SoxBlanco

But even if the Sox had a top 5 payroll in April, you would not be happy if they got to that number by signing a bunch of smaller contracts. And you're not wrong. I agree with you there. I just want to point out that there are two different complaints here: 1. The Sox won't spend and will never have a top 5 or 10 payroll. 2. The Sox won't ever sign the big names because they are afraid to dish out a big contract. The issue for you is #2, which is definitely fair. But I constantly see #1 being argued and discussed around here (not necessarily by you), and I don't think that's much of an issue anymore. It's pretty obvious we will have a high payroll this year (yes, I understand "high" is a relative term).

I think there's a decent chance we end up with either Gray, Castillo, Mahle, Bassitt, Montas, or Manaea. I think there's an even better chance that we end up with either Conforto, Castellanos, or Bryant.

Werther’s are fantastic.

Anderson SS Robert CF Schwarber DH Abreu 1B Grandal C Eloy LF Moncada 3B Vaughn 2B Conforto RF Defense is laughable, but that lineup would MASH. ?

You are acting like the offseason is over tomorrow. The Sox will make more moves.

You're wrong. The Sox should absolutely make moves to get better. When did I say otherwise?

What have Boston, Tampa, Houston, and the Yankees done to make themselves better? Those were the other "good teams" that made the playoffs last year.

Doesn't Castillo only have two years of control? I'd rather just grab Bassitt for a year if Castillo would cost Vaughn+.

I hear ya, and I don't disagree. Two questions regarding a potential Bassitt trade: 1. A Bassitt trade would be similar to the Lynn trade last year in terms of cost, right? 2. If we make a trade like that, who are the best free agent starting pitchers next offseason (assuming we don't extend Bassitt like we did Lynn)? I suppose Google can quickly tell me the answer to that, so I'll get on that as soon as I hit "Reply".

Good to hear from you. Any free agent rumblings? You hearing anything on Conforto?

Agreed. That’s why we need to add another arm that isn’t a bargain signing. Go trade for Castillo or one of the Oakland pitchers. We’re not automatically screwed because we didn’t land Gausman or Ray.

Of course. Well, definitely better than Keuchel and probably better than Cease, but I guess nobody knows what he will look like next year. But the point is that those guys wouldn't have guaranteed us an ALCS. I really wanted one of them also, but we're not doomed now. Bassitt is an example of somebody who could be just as good as those two guys. Hell, who would have thought Rodon would be as good as he was last year? Most people were furious that we settled for him last offseason.

Love this post. Those two guys are no different than having Lynn or Giolito on the mound (as long as we’re not facing the Astros, I guess). The only guy who I thought would really put us over the top in a playoff series was Scherzer. If we can trade for Bassitt, that would still be one hell of a playoff rotation.

Ah, I thought you meant the Sox were trying to sign Kershaw. So who ARE the Sox going after?

Ha, good call!

Or SoxTalk is just better at Googling "MLBTR Free Agent Predictions" than the front office. Either way, they better adjust and land Conforto.

Also, they could have misread the market for Conforto. Probably thought they could get him to sign already for much less than it will actually take.

In all honesty, I don't think there are as many fans as you think who were claiming "this will be the year" that we sign the big free agents. The issue is that once the talk started regarding our payroll possibly increasing to about $200M, people started to get their hopes up. But in reality, it doesn't take much to raise that payroll to $200M. Were people getting their hopes up that we would finally raise the payroll? Absolutely. But does that necessarily mean their hopes were high for one of the big names? I don't think so. If you polled everybody here, I'd say at least 90% did NOT think we would sign Semien. Same with Scherzer. Conforto? Absolutely, I think at least half of us (myself included) believe we will sign Conforto.

My day is going to be even better because not only am I excited for what you described, but I am also excited to read your responses to those fans.

Did the person you thought we would sign go elsewhere yesterday?

Ray Ray, would you be happy if we signed Conforto and one of Scherzer/Ray/Gausman?

Don’t kid yourself. You’ll be checking for updates in the bathroom.

Thanks. Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured. Hell, if JR is willing to go up to $200M, maybe he’s willing to go to $215M. But I guess the problem with that is the payroll would only increase over the next few years.

What kind of payroll are we looking at if we sign Scherzer and Conforto? Assume we swap Kimbrel for Segura in that scenario, so we’re not freeing up any money with a Kimbrel trade.

I apologize to everyone for my performance at games this year. Only made it out to two games…one was today and the other was the brutal Lynn game against the Cubs. I tried my hardest and it wasn’t enough.