X Leaves the Spot for San Diego: 11 years, $280M

[amfox1]

My impression of things is that they felt they were still in the running with the 6/160, not that they thought it would get done at 6/160. Then the Padres came out of nowhere and way over the top with their offer and that's what left them shell-shocked.

Sounds right. Red Sox probably had a best-and-final offer at 7/185 teed up, figuring it would put them over the top. It ended up that even their best offer wasn't competitive with SD's offer.

I note that the Globe article didn't say that Bogaerts' thoughts on 6/140 and 5/151 were ever communicated to the Red Sox. I assume the 4/90 offer was simply rejected out of hand and never counteroffered. Then Bogaerts indicated they would not negotiate during the season, which effectively indicated that he was going to take the best offer once he became a free agent.

 

[Jeff Van GULLY]

If the market was 11/280, then NOBODY had a pulse on the market because by all accounts nobody else was close to San Diego’s offer. They blew everyone out of the water.

Based on the reporting in the Globe on the previous page, 3+ other teams had offers over $200m so I don't think it's safe to say that the Padres offer excuses their misread on the market.

 

[iddoc]

It should also be mentioned that Rafaela, while currently pegged for an absolutely stunning CF, is also a wizard at SS

We may see him sooner rather than later.

 

[BaseballJones]

Based on the reporting in the Globe on the previous page, 3+ other teams had offers over $200m so I don't think it's safe to say that the Padres offer excuses their misread on the market.

No I get that. My point is simply that even those three other teams were not even remotely close to what San Diego gave him. So they also miss read the market. If Bloom had offered seven years and $210 million it would not have been even close to getting the job done. I think everyone rightly was completely shocked at what the Padres gave him.

 

[8slim]

Based on the reporting in the Globe on the previous page, 3+ other teams had offers over $200m so I don't think it's safe to say that the Padres offer excuses their misread on the market.

This is an important point and is likely to be forgotten around here as time goes on. X was not merely choosing between 6/160 and 11/280. By all accounts the Sox made the worst offer among several competitive bids.

 

[InsideTheParker]

I’m looping back around to incompetency reading this article, although I get the feeling the hidden truth of they didn’t really want him ever might still be there.

it’s so hard to judge because the vague sourcing that X would have taken 5/150 is just that, vague enough that this could have been made up after the fact.

edit: this article is pretty unflattering as well:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/08/sports/san-diego-airport-stunned-chaim-bloom-tried-process-thought-red-sox-without-xander-bogaerts/?event=event12

That Globe article is pretty loathsome, in my opinion. It seems like something from a romance novel or a supermarket tabloid. (Not that I've read either one, but that piece was just treacly and I am groping for words to describe it.)

 

[JM3]

The holes NEEDED to be created, though. In large part because the Red Sox were on the hook for huge amounts of money to Price/Sale/Eovaldi & had no Major League ready minor league talent.

Not sure how DD gets credit for that young core either...he was there from August 2015 to September 2019.

Vaz - 2008
X - 2009
Devers - 2013
Benny - June 2015
JBJ - 2011
Mookie - 2011

& then he signed Price/Sale to albatross contract's which, along with the JD/Eo deals, & 0 Major League ready talent, made it impossible to keep that core together.

The plus side: 2018 was awesome
The downside: Digging out of that hole

I think the DD aftermath thing is an interesting topic, but this isn't really the thread for it, & I've never started a thread & can't think of a fun title.

 

[JCizzle]

that's literally saying nothing "would be open" does not mean would sign..... and who would that source be, Only one I can think would be Boras....

and yes as other have said the final deal that Xander got from SD was so out of the blue I dont think anyone had a read on the market... Just go look at the Pre- winter meeting projections for what the FA SS would get



View: https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1600725203797114881

Two shortstops (one 29, one 30) just got 11 years, $280+M in the same offseason. I'm not sure why SD is viewed as such a crazy outlier when Turner's contract was signed days ago and we still have no idea what Correa might bring in. Chaim clearly needs to do a better job projecting the market. If he had the foresight to lock in X at 6/$150M or whatever last year, then everyone would be applauding him today. Instead, he dramatically misread how this year's market might play out and here we are.

