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Trading for a starting pitcher in 2021-22
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Dec 29, 2021 11:55:10 GMT -5
If he comes reasonably cheaply, I could see that. I can see Bloom playing musical chairs and signing whoever is left over. Yes, Pineda was just the first guy who came to mind. As you put it I think he'll wait out the market and add one more starter as a throw at the wall type of guy. I still think it comes back to Whitlock. When I think of "who on the Red Sox can replace what E-Rod has given the Sox the past several years?", Whitlock is the guy who I think fits the bill the best. And I'm not talking about the guy with a 4.7 ERA. A lot of guys can replace that. I'm thinking the 3.3 FIP from last year and the 3.8 ERA track record E-Rod has established over a long period of time, somebody to stack behind Eovaldi and Sale and start in Game 3 of a playoff series. Whitlock has the minor league starting experience and track record, and the pitch mix to be a starter, one that could be quite effective. Obviously coming off TJS they weren't going to pitch him on consecutive days, but I think the tell will be if they continue to pitch him longer stints and incorporate days of rest instead of treating him like the closer that some speculate him to be. I think Bloom figures that at a very low cost Whitlock can replace E-Rod by year's end. And of course Paxton is assuming the 2021 Chris Sale role. I'm hoping Hill can stay reasonably healthy and effective given that I'm not high on Wacha being an effective pitcher for the Sox - an 8 game sample size doesn't really sway me much - even Perez has stretches like that. I know Wacha ditched one of his worst pitches, but I'm not really convinced about him and think that while he may start off in the rotation I don't think he'll stick there. Maybe you're right - they get a Pineda or somebody as a backup plan. Maybe Pivetta winds up in the pen at some point too. I still haven't figured out Houck yet. He's somebody who could be a nasty late inning reliever, but like Pivetta, he can dominate for 5 innings. It's almost like Pivetta and Houck are interchangeable, although I admit, that I hope Houck can stretch out those longer 5 inning dominant outings and become a starter. One of the keys will be getting effective short relievers so that Houck and Whitlock aren't needed for those roles. How they get Barnes back on track to be one of those short relievers, I do not know. My guess is the rotation going in is: Eovaldi/Sale/Hill/Pivetta/Wacha and by year's end it's Eovaldi/Sale/Whitlock/Paxton/Houck with Houck hitting the bullpen if they get into a post-season series, joining Hill and Pivetta, who I think will be bumped into the bullpen by then (I can see Pivetta becoming a high leverage reliever).
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Post by ematz1423 on Dec 29, 2021 12:15:49 GMT -5
Yes, Pineda was just the first guy who came to mind. As you put it I think he'll wait out the market and add one more starter as a throw at the wall type of guy. I still think it comes back to Whitlock. When I think of "who on the Red Sox can replace what E-Rod has given the Sox the past several years?", Whitlock is the guy who I think fits the bill the best. And I'm not talking about the guy with a 4.7 ERA. A lot of guys can replace that. I'm thinking the 3.3 FIP from last year and the 3.8 ERA track record E-Rod has established over a long period of time, somebody to stack behind Eovaldi and Sale and start in Game 3 of a playoff series. Whitlock has the minor league starting experience and track record, and the pitch mix to be a starter, one that could be quite effective. Obviously coming off TJS they weren't going to pitch him on consecutive days, but I think the tell will be if they continue to pitch him longer stints and incorporate days of rest instead of treating him like the closer that some speculate him to be. I think Bloom figures that at a very low cost Whitlock can replace E-Rod by year's end. And of course Paxton is assuming the 2021 Chris Sale role. I'm hoping Hill can stay reasonably healthy and effective given that I'm not high on Wacha being an effective pitcher for the Sox - an 8 game sample size doesn't really sway me much - even Perez has stretches like that. I know Wacha ditched one of his worst pitches, but I'm not really convinced about him and think that while he may start off in the rotation I don't think he'll stick there. Maybe you're right - they get a Pineda or somebody as a backup plan. Maybe