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I’m not sure Pearce is all about playing for the Sox. He was drafted by them in 2004 and didn’t sign. As he was a junior in college at the time, presumably he figured he could get more money elsewhere. I look at it this way. In signing, factors for him could include money, years (guaranteed and option), playing time or role, geography, and chance at winning. How do you think he ranks those 5 factors (and am I forgetting any) when making a decision? I’m guessing money and years are 1 and 2, and I’m not sure in what order. I could see playing time or role as a big factor. As he’s been a career journeyman, not sure if he cares about geography. Thoughts?

And yet both players are the same age, yet Morales has started 150 games or more every year of his career in which he was not injured or holding out and Pearce never has. Not sure why he would suddenly be viewed as a full time player at age 35 when he wasn’t from ages 24 thru 34...

This operates on the asssumption that any team will give Pearce 150 or so starts, which is a lot for a player who has never started more than 77 times in a season. While he may have some “veteran leadership”, even teams like Baltimore do already have veteran players. I don’t think the Sox have to offer anything unique. Any team offering him a role that involves 150 starts is the team already making the unique offering...

But even you agree he wants to see what is out there for him. I don’t think he’s looking at any sort of life-changing contract, but something as little as a third year at the same or maybe even slightly lower AAV might make him chose elsewhere...

Well, it really depends on what their definition of best offer is. Money is an extremely common way of determining what offer is best, probably the most common. At 35, Pearce might want more years. This is very likely his last contract, after all. But I doubt he places winning above either of those things. He has a ring. And this is his last chance to make money and extend his career. He’d probably love to come back to Boston, but the Sox are going to have to be competitive or else he’s gone...

And free agency didn’t exist for another quarter century. If it did exist, would Ted have left Boston to go play for the perennial champion Yankees? Ugly thought...

True. But this is certainly not common. The Player’s Union didn’t fight for free agency and then sue the owners for collusion multiple times just to take hometown discounts...

Pearce already has a ring and a WS MVP trophy to remind himself how instrumental he was in getting it. Most of the players who take less money to be on a winner are the types who spent the majority of their careers making good money but starting for teams that never won. Andrew McCuthchen, for example, might take a cheaper deal to go play in Atlanta. (That players like McCutchen aren’t going to get the same type of offers they got 5 years ago is also a huge factor.) Pearce might be back, but only if the offer from the Sox is in the same neighborhood as any and all other offers. And he’ll probably say to the press he wants to win again. But if the Sox are not competitive with their offer, he isn’t coming back. And if the Sox want him, I’d expect an offer similar to Mitch Moreland ‘s is about where they price him. The questions left are 1. Do they want him back? And 2), what other offers if any will he get? Let’s face it, WS MVP or not, no team is putting Steve Pearce very high on their wish list. He might not sign anywhere until late January. Also bear in mind, the Sox are the only team that can sign him now. If his agent is any good, he’s already contacted Dombrowski. After all, this is the most marketable Pearce has ever been. It’s possible Dombrowski had no interest, or if he did make an offer, it wasn’t good enough. (Not every offer makes the papers.). If it’s the latter, then Pearce is clearly telling his agent he wants to see what the best offer is. If all Pearce wanted was to come back to Boston no matter what, it could have been done by now...

And yet players leave World Series champions every year. Pearce has a ring, and a MVP award to remind him forever how instrumental he was in getting it. Ted Williams has neither of those things. And while salaries were extremely different in those days, did Ted ever say anything about taking less money to win one? (Of course, it still wouldn’t be the same, since Pearce has one.) Pearce might be back, but the Sox are going to have to be in the same neighborhood as any and all other offers

As former players go, it’s easier to find a worse analyst than ARod than it is to find a better one. Just be thankful FOX didn’t bring back Eric Byrnes...

It’s not a point about counter-offering; that’s always an option. Pearce will have a set list of priorities. He easily could take the most money. At 35, he might want more years. But he isn’t going to come back to Boston just to win or because of his childhood fandom. Those might be tie-breaking factors for two or more similarl offers at best. Now if he does sign in Boston, he is definitely going to say those were the primary factors. But he didn’t hire an agent to help him live out his childhood fantasies. If he did, he would have come to Boston long before now and by his own choice. I’m sure they would have given him a minor league deal if he approached them...

That’s essentially the same offer. If Boston offers 2 years for $15mill and Baltimore offered 3 years $18mill, Pearce is probably an Oriole again. With ballplayers, the safest assumption is money and years matter. Playing time can be a factor for a lot of players, too. We’ve all seen the occasional player sign for family reasons. But joining a winning team never seems to be the priority we think it is as fans. If being on a winning team was the big factor fans think it is, why did those San Francisco teams in the early 2010’s that were winning every other year struggle to get free agents? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a player sign with a bad team only to say he “liked their chances to win.” I’m at home thinking “he likes having nearly no chance?” But then a lot of players probably think that they are a huge factor in making this a winning team...

Not really the same. If the other options are worse, that means all other evaluations were poor for all other options, but they were done on some level...

Alot of pitchers start looking better when you don’t count their bad outings...

Gomes got $12millfor for 2years 5 years ago...

Well earlier this month Nick suggested trading Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, Devers, ERod, and anyone else of value . So cut him some slack. This is his reeled-in version...

That’s going to be the sales pitch, and it’s going to end with something like “and all of that can be yours for only $14 million over the next two years.” And if the Sox can ft him in the budget, done deal. But he isn’t going to give the Sox a cheap hometown discount. He didn’t hire an agent to get him less money than he deserves...

Of course Pearce is going to take what he can get. That’s the exact reason he hired an agent in the first place. This is his job. More people make decisions about where they work for money than for any other reason. And as ballplayers go, Pearce has been a relative pauper in a clubhouse full of financial princes. I’d be very surprised if money (and/or years) wasn’t his biggest factor in making a decision...

But that hasn’t happened yet. While the early rumors are it’s going to take $60mill to sign Eovaldi for 4 years, last year it was supposed to take $200mill over 6 years to sign JD Martinez. I do really doubt GMs put as much stock in the small sizes as you say. World Series MVPsinclude the Steve Pearce’s and Luis Sojo’s and David Freese’s of the world always seem to get paid the same as their non-WS MVP equivalents...

PLenty of teams have reasons to sign him, including the Yankees, where 1B isn't really locked up by anyone. Do you really think Greg "Wounded" Bird and Luke "Empty" Voit are the answer?

I hear there paying him in mofongo... and wasakaka con queso frito... and

Actually Babe Ruth spent mot of his career as a thin athlete. Most of the pictures and footage of him you see if from the latter part of his career. It also doesn’t help that actors like John Goodman are cast to portray him...

The “bridge year” quote was way too often misinterpreted. Fans screamed like Epstein was taking a year off from the MLB club to wait on the development of the minor leaguers, despite that very off-season Epstein signed John Lackey to the biggest contract the organization ever gave to a pitcher. Epstein was referring to a change in their approach to minor league drafting, going from lower ceiling/ higher success rate college players to higher ceiling high school players, and went on to discuss the long term impact on the farm. I believe this was the offseason of drafting Jason Place, a high ceiling high schooler who flopped...

Exactly, yet everyone likes to dump bad moves on the guy and blame him for meddling in baseball operations like a Scooby Doo villain. I’m fairly certain most people have mischaraterized the guy...

So you liked Moncada’s contact rate? Out of the other three, Dalbec does seem like the most likely to stick at 3b, which does count for something...