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Good thing we did this. Conforto was waiting to sign until we made a new thread.

Vaughn could have easily spent another year or even two destroying crappy MiLB pitching and none would have thought twice. In fact it probably would have served to increase the hype around the kid. I don't think it can be overstated enough how impressive this kid holding his own last year actually was.

Hard pass on Montas if that's the price imo.

Kimbrel met with the media today. Everything about what he said implies to me that he knows he’s being traded.

Man, 2B and RF, who would have thought? Glad we shored those 2 positions up this offseason!

By the way, one thing that needs to be said, although it shouldn't have to be.....if the Sox trade Kimbrel, get salary relief and don't do anything with the flexibility after that....it's a bad move. Craig Kimbrel should be somewhat productive this season, with the Sox or someone else. The Sox already have too much invested into their pen, and Kimbrel carries a huge price tag. But if that money is moved, and nothing is done with said savings, the Sox really accomplished nothing. Again, that is incredibly obvious, but I feel like some have missed that point. It's not just about dumping Kimbrel. It's then using that money on something the Sox actually need.

If we picked up Kimbrel’s option to flip him a bad contract then Hahn should relieved of his duties before Jerry can approve the trade.

That's because LaRussa was able to use speedy assets as runners at 2B. You know, guys like Billy Hamilton and Liam Hendriks.

If Bassitt can be had for JT Ginn then Vaughn would be a massive overpay for Montas. Even Sheets + Crochet is an absurd overpay. Again, the Twins got Sonny Gray for just Chase Petty. That's the type of value you look for. If Montas costs that much, just walk away and find a different deal

Because he's worlds better as a hitter against right handers at the moment. Sheets against righties - 143 wRC+. 160 PA. Second best on the Sox, behind only Grandal. Vaughn against righties - 68 wRC+. 328 PA. Anyone who picked the second option over the first would be dumb. Vaughn might/should get better, but he's not there yet. And when he does, it doesn't mean you have to bench Sheets. It really comes down to whether you play Vaughn or Engel against some right handers. Engel has the better defense, so Vaughn has to outhit Engel too. And last year, he didn't. Engel against righties in 2021 - 154 wRC+. Granted, this was only 91 PAs. Vaughn may have hit a HR in today's game. That's great. But he's going to have to earn his PAs against right handers over time.

This has been gone over numerous times on this board. This FO isn't bad at developing young talent and then signing them to team friendly deals. They deserve credit for that. This FO is terrible at evaluating veteran ML talent and valuing them correctly in trades and free agency.

Yeah. Seems ridiculous to me. Like maybe the Dodgers would throw in Buehler too. Just for fun.

Assuming this is true (which is what I thought was going on before Cishek posted it), take a tiny return if it means we can go get Conforto. But if we are done making other moves anyway, then take the better return and eat some cash.

Nothing more beautiful than one of these

Anyone saying they’re not excited for the season is acting childish IMO. This is still one of the most talented Sox teams of our lifetime. Enjoy it now....the window is closing sooner than later.

So Sox are still a really good team - but this front office is still trash too. Period - end of story.

Any John Calipari team going home early is fine by me....way to go ?

Yes, Chris was up weeks after signing. That infamous at bat where Joe Mauer went basically “what the hell was that” after striking out was like 2 months after he was drafted.

I love that baseball is back. Coming home from work, watching video highlights and reading comments on here. I got all the windows open; it’s 70 here in northern Indiana. Damn life is good.

Bro. Andrew Vaughn isn't going to be a 68 OPS+ hitter against RHP just because he did it last year after a year essentially playing no MiLB ball. No one knows where he is "at the moment ". We know what he did last year. That's it. No one is "dumb" for recognizing that Andrew Vaughn is going to be a really good MLB hitter. The only "dumb" thing would be to overreact to a fluke start to a career and turn one of the best hitting prospects in baseball into a weak side platoon hitter.

If this is an attempt to get Sox fans prepared for Kimbrel actually being part of this team in 2022...woof. If the Sox enter the season with Josh Harrison at 2B, Sheets/Vaughn splitting up RF/DH, and Dallas Keuchel in the rotation...and Craig Kimbrel as a 16 million dollar set up man, this off-season was an unmitigated disaster.