Pivetta winds up in the pen at some point too. I still haven't figured out Houck yet. He's somebody who could be a nasty late inning reliever, but like Pivetta, he can dominate for 5 innings. It's almost like Pivetta and Houck are interchangeable, although I admit, that I hope Houck can stretch out those longer 5 inning dominant outings and become a starter. One of the keys will be getting effective short relievers so that Houck and Whitlock aren't needed for those roles. How they get Barnes back on track to be one of those short relievers, I do not know. My guess is the rotation going in is: Eovaldi/Sale/Hill/Pivetta/Wacha and by year's end it's Eovaldi/Sale/Whitlock/Paxton/Houck with Houck hitting the bullpen if they get into a post-season series, joining Hill and Pivetta, who I think will be bumped into the bullpen by then (I can see Pivetta becoming a high leverage reliever). I know houck hasn't shown yet he can last 5+ innings but in his career his numbers starting are: 16 games started, 75.2 innings which is 4.7 innings a start (not winderful I know, more on that in a second tho) 2.78 FIP, 3.23 xFIP, 11.18 K/9 2.85 BB/9 1.07 WHIP. Yes 4.7 innings per start isn't great but if he pushes that up to 5 thats a heck of a starter for the new way baseball is played. Gone are the days of guys consistently going 6+ innings. I'm hoping they give houck a legit shot to open the season as a starter this year. I know 16 starts isn't a large sample size but it's enough for me to want him to have a legit chance to see if it's sustainable.
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Post by Underwater Johnson on Dec 29, 2021 12:29:27 GMT -5
Yes, Pineda was just the first guy who came to mind. As you put it I think he'll wait out the market and add one more starter as a throw at the wall type of guy. My guess is the rotation going in is: Eovaldi/Sale/Hill/Pivetta/Wacha and by year's end it's Eovaldi/Sale/Whitlock/Paxton/Houck with Houck hitting the bullpen if they get into a post-season series, joining Hill and Pivetta, who I think will be bumped into the bullpen by then (I can see Pivetta becoming a high leverage reliever). Given the number of question marks that surround all eight of those names, whether it's durability or readiness for primetime, I'd sure love to shoehorn the name Castillo or Manaea or Mahle somewhere in there...
I love Whitlock's upside but the fact remains that before his (very carefully managed) breakout last year, he had a grand total of 81 IP at AA and none at AAA. I'd love to see him take that step and be ready for a prominent starting role by September but I'd put the odds around +300. With his relative lack of seasoning and the TJ in late 2019, I think the most likely scenario is that they continue to bring him along slowly in 2022, maybe stretching him out but for shorter starts (with Houck piggybacking?) with extra time between them. If they pull the trigger on a Castillo/Manaea/Mahle, a piggyback spot would make more sense (or maybe one could piggyback with Hill and one with Wacha) and both could be major weapons out of the pen in October.
There's a lot of interesting ways it could go!
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Dec 29, 2021 13:00:39 GMT -5
My guess is the rotation going in is: Eovaldi/Sale/Hill/Pivetta/Wacha and by year's end it's Eovaldi/Sale/Whitlock/Paxton/Houck with Houck hitting the bullpen if they get into a post-season series, joining Hill and Pivetta, who I think will be bumped into the bullpen by then (I can see Pivetta becoming a high leverage reliever). Given the number of question marks that surround all eight of those names, whether it's durability or readiness for primetime, I'd sure love to shoehorn the name Castillo or Manaea or Mahle somewhere in there... I love Whitlock's upside but the fact remains that before his (very carefully managed) breakout last year, he had a grand total of 81 IP at AA and none at AAA. I'd love to see him take that step and be ready for a prominent starting role by September but I'd put the odds around +300. With his relative lack of seasoning and the TJ in late 2019, I think the most likely scenario is that they continue to bring him along slowly in 2022, maybe stretching him out but for shorter starts (with Houck piggybacking?) with extra time between them. If they pull the trigger on a Castillo/Manaea/Mahle, a piggyback spot would make more sense (or maybe one could piggyback with Hill and one with Wacha) and both could be major weapons out of the pen in October. There's a lot of interesting ways it could go!
