drewski6

I didnt use the word desperation (I dont think) so Im not sure why Im being asked to make a case that he was desperate. Apologies if I said that and do not remember. If anything , I think Breslow needs to be more desperate going forward. Try a little harder to sign a bat. Especially one like Bregman that fits on multiple levels (offense, defense, position, helps younger players, chemistry, PR). You (Notin) wanted Bregman back. I dont look at the cubs/breg contract and go "oh boy am I glad that we didnt give Bregman that". Im not saying Breslow should bid against himself. Im saying that he overestimated the strength of his standing offer. "Im not going to bid against myself" - to me, implies "I already have the top offer on the table", and I think that if hes super confident that 165m, heavy heavy deferred, without willing to include a NTC (and knowing that was a big negative against his offer)....To think the 165m heavy deferred offer being dragged down by refusal to include NTC - to think thats the highest offer and be sooo confident in that when you saw ALonso and Schwarbers contracts ..... ....I think he looks foolish, honestly. I think he should have known that his offer was quite unlikely to be the highest offer on the table. I knew it. He might still get a Paredes/Marte/Geno, we'll see, I bet he gets someone and we'll see if the team hits enough to contend next year. Im also aware that roster building doesnt stop. Im open to someone like KC breaking out with the bat or an in season acquisition. But I think Breslow messed up (my opinion) and burned some rope. How much he has left - I cant speculate on.

If Im being honest, Im not sure there is unanimous animosity against the Dodgers by all other owners. If Im a small market team that hasnt been relevant and wont be relevant, the Dodgers stacking WS championships isnt really affecting me - but I am certainly loving my piece of their tax bill. Im not sure most owners even want to go from a soft cap (with financial penalties) to a hard cap (cant go over no matter what) because they like their cut of financial penalties. I would imagine theres at least some owners that cheer when dodgers spend

Scenario 2: Boras: Thanks for the offer. But, surprise, surprise, we have another larger one, so you need to give us more money. Breslow: I’ve seen this show before. And I dont trust that this other offer exists and Im not going to bid against myself You have my offer. If it’s not enough, then take your other deal and I’ll sign someone else.

I think Cora is probably looped in/asked to provide consult at some point in the process but I agree with you. My point is not that Cora is finalizing deals currently, my point is that I want him to be or I want him to hire a GM if he wishes - but I want Cora above Breslow at this point. The tough part is they (my opinion) shouldnt have given Breslow the CBO title, he wasnt qualified for it. Should have just given him GM title, because then you can make Cora CBO and it would disguise Breslows demotion. If you have a VP and no SVP, and then you insert an SVP above the VP, that is very much a demotion, but its not as embarrassing as the VP getting his title downgraded to director. I dont know how you could insert Cora above Breslow for baseball operations when Breslow is Chief of baseball operations - without messing with Breslows title. Maybe principal of baseball operations? Maybe COO COO of organization probably above CEO of baseball operations, even if it doesnt appear that way, so maybe thats how you do it. But I want to demote Breslow, and whether or not he stays in a role where hes now reporting to Cora (not the other way around) is up to Cora first and Breslow second. Cora can manage or hire a manager game level, dont really care. Cora can fire breslow or leave him as a member of his front office team, dont really care. But I want Cora as head honcho, and if he likes breslow wants to keep breslow and breslow is fine with inserting cora above him, maybe you can do it in a way in which breslow keeps his title - because I dont want to go out of my way to embarrass him, thats not the point. The point is I want Cora driving the bus. Bres can navigate if Cora wants. And Im not looking to strip all responsibility from Breslow either.

No the order wasnt a ranking lol

Can you meet me at "unsubstantiated hypothesis?"

Really, you think its irrational to believe that Cora would have landed Bregman?

HAHA, you say that as Im scrambling to pre-clean before my smoking hot cleaning lady gets here (who is married) because I dont want her to think Im gross. Im trying to make the place the right about of gross, so she feels needed but not grossed out. Of course, Im respectful and yes I enjoy chatting her up, but I wont try anythign for a few reasons (1. I respect her marriage, 2. I love my girl, 3. I dont want to lose her as a cleaning lady) But I am at least a little worried what she thinks and shes someones wife, so thats another one. I can also think of at least one more too (close female friend in bad marriage).

Ill acknowledge a successful roster build when the team shows it can hit.

"Look , I tried to help him. I even wrote a song about it, gotta know when to hold em vs fold em. Problem is, he didnt even know what game he was playing, and even I cant help that" - Kenny Rogers .......... I have it on good authority that Breslows wife hasnt gotten a good night sleep in a week because Breslow keeps waking up in the middle of the night , sitting up, and yelling "you're bluffing" They are considering intervention.

Better either go get some bats (multiple) or win a lot 2-1 games. One thing Breslow has going for him is that outside of Toronto, NYY, Seattle , the AL is weak so could get into the playoffs with this flawed team.

