I mean you can think that but you werent getting Snell or Fried away from LA and NY. The fact that NY massively overpaid for Fried should tell you they werent going to lose out on him. Giving him exactly what he got from NY wouldve been reckless and we know NY wouldve gone higher if needed . Snell signed real early. Didnt even let his market fully develop. He wanted to be on the WC and probably specifically LA.
I've never been a big Snell fan, when it comes to the business side of the game. I also think NY drove hard to the net on Fried, because they lost out on Soto.
I really just wanted to get a sense of why you thought the O's were automatically out on the top shelf arms. I appreciate you breaking it down for me. I just don't want this to be the annual excuse the club makes, "we can't run with the big boys". That's nonsense. I accept that they can't go toe to toe on total payroll. But they certainly can punch above their weight class on a couple impact FA's, to supplement the inexpensive players they've developed. After all, those guys will eventually reach their payday. Which is why these next few years are so important when it comes to maximizing the existing payroll flexibility.
