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Even the "opener" strategy requires SP. Just that they throw 3-5 innings starting at the 2nd or 3rd inning. The idea is that since the closer is the best (or one of the better) relievers, when you use him as an opener, you always get to face the best hitters in the opposing lineup, rather than waiting to see who is due up in the 9th. No baseball strategy seems dumber to me than holding the best relief pitch for the 9th only to see the 7-8-9 hitters come up...

Even ERA depends on the defensive abilities of the players behind you. They make more plays, you get a lower ERA. Does that mean you were a better pitcher? ERA can also depend on the bullpen. Have a guy capable of stranding his inherited runners come in after you, you get a lower ERA. Does having a better bullpen make a pitcher better than someone who does not have one?

I know nothng about this guy, so if the Sox don't get him I really don't care. Really after Bauer there is not much. I say strengthen that bullpen! Sign Brad Hand. Sign Archie Bradley. and get another reliever like Brad Peacock, Brandon workman or Ryne Stanek. Make the bullpen the strength of the staff. Get a starter via trade. There are a few uninspiring salary dumps available who might be able to hold down the fort for 5 innings before getting into the bullpen. (And yeah, being back Porcello.) And maybe get Matt Boyd. Live arm, getting too pricey for Detroit. And they need bats more than arms...

Old School thinking also gave Bartolo Colon the Cy Young over Johan Santana in 2005 because Colon had more wins but pitched worse based on every other stat. Basically he got the award for being on a better team...

The Yankees signed Socrates Brito to a minor league deal. My only real connection with Brito is a few years back in a 10-team NL-Only Fantasy League, Socrates was briefly part of my Ancient Greeks Squad, along with Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminiero and Homer Bailey...

And I think that is a fair statement, although I bet he winds up a bigger bargain than even that...

I bet he has never played shuffleboard, which actually does look like less fun than negotiating to me..

If he thinks contract negotiations are "fun", then he will be absolutely dazzled by shuffleboard...

So then it is a bit moot for the Sox to have offered one. Which for all we know, they might have...

Boras is pushing 70 and is worth millions. He might even retire any day now...

Good for her...

You're going off on this deferred money angle like it's a new discovery and teams have not been doing it for decades. The sport makes a big deal out of Bobby Bonilla Day every year when he still cashes a check, but ignores how much money that deal apparently saved the Mets and the flexibility it gave them. This is an old strategy and been used probably hundreds of time. So it is possible the Sox made such an offer and Betts still declined. Or it is possible Dombrowski is a moron and never thought to do so. (But I highly doubt the latter. I'm sure DD has done deferred money deals before, or at the very least prepared them.)

As I have said before The biggest deal to date this off-season has gone to James McCann. The largest AAV to date has gone to Charlie Morton. These are not the names that should be in either sentence. In fact, I am struggling to believe they are correct myself. That can't still be right in January...

Which means jacko has undoubtedly found some equivalent or better improvements on the Baltimore roster to keep them ahead of Boston. I am aquiver in anticipation to hear about them...

I also think as presently constituted, it is still December, a month in which no games are played. If I check the standings, the Sox have the same record as the Yankees at 0-0, you know, as presently constituted...

OK, but did it end there? "Mookie, how is $300 million?" "Not convinced." "OK. I tried."

Whether or not it make more sense depends upon your pre-determined narrative. I would argue the offer to Eovaldi never made sense under any circumstances. And now we have the argument that maybe the Sox needed to make an offer with deferred money to lower the AAV on the table, a proposal as far as any of us know was never made, but maybe should have been. I am also not as flat out convinced as you are that Henry simply said "No. Too much. Move on."

I think there is a difference between not extending a 33yo Pedro Martinez vs a 26yo Betts. Not to mention, Epstein liked to take advantage of draft pick compensation rules back then for his Type A free agents, particularity the rules that allowed you to gain 2 picks for losing a Type A but only lose one pick for signing another one. It allowed him to rebuild the farm system while staying competitive. None of that was in play with Betts. The problem is, the contract Betts was seeking and eventually received was not exactly out of line for his market. He was one of the best players in the game, and other lesser players are making close to what he makes. Gerrit Cole? Bryce Harper? This was getting to be the cost of doing business. Betts' deal with LA was more in line with the value of recent deals than the one the Sox gave Manny Ramirez 20 years earlier. And one that Henry paid despite it being one to set market value rather than follow it. And, do you really think committing over $200 million to Eovaldi and Sale (and over $42mill AAV) had no impact on whether or not the team had budget room for Betts?

Today? Sure. They have only 4 starting pitchers we can name and a bullpen that needs serous help. But then being a sub-.500 team in December is pretty meaningless...

I'm thinking not. I think they dumped DD because he went all in to try and continue the success of 2018, and it did not work and left the team in a very questionable position...

And you seem to think Henry - who has an equally impressive track record for paying huge bills racked up by various GMs - suddenly decided enough was enough - but NOT do to any other deals already made. And NOT due to the existing budget. But rather, just because. There was a time when Manny Ramirez’ deal looked rather ominous, too. Second largest deal in MLB history at the time. Did Henry balk them?

Not really. That’s just press talk. We all know when asked why he didn’t try to tip the Padres’ offer for Snell, the real answer is “because we couldn’t. Not with this farm!” It had nothing to do with future plans. Chaim Bloom (and Erick Neander) both know not only is there no guarantee Patino even approaches Snell in terms of ability, but with prospect attrition rates being what they are, there’s no guarantee any of the others even see Day One in Tampa. But publicly admitting the farm sucks - even though everyone knows it - is counterproductive for Bloom...

Also with non-elite talents, which lead to the situation I’m talking about...

Then Dombrowski needed to offer it rather than spending more money and a higher AAV on a couple of sore-armed pitchers...

Whether he was coming back or not, it’s not unreasonable to think a looming pandemic that had already cancelled multiple sports season was not a factor in Betts’ decision to sign that extension ...