Sarava

So regarding Cole and Strasburg. Rich Hahn has said over and over that the money will be spent. We have no reason to think that he isn't telling the truth, so... If the Sox bring their payroll up to 130-150 mil through various trades and free agent acquisitions, and they're kind average for baseball salary-wise... that still leaves all that money they've been banking the last 3-4 years of the rebuild. You know, the money he promised 'that will be spent'. Why can't they give Stras or Cole a huge signing bonus (from the pool of money that will be spent), thus lowering the AAV significantly, to a manageable price that they can afford going forward? Or am I being naive in believing that this banked money will ever leave JR's bank account?

I'm not sure either has a ton of value right now. Some value, sure, but eh... If Lopez can be moved for a nice RFer that has a few years of control left , I'd be all for it.

I would be ok with this if they signed Strasburg or Cole. Then I would understand the budget being stretched and thus going for a cheaper gamble at RF being worthwhile. If the SP they sign is Wheeler or cheaper, then I would expect more resources being throw at RF for a more sure thing.

That's where we hope an extension can happen this winter. Now is the time to act, before he can start to sniff free agency and a potential 250+ mil deal.

OK....but what the Sox really need is a TOR starter, not a #3 starter. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they will target an arm via trade.

Wow, so now we're whiners if we want them to sign Gerrit Cole? It does feel like Sox management looks at their fans as the enemy. I know Steve isn't part of management, but he seems to of taken on the role as their mouthpiece.

There's a third kind of Sox fan. One that wants a better hitter in RF than Jason Heyward is. That proposed deal nukes the Sox's financial flexibility, while not adding premium talent.

Agree. We aren't trading any of our core young studs for a 1 year rental. How does anyone think this is a good idea?

It is bizarre to hear some of these things. They've been given more fan support than they've earned, to be frank about it. You'd think they would be grateful.

The Shark trade looks bad now. At the time, the whole country declared the Sox the winner of the winter meetings that year. While I'll hope for better results, that's the exact kind of aggressiveness I'm hoping to see this winter. I don't want them settling for average players.

Eh, that's just a small part that goes away then. It's the first year of arb for a few guys. Its not like they'll be getting 20 mil per. Oh and LOL - I see you posted the same thing at HF,

But they've never been in this position before. So much talent and so much payroll flexibility at the same time. Unless you count last winter. But we all knew they weren't quite ready to compete a year ago. They are ready now with the right moves.

I know everyone around here is expecting the Sox to be 'on the cheap' once again this winter. You can see it by the roster, trades and free agent signings they keep proposing. But I'm going to hold out hope that they shock us. Jerry did it once before in signing Joey Belle. He can do it again by signing Strasburg or Cole.

Everything does't have to be black or white. There are shades of gray in the world. The Sox spending big money this off-season will greatly improve the chances of winning a World Series. But that doesn't mean they can't win one without spending big cash. There's a lot of talent floating around in this franchise now. One wouldn't be wise to have no expectations, or to give up on them already.

It all goes back to him being cheap. He doesn't want to spend like the Ricketts do or the Red Sox do. But he wants to win on his terms and dollars. That formula probably adds up to a 2nd place team in his head. But it's nuts to say he actually shoots for 2nd place. As CWS said above, he is risk adverse, but that just spins off him being cheap.

With the Cubs on a gentle slide backwards right now, the Sox have a golden opportunity to grab the bull by the horns this winter and take alot of the baseball attention for this city. I really hope they do it. And we should keep in mind, the Sox have 'won' the winter meetings a couple of times in recent years. there was the year signing LaRoche and Robertson and trading for Shark...then the start of the rebuild with the Sale ad Eaton trades. I think they do like the attention big splashes at the winter meetings brings. I'm hoping they go for it again.

I love Moncada, but he's also the kind of player that always gets nicked up and misses some games here or there. You might not see a lot of 155+ game seasons out of him.

That's where signing JD Martinez to a 4 year deal might make sense. It pushes us up beyond 130 right now, but by the time Giolito, Moncada,Robert, etc. are all starting to really get paid, his money will fall off the books. And let's be honest, JD Martinez is a massive improvement not only over the DH debacle the Sox had in 2019, but your trio that would split Catching and DH duties.

Funny, Cole hasn't lost since the Sox beat him in May. But for him not coming here. I've always assumed it is because we are too cheap. What makes anyone think he wouldn't want to come here?

This doesn't go anywhere near far enough filling the DH/RF gaps for my tastes. I do like Wheeler as a fallback, assuming our team is too cheap for the top guns.

It's frustrating that we're all resigned to the reality that our team is too cheap to go after top notch talent. With the lowest committed payroll in baseball, plus living in the 3rd largest city in the country - why are Cole and Strasburg off limits?

I admit that it doesn't bother me as much that we missed out on him as it did about 7 months ago. I still would expect Many to improve going forward, but yeah if you're a Padres fan, there probably is some reason for concern.

I would be on board with this off-season. Though I think Wheeler gets more than 4/70.

Betts has already said he is going to free agency. So are we willing to give up guys like Giolito, Kopech, Robert, Vaughn...for a guy that very likely is gone after 1 season? To me this is an easy answer - no.

"The money will be there" with a photo of Gerrit Cole photoshopped with a Sox hat on.