That's kind of what I mean, a scenario that Whitlock is pitching 2 inning stints regularly for the first two or three months and then at some point he becomes a starter going 3 innings before stretching it to 4 of 5 innings as the season wears on. And I guess that's where my E-Rod comp kind of fails. E-Rod at his best can go into the 7th inning. Whitlock won't be doing that in 2022, but I still think he winds up their best starting option beyond Eovaldi and Sale. Houck was fantastic as has already proven that he can be great for 5 innings, but I think they hold him back a bit as well, pitching him in 2 or 3 inning stints, before putting him back in the rotation. I think they'll do this for Houck, less as a buildup thing, but more as a preservation thing so that his innings wind up around 125 or so rather than 160, kind of a ramp up in innings from last season as opposed to just letting him go start every 5 days, make 32 starts and pitch 160 innings. I do think by 2023 that would be the goal, but they'll probably protect him a bit, which is why they're bringing in all of these starting options. I agree that I'd like to see Manaea or Bassitt give some 160 inning #2/#3 type starter quality to replace E-Rod directly. That would be ideal. I just don't think Bloom blows away the competition to make that happen.
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Post by incandenza on Dec 29, 2021 13:05:08 GMT -5
This from @bradfo this morning: << According to the Chicago-area Daily-Herald, the Red Sox have joined the Angels, Mariners, Yankees and Dodgers as teams interested in signing Carlos Rodón. >> I guess I'm not the only person who thinks BOS is not done shopping for a starter. I highly doubt BOS out bids those other teams! Just because they show interest does not mean they will put out the needed money to get Rodon. I Lol at MLBtrade rumors that they may as well write that every team is interested in every player…… It is just content with them. I don't really know why the Red Sox wouldn't be the top bidder, beyond the fact that with a bunch of teams involved there's no one team that is more likely than not to sign him. They were the top bidder for Richards. They were the top bidder for Paxton. If anything Bloom seems to really like short term deals for injury risk-ish players.
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Post by jimed14 on Dec 29, 2021 13:49:55 GMT -5
I have a hard time wrapping my head around how the Red Sox can keep everyone happy when they already have 8 pitchers projected to start at some point and looking to add another. I know assuming pitching health is foolish, but what if they are all healthy at some point, especially if Houck and Whitlock look great as starters? Pitching out of the bullpen when you are not used to it, does not always go that well.
I imagine that we'll see a lot of planning piggy backing. But that brings me to the point that no one is thinking about. It's the 26th roster spot. If that is sacrificed in the CBA negotiations, this plan does not work at all because teams cannot keep getting 3 inning starts without the extra pitcher in the bullpen.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Dec 29, 2021 13:50:49 GMT -5
It seems clear that the team doesn't want to set up for 2022 counting on either Whitlock or Houck as part of the rotation. There's wisdom to that - if one or both forces their way in, that's a good thing!
Thinking of it that way, I think they're OPEN to signing another true SP, but not necessarily SEEKING to do so. If someone's market craters, then yeah, be there to swoop in. But I don't think Bloom is sitting there saying that they need to find another starting pitcher right now, and that he'd be comfortable starting the year with 5 of the guys currently under contract. He has said they need to get some short relievers, and maybe they do that by adding a SP and pushing Houck and/or Whitlock into that role.
