Tanner Scott is headed to Chavez Ravine, as he became the Dodgers’ latest big-ticket acquisition when he signed a four-year, $72MM deal earlier today. The Cubs, Braves, Mets, and Yankees had all been linked to Scott’s market earlier this winter, but various reports from this afternoon indicated that the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Red Sox also had interest in the left-hander’s services.
The willingness of the Dodgers and other teams to give Scott four guaranteed years seemed to be the dealbreaker for at least a couple of teams. The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka and MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo wrote that the Orioles and Red Sox, respectively, each had misgivings about that long of a commitment. In particular, Cotillo poured cold water on speculation that Boston offered Scott a longer deal with a larger average annual value, as a source tells Cotillo that such reports of a bigger offer were “very inaccurate.”
The O’s still at least “remained engaged” on Scott “as of a few days ago,” Kostka wrote, which could speak to the team’s familiarity with the reliever. Of course, Scott began his career as a Baltimore draft pick and spent his first five MLB seasons in an Orioles uniform, posting a 4.73 ERA over his 156 innings out of the team’s bullpen. The big strikeout numbers and potential was clearly already present for Scott during his time in Baltimore, though it wasn’t until the 2023 season (when Scott was with the Marlins) that he finally seemed to solve his longstanding control problems.
Baltimore’s one-year, $10MM deal with Andrew Kittredge from earlier this week also seems to generally line up with Kostka’s timeline, so it isn’t surprising that the O’s moved away from Scott after landing another high-leverage reliever at a much lower price tag. Kittredge projects as the Orioles’ top setup man in front of closer Felix Bautista, who is returning after a year recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Kittredge is the highest-profile reliever the O’s have acquired this winter, while the Red Sox brought in Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson on guaranteed contracts, and a few other veterans on minor league deals. As Cotillo notes, the Red Sox had talks with Scott, Kittredge, and several other relievers who have since signed contracts, as Boston continues to look for help at the back end of its bullpen. Liam Hendriks is penciled into the closer’s role, though some depth is a necessity since Hendriks (like Bautista) also missed 2024 while rehabbing from a TJ procedure.
Toronto fans won’t be pleased to hear the Blue Jays lost another target to the Dodgers, but the New York Post’s Jon Heyman indeed reports that the Jays “were among [the] teams in on Scott.” The depth of the Blue Jays’ interest isn’t known, and since the Jays landed Jeff Hoffman last week, it seems possible that the Hoffman signing was a pivot away from Scott’s escalating market.
That said, the Blue Jays have already been more aggressive than usual in adding relief pitching, which isn’t a surprise given the dire performance of their 2024 bullpen. Toronto has already added Hoffman, Nick Sandlin, and old friend Yimi Garcia as part of the bullpen overhaul, and depending on whether or not the Jays acquire another starting pitcher, Yariel Rodriguez might be part of the relief mix as well if he isn’t used as the fifth starter.
At least you tried!
Well now they’re interested! (Too late)
Sox are ALWAYS interested until John Henry finds out the cost
Good. Be smart
“This article sponsored by the P.R. departments of the Jays, Orioles and Red Sox”.
Meanwhile, the Braves just signed a PR department to a minor league contract.
Imo Long term deals for any relief pitcher not mo rivera are unwise since new good pen arms come out of nowhere every year for pennys on the dollar..spend money and/or prospects on starters or position players
Pool – You need to add Koji to the list of longterm contracts worth it.
2013-2018
2.19 ERA
0.810 WHIP (that is NOT a typo)
33.9K%
1.5 BB/9
.181 BAA
11.6 K/9
4.3 BB%
ALCS MVP
Absolutely untouchable in 15 Postseason Innings
And that was all between Age 38-41 …. can you believe it!!!
Whoops ….. the years WAS a typo, sorry!
Should be 2013-2016 obviously ;O)
This article is possibly clickbait as are all “interest” articles.
These posts are here to make their fanbases not lose hope.
