moonslav59

Probably means the Yanks aren't even top 15.

Talk to a tax lawyer. There's a long list.

When the teams report how much they make, it is often less than the full amount the owner actually makes off the team, after everything related to the team is counted. Some profits are sunk back into the team, so it is not actually a profit anymore, but the re-investment into the team greatly increases the value of the team. When the owner sells the team, a fantastic profit is earned. That profit does not go to the players and is not reported as anual team income. These are just two ways money made by the owner is not counted as team profits when players are asking for a bigger share. I'll stop now, it you will.

Some do for sure, but some can hide profits legally or sink the money back into the company making it more valuable for when it is sold.

I was thinking more in lines of a cliff...LOL.

You think he'll have them top 10?

I don't want to trade Vaz or Leon, and I'm fine with letting Leon catch every start by Sale & Price, but I don't see him doing well when playing more than 50-60 games- maybe 70. I don't want Swihart catching a lot. That's why I'm for trading Swihart with another player/prospect, even if it means the RP'er we get back isn't all that great.

Clearly Vaz. He has the better offensive upside. I'm not arguing that point. My point is, I'd rather get less of a pen arm by trading Swihart & Johnson than more of a pen arm for Vaz.

I'm sure money is being made, if you look at the prices of the stuff they sell. My point is that the vendor contract doesn't have to be with the team, it could be a separate contract with the owner of the team or facility (with maybe some money being kicked to the team owner as a non team entity). Maybe I'm wrong, but most businesses find ways to hide profits.

But that's because the Yanks graduated a bunch of top prospects (Torres, Andujar, Frazier) and traded a bunch of other top prospects (Sheffield, Estrada, Tate) for big league pieces. Sounds like us 2-3 years ago.

I just can't see us going through the whole season with Leon-Swihart. I'd rather go light on the pen.

What about Swihart & Johnson for Petit?

The Youth part has a lot of work to do with a stifling system in place that makes it very difficult to do so, when you are winning and spending over the $40M line.

The only dumb, extra salary on the books this year is Pablo, and it's his last year. (I guess you could count Castillo.) Don't get me wrong, I love winning and I don't mind us spending big or even spending more than anyone else, but to vastly outspend all other teams for more than 2-3 years, it becomes an issue for me.

We haven't blown away all others on budgets until last year and maybe this year.

IMO, only Vazquez, but he's the one we need the most. Leon can't catch 60-70% and I don't want Swihart catching anymore than 5% of the games, let alone 30%+. To me, the mid ranged contract players we can afford to trade the most (Moreland and Nunez) are NOT surprisingly the ones nobody wants or won't bring us back the quality pen arm we need. Throwing in Swihart or a mid ranged prospect might help a little, but we won't get anything very useful for them. Trading Holt or Porcello could get us a nice return, but I'm not sure we can afford to lose them- certainly not Porcello and maybe not Holt, depending on the luck of Pedey not tweaking his knee again. I mean, Pedey only lasted how long last year? Do we really want to rely on Nunez's knee and Lin at 2B and back up 3B this year? I guess it comes down to how bad you think our current closer is vs that choice at 2B. We aren't trading Porcello. I doubt we trade Moreland or Nunez for the reasons I just gave. Swihart will not bring a closer, unless we add Chavis and Shawaryn or something similar. Tough call, but if the budget is the $40M line, then trading is the only option vs status quo.

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.