maxjusttyped

I agree with this, and your point highlights how difficult it'll be for the Sox to make meaningful additions via trade without including pieces off the big league roster. That's why it's so important for them to spend in free agency, but alas..

I think there's a big difference between Yankees/Red Sox fans angst and White Sox fans. Those ownership groups have proven they'll spend big and do whatever it takes to win in certain windows, Reinsdorf has never done that and the way this off-season has played out so far plays into the cynicism that Sox ownership has earned over decades.

This might be true, but I also think this line of thinking gives significant benefit of the doubt to an ownership group that doesn't deserve it.

If the money is comparable, it's hard for me to understand why a pitcher in Scherzer's situation wouldn't want to pitch for the Dodgers. But if they're only willing to go 2 years and other teams will do 4, it starts to make more sense.

Tanking an entire season for the final result of it to be a 32 year old Jean Segura isn't appealing to you?

So do I. I'm also not sure how much better Conforto or Schwarber would be than signing a cheaper guy like Joc, and then rolling with the Vaughn/Sheets/Engel/Joc in RF anyways.

It would, but using what's likely limited resources on a reliever and corner OF/1B/DH option would be the quintessential Rick Hahn off-season.

Would have loved Gray on the Sox at this price.

JR wasn't willing to pay up for Machado or Harper because he was concerned about bad money on the back end. Well, here's the perfect opportunity to sign a HOF caliber player without the risk of a high AAV being dead weight on the payoll for years & years...

I get that. I read a lot about the Coors effect and how hitters do after being traded/leaving as FA's when Arenado was traded and there isn't this long history of guys falling of a cliff or anything like that. But it's a valid concern.

Signing a player that's been worth 5.1, 6.0, 2.5 (7.5 WAR pace), & 3.3 WAR respectively over the last 4 years sounds pretty good to me. Particularly when I think people have been greatly overlooking the importance of adding quality SS depth to the organization. He fills the biggest current need on the roster, gives you TA insurance which I view as essential, and I think he's a vastly superior player to many of the other "realistic" position player options so opting for a guy that projects to be ~1+ WAR worse (Steamer has Conforto 1.1 WAR worse than Story next year, so he's a perfect comp) that hits righties better isn't something I'd be willing to do. But if you disagree, that's fine. Improving vs RHP is also something the Sox clearly need to do.

Story is the most obvious FA target left (to me) for the Sox. I'm surprised more people aren't clamoring for him like they were with Semien.

Berrios/Gausman/Manoah/Ryu is a pretty legit front 4 when paired with that line-up. With a guy like Pearson as the potential 5. sheesh. The Jays are stacked.

This has been in the rumor mill for awhile but trending toward official now Alcantara isn't relevant to the Sox, but these terms are a nice ballpark figure if the Sox are looking to talk extension with Cease and/or Kopech once they hit arb in '23.

It doesn't seem like you'll have to go beyond 3 years, either. Every pitcher is a massive risk. On a team that's already a WS contender, I'd much rather have Scherzer on a 3 year record breaking AAV deal than going ~5 years a guy like Ray or Stroman.

I'm old enough to remember when the supposed insiders were claiming Scherzer was the real pitching target and not Verlander. maybe they'll be proven right, but there certainly doesn't seem to be any smoke to that one whatsoever.

It's always gonna be too soon for me, too

The White Sox already have a ~90+ win core in place and no long-term bad money on their books. When ARod signed with the Rangers they were one of the least talented rosters in baseball. I think it's safe to say Bryce Harper would have made a pretty significant difference on the Sox over the last 3 years and going forward into the future. I'm not saying this is necessarily the year to dive into the high end free agents (Seager + Correa in particular) but I think if you're signing HOF caliber players in the prime of their careers, especially while in the middle of a competitive window, that's going to be a good idea more times than not. People will often cite how a mega deal looks at the end, but it also glosses over the fact these players are still way underpaid from a $/WAR perspective during the early and middle parts of these deals.

It would be very Rick Hahn, however, to be given the largest budget in White Sox history and have Raisel Iglesias and Kendall Graveman be the marque signings.

That's my guess, too. Sleeper would be Trevor Story.

It depressed me even typing that out. He was also out ahead in front (fwiw) signaling the Sox were going to trade Kimbrel and Hahn has all but confirmed it.

Tony La Russa