As a Blue Jays fan, please…just stop reporting on us. Even if it’s true. Please, just stop
I am so so sorry
Thanks, buddy…it’s been rough up here
Just stop it, P Shuk! Toronto has had enough. The horse that y’all have been beating is beyond dead. It became dust and since been reincarnated into a 6-pack of Molson!!!
Agreed, these “Blue Jays had interest in…” articles are just salt in the wound at this point. Please just leave us to wallow in our misery.
The Red Sox have similarly had interest in all the top free agents. They signed Chapman and Buehler. Oh, and Justin Wilson.
Don’t blame you! Tough division, but when Tampa Bay manages to out play you year in and year out, gotta question the Canadian brass.
My condolences, brother.
There’s still 150 free agents left on the market .
Half the league is broke from DSG keep trying they will eventually take your money.
Reminds me of that Simpsons episode when they beat the crap outta the hamburguler and the kids crying going stop stop he’s already dead…
Well that’s the jays front office now
LOL. youtu.be/qQ6wSei-NJU
blujays interest in FAs = 100/100
bluejay ability to sign FAs 0/100
If they would just focus their interest on a few players they might sign some.
Love your PFP go Topes!
They get 100% of free agents who can’t pass other teams physicals.
They were unlikely to sign both Scott AND Hoffman.
MLBTR has the Blue Jays interested in every trade or free agent possibility on the planet. All they’ve done is get Myles Straw. Please remove yourselves from Toronto’s jock now.
Watch out Mark will delete comments he doesn’t like…I think it’s less about being on Toronto’s jock and more like they know it creates traffic to their story and site. It’s like clock work a click bait story is written Blue Jay’s ‘were interested’ after any FA signing smh. Sorry Jay’s fans sheesh
They got Andres Giminez as well, but yeah. Doesn’t look good for 2025.
Gumby82
All they’ve done is get Myles Straw.
======================
Embarrassing work Casual. They also acquired Hoffman & Gimenez.
Hey BJays, go sign Bauer. Not being funny but dude is still a stud and would come cheap just to get back in the league.
He deserves a shot he might be a poop human being but if Ray Lewis can sit at accused of murder and play then Bauer shouldn’t be blackballed. Can’t stand him as a man but can’t see him being denied work when Chapman can do what he did (twice) and work Bauer shouldn’t be denied work
I personally think Bauer is an a hole, but the woman that falsely accused him is worse. When there is evidence of false accusation, we need to do better to hold these ladies accountable.
I think Trevor needs a chance. Just keep him away from drones.
And unconscious women.
Don’t care! Fk Dodgers and MLB
That was real interesting, thanks! (tool)
Here we go again with the Red Sox being “interested.” They’d be interested in Yosemite Sam if he could pitch.
I would love to see Yosemite Sam signed
Him Gossemer and The Green Monster….partying together that would be epic
The Roadrunner could be an awesome pinch runner!! Lol
I hear they’re interested in 89-year old Sandy Koufax.
Nothing wrong with that
Can Yosemite Sam hit a curveball.
Blue Jays had interest in someone they didn’t land?
In a related story, the sky is blue
Let’s be honest, if the dodgers are interested teams are going to pay significantly more to snag these guys away.
So either they go to the dodgers or you make an extreme overpay and give away what will likely be a terrible contract that will anger your fans, lose/lose.
The teams can just wait until the end of spring training when the Dodgers must waive ten pitchers since they are overstocked with 27 pitchers for 13 pitching slots and only four have minor league options remaining. That is ten pitchers the league can wait out until rosters must be finalized and the Dodgers must decide who they put on waivers. Ignore all trade proposals from the Dodgers and let them pay the full contracts of the players they lose since the claiming team will get them for league minimum. Show the Dodgers that the whole league can play that game and leave them on the hook for all the salaries that they CAN’T defer. It is only fair. lol.
Teams will line up to jump the waiver order ahead of the White Sox, A’s, etc. to trade for these Dodgers pitchers, who would probably start on any other team.
The dodgers won’t be interested in Trevor Bauer.
The Jays should sign him because they can’t get anyone to sign anyways…
Give him a chance to prove himself again…
Were there any free agents that the Blue Jays were not interested in?
