Offseason Stuff

[CSF77]

Can you hear me from your high horse? Sale's value can't increase unless he plays. But if he plays, every pay period he has goes against Boston's payroll for the CBT Tax. So if he get's two months in, that's about 10 million they have to absorb and hope they find a buyer. That essentially is what they'd have to pay to get the entire year from Q. Boston is in a financial crunch.

Boston is a first class organization. Being one, they know they have no apparent shot in 2020 and might not have one in 2021. But to have one in 2021, they have to make cuts this year. You claim Sale's value is at its lowest. I counter it's the only thing that makes him truly tradeable. If he were at 100% ace level, it'd be insane to trade him with so many years of control left. Price doesn't produce for his price tag. Boston would have to cover 10-15 M per to get even a bag of baseballs back for him. At that point, Boston gains nothing. Could they find a team will to take Martinez's remaining deal? But unless an NL team thinks he can play the OF, they only have AL teams to talk too. That would reduce it to teams that want to be title contenders. Tampa doesn't spend like that. The Yankees are set. Houston might be interested.

The question Boston has to answer is they want to keep their current investments and rebuild by trading Betts and others or they do what they can to shed those current high dollar contracts for players who have value.

 

[CSF77]

Did you even look at the spread sheet?

They are 56M under tax in guaranteed contract. This can be dealt with in Arb cases and back filling with league min deals.

Even Mookie. They can trade him for prospects while his value is high.

I'll disagree with you on trades in general

Boston gave up 2 top 100 prospects for him and then extended him. When. Healthy he is a top 5 MLB starter in baseball and a cy-young every year.

There is no way that they are going to toss it away after the first bump in the road. Teams just don't do this. You don't see the Nat's going 911 when Scherzer got injured. LAD didn't go 911 with Kershaw. They know that these guys are the top tier and even playing at a lower capacity are still top 1/2 of every day starters in baseball.

So no I completely disagree with you.

On Price I'll give in. 32 mil is too much for what he brings.

 

[anotheridiot]

Can you hear me from your high horse? Sale's value can't increase unless he plays. But if he plays, every pay period he has goes against Boston's payroll for the CBT Tax. So if he get's two months in, that's about 10 million they have to absorb and hope they find a buyer. That essentially is what they'd have to pay to get the entire year from Q. Boston is in a financial crunch.

Boston is a first class organization. Being one, they know they have no apparent shot in 2020 and might not have one in 2021. But to have one in 2021, they have to make cuts this year. You claim Sale's value is at its lowest. I counter it's the only thing that makes him truly tradeable. If he were at 100% ace level, it'd be insane to trade him with so many years of control left. Price doesn't produce for his price tag. Boston would have to cover 10-15 M per to get even a bag of baseballs back for him. At that point, Boston gains nothing. Could they find a team will to take Martinez's remaining deal? But unless an NL team thinks he can play the OF, they only have AL teams to talk too. That would reduce it to teams that want to be title contenders. Tampa doesn't spend like that. The Yankees are set. Houston might be interested.

The question Boston has to answer is they want to keep their current investments and rebuild by trading Betts and others or they do what they can to shed those current high dollar contracts for players who have value.

I dont know why anyone thinks Boston cant afford to be over the luxury threshold, they own their own network for christs sakes.

 

[Castor76]

Did you even look at the spread sheet?

They are 56M under tax in guaranteed contract. This can be dealt with in Arb cases and back filling with league min deals.

Even Mookie. They can trade him for prospects while his value is high.

I'll disagree with you on trades in general

Boston gave up 2 top 100 prospects for him and then extended him. When. Healthy he is a top 5 MLB starter in baseball and a cy-young every year.

There is no way that they are going to toss it away after the first bump in the road. Teams just don't do this. You don't see the Nat's going 911 when Scherzer got injured. LAD didn't go 911 with Kershaw. They know that these guys are the top tier and even playing at a lower capacity are still top 1/2 of every day starters in baseball.

So no I completely disagree with you.

On Price I'll give in. 32 mil is too much for what he brings.

