notin

Except that it will never be the case. The Sox have a reputation for spending especially among agents, and the price for him will never come down. Last week on MLB Network radio, a caller asked Steve Phillips if the Mike Moustakas signs a 3 yr / $39mill deal, does that mean the Angels overreacted and signed Zack Cozart too quickly. Phillips quickly told him that if Moustakas price fell that low, it would be because the Angels pulled out of the market, and as long as the Angels were in the market, they would not have been able to get Moustakas for that price. That's how I see it with Martinez. That the Sox haven't dropped out keeps the price up. Right now, that $30mill/season price appears to be for Boston and Boston alone. He may eventually sign for less, but not very likely here. And frankly, if he is threatening to hold out, pass on him. Right now the threat is "hold out into Spring Training." That's 4 weeks away. If he isn't signed by then, how long will he hold out? Into the season? While it was a little different with players like Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales, they did show that a prolonged holdout actually does seem to turn into a lost season for a player. And a lost $30mill season for a 31yo player who wants to be signed into his late 30's is a financial sinkhole for this team. How many good seasons does JD have left? And he appears to be prepared to give one of them away because he feels a contract that will guarantee to put food on the table for his great great great grandchildren simply isn't good enough...

It doesn't look like anyone is upping their offer to JD, which is why he is threatening to hold out through spring training. I say move on to Morrison. And pass along to the King Kong of Slug best wishes in getting the deal he thinks he deserves. No one is going to give him $30mill with Harper in play next off-season...

I think WAR actually proves your point about Bradley. Easily worth it. I think the contracts that have gone to middle relief/set up guys like Juan Nicasio prove Kelly is worth the deal he got, too...

Ted Williams would be 99 years old. I would hope Devers had better wheels...

Donaldson was never an option for anyone but Toronto. Other teams were asking, and yet he stayed a Blue Jay.

The data driven executives are more proof of the point that the way the game is evaluated is rapidly changing. 15 years ago, using OBP instead of batting average was a shocking turn of events. Since then we have gone through WARP, Win Shares, WAR, and other statistical methods and dozens of new stats. Anything from xFIP to wOBA. How has the game itself changed in the past 15 years? Fewer IP from starters? More specialization players? Anythng else significant?

To be fair, Gerald Green is like 6'8". Sneaking anywhere is not his forte. I could see getting LoMo through. He doesn't stand out nearly as much as Green...

If he has, then it's even easier. ..

I take Morrison there. I hope Dombrowski makes him an offer today and if he signs, withdraw the offer to Martinez.

Moreland signed basically the same contract as Chris Young and Johnny Gomes, neither of whom were brought in to start. Moustakas is being terribly ignored. Ditto Lucroy. And also Logan Morrison, whose late 2016 makes his 2017 look more legitimate. And even when he was not much of a hitter, he always seems to have hit well at Fenway...

Belt was not a free agent and signed a deal for less than he would have had he gone through free agency, just like Pedroia did.

Really? I know you know better than that. Just admit you underestimated the guy and move on. Pedroia is very, very far from being a problem contract for a team that is still paying Pablo Sandoval, Rusney Castillo, and Allen Craig....

And I said the market didn't go up over $10mill per year in 5 months. If Pedroia went to free agency that off-season, he easily would have gotten $18-20mill per year. He signed for $13.75mill. That puts him below market value...

In the three seasons before signing with Seattle, Cano was worth 18.5 fWAR. In the same 3 seasons, Pedroia was worth 17.5 fWAR. How are they not comparable?

More like Marshall's. ..

Cano's contract came 5 months after. And his AAV was nearly double and for more years. Are you saying the market changed that much in five months?

An honor he held for less than 5 months...

Silly me. And here I thought Tampa left him unprotected because he put up a .680 OPS in low A-ball as a 25yo. Apparently it was because he went through drug rehab 5 years earlier. I take it this means you won't be answering my other questions. ..

His OPS dropped 140 points in one year when he was moved to a more physically demanding position at age 32. Certainly keeping him at first could have slowed down his decline. But for some reason the Sox wanted a big name at first. And in order to get one, they hastened the end off one all star first baseman, traded away another, and walked away from a future Hall of Famer. All to accommodate a guy who didn't live up top his hype, didn't like Boston, and eventually became part of the biggest salary dump in team history. But on the bright side, we did eventually get a few innings of Carson Smith from this fiasco in the long run. ..

I think this off-season could linger into the post-season..

I would like to know why Groome's dad going away is a "red flag" and why he needs to be devalued as a prospect because of this. If Gleyber Torres' dad gets arrested tomorrow, will you suddenly decide he is a lesser prospect? Groome is like any other prospect. If he can pitch/play, that will be all that matters. Also if you think all those other players established themselves before drug problems became an issue (despite that it actually made no difference, and certainly a lot less than what they did after their problems), you forgot about Josh Hamilton, who went to his first drug rehab while still in A ball...

Or kept Youkilis at first where he belonged

That can be cured with a few (line) shots...

Maybe it's not so much an incentive for bidders as it is a preference from Martinez himself...

Not to mention not getting Sandoval and possibly even keeping Rizzo...