 

[Al Zarilla]

I understand Fenway fits his swing better, but money aside ...he gets to call one of the nicest cities in the US home for a long time....and no more cold and miserable Aprils/Mays....

That's right, and he can jump into his Ferrari or Mercedes, or whatever, car 365 days a year in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. OK, for a couple of months, long pants and a light jacket may be required. He can buy a place with Pacific Ocean sands in the back yard, maybe next to Trevor Hoffman's place on Del Mar beach.

 

[dhappy42]

In two years, the Padres have committed $580 million to shortstops, Tatis and Bogaerts. If you include Machado, signed in 2019, it’s $900 million. Spread out over a decade, that’s about $30 million per player for SS, 3B and CF, assuming that’s where Tatis ends up.

 

[WayneHousieHOF]

So who is the face Of the franchise now? Devers, whose stay could be short-lived? The guy who destroys TVs down on the farm?

 

[BaseballJones]

In two years, the Padres have committed $580 million to shortstops, Tatis and Bogaerts. If you include Machado, signed in 2019, it’s $900 million. Spread out over a decade, that’s about $30 million per player for SS, 3B and CF, assuming that’s where Tatis ends up.

And wait til Soto's contract is up in a couple of years.

 

[E5 Yaz]

In two years, the Padres have committed $580 million to shortstops, Tatis and Bogaerts. If you include Machado, signed in 2019, it’s $900 million. Spread out over a decade, that’s about $30 million per player for SS, 3B and CF, assuming that’s where Tatis ends up.

Machado can opt out after this season, so that factors in as well

 

[chrisfont9]

That's right, and he can jump into his Ferrari or Mercedes, or whatever, car 365 days a year in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. OK, for a couple of months, long pants and a light jacket may be required. He can buy a place with Pacific Ocean sands in the back yard, maybe next to Trevor Hoffman's place on Del Mar beach.

Maybe he can build a de-sal plant so that his house isn't cut off from drinking water in a few years.

 

[curly2]

that's literally saying nothing "would be open" does not mean would sign..... and who would that source be, Only one I can think would be Boras....
View: https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1600725203797114881

Maybe you're right, but there are a lot of people in the front office who have known Bogaerts for a long time: Raquel Ferreira, Eddie Romero, Ben Crockett. MAYBE it was one of them.

 

[yeahlunchbox]

This is totally fair but why offer the 4/90 then the 6/160 and ever expect he might take either at the time? Both offers are absurdly low in their context. They would have been better off not offering anything if they were this firm with their evaluation.

And again that McWilliams article I linked on the page prior suggests they actually thought he’d take 6/160, with live reaction to Chaim & others finding out on their phones at the airport. No sensationalism I can see in that article either, albeit I concede I might have blinders on here. Did Boras work them over and they didn’t even know it until Passan’s tweet or something?

Further if this is a front office that is sticking to their evaluations as people suggest, and not a front office that is clueless in the free agent market, what did X do this year to make them increase their offer by 2 years and $70 million since spring training?

 

[RedOctober3829]

that's literally saying nothing "would be open" does not mean would sign..... and who would that source be, Only one I can think would be Boras....

and yes as other have said the final deal that Xander got from SD was so out of the blue I dont think anyone had a read on the market... Just go look at the Pre- winter meeting projections for what the FA SS would get



View: https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1600725203797114881

Yeah, he'd have been open to sign a deal like Story's. The problem is that the front office so badly undervalued him by the 4/90 offer that it never got to that point. In the article, it said Bogaerts was stunned by the offer and nothing ever moved forward because of the disrespectful offer he got.