The offer to Alonso was pathetic , the offer to Bregman was not as strong as Breslow thought it was, it got beat thrice (less total money than cubs offer, more deferred than cubs offer, wouldnt include NTC) Also - right now our payroll is higher, so there was a green light to add money. To be so off on Alonso, and not really have a competitve bid to Bregman is bad, and it doesnt seem like it was JH as much as previous years. It sounds like Breslow being ego, stiff. I honestly all JH is saying is : if you gonna spend, make sure you win. And this was scary to Bloom, and Breslow is trying but cant get out of his own way The GM is not always the scapegoat. I think most people act like there is like an evil presence over the entire organiztion cast by JH because people like a good conspiracy theory. But we have so many people reporting that no, breslow called bregmans offer a bluff was wrong. Egg meet face. Not only do I think JH was not behind the mess up, I also think JH is pissed Do it JH, fire the stiff

The more I think about it, the more I realize that for me personally , Im there Breslow needs to go, Alex Cora 4 prez

I want to get there, forgive me, I cant get there. I cant see this going down in any other way than a pure Breslow botch. Breslow is the chief baseball officer , not the GM , and I doubt JH is involved much at all. He's more likely to be a recluse. I think when Breslow said "organizational policy" , I think it was becasue he doesnt like giving no trade clauses and he didnt think he had to I think literally everything stems from Breslow not knowing the market for bats and thats why our offer for alonso was hilarious and our offer for bregman wasnt nearly as strong as breslow thought it was. I dont get how hes so far off, especially after seeing the Schwarber and Alonso contracts - but he very much appears to be. I think Bregman wanted to come back, everybody wanted him back, he was willing to leave dollars on the table, and Breslow wanted him back also but Breslow was too confident in his offer on the table And I dont think the cubs contract is an overpay at all.

Cora closes the deal and gets us our third baseman, just saying. And Bregman is like .800+ OPS , good D, and makes Anthony better too (at least thats what Anthony thinks/said) Pretty big mess up even though the silver lining is that the contract would have certainly been uncomfortable and now we dont have that discomfort. But we always intended to get Bregman. Breslow botched it.

I think Breslow botched it all the way, and Im using that word. Ithink if anything Bres was saying we dont worry guys (Fenway Sports Group) we dont need to go up , other offer - its a bluff. I think he should be feeling some hot water no doubt.

I like this, and I obviously agree when you say that you think Breslow had considered the cubs offer a bluff. I think if thats true (it is because like you said it makes sense , plus reputable names have said it) but I think that if true that its much more likely to be Breslow drawing the line because JH very likely isnt involved to the extent of knowing the offers on the table and which one is the highest and the market values. There obviously may be other people involved as well.

Hes the 4 right now, but Kutter Crawford was really really good last time I saw him and Tolle is a 6'6 lefty who could turn a corner at any time. Bello is good dont get me wrong, some people think hes lucky to get out of so many jams but i think its just what sinkerballers do, Rotation is beyond strong.

I really like the way you use immeasurably here. But I hope you mean it as I interpreted it, as in "hard to quantify" not as in " a lot"

I think if we miss the playoffs this year (and we will), we should fire Breslow and Cora will get to do whatever he wants up to and including a 300m payroll, and i also think that breslow and bloom could have had a 300m payroll, they just would have had to accepted that with big money spent comes big pressure to win. I think Breslow is less of a wimp than Bloom and thats why Breslows payroll is going up. And I do respect that. But I also think Breslow is getting in his own way a lot.

Or let Cora hire a GM.

I think generally speaking, people blame ownership too much and Bloom and Breslow not enough. Exhibit A - I point to current payroll I dont think JH ever mandated that Bloom trade betts. I think he was frustrated with paying a big tax bill on a mediocre team and fired DD over that and bloom was like i better not do that so ill shed some money and build slow, cuz my options are a) shed money build slow b) build fast and win or c) get canned ....And (Bloom) "b" isnt my strong suit so i better choose option "a" Read: Bloom was the problem I think Breslow deserves a lot of credit for getting Crochet, but other than that cant get out of his own way. I think hes stiff/tool/ego/condescending/pompous Read: Breslow is the problem I think we're prob best served by firing Breslow and promoting Cora to president AND GM

What Im saying is that I think its dumb to ask someone to leave money on the table while also refusing to give a NTC. It makes no sense. Nobody is going to take less money so you have a more tradeable contract.

We blew our own chance at signing Bregman with unfair expectations, undershotting his market, while we insulted him and dared him to take other offers and accused him of bluffing. While we also revolved our offseason around him. Strong work, Bres That Crochet acquisition got you a lot of leash but boy are you chewing through it. Step back and hes out.

Bregman: I have 175m from the cubs with some deferrals AND a NTC RS: C'mon sign with us. Hometown discount. We love you. 165m and more heavily deferred than cubs offer so you are actually leaving more than 10m on the table, but please do this for us. Please Bregman: no trade clause? That would mean a lot to me RS: Cant do it Bregman: Begrudgingly I accept. I really like you guys and I really like it here (3 months later) Red Sox trade Bregman to the cubs