bjorks

The part we're forgetting has nothing to do with the talent pool and trickle down effect. The reason they've proposed a floor is the Steve Cohen's don't want to share the TV money and have a John Fisher just stick it in his pocket. If they have to share the TV money, it has to be spent on "on field product". It is absolutely laughable the gap in media deals in NY/LA/CHI vs KC/TB/MN/etc. The fact the rumored number is $171 shows the top teams are "OK" with subsidizing payroll for over half the league is astounding. The Sports Business Journal reported 2 years ago Ohtani/Yamamoto was worth over $1B to the economy just from Asian markets alone. Their point was Ohtani was actually underpaid. I also think there will be a phased in process. The 2027 FA crop can't be the only ones to benefit. I would think it makes some sort of sense 2027 = $130M; 2028 = $150M; 2029 = $171M.

If the rumors are true the proposed floor is $171M+ that would give Zoll $65M or so just to get to the floor. My guess is there would be a build up to $171M, but regardless some of these cheapskate owners will be forced to spend. The real question will be how many go beyond a floor or will there be 1/2 of MLB teams all sitting around the floor?

I'd rather have anybody other than Caratini. Give 3-4 games to Diaw and the rest to Jeffers.

Tinney, Carson. 1B/C as opposed to a C/1B What I like about Sabato, which Denard referenced last night is he had the hard convo with himself that it's not working and went to the drawing board. What bothers me about Royce is he's repeatedly said I've got to go back and my impression is Royce is a stubborn dude, who's constantly in his head, and refuses to change. Royce is going to look back in 25 years and it will be people kept trying to change me or I would've been better. Completely guessing, but I respect the hell out of Sabato for reinventing himself.

I'm not about to say he's got a swing of beauty, but I could get there. The thing I appreciate most, which seems a little lost in the shuffle is his approach at the plate is seeming different than modern day baseball. Yes he could end up being the "3 outcome" player, but how he gets there feels a whole lot different than Matt Wallner or Joey Gallo. I feel like the ceiling is a #2 hitter behind Keaschall simply because history says he's willing to work counts. Yes he'll strike out at a high clip, but he get's on base too. Yes he's maybe a little too patient in the zone, but when he barrels it up, it's hard contact. As Whammy said, someone could explain to me Royce's approach and I don't think I'd still understand it. The 2 guys I keep going back to are Juan Soto and our friend Ed Julien. ERod is somewhere in between the 2 of them obviously, but the extreme selectivity of pitches is going to be interesting to watch. Can he capitalize in the zone like Soto or is he down 0-2 in the blink of an eye? Not being a dead pull hitter separates him also as he's already shown alley-to-alley power. It also seems like Wallner/Gallo almost sell out for the HR and ERod is more take what the pitcher gives him, even if means a Texas leaguer into shallow left-center. I don't know, but I like it. I like the future of the OF.

It impacts everyone, but baseball more so than maybe any other sport carries a one-for-all, all-for-one motto. Guys will gladly give up a (potential) year or partial year if it's for the betterment of the players. Injuries are just accepted and I think the stoppage does more damage to guys on the 40-man who haven't established themselves quite yet, which feels like 1/3 of our team.

About time.

Let's be honest. The fact Gomez lasted this long as closer should be celebrated. Very little in his profile and history said he could do this and he absolutely had some luck on his side, but he turned into I hoped Sands could be. Nobody presently in the pen is elite closer material so it should be an open competition. Hoffman is our best closer despite what people may think. Moving Gomez to a 7th inn guy would be a positive as it would mean we have someone better closing. I do like what I see out of Morris, he could have a future

I'm sorry. I didn't quite get that.

i'm sure it's been brought up before, but sometimes I feel like his plan is backwards of what it should be.

Left his feet.

