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Probably worth pointing out my picks so far: Charlie Morton - Mets. Whoops. Mike Minor - Padres. Double whoops Drew Smyly - Overseas. And sadly, I was confident in this one. So yeah, my prognostication abilities might be a bit overrated, regardless of how low you rate them...

In the MLBTR Free Agent Contest, I had him signing with the Mets. No money need be disclosed, but somewhere around 2 to 3 kajillion dollars felt about right...

OK. But who will be the interested spenders? So far, a lot of teams seem to be more interested in jettisoning big contracts. I would keep the Sox as candidates solely because they really need to spend after the PR nightmare that was 2020. The Mets are in the same boat as well. But who else? Yankees? Dodgers? Angels? Phillies?

They could defintely get 2 arms for that price, but will those two arms even combine for 6 fWAR?

Arenado would be an incredibly bad idea. His career OPS at Coors is .985 while his career road OPS is .793. Now, plenty of players have home/road splits that favor their home park even when they don't play in a notorious lauching pad. But 200 points? Take him our of Coors and that home OPS in Fenway probably drops closer to (let's assume) .850, which would make him a roughly .825 OPS player. This makes his offensive output roughly equal to Devers (.830 OPS since 2016). Granted, Arenado has 8 Gold Gloves in 8 seasons. But is the defensive upgrade really worth $200 million over the next 6 seasons? Devers himself might not be looking at a contract that expensive. Avoid Arenado like the plague....

There are clear pros and cons to Morton, who has managed to hold a late career surge since he signed with Houston. On the plus side, he was a 6 fWAR pitcher as recently as 2019 and he is battle-tested in the post-season. On the downside, he is 37 years old. I don't think a heavy salary for a single season is all that outrageous for him. But the key being that it is for one season.

Is it spring training already?

Five man bench tops Plawecki owns one spot. Arroyo/Munoz has a second. Chavis has a third. An outfielder? Preferably that can play CF. That leaves the other from the Munoz/Arroyo pair if they sign/trade for a 2b...

Brewer could be DFAd and no one except maybe a few close relatives would notice...

Hey Bauer’s gotta sign somewhere ...

So fake. Get in touch with the spirit world like a man https://riordan.fandom.com/wiki/Magic_8_Ball

Yes. Like in the movie “Big”! So you’re saying the Mystery Teams wishes...

I know Arroyo had a minor hot streak last season, but I think the Sox should/will consider upgrading the slot and keeping Arroyo (and Munoz) on the team as depth, especially since both have experience at multiple positions. There are several available 2b options available in free agency who would be upgrades that don’t break the budget, including Hernandez, Villar and Schoop. And there may be others once the non-tenders become available...

I only heard Benintendi's name in that capacity...

I assumed they just had their friends pass notes at recess ..

Or a train reference...

I am not so sure Betts was the difference make in Boston that he was in LA. If the Dodgers' team leaders in IP last season were Martin Perez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Ryan Weber instead of Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May and Julio Urias, do you think they still win a title?

Wow. Then they are very close to a deal. I've never heard of a free agent contract falling apart once the negotiations went telepathic...

I did not know Devers came up in that deal, but I heard Benintendi did in place of Moncada. So if Devers was in the White Sox asking price, do we know if he was in place of Moncada or Kopech, or in addition to them?

Oh I think it is possible neither of them sees MLB this year. But even with their low ceilings, both still have more potential than the fungible pitching crowd the Sox used last season...

Yes, but he would still remain on the 40 man roster. The issue until ST is 40 man roster spots, not 26 man roster spots...

We really don't know what if any limitations Henry has put on the budget. but we do know he does on occasion allow it to get very high. And exactly how good was the foundation of the 2012 Red Sox? They had Pedroia, Ellsbury and Ortiz in the lineup, and Lester in the rotation. (And Lackey coming off TJ.) The starters expected back included Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia. Thay had vacancies at 1B, SS, LF, and RF. The rotation lost Beckett and Aaron Cook. (Yes, Aaron Cook). And the best reliever was Junichi Tazawa, although Andrew Miller was pretty good, too. But this was not a team that looked one season away after the Gonzalez/Beckett trade.. The Sox did have Bogaerts, but the only other rookies of note that year were Iglesias, Workman and Bradley (although this was long before JBJ learned how to hit). The 2020 Red Sox arguably had a better lineup than the one that ended the 2012 season. And while Lester/Lackey was a formidable pair in front of the rotation, ERod/Sale can be one as well. This team definitely needs more pitching, but will also have fewer holes to fuill in the lineup, possibly just 2B and CF, and might be able to do so amidst a stretch where many MLB teams are not spending. THere is no reason to write off 2021 just yet. At least not until we see what Bloom actually does....

While it is only speculation, DD's history certainly does indicate it was strongly possible. While we do know he did not trade Devers, what we don't know is if he tried to. I would not be surprised if Devers name came up a few times...

I'm not as down on Chatham and Aybar as you seem to be. Chatham might not have a high ceiling, but he at least has some MLB potetnial and all his options left. Aybar is young and relatively new to pitching and deserves more of a shot than a lot of the fungible crowd that the Sox used this season, many of whom have had multiple opportunities already. Wilson does strike me as a guy with a 4th outfielder ceiling, and likely not even to reach that. Arauz is a bit redundant, but at least has the "very young" qualification that should buy him some time. Not sure why the Phillies were so down on Grullion, especially with Realmuto in his last season and their fairly barren organizational catching depth. Grullion might be nothing special, but he still might have been the second best catcher in the entire system above A ball (behind Realmuto)...

The Blue Jays and George Springer are reportedly "beyond talking" about a deal. No one seems to have any idea what this means. Foreplay, maybe? Are they under his jersey?