moonslav59

Holt, unless maybe I knew Nunez's knee was 100%. (I agreed that Holt will bring back more. The added money on Nunez's contract makes it even worse.

Who's left? Or, what's your top 10 now? Any other trade ideas like the one you made earlier?

Exactly! And, after spending way more than anyone else last year and already spending more than anyone else this year, I'm not going to criticize Henry (of DD) for not spending more and more, getting taxed more and more and getting lower picks due to penalties year after year. Personally, I don't want us to become the next Steinbrenner Yankees. My guess is many a non Sox fan already view us the way we used to view the Yanks...with scorn, hatred and frustration.

I think the M's made the right decision and are on a path to getting better.

Yes, but Yankee fans should not still be bragging about having a top 10 farm, right?

MLBTR reports... Speaking of injured hurlers from the division, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that Red Sox righty Tyler Thornburg began his offseason throwing program earlier than usual this winter, adding that Thornburg’s shoulder has “tested out well” in the early-going.

No doubt, you guys have better pitching prospects than we do. Let's see how it shakes out. If your ML-ready guys repeat their 2018 numbers, maybe a re-evaluation will be needed.

What if Paxton wilts under the spotlight- the excuse now being used for Gray's poor performance with the Yanks? Crow eating?

Is used 3 year not to punish Judge, but to not penalize Betts for his off 2017 season. Plus, I switched to UZR/150 and wRC+,so there was no cumulative-based assessment used. lso, Betts missed some time last year, too. Many felt he played hurt in 2017, and that's why his numbers were down. Betts only played in 24 more games than Judge last year.

OK, maybe "shell company" was not the correct term, but money made off of these sales can be easily hidden as non team profits.

Nifty choice of a two year sample size. On DRS, yes Judge is 3rd, but the differential is huge-- 51 runs saved to 23. UZR is 36.7 to 14.5. 3 years: UZR/150 20.2 Betts 9.7 Judge WAR 24.0 Betts 13.0 Judge wRC+ 155 Judge 140 Betts' 2 Year WAR 15.7 Betts 11.5 Judge

I think this might be the first winter I haven't suggested trading Holt. It makes more sense to trade Nunez. His salary is a little higher and his health is now a bigger concern than Holt's. For those reasons, he'd also bring back less than Holt. I think Holt is a better defender than Nunez at 2B, which is likely where our utility IF'er will be needed most. If Pedey never comes back we may need Holt FT at 2B. Last year we used Nunez 10 times more at 3B than Holt, but only about 3:2 at 2B. I'm not sure DD would like the idea of relying on Nunez FT at 2B, but I suppose we could us Lin or trade for another Kinsler type, if needed. Out of the 3 players with salaries between $3-6M (Nunez, Holt & Moreland), Holt is the one other teams want or need most. I'd hate to trade Holt, but our pen seems more in need than our utility IF situation. I thinks this type of deal could happen.

Population is not everything. Demographics play a big role. Places like Houston and Florida have a high population of people who have moved there as strong fans of other teams. They will never become an Astros fan. Maybe their kids might. Other areas are more into football. Other areas are too poor to be able to afford tickets.

LOL. I'm not suggesting or advocating Socialism in MLB. The better and best players deserve more money, and some deserve way more. They bring the fans in and to their TVs. They deserve it. The players union, however, has much more lower to mid-range paid players, and if the stood up as a group and demanded better pay for lower tier players, then the results might look different from past agreements. Everyone assumes most players just want to see the luxury tax limit go up and up. Since only a few teams go near or over the limit and a relatively few amount of players sign big deals with those clubs, maybe they will look to other ways to improve their pay, their "share of the pie" but in a way that gives all players more earlier in their careers. This would help all players, especially those who only play a short time and then are gone, but also other.

I'm not saying they aren't going to ask for a bigger piece of the pie.Of course they will try. I'm thinking more about how they might (should) suggest it be distributed. Of course, actual free agency would bring more money to the players than the current arb salaries, but arb players do make decent money compared to pre-arbs. If they created earlier arbs they'd see a big raise, too. I'm not disagreeing with what you are saying; I'm just offering ideas on other possible outcomes of the next CBA, and I'm thinking it may not help the bigger teams as much as some seem to think it might.

