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Even James agrees it’s happening now!

It doesn't help anybody for the White Sox to be ruled out. Murakami to WSox helps Murakami drive up what little interest he has. It lets O'Hearn know the Sox have other options. It keeps fans refreshing Twitter and listening to insipid sports mumble programs where everything is possible. I still think an off-season of O'Hearn, Bassitt (or reasonable facsimile), Bleday (orf) and some sort of leverage bullpen dude would be an insane out-of-the-park off-season compared to what we've been prepped for.

I'll also note, without commenting on whether I approve of the Governor or not, that he's up for reelection in 2026. As much as I'd like to see a Bears deal in AH done, him not wanting to be seen as giving the McCaskeys a huge tax relief isn't being stupid. As far as I can tell, public reaction (on both end of the political spectrum) has been unfavorable towards a Bears stadium deal. Maybe that'll change if an Indiana stadium deal seems imminent, and it might get to that point, but not right now. At the end of the day, if I had to choose between only 1 team (Sox or Bears) getting a deal done for a new stadium, I'll gladly take the Sox resolving their stadium situation.

Bruce Levine has always been the most credible source in the industry.

He just feels like a guy the Angels are going to sign, but I would like the Sox to do anything to add significant talent. His K rate, in zone miss, etc aren’t pretty but the power is stoopid, so… might be fun.

Wont happen since he's not a slap hitter. Once an outside puts on the Sox uniform suck seems to over take them. Has so much BS in the offseason ever been this bad before the 24 hour sports networks? Who remembers Fukadome? Cubs curse Sox blessing

If they somehow get him well under what his projected deal was going to be, that would be a hell of an early Christmas gift. I know Jerry probably doesn’t want to pay a posting fee, but hopefully Ishbia convinces him that he will write a check for that.

You called him a clown…that’s political brother. I was just curious what makes him a clown related to this matter. Seems like not wanting to subside a multi billion stadium project for rich NFL owners would make him the opposite of a clown.

the "espn prediction" is an opinion piece in which some guy talks about "well the sox should probably spend some money, they could use a first baseman, my prediction is that they will sign murakami". as far as i know, there has been nothing to actually indicate the sox are negotiating with him or that he's even on the radar.

Finally time for a standalone Murakami thread. Looks like Santa is coming early this year boys!

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/white-sox-predicted-land-japanese-165639949. Too good to be true? Probably. But absolutely worth noting. He crushed 56 home runs in 2022 and won the Triple Crown. At just 25 years old, he’d fit perfectly into what the Sox are trying to build. Apparently David Schoenfield of ESPN predicted that the White Sox will be his landing spot. He has until 4pm this Monday to sign with an MLB team.

No political talk. I’ll pass.

"ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote on Thursday that Fairbanks was trending towards either a multi-year deal or a one-year contract worth more than $11MM. While it’d seem counterintuitive for teams to pay more than the declined option price, that occasionally happens. Option calls are due within the first five days of the offseason. Teams may have preferred to maintain payroll flexibility until they had a better read on the market." mlbtr.com "In an appearance on Foul Territory this week, Izaac Azout of Fish On First suggested that Miami has shown a willingness to offer a one-year deal in “the mid-teens” range and floated the possibility that Miami could make a $13-14MM proposal."

Why is Pritzker a clown?

Pretty sure Finch was hating the refs right there

The McCaskeys are gonna have a hard time getting back the money they spent on that lot so far, I also don’t see them running around to Indiana and just eating that investment

It’s not because of them. It’s because federal funds intended for infrastructure are being withheld from the state and Illinois doesn’t know when they are gonna get them. They can’t prioritize anything right now and the Bears want to skip that line and get the infrastructure moving on 53/euclid, Nw Highway and the train station.

Anyone else shocked that this wasn’t another fixed Jake Paul fight and he actually lost? He got his jaw broken in two places. https://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/articles/cj9yp9erg23o

Haha, so true. Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels in that movie look like intellectuals compared to those two clowns.

If you do that, you would have to change like half the threads to that title and then it would get really confusing.

Can this thread be renamed to caulfield12 diary?

As much of a big hat, no cattle guy Kevin Warren is, dumb and dumber — brandon johnson plus jb pritzker — being the reason Gary, Indiana is brought back from the ashes would be something else.

espn/Passan In fact, the top five players on Kiley McDaniel's ranking of the top 50 free agents are still without a team. The ones who have signed are running about $140 million over his estimates, a difference comprised almost entirely by the three biggest deals: Dylan Cease for $210 million ($65 million over expectations), Pete Alonso for $155 million ($45 million) and Kyle Schwarber for $150 million ($22 million). McDaniel's overall projection of $3.46 billion leaves plenty of money left to be spent throughout the rest of free agency. Considering the Boston Red Sox haven't signed a player, the New York Yankees have spent just $5 million on free agents and the bottom 20 teams have spent less combined ($207 million) than the top team (Toronto Blue Jays, $277 million), there will be deals aplenty coming soon. One team that could make a last-minute jump for the player are the Padres. After re-signing veteran pitcher Michael King and South Korean infielder Sung-Mun Song, the Padres could be turning their attention to the Japanese slugger. On the December 19 edition of “Foul Territory,” Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes reported that San Diego have met with Murakami. https://heavy.com/sports/mlb/san-diego-padres/munetaka-murakami-blue-jays-mets-news/

Boston feels like tentative favorites to sign the Japanese slugger as things stand. That doesn't mean other suitors won't submit their bids. It doesn't mean that a total dark horse, such as Pittsburgh, Miami or even the White Sox, can't swoop out of nowhere and spoil Boston's plans. Breslow is clearly taking the patient, risk-averse approach to this offseason. But, the stars are well aligned, and Murakami addresses Boston's primary needs as well as any free agent left on the market. That eerie quiet around Murakami's name in the rumor mill could play right into Boston's hands. As Katie Manganelli of BoSox Injection points out, the primary argument against signing Alonso to the five-year, $155 million contract he ultimately received from Baltimore was simple: age. Murakami won't age out of his prime on his contract. In fact, he could improve over the course of it. Factor in the apparent lack of interest, and the Red Sox are in prime position to address their biggest need at a price tag even Craig Breslow can stomach. https://fansided.com/mlb/munetaka-murakami-rumors-red-sox-favored-mariners-could-blow-japan-return