Hugh2

Is Eddie, BOH, and Cora the reason for said results? Those guys were here for 2018, and Romero for mulitple championships. From what I can tell those guys aren't the problem, I'd concede on letting Cora go for the right GM/CBO but I'd rather higher Romero to be the GM/CBO before I'd ever let him go for someone else. Big league decisions have hurt this club, that does not necessarily mean those guys are responsible for that. Bloom is the one with the biggest stamp on this team right now. Would be a nice slap in the face to Henry though if no one wanted to work for him. I'd love to grab Henry by the shoulders, hysterically slapping him back and forth and saying "if you have to keep hiring new guys, and said guys never do the job you want, maybe the problem is you"

Someone like Mayer should never even be thought of for trading for 1 year of a guy, not unless you have ten Mayers.

A 2-3 year deal works too, also not opposed to staying right under the luxury tax and blowing past it next year. Next year has some good pitchers too. I still want at least 1 elite arm this year.

OMG I can't believe I missed that. Well in the spirit of my now completely obsolete counterpoint to MVP, I actually really like that. I like a Morton signing that is on TOP of a Yama/Burnes rotation.

Fair BUT, I expect someone younger than 40 years old to signed to be a starting pitcher on a team that desperately needs talented starting pitching. Morton is good, but at his age, it's highly probable we are just signing Kluber 2.0 It's funny how we always talk about not wanting to sign HIGH END, ELITE pitching talent because the back end of those deals may get ugly, then we turn around and talk about not signing the best pitchers in lieu of signing aging veterans to short term deal and ONLY paying for their aging seasons. I Know it's not apples to oranges, but that's the EXACT kind of move I do not want to see. Honeslty Kluber was one of Blooms biggest blunders, and I don't think in a vacuum that move alone was a bad move, what was bad was not constructing a starting pitching staff as a whole and expecting Kluber to be your big signing. In the same spirit, if the Sox had a more stable and talented starting rotation I'd love to sign a guy like Morton. But given the lack of talent, and sheer number of guys who can even go 5 consistently on this team, I want to see someone closer to their 20's than their 40's being signed.

True, that was rough math. The point is the same either way. You're not getting anywhere near as much for 1 year of Soto as opposed to 2.5 years of Soto.

Or, Abreu is platooning LF with Duran. Probably depends on how well Duran is hitting.

If we plan on going above the luxury tax line, I hope we do a heck of a lot better than Morton. We need multiple starting pitchers, not another one year flyer on an aging guy.

So roughy, 40% the return they should expect

But how many years of team control were they gaining at the time vs what they’re giving up now? They should expect a much lighter return than what they paid

I really like Duval, I think he fits this roster perfectly. It’s perfectly conceivable his 2024 is better and much more productive than his 2023. Despite that last statement, I’d be very weary of him staying healthy all year in a starters role. I think Hader would be a good replacement. Better defense and just as good production vs. LHP. Duval is fine defensively and might cost less in years and money. I’m fine with either. The only solid starter I see is Verdugo. Everyone else is either too young, still unproven, or has platoon concerns. It’s perfectly conceivable that Duran/Abreu/Rafaela/Refsnyder or some combination of those can become at least 1 viable defender, maybe you get two from that group with clean health and if platoons are used right. Fact remains however that outfield depth is very thin. In a perfect world a power hitting outfield bat who can RF emerges. But in a year where it makes so much more sense to buy pitching we may end up rolling with a youth movement in the outfield Still I see the Sox signing a bat in the OF, Duval back on a 1 year makes the most sense.

Think of how strong the farm would be had Bloom just traded. Dalbec (back in the beginning of 2022) Bogaerts (2022 deadline knowing you wouldn’t extend him). JDM (2022 deadline) Eovaldi (2022 deadline) Turner (2023 deadline) Duvall (2023 deadline) Paxton (2023 deadline) How much worse off would the major league team be 2024 onward if they had? Now one bit, but how much stronger is the future. Sox would have enough assets to go out and get a TOTR a big RH bat and have the exact same farm strength and payroll they have now. This is why you sell when it’s apparent you’re not buyers. People love talk in hindsight and in the moment fans never want to give up on a season. But when you’re GM/CBO you’re not a fan, it’s not your job to act like one. If you ask me, this is the leading cause of Blooms departure. He really messed up the trade deadlines.

Casas - Hit, Power, Arm. Rafaela - Arm, Speed, Defense. Devers - Arm, Hit, Power Prospects coming up who could have 3-4 tools plus Mayer Anthony A couple of prospects much further away but guys who have true 5 tools potential Miguel Bleis Nazzan Zanatello Last true 5 tool guy we had was Mookie Betts.

I don’t even think it’s an intelligence thing as often as it’s a luck thing. There’s a lot of dumb kids who get away with a lot of s***. I have a lot of personal experience in this area.

I guarantee you all his teammates who speak Spanish first know more words in English than he’s learned in Spanish.

I don't think Tatis Jr. has really gotten into an unreasonable amount of trouble that is raising red flags. Also, something I learned about being young, often the difference between the kids getting in trouble and the kids not getting into trouble is complete luck.

Make me a millionaire at 21 and I'll show you dumbassery.

I also think our perception of who these players truly are as people is highly skewed by a very biased media. Everyone thought everyone hated John Lackey. If you listened to the media he was the most hated player in the clubhouse and was an ******* to everyone. Turns out....pretty much the exact opposite was true. This is why I just chuckle at all the s*** people say about Verdugo now, and Cora too for that matter.

The dude is also 24, and men often are villainized. I'm sure if he has kids they're getting taken care of they are his. Money does crazy thing to a young man, but it does crazy things to women too. Back in the earlier days the NBA had to warn it's players to bring their own condoms with them in and out of the hotel rooms they would stay at with women. Everyone loves a "man doesn't take care of his kids story" before he even knows who she is but you don't ever hear a news story that says "man works ass off and takes care of kids" With that said, my morning marijuana and thus pipe dream of Tatis Jr has ended. In a perfect world if San Diego was having a fire sale and Tatis Jr. could be had for a reasonable price I would love for Boston to be in on that, but Soto is probably the more reasonable player to discuss coming from SD.

I never said the price would not be high, I just don't think it's Mayer, Bleis, Anthony, Yorke, Bello, Houck high. If it is, then he's staying in SD because no one would pay that.

Yes 50% isn't a great rate, unless you're playing baseball I suppose. There's just so many variables that I don't feel that take into account. It's like selling a house, I don't care what the market says, if a distressed asset is known to be distressed.....the value goes down. Still, Soto seems like a more reasonable target. He would be a nice upgrade over Verdugo

I never said most, I said this could be the lineup by the end of the year.

Maybe Soto is more available from SD

If the rumors are true and SD wants to shed payroll I don't think the cost is anywhere near that high.

As we all know BTV is king.