The projections for Turner were pretty close to being right. High 200's were talked about. Same with Correa so we'll see what he gets. The idea that Bogaerts would get somewhere in the mid 200's was a reasonable take. If the Red Sox were offering less than the Padres but still perceived by Bogaerts as still fair market value, my gut says he would have chosen to stay in Boston. Bogaerts even went back to Boston yet again to see if their offer would improve and it did not. The 6/160 as the final offer in a bidding war shows in the end they did not want him back.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Further if this is a front office that is sticking to their evaluations as people suggest, and not a front office that is clueless in the free agent market, what did X do this year to make them increase their offer by 2 years and $70 million since spring training?

He opted out.

 

[yeahlunchbox]

Not speaking for anyone else, but I'm angry they let it get to this point. Give him a reasonable offer in spring training, and maybe he stays. An offer of 4/90 was not a realistic offer.

I'd take it a step further and say if you offered him a reasonable offer in spring, and the rumored offer last night, nobody would have an issue with what happened. However by being completely behind on the market you look poorly run.

 

[Doctor G]

View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1600721758276894720?s=46&t=5SLEXsLsjwFQ3JETedGrtw

Bogie will be the DJ we bad rapped at the tail end of his career.No shifts to rely on to cover the middle.

 

[chawson]

We may see him sooner rather than later.

I don't think we'll see Rafaela very soon. He has a ton of work to do at the plate, where he's one of the most chase-happy free-swingers in the system. Maybe he takes some huge strides this year (he did last year), but I wouldn't pencil him in, and he seems like a better fit in CF.

Related, shortstop defense is about to get slightly less important going forward, as the new rules will slow the MLB-wide trend of teams giving fewer PAs to lefty hitters.

 

[BringBackMo]

Remember a year ago when we all thought his time at SS was just about over? No?

Maybe I am too quick to forgive Chaim -- he actually does this for a living so I would assume he knows way more than me -- but it seems like Bogaerts was kind of a valuation nightmare. Before this season, that time when Bloom was supposed to get a deal done, the signs of him being in decline defensively, and whatever you can infer from that for his offense, were such that just throwing money at him seemed like a bad idea. But he's a great guy who you'd like to keep, but he's aging and was never more than a 5-WAR type. Then he goes out and fixes his D. Or did he? Single-season metrics can be tough.

If they had someone like Soto, a no-brainer superstar, then the job is easy -- find the market, try not to inflate it, but pay what's needed and it'll be worth it. With Bogaerts, with a team that has multiple needs and is shoring up the minors but let's not confuse them with a half-dozen other systems that are truly loaded -- these are hard calls. So I don't accept any of the "Bloom is an idiot" stuff. He tried to navigate a very tricky course, and the Padres just torpedoed everyone.

I certainly hope I'm not coming across as "Bloom is an idiot." I've been one of his loudest boosters around here. The point I'm trying to make is that--for all of the reasons that you accurately laid out--I'd been assuming that Xander signing elsewhere was a feature of Bloom's plan, not a bug in it. And, by extension, that plan would involve having already identified a list of likely X replacements. But if the article I linked to is to be believed, they were genuinely trying to keep Bogaerts. That is the unmistakable takeaway of Speier's reporting. They wanted him to stay with the team and were confident enough that he would be retained that there may not actually be a Plan B yet. I was dismissive of this notion as recently as this morning, when I thought it was just Abraham's braying. But Speier doing the reporting leads me to believe now that the plan wasn't to let Bogaerts go, it was to keep him with the Red Sox. They appear to have been caught flat-footed in a way that genuinely surprises me. I'm certainly hoping to be proved wrong about this, but for the very first time, I'm having some doubts about the decision making.

 

[ehaz]

I'd take it a step further and say if you offered him a reasonable offer in spring, and the rumored offer last night, nobody would have an issue with what happened. However by being completely behind on the market you look poorly run.