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Post by Soxfansince1971 on Dec 29, 2021 18:52:59 GMT -5
Actually, looking back at Eovaldi's stats, he's been quite good for quite a while now - when he's healthy. He has FIP/xFIP numbers in the 3.30-3.80 range consistently since 2014, except for his injury years of 2016 and 2019. And of course last season was his best yet, with a FIP of 2.79 and an xERA of 3.37. But how do you valuate a guy like that who'll be a free agent going on his age-33 season? Any contract would be high-risk/high-reward. And I agree with others who don't think Bloom is the one who is going to take that gamble. After all, he didn't even do it with a 27-year-old Eduardo Rodriguez. I’d be fine with letting him walk. I mean… sad, cause I like him, but I’d get it. But this talk of *trading him* (not you, generally) is madness unless they just implode. I agree with Eovaldi finishing the year in Boston then not being re-signed. He will 33 year old, and with 2 TJ surgeries in the past is a higher risk profile than Bloom signs. If Whitlock and Houck establish themselves as starters along with Pivetta, then you 60 percent of a rotation that is very, very cost effective!
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Post by Soxfansince1971 on Dec 29, 2021 19:10:34 GMT -5
I highly doubt BOS out bids those other teams! Just because they show interest does not mean they will put out the needed money to get Rodon. I Lol at MLBtrade rumors that they may as well write that every team is interested in every player…… It is just content with them. Not saying they'll outbid everyone for Rodon, just saying they are linked to a prominent starting pitcher when for a while many on this board were saying that they were done shopping for a starter. I don't think they're done. You can say "well, everyone links the Red Sox to every FA just to get clicks and/or their agent invented it to bump his client's market," and both undoubtedly happen all the time. But in this report the MFYs, LAA and LAD are already in there. Did this Chicago writer really need to add BOS to boost the story? My main point was that a Red Sox beat writer (Bradford) reposted the Chicago writer's story and didn't say "This is dumb, the Sox already have enough starters." So, I'm not the only one who thinks they're not done shopping for a starter.
Whether it's Rodon or a trade target, I'd feel much more comfortable in April if they added a legit 2/3 starter from outside the organization this winter. If there is a cheap starter Bloom likes, than he will sign him. There is no way Bloom is going to out bid other teams on Rodon. I would love to see the sources of MLBTradeRumors and other media sites articles as a large percentage of the time some writer writes that some player would be a good fit then some other writer quotes the other writer that the team is interested. Bloom and company have done a great job limiting leaks in regard to who they are interested in, so when there is an article that says Boston is interested in someone it almost confirms that they are NOT.
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Post by ematz1423 on Dec 29, 2021 20:55:44 GMT -5
Not saying they'll outbid everyone for Rodon, just saying they are linked to a prominent starting pitcher when for a while many on this board were saying that they were done shopping for a starter. I don't think they're done. You can say "well, everyone links the Red Sox to every FA just to get clicks and/or their agent invented it to bump his client's market," and both undoubtedly happen all the time. But in this report the MFYs, LAA and LAD are already in there. Did this Chicago writer really need to add BOS to boost the story? My main point was that a Red Sox beat writer (Bradford) reposted the Chicago writer's story and didn't say "This is dumb, the Sox already have enough starters." So, I'm not the only one who thinks they're not done shopping for a starter.
Whether it's Rodon or a trade target, I'd feel much more comfortable in April if they added a legit 2/3 starter from outside the organization this winter. If there is a cheap starter Bloom likes, than he will sign him. There is no way Bloom is going to out bid other teams on Rodon. I would love to see the sources of MLBTradeRumors and other media sites articles as a large percentage of the time some writer writes that some player would be a good fit then some other writer quotes the other writer that the team is interested. Bloom and company have done a great job limiting leaks in regard to who they are interested in, so when there is an article that says Boston is interested in someone it almost confirms that they are NOT. I disagree that there is no way the Red sox outbid everyone on rodon, assuming it's a one year deal perhaps with the Bloom special option he likes to do. I'm assuming they're going over the luxury tax and honestly for a first time offender what's an extra 20 million anyway for a guy like rodon if Bloom believes rodon can replicate last seasons success. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's likely but I'm not discounting either.
