GREEDY

Would you consider no 2B, RF or SP depth a "need" if the Sox are up against their budget? Obviously, none of us know for sure, but I'd say it is definitely a possibility. I'm ok with trading for a need IF it is a fair swap. I'll also speculate that we could be selling high on his LF defense.

Hypothetical trades are not allowed during "just spend more money" season. Wait until every free agent has signed and the fanbase will be much more eager to approve hypothetical deals. My take: I think the Sox were shopping Vaughn this time last season, they should have a good idea of what his value was then. If he is still similarly valued, I'd trade him for a better fit. I don't believe the Sox will move on from Abreu after this season. Two more years of Yaz needing time at DH. Eloy might need some or all of the at-bats at DH. They have a glut at 1B/DH types. I think when you draft the best college hitter despite him not being a perfect fit, you have to be willing to trade him. BUT if Vaughn has hurt his value since last offseason, and that is entirely possible, I sincerely hope the Sox do not sell low on him.

Interesting timing with 4 years of control left. I'd at least be interested in hearing what kind of extensions the Sox might be floating over the next 2 or so years.

I'd just like to add that the Sox were one hot Lance McCullers away from their defense being THE reason they failed in 2021. The glaring issue was mainly controlling the run game but I'm very hesitant to fill any of our three obvious openings (2B, RF, Backup C) with anything less than an above average defender.

How upset will fans be if the plan is to use Leury and company at 2B and explore an upgrade at the deadline? While racking my brain trying to come up with what kind of return the Mets might want for McNeil I realized that the asking price for any real 2B upgrade might be very high this winter. While it is very possible that similar players could be available at the deadline for essentially just the money remaining on their deal. You also have the luxury of picking a hot hand at the deadline. And waiting gives you the flexibility to audible this summer if there is a more important need. While this strategy absolutely did not work out for us last year, I'm not certain it wouldn't be the correct play this year. Caveat #1: We don't get expanded playoffs, high salary floor or some other major rule change that makes trade deadline deals more difficult. Caveat #2: That we have a budget and can't just sign a top remaining free agent 2B RF, C and SP.

Agreed. In a perfect world. I think the only way the union can make it happen would be increasing the minimum contract required to draft or initially sign a player. Feels much easier than attempting to tight rope walk employment laws and getting kids (players the clubs don't even want to employ) a slightly larger weekly stipend. But even more egregious and actually addressable is Seby Zavala, who has likely worked his entire life towards making the bigs, at 28 years old, only earning 214k dollars last year. The club likely employs dozens of people in the front office, security, advertising etc that all earned more in 2021. Rommy Gonzalez made 64k, Sheets 233k. That is where the union needs to focus, that is, if their agents (who tell them what to do) care about ANYTHING other than how big their total piece of the pie grows.

Trust me, I know. First hand. And the summer college leagues that are popping up are actually a great thing. But are being propped up by kids that are living and playing at publicly funded JUCOs. I feel there will definitely be a backlash against these state run JUCOs acting as a minor league system (for several sports).

If we get our way and those conditions and pay improve, the league will cut MILB dramatically at the first sign of difficult times (probably will regardless). Those affected communities will then put independent clubs in those ballparks and young ballplayers will still line up for the chance to live in a 1bdr apt and eat ramen... on the new unaffiliated team. Nothing will change.

The union better step up and get pre-arb players paid. That is more important than every other issue combined. If those guys start at 2 million it will indirectly force a salary floor, and also cause the mid-tier free agents to look more attractive. Guys making a prorated 500k salary playing in front of millions is an absolute joke. They can't even afford to pay for their families to attend the games. The internet focusing on milb players sharing a 1 bedroom apartment and eating ramen is misguided.

There is a difference though. The foodies are purely speculating. Heyman is told by an agent that he is free to share that those teams checked in on his client.

Love seeing club options on these deals. I've always wondered why they don't push for them on short term deals. If you are going to bet on a guy, and give him opportunity, make sure it pays off if you are correct. What more would it have cost the Sox to have a club option at about 6-8 million on Los for this season? An extra million guaranteed? Rodon got 1/3 last year. It could have looked like this: '21 @ 3 '22 @ 6 ( club option with 1 million dollar buyout) '23 @ 9 (club option with 1 million dollar buyout)

Has anyone dove into Winker's defense? I foolishly thought he was a decent defender because I remembered him playing some CF. Evidently the metrics say he is a poor left fielder so I have no clue how that could possibly work in RF.

