How in the actual fuck, does this Lindor guy not have a contract yet? The 26-year-old Lindor has a gleaming trophy room: Two(2016,2019) Gold Gloves, Platinum Glove winner: 2016, 2016 Esurance: Best Defensive Player, 2018 Baseball America All-MLB Team, Two(2017,2018) Silver Sluggers, WBC Silver Medalist for team Puerto Rico and was 2017 All-WBC team and a four-time All-Star. Oh yeah, and he’s only been in the Grandes for five years, so tell me again why this guy doesn’t have a contract extension yet?
Being a power-hitting shortstop (three consecutive 40+ two-baggers and 30+ pump seasons) are few and far between, so when you got one at the age of 26, you keep that guy around. Jeff Todd of MLBTradeRumors reported this morning that contract extension talks had stopped; also, it was said that the Tribe only made offers that didn’t approach 300 mill. Lindor also has no interest in taking a hometown discount like we just saw last week with Christian Yelich’s contract extension(7/188.5mill), which is understandable given the position Lindor plays and elite power, speed, and fielding tools.
Lindor would go on to state that he wants to be in Cleveland for his entire career, and this situation hasn’t altered his love for the city, but this is looking more and more like a borrowed time situation. Attending a game in Cleveland this past summer opened my eyes to the love Indians fan have for Mr. Smile, so unless they want a Mookie Betts breakout in Boston, they should probably give the man what he wants. If you take a look at the details of the Yelich contract, he will be getting paid until 2042 or until he’s 50. Why can’t the Tribe work a similar deal out, Lindor checks every box when it comes to being the face of a franchise.
Final Take: Francisco Lindor is a generational talent and is the only other shortstop I would want on my team besides Xander Bogaerts. Lindor will be in the MVP conversation for many years to come, so the Tribe needs to figure out how to keep him around for his entire career. He’s a moving electric factory and brings that “IT” factor to the diamond on a daily bases, FIND A WAY TO KEEP HIM.
When will this bullshit end… like what the actual fuck man! After his first live BP of the spring yesterday (which was only 15 fucking pitches), Chris Sale said he experienced some elbow soreness and went for an MRI late yesterday. The results of this MRI were sent to the cut happy Dr. James Andrews, who has already had to do a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection last August, which shut him down for the remaining six weeks of the regular season.
I honestly don’t want to talk about it; when healthy, he’s arguably the best left-handed pitcher on the planet problem has been him not being on the tit every fifth day. I had a conversation with my dad back in the beginning part of August, and the one question we came to is: “why doesn’t he just get TJ now?” obviously you want to avoid a guy who has a lot of money invested in going under the knife, but why not? The Sox weren’t getting into the postseason last year; he’s entering the first year of his five-year extension this season get the dam elbow fixed, and he gets back to being his dominant self as fast as possible.
If Sale is going to miss significant time, it puts the rotation in a hole that is hard to climb out of. With only Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Martin Perez(who I’m watching get Texas Leagued to death by the Yankees right now), that’s not the greatest one through three in the rotation. Eovaldi is injured often but looks just gross right now in spring training, Rodriguez is coming off a stellar season and has looked dominate as well in the early parts of the spring, finally Perez well he makes starts every fifth day, so that’s what he’s gonna do.
Final Take: Sale right now is in a wait and see mode; ultimately, I feel he’s going to need Tommy John surgery, he hasn’t been right since the beginning of August in 2018. As a fan of the Sox, I hate watching Sale not be Sale, and if this incident results in him having to get a surgery to fix the ailing elbow fucking do it. They punted on 2020 when they traded Mookie and Price, they’re not catching the Yanks, or the Rays get the fucking surgery and get him back by June of next year.
Jose Bautista, who is better known for his “Bat Flip Heard Around the World,” is currently attempting to return to the grandes as a two-way player. Roughly three months ago, Joey Bats squashed any idea that he would be retiring, so what has he been doing?
Bats has been working out as a pitcher, when I first saw this as a story I chuckled, what a time to be alive am I right? However, there are a few intangibles that can help Joey Bats make a move to Joey on The Bump. Jeff Passan tweeted that in his latest bullpen, he ran the on number one up to 94 mph and a slide piece that doesn’t seem ungood.
