poppysox

Mediation was the way to go.

I wonder what is taking so long for the players to respond to the owner's latest offer.

I agree with your point that Jose is actually pretty good on defense. He worked hard to become a reliable fielder.

Works for me.

Exactly...we need to maximize the utilization of our minimal resources. My preference, therefore, is to go with Vaugh/Sheets/Engel in RF and use our resources on finding the best 2nd baseman possible.

I agree...it was terrible. Don't say I didn't warn you.

You make it sound like there is no shortage of money or trade chips. I much prefer Marte to Conforto but am happy to take a chance since money seems to be plentiful these days.

You know me...if we sign him I will love him to death until he proves himself unworthy. I personally wouldn't pay $18M because he didn't earn a $5 million raise IMO. However, it's not my money. As long as we upgrade 2nd as well I'm fine. We have this odd situation with Eloy, Vaughn, and Sheets with similar skills being good hitters but certainly average minus defensive skills. I believe Eloy and Vaugh are better than they are given credit for being...especially in LF.

In situations like owners vs union...I only post when my opinion is different than the majority. If I agreed with you...what would be the point. Do you ever notice that when everyone is in agreement the subject dies out after very few posts?

These are negotiations...this is IMO just something to give in on much like DH in the NL. Players never thought they would get early free agency...just something to give in on. It isn't like anyone had to create 180 jobs in the first place.

You don't argue...you just post smiley faces. Apparently, you don't have much to say that you can defend. I will proudly admit to being biased toward WS players and management. I'm a fan.

Well if he gets $18M...I hope it isn't from us. This idea that it isn't fair to look hard and heavy into his 2021 performance is just silly IMO. When one of our guys has a year like his...this board wants to run him out of town on a rail. His .232 ave with 14 HR and 55 RBI is not much better than what sheets did in less than half the at-bats. Both Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche convince me that NL sluggers don't always come back from down years.

Also, 15-20M is out of line for a guy making 12.5M last year and had a crap year.

Gavin will be on the major league team and play regularly against right-handers IMO.

Does Grandal DH when not catching?

If "he's a very poor defender" why would we take him over Vaughn/Sheets?

I know what you are saying... the best front office in baseball IMO.

I agree that I wouldn't have made the deal in the first place. However, I always believe a guy doing this on a full-time basis with knowledgeable staff all around him has got to be better than the fan base. We will see.

True...but I like watching them on MLB.TV and having warm thoughts.

Rick, Ken, and Jerry work so closely that I don't buy saving face enters into the decision. I hated the trade but understood what they were trying to do. The Segura for Kimbrel trade possibility seemed like something possible at the time we resigned him.

I think everyone agrees that Conforto makes sense if we didn't already have Vaughn/Sheets/Engel. Since we only have the resource to pick one high-priced RF or 2B. It's like saying would you prefer seeing Vaughn/Sheets or Garcia play every day.

Our GM could have not picked up his option if he viewed Kimbrel as unmovable for anything other than a bag of balls. It seems reasonable to give a long-serving GM the benefit of the doubt that he knows the market better than anyone posting here.

I agree. Everything I read calls Conforto an above-average bat and passable right fielder. The Sheets/Vaughn/Engel "combo platter" would be considerably better than "above average" IMO. The "combo platter" would give us a similar defense as Jermayne Dye. Not great but I'll take it if we can get a massive upgrade at 2nd and pitching.

I'm saying that a payroll % as a stand-alone piece of data doesn't really tell us anything. What does it mean that clubs like the Yankees and Dodgers have tremendous profits and other clubs make next to nothing? How do we take that info and turn it into something useful for getting an agreement that needs to work for everyone?

Why do you care what % of revenue is player payroll? Some teams pay a higher % of revenue for the rent than others. Some teams have more extensive scouting, FO, pay their mgr. & coaches more than some others, etc. I think the Yanks probably have a lower % of payroll to revenues in spite of the higher total payroll cost. When we look at the WS I have no idea what JR pays the groundcrews, the electric company, the uniform supplier, or the fireworks company. We need to see the individual P&L's for each club to make all these judgments about how cheap the owners are. I am personally bothered most by the huge disparity between the minimum salary and the $40M player.