harfman77

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 20, 2018 -> 12:42 PM) Probably means 5 year deal with opt-out after 2 years to avoid being on the market with Machado and Donaldson and other big free agents teams will spend on. That deal would make zero sense of the Sox, you are paying a guy for two seasons that you don't anticipate being competitive and then lose a draft pick that could well be a contributor in your anticipated window of contention. If the Sox give a five year deal, there could not be an opt out. I am not all that interested in Moustakas anyway. He flashed Richard Hidalgo like power last season, but his career numbers don't seem to support that output being sustainable. I am more inclined to wait on Burger and see if he can be a solution rather than dumping a bunch of money and a pick on a guy that has been as inconsistent as they come.

I would look at someone like CarGo on a 1 year deal and see if his health can hold up a bit better alternating at DH with an eye on flipping him at the deadline. I would also check in on Jaime Garcia as another sign and flip guy. Both guys you get to hold spots through July, if they rebound, you deal them to a contender for some assets, if not you waive them in August when/if you need roster space for young guys.

I think the most realistic trade with the Sox and Brewers is a Braun salary dump by the Brewers to clear some payroll space for Darvish. Maybe something like Braun and Hiura or Diaz for Beck and Danish.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Jan 10, 2018 -> 02:11 PM) Basically just replaced Jake Peter lol By the above accounts Rondon plays a good SS, which the Sox really lack in their system other than C Rondon. He gives you a glove first alternative if Anderson is out for any duration of time.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 8, 2018 -> 10:24 AM) Small sample size, but Skoug strikes out far too often for me to have faith he can handle upper minors pitching. It's not as if his defense is standout either. Not bad for where we selected him in the draft, but the flaws seem significant. Its an extremely small sample size, hes only had 65 AB's in A ball, not really even enough time to acclimated to the change from metal to wood bats adjusting to handling an entire new staff of pitchers or any of the other transitions from playing a long college season to pro ball.

This is a great trade for the Sox, dumping Peter for Avilan is a good move as he is a valuable player. Taking on Sorias contract is worth it given the need for bodies in the bullpen. There is a chance that both the players can be flipped for more prospect value than Jake Peters has ever had.

That was pretty anti-climatic, draft Tocci with the pick just to trade him for cash.

Why do people keeping throwing out Fulmers name like he is a tradeable asset? He has been terrible for over a year and has no value in a trade other than as a throw in. The cost will at least be one of Giolito/Lopez/Kopech plus one of Dunning/Hansen/Cease. Acquiring Machado gets you a guaranteed comp pick and a season long negotiating window. Maybe after a season of playing with Moncada up the middle everyday he considers staying to be part of the future.

The Cubs could be a player here, they are allegedly already in talks on moving a SS to San Diego and if they move Schwarber, they could conceivably end up with the players that the O's are looking for plus some extra pieces to replenish their farm. Machado at SS and Baez to 2B would give them a really good shot at getting another ring before their window starts to close.

I think Abreu eventually gets traded. There is no real good reason to sign him to an extension as the team has control of him through the rest of his prime. Extending him beyond his age 33 season seems like a bad idea when you take into account his history of injury and the likelihood of decline from that point forward. Once the Stanton deal is done, teams will move on to Abreu as he is the most interesting RH power bat remaining on the market.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Nov 27, 2017 -> 06:01 PM) But he's only available for 1 additional year past Abreu. I don't think the Sox are planning on him being part of their core, but, if you can get JBJ along with some other pieces for Abreu you have a decent chance getting a lot of surplus value in that deal. You are gambling a bit on JBJ rebounding can put together another season like 2016, you can spin him next winter for a package more valuable than Abreu now.

I don't mind buying low on JBJ as a piece in an Abreu deal. He plays GG caliber defense and is serviceable as a hitter. If he regresses to his 2016 form you have a MVP level player as a core piece or trade chip.

Luzardo, Allen, and Martin thats the ticket for me. Sox need more quality pitching and MI depth.

DFA/Outright - Alburquerque, Covey, Farquhar, May, Putnam Add - Jimenez, Gillaspie, Guerrero, Polo, Peter

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 16, 2017 -> 10:51 AM) He's currently 17, not 20. Yes my bad, the international FA rule used to be 23 with 5 years professional experience, which I was basing the 23 on, which is obviously more than three years. It looks like they changed it to 25 with six years now. So if the Ham Fighters want to give him an 8 year $50M deal that will expire as soon as he reaches free agency eligibility he could still make out really well. And if he busts, he has much more than the $3-$4M he is eligible to get under the international FA rules.

What would stop a guy like Maitan from taking millions to play in the NPB for three years and then come back to play in the majors? That path would create a much larger earning opportunity and he could come back to a Tanaka like deal and not have to go through years of team control and the arbitration process. If he progresses the way that people think, a 23 year old Maitain could get a huge FA deal instead of perhaps entering his second year at the league minimum.

