moonslav59

Yes. I have mentioned how DD's farm was not as bad as some suggested, and that the trio of Houck, Bello and Crawford were the best 3 from the farm in a very long time. We wiggled and wormed our way into acquiring Whitlock, Wink, Slaten, Fitts, Priester & Sandlin. While Bloom was benefited by DD's sleepers, he was in charge during their "development" and made a few shrewd moves to bolster the staff. (Too many failed, for sure.)

I totally agree. Weak at closer. Weak at #11-13 of staff. Good at #1-6 SP Good at #2-5 RP Good at #13-20 pitching depth.

How can we ever know? For one thing, we don't even know if Alonso chose the best deal. MLBTR projected $125M/5 and he got $54M/2, but it seems like 1Bman value cratered, this winter. That can't be blamed on BorA$$. Soto was projected at $600M/13 and got $765M/15. POW-SAH! Burnes $200/7> $210M>6 Bregman $182M/7> TBD Snell $160M/5>$182M/5 W Adames $160M/6>$182M/7 Fried $156M/6> $218M/8 Alonso $125M/5> $54M/2 looks like the worst deal, so far, until the next one... Flaherty $115M/5> $35M/2 Santander $80M/4>$93M/5 Manaea $60M/3> $75M/3, Teoscar $60M/3>$66M/3, Kikuchi $60M>63M, Walker 60>60 T Scott $56/4>$72M/4, Severino $51/3>$67M/3 That's the top 15. I'm not even sure how many of these guys are w Borass.

Nobody ever said he was not the best because of the many failures. I questioned who sets the criteria? Certainly, if the criteria is most money contracted, there is no argument. Maybe, if a customer satisfaction survey was sent out to every player who ever signed a contract and turned in, he'd win that one, too- by sheer numbers, probably yes, but by percent of happy clients, who knows? It's impossible to know which agent gets the most money vs expected money on a percentage basis, which would probably be a better criteria, but who sets those numbers would be highly questionable. Maybe, someone could take MLBTR's top 50 FA projections and dollar amounts and see which agent gets more, by percentage than others. (This year, Soto, alone would make Borass the clear winner.) I'm just questioning the criteria- just like I firmly believe McDonalds is not even close to the best burger joint. They don't even make my top 20 list, but by the criteria used on Boras, there is no discussion: McDonalds is the best. Period. I disagree. I'm not sure who is better than Boras, and I'm not even sure what I'd pinpoint as my criteria to determine who is the best, but it would not be all about who makes the most money for players that could make a ton representing themselves. How much more does he make for them? How much more do the other top agents make "extra" vs the norm? Probably impossible to determine, so let's all just say the guy who has the most big-named clients has to be the best. Are Johnnie Cochran & Alan Dershowitz the best lawyers in America?

Of the 9 pitchers you listed, 6 are SP'ers. We are the only team with 6 SP'ers with a projected fWAR or 1.2 or more. That suggests that we can maybe withstand 1-2 injuries to the rotation better than most teams. We then have Criswell (over 1 WAR on '24) and some promise in Fitts, Priester, Dobbins and Fulmer in AAA with Criswell. To me, our pen is the big concern, and the worry is at the top: we have no sure thing as a lockdown closer. You did not mention Slaten, but I think we have a pretty nice set-up crew of 4 arms in Hendriks, Chapman, Slaten and Whitlock. One will have to be the closer, so we drop to 3. It's not a bad 4, but it's not top 10, IMO, and one could argue it's not top 15, either. 2 missed all or most of 2024, and Chapman has been in a decline mode for a while. I kinda like Wink as the 5th guy, and he can go 2-3 IP, if needed, but the rest are marginal, with some having various levels of promise. The plus to the pen's lower the #5 pitchers is that there is a pretty large numbers of them, many already on the 40, as our roster is sorely lacking everyday player depth on the 40. (No real biggies, as Anthony, Campbell & Mayer are poised to be added, in a flash, if needed.) One issue coudl arise: we have to cycle through 12-15 pitchers to settle on last 2-3 pitchers on the 13 man staff. We could lose a lot of game playing the process of elimination game. Guerrero, Weissert, Bernardino Penrod, Kelly, I Campbell Mata, Mills, Moran N Davis, Stock, Adams Harris, Newcomb or a converted SP (Gambrell, Drohan, Fulmer, Dobbins, Fitts, Priester, Criswell) Some are not on the 40, but many are, already. Same with the pen: if we have an injury or two, we look to be better positioned to replace the injured pitchers with something maybe more decent than other teams have on their depth chart and deep depth charts. Key word: MAYBE.