Not even beer league players want to sign with the blue Jays! Go Jays!
It’s the same with the Red Sox. If they aren’t willing to build a winner, why would anyone want to play for them.
One word….pay-ola $$$$
You will probably still complain after they win another World Series.
Orioles will never win with their tight fisted owner.
Uh, he’s gone.
New owner, same mindset, but they are interested in many players.
Huh?
Rubenstein has added over $60 million to the payroll in like 9 months as owner.
Not sure why people are ragging on the Blue Jays. Seems pretty obvious to me they were looking at both Scott and Hoffman and signed Hoffman. There have been things to complain about this offseason Jays fans(Straw) but this isn’t one of them.
Tired of the constant oh the Orioles were interested BUT….. or not as bad with the Blue Jays who aren’t in such a prime spot. Orioles are the big losers of this offseason. I bet this is their nail in the coffin of their postseason hopes. They are so afraid to spend any money.
Exactly. The past trade deadline told me everything I needed to know. The moves they made then and now makes them a worse team.
Blue Jays definitely win the off-season award for most players interested in.
Ridiculous
Red Sox… interest… it’s like a never-ending loop
It’s almost like I can hear echoes from Henry some 3,000 miles away…
“At least lie and tell them I gave the biggest offer!”
That’s why I roll my eyes regarding the Soto bidding war. Henry probably heard the Yankees had gone up to 650MM and said “Then we’ll do 450 MM. See? We’re interested”.
I saw two red sox employees with shovels at louis Tiantes grave.
Theme of the offseason “Red Sox showing Interest” what a joke
Reporters claim interest, but we really don’t know if their vague claims are true.
With them supposedly being all in this offseason, I assume some of these players were actually on their list of offseason targets. Besides Crochet it has been a disappointing offseason thus far, not that some of the players they picked up don’t have the potential to have a solid impact. I thought Scott would be someone they were going all in on to give them the potential to have one of the best bullpens in the majors. It would have been nice if they picked up at least one of the top 20 free agents. Still rooting for a successful year, but thus far not the offseason I was hoping for.
I think the starting rotation and bullpen will be better, maybe a lot better. The offense could be good enough if people stay healthy, or they might need to add a bat. If Casas stays healthy and Abreu and Rafeala improve, they could be in good shape. I think they refuse to make what they think are bad deals. We will see if this Tanner Scott deal is a good deal.
Allin – Agreed. Tanner Scott at 4 years $72 million is a huge contract for a reliever when what they already have is pretty good. It would be better if they had signed him, but the money can be spent on other areas of the team since Scott was not signed. The Red Sox are a solid contender in a weak AL.
1971: Agreed. I think 2025 will be a fun year. Hope you are doing well.
Allin – Yes, thank you. PSA is still good, and cancer has not spread.
Awesome! Great news!
Thank you!
Excellent news.
The real joke is people keep giving their hard earned money to have no intension of winning.
Somebody, anybody, please take the Jays to the dance!!
Orioles didn’t need him with Mountain coming back.
You ever heard of depth?
I hear the Dodgers have some depth on their 40 man.
that’s what she said.
Orioles? Yeah ok. I guess Tanner had no interest in 1 year for 6 million. I know content is king but for God’s sake Stop with these woulda, coulda, shoulda filler stories. The Orioles aren’t interested in anyone with a pulse.
Then again maybe I’m being too harsh. I’ll pay along, I had interest in winning that billion dollar Mega Million jackpot a while back. Can I get a headline too?
Found the guy not paying attention lol.
Lol
I’ll laugh if the Dodgers finish below .500. It could happen. Sasaki is an unknown. He could lose 20+ games for all we know.
Let’s be real. If the Dodgers finish 88-74, it will be a riot. Everyone is anticipating a 114-48 season.
I can’t imagine a scenario they win less than 100 games. I can see a scenario where they win 120, though. Playoffs are still a crapshoot.
