drewski6

Yup, my main point is that when you overachieve based on expectations relative to talent, there are two possible take-a-ways. One is , wow - what could we have done with more talent. The other is that talent isnt the be-all end all, so its okay to prioritize JH's bank account over talent. Stressing about Devers, to me, is welcomed. Sure we've beat it to death. Sure, its in teh past now. But its better than "we made the playoffs without a firstbaseman last year, so we dont need one this year" At least bringing up Devers doesnt obscure that talent matters a lot. This may come as a surprise to some but - having the youngest payroll and having the cheapest payroll dont help you win games. In fact, I honestly think that a big part of the reason we overachieved last year is because Story is a vet and a pro and money maker. That stuff matters. Hes been there before. You want some age. You dont want to keep flipping late 20s and even 30+ year olds into kids over and over again. Like for example , somebody here who was drooling over our 2030 100% homegrown team. Well I can assure you that when 2030 comes, homeboy will be drooling over the 2035 team. Because when you are always dreaming about tomorrow, tomorrow never comes.

This is the right mentality though. We salary dumped our best hitter, and almost beat the yankees. Imagine if we didnt salary dump our best hitter = good We salary dumped our best hitter, and almost beat the yankees. This shows that payroll and talent level dont really matter that much, so we should be fine without the best team possible. We should keep the payroll down = bad

Being a difference - for sure. Being the difference - dunno (possible though)

Gold: 150m on bregman, 150m spent on other red sox needs Silver: 300m on bregman (same amount of years, just a doubling of AAV) Bronze: 150m on bregman, 150m in JHs pocket Point is, there is no amount of money that I mind bregman taking from JH's pocket unless that money is earmarked for other red sox players, but I dont think its that black and white. As in, I dont think JH has a number that he is going to spend no matter what. Therefore, I dont think its a case where if JH pays Breg 150m (as opposed to 300m) then that means for sure another 150m going to red sox other needs. For this reason, I hope JH pays Bregman 400m

unless hes a block head, in which case he gets thrown in the trash like NBA guards who refuse to learn the 3 pt shot. Evolve or die.

its a good caveat. but if the rest of the league has improved their FIP by 20% since we last saw Kutter, he might as well. Just because we havent seen him doesnt mean that hes not working on splitters and sweepers and induced break and spin rate and pitch science like everybody else.

well thats not a good assumption.

Sure, it comes down to the rest of the roster moves, but no point in looking back. Take this post, which I think is correct and apply it forward? Should we spend 300m on Bregman? What else are we gonna do with the money? If nothing, then yes. No typo, just took another 100m out of JHs pocket. Cost just went up

Guess what? I dont care if JH has to fork over more money for ballplayers than a bunch on internet nerds think that ballplayer is worth. What else is he gonna do? Hoard his wealth? We beat up hoarders and nerds.

More than I expected. I would have prefered either Isaiah Jackson that I know of though

prob rule 5 draft a pitcher, trade duran for a pitcher and run with "Oops all pitchers next year" Need a first baseman? Get in there , Kutter Crawfish

Both Isaiah Jacksons Im familiar with play basketball

Hes really good.

From Bregman to Marte to Paredes to mr 80 OPS+ vargas himself. If they insist on Tolle for Paredes, move on. Maybe offer Bregman 200m.

What about Chase Burns?

This is a good point. I mean why have good baseball players when you can a bad one for cheaper. Might even be slightly younger!

Get in where you fit in. Want who wants you. If you cant get the one you love, love the one you got. If Bregman is noncomittal and Alonso is barking up our tree exclusively, we should pivot priority, ink Alonso and then keep trying with Bregman 1 in the hand over 2 in the bush [end of cliches, sorry]

God, I hope not. I do think we'll make a real run at Alonso, but theyll have to get uncomfortable and Im not sure they do. Get Alonso or not, finish first or fifth. Its all kind of whatever to me. Just as long as we dont let let the condescending bootlicking history rewriters take a victory lap. I can see it now. "We signed nobody and finished in fourth! This is great! This is great! TY billionaire class for my cell phone! Ill happily give up my weekend without extra pay if it helps my billionaire heroes get a fifth yacht! Maybe one day, theyll notice me." Look at all these prospects! Wow 2030 is going to be sooo grand" You wedgie these nerds and youll always have a spot at my table.

I know that trading PW would bother me less if we didnt have his brother and were thereby breaking up the brothers. I know that its silly to put value on PW because of a sop story that creates feels and its heart-warming to have 2 brothers. But Im nothing if not sappy

Hows Jonafran taking it?

Yes, and this is silly but I like having brothers in the org. A family affair. Like the Mary J song.

Well, those are just the unexpected jumper-ins. Pitt did rumor to offer 4yrs/120m to Schwarber, so I can see them upping the bidding on Alonso if nothing else.

The market is still very active for both. Pitt and Cincy and Baltimore are in the fold, and dont rule out Mets and Tigers. I dont think either of these 2 get to the point where you sign them for an amount that doesnt make you at least a little uncomfortable (whether thats an extra 2 years on the back or an extra few millions in AAV), but who knows. If Schwarber got 5 years , I have a hard time believing that Alonso and Bregman wont get at least 5. Alonso is coming off a much better season than he was last year. And prob Bregman too (at least the first half).

Schwarber had reportedly multiple offers on the table around 120/4. So they added the fifth year vs competing on AAV, makes sense to me. Im bummed becasue Im a Schwarber guy but Ive recently made my peace with the fact that Bregman or Alonso are more likely.

TY, I feel better now. I do think Paredes is a solid target, but Im still very high on Tolle and Early looked very good last year. Now if Early's emergence makes Dobbins expendable and we flip Dobbins for Paredes, thats a good trade IMO.