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Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19719 Location: Cumberland, RI
Re Mookie: Henry sure can afford to pay over the various tax thresholds, but you can't force a player to sign. Mookie was going to go to free agency after an abbreviated 2020 season, and chances are a team with a better supporting cast (like LAD) was going to give him an equal or better deal, and he was going to go there. He wasn't going to give the Sox a hometown discount, nor should they expect him to give them one. As chud said, the tax system and other aspects of the system sucks, but the writing was on the wall after 2019 that staying in Boston wasn't a priority for Mookie.
Re Benintendi: Sure, they could afford to sign him, but they obviously didn't want to. He had a rough 2019, but so did a lot of other players on the team. They could have given him one more year to maybe turn some stuff around, but there were some numbers on him that were just scary--particularly how his speed just disappeared with no uptick in anything else like power. It's one move in many they have to make, and if he turns into an All Star or even just a solid everyday player, and the prospects they got back are busts, then of course they'll have egg on their faces--but those are a lot of what-ifs now.
Also, I do agree that the post-2018 team was mismanaged, but in some ways I think it's a matter of keeping guys around too long rather than dismantling too quickly. Think of it this way: besides Mookie and Benintendi, which players that the Sox got rid of since 2018 would you still want suiting up for them in 2021? For me, the answer is probably Drew Pomeranz, and that's fucking scary.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19719 Location: Cumberland, RI
Norris wrote:
Also I am very much pro JBJ.
Agree. I still hope they resign him, so I wasn't counting him among "players they've gotten rid of," tbh. A significant downgrade in CF defense would be a huge step back.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:44 pm Posts: 9184 Location: Franklin, MA
Simple Torture wrote:
Re Mookie: Henry sure can afford to pay over the various tax thresholds, but you can't force a player to sign. Mookie was going to go to free agency after an abbreviated 2020 season, and chances are a team with a better supporting cast (like LAD) was going to give him an equal or better deal, and he was going to go there. He wasn't going to give the Sox a hometown discount, nor should they expect him to give them one. As chud said, the tax system and other aspects of the system sucks, but the writing was on the wall after 2019 that staying in Boston wasn't a priority for Mookie.
Re Benintendi: Sure, they could afford to sign him, but they obviously didn't want to. He had a rough 2019, but so did a lot of other players on the team. They could have given him one more year to maybe turn some stuff around, but there were some numbers on him that were just scary--particularly how his speed just disappeared with no uptick in anything else like power. It's one move in many they have to make, and if he turns into an All Star or even just a solid everyday player, and the prospects they got back are busts, then of course they'll have egg on their faces--but those are a lot of what-ifs now.
Also, I do agree that the post-2018 team was mismanaged, but in some ways I think it's a matter of keeping guys around too long rather than dismantling too quickly. Think of it this way: besides Mookie and Benintendi, which players that the Sox got rid of since 2018 would you still want suiting up for them in 2021? For me, the answer is probably Drew Pomeranz, and that's fucking scary.
Besides Mookie and Benny? Bradley for one. And it’s not just that they dismantled that team, they have not acquired one player since Dombrowski left with winning major league games in mind. The last couple days I’ve been trying to think of a FA signing that was a player that was even top 100 in WAR since JD, and I don’t think they have.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19719 Location: Cumberland, RI
chud and I talked JBJ above, and I agree--he's undervalued in lots of conversations. I want the Sox to sign him, but if he wants an Ozuna-type contract, I am sure they're not interested and will look for some other option, and I can't blame them.
Your point about them not signing free agents isn't wrong, per se, but the way I read it is exactly how I feel like I've been radicalized slowly over the past 4-5 years: the moves they've been making since October 2019 are designed to win MLB games, but they're not designed to win MLB games right now, because they could certainly sign a top-flight free agent now and still not sniff the World Series. Build the farm system, develop talent, sign and trade when you are one piece away, etc. I know this is stuff you've heard elsewhere, and it is probably very boring to hear--but I am excited to watch at least parts of this team this year (if I can figure out how to steal a NESN stream), and am sure that in a couple of years they'll be much more competitive--or earlier, if things fall into place.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:44 pm Posts: 9184 Location: Franklin, MA
Simple Torture wrote:
chud and I talked JBJ above, and I agree--he's undervalued in lots of conversations. I want the Sox to sign him, but if he wants an Ozuna-type contract, I am sure they're not interested and will look for some other option, and I can't blame them.
Your point about them not signing free agents isn't wrong, per se, but the way I read it is exactly how I feel like I've been radicalized slowly over the past 4-5 years: the moves they've been making since October 2019 are designed to win MLB games, but they're not designed to win MLB games right now, because they could certainly sign a top-flight free agent now and still not sniff the World Series. Build the farm system, develop talent, sign and trade when you are one piece away, etc. I know this is stuff you've heard elsewhere, and it is probably very boring to hear--but I am excited to watch at least parts of this team this year (if I can figure out how to steal a NESN stream), and am sure that in a couple of years they'll be much more competitive--or earlier, if things fall into place.
Yeah but where are the pieces that are going help them win games in the future? Who have they actually brought in during this rebuild? Verdugo? Jeter Downs? They did pretty well in that Workman trade last year, but it’s fucking underwhelming. They aren’t loading this farm system up with prospects, they are just adding bodies they project as platoon guys at best. This isn’t Tampa Bay, you don’t have to just throw a bunch of shit at the wall hoping something will stick because that’s all you can afford to do.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:44 pm Posts: 9184 Location: Franklin, MA
The Yankees spent like the last 4 months of a season rebuilding and with less to trade away, brought in numerous prospects that project higher than anything Bloom has brought in two offseasons.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:44 pm Posts: 9184 Location: Franklin, MA
They could have moved Benintendi or Bradley a year ago in order to keep Betts, moved Price separately in a salary dump and kept the core of that team in tact by adding the building 19 pitching pieces bloom loves around that group.
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