moonslav59

Chicks dig the long ball. Are you saying Alonso will get just $100-110/5? Maybe $120/5 or $140/6? I think $150/6 is significantly more and he will get more than that... maybe much more. Many sites are projecting $28-30M AAV.

No, but I'm counting on Slaten to stay healthy and an arm or two from our rotation depth to pitch in.

I'm not sure what "most fans are, " like you are, and that doesn't change my opinion, either. Again, he could easily have been "rushed." I'm not saying he wasn't. Never did.

The bigger beef about Sox promotions has usually been about waiting too long. We don't promote anyone hitting .300 or with knock-out pitching numbers. Campbell appeared to be a unique type of player. When he was over .900 after 20 games, most of us felt these guys guessed right on his promotion, even those who disagreed initially or thought the guy who ended the 2024 season on the IL, Mayer, deserved the shot first, based mostly on ST'ing numbers- something many poo-poo, all the time. The guy fell off a cliff and sucked on D. We knew the D was not ready. His failure to adjust, or perhaps just having a slump changed everyone's mind quickly, and now many feel it just had to be "he was rushed" as the major reason. That very well could be the major reason, but it is likely there were several reasons, and one could easily be he just finally had a slump, after years of not having one.

I'm not making a big deal out of the term. I said I'm fine with people's opinions that he was rushed. I think the issue is more nuances and reasons for failure are not always that clear. If someone said he wasn't rushed, I'd question that opinion, too. Again, I'm not so "black and white"

I'm not so sure he's a "long way off" with his bat. I agree on the D part. I do think trading two OF'ers might be a good idea, but it won't happen. Moving Rafaela to 2B and mayer to 3B is another solution, if we trade Duran & others for a SP#2. Sigan Alonso or Schwarber to play 1B, and we'd be okay. (Note: I am 100% against playing Rafaela at 2B, even part time.) 1. L Anthony CF 2. R Story SS 3. L Abreu RF 4. R Alosno 1B 5. L Yoshida DH 6. R Campbell LF 7. L Mayer 3B/R Romy 3B 8. R Narvaez C 9. Rafaela 2B It's not the upgrade I wanted on O, and I do not like Rafaela at 2B, but JH would love just signing one big bat- not two. Maybe the extra money could be spent on M Kelly or D Williams or trade Mayer & others for KMarte.

Lodolo, maybe Bubic or higher paid guys like Lopez, Wacha, Lugo or Keller, who is more like a good #3. I'm not for spending big money on a SP. but maybe Merrill Kelly, Nick Martinez, Eflin or someone like that can be had for le$$ and still leave money for a big bat. If we traded Duran and others for K Marte, sign Kelly to 2 years and also sign Alonso, I'd be happy.

Agreed, and last year we invested in the pen & rotation, and got "our guy" (Bregman) at the last minute. The pen is way down on my priority list.

Hard to know, but he will get significantly more than $90-100M/5. BTW, Naylor turns 29 in June, so he's on the young side for a FA. 125 OPS+ since 2023 (avg 26 HRs and 99 Ks per 650) Alonso will be 31 in a couple weeks, but he's played ovr 152 games in 5 straight seasons (162 last 2) He has a 130 OPS+ which is just 5 more than Naylor, but he averages about 38 HRs per 650- also 155 Ks) He sucks on D. That being said, I like Alonso and Schwarber as our highest priority, with a big drop off to the Bregman, Bichette, Suarez & Polanco group.

I doubt MN says yes, even if add Phillips or Eyanson.

It doesn't. I was answering another question. Again, I'm not claiming he wasn't rushed, only that we can not be certain "being rushed" was the reason he slumped.

Yes. Agreed. I do think part od the drop in rankings was that other owners went nutty, but facts are facts, and JH slouched. The Devers trade also dropped our end of season ranking. The fact that JH has spent much more in the last 2.5 years does not change the rankings fact. He needs to bring us back into top 7-8, at least.

I think all of them. The most "rushed" were probably Tolle & Early and NOT Campbell.

Good for them. I'm not a fan of Naylor, either, and 5 years- NOPE.

I just don't see this as the time to boost the farm. I know the Dodgers do it, but we are in a tight window and a likely tight winter budget. If we needed Painter to get Ryan, okay.

Going by total AAV and ignoring JH's penchant for avoiding long term deals, who do you sign if you have $45 or $65M? MLBTR projections: $30M x 5 F Valdez $28M x 4 Alonso $27M x 7 Cease $27M x 6 Bregman $27M x 5 Schwarber $26 x 8 Bichette $25M x 6 Imai $23M x 5 Suarez $22M x 3 Woodruff $22M x 1 G Torres $21M x 3 Suarez $20M x 4 M King & Z Gallen $18M x 4 Naylor $18M x 2 M Kelly $17M x 4 D Williams $17M x 3 Polanco $16M x 4 Okamoto $16M x 2 Giolito $15M x 2 Kim & Realmuto $13M x 2 O'Hearn & N Martinez $12M x 2 Littell $7M x 2 Willi Castro $7M??? Josh Bello & R Hoskins My chocies: $45M: 28 Alonso + 17 Polanco 28 Alonso + 16 Okamoto 27 Schwarber (DH) + 21M Suarez (3B) and -$3M Duran for Lodolo 21 Suarez + 17 Polanco + 7 Hoskins/Bell $65M 28 Alonso + 27 Schwarber + 7 Castro 28 Alonso + 21 Suarez + 17 Polanco 28 Alonso + 27 Bregman/26 Bichette + 7 Castro