I always disagreed with when someone is in a 0-20 type slide and they get a hit the announcers are like "He broke out of his slump!". The player is still mired in a 1-21 slump. Jobu couldn't hit breaking balls and it's pretty difficult to learn at the MLB level. Jobu also offered nothing on defense. Sano reminds me more of a modern day Jhonkensky Noel than Emma. As mentioned, Emma has the propensity to wait to long, often missing the most "hittable" pitch of an AB, but IMO it's easier to learn selectivity and become more aggressive in-zone than teaching someone how to lay off a nasty breaking ball or changup. Defensively it's not even a convo. Emma looks far better than I thought both at the plate and in the field. Not always the smoothest, but that's an experience thing. You can see why he gets hurt also with his style of play. He plays a little like Keaschall with his hair on fire and some people just get hurt. To an extent he's his worst enemy. Emma/LeRoooooooy Jenkins/Keaschall/Buxton is fun to envision moving forward.

i was trying to be kind.

never said anything about Clemens, I'm referring to specifically the fact Kriedler should get about 250 ABs a year and if Ross is on the MLB roster, we've suffered massive failure/injuries. Moving Clemens off being the primary option at 2B is, IMHO, the stupidest thing Jeremy/Shelton could do.

Bohm is about the only guy I'd be interested in since he can also play 3B, but out of that list you may as well have Bell back.

see...Rooker...Brent

If this is the plan at 2B...

THIS. The league has dramatically changed over the past 5 years. IMO teams are afraid (esp. w/pitchers) to have them throw any more than needed unless they dealt with injuries. The league has become more "what do we have with player x" vs. this is a key guy moving forward let's get him as many AB/Inn's as possible. The Cubs, Brewers, Seattle for example have some complex league level players every bit as good or better than some of the AFL guys. It's about age and an almost, last chance to prove you belong.

I think Raya has a future, maybe not high leverage, but the stuff is there. I think we'll see Soto progress in a similar way and if in 5 years we have Raya and Soto in high leverage roles with someone maybe like Morris closing(?) that's a lot of gas and power arms from the 3rd base side

While I don't disagree, there's a few assumptions we're making here that are 1) All BB has proven (sadly) through his career is his magic number for games played sits in the 90-100 range. There's ZERO evidence he's more than that. 140 games 1x (2017) and played over 100 2x since 2017. He's never going to be that guy and trying to "get" him to play 110'ish or more games hurts us (like this year) more than it helps. It's a waste of energy to guess what BB playing 130 games means because it simply hasn't happened. He's averaged 82 games since 2015. 2) Similar thing with JR - 1st half over is career (516+ inn, 3.17 ERA) vs 2nd half (245 inn, 4.96 ERA). While his xFIP between the two are similar, JR is a bit of an outlier because you can't exactly pinpoint where it's going wrong other than injury and hard hit %. JR, like BB, has done nothing (over his shorter career arch) to prove otherwise. We hope he figures it out, but hope is not a strategy. If there's any type of season in 2027, I have optimism we'll compete for AL Central. They're most likely going to have to spend, maybe a considerable amount. Our season ending payroll is I think less than $110MM - what IF they had to reach a floor of a suspected $171MM+ floor? $60MM can fix a lot of our problems and it doesn't mean just going and signing Skubal to a $45/yr deal. Would be fun to go after a Pivetta (metrics are way better than #'s), Carlos Estevez, Alec Bohm, and obviously the BP. And so F'ing help me if we go into next year with Caratini as our #1!

Hear me out why the Dodgers would jump at Buxton for Sho...

Quite a few other defensive metrics. you're not wrong, but the point is he didn't fall short or exceed expectations

Caratini was/is exactly who he's been, a slightly above average defensive catcher who has a streaky bat. He's performed at pretty much as expected.

We have a middle of the pack offense as is, I think there's going to be a minimum in the $150+ million range meaning the Twins will have to spend on someone/body. Nobody would trade Bradley back to the TB for Jax. It's a stupid argument.

If you're trying to "win" - fans and games I'd say no. Hypothetically depending on what the next CBA looks like you have 2 chances to trade Ryan, albeit for a smaller package and 1 more chance for Pablo. If you go into 2027 with Lopez/Ryan/Bradley as your playoff Big 3, if they can hit there's a formidable group. If we're all in on a youth movement and a collection of prospects, sure they should've been traded or should be. IMHO we've solved one the hardest things to solve in baseball - 3 top of the rotation, WS caliber starters. Lopez should never be traded for what he is in the locker room and in the community, how many of us would trade Bradley back for Jax today. I love prospects as much as the next person, but whatever 2027 looks like we should be excited as this team could be in the mid 80s to low 90s in wins if they can hit.