SoxBlanco

And Rodon last year.

Agreed. But we might have gone with a 4/$80M and no other teams want to go 4 or 5 years with him coming off a down year.

This is exactly what I've been saying. It's possible that Hahn tried to lock up Conforto the same way that he locked up Grandal early, but that Conforto isn't biting because of Boras. The good news is that we have other options if we don't land Conforto (Castellanos, Schwarber, etc.), so if the market isn't great for those guys, Hahn's plan to not increase the offer at this point might not be such a bad idea. This obviously all depends on whether we are trying to land one of those guys in the first place.

We need the position player floodgates to open. One of the bigger names needs to sign, and then I think we will see a flurry of activity.

This is the number one thing I keep telling myself in order to stay optimistic. The limited market, combined with the fact that we have possibly two guys who I would be satisfied with, gives me hope that the Hahn strategy of not offering an aggressive contract right away might just work out to land one of them.

I honestly think Hahn just figured Harrison can be the everyday starting 2B, and for $4M, that's not terrible. Leury then becomes the super-utility guy (who I think TLR really wants in that role). It will all come down to what we do in RF. If we land Conforto (or another big bat), then I am completely fine with Harrison and Leury. If not, then I will consider the offseason a big, fat failure.

Yes, but the question I asked right after that is what I'm really curious about.

Conforto is my top choice, but if we land Castellanos instead, I would still be very pleased. Where would Castellanos rank defensively compared to Vaughn and Conforto? Better than Vaugh, but worse than Conforto? Would the gap be larger between Vaughn/Castellanos or Castellanos/Conforto?

How many games this year do you think the starting RF will be either Vaughn or Sheets?

When you say “using”, are you referring to 2021 or 2022?

I didn’t take “Just wait…” to mean that a move was imminent. I just figured it meant that we definitely will make a significant move at some point. If we don’t, then I’ll be right there with you criticizing this offseason.

That’s ridiculous. If we are eating $10M, we are getting a great return.

Doesn’t matter. Worst case, they move him and have to eat a little salary. But he won’t pitch for the Sox this year.

I’d wager so much money that Kimbrel gets traded. I don’t even think it’s a question.

I wonder what Conforto’s market is like. Which other teams would be interested, and how many of those teams would rather have Castellanos?

Yeah, I hear you. I explained my thinking in the post above this, but I don't disagree that your offer would probably get it done quickly. The only question would be whether it could have gotten done for much less.

Yeah, the reason I asked @Balta1701 if he would open at the 5/$110M offer is because I'd probably be willing to go there, but I certainly wouldn't open with that. I would probably offer 4/$84 and see what happens initially. If Boras is trying to get you to increase the offer, that means there probably isn't another team offering 5 years yet. It also gives you a chance to see what the rest of the market looks like (which appears to be happening right now).

So would your initial offer be 5 for $110, with an opt out after year 2?

What would you be offering to Conforto right now if you were the GM?

If you were dealing with Boras, wouldn't you want to make it seem like you are fine with Vaughn/Sheets in RF? The other option is to sound desperate, where you keep increasing your offer to the delight of Boras.

Who said they haven’t put in a competitive offer yet?

Sheets played his age 22 season in A ball and then his age 23 season in AA. Vaughn played his age 21 season in A ball, then missed a competitive year because of COVID, and then played his age 23 season in the major leagues. And Vaughn’s numbers weren’t much different last year than what Sheets did in AA at age 23. I think people underestimate how good of a hitter Vaughn can be.

I have no idea if we are pursuing Conforto, but if we are, it was never going to be a quick signing with Boras as his agent. We could have thrown the highest offer at him as soon as the lockout ended (like we did with Grandal at the start of the 2020 offseason), and he wouldn’t have jumped on it like Grandal did.

I think Bummer will bounce back nicely. He was definitely inconsistent and had trouble commanding the zone at times, but he was the unluckiest pitcher I’ve ever seen last year. I’ve never seen so many ground balls deflecting off of gloves or seeing eye singles.