Dodgers basically did all this to go from 1st place with 105 wins, to 1st place with 115 wins. And, they’ll still have a tough time winning it all.
orbitsbrother & VermonsterSD; at least the Dodgers owners care about winning. Reinvesting the profits back into the team for the fans. Tell me, what would y’all be saying about them if they weren’t reinvesting in the team? If they were just pocketing the money and multiplying their billions. I’m pretty sure Dodgers fans and non fans would be protesting from the rooftops! That’s what you should be doing about y’all’s owners.
My team spends plenty. It is the circumventing of the luxury tax penalties and how much more they are spending than the rest of the league. It is a slap in the face
ok Princess
Can you say, over priced?
WHO CARES?! You’re at least half a day late.
Another “orioles had interest” story. The front office is getting on my nerves. They haven’t handed out one “big” contract under Elias. Not one. Not one free agent not one extension for the young guys.
Tyler O’Neil, if you count that a big contract, is essentially one year deal. Maybe Elias needs to be head of draft day, while someone else runs the day to day. Word is ownership wants to spend, but Elias thinks he’s better than outspending other teams. Something isn’t working
Exactly. New ownership same ole crap.
“Word is ownership wants to spend”….Actions always speak louder than words. When a GM isn’t spending it’s because he’s been told not to spend by ownership.
Don’t kid yourself into believing that Elias, or any other GM, can independently decide when to spend or how much money to spend.
The “words” you’re listening to come from guys like Heyman, Morosi or Verducci and quite honestly are not worth the paper they’re written on.
Rubenstein inherited a $93 million dollar payroll from John Angelos less than a year ago.
It’s now $156 million and Elias is still trying to make additions.
I find it unlikely that the O’s were ever in the Scott market unless it cratered. Elias hasn’t given out any multi-year commitments to a reliever. He also traded Scott away a couple years ago when we couldn’t figure out his command.
I’m happy Tanner Scott isn’t coming back. I won’t be surprised if his walk issues bite him again. Those were very uncomfortable innings watching him pitch.
@mlb
Baltimore went from near the bottom of payrolls to the middle of the league this off-season and still looking to spend more. I’m hoping they do trade for TOR arm but would be thrilled to hand out an extension to any of the youngsters. I realize getting Boras clients to bite on buying out arb years is going to be difficult but it’s been done, as rare as it is
Exactly. Just how when I was single I was “interested” in every A-list female between 1990 and 2005 and, amazingly enough, didn’t land any of them. Just like the Orioles. I was “really close” to Anna Kournikova though in 2002, and I “made a franchise record offer” to Gwen Stefani in 1996.
And it sounds equally ridiculous with the Orioles as it does with me.
As much as I find the Dodgers frustrating for doing this and as annoying as it was to see the Nats do this kind of thing first and as much as we all thought Bobby Bonilla Day was this cute unique aspect of baseball finances, it does make me wonder:
WTF isn’t every team doing this? Every player would likely prefer a large upfront payment to make them literally *feel* the money from the contract, followed by modest annual salaries that they won’t really need or use year to year, followed by a very steady and still seven or eight figure income for years and years beyond their playing days.
How is this is not the norm? And why can’t more teams do this?
Whilst I can’t speak for any legitimate team, I suspect it’s proffered more than you might think. Player prerogative in the end, as any team would gladly accept deferrals.
Other teams have done it. Player needs to want it as well. Most just want the most $. So if it’s now or deferred they shouldn’t care. Obviously the blue print is out so any team can do it.
The players get less money in real world by taking deferrals because of inflation and interest on money being invested every year. That is why the deferral lowers CBT payroll for the team. So most players wont do it.
Unless they bake in a fair interest rate which most teams are unwillingly to do for obvious reasons. Even 5% annually is a raw deal for the player due to the high amounts being deferred.
The number they use is akin to the 10-year US treasury. That’s reasonable for a risk-free rate of return.
When you have that much money, it’s best to diversify into varying risk portfolios – T-bill (5%) vs S&P 500 (10% historic ROI), etc.
That can easily be accomplished by putting 100% of you current assets in equities, while the deferrals act as a low-risk investment.