I didn't mean to imply baseball hides money better than other sports. My point was about how easy it is to manipulate the numbers to make it appear as if things are different. As for arb existence, I'm not sure what is best, but my point was that if players were smart, they'd push for a plan that greatly raises the pay for the majority of players and not the select few (not that both cannot occur). My guess would be that forcing small market-small spending teams to spend more would be a big step. Maybe more profit sharing by big clubs would be needed- maybe not. Raising the minimum pay by $500K would not put anyone out of business. Maybe step it up by $100K every year for the length of the new CBA. Maybe give significant step raises to second year and 3rd year players, but if you make that too steep, teams may cut them over their pay raises. Becoming a FA earlier would help players get paid more, but I think the arb process works pretty well. Maybe jjust start it a year or two earlier. 5-10 players getting mega deals every winter might bring up players' average wages, but if the vast majority of players keep getting the same, I doubt they stand for that system much longer.

Unless Henry explicitly said, "Don't go over," or "Don't go over by more than $3M." If the plan is not to go over, our options are severely limited. - We can try to trade for a low-cost relief pitcher by further emptying our farm. - We can trade a starter or two like Johnson, Velazquez and add Swihart to try to get a low-cost RP'er. - We can trade away some salary and open a gap somewhere else to fill the pen gap. (Nunez, Moreland, Leon, Thornburg or UGH! Porcello) - We can wait until mid season and trade for a pro-rated contract or two or get the team to pitch in some contract money by sweetening the return. If the plan is to go over by a little bit only, then we have a few more options. - We can do an above option. - We can sign a guy like Shawn Kelley for $4-5M x 1. - We can do both.

Shell companies handle concessions and memorabilia sales. Just the sky-rocketing rise in the value of each team, although not hidden, is perhaps the biggest cash cow owners reap. Teams may claim to lose or make $10M a year for 10 years, then the owner sells the team for a $500M profit. The players see none of that money.

Top and good players getting paid through free agency is a vast minority of all the players in MLB. We are seeing record arb contracts and the minimum pay went up some in the last CBA. My point is, if the players were smart, they'd push for a big min pay raise, a 26 man roster, more money for players going up and down from the minors, and a better ab system- maybe reaching it a year earlier. That would help the majority of players and not the select few who make big paydays when they reach free agency. They could also push for a high minimum budget for all teams. That would NOT help the teams like NYY, BOS, LAD & Chic. Don't be so sure the next CBA is going to help big teams. The last one has caused some teams to reset and has made it much harder for rich and winning teams to build their farms. It could get worse- not better.

Remember the hype on Torreyes?

Unless we are allowed to go $40M over (or more), we have about $4M to spend, according to cots.

I'm glad we brought Pearce back, but had we any faith in Chavis vs LHPs at 1B, we really could have probably used Pearce's $6.25M for the pen.

If we pay him $5M, we may send someone like ______ packing to save some salary. $2.5M Leon (I hope not) $1.8M Thornburg

Probably true, but there are times when a team not reported to be in the hunt for a FA suddenly signs them out of the blue.

124 RP'ers with 160+ IP since 2015 WHIP Leaders 0.80 Jansen 0.87 Miller 0.92 Osuna 0.94 Devenski 0.94 Kimbrel 0.99 Neshek 1.00 Harris 1.01 Davis 1.02 Diaz 1.02 Strop 1.04 Robertson 1.04 Shawn Kelley 1.05 Chapman 1.05 O'Day K-BB% 33 Jansen 32 Miller 31 Kimbrel 31 Diaz 29 Chapman 29 Betances 25 Yates 24 Knebel 24 Robertson 24 Osuna 24 Giles 24 O'Day 23 Shawn Kelly 23 Hand 22 Devenski 22 C Allen He ranks 12th and 13th in a couple pretty meaningful areas. His 10.6 K/9 rate ranks 24th out of 124. His downfall is the HR. He ranks 122nd out of 124 at 1.56.