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To date, 19 players in MLB have been signed to contracts valued at $200million or more. Of these 19, 7 of them started in 2019 or will start in 2020 (Trout, Harper, Machado, Cole, Rendon, Arenado, Strasburg). So much for market correction, huh? To date, only one player (Alex Rodriguez on his second deal) has completed a $200+ mill contract with his signing team. Of the other 11, 6 of them have been traded mid-contract: ARod - signed with Texas, traded to Yankees Fielder - signed with Detroit, traded to Texas Stanton - signed with Florida/Miami, traded to NY Yankees Greinke - signed with Arizona, traded to Houston Cano - signed with Seattle, traded to NY Mets Price - signed with Boston, traded to LA Dodgers. So that means 12 players are still playing out a $200mill contract with their signing team (the 7 above, plus Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw did opt out of his original 7 year $215mill deal, but signed a 3 year $93mill deal with the same team.) If history is any indication, at least 6 and possibly 7 of these 12 players will be dealt before their deals expire. And one of them won't be Pujols, who has an NTC and a contract clause that he makes $100 million if he never wears another uniform within 10 years after his contract expires, which basically means the Angels are paying him to wear an Angels cap in his Cooperstown induction. (Although I thought Cooperstown chose the cap? Either way, Pujols is not likely to risk $100 mil by being traded.) Miguel Cabrera is also pretty unlikely to be traded, as he is a complete shell of his former self. But you never know if he might be included merely as a salary dump. So of the remaining 11 (Trout, Harper, Machado, Cole, Rendon, Arenado, Strasburg, Cabrera, Votto, Kershaw, Scherzer), which 6-7 are the most likely to be traded? Arenado certainly feels like the most obvious, as Colorado has reportedly already explored potential trades. Besides Pujols and Cabrera, Scherzer and Kershaw are also among the least likely, if only because their contracts expire after 2021 and therefore have the least amount of time to be traded. I think Machado is a lock to be traded at some point as well, if only because he will be more movable than any other big contract in small market San Diego. To date, no $200mill contract has been traded for another $200mill contract,which would be cool. But if 6 get traded, that does mean Trout is a likely trade candidate at some point. ..

I don’t think resigning him is a pipe dream. But it is far from a given. But when you look at the Sox payroll next season, if JD opts out as expected, they will have about $101mill committed in contracts plus a bunch of arbitration cases. Since we know they can go as high as $240mill, what large market team is better positioned to sign him?

I don’t think it’s a horrible trade, but I can see unloading Eovaldi instead. I guess Bloom figures 34yo Price won’t be as effective as 30yo Eovaldi over the next 3 years...

Graterol doesn’t seem likely to head to the rotation. Unless it’s as an opener. He’s never pitched more than 60.2 IP in a season at any level...

Of course, the Red Sox were the one team that had no shot at that. Considering the rival bidding team that was being played against the Dodgers was trying to foist Wil Myers’ contract on the Sox, I’d say Bloom did a good job upgrading this deal...

Averaged 98.9mph last year for the Twins. But he did not start any games. He has also never thrown more than 60 IP in a season at any level. Thinking the Sox might need another SP...

So far it's Price and Mookie and $48mill for Verdugo and Graterol.

They will have to pay a lot. And they just took on a big chunk of another mega contract in Price. Plus Cody Bellinger is a year away from arbitration. Oh, and the Dodgers rarely give out those big contracts. Mookie will see free agency. It's what Mookie wants...

Brusdar Graterol, the name Bellhorn described "sounds most like a kitchen appliance sold on QVC" or something to that effect. And he is a big deal.

Not to mention the number of players who were struggling or mediocre with other teams but became offensive stars with the Yankees. Names like Urshela, Voit, Hicks, Tauchman (C'mon. his OPS was .400 points higher than in Colorado!), Grigorius, and Maybin. And really, Aaron Judge is much better at hitting MLB pitching than in AA and AAA? That doesn't raise a question? This is just a little too suspicious.

Did Price unpack?

Oh there is no doubt in my mind the Yankees are stealing signs. THeyve been reprimanded once already for misuse of communication equipment. And just about every player they bring in who was struggling elsewhere suddenly finds his groove in NY? Only two possibilities 1. Cashman has the Midas touch or Midas touches for GMs. Or 2. He doesn't and something else is happening.

I don’t even know what that means...

Yes, but I didn't know that...

Or maybe he did, and that would explain the whole hemlock episode. "So, Soc, you're saying the deal is done based on some speculative tweets from fourth party sources? Well, then, I propose a toast."

No. But if you know that you know nothing, then it is something...

Socrates speculated about Red Sox trades?

That feels paradoxical...

That wasn’t an accident. But I think the misreading of a couple tweets put that motion...

And yet he wants and will get his current net worth every year for the next decade...

You never know. I have no idea what type of person Mookie is when he’s not talking to the press. But I do know he wants a lot of money. I don’t fault him for that; I want a lot of money, too. And of I was in his shoes, I’d want to test the market, too. But it’s not unheard of for money to hurt a player’s competitive instinct. After all, when you’ve been playing your whole life to get it, what happens after you have it?

Beating the Yankees...

But then if Betts has $350 million in the bank by age 35, his incentive to stay excellent through age 40 might not be the same...

And he says "mentioned in the talks." That means nothing. I'm sure Lux and May were also mentioned in the talks, but with a context of "Lux and May are untouchable. Got it?"

Maybe they are not punting 2020. Bloom has built teams that do well after dealing away veterans before. He made the post-season without Chris Archer, for example...