TheFutureIsNear

Yeah if Stone is going to be on his high horse questioning why fans are upset and apologizing for this shitty ownership group he can stay away. Being a company man to a failing company doesn’t even make sense.

Why? SP’s with a pulse start at $8M a year. I realize Rodon’s once very high ceiling is a pipe dream at this point, but giving up on him at this point with the state of this team would be incredibly pointless. Hell who knows, TJ surgery could have been the best thing for Rodon. Even if his arb # was 10M I wouldn’t care. Unless there are some complications from the surgery I’m unaware of, Rodon is easily still capable of putting up the same type of #’s as Odorizzi and Wheeler and people want to give them contracts worth $15-20M per year.

Non tendering Rodon is 1 of the worst opinions I’ve read on this board in a while...and that’s saying something

Odoorizzi has a very Rick Porcello feel to me...without the fluke cy young. He’s going to get way overpaid to throw 180 innings of 4 era ball.

The market on players with picks attached has also been dead...I won’t be shocked either way, but I don’t think Ozuna getting paid is a foregone conclusion at all.

I see the opposite for Ozuna. His #’s are only above average and he will likely be tied to a draft pick with the QO. It won’t shock me if he ends up getting something like 3/48...or just take the QO if he really want to stay in St Louis like has alluded to. mlbtraderumors did a write up on him today and seem to have the same feelings: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/10/free-agent-outlook-marcell-ozuna.html

Power hitting LH bat sure does though...and we need a DH. Not that I know much about this guy, as with everything, the $ will determine if he’s worth a gamble

Do I think Jerry values his profit margin over the Sox winning? Yes. Do I think Jerry is intentionally building 2nd place teams? No way. That is a pretty stupid business model and Jerry isn’t a stupid businessman, like him or not.

While I’m as pessimistic as anyone about the Sox spending big $....if Ozuna isn’t in our price range we all might as well give up hope on ever making a serious playoff run. A great team that is purely home grown with only bargain bin signings is a long shot at best. I’m thinking 3 years/54M with a 4th year as a mutual option for Ozuna. If ownership isn’t willing to spend that, we really are doomed...but even through my negativity I don’t think that’s the case. It’s the $150M+ contracts I have a hard time seeing happen. wasn’t aware of Ozuna having a strong desire to stay in St Louis by the way

Personally I think it would be crazy to make roster moves with the idea that we have the likes of Micker, Basabae, Walker, and Rutherford in the minors...not saying they can’t be good players, but I sure wouldn’t be banking on them anytime soon. I don’t see them as anything more than minor league depth that most teams have. And I honestly haven’t looked at next years free agent class much, but I’m also not holding my breath on the Sox making huge splash signings on star level players. I think we will be looking forward to next year on that signing for a long time. Admittedly it could be my impatience, but I think Ozuna fills holes of exactly what we need...but he will fill the holes well, not great. Not to mention you’d have to question why a 36yo guy like Gardner would choose to be a stop gap on a team with no WS aspirations. He will have options...

I won’t be upset if we sign Gardner, but he seems like more of a stop gap option to me and I’m not sure why the Sox would be interested in that. We’d be looking for a new OF’er again by the time we are ready to truly compete for a WS. Plus do you really trust Gardner’s sudden HR power? I know it seems like pretty much anyone with a pulse can hit 25 nowadays, but also wouldn’t be shocked if Gardner went back to a .360-.370 SLUG%? And while I don’t love Ozuna by any means, I just don’t see many players on the free agent list the Sox can plug into their lineup the next 3 years and get at least above average production out of. Ozuna brings that in both the lineup and OF in my option. Will he likely get overpaid? Probably. But will that $2-3M/year overpay have any impact on the Sox payroll? Highly unlikely.

Who?? Why be oddly secretive about it lol?

Still think a realistic and successful off season starts with Wheeler and Ozuna. Anything on top is gravy to me. Make a minor trade for Travis Shaw and sign 2 low risk/high reward pen arms and I’m a happy fan. I think a lot of you are setting yourselves up for disappointment with the expectations I’m reading...again

My prediction is a random mediocre veteran that we are all going to question

Idk, I guess I’m just not shocked that a team that was unarguably 1 of the least talented teams in the league going into the season ended up as a bottom 5 offense. And then we could go into the fact that our head coach is openly against using analytics...but maybe Steverson was as well, I have no idea about that. Either way it’s not a big deal to me that he was fired, but I just find it odd you are confused why the lineup performed so poorly. I could have broken the news to you that we were going to suck at all those stats before the season even started.

Meh I don’t really care either way because I think hitting/pitching coaches are extremely overrated in modern baseball, but I also don’t really understand the criticism either. A really bad roster resulted in a really bad offense...what was expected out of the hitting coach that you guys didn’t see?

