe. It's hard to know for a fact he botched it. We've talked a lot about the no trade clause and deferments being factors that may or may not have been under Brez's control. We know it might not have been about the money. Maybe it was and the amount Brez offered was all he was allowed to offer. We don't know. It's not about having a hard time thinking of the various possibilities.

I have a couple suggested trades on BTV where Wong and Jeffries are included. Of course, I couldn't resist adding more players to both side. I'd give Wong and Sandlin for Jeffries.

I wasn't making my point as it being a bad thing. Our pitching scouting, development and MLB valuations were horrible before Brez. The change looks good, despite the Sale and Preister deals. I'm thrilled with the focus on pitching, and the results have been better, so far.

That's sick! And it's not like the Sox and Padres are slouches. Now, add the tax that would have been on the deferred money, had their not been a clause in the CBA.

Rafaela is my favorite player. I spent half the summer's game threads taking Fred off the wall on Ceddanne. (It didnt work.) I'd rather trade Duran and then Abreu before him. He's younger, too, so using career OPS should put him at a disadvantage.