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Post by Soxfansince1971 on Dec 30, 2021 11:05:23 GMT -5
If there is a cheap starter Bloom likes, than he will sign him. There is no way Bloom is going to out bid other teams on Rodon. I would love to see the sources of MLBTradeRumors and other media sites articles as a large percentage of the time some writer writes that some player would be a good fit then some other writer quotes the other writer that the team is interested. Bloom and company have done a great job limiting leaks in regard to who they are interested in, so when there is an article that says Boston is interested in someone it almost confirms that they are NOT. I disagree that there is no way the Red sox outbid everyone on rodon, assuming it's a one year deal perhaps with the Bloom special option he likes to do. I'm assuming they're going over the luxury tax and honestly for a first time offender what's an extra 20 million anyway for a guy like rodon if Bloom believes rodon can replicate last seasons success. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's likely but I'm not discounting either. Has Bloom “outbid” any team on anyone who had a “hot” market. Most of his signings have been value acquisitions, and I have agreed with almost all of his acquisitions. I am a huge Bloom believer and have been since day one. If no other team offers Rodon more than one year than Bloom will sign him. I simply think some team will offer more and he will sign elsewhere, simple as that.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Dec 30, 2021 11:18:18 GMT -5
I disagree that there is no way the Red sox outbid everyone on rodon, assuming it's a one year deal perhaps with the Bloom special option he likes to do. I'm assuming they're going over the luxury tax and honestly for a first time offender what's an extra 20 million anyway for a guy like rodon if Bloom believes rodon can replicate last seasons success. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's likely but I'm not discounting either. Has Bloom âoutbidâ any team on anyone who had a âhotâ market. Most of his signings have been value acquisitions, and I have agreed with almost all of his acquisitions. I am a huge Bloom believer and have been since day one. If no other team offers Rodon more than one year than Bloom will sign him. I simply think some team will offer more and he will sign elsewhere, simple as that. I agree with this. Some team or teams will offer 2 guaranteed years. I don't think Bloom will go there. I think Rodon will get at least 40 million over 2 years. Bloom has yet to really outbid anybody on a highly contested free agent. I don't think Garrett Richards or Kiké Hernandez were highly contested free agents like Rodon will be once the freeze is over. And I don't see him bidding that high for Rodon should other teams offer multiple years. Suzuki will be a highly contested free agent, too, and if Bloom does outbid the field for any player I would think it would be for Suzuki if they're as high on him as rumored. Hard to see Bloom adding 20 million to the rotation and then having to add 2 high leverage relievers, get a RF who is an upgrade to 2021 Renfroe, and get 2b help. That would really swell the payroll regardless of the luxury tax limit. No, his biggest expenditure will be for a corner outfielder, then a high leverage reliever. He'll only get a starter if the starter falls into his lap as a bargain.
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Post by ematz1423 on Dec 30, 2021 11:20:18 GMT -5
I disagree that there is no way the Red sox outbid everyone on rodon, assuming it's a one year deal perhaps with the Bloom special option he likes to do. I'm assuming they're going over the luxury tax and honestly for a first time offender what's an extra 20 million anyway for a guy like rodon if Bloom believes rodon can replicate last seasons success. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's likely but I'm not discounting either. Has Bloom “outbid” any team on anyone who had a “hot” market. Most of his signings have been value acquisitions, and I have agreed with almost all of his acquisitions. I am a huge Bloom believer and have been since day one. If no other team offers Rodon more than one year than Bloom will sign him. I simply think some team will offer more and he will sign elsewhere, simple as that. Has Bloom had any flexibility to outbid anyone with a "hot market" yet? I would say no he has not. If the market only bares a 1-2 year deal on rodon who knows maybe he'll take the plunge. I dont think it's likely but it's at least a non-zero chance of happening I believe.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Dec 30, 2021 14:12:06 GMT -5
Has Bloom “outbid” any team on anyone who had a “hot” market. Most of his signings have been value acquisitions, and I have agreed with almost all of his acquisitions. I am a huge Bloom believer and have been since day one. If no other team offers Rodon more than one year than Bloom will sign him. I simply think some team will offer more and he will sign elsewhere, simple as that. Has Bloom had any flexibility to outbid anyone with a "hot market" yet? I would say no he has not. If the market only bares a 1-2 year deal on rodon who knows maybe he'll take the plunge. I dont think it's likely but it's at least a non-zero chance of happening I believe. I'll add: do we know what any player's market was for sure, for guys who signed with the Red Sox? You're making it sound like nobody else was interested in any player the team signed. There's no chance that's true.