The two significant intangibles I’m referring to, the new expansion of the roster from 25 to 26, which helps some teams since there is a Two-Way Player Designation. Bats can still swing it a little, so having a two-way guy on the roster if he shows he can get outs out of the bullpen while also being a 5th outfielder/backup 1st basemen or a backup DH could help a team out. To piggyback off that until the National League gets the DH added, Bats would be an interesting add for those teams. He could come in and pitch and then turn around and hit you a bomb and not have to waste a bench guy on pinch-hitting for a pitcher.
Bats will be on the Dominican Republic team during the upcoming Olympic qualifier and will play 1st base in some capacity on this roster. Now it is unclear if Bats will get on the nipple during this qualifier, but he will have the opportunity to pick the brains of some pitchers while on this team.
Final Take: The likelihood of Bats making this pipedream turn into a reality is dam near zero. Some intangibles can line up for him to make this happen, but until I hear and or see MLB scouts saying he can go out there and get outs, I don’t see this happening, hell I hope he can do it I enjoy stories like this.
The Cincinnati Reds are one of the most exciting teams to keep an eye on this season. Pegged to finish fourth in the NL Central via Fangraphs Zips Projected Standings headed into the season, it’s important to note they’re 81-81 record would have them four-game back of the NL Central winner the Chicago Cubs. I’m not exactly on board with the Cubbies only winning 85 games, but more importantly, I see the Reds as a better team than 81 wins, a division that has some very solid teams, but every one of these teams has their deficiencies: Chicago Cubs: Starting Pitching, everything besides Kimbrel is unproven in Bullpen Cincinnati Reds: Bullpen Milwaukee Brewers: Starting Pitching, Overworked Bullpen Pittsburgh Pirates: Everything (Sorry Pirates Fans) St. Louis Cardinals: Bullpen, Everything after Flaherty in the Starting Rotation
As you see here, every team in the division has multiple deficiencies. Still, the Reds have added the thump to the lineup this offseason with FA signs of Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos; they also added Trevor Bauer at last year’s trade deadline. With young talent emerging from the farm in Nick Senzel and “The Punisher” Aristides Aquino has put the Reds in a great spot, especially when you can put this talent around Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez.
As mentioned earlier, the addition of Bauer gives the Reds a solid three-headed monster at the top of the rotation with Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray. Castillo is coming off a career year, which included his first all-star nod in his short three-year career; Gray found himself at the all-star game as well despite the 11-8 record he finished seventh in ERA with a 2.78 ERA. This rotation now looks like a strength when coming into the year; we didn’t know what to expect from it.
Here is the problem with the Big Red Machine, the pen. Now they’ve got a good set up man in Amir Garrett who’s a brick shit house that throws absolute noise and will try and fight a whole team by himself if the opportunity arises. They also have a freak of a human in Mike Lorenzen. I tend to wonder how a man with those massive biceps can throw as hard as he does, but that’s why he’s in the grandes, and I’m here writing this on my couch. Aside from those two large humans, they don’t have much in terms of relief pitching, Raisel Iglesias is slotted in as the closer. Still, he’s been up and down in terms of production out of that role if memory serves me right he was groomed to be a starter coming through the farm system.
Final Take: The Reds have shown they are ready to compete with the looming DH spot likely headed to the NL in 2021 it looks like the Reds could slot a guy like Mouse in there and have a massive power hitting and run-producing lineup for the foreseeable future. If the Reds can lock soon to be free agent Trevor Bauer up long term, get a shutdown guy for the ninth and another arm or two for the pen they will be a force to be wreckin with come playoff time, a series where you’re running out the likes of Bauer, Castillo, and Gray to the nipple… good luck scoring runs.
When will the injuries stop for the New York Yankees? I want them to stop, so I don’t have to deal with every Yankees fan using the excuse “everyone was hurt that why we didn’t make it to the World Series.” However, here we are, the Evil Empire is already dealing with injuries to four key contributors to the upcoming season. The big problem here is three of them are part of their starting rotation. Luis Severino, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka are all deal with respective injuries from there past, Aaron Judge is the fourth dealing with another shoulder injury. Let’s take a look at what’s wrong, individually with each.