Half of the 56M is going to Mookie, or thereabouts. How many slots on the 25 man are filled with that money open? Yeah, I looked at the spreadsheet. Where do you think I got them being in the 215-220M if they do nothing but fill from within? They can decline a few options, not give guys arbitration, and DFA some guys, but anything they do like that is them giving up not just 2020 but most likely through 2022. They're not getting rid of Price unless they go fire sale and blow it all up. Sale is top of the line. Boston in'ts going anywhere this season unless they they say **** it and pay through the nose. Kind of what LA did for a few years and got nothing to show for it.

 

[Castor76]

I dont know why anyone thinks Boston cant afford to be over the luxury threshold, they own their own network for christs sakes.

And yet all the talk about them is having to cut payroll to get under the tax. But the are now in their 2nd season paying the tax. Paying for a third does get mighty expensive.

 

[knoxville7]

I think this is what they'll do with Bryant.

Yeah, they pretty much have to at this point. Then try and pair two of the lesser position players(Happ/almonds come to mind...even though I think they would miss almoras defense) to acquire some bullpen help

 

[CSF77]

Red Sox To Hire Chaim Bloom
By Jeff Todd | October 25, 2019 at 4:01pm CDT

4:54pm: Brian O’Halloran will be promoted from assistant general manager to general manager, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link).

4:01pm: The Red Sox have “finalized” an agreement to bring aboard Chaim Bloom as their next baseball operations chief, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Bloom will take the title of chief baseball officer, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweeted. Financial details remain to be seen.

It’s a fascinating hire for the Boston organization, which cut loose veteran exec Dave Dombrowski late in a disappointing 2019 season. Though Dombrowski helped deliver a World Series title, ownership decided it wanted a new direction — and went on to steer into a decidedly new-school course by hiring Bloom.
The Red Sox certainly got an up-close look at Bloom’s handiwork with the Rays. His Tampa Bay outfit ran past the 2018 World Series champs, pacing them by a dozen games despite carrying a payroll into the season that was barely more than a quarter of the war chest deployed by the Sox.

Boston’s last run with an analytically minded front-office leader didn’t end quite as hoped, with the Ben Cherington-built rosters delivering gloom as much as glory. But the allure is obvious. One of Bloom’s predecessors in Tampa Bay, Andrew Friedman, has since moving to Los Angeles shown convincingly that an efficiently managed large budget can produce perennial high-end performance at a profit-minded price.

It was a rather tidy hiring process for the Red Sox, who trusted a four-person executive team with many notable decisions this winter while lining up Bloom for the job. No doubt the organization already knew at least its general direction with the hiring. Bloom long seemed a clear possibility, particularly after narrowly missing on a few top baseball ops gigs last winter. The 36-year-old comes with an impeccable resume and widespread respect in the industry. Interestingly, he was the only outside candidate to interview for the post, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

Bloom will jump into an organization that already has a built-out, modern front office infrastructure. No doubt he’ll tweak the organization to suit his preferences, but this isn’t a fixer-upper situation. That’s also the case on the roster, which features the sort of talent that … well, the kind that won a World Series just one year ago.
There’ll be plenty of work to do for Bloom and his new charges, right out of the gates. He’s not going to blow things up or drop the bottom out of the payroll. But there are plenty of clear signs that the organization will task the new baseball ops head with paring salary — which means making some tough choices about who stays and who goes.

One big question will be answered without input from Bloom and the Sox: the status of J.D. Martinez, who can opt out of his contract. Good as he is, the club surely would love to regain a whole lot of financial flexibility in one fell swoop. Otherwise, Bloom will need to look hard to some of its spendier pieces — Jackie Bradley Jr., perhaps even Mookie Betts — as trade candidates.

It doesn’t appear that Bloom will have much free capital to work with to add talent. But that’s precisely the challenge he was brought in to take on. Bloom will be working to fill needs — on the right side of the infield and in the bullpen, at a minimum — in a creative manner. Fortunately, there are loads of veteran free agent options in both areas, many of whom figure to be had for relatively low cost. And Bloom will no doubt take a long look at other cost-efficient possibilities. If he does a particularly good job of supplementing an immensely talented core that could still rise back up, a return to serious contention in 2020 cannot be ruled out.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

 

[CSF77]

Half of the 56M is going to Mookie, or thereabouts. How many slots on the 25 man are filled with that money open? Yeah, I looked at the spreadsheet. Where do you think I got them being in the 215-220M if they do nothing but fill from within? They can decline a few options, not give guys arbitration, and DFA some guys, but anything they do like that is them giving up not just 2020 but most likely through 2022. They're not getting rid of Price unless they go fire sale and blow it all up. Sale is top of the line. Boston in'ts going anywhere this season unless they they say **** it and pay through the nose. Kind of what LA did for a few years and got nothing to show for it.