The thing is, he did "perform immediately." He just fell off a cliff after about 20 games. His D sucked from day one. Again, I'm fine with the opinion he was "rushed." I'm not saying he wasn't. My point is that just because someone has a prolonged slump, we don't always know for sure why.

I have been pretty consistent in suggesting we trade for a SP'er and sign bats, but could we also trade for a bat? Something like... Duran for Lodolo Mayer, Harrison & Clarke for K Marte Sign Alonso, Suarez, Matz & Refsnyder ________________________ 1. L Anthony LF 2. S KMarte 2B 3. R Suarez 3B 4. R Alonso 1B 5. L Abreu RF/ R Refsnyder RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Yoshida DH/ R Refsnyder DH 8. R Narvaez 9. R Rafaela CF Bench: Wong, Romy, Refsnyder, DHam SP: Crochet, Lodolo, Bello, 2 from Sandoval, Crawford, Dobbins, Harrison, Early, Tolle, Perales, Criswell RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Matz, Weissert, Bernardino, Hicks, 1 from Wink, Criswell, Moran, Murphy, Kelly

No doubt. I'm not sure they thought he'd be that bad on D, but they also thought the 2024 2B bar was so low, they didn't need much to "improve" at 2B on O and D. Yes, 11 players played 2B, last year, but E Valdez played about 1/3 of the innings and did worse on O & D than KC. Grissom was 3rd in innings at 2B and was way worse on O and D. I really think it was about wanting Mayer to have more time to rehab and get ready for SS, in case Story got hurt. Sometimes choices made involve more than just who is better or "more ready."

Oh, I get that, but last winter saw some significant changes: 1. Bregman was signed at an AAV 30% higher than any previous contract. 2. The Buehler SP'er signing was double the AAV of any SP'er FA, except Gio (see below), signing since Price. 3. The multi prospect extensions show a clear change in direction/philosophy. The 1-2 seasons before last winter saw: 1. The Devers extension that blew away the record Price signing from many years ago. 2. The Giolito signing was about almost double the AAV and double the years of any FA SP'er signing since Price. (I see the Nate signing as an extension.) 3. The 2023 signings of Yoshida (5 yrs) and Jansen (highest closer AAV ever by a Sox RP'er.) 4. The Bello & Rafaela extensions marked the start of a new philosophy. Please do not take these facts as me defending JH or as a projection that he will continue breaking his stubborn ways, but the fact is the trend is moving towards a willingness to do things he hasn't approved of in many many years. I'm hopeful but not expecting anything. We can do a lot of what I suggest and still stay under the tax line, so I think there is some room for hope. The next big hurdle for JH to jump is to go Large and Long- and I'm not talking Story or Masa type deals. I'm actually talking 2 deals: one for someone like Alonso and then another in the Story/Masas range (Suarez/Polanco or even Bregman/Bichette, but that is highly unlikely)

Indeed. There was a reason KC won Minor League Player of the Year over Anthony, Mayer and others. When you look at the list of previous winners, we should not be thinking so negatively about KC. I'm sure when you look at the first 200+ PAs by previous winners and other MLB stars, we find many struggles early on. It might not mean they were rushed or wrongly promoted.

If we have just one "major signing," I'd prefer it not be Bregman or Bichette. We need more power and higher OPS from the "major." To me, that's Alonso or Schwarber. Signing or adding two from this group would be okay: Bregman, Bichette, Suarez, Polanco, KMarte. Casas coudl end up at DH, if he finds his way back to a starting role and proves he's healthy. IMO, having Casas at a low cost should not be a reason we avoid Alonso. How JH sees it may be as you suggest. I fully understand that point.

I don't see things in black and white so much. There were several reasons to give KC a shot, including the point about trying 11 secondbasemen the year before. I did prefer giving Mayer the first shot, but there were reasons to think he needed some rehab time, as well as wanting to keep him getting SS reps, until we got a clearer idea on Story and his health at SS. In hindsight, we can argue "KC was not ready and it showed," but that is an opinion. It could have just been a long slump that he was about to snap out of. We'll never know. I have no issue with the opinion we were wrong or that he was "rushed," but it's not a certainty. The big question, now is are we ready to hand him another FT slot or even an inside track to one?

I think we will make one major signing, but if it's just Bregman and little else, I'd be pissed. I'm okay with Alonso or Schwarber plus giving Mayer & Anthony FT positions and Campbell the inside opportunity to win a FT slot.

True, but after what KC did at all levels, promoting him made sense. Had we never called him up, we'd be talking "why not?"