Luis Severino: Forearm Tightness/Elbow Inflammation Sevy was shut down early last week with elbow/forearm tightness, which he acknowledged has dated back to his previous start against the Astros in the postseason. Now Sevy took precautions this offseason undergoing multiple scans of the elbow, and they came back clean, this is very worrisome considering he just signed an extension (4/40 mill). He was penciled into the number two spot behind mega free agent acquisition Gerrit Cole. Now obviously I’m not a doctor(even though I went to college for as long as some) I do understand that forearm tightness can lead to a torn or partially torn UCL which would require Tommy John surgery. Of the four, his status is the most concerning and one that needs to be watched throughout spring training.
Masahiro Tanaka: Partial UCL Tear Speaking of the ol’ UCL and a Yankee, you have to mention Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka has had a partial UCL tear since 2014, so this isn’t a new injury and something that should be monitored but tamper the level of concern. I’ve always told people Tanaka’s elbow is a ticking time bomb, and every year I’ve been wrong. For right now, I’d say Tanaka is the surest thing to have a healthy season of the four.
James Paxton: Back Surgery Paxton underwent back surgery before spring training started for a Microdiscectomy, the oft-injured Paxton is likely out until sometime between June and July. Paxton has never had a season with more than 160 innings pitched. He will pretty much act as an in-house mid-season acquisition, assuming he fully recovers it’s adding an ace without giving up anything.
Aaron Judge: Shoulder Soreness Judge has been dealing with a naggy shoulder injury; fortunately, it’s his left shoulder and not his surgically repaired right shoulder (breath the sigh of relief if you’re a Yankees fan.) Judge isn’t new to injuries; he missed two full months last season with a left oblique injury letting him participate in 102 games last year; he also had a broken wrist in 2018, which limited him to 112. Judge has begun to ramp up the activity of late, and he like Tanaka I expect in the Opening Day lineup when the season rolls around.
Final Take: I still have the Yanks winning the AL East and winning the Pennate(Ugh fuck those words in the same sentence), there’s way too much star power on this roster to not overcome these early injuries. Bringing in a Gerrit Cole is enormous, and now that new addition is even more magnified with three starting pitchers slowed early on in 2020. The offense and bullpen will have to carry this team until they get back to full
The San Diego Padres are looking to shed some payroll to put themselves in a position to land a big-time player after the 2020 season. A team whose payroll is $141,862,500 is looking to get out of the remaining 3/60 mill contract of Wil Myers, which would free up 30 mill.
Earlier this offseason, the Dads tried to swing a deal with the BoSox for Mookie Betts that would have included Wil Myers going back to Boston. The BoSox weren’t looking to take on that salary do the looming luxury tax fines they were facing entering the year… thank Christ that didn’t happen. However, here we are, the Dads and the BoSox have engaged in trade talks that would send Myers to Boston at a hugely discounted rate, it’s currently unclear as to who Boston would be sending to San Diego. My guess would be Michael “Ice Horse” Chavis, potential 30 homers and 95 to 100 steak guy would fill there hole at 2nd base, its not often you come across a guy with that kinda pop at a position that doesn’t have many power hitters especially for a lineup that only has two real homerun threats(Tatis Jr. and Machado).
As I mentioned earlier, Myers would be going to Boston at a hugely discounted rate, per Sons of Sam Horn thread “2019-20 Offseason Discussion” HanginW/ScottCooper broke down the financials of the contract: “2020: $13.833 (Red Sox), $10 million “Credit” from the Padres to Red Sox, $10 million cap hit for the Padres 2021: $13.833 (Red Sox), $10 million “Credit” from the Padres to Red Sox, $10 million cap hit for the Padres 2022: $13.833 (Red Sox), $10 million “Credit” from the Padres to Red Sox, $10 million cap hit for the Padres.”
The big thing here is that word in quotes, “Credit,” Bowlerman9 rebottled to HanginW/ScottCooper with this: “A player’s AAV doesnt change, unless his actual contract does. Myers signed a 6 year, $83M contract so his AAV is $13.83M each of the 6 years. If a team sends cash along with a player to pay his contract, they take a cap hit for 100% of that amount each year. If a team receives cash, they receive a 100% credit. So if the San Diego sends $10m/yr along to the Sox, his cap hit would be $10M to SD and $3.83M to Boston each of the next 3 years (for the same $13.83M total).”