I think we all saw you log-on to tell us all to calm down and you hung around long enough to start complaining yourself ?

So which is it? Ok that they haven't done anything, they only need to make a few moves. or A mistake that they haven't done anything?

You can see how his brain works in real time if you read his timeline. Semien signs Googles available 2B Checks who could also use a 2B Send tweet

All these Mets Scherzer grumblings feels like he ignored their deadline and they want everyone to know how much he passed on.

Assuming he stays at 2B... he is a hall of famer if he earns this contract.

I'm guessing our off of 4/75 didn't move the needle.

These deals? I'm talking about only the Robert deal. It was an exact projection of his earnings through 2026 and 20 million for 2027 in exchange for all of it being guaranteed. As bullish as everyone is on Robert (and I 100% understand how uncalculably high the value of 2027 year could be) I'm not sure it was quite the slam dunk that our meatball fans believed. Also, figuring that Robert had received 25 million (set for life money) previously I'm not sure why he was willing to do the deal either. Definitely not a comical take.

That extension happened because the KW/Hahn era had nothing to lose. In a vacuum, if Robert was a failure they likely aren't around to deal with the fallout. If he is a superstar they get one prime year for 20 million (which obviously is so valuable it would be difficult to calculate). Because Robert got such a monster signing bonus I was downright shocked when this deal went down. Never fully understood either side's motivation.

Welcome to "Just spend money SZN" ? If you are bullish on Sheets... and aren't planning a 2022 Jose Abreu goodbye tour.... I don't see how you can be so vehemently against shopping our log jam. I'd hate to sell low on either as both eventually have a chance to be the best offensive player in the league BUT The poor defense (wherever you place any of them) could easily be the story in 2022 if we come up short again. I'm just not sure we can roster 3 bad first basemen, a bad LF, while also rostering having one of the highest paid catchers in the league... 5 guys who all need plate appearances at DH.

Most of our fanbase looks at the likely-hood that the Sox can repeat as central division champs, and seem set on any offseason moves should be directed at trying to set the team up to specifically win games next October... while virtually every other club in the league is ultimately focused on building to win their division. It is a unique situation the Sox find themselves in, one that honestly needs to be taken fully advantage of. I am flirting with the idea that this could present an opportunity to attempt to use these next couple years where they are likely greater than 50% to win the division, to build deeper system and hopefully set the club up for very long term success, way past the current window. Instead of pushing every last chip into the middle (when it might only negligibly help their actual chances of winning a World Series). Fans won't want to hear this but adding Conforto (who I love) would only improve our WS odds by maybe 2%, at the most. Maybe the answer is trading from our major league ready LF/1B/DH log jam for multiple prospects? Or just keeping the Rodon comp pick instead of burning it for the right to outbid the entire league for a free agent? Dealing Kopech and/or Crochet in this weird bridge year where they will possibly both be spent long before October if they are being stretched out to start? Hell, if you want to get really crazy with it you could eat a bad contract (that hopefully would still help the big club this year) and get some young players back in return (something the Sox should have done the entire rebuild). Another positive to using this strategy is if you accumulate young talent, they can then be flipped at a deadline if a move is necessary or if one presents extreme value. If you don't have young talent, you can't make those moves, no matter how obvious they may be. I know this won't be a popular taek but the division being SO soft is really the only thing very unique about the Sox' chances compared to other teams right now and that advantage needs to be exploited. The obvious idea would be to stockpile relievers and platoon players at any cost. I just think it might be a sneaky idea to use these years to try and rebuild the system, when it won't even tangibly change our actual chances to win a World Series.

Detroit gonna look silly when robo umps are calling balls and strikes in 2022, and Zack is back for us there for us, not even bothering to catch the ball with no one on base ?

Would Ketel Marte be an above average defensive RF? I believe so. I'd trade Vaughn + for him if possible. Then sign a second basemen (take your pick based on how much you think Jerry's budget is). Escobar seems the most likely. Then let Engel play RF vs LHP and mix and match Marte all over the diamond. Ketel would provide depth virtually everywhere and with 3 years remaining, his money would be coming off the books just as our core gets expensive and/or hits free agency. He is just too perfect of a fit if you can acquire him for a price anywhere near his proper value and offload some of our 1B/DH backlog. Conforto is very enticing and seemingly still has upside remaining but I'd really hate to hinge our entire offseason on giving up a pick for the right to outbid half of the league for him.

He said he wouldn't get half of what Springer got. For the record.