Hugh2

Yes, a lot of guys can't hit AAA pitching. THere's a whole slew of guys who can't and then figure it out and become big-league players. Downs has been around long enough to start thinking that may never happen with him but up until recently his spot on the 40 man was perfectly justified. There's literally a Jeter Downs type guy on every 40 man. If the Sox release Downs, and they probably will at some point someone is going to pick him up. As crappy as he is, he can field his position at SS and 2nd and last time I (checks notes) checked you actually need guys to play defense too. Your 40th man on the 40 man isnt' someone good enough to be a MLB player. He's someone who can come up and field the position while a guy is banged up. Sometimes guys like Downs come into their own, sometimes they do not. But you're literally complaining about the guy who may very well be the 40th man on our 40 man right now. How many teams have a better 40th man? Count. I'll wait. But I won't hold my breath.

It's not like he's on the 25 man, he was a young talented prospect who provided up-the-middle depth. At this point, yeah, his days may be numbered. But how good is the 38th-40th guy on ANY teams 40 man?

Jeter Downs is on the 40 man roster, and when the Sox had both Kike, Story, and Arroyo out they called up Downs for depth. So one can not like Downs but why would anyone build a Red Sox depth chart without putting Downs on it? That's called reality.

HAHA, this is hilarious. Yes, thats' fine but you have to live in a world with everyone elses opinions too. And when your opinions are NOT based in reality you shouldn't be surprised when people call you out on your bull. #truth Here's the reality. If an Owner blew up the cap every year, eventually they stop receiving rebates which take a large chunk of their revenue and return it. If you do the math, you can see a team like the Boston Red Sox would be in the Red. Eventually, they would cease to exist or possibly be sold. As much as you don't give a s*** because "you do you" you do realize there are owners out there unlike Henry who has payrolls under 100K every year. Do you want the Red Sox to turn into the A's? Because if the Sox ran the team with no concern for the budget and started losing money, they'd be sold off and eventually that could happen. People seem to confuse everyone is entitled to an opinion with every opinion that should be respected. I call ********. One of my best friend's mother was murdered in Sandy Hook, people had opinions that the families should dig up the graves of their deceased to prove they existed and used to harass them all the time. They had their "opinions" on what really happened. SO no, not all opinions should be respected. That's an extreme example, those people are evil, this is sports and not so serious, I don't think you're evil so I apologize for using an absurd analogy. But the point remains if your opinion isn't realistic....be prepared to have it attacked and if your only defense is "well that's just my opinion" then you aren't really defending it well.

Yes

See, this is what you do. That was the whole point of my post that YOU RESPONDED TOO. So if you're NOT saying that....what are you saying?

No at some point people can't just hide behind the well I have my opinion you have yours and we can just agree to disagree. At a certain point logic matters. I can't say "well you say 2+2 is 4 but I say it's 5 and I have my opinion and that's that" You can't hide behind that wall dude. If you want your opinion respected you need to acknowledge and respect that there's a budget and these things matter when we have a realistic conversation....otherwise what you say shouldn't be taken seriously. Not trying to sound like a dick here but that's the truth.

Quiet? they've said time and time again they want to bring him back. Perhaps that's just PR, but that's not Quiet. Others? well FA hasn't even started yet so what should we expect at this point? The SS market is very robust this year. The Sox need up-the-middle players. It's a really really really good bet they're going to get one of the big four (which includes Bogey)

And everyone is entitled to their opinion. But your opinion, if expect the Sox to just blow the cap up every year, is not set in reality.....and the title of this thread is a REALISTIC view. So....do what you please with that information and just remember others are entitled to their opinions as well which also includes calling other people out on their illogical stances.

You dont' care, we get it, and old men yell at clouds. No one in John Henry's position is going to constantly pay that tax. Even the Dodgers have started to reset every so often. You don't care is covering up the fact that you expect or desire somebody to do something with their money THAT NO ONE WOULD DO. It's called la la land.

So seriously question, how likely is it that Story plays SS next year in your opinion? and if so who replaces him at 2nd?

Yes your voice would be to not watch, not pay, and not go to the games. No one is forcing you too. And, despite those prices, their net income was about 70 million in 2021. Yeah, that's a nice chunk of change, but it would have been negative if they didn't get their rebates if they had been over the cap for over three years. Henry would have LOST money. Do you see the logic now?

ding ding ding ding ding. So you assume Story moves over to SS and they sign a 2nd baseman? WHy? the FA class for short stops is 10000X better than second baseman PLUS it's been said over and over again Story's arm is best suited for 2nd now. I don't think it's out of question Story plays SS in 2023, but it's so unlikely, its not really worth the discussion. IDK, If i had to guess, I'd say it's maybe a 2% chance. How likely do you think its? And if he does move to SS, who plays second?

