moonslav59

I think the Sox have done a pretty good job building up a solid foundation of young players, many of whom are pre-arb or locked up for many years at reasonable rates. They pulled the wool over on their fans with the "we will be competitive this year" sham, but all the while they were methodically doing some things right. The next step involves making strategic investments at 3, maybe 4 of our weakest areas, and this time not with wings and prayers, but with actual solid projectable talent- proven and for real. Of course, nothing is for certain, but clearly guys like Buehler, Sandoval, Giolito, Kluber, Wacha, Hill, Richards and Perez were shots in the dark. That has to end. The trade for Crochet and subsequent extension, along with locking up 4 kids over the past 2 winters, bodes well for the new direction this team has taken. However, it's not enough. We need to go bold. We may not have to emulate the Mets & Dodgers, but we have to do better. No more one-and-dones. No more returning from injury but was great 1-3 years ago guys. We gotta give to get. Luckily, this is a good year for power bats who play 1B or 3B, well at least they try to. Luckily, we have teams very interested in Duran or Abreu, and we have a guy like Anthony that won't be a step down when replacing the guy we trade. It's not rocket science. It's not "we gotta spend like the Dodger." It's not "let's sign 5 mid level guys," either. To me, it's very simple and doable. We may even be able to pull it off and still reset the tax line for 2027. 1 Bold trade for a #2 SP, Power RHB at 3B or 1B. 1 Bold signing (Corner infielder or #2 SP) 1 semi-major signing like Hoskins, Naylor, Merrill Kelly, Gleyber Torres or maybe not so "semi" E Suarez, depending on just how bold the first two guys ended up being. 3 Major additions. (Maybe add Matz and some MiLB depth.) We can maybe be creative and dump some salary in order to raise the quality of FA signings, but just trading Duran & Campbell saves us over $15M AAV and would bring back one of the 3 needed players- perhaps at less AAV. Try to dump some of Hicks & Yoshida's salaries, even if we have to give something with them and or pay down a sizeable chunk of their deals. Just add $5-15M AAV to the winter budget and we can maximize the 2 signings we can and SHOULD make. Just do it!

Because profit margins are what it's all about. We look at revenue vs spending and say "WTF!" They look at revenue vs spending and say, "Nice job, guys- keep it up!"

I'm hearing Paredes is on the block. I'd rather get Lodolo for Duran that IP. I'm not sure what HOU would want. They do have a way of taking meh pitchers and turning them into Cy Young candidates, so maybe they like one of our younger arms. Duran & Sandlin for Lodolo, Jh Garcia (or Campbell?) & one from Harrison/Fitts/Dobbins/Crawford for Paredes Sign E Suarez for 1B, if Alonso is too expensive for JH. 1. L Anthony LF 2. R Paredes 3B 3. L Abreu RF/ R Refsnyder RF 4. R Suarez 1B 5, L Yoshida DH/ R Romy DH 6. R Story SS/2B 7. L Mayer 2B/SS 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela C

I'm okay with 6-7 year deals on 28-29 year olds, 5-6 on 30-31 year olds. I'm sympathetic to your views. I have suggested JH, Brez & Co. look into deal for guys like E Suarez and Merrill Kelly, who are likely too old to get 5+ years.

Imagine a league with 30 owners like the Dodgers. I find it hard to get a clear idea what it would be like.

I don't see it that way, but he wasn't much help in allowing Devers Forevers, When it comes to this winter, I doubt Brez is given a big budget and doesn't use it. To me, this winter will be all about JH & Co.

The theory is sound, but you wonder... If someone is worth $25M AAV, why are they accepting just 3-4 years? It's usually... an injury issue over 31 to 35+ years old recent struggles not a long record of success Our last 2 FA deals longer than 4 years have not worked out well: $140M/6 Story in '22 $90M/5 Yoshida '23 (plus fees) Players on the current FA market that may take $25M x 3 or 4? Probably not Schwarber, Bregman, Ranger Suarez, Dylan Cease, Dante Bichette and Shane Bieber, but maybe 30 year old Michael King or 31 year old Giolito. I don't see many others.

Our line-up would have been very nice with Devers at 1B and a healthy Anthony.

Agreed. I'm expecting tightwadness, until proven otherwise. Last winter got my hopes up, but as I've said before, we are back to square one after the Devers dump and Bregman bolt.

That would be fine, too, especially as a "long man."

It will come down to length of contracts, IMO. We can replace Bregman's AAV with Alonso, but it won't be a one year deal. Again, I'm not projecting any large and longs, but we can afford two or more.

I'm not denying that nor defending tighwadness.

Good points, but they held off on any $150M/6 deals until the Story one, a couple years later.

It may be enough: it may not be. I'd prefer Alonzo, Lodolo AND another decent bat at 3B/2B, but just 2 major gets might be enough.

When the other option is Casas, yes, both would be upgrades. (Casas should be DH competition with Masa.)

I'm far from defending JH. I am just stating facts. He was not a "tightwad" last winter. Subsequently, he dumped the Devers salary and Breggie opted out. The Buehler & Gio contracts came off the books, and we are back to square one, again with no idea how JH will spend, this winter. That's not defending JH. I have repeatedly said JH & Co, can spend way more and still make a "hefty profit." I am also aware of the fact that this is the way rich people make money.

He did just recently give Devers $300M/10, Bregman $40M AAV -both Sox records, plus a huge extensions to Crochet & Anthony and $21M for Buehler and $19M for Sandoval. I'm not predicting anything major, but we might sign one big deal and then go "affordable" on guys like Hoskins.

True: $40M x 6 might not be enough.

If we traded for Lodolo and signed Alonzo and nothing else, it might be enough.

Springer is the man.

We will likely have to go "large," but maybe not so long. We could do another Bregman type deal with someone trying to prove themselves worth more, or maybe taking a chance on older players who aren't being offers 3-4+ contracts by anybody. We could sign an older pitcher like Merrill Kelly on a shorter deal, then trade for a younger big bat, like maybe K Marte. We don't need 4-5 guys at $10M/1: we need 2 at about $25M AAV.

If Greene and Lodolo are as good as it seems, Abbot is even better?

Not even close. Why not Abbot, if Greene and Lodolo are for real. You are also losing Nick Martinez, so I'm not so sure you guys have talented pitchers to spare, despite your great need for O.

If Perales comes back strong, we could end up with a nice confluence of events.

I wonder why they don't trade Singer or Abbot.