In response to Drewski5's comment:

In response to SpacemanEephus' comment:

In response to Softlaw1's comment:

In response to carnie's comment:

redsoxdirtdog started it, as he thinks softlaw is a closet case. I liked it so I've been using it.

Me too!

For those who suffer from the behavioral mental illness of same-sex sexual behavior or proclivity, "in the closet" and "hater" and "bigot" are the pitiful words used to delude perverts with a serious mental illness. Just because these perverts are "out of the closet" does not equate to those who denounce the behavioral disorder as "in the closet".

Oh Softy.  Such a cute little closet case.  

Oh, now I see why he was banned.

He counts on this so that he can never be held to past positions he has taken. He is a pathological prevaricator. 

In response to Softlaw1's comment:

Seattle could have paid him just a much if not more.

False.

Why would any team give a guy a massive extension when he is still owed 40 mill for the three years? 

To get a perfect RH OF Fenway/AL elite young MLB talent production from ages 25 through age 32, at an A rated value and fit because of age and the massive inflation built into the economy as a result of the democrat party federal economic plan of corrupt pandering and fiscal incompetence

It is fiscal incompetence to owe a guy who is going to hit 280/20/80 and never had an OPS over 900 120 million. That is not a value at all.

This deal is basically.....
 
Brandon Workman----Zeke Spruill
Jose Iglesias------Nick Ahmed
Mookie Betts-------Brandon Drury
Felix Doubront-----Randall Delgado
Saltalamacchia-----Martin Prado

Johnson off sets the slight edges with any Atlanta advantage. Would I have given up that package for Upton? Maybe. But I didn't really want Upton. I am concerned about the attitude thing. We would have to add another starter. We would be giving the keys to Lavarnway. And of course giving up on the glove of Iglesias. And Gomes becomes a rather expensive backup with nobody to platoon with.

Value wise its a fair deal for Upton. If we signed Kyle Lohse, Doubront could be replaced. But then we have added another 16-18 million in salary. Would the red sox do that? I doubt it.

I am not sweatin the loss of Upton.

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

In response to BMav's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

I agree...We can all speculate what the DBacks would've considered "fair value" from the Sox for Upton, but I don't think it mattered in the long run.  I don't think he would've even considered waiving his no trade to come to Boston and I think the Sox Front Office wasn't exactly enamored with him from the beginning. 

In response to jasko2248's comment:

In response to BMav's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

I agree...We can all speculate what the DBacks would've considered "fair value" from the Sox for Upton, but I don't think it mattered in the long run.  I don't think he would've even considered waiving his no trade to come to Boston and I think the Sox Front Office wasn't exactly enamored with him from the beginning. 

It's hard to blame them on that front. The guy's been in the majors for about 5 years and has never posted an OPS of .900.

In response to jasko2248's comment:

In response to BMav's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

I agree...We can all speculate what the DBacks would've considered "fair value" from the Sox for Upton, but I don't think it mattered in the long run.  I don't think he would've even considered waiving his no trade to come to Boston and I think the Sox Front Office wasn't exactly enamored with him from the beginning. 

It's hard to blame them on that front. The guy's been in the majors for about 5 years and has never posted an OPS of .900.

In response to carnie's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

In response to BMav's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

I agree...We can all speculate what the DBacks would've considered "fair value" from the Sox for Upton, but I don't think it mattered in the long run.  I don't think he would've even considered waiving his no trade to come to Boston and I think the Sox Front Office wasn't exactly enamored with him from the beginning. 

It's hard to blame them on that front. The guy's been in the majors for about 5 years and has never posted an OPS of .900.

He's hit .898 or better 2 times by the age of 23.

When Justin rakes for the Braves, we'll revisit this and wonder what if...

In response to carnie's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

In response to BMav's comment:

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.

I agree...We can all speculate what the DBacks would've considered "fair value" from the Sox for Upton, but I don't think it mattered in the long run.  I don't think he would've even considered waiving his no trade to come to Boston and I think the Sox Front Office wasn't exactly enamored with him from the beginning. 

It's hard to blame them on that front. The guy's been in the majors for about 5 years and has never posted an OPS of .900.

He's hit .898 or better 2 times by the age of 23.

