UtahSox

Yep, Ohtani is definitely the victim.……. In fact, I’ve been wiring money to a few Nigerian princesses who keep calling me for $500 when they’re “temporarily stranded.” They swear they’ll pay me $1,000 next Monday when their bank reopens. Seems legit. You and Jad need to send me your #’s I’ll get you guys hooked up with these princesses good ROI

LOL. So we’re supposed to believe that 19,000 bets and $17 million of Shohei’s money were gambled away without him ever noticing? This is the same guy whose entire career is built on obsessive attention to detail, discipline, and precision. Meanwhile MLB/ USA is looking at $700M+ per year in economic impact from the “Ohtani effect.” Maybe the official story is exactly what happened… but it’s also not hard to understand why everyone involved would be highly motivated to make sure the league’s biggest global star stays completely clean and the whole thing lands on a convenient fall guy.

Agree……… but another way of looking at it is Contereras replaces RD, maybe with less raw talent hitting but is a RHB +better defense +vibes and clubhouse gains. Then full circle back to my previous post on different thread. Breslow chose Durbin and Suarez long term over Bregman. And as of NOW I don’t think I love that. Time will tell, But as of today I’d rather have Breggy + traded for SP2 vs Durbin + Suarez. in my mind: AB2+ WC-40+ RA19+ step forward with youngsters = big bat equivalency.

That is well thought out, I obviously like Duran+ Durbin more than Paredes+ Masa. But I can logically see how you got to your lineup. That would be my only tweak, I also would have traded MM and PT for Marte.

Who is this guy?

Drewski you know you’re my I’m guy on here…… Ugly times out there for sure, I’m sorry you’re dealing with antisemitism, and I know this stuff is real, and can be triggering. I’m not sure Kimmi was coming from where you said, or even worse “assumed” she was. Not to get too political, but I think the WBC could really help engage, and educate/ remind us on the value of immigration, and celebrating your past. We are (almost) all immigrants here. My family on my dads side comes from Norway, and I am weirdly connected to those people because of that. It was funny watching the Olympics with my kids this year, as I watched my kids create a connection to their past, regardless of how loosely they are connected. It was simply asking a few times who I wanted to win, and because of my connection to Norway, I was able to have a conversation about where our great great grandparents came from, and for the rest of the Olympics, they cheered for Norway when the United States wasn’t in competition. I lived for two years in Nicaragua, back in the day and while I have no heritage tying myself to that place. I watched the game last night, with a Nicaragua shirt on thinking how proud I would be to represent those people. Especially in this time, it’s great to celebrate. Let’s not assume asking questions defines her position.

He just blocks too many young people routes to MLB production. OF he blocks KC, Eaton and MAYBE Ward. DH he blocks Casas ( I know you don’t think highly of him) but some on here think he is a 30HR 800+ OPS guy if healthy. Meaning if he’s healthy, he needs those at bats over MY. Knowing all of this, even with the chance of injury, I think it’s worth to throw him out there to the trade market right now and tag $26 million to his chest. See where you get bidders to jump on. As people have said he is batting cleanup for Japan. You have to acknowledge somewhere somehow, maybe we have not been good for him. Maybe Fenway dimensions just got in his head, but we know he would welcome a trade, and all it takes is one.

I don’t disagree that we aren’t trading Masa, but I do believe we COULD even if it meant covering 28-32m of his last 36 million. Meaning Masa at 4 million a year would have many bidders that would create a market.

Devers was and is a B**Ch… contrast that to WC-40 getting here and saying “I’ll do whatever I can to help the team, I brought my catcher gear in case.” Catcher to 1B has to be the hardest transition in baseball. Another reminder I’m glad Devers is gone.