Exactly. Most players won’t do it for the financial reasons you mentioned, unless they are being compensated in some other manner…playing for a winner, quality of life, etc.
Doesn’t sound like any of them were really IN on him unless he dropped his 4 years demand.
Bring in the Roger Beshens Football Slider expert and he will create a Tanner Scott, Glasnow by the time spring training starts.
Dodgers are reminding me of WCW when they were doing everything in their power to beat the WWE. Will the Dodgers implode from within like the WCW did? (Too much talent can be a bad thing)
Ha! I called the Dodgers the nWo in a different post.
Well, they definitely got the Hollywood part down pat…
They just won the World Series lol everything is going accordingly planned
Toronto just seems doomed going forward. They are gonna lose their two stars unless they massively overpay them, and free agents think of them as a last resort.
Just a terrible time to be a Blue Jay’s fan.
Yup…and all the taxes!
Ice floes, polar bears, moose and beavers….all making life difficult.
24 hour border patrols bugging everyone…sheesh!
Looks like they are trying, but people don’t want to play in Canada.
Blue Jays will have to outbid other teams to overcome their undesirability in the near term. It’s in their best interest to develop youth baseball in Canada so they can recruit more homegrown talent in the future (similar to what the NBA has done with their recent surplus of Canadian talent).
Allil – Agreed. The Jays can not make players sign if they do not want to play there.
MLB needs to fix the problem of all the all-star players flocking to the Dodgers like what used to happen with the Yankees.
That’s not something you can really control. Not everyone wants to play in a small town, just like not everyone wants to play in a big market.
Joe – True, but MLB needs some kind of a salary cap. Three team have salary commitments of over 300,000,000 for 2025 vs teams that are spending under $100,000,000. There needs to be some way to bring the numbers at least closer, so if LA has hit their cap they can not continue to spend.
I love the Red Sox, but most of my family now lives in the West half of the USA. I do not blame players like Chris Martin who turned down the Red Sox and more money to play closer to home.
It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers can break the single season record for wins. My guess would be yes
For any team that has to actually think about money 4 years for Scott is nuts.
You could build a super team with all the players the Jays have missed out on!
That’s exactly what the Dodgers did!
The Red Sox only pretended they had interest, just look at the free agency market.They had an interest in everybody, but someone else signed them. henry must go.
Why don’t people like playing and living in Toronto?
They don’t make the most $ there and aren’t strong contenders.
The players they’ve been chasing are in high demand and want to win? Nothing wrong with the city of Toronto itself. I’d choose to live there over many other U.S. cities.
Yep and all those teams continue to just sit around weighing this, considering that… letting the Dodgers just pluck whoever they want.
Are they the only ones that know how to draw up a deferred contract? Why aren’t other salary-minded teams offering up one of those deferred contracts.
Don’t cry foul and say the Dodgers are destroying the league. All the other “interested” teams are letting them improve their team as best they can. You know, like a great organization is supposed to do.
Can we please move all ‘jays lost out on’ articles in to the paid section of the site moving forward
Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Treat these types of articles as “ads”.
As a RS fan, I can pretty much ignore the “RS miss out on xxx” articles.
When you see the article, just skip it. Or just read the articles you feel are more interesting.
I dont believe it, at this point they are throwing the Jays into stories for luls. It makes no sense for an awful Jays team that needs bats and added $25M in Gimenez and Straw this offseason. I would be borderline mad if Atkins spent that much on Scott with the lineup he assembled.
Red Sox? lol that’s funny. If he ain’t hurt, about to be hurt or isn’t going to cost more than 20 million forget it
How will baseball look if the Dodgers win 120 games? I’m “interested”.
Zombie insiders have reported that the St. Louis Browns and the Boston Braves were interested in Babe Ruth in 1918.
They will act like they are on par with other great teams. But everyone will just laugh and know it a farce to compare them due to the ridiculous amount of money they have spent.
They need to end deferred money. The Dodgers would stop signing all these players real quick.
RS had an interest but not a solid interest & weren’t willing to dig deeper into the pockets when they can pick up some cheap players from the dumpster. It’s really hard to like the RS ownership even a little!!!
hitman32
It’s really hard to like the RS ownership even a little!!!