Exactly. If you value him enough to offer 6/$160M+ in free agency, why not offer that in spring training? Maybe he’s testing the market anyways because Boras would never let him sign or whatever. OK. So, what’s the downside of making an actual offer? Did they think the market was going to tank after a new CBA? Everyone saw a spending frenzy coming (maybe not to this extent though).

If the reports were “Xander turned down 6/$160M in spring training” and then signed for $280M, I don’t think there would really be any backlash.

 

[mikcou]

He opted out.

We've had this discussion before, but this is a nonsensical point. He was always going to opt out. There is generally a discount to taking money a year early - somewhere between 5 and 10% is probably reasonable. That, and well he had his best defensive season, which presumably gave them some more comfort that he could stay at short and play reaosnably well there for 3-4 more years.

 

[JM3]

I certainly hope I'm not coming across as "Bloom is an idiot." I've been one of his loudest boosters around here. The point I'm trying to make is that--for all of the reasons that you accurately laid out--I'd been assuming that Xander signing elsewhere was a feature of Bloom's plan, not a bug in it. And, by extension, that plan would involve having already identified a list of likely X replacements. But if the article I linked to is to be believed, they were genuinely trying to keep Bogaerts. That is the unmistakable takeaway of Speier's reporting. They wanted him to stay with the team and were confident enough that he would be retained that there may not actually be a Plan B yet. I was dismissive of this notion as recently as this morning, when I thought it was just Abraham's braying. But Speier doing the reporting leads me to believe now that the plan wasn't to let Bogaerts go, it was to keep him with the Red Sox. They appear to have been caught flat-footed in a way that genuinely surprises me. I'm certainly hoping to be proved wrong about this, but for the very first time, I'm having some doubts about the decision making.

I would assume they have plans B-Z regardless, even if they didn't actually think they would need them for some reason, but yeah, I've been a large Bloom defender, too, & the article is super yikes if true. Still willing to see how it all plays out, though.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

We've had this discussion before, but this is a nonsensical point. He was always going to opt out. There is generally a discount to taking money a year early - somewhere between 5 and 10% is probably reasonable. That, and well he had his best defensive season, which presumably gave them some more comfort that he could stay at short and play reaosnably well there for 3-4 more years.

He asked what changed between spring training and now, and that's what changed. I don't care if he was "always going to opt out". He was under a 4 year deal in spring training, he was a free agent this week when the last offer was made. That's the difference between them offering a one year extension of the existing deal in March versus adding two more years and $70M to it a week ago.

 

[RobertS975]

I don’t understand the anger towards the Red Sox over letting Bogaerts go. Is there anyone here that would be happy if the Red Sox matched or topped the Padres 11/280 offer?

I think their point is that it should have never gone to the point of FA, that he should have and could have been extended in a mutually agreeable manner. That IS something to inspire a bit of pique.

 

[chrisfont9]

I certainly hope I'm not coming across as "Bloom is an idiot." I've been one of his loudest boosters around here. The point I'm trying to make is that--for all of the reasons that you accurately laid out--I'd been assuming that Xander signing elsewhere was a feature of Bloom's plan, not a bug in it. And, by extension, that plan would involve having already identified a list of likely X replacements. But if the article I linked to is to be believed, they were genuinely trying to keep Bogaerts. That is the unmistakable takeaway of Speier's reporting. They wanted him to stay with the team and were confident enough that he would be retained that there may not actually be a Plan B yet. I was dismissive of this notion as recently as this morning, when I thought it was just Abraham's braying. But Speier doing the reporting leads me to believe now that the plan wasn't to let Bogaerts go, it was to keep him with the Red Sox. They appear to have been caught flat-footed in a way that genuinely surprises me. I'm certainly hoping to be proved wrong about this, but for the very first time, I'm having some doubts about the decision making.

