moonslav59

Just sign 'em quick- like the Yoshida contra...errrRRRrrrr...........

Lot's of posturing by 3 Sox talking heads: Sam, Brez & Cora. Nothing specific on the budget, of course- just this from Sam, "I don't know where the payroll is going to land. I know we're going to be focused on win totals and getting into that postseason. You can't mess around at 83, 84 or 85 wins. That's not where you want to be. You want to win the division. Get in.... Be in a position where you're sitting in a bye position and lining up who's going to be starting Game 1 of the next series. That's where we want to be." Brez added, “We asked our fans to sacrifice a lot to be patient as we build the foundation that would enable us to meet those goals. I think we’re here. I think we’re ready to deliver.”

Brez to the Brewers in 3 years?

Bello makes $2.7M in 2025, but the Tax hit is $9.2M. I was hoping the poll had multiple choices, like A) Under $190M B) $190-200M C) 200-210M D) Close to the Tax line w/o going over. (I'd vote C but B was a close second.)

Maybe the fiercest competitor in the history of baseball. RIP Pete.

I think Jh Garcia has too much upside to risk losing him to Rule 5. If you look at the projected bottom 5 players on our opening day 40 man roster, I like him more than all of them. Not only is his ceiling higher, his floor might be, too. I really, really like Abreu. He had a heel of a first year in MLB. It's easy to focus on his platoon status and some rookie fielding blunders, but he was an overall plus defender in a difficult position to play in Fenway and elsewhere. His bats declined a bit in September, but his overall numbers were very nice. He ended up with a .781 OPS. Projected to 650 PAs: .253 21 80 (about 70 XBHs) Someone, said they heard he was being considered for GG, but I'm not thinking he's at that level, yet. That being said, I like Duran & Anthony better, so trading him makes sense, unless we trade the RHB Rafaela.

I know we need to spend more. I know JH is largely to blame for our drop in budget rankings. Pointing out other GMs made massive gains in spending, since 2021 is not making an excuse. It is just presenting facts. Now, there were times, in the past, that JH sharply increased spending, while a few others did, too, but the recent big upticks in spending by more than just the usual top 5-6 teams did factor into our drop in ranking. It's possible to blame JH for not spending like he used to or like he should, but not deny the fact that others started spending way more than ever, at the same time. Presenting facts that show this is not defending anyone. Here are just a few: In 2021, we were 3rd at $180M... NYM (8th in '21 at $167M) They are at $301M, now. PHI was 5th at $174M and is now at $236M SDP was 6th at $172M and went to $236M in 2023. A better example might be the Cards, who went from 12th at $135M to 11th at $165M in '24. No doubt, we could have cut less and stayed above them, but going up from 135 to 165 in 3 years is a 22% increase. That's not "nutty" but it did contribute to us falling in the rankings.

We'd be about 10th, if 3-4 teams hadn't raised their budget's a lot, but that is not to say that JH is not a big reason we are in the middle 10. I'd say JH is more responsible, but not 100%. According to Steve the Ump, we were 6ht in '22 at $195M. #10 was TOR at $168M. To be top 10 in 2023, JH would have had to spend $180.9M. He spent $175.7M (about $5M short.) Had JH stayed the same in '23, we'd have been 9th, but so many teams jumped their spending, by a lot. Let me add, the $15M uptick in spending from the playoff team of 2021 is largely forgotten, and that year, we dropped from 3rd to 6th. That was certainly not JH's fault. Again, I'm not defending him, at all, but other GMs have gone wild on spending.

I'm guessing $210M- maybe more at the deadline.

Generic statements usually are.

I’m not holding my breath. We could cut tge budget and still sign one major FA. We could make one big trade involving a prospect plus maybe Abreu and DHam to add another major piece, without subtracting duplicated values The ability is there. The acting on it is highly in doubt.

It will be about actions with an emphasis on the “s” for plural actions. significant actions. We don’t need to add more mediocre players or depth. We need serious upgrades at 3-4 positions. Maybe 2 major additions might be enough, but anything else will be beggi g for another missed dance.

He might already have some me idea of the road ahead, but I’m sure some major specifics have yet to be made or passed on to Brez. To me, the ability to make a bold trade is almost as important as the winter spending budget and how much can be longer term deals.

I’m not believing anything Sam says, unless he talks about budget cuts or strict limits.

Randy is 100% sure we are staying under $200. maybe I misread what you said, but you seemed to imply Sam’s statement about 2024 is also about 2025. No, you did not claim it’s a done deal. i think someone else has been talking like it is a sure bet we cut. Maybe on the game threads

I think we trade Abreu and add Anthony to the OF. This keeps the unbalance the same, except. Anthony likely hits lefties better than Abreu. i think we trade DHam and go with Grissom and Campbell at2B. That adds a righty bat. I think we bank on a healthy Story to take up the RHB slack, enough to lessen the unbalanced nature of our 13 by just enough. Ref could play some OF or DH v LHPs and should start every game vs lefties.

How is it fooling myself when I have repeatedly said I have no expectations they spend more? I merely pointed out we have never cut the budget 3 years in a row. That is a “trend,” too. im not giving up hope, and hoping is not expecting or fooling myself. i will not be surprised if we cut, stay the same or add spending. It’s hard to take that as kidding myself. its not me making statements that sound like done deal spending levels. I don’t know. You don’t know. Nobody knows.

I see Weissert as equal to anyone else after the top 4, and we are a bit unsure about how good Hendricks and Fulmer will be after so much time off. i have very little trust in our 5-8 RPers. Taking the best 2 for the last 1-2 slots is okay but we need 2 more pitchers, IMO- minimum. i doubt we use Fitts or Priester in tge pen.

He announced he is coming back and maybe for 2 more years. O’Neill is not a plus defender, either. Ref could play LF vs LHPs with Duran moving to CF or RF.

I’m not doubting another cut, but nobody knows it is coming. Yes, the overall trend has been downwards since 2020’s major slash. my point was only that we have cut the budget 2 years in a row several times. I think 3 straight would be a first. It very well could happen, or we could go over $200M and be higher than 2020, once again. This budget cutting and restricting is horrible. When you see how few of our players are free agents to be and most are present, cutting or even keeping the budget steady is a huge letdown. to me, the time is now. There is no excuse for not spending on 2-3 players that rate to be helpful in areas of need for 2-4 more years. We need pitching, and everyone knows it.

That was for 2024. Where has anyone said another cut is a done deal?

Ref is not retiring. We have a top 25 batter v LHPs already

They have gone 2 years cutting before, several times. i can’t find the quote about a cut for 2025. Can you provide a link?

I started it a couple hours ago.

I doubt we bring him back, despite the need for a big RHB. if we do, Abreu is a sure goner. (he might be anyway.)