============================
Yup, except for winning World Series Championships, there isn’t that much to like about them.
But it does seem like, for some strange reason, fans like winning WS. Who’d have thunk it?
Is anyone keeping track of how much money the Dodgers have on deferrals for the future? It seems like the 2032 roster will be close to the luxury tax threshold before any players are accounted for.
I’m sure they will get some exception since they are the Dodgers.
They are counting on the world to end by then
After the Ohtani contract expires? $0
Per Spotrac on X:
Deferred $ on Active #Dodgers Contracts
Shohei Ohtani: $680M
Mookie Betts: $115M
Blake Snell: $66M
Freddie Freeman: $57M
Will Smith: $50M
Tommy Edman: $25M
Teoscar Hernandez: $23.5M
Tanner Scott: $21M
Total: $1.375B
x.com/spotrac/status/1881058615723016302?ref_src=t…
The present value of the deferred money counts against the current year luxury tax. The deferrals might help with cash flow, but they don’t really make a difference to the luxury tax bill.
Yes, of course.
The deferrals lower the real economic value of the contracts as well, so that seems fair to me. A dollar in ten years is not worth the same as a dollar today.
There are more rounds of playoffs now than when the Yankees had their run of dominance. If the Dodgers are the best team in the playoffs every year, they will win maybe a quarter of the time. Too much randomness in a short series for that to be otherwise – all it takes is one hot pitcher and one or two stud hitters having a good week.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers win three times in ten years. It definitely helps when you can spend twice as much as your competition.
Deferrals don’t count against the CBT
youngliam
It seems like the 2032 roster will be close to the luxury tax threshold
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Their 2032 payroll is currently ~ $115M. SD is at $82M.
Interest means money, guys. Red Sox have built up so much interest this off season they’re now ready to spend.
Boston leads the league in “interest.”
“The French finalize Louisiana Purchase with America” … Blue Jays had interest.
I also was interested in signing free agent pitcher Tanner Scott for my major league baseball team.
I feel like the “interest” referred to in some of these articles while not necessarily exaggerated, but accumulated over the entire offseason. The Sox “interest” was probably due diligence before they signed Chapman and nothing recent.
Unfortunately for the Jays, they continue to play bridesmaid
The Sox “interest” was probably due diligence
=========================
None of those three teams were particularly a good fit.
TO made ‘some’ sense if they were using Hoffman in the 8th.
The RS have Hendriks and Chapman.
BA has Bautista, assuming he is healthy.
Philly & the Cubs probably made more sense.
The Dodgers… the NEW and improved EVIL EMPIRE!!!!
No way is Tanner Scott worth $72m. End of story.
You are being CHEAP & screwing this rebuild up in the 11th hour!!! Go sign Bregman for 2b and Yates. Let the kids season in AAA, let injuries dictate the call ups, or trade any or all of Yoshida, Gonzales, Hamilton, Sogard, Refsnyder and make some room if you want to bring the big 3 up. But eventually Devers will move to DH. Story will leave, Bregman can play 2b until these things occur.
Won’t Bregman block kids seasoning in AAA? Looks like he could block Mayer and Campbell.
Bregman would be an even bigger mistake signing than story at this point. and would block the kids in AAA
Yeah, it was that extra year that turned Scott off from signing with anyone but LA….