First, no, you definitely don't come across that way! Was referring to some of the angrier stuff here and on Twitter where people think they wanted to keep Bogey but just foolishly bungled it away. Your view is more like mine -- it was complicated and while I'm sure they always wanted to "keep him," I think it took a while to talk themselves into the necessary commitment, which ended up changing dramatically at the 11th hour anyway. I'd guess they are just floored by what the market turned into, and why anyone would pay that much for a maximum 5-win guy entering his 30s.

 

[manny]

Just knowing professional athletes, I have to think the Red Sox should have realized there is no way that Xander would see Story's contract and be willing to sign for considerably less.

 

[BringBackMo]

First, no, you definitely don't come across that way! Was referring to some of the angrier stuff here and on Twitter where people think they wanted to keep Bogey but just foolishly bungled it away. Your view is more like mine -- it was complicated and while I'm sure they always wanted to "keep him," I think it took a while to talk themselves into the necessary commitment, which ended up changing dramatically at the 11th hour anyway. I'd guess they are just floored by what the market turned into, and why anyone would pay that much for a maximum 5-win guy entering his 30s.

Sigh. We do agree....

 

[opes]

Sounds like Chaim didn't even offer something in the 200mil+ range

https://www.boston.com/sports/morning-sports-update/2022/12/08/xander-bogaerts-red-sox-reported-offer-free-agent-padres-deal/

 

[mikcou]

He asked what changed between spring training and now, and that's what changed. I don't care if he was "always going to opt out". He was under a 4 year deal in spring training, he was a free agent this week when the last offer was made. That's the difference between them offering a one year extension of the existing deal in March versus adding two more years and $70M to it a week ago.

The question was what changed that would explain a valuation change. If the <5% chance they were going to have Xander on a 3/60 deal from 2023-2025 was all that changed to change a 4/90 offer to 6/160, that a massive organizational valuation failure beyond anything else that has been discussed in this thread.

 

[BlueStateRedSox]

I certainly hope I'm not coming across as "Bloom is an idiot." I've been one of his loudest boosters around here. The point I'm trying to make is that--for all of the reasons that you accurately laid out--I'd been assuming that Xander signing elsewhere was a feature of Bloom's plan, not a bug in it. And, by extension, that plan would involve having already identified a list of likely X replacements. But if the article I linked to is to be believed, they were genuinely trying to keep Bogaerts. That is the unmistakable takeaway of Speier's reporting. They wanted him to stay with the team and were confident enough that he would be retained that there may not actually be a Plan B yet. I was dismissive of this notion as recently as this morning, when I thought it was just Abraham's braying. But Speier doing the reporting leads me to believe now that the plan wasn't to let Bogaerts go, it was to keep him with the Red Sox. They appear to have been caught flat-footed in a way that genuinely surprises me. I'm certainly hoping to be proved wrong about this, but for the very first time, I'm having some doubts about the decision making.

Longtime lurker here. This is my take as well. I've been willing to give Bloom and the FO benefit of the doubt. But if the reporting is correct -- and, given the byline, I'm inclined to think it is -- they misjudged the market and they misjudged it badly. This does not breed confidence.

[Edit: Same goes for all of the decisions leading up to this week, including the period this year when -- again, according to this report -- Bogaerts was open to new offers.]

It also makes me wonder about the long-term plan, because the long-term plan appears to assume they can hold onto a handful of stars for what turn out to be well-below market prices. As we are seeing now, that's not going to happen. So going forward, are they willing to pay more? Do they have some plan to lock up these stars before they hit FA and enter the pricing stratosphere? Or are they going to adjust the plan so they don't need to hold onto those stars?

 

[8slim]

He asked what changed between spring training and now, and that's what changed. I don't care if he was "always going to opt out". He was under a 4 year deal in spring training, he was a free agent this week when the last offer was made. That's the difference between them offering a one year extension of the existing deal in March versus adding two more years and $70M to it a week ago.

Many are wondering why the team didn't engage with Xander in between those offers. If the reports today are to be believed, he was receptive to that engagement this past summer. But the Sox didn't move on it.