Myers AAV is 13.38 mill, and the Dads would be paying ten mill(which is where the credit comes from) of the 13.38 each of the next three years if he were to be traded, Boston would have to pick up the remaining 3.38 mill across those three years.
Jackie Bradley Jr.’s name has been thrown around in this specific trade; he will be a free agent after the year and is set to make 11 mill this year; if this trade were to happen, Boston would be saving 7.62 mill. I can see why they’d make this deal you get a former 3rd Round pick who has a Rookie of the Year under his belt. Myers is only 29, and minus last year his two fully healthy seasons he’s a 30 double/30 homer/ 30 swipes kind of talent at 3.38 mill a year for three years… SIGN ME THE FUCK UP!
Now the Dads are doing this as a salary dump, Myers needs a change of scenery and who better to deal him to than a guy who knows him well in Chaim Bloom. Assuming this happens, the Dads can be in play for Mookie Betts, the only real big fish who is likely hitting the market next offseason. Dads have also been connected to Nick Senzel of the Reds, he’s coming off a down year, and his value is low, they’re still interested in a possible trade for Mr. Smile Francisco Lindor and potentially moving Tatis Jr. to centerfield. Realistically I don’t see Tatis moving off short, so I mean if Lindor’s cool with moving to second, maybe this would work because the Dads can give him 300 mill.
Final Take: I can see the Myers to Boston trade happening when you crunch the numbers Boston is trying to strike lightning in a bottle, and it’s a low-risk high-reward kind of move. The Dads seem adamant to get out of this Myer’s contract to put themselves in the best position possible to be Big Game Hunting next offseason.
I’m not entirely sure how one can be healthy and sick at the same time, but Christopher Allen Sale is. On February 11, 2020, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and Red Sox beat writer tweeted, “Chris Sale is sick and will start spring slowly as a result. He’s fully healthy, though.” When I first saw this tweet, I thought that this was the most Chris Sale related tweet I have ever seen, especially since he’s coming off back to back injured seasons.
To clear all this up, Chris Sale is healthy from an athletic standpoint, which is honestly one of the only things that matter to Red Sox Nation, Sale also has been diagnosed with pneumonia, so that’s the “sick” part in all of this. Now I’ve never had pneumonia before, but I know multiple people that have, and it affects everyone differently, it also can affect you for a month go away/lay dormant in your body for up to sixish months and then resurface so not ideal for a baseball player who partakes in an occupation that involves 162 games.
Interim manager Ron Roenicke gave an update on Sales battle with pneumonia Saturday:
“He still doesn’t have full strength back,” interim manager Ron Roenicke said
“He played catch today. Stretched it out. He also did that yesterday. So, I think he’s progressing along fine. We’re going to go still a little bit easy with him.” And later in the interview noted his confidence in Sale:
“He’s huge for our starting rotation, and he’s one of the best pitchers in the game,”
As of right now, it looks like it will be a day to day situation that will be magnified to the max, considering he’s supposed to be the opening day starter for the Red Sox for the next five years. Roenicke wouldn’t say if Sale were available for the beginning part of the season. Still, one thing right that can come from this is not being overused in spring training. We have to remember here that he was shut down at the end of the season last year with an elbow injury.
Final Take:
All in all, it’s concerning that Sale has pneumonia, but id be way more concerned if something was wrong with his arm. Yes, the situation isn’t great, and pneumonia isn’t that easy to get over, but I’m in a much better place with him being “healthy sick” than “hurt sick.”
As terrible of an offseason my Sox have had, and I feel it’s the worst offseason ever for a team collectively, the New York Metropolitans are right up there for the second-worst offseason ever. There are many places to start with this one. We’ll start with the failed sale of the team to multibillionaire Steve Cohen. From what I’ve gathered from reports there was an agreement that would make Cohen the owner of the Metropolitans, Now when the sell was in the final stages of the deal the Wilpon’s attempted to change the terms of the agreement, That didn’t sit well with Cohen so that led to him backing out of the sell.
