moonslav59

One reason so many MLB fans hate the Yankess is that they won so damn much. Another major reason was the feeling that your team bought many of the championship- not just by signing more big FAs than everyone else, but by trading for over-priced players, signing draft picks from low in the draft that poorer teams could not sign, and spending large in the international market. I do think people care, if you win under the perception that you bought your way to the top. Yes, other teams are spending large, too, and this is a unique season with multiple teams re-setting their tax, but $48M over the 3rd highest spending team might be a record.

Maybe. There are lots of hidden revenue and maybe some hidden costs as well, and it's pretty clear some teams make much more than others. I guess one could argue that the highest profit teams that are not spending to try to be the best are taking advantage of the fans. Right now, we are about $28M above the second highest spending team, the SFG and $48M above the 3rd place team, the LAD. We are not even a top 3 contender according to the odds. That shows we are spending more to try to be highly competitive, and we are awaiting the results of that very significant attempt by Henry & DD (and Ben) to get us another ring. I don't mind us staying in the top 5-8 spenders in MLB, but I cringe at the thought of us being $39M over the luxury tax limit for 3 straight seasons. To me, that does show commitment from the top, but it might not really show good management, especially if we don't win a ring in the next 3 years. I don't want the rest of MLB fans hating us like they hated the Yanks for decades, but it goes beyond that. I'm not sure Henry relishes the roile of being MLB's biggest spender- winning rings or otherwise.

To be stashed in AAA.

Too bad Wright is suspended.

For those who thought we made a mistake getting rid of Brentz, the Sox were not alone in thinking he's not ML caliber... The Mets have claimed outfielder Bryce Brentz off waivers from the Pirates, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report.

The contract the player's signed. Think of it like a civil court. OJ was found "innocent", but the civil court has a different set of criteria. I'm not going to pretend I know what happened that day, but if Wright kept his wife from calling 911, even if it didn't take any physical abuse or force, Wright still deserves some sort of suspension, in my opinion.

Good news! (I hope.) Devers has the potential of having a fantabulous season.

You make total sense, and yes part of those feelings from the past were likely based in jealousy, but I do think I'm not alone in thinking there is more joy in winning a ring without outspending the next team by $20M+. I just don't want us to become the team every other fan hates, because we keep buying our way to the top. I don't mind us becoming extra big spenders, and we've been big spenders for a long time, I'm just hoping we can find a way to stay competitive without having to be a top 3 spender for the next decade.

I'm not upset Workman did not make the roster. I'm not one to judge players on 9 IP even at the big league level, let alone ST'ing, but I trust Sox management to know what's best. I'm glad Walden and Poyner will get a look. It's nice to know we have more pen depth than I expected us to have. As much as I like Workman, I wouldn't mind seeing other Sox pitchers staying healthy and doing so well, he never gets another chance.

Even teams like the Dodgers and Yankess have seen that the current system all but demands a re-set every 3 years, at most, especially if you are over the $40M threshhold. 3 years for us is after the 2020 season. (Even after year two years seems more prudent, but that would all but slam the window shut after 2019.)

It's obvious that's not what I meant. I take Bellhorn's reasoning to heart, but I'm sure we could have squeeked a few more days out of Wright, if we wanted to, by saying he's ready a little before he actually is and then setting the 15 day clock running. Also, I was under the impression a team couldput someone on a 10 day DL list and make it retroactive back into ST'ing. I was told that was wrong, so maybe my point was out of line, if that's true. If the choice was to try and claim he'd be ready opening day vs 10 days, maybe there was no choice. It would have been impossible to try and hide the fact the Wright was not ready for day one and we had to choose day 10.

I'm not so sure. He kind of discounted the lefty-righty things, so we may not see many adjustments based on who we are facing. Line-up changes will result when he goes to the bench as often as he says he wants to, but I think the main pieces will basically stay pretty much in place.

You'd think they'd have sytarted stretching him out in ST'ing, but I guess they could have that planned, since they never signed any starter depth this winter. I've always liked Workman and was looking forward to a full season from him. Oh well...

Yeah, but if you wanted Wright to pitch day 16, you could just not put him on the DL.

I thought I remembered some players being placed on the DL in ST'ing, so they were ready day 5 or 6 or whatever.

True, but it seems like high OBP players translate less than power, great glove or base runners do.

I guess those awards actually mean something!

I've always though of Bogey as a good number 2 hitter with leadoff as my second choice. Line-up studies indicate otherwise.

best hitter up 2nd: check. worst of the top 5-6 hitters up 3rd: check. second best hitter up first: check. the Moreland placement troubles me, as it did last year.

MLBTR.... By Connor Byrne | March 26, 2018 at 9:56am CDT The Red Sox made an attempt to extend franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts during the offseason, but the right fielder isn’t interested in signing a long-term deal at this point, Rob Bradford of WEEI reports. Betts revealed to Bradford that he discussed the extension process with teammates who have signed them, saying: “I talked to some people about it, how the process went. But I didn’t really ask details about what they got or what was offered. It was more just about how the process went. It can be a tough process. You’re dealing with a lot of money.” Betts will make a lot of money in 2018 even without a new deal – $10.5MM after a resounding victory over Boston in arbitration – and will be under team control through at least 2020. The 25-year-old’s current salary is the second-highest award ever given to a first-time arb-eligible player, and Betts should rack up a couple more significant paydays via that route if he continues without an extension.

Hmmmm. They must feel he needs more work. We should see him for an extended time this year.

I'm sure Helickson and the like are smart enough to know Johnson and Velazquez will be demoted once Pom & Wright return. Then, there's ERod. Those are the starters he really has to "beat out."

Either of them retroactive to a certain date?

The OBP tool does not always translate to the ML level, as I'm sure you know. I'm glad he's showing power, finally, and 1B might be our weakest position right now, so it's good that our most ML ready prospect plays 1B.

The good thing is, we have pretty good minor league pen depth and a few guys coming off the DL soon.