 

[NJ_Sox_Fan]

I’m not sure why people are so upset the Sox didn’t pay close to $300M for 11 more years of X. He was a star player, but he was never remotely close to Betts, Soto, Tatis, etc. superstar numbers player.

As someone posted above he’s been in a fairly steady decline from his star days to his current very good player days. I don’t know why anyone would want him for this long when his best days are finished and who knows how many years of very good he has left.

If Sox offered 6/160, that is more than reasonable and realistically something that would have been good for both the Sox and X.

11/280 is great for X, but I suspect will not be very good for SD.

Just because he was homegrown and popular is not a reason to pay him until he’s 41. Maybe if he was a guy putting up superstar numbers, you do it so you don’t lose that productivity but he isn’t so I don’t see why so much negativity.

 

[8slim]

I’m not sure why people are so upset the Sox didn’t pay close to $300M for 11 more years of X.

Precious few people are "so upset" by that. And clearly 6/160 was not good enough for X on December 7th, 2022. Maybe on March 7th, 2022 it would have been. The FO probably should have tried that.

 

[NJ_Sox_Fan]

Precious few people are "so upset" by that. And clearly 6/160 was not good enough for X on December 7th, 2022. Maybe on March 7th, 2022 it would have been. The FO probably should have tried that.

Why? He was going to FA anyhow. Anyone that believes Boras was going to allow him to sign before FA is delusional honestly. Maybe they should have traded him at the deadline, but who knows. 80% of these quotes and anecdotes by the writers are pure BS to begin with.

 

[8slim]

Why? He was going to FA anyhow. Anyone that believes Boras was going to allow him to sign before FA is delusional honestly. Maybe they should have traded him at the deadline, but who knows. 80% of these quotes and anecdotes by the writers are pure BS to begin with.

Boras works for Xander. If Xander really wanted to stay in Boston, and felt a Sox offer in the spring was palatable, he would have instructed Boras to get it done. Yes, most Boras clients go to FA, but not all. And we have evidence that Xander is willing to sacrifice some dollars to stay in a situation he likes. Lastly, while a lot of reporting on these matters is skewed, it's hard to refute stuff from Spier. He's the furthest thing from a hot take artist, or mouthpiece for someone with an agenda.

 

[Max Power]

Precious few people are "so upset" by that. And clearly 6/160 was not good enough for X on December 7th, 2022. Maybe on March 7th, 2022 it would have been. The FO probably should have tried that.

It seems like most posters here were ready to let him walk before this season. We'd seen his best years and it would be fine for some other team to pay for his decline. But then he put up a weird but good offensive season with the best defense of his career and opinions changed. That information was not available in March.

 

[BaseballJones]

If Chaim was at 6/160 ($27m per year), but said come back to us when you've gotten another offer, and was prepared to go up to like 7/200 or a little more, then he read the market right.

Except that the market - out of literally nowhere - went up to 11/280. There wasn't a team in the league that thought, as of two days ago, that Xander Bogaerts would get THAT. So I don't think Chaim was too far off. Someone upthread painted the scenario where maybe Chaim went 7/162 and said come back to us and when they came back with 11/280 Chaim was like, OMG what are you talking about? And realized that there was zero chance in hell that the Red Sox (and, as it turned out, every other team in baseball besides SD) would come CLOSE to matching that, so why bother with another proposal?

 

[8slim]

It seems like most posters here were ready to let him walk before this season. We'd seen his best years and it would be fine for some other team to pay for his decline. But then he put up a weird but good offensive season with the best defense of his career and opinions changed. That information was not available in March.

I wanted to extend him in the spring, and if Story got 6/140 I was willing to up that for X. But that's just me.

 

[Max Power]

I wanted to extend him in the spring, and if Story got 6/140 I was willing to up that for X. But that's just me.

I was with you, but recall being in the distinct minority.