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Post by Underwater Johnson on Dec 30, 2021 15:04:41 GMT -5
Has Bloom had any flexibility to outbid anyone with a "hot market" yet? I would say no he has not. If the market only bares a 1-2 year deal on rodon who knows maybe he'll take the plunge. I dont think it's likely but it's at least a non-zero chance of happening I believe. I'll add: do we know what any player's market was for sure, for guys who signed with the Red Sox? You're making it sound like nobody else was interested in any player the team signed. There's no chance that's true. I have to think that there was a decent market for Wacha, just based on the $7m price-tag (a career high for him and more than double his 2021 salary). Chaim must've been bidding against someone.
Also, Paxton (Paxton, James; not Paxton Crawford) isn't exactly a cheap piece of spaghetti. If he never throws another pitch, he'll still receive $10m (= Garrett Richards's remuneration for 136.2 IP and 1.0 fWAR).
Chaim also "outbid" TOR (and unnamed others) for JBJ (according to Ken Rosenthal), as a cash-for-prospects move (TOR wanted simply to swap Grichuk's bad contract for JBJ's).
Also, @ematz's point is a good one. Chaim entered the job with the team in a re-build/tax-limbo stance. This is his first off-season with the purse strings untied and an expectation of contending.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Dec 30, 2021 15:33:31 GMT -5
Well, a lot of people are saying that this is the first year that Chaim has been able to go over the CBT. Has that ever been reported anywhere, or is it just being surmised based on the fact they didn't, in fact, go over?
Every comment I've seen from him publicly is that he didn't have a mandate to stay under the CBT. Of course... he should say that publicly. But it just as easily could be that he's smart enough to know that it doesn't make sense to be barely over the CBT (hello no-playoff 2021 Padres) unless it's necessary, and he probably didn't have the green light to go 2018-level-over the CBT. There's a reason 5 teams were within $5M of the CBT this year (including the Red Sox), the Padres were barely over, and then the Dodgers went bonkers over (in large part because they needed to replace their prized FA pitching signing from just that prior offseason and in part because they were about to have a bunch of guys come off the books). It's prudent, unless ownership doesn't care at all about paying tax, to go as close to it as possible and time when to go over. But I'm not sure we know that's an ownership mandate so much as just one of prudence.
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Post by incandenza on Dec 30, 2021 15:54:32 GMT -5
A mandate of "don't go over three years in a row so that the luxury tax can reset, but beyond that do whatever you want" would both make sense as a directive from the owners and be consistent with Bloom's public statements and his actions.
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Post by keninten on Dec 30, 2021 17:03:39 GMT -5
I hope Chaim has the mindset that you don`t have to spend all you can. Which would be up to the threshold or over and reset when needed. Why not just build the team fiscally responsible? It would be nice to be able to add what we may need at the deadline and not be worried about the budget. The Sox have always seemed to be hamstrung because we are always spending up to the limit.