year/$20M (2019)

• re-signed by Boston 1/11/19 (avoided arbitration)
• award bonuses: $100,000 for AL MVP ($75,000 for second in vote, $50,000 for third). $100,000 each for WS MVP, LCS MVP. $50,000 each for All Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

Which is they reason why his name is coming up in trade blogs a lot now. Him and Bryant are going to be he hot topics this off season.

Jackie Bradly is due 11 mil. He is a DFA candadate.
Betts is going to get 20M plus. It is close to 100% certain that they trade him in his last year of control. Or they extended him.

But the key is JD, If he opts out then they all of a sudden have a ton of net worth to explore in Betts in a extension.

So I expect JD to sit on his deal. The market for a DH sucks. So Betts gets traded and Bradley gets the DFA boot. That makes 56 Mil go much further.

 

[Steve_A]

Red Sox To Hire Chaim Bloom
By Jeff Todd | October 25, 2019 at 4:01pm CDT

4:54pm: Brian O’Halloran will be promoted from assistant general manager to general manager, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link).

4:01pm: The Red Sox have “finalized” an agreement to bring aboard Chaim Bloom as their next baseball operations chief, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Bloom will take the title of chief baseball officer, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweeted. Financial details remain to be seen.

It’s a fascinating hire for the Boston organization, which cut loose veteran exec Dave Dombrowski late in a disappointing 2019 season. Though Dombrowski helped deliver a World Series title, ownership decided it wanted a new direction — and went on to steer into a decidedly new-school course by hiring Bloom.
The Red Sox certainly got an up-close look at Bloom’s handiwork with the Rays. His Tampa Bay outfit ran past the 2018 World Series champs, pacing them by a dozen games despite carrying a payroll into the season that was barely more than a quarter of the war chest deployed by the Sox.

Boston’s last run with an analytically minded front-office leader didn’t end quite as hoped, with the Ben Cherington-built rosters delivering gloom as much as glory. But the allure is obvious. One of Bloom’s predecessors in Tampa Bay, Andrew Friedman, has since moving to Los Angeles shown convincingly that an efficiently managed large budget can produce perennial high-end performance at a profit-minded price.

It was a rather tidy hiring process for the Red Sox, who trusted a four-person executive team with many notable decisions this winter while lining up Bloom for the job. No doubt the organization already knew at least its general direction with the hiring. Bloom long seemed a clear possibility, particularly after narrowly missing on a few top baseball ops gigs last winter. The 36-year-old comes with an impeccable resume and widespread respect in the industry. Interestingly, he was the only outside candidate to interview for the post, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

Bloom will jump into an organization that already has a built-out, modern front office infrastructure. No doubt he’ll tweak the organization to suit his preferences, but this isn’t a fixer-upper situation. That’s also the case on the roster, which features the sort of talent that … well, the kind that won a World Series just one year ago.
There’ll be plenty of work to do for Bloom and his new charges, right out of the gates. He’s not going to blow things up or drop the bottom out of the payroll. But there are plenty of clear signs that the organization will task the new baseball ops head with paring salary — which means making some tough choices about who stays and who goes.

One big question will be answered without input from Bloom and the Sox: the status of J.D. Martinez, who can opt out of his contract. Good as he is, the club surely would love to regain a whole lot of financial flexibility in one fell swoop. Otherwise, Bloom will need to look hard to some of its spendier pieces — Jackie Bradley Jr., perhaps even Mookie Betts — as trade candidates.

It doesn’t appear that Bloom will have much free capital to work with to add talent. But that’s precisely the challenge he was brought in to take on. Bloom will be working to fill needs — on the right side of the infield and in the bullpen, at a minimum — in a creative manner. Fortunately, there are loads of veteran free agent options in both areas, many of whom figure to be had for relatively low cost. And Bloom will no doubt take a long look at other cost-efficient possibilities. If he does a particularly good job of supplementing an immensely talented core that could still rise back up, a return to serious contention in 2020 cannot be ruled out.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Seems like they'll be looking to salary dump.
Think Jed will be in a similar position if he succeeds Theo.