 

[mcpickl]

Why? He was going to FA anyhow. Anyone that believes Boras was going to allow him to sign before FA is delusional honestly. Maybe they should have traded him at the deadline, but who knows. 80% of these quotes and anecdotes by the writers are pure BS to begin with.

Why do people keep saying this when we know Bogaerts signed with the Red Sox in 2019 a year ahead of his free agency, with Scott Boras as his agent?

Why did Boras "allow" Xander to sign early then but wouldn't now?

When did Boras get to tell Xander what to do? After 2019?

 

[Hank Scorpio]

There's no reason for either Devers or (especially) Correa to do anything that complex when both are likely to be offered as much if not more money without the escalators and incentives.

On Devers: Austin Riley just got 10/212, but he has 2 less years of service than than Devers. Devers is going to want more than $21 million/year for his free agent years going forward. You're probably going have to be in the range of 10/300.

On Correa, he just saw Turner and Bogaerts both get at least $280 million. His contract will likely come in between X and Turner.

The numbers I posted were a hypothetical, hindsight offer to Bogaerts. I was thinking same framework for Correa or Devers, but with higher numbers. High AAV for the first few years, low AAV for the remaining few, with escalators that raise the AAV to a very high level if the player can put up a 120-140 or higher OPS and stay on the field for most of the season.

If we’re talking six years high AAV, four low AAV with very lucrative escalators, maybe offer an opt out after the first six years.

 

[Gash Prex]

I’m supposed to believe that Xander (and Scott Boras) were willing to give up 150 million dollars last year by signing an extension? Scott Boras would have been on the phone with his insurance carrier given this market for SS.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Why do people keep saying this when we know Bogaerts signed with the Red Sox in 2019 a year ahead of his free agency, with Scott Boras as his agent?

Why did Boras "allow" Xander to sign early then but wouldn't now?

When did Boras get to tell Xander what to do? After 2019?

It's not about Boras allowing anything. Boras does do what Xander says. They included the opt-out for a reason when they took that team friendly extension. Once Xander made it clear he was planning to opt out, there was no reason to not believe him nor to assume his reasons were to get a market rate deal. If he was just leveraging for another below-market deal, maybe he could have made that clear when they "lowballed" him instead of not countering it.

I mean, if 6/150-160 gets it done back in March, the tack a year onto the existing contract to make it 4/90 offer isn't necessarily all that far off, no? By dismissing it and not offering a counter, that kinda sends a message that they're after way more, doesn't it? Rather than bid against themselves, they let him go to market and see what was there. And until the Padres dropped their bombshell, 6/160 was very much in the conversation. I have to think they had confidence in keeping him at that point because they didn't envision the Padres deal AND they didn't envision it all coming to a head at 9pm PST last night. They thought they had more time to burnish their offer.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

I would say yes, 4/90 is quite a ways off from 6/160.

 

[KillerBs]

And 6/160 may be "in the conversation" but more as a comical aside

 

[radsoxfan]

If multiple teams were over 200M and the Sox best and final was 6/160, you do have to be a bit concerned.

One crazy team is one thing, but in general these front offices are smart. For us to be 120M low and behind a bunch of other teams for our own homegrown popular player is staggering to see.

I do wonder if owners are seeing current interest rates and realize the present day value of these low-ish AAV very long term contracts are actually not as much as they have been for awhile.

Maybe the Sox owners should do some math homework.

 

[Benj4ever]

If multiple teams were over 200M and the Sox best and final was 6/160, you do have to be a bit concerned.

One crazy team is one thing, but in general these front offices are smart. For us to be 120M low and behind a bunch of other teams for our own homegrown popular player is staggering to see.

I do wonder if owners are seeing current interest rates and realize the present day value of these low-ish AAV very long term contracts are actually not as much as they have been for awhile.

Maybe the Sox owners should do some math homework.

Ok, so these idiot owners are paying a guy until he's 41. No. Just, NO!