Top Suspects List as Red would say.

I don't think the best means the most clients. Is McDonalds "the Best" burger joint?

True, but many people get to the highest places without being the best.

I can see why we can be viewed as the most unpredictable with so many players returning from injury and or joining the 26 man roster for the first time with Boston: Crochet, Buehler, Giolito, Hendriks, Chapman, Wilson & Narvaez Players who missed most of 2024's MLB season: Whitlock, Story, Casas, Grissom, Guerrero, Fitts, Priester and more... These players make-up about half of the projected 26 man roster. Other teams have many questions, too, but not really at this level.

Undisputed by you and probably many others- not me.

Yup. Here are all this winter's Rule 5 players: December 2025 Karim Ayubi Alex Binelas Miguel Bleis Caleb Bolden Jonathan Brand Taylor Broadway Allan Castro Juan Chacon Isaac Coffey Nathanael Cruz Noah Dean Kelvin Diaz Matt Donlan Shane Drohan Nate Eaton Max Ferguson Nathan Hickey Alex Hoppe Blaze Jordan Ahbram Liendo Enderso Lira CJ Liu Andy Lugo Marcelo Mayer Tyler McDonough Daniel McElveny Alvaro Mejias Tyler Miller Yordanny Monegro Juan Montero Hayden Mullins Christian Nunez Wyatt Olds Jedixson Paez Eybersson Polanco Luis Ravelo Eduardo Rivera Dalton Rogers Ronald Rosario Corey Rosier David Sandlin Michael Sansone Armando Sierra Phillip Sikes Adam Smith Noah Song Cristofer Soriano Christopher Troye Tyler Uberstine Brian Van Belle Diego Viloria Jacob Webb Jeremy Wu-Yelland

We may wait to see how Anthony looks before trading Abreu. Any developing plan that sees Yoshida-Ref as the major LF combo would also ease the way for a Wilyer trade. I do not think trading Casas is a good idea. 1. Our offense is suspect and he is one of our best hitters vs RHPs and LHPs. 2. The trade value for 1Bmen has dropped, of late. 3. He's young and cheap- just what JH loves. If we add Bregman or Arenado, I'd still keep Casas, even if it means benching or severely cutting out Yoshida's playing time. I think trading Abreu, after adding a 3Bman would make more sense, despite the weakening of the OF defense by having Yoshida & Ref platoon LF. It would likely only be a temporary plan, as we wait for Anthony, or even a Campbell in the OF possibility. We could also see Yoshida build a little trade value and move him at the deadline, or when we call up Anthony. This is nota horrible OF on O or D: LF: Yoshida-Ref platoon, CF: Duran, RF: Abreu-Rafaela platoon Yoshi & Ref could DH, when casas, Devers or our new 3Bman needs a rest. Duran could play LF, when the above happens, and Rafaela could move to CF for those games, or when Duran gets a rest day.

Yes, but waiting does not always work out best for him or his clients. Overall, he is likely the best at getting the max, but it's hard to know if that is true.

Having the most players as clients does not make you the "best," and what determines who is the "best?" Maxing dollars? (How do we know he got more than someone else might have gotten?) Getting the client what he wants? (I see countless examples where his clients seemed to get screwed while he attempted to max out their take.)

HOU reportedly "upped their offer" to Bregman, but are not considered a likely landing spot. It seeems like DET and TOR have offered longer deals than BOS offered, so what is the hold-up? Is BorA$$ waiting to see if BOS adds another year? If HOU adds even more? If DET or TOR one ups the other? I'm thinking once Bregman signs, Arenado will be traded to one of the other teams. I hope it's not us, unless STL pays down the deal, so it costs us no more than $10M x 3. Even at that cost, I'm not sure we should have to give up anybody, except maybe Jordan.

