moonslav59

What does that have to do with the discussion at hand? We know our farm is weak. The talk was about who is the best of what we have.

Updated Competitive Balance Tax Budget $Millions 31.0 Price 22.0 JDM 20.6 Porcello 20.0 Betts 18.5 Sandoval 17.0 Eovaldi 15.0 Sale 13.8 Pedroia 12.0 Bogaerts 8.6 Bradley 6.5 Moreland 6.3 Pearce 5.0 Nunez 4.5 Vaz 4.3 Rodriguez 3.6 Holt 3.3 Barnes 2.5 Leon 1.8 Thornburg 1.8 Wright 1.3 Hembree 1.2 Workman 0.9 Swihart ~4 Other 18 players on 40 man roster 14.5 Player Benefits TOTAL: ~$240M (That's $34M over the tax line already- leaving us maybe about $6M for further additions, if we try to stay under the $40M line.)

I don't think he will. We got the ring. We are among the top faves for 2019. I think DD is concentrating on 2020 and beyond without messing up our 2019 chances. That's why he hasn't jumped on a silly large & long term deal for a RP'er.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Betts & JD have even better years in 2019. I think it is more likely Devers, Beni and JBJ improve, and maybe we'll see 3 or 4 out of these 5 do the same or better. That would be huge!

Me, too, but Dalbec's insanely high K rate might make him a lesser choice.

LOL My past "crushes" include Travis Shaw, Garin Cecchini and Henry Owens. Let's hope Mata gives some love back.

Someone will overpay.

I don't consider Chavis a key, low-cost piece to the future of our team, despite our need for a 1Bman after this year. I'm not for trading Casas, Groome, Mata, Flores and many other long shot prospects we currently have.

I never said I expect it, but I do think there's a good chance he has a better year at some point in the next few years. (Plus, he wasn't even healthy all year, so if he just gives near what he did in 2018, but over a full year, we could see more impact in 2019.

Higher than college, yes. Still, all teams take the risk at some point.

No, unless he retires, like Dempster did, and gives up the remainder of his contract. Not happening. I wonder, if there is a way to restructure his deal by having him retire and then give him the $40+M we still owe him in a lifetime personal services contract at $2M x 25 years. He get's $10M more than he'll get now. We get tax relief and 25 years of his services as a coach or team rep.

I'd even add sidepieces, if necessary to try and land the best cost-controlled RP'er we can get on the current trade market.

I don't want to trade Porcello either, and this may be the first winter I'm not suggesting we trade Holt. My post was more about how it looks near impossible to stay under the $40M line, boost the pen in a big way AND not create a new hole. Even assuming someone would take all or most of the contracts of Moreland or Nunez, I'm not sure we afford to go without them. We could hope Chavis, Dalbec or Swihart could replace Moreland, but that's a stretch. By trading Nunez, we'd be pinning a lot of hope on Pedey.

It does frustrate me to watch Betts take the best pitches so often, but he ends up getting a hit or walk on other pitches. Yes, I do think he can get better, and this stat is one big reason why.

Before the playoffs started some felt Joe Kelly didn't even belong on the roster. Now, we can't win without a replacement for him. Kimbrel looked horrible in the playoffs, but we can't win without him or someone like him. Barnes, Brasier and Hembree sucked but somehow did well for the playoffs, but we can't count on them for squat in 2019. Look, I know we need an addition or two, but I don't think things are as dire as some think it is. If our rotation stays healthy, we'll have Johnson, Velazquez and Wright as pen additions, and maybe Thornburg finally comes through. Workman, Poyner and others offer some hope, but my guess is we'll add someone at some point. He might not be flashy, but we'll improve from where we are now.

True dat!

...and some still can't get over Trey Ball with the 7th pick.

The whole world is all about more, MORE, MORE!

Not in some senses, but the deal did allow them to keep him another year or two, and they did still get some return in trade had they had a competent GM.

Or, Voit/Bird went to back-up at 1B or AAA.

We don't know for sure, if we are trying hard to stay under the $40M line or not. Assuming we are, is there any other teams out there that might trade for... $6.5M Moreland $5M Nunez $4.5M Vaz $3.6M Holt ($20.6M Porcello)? The idea is not to get anything worthwhile in return but to clear up budget space to sign or trade for a more pricey RP'er. We could also pitch in some of the contract money owed, if the savings gave us enough space to greatly improve our pen. I realize Moreland and Nunez are probably not highly sought after, but maybe some team might take one plus $2-3M. Would losing Holt or Vaz be too much of a loss to make improving the pen worth it? I know losing Porcello would have to mean we get something in return plus the budget space to maybe sign 2 guys, Any ideas? I don't think I trust Leon to be a 120+ game catcher or Swihart to catch 40+ games. With Pedey's health always in question, is leaving 2B and back up IF to Nunez, Lin & Hernandez by trading Holt an option? I'm not seeing an easy way to improve the pen without going over the $40M line. We can take a baby step by maybe trading Swihart, Chavis and another prospect for a low cost RP'er and then save the $5M for a summer trade, but some here think that is way to risky for a team as good as we are everywhere else but the pen.

I'm not sure if messing with Betts in any way is a good thing.

The Phillies might be real good with an addition like M or H. They can spend even more after one of them.

Yes, we're about $5-6M under the $40M line. That's probably what we want to keep for summer pick-ups. If the $40M line is a cut-off, we are very restricted and probably can't even afford Cody Allen. We could try and cut some salary ($4M Vax, $5M Nunez, $6.5M Moreland, $20.6M Porcello), but then we open up a new hole. More likely, we go over, maybe by as little as possible, but with an eye out for an eventual reset after 2019 or possibly 2020. I'm still not sure signing anyone to a deal longer than 1 year is in the books, but if a bargain falls into our laps, we can do it, and we can then make a trade when it is reset time. Let's see what DD can do under these circumstances.

Well. we now have Eovaldi & Pearce for a full year.