When Justin rakes for the Braves, we'll revisit this and wonder what if...

He's hit .898 or better 2 times by the age of 23.

When Justin rakes for the Braves, we'll revisit this and wonder what if...

I'll never "wonder if" because it wasn't "realistic" to think he would come here.  I won't "wonder if" if Brett Anderson wins the Cy Young, because he wasn't an option either...

I don't buy into the whole "he wouldn't come here" argument.

Many players put teams with high payrolls on their no trade list to try and gain leverage, but I guess we'll never know. My guess is that, at worst, we'd have had to extend him at a handsome cost, but at his age, no biggie there.

I think we could have offered better than what AZ got. I think my top suggested offer was better.

I'm not calling you out by sating this, but I get the feeling that some here feel like the only players we could have gotten this winter are the only ones Ben ended up getting. And, other think there was nobody better to get at a reasonable cost.

In response to moonslav59's comment:

He's hit .898 or better 2 times by the age of 23.

When Justin rakes for the Braves, we'll revisit this and wonder what if...

I'll never "wonder if" because it wasn't "realistic" to think he would come here.  I won't "wonder if" if Brett Anderson wins the Cy Young, because he wasn't an option either...

I don't buy into the whole "he wouldn't come here" argument.

Many players put teams with high payrolls on their no trade list to try and gain leverage, but I guess we'll never know. My guess is that, at worst, we'd have had to extend him at a handsome cost, but at his age, no biggie there.

I think we could have offered better than what AZ got. I think my top suggested offer was better.

I'm not calling you out by sating this, but I get the feeling that some here feel like the only players we could have gotten this winter are the only ones Ben ended up getting. And, other think there was nobody better to get at a reasonable cost.

Fair enough point, and I'm definitely one of those "it's not realistic to think he's coming here guys."  There are many reasons why, but I certainly don't make things up for the fun of it.  I could come out and say, "Justin Upton's no trade to the Sox has nothing to do with leverage.  He just hates the cold, doesn't particularly like Boston at all, and wouldn't waive his no-trade to come here under almost any circumstances.  He was going to do everything he could to play with his brother and be closer to his Virginia roots, and I know this because I asked people who cover baseball for a living and love to talk about things that they can't put in "print."  Is that believable?  No, so what's the point?  I also understand your frustration with this offseason, but under the circumstances, I happen to think they did pretty well.  I'm just glad Larry Lucchino's voice in baseball ops took a backseat for the first ime in a while.  

In response to BMav's comment:

This deal is basically.....
 
Brandon Workman----Zeke Spruill
Jose Iglesias------Nick Ahmed
Mookie Betts-------Brandon Drury
Felix Doubront-----Randall Delgado
Saltalamacchia-----Martin Prado

Johnson off sets the slight edges with any Atlanta advantage. Would I have given up that package for Upton? Maybe. But I didn't really want Upton. I am concerned about the attitude thing. We would have to add another starter. We would be giving the keys to Lavarnway. And of course giving up on the glove of Iglesias. And Gomes becomes a rather expensive backup with nobody to platoon with.

Value wise its a fair deal for Upton. If we signed Kyle Lohse, Doubront could be replaced. But then we have added another 16-18 million in salary. Would the red sox do that? I doubt it.

I am not sweatin the loss of Upton.

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player.  Maybe the Dbacks would have taken Middlebrooks, but the Sox weren't trading Middlebrooks in a deal for Upton, even if Upton would've waived his no-trade, which I don't think he would've even considered. 

In response to jasko2248's comment:

Nice post, BMav, but I have to disagree with "Prado-Saltalamacchia."  Th DBacks just gave Miguel Montero 60 million.  Salty is not a fit at all.  I also think Prado has a ton of value.  The guy is a very good hitter, he's has a terrific work ethic, a great attitude and he can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond.  These guys don't grow on trees and the Sox don't have a similar player. 

I agree that Prado has a bit more value and that Arizona wouldn't be a good fit for our catcher. But like you said, we didn't have a great comparison to Prado value wise. Salty was the closest I could come up with. And I did say to make Johnson the sweetner for the Braves advantages. Maybe my comparisons come up a touch short still. Which makes me less apt to want to add even more to make the trade. Which makes me even less sad we lost out on this type of a deal.