Let’s not forget the debacle of their managerial hiring this offseason, Carlos Beltran was selected to be the manager and to how shall we say “right the ship.” Beltran was released after the firings of Blastros manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow and Red Sox manager Alex Cora for all their connections with the sign steal scandal. I’m still baffled that Beltran was never questioned about that whole ordeal, like com’on guys; he’s the only player listed in the report. Yes, I know the MLB Report came out after the signing, but the investigation was going on while he was interviewing for the job. I can’t think of two more Met events taking place than these two.
So, let’s get to the juicy stuff as to why Francisco Lindor in the Big Apple rocking a Metropolitans uniform. Now there was some tracking on a deal that would send Lindor to the city that never sleeps, but reports surfaced that the Tribe wanted Amed Rosario and two more top prospects. Let’s be honest for a second, if the Metropolitans can get arguably the best shortstop in the game for Rosario and two top prospects why in the hell are you not doing that? Like this dude impacts the game in all three facets and is one of the most electric/polarizing players in the grandes throw him in Citi Field… my good god. There’s something about Lindor in the bright New York lights that screams “I want to go to a Mets game” he’s just one of the few players in baseball that can hit a ball 450 when he’s in the box and the next half inning he’s throwing a guy out from shallow center field after a full-extension dive.
Lets hypothetically come up with a trade package for Frankie Lindor: Mets: Lindor Indians: Rosario Andres Gimenez Matthew Allan
Now that’s a lot Gimenez and Allen are listed and two and three in the Mets top prospects list and Gimenez is projected as more of a second baseman so the Tribe could be looking at an up the middle of former Mets at cheap more for a three to four-year window. As far as Allen, he’s projected as a front of the rotation starter, and what better way to deploy him as number three option behind Shane Biber and Mike Clevinger. On the flip side, the Mets are kind of in a hole with the Robbie Cano contract but assuming they can move him, and All-Star Jeff McNeil can slide back to his natural second base position and Mets number one prospect Ronny Mauricio, who is listed as a shortstop but has the frame of a third basemen can handle the hot corner. That’s a starting infield of rookie of the year Pete Alonso and first, All-Star McNeil at second, Mr. Smile at Short and massive upside Mauricio at third… HOW IN THE FUCK DO YOU NOT LOVE THAT???
Final Take: The Metropolitans are in rock bottom right now, and getting a top ten player in baseball with that young talent would inject some life into not only the team but the fans that support them. The thought of this happening is a long shot to come to fruition, but it’s something to keep an eye on, especially when it comes to Frankie Lindor, especially when it comes to as sure of a thing when it comes to Lindor.
Kris Bryant is entering the third year of arbitration and has been shopped around the league for most if not the whole offseason. So, one begs the question, Why in the hell are the Cubbies entertaining trading the former Most Valuable Player? Well for starters I can see the Cubbies not wanting to get into the same situation that my Sox just encountered with Mookie Betts, it’s been reported that multiple contract extensions have been offered Bryant’s way for the better part of the last two years the largest sitting around 250 mill. Bryant tried to fight for his service time when he was held out the first month of his rookie season of 2015 but lost so now, he won’t be free agent eligible until after the 2021 season. The Cubbies, however, find themselves in a unique situation with Bryant two years away from free agency, Anthony Rizzo is up after the 2021 season, Javier Baez is up after 2021, Kyle Schwarber up after 2021, and Wilson Contreras is up after 2022. Not all of these guys can get paid and their farm system has grown thin since all of there kids are up on the big club now.
The Cubs need to pick which of these guys are going to get paid and who’s contracts will be the most reasonable to keep as many of these guys as possible. Enter the question above: “Why in the hell are the Cubbies entertaining trading the former Most Valuable Player?” Bryant being a top-five guy lets say, and at a thin position being third base he’s going to cost the most money and if the Cubbies feel that trading Bryant will help the organization keep most of the above guys and can reload the farm you have to entertain it.