Red sox had interest but determined this money was better spent by adding it to thier bid on the Celtics
We can speculate all we want, but the bottom line and $255M question is: have we gotten better or worse since the start of this offseason? As of day 1, our payroll was in the basement of all baseball at roughly $77M. We lost Burnes and Santander, amongst a handful of others, but those two being the key drops even though we did get the #30 and #31 overall picks in return. We have signed a few 1 year deals with Morton($15M), Kittredge($10M), Sugano($13M)and Sanchez($8.5M), as well as the 3 year deal to O’Neill($49.5M/$16.5MAAV)bringing the 2025 payroll tally to $140M. While we did exercise $8M of options in November for Dominguez, O’Hearn and Perez, I am unable to find out whether or not that was included in the initial $77M or not, so let’s say we are at $148M to be safe. We’d intended to pay Burnes $35.7M based on the $250M over 7 we apparently offered him according to Jon Heyman(a very credible source in my opinion). Would we have signed Kittredge/Morton/Sugano if we had signed Burnes, since they just so happen to tally up to $38M? Who knows? What we do know, is that the Orioles have been the most profitable organization in baseball the last 3 seasons, as we profited over $250M combined throughout those 3 years. It begs the question, wouldn’t it be worth it to sacrifice one, if not both of those draft picks we got from AZ and Toronto to sign 2 of 3 out of Pivetta, Scherzer and Eovoldi? Or sign Flaherty and 2 of those guys, or one? Three of them would cost about $75M if Flaherty was one of the three and we had 1 year deals across the board, taking us to $223M which would all but guarantee a World Series and keep $27M in our pockets, but signing Flaherty and Scherzer would cost a max of $50M keeping us under $200M and would give us the most elite rotation and bullpen in baseball, especially if we went with a 4 man rotation and had the remaining overflow head to the bullpen, so long as they’re better options than what we would have otherwise out of the pen. I also think Means is a no brainer since he would cost about $3M and he’s never been anything other than an ace when he’s healthy and he will definitely be back with a vengeance sometime after the ASB if you’ve listened to any of his interviews since the TJ surgery. Imagine Flaherty, Scherzer, Bradish, Efflin with Morton, Grayson, Means, Bautista, Kittredge, Domínguez, Cano, Suarez, Soto in the pen as Wells, Povich, Rogers, McDermott, Perez, Sugano, Akin, Kremer and more are behind them not only as depth, but as replacements if they’re pitching better throughout the season and down the stretch headed into October since we get the expanded roster throughout September allowing us to utilize everyone en route to securing an AL East Title. You really can’t go wrong. Competition breeds success, success breeds confidence, the veterans and their success bring knowledge and experience to the table for other guys which could lead to anything from minor improvements to some young guys turning the corner completely and becoming the elite aces we’ve been hoping for and somewhat expecting when it comes to guys like Grayson, Bradish, Cano, Povich, McDermott and even Rogers amongst others. Just like how the Gary Sanchez signing was the sneakiest monster move of the offseason for Mike Elias because one thing that Adley has struggled with due to his manager being trash and not having anyone available to him that could guide him when it comes to calling a better game behind home plate, understanding situations regarding what pitches to call and why and really, truly understanding your pitchers and managing a game with them one pitch at a time. Sanchez has always been extremely good at exactly that, and he learned from one of the best to ever do it when he first broke into the show under the management of Joe Girardi. Ultimately, the moral of the story is that I really just wish that Elias would put that cherry on top after everything he has already done, and every miracle he has managed to pull off, by just stroking a few checks to pick up Flaherty, Means, Scherzer and Eovoldi for under $75M for one year, especially considering the fact that he could probably win a World Series by just signing 3 of the 4 and spending $55M instead and still have it be somewhat of overkill, but you never know what’s going to happen after last year’s insanity where we entered spring training with 6 starters and ended the season with almost none of those 6 available for October. We would win a World Series and have almost half of our payroll fall off at season’s end allowing us to go whatever direction we want, and we could put qualifying offers on a bunch of them to bring draft picks back if we don’t want them for whatever reason after we win the Fall Classic. There’s just so many benefits that it’s basically a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-etc. move. And honestly, you have earned the right to punch this ticket with such a favorable circumstance and without having to give up any of our young talent or tie up a ton of payroll, or without having to put the team in a financially undesirable situation because we would still be fiscally profitable on the season, especially with a deep postseason run. We will support you for sure Mike, and we have proven that with all that we have done to show our love and appreciation in the form of attendance and purchasing merchandise/memorabilia as is evident in the increased attendance numbers and $250M of profit over three consecutive winning season from 2022-24. Make these moves and watch what we do for a AL Pennant winning 2025 season! It’s like we said in 1989, Why Not?!