Ironically with many of the same guys who got us to the ALCS on the DL. We need a GM who can predict future DL stints!!!!!!! Who is he????? Where is he?????

lol, so the Sox resigning Bogey has nothing to do with Story playing SS. Then why didn't Story play SS in 2022? riddle me that.

That would be a steal for Lopez even if Garcia rode the DL all year. If Garcia bounces back it's a heist. BTV is great, but very imperfect.

Who says the Sox HAVE to sign a SS? They don't have to do anything. It's a highly intelligent and logical argument that they will. Storys decline in arm strength (perhaps overblown), and the Sox repetitive talk of him staying at 2nd, and their talk of prioritizing Bogaerts makes it abundantly clear they're targeting a SS. Every GM realizes there are 29 other teams doing the same thing. If you have a plan A and no other plan you're not doing your job. I'm sure there's a scenario where they sign Jurickson Profar to play 2nd and move Story over to SS. But that's probably Plan E or F at this point. Plan A,B,C,D is likely Bogaerts, Correa, Turner, Swanson. Story could very well end up playing SS in 2023. But does anyone actually think this is likely?????

Just for the record. I don't think this makes others wrong and me right. You won't hear me say this very often many other times but I have a lot of stupid ideals.

After 3 years the loss of revenue-sharing rebates equates to over a hundred million dollars a year. I think that's by far and wide the largest deterrent for staying over the line long term.

I get the "it ain't my money" argument. It just perplexes me that people think it's a rational argument. It's freaking stupid for two reasons. 1. It might not be "our" money, but it is someone else's money. Imagine you worked for a company, and you were upset with them for not spending so much money on amenities, to the point they would be in the red. Everyone would hate you and be like "dude, just effing quit and go somewhere else". It's juvenile, It's like a kid teenager being upset that mommy and daddy can't buy him all the toys in the world because he has no concept of budgeting money. 2. Whether or not we like it, it's reality. People budget. Poor people, rich people, and all good businessmen alike. Do people think that Rich men who own businesses just have all their money in some pile like Uncle Scrooge and go swimming in it? and have no concept of balancing a budget? no that's moronic. The Sox have a budget, and every move you make affects the rest of the roster. In regards to the latter, I would understand the strife amongst fans if the Sox were frugal with their money like the Oakland A's. But that's not a reality, they're top 5 in spending every year for the past 2 1/2 decades. They've had last-place finishes and turned it around before and they will never stink long term at the rate they spend. There's nothing more in this world than I would like for the Sox to have a bottomless wallet. Lets go out and sign Judge, resign Bogaerts, sign Degrome, and sign a bunch of other guys. But that's not realistic, this is a REALISTIC view of 2023. Do we realize what REALISTIC means? Imagine I was a 280 lb obese man (and I used to be before I lost 100 lbs). Imagine hiring a personal trainer. Is that guy going to sell me pie in the sky and tell me I'm going to be a buff man in a year? no, he'd be lying to me. Realistically, I had to work hard at it every day in the gym and with my diet for over 3 years to reach my goal. That was reality, we live in a country were obesity runs rampant and fake diet pills is a billion-dollar industry because people don't live in reality. I like the concept of realistically talking about what the Sox can or can not do, or likely will do. Anything more than that is like talking about what I would do if I won the lottery, yeah it's fun to dream but serves no purpose in reality when planning to take care of my family. I like to stay true to the meaning of this thread and have it based on reality. And look, to each their own, even in "reality" opinions can vary widely. But every time I hear the "well it ain't my money" argument I'm going to chuckle and not take someone seriously, because you're not being serious. Ya'll can do you.

Even if they didn’t reset this year, it would be 99.99% likely they’d reset next. Which means this years budget pours over into next. It matters, and it’s 100% relevant to the conversation making it important if we want to talk about what this off-season should look like.

Who? Years of precedent between this team and every other team avoiding the penalties, countless interviews from front office personal over the years. And expert analysis and expert analysis. Maybe you don’t care, it ain’t your problem, Bloom “has guys” to look over that for him. But this is a realistic discussion, and realistically they are probably resetting this year.

Yes, everyone has a right to an opinion, all opinions matter. I think the only issue with this team is we need a better base running coach. That's it, and no one here can tell me otherwise.

I would not be surprised if Swanson is the best value going forward. He could be coming into his prime right now. He might be a 5 WAR player thats going to be paid like a 3 WAR guy. Here's a crazy thought, sign both Bogaerts, and Nimmo. Play Nimmo in CF, play Bogaerts in LF, have Verdugo get back into (not bulking) shape and play him in RF, move Story to SS and play Kike at 2B. Kike's is a plus defender there and maybe this is just a coincidence buy his offense is much much better when he's playing the infield.

also, they will probably spend around another 4-5 million on rookies. So isn't the true budget somewhere around 85 million? I don't know TBH, the true numbers always seem to elude us.