moonslav59

I mentioned those two moves, as well as the nice addition of Devin Williams. They've added more than we have but lost more, too. Soto>>>> Bellinger Fried>> Cortes D Williams <?> Holmes/Kahnle/Poteet Goldschmidt > Rizzo Alex Jackson <?> Trevino/Narvaez ___ <<< Torres/Berti ___<<< Verdugo They will likely add more, and I said I think they will still add more than we do, but they are still at a net negative, and they are done at 1B and probably OF, at a net loss. The Sox: Crochet >>>> Pivetta Chapman & Wilson <<< Jansen & Martin Sandoval <?> Chase Anderson, Keller & Co. Narvaez << D Jansen but maybe > McGuire, who was with the Sox more than Jansen was in 2014. _____<<< O'Neill (but I have faith in Anthony, Campbell and our Rafaela back to the OF to cover this one.) I'm not saying we've done better than NY with additions. My point was that their subtractions are more valuable than ours are. Both teams have a ways to go to be a net plus, on paper, over 2024.

I get that, but I do not see Booser as being any better than anyone from our #9-16 pen guys in AAA, plus I think we add at least one more pitcher, this winter, which would knowck everyone down one more notch. We also have SP'ers who could be used in the pen in 2025: Let's assume this is the opening day 13 man staff: Crochet, Houck, Bello, Giolito & Crawford Hendriks, Chapman, ______, Slaten, Whitlock, Wickowski, Wilson, Guerrero. Is Booser better than any of the next 8? Criswell (SP,) Penrod, Bernardino, Kelly, Weissert, Fitts (SP,) Priester (SP,) Dobbins (SP) The next 10 might be: Fulmer, Gambrell (SP,) Shugart, Mata, I Campbell, Drohan (SP,) Sandlin, Mills, Adames, Hoppe or Troye IMO, we have plus depth. We are just weak in the quality of our top 2-3 RP'ers. We need a solid closer or a great set-up man. If we add a solid SP'er and a solid set-up man, plus push Crawford to the pen, everyone below number 9 on staff gets bumped down one notch. We go from 8 nice depth choices in AAA to 11. The number 17-26 pitchers become our number 20-29 pitchers. I'm not downplaying depth, but Booser is easily replaceable, and we now have 3-4 lefties better than he is. We are also adding Whitlock to the pen, and he does better vs LHBs than RHBs.

I'm not optimistic.

But hey, we traded away Booser! Yipee! I'm feeling more and more pessimistic with everyday that passes, which is pretty low, considering I started the winter with zero expectations, but some hopes. There was a peak of hope with the Soto bidding, and the day we traded for Crochet and Narvaez was nice, but that's been it. Chapman as a decent signing, but I knew getting him meant no Scott and likely no Hoffman, either. Wilson was just depth, IMO, but one that needs to be on the 26, so I'd rather have signed minor league depth as good as he is. I liked the low key Narvaez deal, but that's not something to get jacked up about. The Crochet deal addressed a major area of need. It was a necessary overpay, but I wish we didn't have to included our one prospect who played a position of current high need: catching. I like Anthony and Campbell way more, and am glad we did not included them, instead, but the Crochet deal also created another need, so that taints it a little bit. (I'm not sure CWS wanted Mayer, of if we'd have subbed him for Teel, anyway, and we may have a need at SS, if Story keeps spending time on the IL.) All-in-all, this winter is looking like a near complete failure. We addressed the TOTR and LH'd RP needs, but created a greater need at C than we had before, and we still need 1 really good pitcher (TOTR or Closer) or two, and a power RHB. There are many weeks left to make some moves and dozens of top 50 FAs left to sign. There are rumors of players available in trade who could fill our needs. Maybe the plan is to swoop in on teh last minute bargain basement deals, but I doubt we see as many as in recent years, because so many teams feel like they have a shot at making the playoffs. There may be less than a handful of teams that are in true rebuild mode. One could even argue there are just two: CWS & MIA. Even the A's have been mandated to spend. We wait too long, and we will be screwed, again. There was a lot of backtracking, after last winter's "full throttle" blooper, but I have not heard much, this winter after the comments about the CBT line not being an issue. We have a ton of money to spend to get to the line, but I have a very strong feeling we never get close to it. We'll hear the excuses, later.

I'll trade anyone and everyone, if teh return is greater. Equal is fine, too, if we fill a greater need area. Right now, our needs are pitching, pitching, catcher, pitching, RHB. I'm fine with trading Crawford, if the deal upgrades one of these areas by as much as it downgrades our pitching staff with the loss of Crawford. I've never been as high on Crawford as some, here, but he's a good 5th starter and probably a very good long man/spot starter, too. The HRs are a major concern, and I'm not sure he can continue to allow so many of then with no men on base, going forward. He worries me. I could see deals like this: Crawford + Abreu for a better pitcher. Crawford + DHam for a better pitcher or a RHB and or a catcher. The only guy I'm really "for trading," just for the sake of trading and not really looking for anything in return, is Yoshida, and even with him, I think it's best we wait and hope he gains value by getting healthy and producing for a while. I'd rather have Casas and Devers share DH duties and play 1B as little as possible. With Devers, no 3B, except when our FT 3Bman needs a rest.