Moncada to LAA at $5M/1

He might be better than I give him credit for. I agree, if Brez sees more hope in him than I do, then no-go.

Many 3Bmen become fine or capable 1Bmen. It's not a major change, except fielding throws and doing the stretch. Devers is not bad with the glove and range. His major issue is the inaccurate arm. The one big factor in moving him to 1B, is that he only has to be as good or better than the worst defensive 1Bman in MLB, Tristan Casas. The bar is set as low as it can go. If it turns out, he's worse than Casas, then he DH's and Yoshida becomes a bench, PH'er or maybe a platoon LF'er w Refsnyder, if he shows he can hit .800+. (Duran plays CF and Abrue/Rafaela platoon RF, until Anthony arrives.) The upgrade in 3B defense would outweigh the downgrade in LF defense, IMO, but it certainly is not ideal. The hope would be, he does okay, and we trade him, later, once we know Anthony is the real deal.

Several, probably.

We have so many pitchers with the same hopes as Mullins, IMO. Sure, it would suck to trade the one that turns out good, but I'm thinking the odds of him doing well are pretty low. I'm still sticking to my opinion that I'd give nothing for Arenado, unless we end up paying him less than $10M x 3. Here is how I tier our pitching prospects: 1 Perales 2 Fitts, Priester (not a prospect but...) Sandlin (maybe not a SP) Tolle 3 Dobbins, Early, Cason, Guerrero (RP) Valera, Reyes 4 Penrod (RP) Monegro, Paez, Mullins, Ingrassia 5 Delzine, Neely, Clarke, Tygart, Fajardo, Carlson, G Jackson, Mata Long shots: Dean, Gambrell, Drohan, Rivera, Kirwin, Ehrlicher Mullins might be ranked 13th to 17th on our pitcher rankings, IMO. (I'd keep him over Jordan, and even #18 Allan Castro OF.)

Yoshida might end up having a decent season. Maybe he'll build up some trade value, and one less year of his contract might help our ability to trade him, next winter. We aren't getting Bregman. I hope we don't get Arenado, unless they pay it down to less than $30M/3. If Yoshida can hit .800 by bringing up his OBP, he might give us an unexpected boost. (Apparently, MVP is expecting it.) There is a better chance Yoshida hits .800 than we find a team to take him off our hands.

Not reaally, his spot on the roster will have to be filled by someone making about $750K.

Jansen got $16m x 2, so yes.

I look at Yoshida, like I look at Arenado, and I do think it's almost all about the money someone thinks he's worth. If Yoshida was a FA, would he get $18M/3? ($6M x 3) If that's the most he'd get, then one can think we could trade him +$10M a year for nothing and get him off our 26 and 40. Do we need a $6M DH, if we had no Yoshida? I'd say no, so maybe he's worth more to a team needing a DH than to us. Not many teams have such horrible defenders at 1B and 3B who are just so obviously DH types. We may be the #1 team in MLB for the least need of a DH. (Ref should DH, too.)

If you would not sign Arenado to a 3 year deal worth $XXX, why would you give prospects to STL for the right to pay that amount or more? The guy is a sunken cost, and like Yoshida, he still has some value, but just not near his contract value. His ability to play plus D at 3B and maybe close to the same bat projection as Yoshida, although not as much, to me, he's worth more than Yoshida. He's also owed more. You can see how this board has been going through metal gymnastics trying to find ways to shed Yoshida and his as much of his contract as possible. Why are we trying to add another Yoshida type, but with a glove? Unless they pay enough to make his cost $12M, $9M, $6M, in the next 3 years, I'd pass. And, that is assuming we give nothing more than Zanetello or Jordan to get it done. (I'm not even sold on this being a good deal, but our D would improve. Maybe we find a taker for Yoshida and pay $12M x 3 and save $18M to help pay towards the $27M we'll owe Arenado. Now, it looks better. (I know Bell, Mr. Hypothetical at it again.)