Jack Flap

I'm sure it will continue to exist in some form, but if they're smart, the players will fight tooth and nail to get the associated penalties reduced. Neither they nor the fans are served by the current system, where even the biggest-market teams are essentially sitting out every third offseason in order to stay under the line and reset.

Well, I'm not even confident that Jake Odorizzi will continue to pitch like this year's Jake Odorizzi, which is probably why he accepted the qualifying offer. Another point of reference is that Kluber will be paid $4.5 million less next year than Rick Porcello's AAV on his just-concluded Red Sox contract.

I suspect Price has a bit more trade value than that, given this market. Paying down about a third of his money (to ~$20 million per year) feels like the sweet spot. The simulator also had the Kluber swap as a positive for Cleveland, so take that as you will.

Interesting that none of the teams reportedly interested in Price landed Bumgarner or Kluber. Lots of clubs out there still looking for pitching...maybe we'll see some movement on this soon. I'm not really expecting anything other than a salary dump here...anything interesting coming in return will just be a pleasant surprise.

I don't know what his medicals look like, but man, even if he only returns to being a mid-rotation starter, that's a steal for Texas.

Same, FWIW.

The consistent innings and durability, the Cy Young year, and the championship he helped win were easily worth his contract, IMO. Thank you and best of luck, Rick. Hope you bounce back nicely with the Mets and earn another nice payday next winter.

It's been reported that the Red Hose and White Hose have indeed discussed Price, but the thing about Price and Beni for Madrigal and Vaughn appears to have come from Gammons alone (and been met with near-universal derision). I'd drive all parties involved to/from Chicago and Boston if that was real (and turn around and sign someone like Dickerson to play LF), but unless other pieces are involved on our part, I don't buy it.

I'd like to believe that Bloom & Co. have identified something in Perez and Peraza that they can fix to unlock a little bit of unfulfilled potential...because if they perform like they did last year, you might as well have thrown $9 million in the trash. (God, I'm turning into one of those people I always made fun of back on BDC, who complained about every move big and small, aren't I?) Oh well. Gotta wait to see what the finished product looks like in Feb/March. In Bloom we trust...what else can we do, right? With the Red Sox suddenly looking free to spend a little money, I wonder if a Price deal is imminent.

I called Theo...he says this is a bridge year.

Gerrit who?

Yeah, I can't imagine that's legitimate.

David Price move may make sense for Red Sox WWW.MLB.COM SAN DIEGO -- In the weeks leading up to the Winter Meetings, much of the talk surrounding the Red Sox involved the possibility of trading Mookie Betts. As the meetings get set to conclude on Thursday, it appears that a different Boston star might be the one on his way Per Mark Feinsand: -The Red Sox have discussed Price with at least 5 teams (Padres, Cardinals, White Sox, Reds, Angels); -His market looks more favorable in light of what Strasburg, Cole received; -No consideration in the Sox FO to attaching a young player with value (such as Benintendi) in a Price trade; -Taking on the contracts of Wil Myers from the Padres or Matt Carpenter from the Cardinals are possibilities; -All Red Sox pitchers have drawn interest, but Sale and Eovaldi appear less likely to move than Price.

I'm not sure how reliable a source Gammons is these days, and I've not been able to find a link to what precisely he said...but apparently it was something about Price and Benintendi to Chicago for Nick Madrigal and Andrew Vaughn. Many grains of salt on that one. (Everyone's favorite trade simulator has that as +90.4 value for Boston and -24.1 for Chicago...lol.)

Including the years 2001-2008 (zero titles) as part of a "dynasty" is...generous, to say the least.

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman Rick Porcello has a 3-year offer but inclination seems to be to fo a 1-year deal and reset. Very dependable pitcher. Has qualified for 11 straight era titles (162 plus innings) My crystal ball says Big D Ricky P ain't walking back through that door.

Committing 9 years to any pitcher is ludicrous...may it blow up in their faces for a long time to come. On the other hand, if Cole got this much, Mookie's asking price is probably going to be pushing $400 million, if it wasn't already...

Contrary to my hopes that the Red Sox would see the light and forget this business of saving tax dollars over fielding the best team possible (despite having a roster that's still built to win now, including a generational player in his last year of control), it sounds like the "not-mandate" remains in full swing: “Nothing has changed with regard to that,” Bloom said. “Everything is still as it was laid out early in the offseason. It’s still a goal. And I think certainly a realistic goal, though obviously we’re not there right now. And there’s a lot of different potential paths you could line up to get us there. But that kind of ties into overall with the offseason there’s a lot of different things that could potentially happen. But it’s still a goal." https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2019/12/boston-red-sox-slashing-payroll-under-208m-still-is-a-goal-and-a-realistic-goal-meaning-multiple-trades-are-likely.html If they persist on this path, I do think trading Bradley and a subsidized Price (and replacing them on the cheap) is the easiest way to get there.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28231144/mookie-betts-reds-white-sox-more-winter-meetings-trades-want-see As with every other Mookie trade idea before it, this is pretty underwhelming stuff. The Reds proposal doesn't completely suck, I guess, but the White Sox one looks pretty light...Basabe doesn't seem like nearly a good enough prospect to be a central piece in a deal like that.

This is why GMs should get their strategy advice from the Dark Lord Sauron.

It's not my intention to pooh-pooh it, just for the record...I do think it helps to add a ground level of realism to the trade proposal game, for all the reasons you mentioned. And the "we can get anything for one really good player and table scraps that fill holes" sort of trade is exactly what I hope we avoid if we get to the point of trading Mookie (something I still can't really see happening regardless)...

I wonder how that simulator would have looked upon our 2012 trade with the Dodgers (where we shed an incredible amount of salary AND got two decent prospects in De La Rosa and Webster) or Theo's infamous Torres+ for Chapman swap. It's a fun and useful tool, but obviously these things happen due to a lot of real-world considerations that the tool can't take into account (including whether the teams involved even want/need the players in question, and how much). That said, something like Betts and Chavis/Dalbec to the Dodgers for Verdugo, Gray, and Downs could be tempting. There's my useless trade proposal for the day. (That's a "moderate overpay" according to the system, but I feel like if you can't get a moderate overpay for a player of Mookie's caliber, you might as well not bother.)

No, I get it, and I'd feel the same way if I was a fan of the team on the other side of the table. But I acknowledged that I'm not being strictly rational about this. My preference is not to trade Mookie at all, but if they do decide to explore the idea, they should be asking for the moon (at least initially). The worst that can happen is that you can't make a deal and he ends up back in RF at Fenway for a big contract year...I'm fine with taking my chances with that.

When the Yankees sign Cole, I will keep my spirits up by reminding myself that we potentially saved a few hundred thousand $ on Marco and Osich.

That would be an acceptable defense. Do we have anyone here too young to remember 2004? My daughter (now 7) has idolized Mookie since toddlerhood, so I can definitely relate to this. Don't be silly, though...your son will see even more Red Sox championships than his old man.