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Remember when I said the Sox would offer Jose the QO for him to take or leave, and you all called me "crazy", "wrong", and "biased"? Two to three year deal they all said. THAT'S RIGHT SOXTALK. Ron is correct again. Suck it.

I hope he sees this as an insult and leaves. I'm sick of the Sox cheapness. Maybe he can go win a WS with somebody else. Many of you will get your wish and we'll all be happy. One year? I'm happy he gets 18 million clams but as a Jose fan I want him to get his three years. I'm OK with him leaving. I'm about over this mess called the Sox. I got my one title in 05. Maybe some like Ron will get their wish and get a defensive whiz at first, somebody like Gail Hopkins who can save some runs.

Or maybe they watch the rest of the season.

I don't need a defensive wiz at 1st base, just a guy who isn't an absolute SIEVE at 1st. The only thing that penetrates Jose more often than baseballs at 1st base is nicotine through the lining of his gums

He’s my pick for player most likely to sign with Sox and forget how to play baseball

Zero interest in Calhoun. This is a white sox 2012-2016 move. "Hey! It's a name! Remember this guy? He hits for power and hits lefty and just ignore everything else please thanks"

A trade is still very possible

This is honestly ideal. I'm VERY happy they didn't do some emotionally stupid shit.

Calhoun's option also declined.

Those guys don’t even belong within two tiers of each other

If you're only interested in signing top of the top pitchers, you're going to be throwing Ross Detwilers and Odrisamer Despaignes for a loooooooooooooong time.

So I've met my first Nagy apologist. Wasnt aware they existed. The only offensive formation that has worked in 6 quarters was the so called I formation with Holtz and it worked on that drive after a half of futility. So you hand the ball to the smallest player in the whole league up the middle at the goalline with no lead blocker. If that's the hill you want to die on, good for you.

Trade him while his value is high!

Cool. Hopefully he shows his new team.

Think of all of the baseball-isms Hawk has coined. His announcing prime is iconic and he belongs in the hall.

Good luck with that. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/houston-astros/payroll/#

The highlighted should be the FO plan and it is doable.

Honestly, does this really mean he's staying in Boston? Maybe the conversation he had with the new GM was about waiving or reducing his no trade clause? He's guaranteed his contract now and not risking a market paying him less, and the Red Sox can still try to move him and can actually get something in return in a trade. I don't think him opting in means he's staying in Boston at all. This is still a situation to track, for better or worse.

You were saying?

Yeah but in this hypothetical you'd have Collins, Abreu, and Nick C. Kotsay was a shit signing.

he's priority #1 for me with JDM returning to BOS, frankly not ready to dump any significant prospects yet at this point in the process for JDM Grandal, Ozuna, Abreu, Encarnacion, Kendrick would make me happy for offensive pick ups Ozuna>Puig>Castellanos for me for RF if I could have negative interest in Calhoun and Dickerson I would

Jose must be retained at all costs. For Machado and Bryce Hyper money if necessary. Next year is balls out for wild card blackout one n done.

wat

You are a fan of a few players who are on the sox or who have played on the sox. You are barely a fan of the team. At least we know where you stand.

Now trade for Betts

It's almost like large pitching contracts aren't that risky!

You know...charger plates! That's what we all say!

The Sox weren't lying when they said they want Jose retire a White Sox. They just left out the part that they want him to retire after next year. ?

Pleasantly surprised by this. This was right move.

You cannot trade future bonus pools, you can only trade within the current year.

Calhoun is fine if we have significantly upgraded pitching. If we have signed Jake Odorizzi and Tanner Rourk and KC, then he is not fine.

Obviously not suitors for him; unless they were trading stanton and eating 50% of the deal which would make no sense.

Yep, definitely don't disagree with that. Makes not missing on Grandal pretty important.

The worst that happens is he takes the QO, has a monster year and because he no longer has a QO attached and was pissed , he leaves. I'll take a monster year.

Have you listened to Hahn. He said the White Sox are now a “destination “ for players. That and the money will be spent should mean they get whoever they want.

Abreu 2020 Vaughn 2021

Julio Teheran had his option declined by the Braves. He is a guy that isn't a TOR guy, but another guy that would fit into the middle of a rotation. He is younger than Wheeler, and has been a workhorse throughout his career. Overall he has better numbers than Wheeler, though Wheeler has been better the last 2 seasons, Teheran could be another viable candidate for a mid/back rotation guy. Certainly an upgrade over the guys the Sox have had, and will likely be at the budget shopping level comfortable for the Sox.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but offering a qualifying offer seems to me that they are not going to sign him to a multiyear extension.

Yes, but sox weren't competing and would have cost a pick on top of that. Go sign him now with no pick attached and more chance to compete

Yet still an improvement Gio, Hamels, Miley, Cease (innings limit likely) , Lopez is more than fine to me Kopech will also be back (likely on an innings limit) as well Rodon at some point and maybe Dunning

According to fWAR, Wheeler has been the 9th best starter in baseball since the start of 2018; I'd say that's TOR talent.

A solid number #3 starter is a valuable pitcher, something we definitely could use more of. He's in our price range and still has some upside. A three/four year deal would not break the bank

The Athletic projects 3 years/60 million for Abreu

I agree

I don't think anyone really thinks Wheeler is a "top of the rotation" pitcher. He is a solid #3 on a team with a good rotation, obviously better on shitty teams. He would be a nice rotation piece on all 30 clubs, but this guy isn't an elite starter by any means, and not sure anyone here thinks that.

I do not think JDM will opt out at this point.

The buster was one of the primary reasons I visited this site -- I still use it to keep up on Sox news, etc., just as I did back then -- but the Buster was where I actually posted and took part in the Soxtalk community. Not all conversations were civil, but overall, they were better than 99.9999% of the Internet in general. While I didn't always agree with everyone here, I at least respected their opinions, and they tended to come from a well-thought line of reason. Compare that to the comments section anywhere else on the Net -- including practically any Reddit thread -- and you'll see the stark difference in what we had here with the Buster, vs what's available out there. I wish they'd bring it back.

What the Sox will probably do should not inform the discussion on what the Sox should do....both in terms of draft picks and financial offers. The Sox should offer whatever it takes to get both pitchers, and win a goddamned World Series. The White Sox make a mint every year on merchandising and television rights ,and are consistently rated an extremely profitable and valuable franchise. Whether they would spend $300 or $400 million on these two pitchers is absolutely arbitrary to their long term bottom line, even if the last three years of both are not great. Fine, we might suck in 2025. Who cares. Our window is 2020-2023. Get them done.

How about both?

Didn't Grandal turn down that Mets offer expecting to beat it, only to have to settle for the Brewers offer when the Mets went in a different direction. Heyman's tweet implies that Grandal chose the 1 year deal over the 4 year deal, which I think is incorrect. In any event, will be interesting to see if Grandal's experience last offseason affects his choices this offseason, namely, he will sign early if given a reasonable 3-4 year offer rather than playing the long game and risk the market drying up.