notin

He was barely my radar. Andrew Bailey clearly knew him so I’m not too surprised Boston walked. His xFIP over the last couple seasons was pretty nice, though…

And for some reason, all those Atlanta stars sign dirt cheap extensions. Even the ones they acquire via trade. What is so exciting about Atlanta that players are willing to give up huge chunks of cash to play there? Is there some sort of Waffle House addiction problem rampant in MLB?

Houston is really the franchise to mimic. They’re like the Dodgers, but with rings. Of course the Astros are stronger adherents to the Rays Way than they are to the Dodgers way…

The thing is, the Dodgers are not all about free agency. They absolutely play in that market. But they have a great farm and player development system. And they do a great job dumpster-diving and grabbing utility infielders on other teams that they then turn into All Stars, including Justin Turner, Kike Hernandez, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor. They make moves that Sox fans would hate - repeatedly bringing back Jason Heyward (the de facto replacement for Seager now). They pick and choose free agent moments; prior to signing Ohtani and Yamamoto this year, they’ve taken the last year or two off from big contracts while losing Seager, Turner and Scherzer etc.

They replaced Corey Seager with Miguel Rojas. They replaced Cody Bellinger with James Outman. They replaced Kenley Jansen with Ethan Phillips. You’ve missed all the things this team has been doing right and focused solely on their spending and then glorified them for it…

But when I vote the recent success of the Rays, I’m always Always ALWAYS told (including by you) “but no titles.” So apparently titles are all that matter, at least when it helps your argument. Because the Dodgers aren’t stacking up titles either. They have one, but it was against the Rays, and since the Rays Way didn’t work, that title shouldn’t really count. So really, the Dodgers aren’t that much more successful than the Rays, except when it comes to spending money. They excel there. Yet everyone wants to be the next Dodgers and no one wants to be the next Rays. And then people tell me free agency isn’t about PR. Really? Fine, don’t think of it as public relations. Think of it as Starf***er Foreplay…

I wouldn’t cater of it worked, but they haven’t made it work yet…

And against the Rays, whose entire plan (I’m told repeatedly) is incapable of winning. So it really shouldn’t count…

If the criticism of the Rays Way is no titles (which I’m constantly reminded of), what’s the benefit of the Dodger Way? Is it because they market them with the slogan “Come see overpriced stars choke in October”?

I do try to keep the two entire separate although that’s probably not always the right move. Possibly not ever…

Sox are reportedly interested in RHRP Codi Heuer. If the team plans on employing an opener strategy in 2024, hopefully Cora is smart enough to use an actual good relief pitcher like Heuer and not try it with some AAAA refuse pile fugitive like Joe Jacques or Zack Weiss…

Is the FO doing the penny pinching? This is starting to feel like ownership…

That’s a weak criticism. The Dodgers have won one title since 1988, and yet somehow that means their entire approach is justified!? And that one win was against the title-free Rays! I mean, if the way the Rays do things is considered a failure because they have no titles, why is the Dodgers Way the right way despite winning only one title in the past 36 years, and that one title coming against the “can’t win” Rays!?

You do realize there’s a difference between tanking and operating on a small market budget, right? Not every team that doesn’t spend is tanking…

I’ve been saying all along that’s the one aspect they’ve been ignoring…

Also Pete Fairbanks…

All of them signed extensions. Many were dealt towards the ends of those extensions…

That’s a good point. If the Sox are going to try to be Tampa that build from within, a big part of that is the ridiculously early contract extension. The beauty of that incentive-laden contract Cole Keith got is, even if he flops, his $4.7mill AAV isn’t exactly a boat anchor and actually lines up pretty well with utility infielder money. If the Sox want some positive press with their fans, extend as many of Bello, Casas, Mayer, Anthony and Teel as you can…

1. Are you of all forum posters acknowledging positive things about the team? 2. Obviously they’d be in the subjunctive as the we’re trying to push the discussion towards the future…

You can argue all you want about how it matters. But what I said wasn’t my plan; it was my observation. I’m not arguing about it being ethical, smart or a good business practice. I’m just saying that’s what it looks like he is doing…

Henry has cut payroll multiple times. There’s been a spend/cut/reset cycle going on with the Sox so long that it gets easily equated with shampoo bottle instructions. I’m not sure “media shitshorms” bother Henry. The Ivory Tower is somewhat impenetrable. And I doubt he views simply not spending as trying to “cheat the system”; it’s not like he’s acting like Cincinnati or Pittsburgh ownership and screaming for revenue-sharing checks as the main source of income. I also doubt other aspects of FSG rule how money gets spent in Boston. They probably have some investment in that portfolio struggling at any given time, and the notion that if any Henry investment anywhere in the world struggles, the Sox spending suffers looks like crying victim. As the team stands now, the payroll (currently 10th in MLB per sportrac) isn’t dropping nearly as fast as the payroll ranking is dropping. Henry is still spending in the area of what he’s always spent (except for 2016-2019), but the league around him is spending more…

Exactly, and now we’re not. Remember Miami in the 1997 World Series? Spend heavily, win, and then sell off all the pieces. (John Henry want part of that as Wayne Huzienga still owner the Marlins.). I think Henry liked that model for a while, even going so far as to bring in the former Marlins’ GM that made it all happen…

He’d have been a reasonable depth option for Boston. Maybe even a back end starter that pushed Houck to the bullpen…

Having doubts. Henry has always wanted to run the team with economic efficiency. His first move was to try to lure Billy Beane out of Oakland. Beane wasn’t noted so much for actually winning titles as he was for being competitive on a shoestring budget. I think Henry has always wanted to run the team as being competitive on a budget…

I get they simply didn’t go crazy because of Casas. They did still kind of ignore things. There are stories about how they passed on Carlos Santana, for example. To me, these stories might involve getting too worked up over missing out on a .692 OPS…