 

[Steve_A]

I WOULD RIP MY DICK OFF IF PRICE WAS A CUB

3 comments above?

 

[CSF77]

Seems like they'll be looking to salary dump.
Think Jed will be in a similar position if he succeeds Theo.

Honestly if they try to offload Mookie's last year I hope Jed offers Amaya, Almora (to back fill Bradley's DFA) and a MLB ready arm to help with their pen issue. It most likely will take Davis also and that part is under debate. If Mookie signs a extension then yes on Davis added. No then pass. Maybe add a arm like Miller at best for 1 year of control then.

They most likely will want 2 top 100 prospects. But IMO if Mookie says that he is going FA regardless most teams will avoid giving up that much on a 1 year rental when all he costs is cash the following.

 

[Steve_A]

Honestly if they try to offload Mookie's last year I hope Jed offers Amaya, Almora (to back fill Bradley's DFA) and a MLB ready arm to help with their pen issue. It most likely will take Davis also and that part is under debate. If Mookie signs a extension then yes on Davis added. No then pass. Maybe add a arm like Miller at best for 1 year of control then.

They most likely will want 2 top 100 prospects. But IMO if Mookie says that he is going FA regardless most teams will avoid giving up that much on a 1 year rental when all he costs is cash the following.

What in the world are you talking about...
The team will not part with Davis at all.

Make up your darn mind about whether the team should be all in or not.
You keep on going back and forth making everyone here pissed off.

Like how no one agreed about acquiring Price.

 

[CSF77]

The team will not part with Davis at all.

It depends on the return. He is in A ball still. He is still very raw. And 19 still. We are not talking about Roberts from the Sox who is a top 10 prospect and in AAA. We are talking about a kid not in the top 100 and 4 years out.
So not tradeable? not at all. He is a gamble right now and the right deal came up Theo will jump. He is playing in a window. Not worrying about 4 years down the road. He might be on the next project at that point.

Make up your darn mind about whether the team should be all in or not.
You keep on going back and forth making everyone here pissed off.

Because that is not set in stone right now. Theo has not laid out a real plan yet. So yes no one knows what he will do. Hiring Ross was a huge what are they doing? He has no experience managing at all. So to expect him to just make this team go to the promise land is a fairy tale.

So When I post I am thinking about this from a few perspectives. If they go all in who do they go for. or are they resetting this year and figuring out who they trade or extend and winning is not the main goal.

I have some gut feelings about it. I really feel that this year is more of see what happens and they are going to get some youth adjusted in the first half. If they are in it then they will make some deals.

That is what I'm feeling right now. Theo will check the market on Baez and Bryant. If he gets a great offer then he will pull the string because bring Ross in means there is not this huge demand to win now. Bring in Joe would have ment invest and all in. That is why I believe he was not picked.

So I guess that is why I am leaning towards they are not all in this year and are doing a reboot. If they over achieve then it will be addressed in June-July.

And to be honest. They invested to max tax. And missed the play offs all together. They need to do a reboot here,

 

[Steve_A]

It depends on the return. He is in A ball still. He is still very raw. And 19 still. We are not talking about Roberts from the Sox who is a top 10 prospect and in AAA. We are talking about a kid not in the top 100 and 4 years out.
So not tradeable? not at all. He is a gamble right now and the right deal came up Theo will jump. He is playing in a window. Not worrying about 4 years down the road. He might be on the next project at that point.



Because that is not set in stone right now. Theo has not laid out a real plan yet. So yes no one knows what he will do. Hiring Ross was a huge what are they doing? He has no experience managing at all. So to expect him to just make this team go to the promise land is a fairy tale.

So When I post I am thinking about this from a few perspectives. If they go all in who do they go for. or are they resetting this year and figuring out who they trade or extend and winning is not the main goal.

I have some gut feelings about it. I really feel that this year is more of see what happens and they are going to get some youth adjusted in the first half. If they are in it then they will make some deals.

That is what I'm feeling right now. Theo will check the market on Baez and Bryant. If he gets a great offer then he will pull the string because bring Ross in means there is not this huge demand to win now. Bring in Joe would have ment invest and all in. That is why I believe he was not picked.

So I guess that is why I am leaning towards they are not all in this year and are doing a reboot. If they over achieve then it will be addressed in June-July.