I like the Bregman vs Contreras comparison. And begrudgingly add it would be really nice to have both. Bregman and Durbin comps while they play the same position just feel very strange. Maybe it’s the AAV, maybe it’s the time in the big leagues thing? As we are halfway through ST, and I now have the privilege of a minuscule amount of hindsight. I think Contreras vs Alonso was the right move. I was devastated when news broke, but now I get it. indulge me… I like his vibes, passion, and production. looking at it today: my ideal revisionist history to offseason would still have been: 1. Bregman over Ranger. (Don’t hate the Ranger signing at all, but AB brings so much to development of our young core Abreu, Anthony, Ceddane, Mayer I think it’s a small risk.) Having AB+ WC-40+ Story would have been amazing. 2. Maybe use Perales and Harrison trades differently something like a SP2: Luis Perales + Kyle Harrison+ Kristian Campbell( some AAV relief) for Sandy Alcantara + something small. 3. Small thing but resign Refsnyder or Goldschmidt as a back up plan in case of injury or JD hits LHP like last year. My proposed roster would look like: SP- 1. Crochet, 2. Alcantara, 3. Gray, 4. Bello, 5. Oviedo/ Early lineup- RHP/LHP 1. Anthony/ Anthony- LF 2. Bregman- 3B/ Romy-2B 3. Duran- DH/ Bregman-3B 4. Contreras/ Contreras-1B 5. Abreu- RF/ Duran- DH ( Refsnyder/ Andujar if Duran still sucks vs LHP after big sample size) 6. Story/ Story- SS 7. Mayer- 2B/Abreu- RF 8. Narvaez/ Narvaez- C 9. Rafaela/ Rafaela- CF ** sidenote on Ranger Suarez I like the way a left-handed Pitcher puts pressure on Yankees lineup. Substantially more than a right handed pitcher. Yankees LHH Bellinger, Grisham, chisholm, wells, rice it forces them into bad matchups or someone sitting out. + Post season Suarez >>> Alcantara.

Yeah there are probably 400 big leaguers that “can”. What do predict he will do?

Wait what? Moon are you saying he physically has the ability to hit 30+ HRs? (Every big leaguer CAN) Or are you predicting IF healthy he will hit .800-.850 w/ 30+ HR’s? That would be a bold prediction.

That’s where Masa pigeon holds himself more than anybody else, he’s only a DH so you can replace him with Durbin (similar bat to ball metrics), Casas, Monasterio, Romy (if he comes back) Campbell, or JD.

Also caveat this with assuming JH and beta Breslow go out and add to this roster with opened up payroll savings.

Masa doesn’t have a role on this team. It’s becoming more and more glaring everyday. I saw a trade on BTV that sent M Yoshida + Narvaez to Angels for O’Hoppe… at first, I was like that’s crazy, but as I’ve thought about it. I like O’Hoppe swing in Fenway. And he’s younger than Carlos. I disagree that Angels would take the deal straight up, I think it would take a lot of cash 10-15, as I think BTV over values Carlos a little, and under values Logan. we know that LA market loves Japanese players. And angels need LH outfielders…… I’d be down. Another problem is they already have a DH and Yoshida in the OF is terrible. Put him in left, Teodosio has amazing range in CF, and Adell in RF? There is no hitter. I’m rooting for more in the WBC than Yoshida. Hopefully some team just thinks we screwed him up, and takes a flyer on him?

Agree I love the merits of small ball. But our lineup isn’t setup for small ball. Way too much swing and miss in lineup. hence RISP stats last year. While I hope we are better this year, the DNA of roster suggests a lot of swing and miss. @jad I disagree that people don’t like watching small ball, it’s that the analytics know with how pitchers throw nowadays, it’s so hard to string hits together. So analytics tell them to move away from small ball. But teams that are good at it (brewers/ Bluejays) are a blast to watch. IMO.

Not to overly simplify but: Across MLB, non-player expenses are largely the same: ushers, security, concessions, front office staff, scouts, grounds crew, corporate sales, etc. Sure, there are modest cost-of-living adjustments between Boston and say St Louis, but nothing that scales with revenue. The key point: as revenue rises, those fixed costs do not rise in parallel. That means higher-revenue teams naturally generate larger margins. The only variable that should be higher with more revenue is player payroll. So the analysis is simple. If you are a top-five revenue franchise—and (not a big shocker) we are, and always will be—then you should be top five in payroll. Full stop. That tier is Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox—and now, with their real estate additions, likely the Braves as well. If we’re not spending like a top-five team, it’s not because we can’t afford it. It’s because ownership is choosing not to. And for a brand of this stature, anything less than a top-five payroll is unacceptable. I don’t need to wait for Revenue #’s come out on 2025. I already know. We will be between 3-5 in top revenue. We should be 3-5 in player payroll. That’s our competition, that’s our Delta every year.

Yeah I’m not convinced on MM. if I could hand pick the next breakout bat. I WOULD CHOSE MARCELO. But alas I need to see it to believe it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that AZ really wanted him. They know a thing or two about middle infielders.