Back to the Cubbies not wanting a Mookie Betts situation, now the difference between Betts and Bryant’s situation is well years of control, Betts is free agent eligible after this upcoming season, whoever would attempt to trade for Bryant would get this year and next year so his value would be significantly higher. Now I’m not going to put Bryant in the same class as Betts, but Bryant is still a top seven 3B in the game today especially at a thin position. If we take a look at the AAV of all the 3rd basemen in baseball Bryant sits seventh behind Rendon, Arenado, Machado, Donaldson, Bregman, and Carpenter. One can argue that Bryant is better than Carpenter, and when healthy he provides more upside than Donaldson, as far as an argument for Bregman Bryant can play the outfield and first base which would raise his value over Bregman(we also have no idea how skewed his stats are due to the sign-stealing). That would leapfrog him into the top four if we take a look at the AAV’s from the top three guys(Rendon, Arenado, and Machado) the average AAV is 32.5 mill if the 250 mill extension is accurate the only appropriate years the contract could have been to get the AAV close to the 32.5 AAV is 8/250 and that would only get it to 31.25 mill. Now Bryant recovered nicely last season after an injury-plagued 2018 however Bryant faltered in the second half of the season hitting a pedestrian .261.
So realistically where would a landing spot for Bryant look like if he is moved? For starters, it would probably be a team in a win-now window, and one that could absorb his 18.6 mill cap hit for this season. So off the bat, it’s been reported that the Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Nationals have had a dialogue about Bryant, three other clubs I want to throw into this would be the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers.
The Rocks have Nolan Arenado why in the hell would you try and flip flop them? So that’s a reach for me, the most intriguing between the Phills and Nats are the Phills. Childhood friend Bryce Harper is there, and the Cubbies were linked to Harper when he was a free agent due strictly to the relationship, he had with Bryant. A lineup featuring both Bryant and Harper in addition to the Unicorn (J.T. Realmuto) Rhys Hoskins would put them as the favorite to win the NL East and meet the NL Pennant favorite LA Dodgers.
The Nats make sense especially since they lost Rendon to the Halos this offseason, if they can pair Tre Turner, Juan Soto, and Kris Bryant for the next two years with the pitching that is already on the team for minimum the next two seasons, they become a force that the Phills and Braves have to deal with.
On the flip side of that, if the Braves can acquire the former MVP, they’re in a great position to extend Bryant and keep a core together of Acuna, Albies, Freeman, Bryant, and budding start Austin Riley. That would be the second-best lineup in the NL for a long time.
Texas makes for an interesting landing spot, just moved into a brand new stadium and they whiffed on Rendon and The Bringer of Rain so why not go get a Kris Bryant and have an above-average three-four combo in the lineup with Bryant and Joey Gallo? Both are major run producers and would make that team an attractive destination for other free agents, say a George Springer this coming offseason or other players of the caliber.
The fact of the matter in the Cubbies are in a no-win situation with Bryant, if they pay him, they’ll probably lose two of the guys I mentioned above the one likely being Baez who would price himself out of the Windy City. The Cubbies though can save their situation by getting a pretty good haul for Bryant.
Final Take: If the Cubs want to save this situation you have to consider moving Bryant during Spring Training to ensure to get a good return, they would most likely be punting on 2020 but it would put them in a situation to push both the Beermakers and the Red Birds for the NL Central Crown. If they can’t get the return they want before the year started you see how the first half goes, if they find themselves in the hunt you almost have to keep him, if they’re on the outside looking in I can see him being moved at the deadline and that would invite more teams to be interested in the former number two overall pick, look is trading Bryant as bad as trading Mookie Betts? Fuck No, but it’s up there when Bryant’s going well, he’s a legitimate difference maker and can carry an offense by himself for stretches at a time. Ultimately, I see him being moved at the deadline and the Cubbies get a head start at there 2020 offseason by trying to lock up Baez and Contreras to long term deals and stay relevant for a long time.
Where in the blue fuck do I start with this shitshow… I’ve been a diehard Sox fan since I came out of the whom and I have never witnessed a worse offseason for an organization ever in my life. I could honestly argue that this offseason is worse than the Houston Blastros, so with that being said as upsetting it is to trade the best player in baseball not named Mike Trout and a front line starter who was having his best year in the red socks I understand why the deal was done. Look the average fan will not understand what just happened and that’s unfortunate but this deal shows multiple things.
