That's a fair question and why I qualified it with if the reports are true, but Speir is one of the most careful and thorough guys out there, so I just tend to think that there was at least something there. Also, see flymrfreakjar's post above.
If you think Cabrera is more fixable than Rafaela then sure, make that trade. But isn't a Rafaela who can hit a way more valuable piece than a Cabrera who can throw strikes?
They would both be really, really valuable.
Understood that at that point in time it made some sense. Just never passed the smell test for me… opinion not statement. Why on earth would Bloom not make that trade? Because Turner was a leader the team needed? Turner offered something for 2024? Turner wasn’t really an asset you build around…
You acknowledge this in your post, but I often wonder in these leaked/rumored "trades that could have happened" if we actually have the whole trade.
Lou is just using jedi mind tricks on Boras to get him to lower the price to $150M/5 years duh!!!
That’s fair, literally speaking. Although we disagree on “minority”. I suspect we’re at a low ebb in terms of fan interest in the Sox. Likely the lowest level since pre-2003.
I agree with you on your broader point. I do think that Breslow, specifically, has acquitted himself well when answering questions (especially actual baseball questions), but the rest of the FO that has been facing the media is just... not very good at it, and the Boston media is nothing if not exceptional at taking advantage of that.
I think it's kind of a function of the fact that one agent seems to have a monopoly on the pieces that need to fall to get the dominos tumbling. And that agent has positioned himself so that he's usually correct that waiting is the best play. It is what it is.
I also believe Montgomery was realistic as far as fit and potential cost. But the Rangers stuff seems to make it less so. Nobody considered Nola a real option. But does anyone think Nola would have already signed if he was represented by Boras? Boras would have held out to squeeze more out of Philadelphia… at least tied.
I do hope that a bunch of teams blow off his clients specifically to prevent this garbage from happening every year. Sure, Boras has some fancy names in his rolodex, but there are lots of people who can throw a baseball (for a lot less money, and with a lot less mileage on their arms), and playing on Boras' terms will just keep worsening a team's chances of paying a reasonable rate for players. Just tell him, on Feb 1, we are out.
So your argument is that by doing his job well and getting players justly compensated he's the bad guy because owners are cheap and will use that as an excuse not to pay other guys what they are worth? Seems to me Boras is decidedly not the problem in that equation. If you own a baseball team and can't afford it, sell it for a massive profit to someone who will pay the players what they are worth in the free market.
Here’s another one: why should it have?
, the price can’t be going down right? In spite of @chrisfont9’s well intentioned collusion.
I'm not sure it's a done deal, but part of the hold up might be Texas trying to shore up their RSN situation (Bally Sports mess) to get a better handle on their financial situation. Here's the latest on the situation.
Ah, no, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I am saying that Boras’ tactics are bad for GMs planning their rosters, questionable for his clients -- tbd -- and the only clear winner is Boras, assuming he likes getting attention (which is a 20-year pattern or so). If you want to have an entirely separate conversation about how owners are cheap, that's your right. But my point was about how the market works, how one guy doesn't get to manipulate it if the other participants don't let him, and how it's not a market worth rooting for, IMO, if it has a soft cap and the implications of the massive overpays are that it DOES come out of a bunch of other guys' pockets. Maybe you're saying you wish there wasn't a cap or teams should blow past it, but that's for another CBA and not how you can reasonably expect teams to act right now.
I really really don't get why he thinks he wins by this. There aren't a million buyers and the time element is AGAINST his clients, not for it. Teams don't have to pay his guy, but his guy absolutely needs a team, by mid February. The whole "Boras genius" thing has long struck me as really silly media bullshit. He has great clients, that's why they get paid. I guess he's a good recruiter or they are gullible enough to buy into his myth. But a bunch of binders and "I'm different!!" stuff doesn't feel like it should fool any decent GM nowadays.
No shit, right? I mean, everybody loves a winner, but holy hell they are relentless. Well the # 1 song of the off season couldn't be clearer.
They've got 26 players that have agreed to defer being on their roster until 2046.
Good one.
Kershaw isn't likely to pitch until the ASB at the earliest. Paxton might be injured by then
They’re not adding any payroll. They want to be where they are currently ($180 million) this year. Kennedy basically said as much at the Winter Weekend.
Re-signing a guy who made $10 million last year for $11 million isn’t much of an add, but I guess that $1 million is the line in the sand.
He’s not on the current $180 million payroll number. He would bring it to $191. They don’t seem to want to be there.
He had 1.0 fWAR last year—by definition, a difference maker—despite falling apart down the stretch. Velocity was there just seemed to lose his command in last month. Was definitely an upside signing (or else the LAD wouldn’t have done it).