If we want a cheap, LH utility guy with power from the Brewers I think Travis Shaw makes a ton of sense provided the trade price is very cheap...which I imagine it will be. He had 2 years of arb left and was at 4.5M this year, can’t see it going up much considering he was in the minors. Also can’t see the Brewers holding onto him. Not sure what happened to him this year, but 2017 and 2018 he had 30+ hrs with an .820+ OPS. Cant speak to the level of his D, but has played 2B, 3B and 1B recently.

He’s been talked about a little bit, but Howie Kendrick wouldn’t be a bad name to look at for a relatively cheap short term deal. Can play 2B until Madrigal is up and then can shift to a utility role playing 2B/1B/LF. Wade Miley could also be a sneaky very solid signing to stabilize the rotation that won’t break the bank. Edit: just now reading the part about under $5M, that’s tough. Miley will for sure get more. Kendrick will probably be close, but might go a little over

No. Mookie Betts doesn’t win us a World Series this year and ownership isn’t giving him a Trout like deal at any point. So Jake Burger and Carson Fulmer would be the most I’d offer...your move Boston

Sure, if it’s JD or nothing I’m not going to pass on him, but in general it’s not a great idea to paint yourself into a corner with too many guys that can only play 1B/DH. Or if I thought JD would put us over the top into WS contention it would be another story. But we are still pretty far from that so I think overall roster building still needs to be kept in mind. Especially with older vets

Yeah In a perfect world....But We all know this isn’t going to happen.

My bad on Haniger, don’t know why I was so sure he’s LH...still wouldn’t deter me from checking into the price as I think he’s be a great fit regardless and could he had at a discount. Also, I’m not sure why people are afraid to trade prospects. Obviously we need to hold onto the core top 6/7 guys, but to me we tanked to have prospects to use as value chips. Can’t wait on all of them... Also, JD Martinez sounds great in theory, but how would we get either Collins or Vaughn AB’s if we presumably have Jose and JD locked into 1B/DH for 2+ years? Obviously a bat like JD’s would be great, but I dont think it’s a great idea to block 2 recent top 10 picks

I’m sure I can’t be the only 1 chomping at the bit to mock the Sox off season....don’t know if I have the authority to make an “official” thread, but makes sense to keep them all in 1 spot. Anyway, here’s mine: Trade with Mariners: Steele Walker, Gavin Sheets, and Konnor Pilkington for Mitch Haniger Free Agent Signings: Marcell Ozuna, Zack Wheeler, Alex Wood, Travis d’Arnaud, Brad Bach, Collin Mchugh 26 Man Roster by Mid May: CF- Robert 3B- Moncada 1B/DH- Jose RF- Haniger LF- Ozuna DH/LF- Eloy SS- Anderson C- McCann 2B- Madrigal Bench- d’Arnaud, Collins (C/1B/DH), Yolmer, Luery Gio Wheeler Kopech Cease Lopez LH- Wood, Fry RH- Cordero, Brach, McHugh, Marshall Setup: Bummer Closer: Colome Haniger is a LH bat under cheap cost control with good pop and above average D in RF. Coming off a down year and an injury he makes a ton of sense to target. Not sure what his price would be or if anyone would offer a top 100, but I took a stab with what I feel is a solid offer. I know Ozuna isn’t the most popular name here, but to me it’s going to come down to Ozuna or JDM as potential impact bats we have a realistic chance of signing. I chose Ozuna because JD shouldn’t be in the OF and could cause a roster jam with Jose, Collins and Vaughn Wheeler is the best hope for me at SP because I know the Sox aren’t handing out a record setting deal to Cole. Alex wood is a worth a shot on the talent. A role in the pen could also better suit his arm. d’Arnaud is a catcher that is regarded as 1 of the better pitch framers and also has pop. Won’t play a ton, but in order to get Collins AB’s at 1B/DH/ PH we will need a 3rd catcher. Could do worse than d’Arnaud and should be cheap I’d like to do better in the bullpen, but there aren't many great names out there and what is out there will be crazy overpriced. Because I don’t think this is a World Series year, I’m not interested in handing out big bullpen contracts yet. McHugh and Brach have both had success fairly recently and should be had for reasonable deals. If the team is in contention a move for a better RH pen arm at the deadline is always possible Without trying to guess exact contracts I’d say that puts the payroll in the mid 90’s and in position to at least stay in contention in the division.

I’ve actually had the “Sox Guy” feeling about Ozuna...

I guess I just wasn’t factoring Collins as the only backup C all season regardless. Just my opinion of course, but if there’s still questions about his catching ability at this point then he’s probably never going to figure it out as a full time C. Move him to 1B/DH and let the kid concentrate on hitting. That’s where he’s going to prove his value. The lineup could desperately use a guy with Collins’ OBP skills Obviously Grandal would be great, but there are other options as backup catcher. Especially with the extra 26 man on the roster next year. I just don’t want to see another high draft pick flushed down the drain by the Sox...especially without ever seeing him get his shot. Unless he can be packaged for a controlled top 3 starter or quality starting RF.