moonslav59

I hope the Yanks sign the 3 highest contracts ever recorded.

Betts to the Dodgers. JD to the White Sox. Eovaldi & JBJ to Astros. Price to the Padres.

I understand you feelings, but we'd still get to watch Devers & Bogey, DHern & ERod, Vaz & Dalbec...

Yes, it's sad, but sadder still might be a plan that keeps us non contending even longer than just 1-2 years.

Great song. Also....

Funny. We have just 3 OF'er on our roster (not counting JD) and will likely trade 1 (JBJ) or 2 (Betts).

At least he didn't sign a HRam and Pablo on November 25th.

Well, like you said, we only win when we least expect it, so I'm thinking our odds are long. (See how I twisted that around on you?!?) Seriously, to me, it comes down to the fact that we will have to rebuild at some point. One can argue, we can win in 2021, too, and just keep "going for it," but it will involve more spending. I see your point, and I've not placed myself in either camp, yet, but I do think that if we decide to reset and rebuild before and during 2020, we can turn things around faster and create a stronger roster going forward than by putting it off a year and maybe getting nothing for Betts and others. It's a tough call. I'm about 50-50 but leaning towards beginning the reset now, because I think the 2020 odds are too long to be worth sacrificing the time and quality or the pending rebuild.

One wonders if JBJ could play just 1 game, then get red hot.

The Yanks have all those guys returning plus the replacements that did very well, last year. It's hard to spin that to a negative, but I commend your attempt. They will be massive favorites after they sign Cole or Stasburg.

1. E-Rod continues to perform like a 20 win starter. Check 2. The offensive core of Betts / JD / Devers / Bogaerts has to perform like it has the past two years (which guys are hot doesn't matter as much; it seems to average out). Check 3. Sale, Price, and Eovaldi overall make at least 80 starts and pitch to a decent 4.00 ERA 80 starts, yes, they need to reach this but likely will not. They'd need better than 4.00 to get us another ring. 4. The 5th starter ends up being a pleasant surprise. If 3 happens at 3.50 ERA, we can do without a good 5th starter. 5. The bullpen really only needs one more effective arm than it had last year to make a big difference. We need repeats from Workman, Taylor & Walden, a return to form from Barnes, and only then we might need only 1 more decent arm. More likely, we need 2-3 more arms or DHern to shine. 6. The first and second base options are strong on defense and are decent bottom of the order contributors. Very doubtful we get this without going way over the luxury tax line. 7. JBJ, if he's still here, doesn't get to play until like July except as a defensive replacement. He actually heats up on May 21st or 22nd- every year since 2016. 2017: .637 on May 20th, then went 2-5 and was at .650 by May 26th and .700 by May 28th. He was over .750 by June 1st and .800 by June 12th. 2018: .519 on May 21st, then went 2-4 and was at .600 on May 31st, .650 by the end of July and .700 by the end of August. 2019: .443 on May 21st, then went 2-4 and was at .500 in 2 days, .550 by May 28th, .600 the next day, .650 by June 13th and .700 by June 23rd. Waiting until July would miss his hottest streaks.

I get the problem, but I find it interesting how you stated the financial issue. To me Sale is a push. We have 2 bad super big contracts (both could turn plus or close to even) and 2 good ones. It's not the end of the world. We can win in 2020 without JBJ, and that is all we have to trade to reset. We could trade some salary, like Price, and not get worse. We could use those saving to fill some key gaps with low cost deals. It's not easy, and I know our odds don't look good for 2020, but there's still a sliver of hope.

Rule 5 Possibilities https://thesportsdaily.com/2019/11/27/10-players-available-in-the-rule-5-draft-to-keep-an-eye-on/ Top prospects in the 2019 Rule 5 Draft WWW.MLB.COM On Wednesday, teams had to decide which of their prospects merited placement on 40-man rosters. Unprotected prospects are subject to the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings if they signed by age 18 and have completed five pro seasons, or if they signed at age 19 or older and

Just 2 guys- Price and Eovaldi are a "ton" while two guys, JD and Bogey, are "only two guys." Price and Eovaldi may give us half to 3/4 of their contract cost. It's even possible they earn their full cost- not likely but possible. We also have Devers, Beni, Vaz, ERod and others earning way more than their costs. We have a nice core.

I'd be fine with Broxton. He won't cost as much as Marisnik did, either.

If we trade Betts for vets or ML ready prospects, then it not a 2020 "white flag." While we had injuries last year, the Yanks had way more, so expecting us to pass them, next year, especially after they sign Cole or Stasburg is really a stretch. It's not impossible, but I'm leaning towards maximizing our turn-around by beginning sooner rather than later. Reset in 2020 and go all out for 2021 or 2022 more likely.

I see your point, but I just don't think all the things that need to go right will. Although we still won despite Sale & Kimbrel not helping much in the playoffs, they were essential to us getting to the playoffs. Kimbrel & Kelly are gone. Workman may be a good replacement for Kelly, but we're still short in the pen. Sale's outlook for 2020 is worse than 2018. Price's, too. Eovaldi's, too. No Porcello. No Moreland, Holt & Nunez. It's not really the same team. Most of the bid names are still here, but they are not the same. Can they be? Maybe. Should we wait to see before dismantling the team? Probably. Will we wait? Probably. Will we all come together for one last hurrah? Highly unlikely. (Just my opinions.)

No, it's unproven quality, but never the less, it has tangible trade value. Even "proven" vets are a risk, though, and there's a certain amount of potential value or loss of value attached to them, too. It's like the posters who champion the Pomeranz trade, because Espinoza has not amounted to squat, so far. The kid had enormous value, back then. It might have been used to trade for someone else. It might have been used within our own system had he not gotten hurt. We traded Buttrey for a proven quality. We traded Beeks for Eovaldi.

That is true. Even the years they went to the WS and lost, it was surprising- 1967 more than any. I did think we had a good shot after the Nomar trade in 2004. I liked our 2007 team, but after losing in 2005 and 2006, I wasn't super confident. I thought we were playing it "halfway" (the term I used back then) in 2013. That was a surprise, but the whole "perfect storm" argument is not really true. The fact is many players had better seasons in 2012 or 2014. I loved our 2018 club and was a believer from day 1. The fact that our current team is not much different from 2018, other than injury histories, does make a strong argument for not "blowing things up," so that's what I think we'll just trade JBJ this winter, look to reset, but wait to the deadline to decide to make one last push or trade 3-4 vets.

I'd be fine with Broxton, but he's never had an .800+ season. He hasn't been over .719 since his first season. He has a .565 OPS the last 2 years. While Jake's is not great (.689), it's much better than that!

I'll say one thing, all of those 4 teams had starting pitchers than no team from the previous 3 decades had.

Yes, and potential have real value. Look what some teams can get for that potential.

Yes, they have one of the deepest rosters in MLB, if not THE deepest. In all liklihood, they might be looking for a 2 or 3 for 1 deal the other way, so they can add some prospects to the 40 man roster or sign a vet to an area of need without having to DFA a talented player/prospect.