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Post by jimed14 on Dec 31, 2021 13:12:45 GMT -5
Well, a lot of people are saying that this is the first year that Chaim has been able to go over the CBT. Has that ever been reported anywhere, or is it just being surmised based on the fact they didn't, in fact, go over? Every comment I've seen from him publicly is that he didn't have a mandate to stay under the CBT. Of course... he should say that publicly. But it just as easily could be that he's smart enough to know that it doesn't make sense to be barely over the CBT (hello no-playoff 2021 Padres) unless it's necessary, and he probably didn't have the green light to go 2018-level-over the CBT. There's a reason 5 teams were within $5M of the CBT this year (including the Red Sox), the Padres were barely over, and then the Dodgers went bonkers over (in large part because they needed to replace their prized FA pitching signing from just that prior offseason and in part because they were about to have a bunch of guys come off the books). It's prudent, unless ownership doesn't care at all about paying tax, to go as close to it as possible and time when to go over. But I'm not sure we know that's an ownership mandate so much as just one of prudence. There is no way that Bloom is dumb enough to trade for JBJ when there are several other areas to address. They could have signed Inciarte as a backup CF/RF for a minor league deal instead, who probably has a 50% chance of being as good. I don't think Henry or Bloom mind blowing past the CBT threshold, but they do not want to do it with long term deals that force them to stay over it for years and years without crippling the team to reset.
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Post by Guidas on Jan 1, 2022 11:42:05 GMT -5
Given Colorado is a complete grease fire with a limited farm, and they should know that by now, I would think that German Marquez and Daniel Bard could be available.
Marquez is interesting because he has an amazingly affordable contract ($8.6M AAV and two years of control left) he's been relatively successful at altitude, satisfies the "innings eater" requirement without giving up obscene runs, averages about a K an inning with roughly a 3-1 K/BB and his peripherals are very good.
Bard is interesting because he's got a high K rate and only walks approx 1 per 2 innings pitched.
And Colorado will not be competitive before either plays out his contract.
Marquez will not come cheap, but I bet he'd cost the same or a bit less than the OAK pitchers. Bard is a guy they may hang onto til the Trade Deadline. Then again, their inactivity last time was...odd...so who knows?
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Jan 1, 2022 20:59:05 GMT -5
Well, a lot of people are saying that this is the first year that Chaim has been able to go over the CBT. Has that ever been reported anywhere, or is it just being surmised based on the fact they didn't, in fact, go over? Every comment I've seen from him publicly is that he didn't have a mandate to stay under the CBT. Of course... he should say that publicly. But it just as easily could be that he's smart enough to know that it doesn't make sense to be barely over the CBT (hello no-playoff 2021 Padres) unless it's necessary, and he probably didn't have the green light to go 2018-level-over the CBT. There's a reason 5 teams were within $5M of the CBT this year (including the Red Sox), the Padres were barely over, and then the Dodgers went bonkers over (in large part because they needed to replace their prized FA pitching signing from just that prior offseason and in part because they were about to have a bunch of guys come off the books). It's prudent, unless ownership doesn't care at all about paying tax, to go as close to it as possible and time when to go over. But I'm not sure we know that's an ownership mandate so much as just one of prudence. There is no way that Bloom is dumb enough to trade for JBJ when there are several other areas to address. They could have signed Inciarte as a backup CF/RF for a minor league deal instead, who probably has a 50% chance of being as good. I don't think Henry or Bloom mind blowing past the CBT threshold, but they do not want to do it with long term deals that force them to stay over it for years and years without crippling the team to reset. You completely missed my point, which was that we don't know he was unable previously to go over.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 2, 2022 14:54:34 GMT -5
There is no way that Bloom is dumb enough to trade for JBJ when there are several other areas to address. They could have signed Inciarte as a backup CF/RF for a minor league deal instead, who probably has a 50% chance of being as good. I don't think Henry or Bloom mind blowing past the CBT threshold, but they do not want to do it with long term deals that force them to stay over it for years and years without crippling the team to reset. You completely missed my point, which was that we don't know he was unable previously to go over. Ah, ok. It seemed that you asked if it was reported that he can go over this season. I didn't read it carefully enough.
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