And to be honest. They invested to max tax. And missed the play offs all together. They need to do a reboot here,

Thank you for explaining yourself better.
Agree that team looks to be in a lot more flux than recent seasons.
I'm guessing as well that bringing in Ross probably means that they'd like to bring in a love-able guy to soften the blow of upcoming non contending or status quo seasons.

 

[Steve_A]

And yet all the talk about them is having to cut payroll to get under the tax. But the are now in their 2nd season paying the tax. Paying for a third does get mighty expensive.

Did the front office hire a love-able Ross to lessen the blow of rebuilding or a status quo seasons to come?

 

[CSF77]

Thank you for explaining yourself better.
Agree that team looks to be in a lot more flux than recent seasons.
I'm guessing as well that bringing in Ross probably means that they'd like to bring in a love-able guy to soften the blow of upcoming non contending or status quo seasons.

A prediction is they trade Bryant. Extend Baez.

Alozay they push to the 5. They could also start Chatwood with the vision of being sellers and sell Q and Chatwood. This makes sense in a reboot. The back fill with Mills and Alozay in the 2nd half. They did this in 2014 with Jake and Kyle. Worked out fine.


If you really think about it a soft reboot is the right choice here. Bryant Chatwood and Q should get a few decent returns that will help reduce overhead. Attack it with pitching returns and a potential lead off. Then work on locking up contract.

Done right this is a quick turn over and 2021 they are back in it with a better feel of what they need to add in the off-season.

 

[Steve_A]

A prediction is they trade Bryant. Extend Baez.

Alozay they push to the 5. They could also start Chatwood with the vision of being sellers and sell Q and Chatwood. This makes sense in a reboot. The back fill with Mills and Alozay in the 2nd half. They did this in 2014 with Jake and Kyle. Worked out fine.


If you really think about it a soft reboot is the right choice here. Bryant Chatwood and Q should get a few decent returns that will help reduce overhead. Attack it with pitching returns and a potential lead off. Then work on locking up contract.

Done right this is a quick turn over and 2021 they are back in it with a better feel of what they need to add in the off-season.

The one thing I will say again is the next and following free agent SP class is barren. Better pick up Cole if possible now since Bauer is the only okay option past this year.

 

[CSF77]

The one thing I will say again is the next and following free agent SP class is barren. Better pick up Cole if possible now since Bauer is the only okay option past this year.

If they do I would think it would be Wheeler as their high end play. Jake Odorizzi is another good pick up at that 2nd tier starter.

With Ross signing I don't see them going after Cole.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

If they do I would think it would be Wheeler as their high end play. Jake Odorizzi is another good pick up at that 2nd tier starter.

With Ross signing I don't see them going after Cole.

signing cole doesn’t have to mean they are going all in next year. It could be setting up for a year or two out with a rotation of Cole, Marquez, Darvish, Hendricks and maybe an arm you get for Bryant. I don’t think you pass up a TOR arm when it’s available because you don’t think next year is your year.

 

[anotheridiot]

A prediction is they trade Bryant. Extend Baez.

Alozay they push to the 5. They could also start Chatwood with the vision of being sellers and sell Q and Chatwood. This makes sense in a reboot. The back fill with Mills and Alozay in the 2nd half. They did this in 2014 with Jake and Kyle. Worked out fine.


If you really think about it a soft reboot is the right choice here. Bryant Chatwood and Q should get a few decent returns that will help reduce overhead. Attack it with pitching returns and a potential lead off. Then work on locking up contract.

Done right this is a quick turn over and 2021 they are back in it with a better feel of what they need to add in the off-season.

Bryant, Chatwood and Q would only get decent returns from desperate teams, especially when KB wins his grievance. We can hope we get someones Gleybor for the lot of the three of them, but I doubt anyone is gonna be that stupid. We gotta believe San Diego is out of Bryant after signing Machado unless he is ticketed for the outfield. They still have the richest farm, and maybe Bryant would want to sign long term back home.

Seriously, Chatwood, Alzolay, Mills, Rhea and the Graverman investment should be able to find a 5 and a 6. Yeah, I would love to see a 6 man rotation, especially since how many relievers can you use a game when they gotta face 3 hitters, Lester getting older (while some here are considering him and his ego as a 4 or a 5?