moonslav59

That's how I see it. Playing Bregman at 2B is not doing the best we can to win. It's really that simple. It's also a waste of money. This is a damn good line-up and a better defensive team than 2024: 1. L Duran CF 2. R Bregman 3B 3. L Casas DH/1B 4. L Devers 1B/DH (3B back-up) 5. R Story SS 6. L Yoshida/ R Refnsyder LF 7. R Campbell 2B 8. L Abreu/ R Rafaela RF 9. R Wong/ R Narvaez C Utility: DHam If Story stays healthy, our left side IF turns from bottom 5 to top 5. Our LF defense moves from top 10 to bottom 10. 2B defense could improve with Campbell/DHam over EValdez/ Grissom/ Reyes. The rest stays about the same. (Maybe RF improves with Rafaela over O'Neill.) The rotation should be way better. The pen might get close to 2024, which was not very good.

It's not meant to imply you don't think for yourselves. I do not think saying "crowd" says that. There have been a group of posters who have been calling our JH, and rightfully so, IMO, for not spending enough, seeing us fall in the spending rankings and being a scrooge. A few have been claiming this is who JH is, and he won't spend big, again. If that is not you, then I'm not putting you in that group of posters, or "crowd." That group of posters has been very vocal and persistent, when there was really no way anyone could ever know if the spending would stop or stay low/very low going forward. There have been minor blips on spending, most notably the Story and Yoshida signings and the massive devers extension, but clearly the spending has been pretty consistently low since the Sale & nate deals. That's a long time: 5-6 years with a couple up blips.. Has this winter ended that period? It is hard to say, but we clearly have spent more, this winter than we have since the Sale-Nate contract extensions. We've spent more this winter than 2-3 recent winters combined. (We did lose some significant salaries, too, but this has been a big uptick in spending.)

Bregman's replacement?

To me, Story should have played SS, done- just as Bregman should play 3B- day one. Devers needs to think of the team needs. If he cannot see the benefit of moving positions, he drops in my respect level- bigtime. (Not that it matters what I think.)

I think Hendriks gets the first look and Chapman, second. Slaten or Whitlock might get the next looks.

Probably, yes. Doesn't cots have us at $30M under?

Yes. I have suggested a 1B/DH share that would allow both and to play 160+ games, if healthy. I don't think Devers wants to sit on the bench for half the game. I also think, he can and will become a better defender at 1B than Casas is, now.

Never. I've been saying JH's history is cycle spending, and there is "no way we know" going forward. I did say I am done "expecting spending, until see it," so in that sense,guess one could see me as the fringes of "that crowd."

Maybe, but we cannot afford giving him a look, at least to start the season. If we start the year with a 5 man rotation, I'd go with Crawford as the mid to long man, capable of high leverage situations

The deferred money part has not been confirmed, so how can anyone know?

Will this quiet the "Henry will never spend big, again" crowd?

These two are very close. Both are better than most teams' 5th starters, so having one as the 5th and the other as the 6th, is nice. (To me, Gio is 6th in projected value for '25, if 30 GS.) I like Bello as the SP'er, because Crawford has shown he can be very good in relief.

True, but is it better to sign a guy 2-3 years removed from TJS and still under 31?

To keep Devers happy, they might allow him the chance to play 1B and not DH, if he prefers that, but my guess is, Bregman plays 2B. Cora did the same with Story to 2B.

I hear you. He'll be 33 for year 3 of this deal, assuming no opt-out. Age 34 is often a down year for many aging players. If the $171M/6 Detroit off was accurate, that would have meant paying him $$51M/3 over his age 34, 35 and 36 seasons at $17M per. That amount might not be too bad, especially if contracts keep going up and up, but this does look safer. He must think he is going to age well and get another good deal. I could see him have a monster year in '25 and opt out. Career OPS: .848. Career at Fenway: 1.240 in 98 PAs (7 Hrs x 6= 42 in less than 600 PAs.)

Indeed. I'm thinking the idea is Bregman will end up at 3B, even if he does not start the season there, but with the opt-outs, maybe not. To me, this deal was already iffy, even with Bregman at 3B, but the short term made it fine. With Bregman at 2B, he's blocking Campbell (who could play RF) and Mayer, while keeping our corner IF defense the worst in MLB, by far- for no reason but to keep Devers from possibly pouting.

In 2024: 15 HRs first PA against (5.1% of PAs) 15 HRs second PA (5.2%) 4 HRs 3rd and 4th PAs (2.3%) Granted, he only went to 3 and 4 PAs against in games he was doing well, but it was still 177 PAs. In 2023: 3 HRs in 207 PAs first PA 7 HRs in 190 PAs second 4 HRs in 49 PAs 3rd

Since our ranking seemed to matter more to many posters, we might be near 6th, again.

Depending on how much of Bregman's contract is deferred, we may be very close to the first tax line. Next focus: 1. Add a RP. 2. Work on extensions for Crochet, Campbell, Anthony and maybe Houck.

Maybe we can find a taker for Yoshida, but that is likely near impossible, unless we pay all but $12-15M of the $54M owed. I bet we play Bregman at 2B to start the season, but we better see Devers getting a look at 1B in ST'ing. (I hope he takes it seriously and does not pout.) To me, Bregman at 3B maximizes his value and helps the team way more than at 2B. I'd even sacrifice some LF defense to allow Casas & Devers to share 1B/DH. 1. L Duran CF 2. R Bregman 3B 3. L Casas DH/1B 4. L Devers 1B/DH 5. R Story SS 6. L Yoshida/ R Refsnyder LF 7. R Campbell 2B (maybe moves to 2nd or 5th by mid season) 8. L Abreu/R Rafaela RF 9. R Wong/R Narvaez C Utility: DHam (Romy/Grissom/Anthony/Mayer in AAA)

So, now we know, JH will spend, at times. My guess is the deferred money keeps us under the tax line, and any extensions will start after opening day.

We already have 2 of our best hitters that should DH or play 1B.

Sox lose a comp pick, but we get one for Pivetta. To be honest, this is not "the guy" I would have chosen to blow away the highest AAV in team history, but he turns us into a playoff favorite and legit contender for the AL crown. Please, please, please- do NOT play him at 2B!

WOW! I mentioned opt-outs and was bashed for it, but I'm not taking credit for predicting this. I'm shocked. I hope there will be no Casas trade, unless they know something about his injury. We need Tristan's bat, even vs LHPs. This really takes some heat of Henry.

I'm glad he got a nice payday. I liked him. He was durable and pretty consistent. I was starting to worry about the comp pick. Glad he's in the NL.