Bullpen guys on short term deals to flip: Ian Krol - LHRP - from Hinsdale Jake McGee - LHRP Huston Street - RHRP Juan Nicasio - RHRP Starting pitcher: Miles Mikolas RHSP - Potential reclamation after excelling in Japan, provides rotation insurance OF/DH Curtis Granderson - If Avi and Abreu are traded, provides a respected clubhouse veteran that can play multiple positions (RF/LF/DH, CF in a pinch) None of these guys should break the bank and outside of Granderson, all have potential that could lead to flipping them to get long term assets back.

Theres probably not a huge market for a corner OF this offseason if you take the Royals and Indians out. Other than that you are probably looking at the Orioles, Cardinals, Giants, and Rangers. The Cardinals have some interesting names like Sierra and Alcantara. The rest of the farm systems are pretty meh.

QUOTE (Latilleon @ Oct 23, 2017 -> 02:50 PM) I was reading USA Today where an article says the Philadelphia Phillies are in the 2nd year of a 25 year, $2.5 billion TV deal. The Sox will be up for renewal after 2019 season. How much money can the Sox realistically fetch? If the Cubs go off and start their own thing, will it help or hamper the Sox? Will the Sox make over $100 million annually? The Sox continually have some of the lowest rated regional telecasts in baseball, which will impair them from getting the type of deal that other people are pointing out here. The Sox will likely see a modest bump to their current $50M/season to around $60M. QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Oct 24, 2017 -> 09:00 AM) Speaking from total ignorance on how these Tv deals are structured, I wouldn't mind the Sox somehow being ahead of the curve and pulling off some deal that makes sense not just for today, but the future landscape.. Meaning - is it possible to work a deal with the Netflix, Hulu, Facebook's of the world along with a TV deal?? I mean, I know absolutely nothing when it comes to this ... just seems that with all the cord cutting and drop in sports ratings that it would be refreshing to be the team that leads some kind of digital charge. Think about how the Cubs grew their fan base through WGN back in the day... they grew it through cable and everybody across the US being able to watch them.. essentially they became America's team this way for people without a market. Is there a way to team up w "new cable" aka digital world? Teams do not own their national streaming rights, those are maintained by MLB and the digital arm of the MLB is printing money right now.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 19, 2017 -> 10:58 PM) 8 divisions of 4 teams wouldn't work in baseball, and they know that. The format above would result in division winners with losing records. It could, but that would be mitigated by playing the teams with the two worst record in each league against the two top WC teams to make sure the best teams are getting to the DLS.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Oct 19, 2017 -> 11:25 AM) It would be another higher-priced starting player in the lineup though as opposed to a 5th outfielder or extra infielder. That's debatable, you could say one more higher priced position player instead of a higher priced SP/RP. If teams free up money at one position they are going to spend it elsewhere to try and compete.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 19, 2017 -> 11:13 AM) What's with the fascination of moving Colorado to the AL? It seems to be a common trend in these proposals. Is it because of Coors Field and the DH? Because in this realignment, the DH would probably be universal anyway. Geography. Any expansion on the west coast likely moves Colorado to a division with midwest teams. It comes down to either the Brewers or the Rockies changing leagues, and the Brewers fought like hell to get out of the AL 20 years ago, and the Rockies would naturally align with the Royals as their states share a border.

Its amazing we are talking about expansion when were so recently discussing the retraction of the Twins and Rays.

I stole this ideas that I like from the comments: AL East: BOS, BAL, TOR, NYY AL North: CLE, CWS, MIN, DET AL Midwest: COL, KCR, HOU, TEX AL West: LAA, OAK, POR, SEA NL East: MON, NYM, PHI, PIT NL South: ATL, MIA, TBR, WAS NL Midwest: CHC, CIN, MIL, STL NL West: ARZ, LAD, SDP, SFG 12 games against each team within division = 36 6 games against each team in league outside of division = 72 3 games against each team in other league = 48 Total = 156 -------------------------------- Going league-less also makes it difficult to bracket the playoffs. Who meets in the World Series? There could be no more LCS's if there aren't leagues. Shortening the season to 156 allow to add another round of playoffs. Series 1 - NL Worst Division winner vs NL Best Wild Card in a 3 game series Series 2 - NL 2nd Worst Division winner vs NL 2nd Wild Card in a 3 game series Series 3 - NL - Best Record vs Series 1 Winner Series 4 - NL - 2nd Division Champ vs Series 2 Winner Series 5 - NLCS between series 3&4 winners Repeat for AL Two additional teams make the playoffs and you avoid really bad division winners from making the LDS when there may be much better wildcard teams.

This is not a good idea. All the runner has to do is maintain contact with the bag. If he chooses to break contact for any reason, he is in play. If players cannot figure out how to stay in contact with a bag through a slide, they should not be rewarded, a popup slide with constant contact to the bag is generally taught in little league. This would also be a disaster to enforce with the different perspectives of umpires and cameras.