I bet Romy isn’t back til after all star break FYI, which is why we signed Monasterio but the argument isn’t Romy vs Marte/ Paredes it’s Marcelo vs Marte/Paredes.

Yeah bro….. as always you nailed that one with your facetiousness. Let me add to it. “Maybe we should get Fernando Tatis in case Yoshida gets a boo boo” Marte and Paredes are both (somewhat) available. And WITH Romy we already had some major trepidation vs LHP. Now without him it’s a big hole……… Why? Rafaela (reverse splits), Roman, Duran, Abreu all hit RHP better than LHP by a decent margin, Marcelo hit RHP light years better than LHP, And Durbin hits RHP and LHP very similar. As I’ve said since Day 1 I’m far from sold on Mayer so I would trade him to solidify what I see as a major weakness in our lineup.

I honestly think we ended up in a decent spot…. But my best case scenarios changed at different points in offseason after each big event here is what I wanted. My thoughts going into winter based on Breslow comments: I envisioned…… Bregman + Alonso + SP2 ( i figured via trade) Event 1. after Alonso signed w Orioles: I wanted…… Bregman+ Marte+ trade for SP2 +Gray as SP3 Event 2. after Contreras came over: (My Favorite idea) I wanted: Bregman+ Marte+ Contreras+ trade for sp2+ Gray as SP3 Event 3. after Marte was ruled out of trade: I was willing to live with: Bregman + Contreras+ trade for SP2+ Gray Event 4. after Bregman signed with Cubs: **Darkness** Event 5. after R Suarez signed w/ us: Paredes+ Contreras+ Suarez+ Gray+ trade for Hoerner Event 6. after Durbin Trade: Not stoked but also not disappointed. still really want Marte to Paredes (Especially if Romy is out for season)

My initial thought was I hate it. But the more I thought about it, would be fun to create a different vibe 1 out of every 4 years. Only 1 out of 4 You wouldn’t lose rivalries but the change would achieve some of what you’re speaking of. Thought is 1 out of every 4 years you ranked teams 1-32 over the previous 4 years and create 4 8 team divisions like FIFA. I used Chat GPT to “rank teams 1-30 over prior 4 seasons. Here is how they ranked teams: MLB “FIFA Rankings” (2021–2025) 1. Los Angeles Dodgers 2. Houston Astros 3. Milwaukee Brewers 4. New York Yankees 5. Atlanta Braves 6. Philadelphia Phillies 7. Seattle Mariners 8. Tampa Bay Rays 9. Toronto Blue Jays 10. San Diego Padres 11. Cleveland Guardians 12. San Francisco Giants 13. New York Mets 14. Boston Red Sox 15. St. Louis Cardinals 16. Chicago Cubs 17. Baltimore Orioles 18. Detroit Tigers 19. Minnesota Twins 20. Cincinnati Reds 21. Arizona Diamondbacks 22. Texas Rangers 23. Kansas City Royals 24. Miami Marlins 25. Los Angeles Angels 26. Pittsburgh Pirates 27. Oakland Athletics 28. Chicago White Sox 29. Washington Nationals 30. Colorado Rockies Div A: 1: Dodgers 8. Rays 9. Blue Jays 16. Cubs 17. Orioles 24. Marlins 25. Angels 32. Expansion team Div B: 2. Astros 7. Mariners 10. Padres 15. Cardinals 18. Tigers 23. Royals 26. Pirates 31. Expansion team Div C 3. Brewers 6. Phillies 11. Guardians 14. Red Sox 19. Twins 22. Rangers 27. Athletics 30. Rockies Div D 4. Yankees 5. Braves 12. Giants 13. Mets 20. Reds 21. DBacks 28. White Sox 29. Nationals It would be fun probably add excitement without destroying built in rivalries.

Notables: 4) Seattle Mariners 5) Toronto Blue Jays 8) New York Yankees 12) Baltimore Orioles 19) Our Boston Red Sox 20) LA Angels 21) Tampa Bay Rays 22) Detroit Tigers

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48017129/mlb-2026-ranking-baseball-best-lineups-dodgers-mets-mariners-braves-yankees-cubs

I think these Moon projections are rooted in data. Duran bounce back year… Durbin/ Contreras rake in Fenway are my bold predictions. I hope you’re right on top 9 guys AB’s. After that a few exceptions, Also noticed no Casas, no KC in 2026? Care to elaborate trade or stuck in AAA?