We didn't lose Soto.. I'm not making fun of them. I'm pointing out that they are not going the extra mile to address all their needs. I'm pretty sure Yankee fans are not thrilled at the net gains and losses, so far, but they probably have more hope for the rest of the winter moves than us Sox fans do. I have been making fun of our moves.

The Story signing was not much of an overpay. You are right. I guess I was thinking more that it seemed we identified a need (Bogey about to depart,) and I'm not sure how many others were even bidding nearly that high. Some other SSs got some big paydays earlier in the signing period, yes, it did not look like a gross overpay, but he did have an injury issue and some concerning home-away numbers that seemed to bother other teams more than our guys who wanted him more than others. I'm not speaking to the "overpay" due to hindsight. The one injury was about expected, but I'm talking about times, where we saw certain players and made a choice to not be outbid, and some seemed like nobody was close to our offers. Then, there are so many other players, where we make grossly lower-than-market value offers and claim "We wanted ____." There seems to be a weird disconnect going on. Maybe, if can simply be explained as poor value analysis.

He does play LF or DH, a position we already have many that can play, but he's a good RHB, and it seems the LAD are not going to get into a bidding war for him. To me, signing him would force a trade, but not in a bad way. We were likely going to trade Abreu, even if we did not add a RHB OF'er. Sign Teoscar would mean... LF Teoscar (Duran, Refsnyder) CF Duran (Anthony) RF Anthony (Campbell) assuming we trade Abreu for pitching or a catcher, or both. Burnes and Teoscar would be very nice. Flaherty, Teoscar and Estevez would be okay. Teoscar and more Sandoval types falls way short.

The Yanks have had some head-scratchers, too,

Carlos Santana gets $12M/1 from CLE. Wow!

The semi finals are set: 12/31: Penn St v Boise St in Fiesta Bowl 1/1: Texas v Arizona St in Peach Bowl 1/1: Ohio St v Oregon in Rose Bowl 1/2" Georgia v Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl To me, #1 Oregon and #2 Georgia face tougher opponents than #TX and #4 Penn St.

That has to be it. Plus, the only thing that kept Booser on the 40 was the shortage of LHPs in the pen. We added Chapman and Wilson, still have Bernardino and are going to see Whitlock, who kills lefties, back in the pen. (Whitlock career OPS Against: .695 v R/ ,689 v L and .251 BA vs .236)

Booser may not have played, anyway. I had him about 13th to 15th out of our 17 pen guys in MLB and AAA.

What do you think he's worth? Apparently, they turned down our offer of an oft-injured s***** defensive 1Bman.

I assumed we'd give something with Rafaela, but not a top prospect or player...maybe Rafaela + Fitts or Priester, or maybe DHam. If they say no, then move on. They do not think Castillo is Pedro. Why say stuff like that?

I have always felt that anyone talking about themselves in the third person was pretentious and cocky, but with Ricky, it fit.

They spent $12.5M on Goldschmidt, instead of $20M per on Walker. That's the sign of a management team not afraid to spend big... NOT!

Flurries with no accumulation is the perfect metaphor that is sure to become an extended one.

I'm not so sure. We basically will pay Sandoval $18M for 1 year, is $24M for Castillo really that much more? Yes, the years matter, and now that Sandoval is on the books, getting Castillo is a longshot. Also, let's say we trade Rafaela for Castillo, his AAV is $6M a tear for 7 more years vs Castillo's $2M x 3 (21.6M x 3 tax line) This would cost JH about $18M a year (close to Sandoval's actual pay for one year) for 3 years, then save him $6M for the next 4 years ($24M total.) The total money cost would be $72M for Castillo vs $49M for Castillo, or a cost of $23M total (3 yrs of Castillo.) I'm not advocating this trade, but just presenting a way that might make financial sense to miser (no, the "t" is not missing from "mister.") Henry.

Cam Booser to CWS for a minor league pitcher. This must be to make room for Sandoval, who needs to be on the 40 man until opening day, when he will be placed on the 60 Day IL.

Plus, you can't just add a Houck or Bello without drafting them 5-8 years ago and waiting for them to mature. We need an arm, now.

One of a kind.

This Narvaez kid is supposed to be the real deal on D, including handling the staff. His issue is high Ks and offense, but he does have 20 HR power and a .350 OBP on the farm, so maybe we found a hidden gem. I'd feel better added a good all around catcher. I still think pitching is a greater need. We could use a big RHB, so a trade for Sean Murphy would help solve 2 issues.

I'm expecting neither. If I had to guess, I'd say we might sign Estevez (RP) and trade for a decent catcher, and call it a day. Maybe, tops, we sign Flaherty (no comp pick lost) and add a catcher, somehow.

The Yanks have really gone for older aged 1Bmen, of late. Goldschmidt 37-38 Rizzo 31-35 LeMahieu has played some 1B at ages 34-36.