First off Chaim Bloom doesn’t fuck around, he came into an unfixable situation “get us under the luxury tax, keep Mookie Betts, oh and make us competitive to contend with the Scumbag Yankees”. Like I said an unfixable situation, so Bloom got the Sox under the tax but the other two parts of that are unattainable after the latest trade. Secondly, if you haven’t connected the dots trading both Betts and Price shows the Sox have already punted on 2020, this will be a very long year for my Sox and there’s nobody to blame but the Sox themselves. Finally, the ripple effect that will come from this trade is why I’m at a high annoyed level. Of the guys on the roster that were around for the 2018 World Series you look around and don’t see the face of the franchise anymore, and a very decorated pitcher, why would you want to stay after this year? Yes, I’m talking about JD Martinez and Xander Bogaerts, Martinez has an opt-out in his contract and I fully expect him to exercise that once this mockery of a season comes to an end especially since the National League will likely be getting the DH going into 2021 so those teams will look to make a splash nobody better to slot in there than Mr. Jumbo Dongs. As far as Boggy he has an opt-out after the 2022 season he’ll be 29 and I can see this happening if the Sox start to suck at a high rate. Boggy being a Scott Boras client will take the mega-contract that Francisco Lindor will receive when he’s a free agent and use that as a measuring stick for a new contract.
Back to the headline and into to this lovely piece, an offseason that had them missing on big named free agents, the firing of the best manager not named Terry Francona, an investigation into sign stealing, and finally the trade that just shipped off future Hall of Famer Mookie Moonbombs how in the hell do you get over this and stop getting in your own way?
I’d love to shed some light on this entire situation but realistically there are way too many things that would have to factor into this situation to get the ship righted and back on track. I’ve been spoiled as a Red Sox fan, I’ve seen them capture four World Series since 2004, had the pleasure to watch the likes of Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, and Mookie Betts rock my favorite teams’ jersey and kick the stuffing out of the Yanks. I’ve seen the worst to first to worst and back to first when it comes to finishing in the standings, but never in my mind did I ever expect this offseason to be this bad especially leading to this trade.
The only thing I’m a little bit okay with was, in fact, the return, look when you trade Mookie Betts or a guy like a Mookie Betts you’re never going to win the trade doesn’t matter what you get back and after the whole debacle of not wanting Graterol because of his medicals was such bullshit. However, I’d much rather have Jeter Downs who they received in the trade (yes he was named after Derek Jeter, I find it a little poetic that a guy with Jeter in his name will be a Sox playing against the Yankees at some point soon). Verdugo comes with off the field baggage and I can’t wait for the Boston media to just berate for that entire situation or when he goes 0-5 and everyone is like “Mookie woulda went 4-5 with two doubles and a pump”. The third player coming back is Connor Wong, a stand out at the University of Houston, lets put it like this my college roommate played with him at U of H and my other roommate played against him in high both texted me with the same answer “he fucking rakes” a 2nd basemen/3rd basemen/catcher can’t field a lick though. I know the fields in the grandes are the best fields to field on, no bad hops or nothing, Mr. Wong had 24 errors on turf I’m sorry but that’s not going to feed the kids Connor. Hopefully, Pedy can show the man how to count hops and stay down on the ball but 24 doubles and 24 pumps with 80 steaks between High A and Double-A last year screams “I can fucking hit” so we shall see how this turns out.
My only real optimism here that now they’ve reset the cap and Mook is “destined” for free agency and has expressed that he never wanted to leave Boston, I sure as fuck hope they go bring the man back is it likely no honestly it’s not but the only teams that can pay him are the Sox and the Dodgers so who’s going to go to 12 years or who’s going to offer 10 for 420 either way if you want Mookie Betts on your team next year it’s gotta be somewhere between 10-12 hell maybe 13 for 380-420 mill. Regardless of how this year shakes out the only certain thing here is Mookie Betts is going to be the highest-paid player in baseball not named Mike Trout, and I sure as fuck hope its back in Beantown so he goes into the Hall as a Boston Red Sox.
Sports Talk with a Jabroni 