MiddleCoastBias

The amount of energy we've collectively put into discussing "Cease to the Orioles" in our two threads while nothing new has happened is staggering. My main takeaway is that they're on page 141 of their thread while we're on 149. We must not lose the Thread Wars to those jamokes, we must maintain our lead!

Still Jon Morosi.

I propose a 3 for 2 trade, where we receive three Red Sox posters for two Orioles posters.

He was always in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame induction weekend. He'd set up a table on the sidewalk advertising "Frank Thomas autographs beginning at [time]" (this is a common thing for others players that played on the same team as the players that are getting inducted that weekend). You could tell who was making their first trip out for an Induction weekend as they lined up an hour in advance. He was always a good sport about it and had fun, saying he was the original Frank Thomas and that ours was the *other* Frank Thomas. Anyway, RIP to that guy.

*Gonzo/Charles Dickens voice* "And Frank Thomas, who did NOT die,"

Seems like Nashville and Oakland are the favorites. While Charlotte would be cool, it seems MLB wants to balance things out west more. I believe Oakland negotiated that they get the right to an expansion team if the Athletics do move to Vegas, and I think they're requesting to retain the Athletics name and colors as well. I don't think that proposal has been accepted yet but last I read is that Oakland was insisting on that in negotiations. Also feels like Nashville is a foregone conclusion at this point, what with their grassroots effort to set that foundation in advance of any expansion talks.

https://x.com/martinonyc/status/1736419509525742021?t=YfE3pKTyLoOhJWfT76ZokQ&s=09 Doesn't sound promising for the Yankees

See: Blake Rutherford. A week or two back I defended a Volpe/Dominguez trade prop, but then promptly remembered the Blake trade and how their prospects tarnish quickly.

Pain.

Every time I see a Bruce "scoop" tweet, it takes me three or four read-throughs to determine if it's the parody account or not.

Who was it yesterday that was talking about how smart the Braves are and how they're going to stick someone else with Stassi's contract? Kudos. Just didn't expect it to be us.

Man, imagine being a Jays fan watching this all unfold today, thinking it was happening. It's like us when Machado had that custom black mitt made, or when he was seen in the batting cages with what looked like a Sox hat in blurry photos, or when Hector said the deal was done, or Harper's name was on the banner in the United Center, or that photo of Harper wearing a Sox hat from years ago resurfaced, or

There's no way the Yankees would part with Volpe and Dominguez for two years of Cease. Volpe is one year removed from being a top-10 prospect in all of baseball, and Dominguez was looking to crack the top-50 last year before tapering off a bit. Personally, I would kill for Volpe and Dominguez for Cease, but it ain't happening.

Meanwhile the Braves have also acquired Bummer, Reynaldo, and Leury Garcia. Baseball is weird.

Narrator: "It was the mushy middle."

I'm curious what the "hit" rate is in getting, say, #3 in 2024 and #10 in 2025 vs. #7 2024 and #1 2025. Seems to be the latter option would have a better chance at landing on guys with the greater chance of success.

"Can you imagine a rotation of Giolito, Flaherty, Soroka, Toussaint, and Fedde, with Kopech in the bullpen?" - 2019 Soxtalk Picking up a bunch of former first rounders feels reminiscent of our attempts at all of those outfield reclamation projects, though in this case we're cobbling together an entire rotation of them.

Feel like they would've just worked a 3-team deal if that was the goal

Looks like he's only under contract for this next year at $23M and then he's a FA. I want him to be good for the sake of fun baseball, but hope he turns into Jacoby Ellsbury for a year if he goes to NYY.

That's a good thought too, I like that.

Right, sometimes there are teams that want to make a move before someone else sets the market for them. Others may see these initial deals for pitchers (Severino 1/$13M, Reynaldo 3/$39M) and realize they're going to be priced out and need to get one of the best pitchers on the trade market.

I wonder if we can get India out of them? /gr

Did he say why he wouldn't want to play for the Sox?

Honestly, I'm not sold on trying to fix 2B and RF with guys that immediately slot in as 25 or 26 year olds. As much as I've hated the inevitable that we'll sign Merrifield, I'm viewing this next year as a wash. If he signs for a year as a bridge while we get some other younger guys in and give them more time to develop, that might have more value in the long run, even if 2024 is putrid.