SCCWS

Exactly. Bad gambles are just part of their roster structure.

But this is not new. Panda in Boston, Ellsbury in New York, Barry Zito in SF, and Ryan Howard in Philly to name a few. Many teams just move on to the next target especially the big spenders.

Just a numbers thing. It would be interesting if we hear more about the overall process. To me, $118Mil seems like an odd number especially if the White Sox offered $125. It almost seems like the $118 was topping a $115 offer from someone. Maybe Sox were at $100, someone else was at 115 and Phils went to $118. Sox then went to $125? Maybe I am way off, but I would have thought $120 would have been the counter if Phils knew he was hoping to go to Philly. Maybe everybody offered $100 and the $18 and $25 are all incentives added.

If you don't like a poster, don't read his posts. Totally trashing him is very childish.

Not for $5 Mil. I disagree. When you are signing a $100 Mil contract, 5Mil is not a major chunk. Tax rates are different in each state. So are cost of living expenses. So is where their family lives. If you are talking $15+ Million difference , I would agree the money decides. But not $1 mil per year, I think other factors like AL/NL, playoff potential, manager/pitching coach, roster etc can all be factors if the two offers are pretty close.

Agree. I am saying if he is weighing pretty comparable AL vs NL deals.

I wonder if a guy like Wheeler would prefer to stay in NL because of no DH and being familiar w the hitters or would he prefer the AL because the hitters would not be as familiar w his stuff.

We do now. Thanks

Agree, that to me is a serious over-pay. But he is only 30, healthy and always gives a team 30+ starts. It may be that the pitching pricing is really high this year. Angels must be banking on a rejuvenation away from Fenway.

I agree but then find it strange they couldn't move him in a trade. Maybe the 410 Mil + a prospect was the turn-off.

I doubt it. Think Marketing 101. An organization looking for all the media spotlight they can get would not combine 2 events in one. Lawyers are probably still crossing t's and dotting i's.

Has Nova "left the building" or is he still a candidate for the 2nd SP? I assume the best option for the 2nd SP would be a LH.

I would agree that the Red Sox will want Cease + for Betts. As I said previously, they won't want Vaughn based on their existing prospects nor Madrigal bases on the fact they promoted last year's top prospect who plays 2nd. I say pass on Betts but maybe Vaughn or Madrigal for a stud AA/AAA OF prospect would be worth exploring. That is assuming Hahn does not see what he wants in FA.

Boston will not want Vaughn. Their top two positional prospects are both IB, one in AAA and the other one in A. My guess if they trade him, will be for starting pitching.

Agree but Eloy is still out in LF and by 21 or 22 it may turn out he needs to DH. If he progresses in the field then no problem. But what happens if he gets worse?

That looks ideal. But I was looking at the wear and tear of catching. Grandal breaks down most years so I think if he drops down from 130 to say 100 and is the DH for 30-40 that might be ideal for him and the team.

Grandal needs to but is there any way he is willing to give up the high(130ish ) number of games he catches. Maybe moving to an AL team and DH would placate his desire to play so many games for a catcher.

I think $25 per year is really high for him. I think $20 will be the max but some team may get desperate

But NL vs AL. Got to pay an NL pitcher more since they also bat.............................................

I think that would get him. Corbin got $23 and Eovaldi got $17. I think Wheeler at $20 is a good number.

Understood. But a Grandal/McCann catching duo leaves very little catching opportunities for Collins.

I follow your thinking. I also think Grandal is farther down the FO wish list than many posters seem to think.

So if they sign Grandal, you would see them moving McCann?

As the backup or the 3rd catcher?

McCann 's 2nd half numbers other than HR/RBI dropped during the 2nd half. The 1st half as you say may very well be a fluke. But Grandal 's 2nd half numbers drop almost every year he has played. In his case, I think he plays too many games (130ish) and he wears out. The AL affords him the chance to play less and DH on the days he doesn't catch. But I thought I saw something that he insists on catching a lot of games.