Chicago White Sox

Sure, but what starters do you fee comfortable throwing big money at? They’re very likely to get Corbin, after that it’s a wild card. Better off signing Machado and trading some positional talent for a controllable arm.

Good point. Gotta hope the rumored changes in the pro scouting department are true and pay off.

Castillo + Machado = BFF

Right now I see the odds as follows: Phillies 40% White Sox 30% Yankees 20% All Other 10%

lol...I guess coming off a 100 loss season we should focus on high character guys and not young, 6 WAR players.

Sure, but did the Phillies offer more money than others did for Arrieta & Santana? My guess is they probably did. And I’m not sure I’d call $25M on top of $350M blowing the rest of the market out of the water. That’s like 7% more money in total, obviously it’s more impactful if front loaded. Regardless, unless he just loves Chicago, money will need to be the key differentiator.

We just finished with the third worst record and will be competing with a bunch of clubs that will be playoff contenders next year. Offering a couple million more won’t be enough IMO. We will have to do something noticeable to get him to deal with the likely losing in the short-run. I think $20M or so above the next best offer is probably a fair guess and those dollars will need to be in the first few years so that it’s real value to him and not part of the post opt-out insurance policy.

Depends on how you view the Moncada / Madrigal situation. If you assume both of those guys will be major league regulars (which I do), then I think we potentially have 3B covered. If not, I’m more optimistic of us going out and signing a star 3B (Machado, Arenado, Rendon, etc) then us committing to a 5+ year contract to a legit TOR starter with Reinsdorf as owner. Therefore, we’ll likely have to develop our own TOR starters and Kopech & Cease are our best chances at that. I’d much rather move someone like Rodon, even I had to throw in a prospect because the odds of him being here after 2021 are slim to none IMO.

I feel like my numbers are pretty realistic. I’m assuming Machado’s top offers peak around 10/$350M, so we’d have to go to like 10/$375M make him seriously consider us. Pomeranz at $9M & Allen at $11M seem like fair pillow contracts, if not slight conservative.

I don’t think we can afford to trade Cease right now given how murky our SP situation is at the moment.

I think it’s just wishful thinking. I seriously doubt Avi has any trade value at this point.

To be fair, he’s had one great season at the plate and one good season. That doesn’t mean he’s a great catcher by any means (his defense leaves a lot to be desired), but offensively he’s held his own for the most part. Regardless, I fully agree that trading Narvaez for Gray would be a no-brainer.

I’m super interested in Jon Gray because I think he could potentially be a part of the long-term rotation (if willing to sign an extension at some point) or a tremendous flip candidate. Either way that’s a win for us assuming he does well next year. I just don’t believe Omar to be our long-term answer at catcher and would love to sell high on him.

I’m not sure how anyone could call Jon Gray a “marginal veteran”. He’s the same age as Narvaez and has significantly more upside. We’re talking about a former 3rd overall pick who has had very good peripherals in the majors. Get him out of Coors and he could easily be a stud. And I like Luery, but he’d a small price to pay to get an arm like Gray, especially when he only has two years of team control left.

Cause I don’t believe he’s a legit 122 wRC+ hitter. I’m willing to sell high on Narvaez and roll the dice on Gray becoming a TOR starter once healthy again and out of Coors. Like I said, I have no idea how other front offices would value him. The Rockies did sign Ian Desmond to a big contract to play 1B, so nothing would really surprise me with them.

I tend to agree. No idea how teams would value Narvaez though. It’s not very easy to find a controllable catcher who can hit like Omar did in 2018.

I literally just saw this, but included a Narvaez for Gray trade in my plan. I threw in Luery as the Rockies could probably use a guy like him who provides some depth at 2B & the OF. Would be really nice to sell high on a guy and I just don’t believe Narvaez will put up a wRC+ of 122 again. I’m also a huge fan of Gray and you’d only be losing one year of team control.

I’d trade Rutherford for Jon Gray in a heartbeat. For better or worse, he’d probably be our ace next year and has huge upside. Great buy low candidate if the Rockies are looking to sell him.

Gotcha, you’re talking about a potential move a year from now in a thread about 2018 offseason plans.

Here’s my “realistic” off-season plan at the moment and yes I know it includes Manny Machado. Free Agents: Manny Machado, 3B - 10/$375M (opt-outs after years 4, 5, & 6) Drew Pomeranz, LHP - 1/$9M Cody Allen, RHP - 1/$11M Trades: Omar Narvaez, C & Luery Garcia, UT to Rockies for Jon Gray, RHP Roster (May 1st): 1B: Abreu 2B: Rondon SS: Anderson 3B: Machado LF: Jimenez CF: Moncada RF: A. Garcia DH: Palka CA: Castillo IF: Sanchez OF: Engel UT: Delmonico BC: Smith #1: Gray #2: Rodon #3: Lopez #4: Pomeranz #5: Giolito CL: Allen SU: Hamilton SU: Fry MR: Jones MR: Frare MR: Burdi LR: Stephens

How do you suggest “stealing” him?

Because Marwin is incredibly versatile, a league average hitter or better, and still under 30. I bet he gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 3/$36M. FWIW, James Fegan had him as a possibility to us at 4/$70M, which sounds crazy to me but he’s gonna get paid a decent amount. As for Lynn, he was a significantly better pitcher in 2018 than 2017, ERA be damned. And his velocity also returned to form making him a much more attractive pitcher. I threw out a 2/$35M contract idea in another thread and I’m not even sure that will be enough. He’s certainly getting more than he did last offseason when he cost the Twins a draft pick.

Lance Lynn will most definitely get more money/years than he did coming off a bad season and tied to draft pick compensation. Your forecast for what Marwin Gonzalez will get is also way off. He’ll get three to four years with an AAV close to $10m I’d wager.

Baseball is a rich white kid’s sport now?

Still the best shower ever IMO.