Vaughn won't improve if they don't let him hit.

Sheets is a much better hitter against right handed pitching right now than Andrew Vaughn. That's not manipulation; that's just common sense. Vaughn, meanwhile, crushes lefties. They are a natural platoon. Sure, you want to find some ABs for Vaughn against righties, but it shouldn't come by benching Sheets, who was the Sox' second best hitter last year against right handers. Yes, even better than Luis Robert.

Eloy is going to give Dwight Smith Jr some lessons in how to play LF.

Ramos bomb. Was listed as a breakout prospect for the White Sox in today's Baseball America piece.

SoxTalk: WE NEED A RIGHT FIELDER Micker and Yoelqui: BOMBS

Haha I love it....the Konerko head drop and it carries.....never wanted AV traded.

Kimbrel + $6 million + peavy44 + Jack Parkman for Bellinger

Too soon, man. Too soon

How much longer will KW and RH be able to resist Billy Hamilton?

Kimbrel. FOR. KELENIC. DO IT FOR HAROLD.

Trea Turner

It's going to be a fun time around here when the Sox trade Kimbrel for Myers straight up, and then the Padres turn around and sign Conforto.

I’m at the point I’ve come to terms they aren’t adding a RF bat. Just move Kimbrel to free up some cap space and get Manaea so we have an extra arm. They CANNOT allow Keuchel’s option to vest this season. If they are that up against the wall they can’t afford any dead weight contracts.

Yeah seeming teams like the Dodgers and Padres "suffer" like they have, it just amazes me when people talk about trading people for no good reason just because the roster is currently tight.

The buzz around Conforto has been so quiet that I’m convincing myself he’s waiting for the Sox to move Kimbrel lol.

As currently constructed, I think this is a top 7-8 roster in baseball. My frustrations this off-season was they were a signing or two away from being a sure cut top 3 roster imo. Any of the teams in the top 10 on paper could become the best team in baseball once games actually start; a little positive variance, some injury luck, a couple of career years and wahla, you're right there. I think the Sox have the capability with some growth and development, some good health and a couple bounce back years. The job of a front office is to limit the "If's" in the equation. They didn't do that at all this off-season. Defensively the Sox are just archaic and bad defense is less likely to experience some positive variance/regression. It's not like having some good or bad batter ball luck leading to good offensive or pitching seasons. The correct comment is everyone has pitching depth issues/concerns. The Sox aren't alone. I dog on Keuchel as the 5 because he sucks, but the Dodgers are going to be rolling out Heaney and Gonsolin as their 4-5 for quite some time; assuming Bauer gets a lengthy suspension. The Yankees are banking on Severino and Taillon again, guys who are never healthy.

I don't think it makes much sense to keep sticking up for Kimbrel's performance to keep arguing if he was good or bad in the past , and covid or whatever. He's old, the Sox used him in a role he wasn't suited for , gave up too much for him, picked up his option, over valued him, and now can't trade him and it is holding up making any other trades or adding any other payroll. I mean you do see what's happening here right ? I understand that from your perspective you feel the need to defend the arguments bout how bad he was in the past but right now the whole situation is like an anchor hanging around the Sox neck sucking the hope from the fanbase. I'm not particular angry .I'm used to this shit. No one ever said being a Sox fan was easy. Once the ST games start I'm on a whole other level of watching them play baseball again and that is a joyous thing. Winning a World Series or being really really really good is a whole other level of joy but you get my drift.

Funny thing is during the season I'm always accused of being too positive. During the off season it's the opposite. Spending 50 million on relievers will do that to a guy.

Jerry authorized an 8/$250M deal for Machado and a 5/$125M deal for Wheeler. At some point it falls on Hahn to actually sign someone to a nine figure deal. The fact that Grandal’s $72M deal is the largest in team history is beyond embarrassing.

If Jerry isn’t going to change his negotiation style to fit with the times, he needs to sell this team to someone interested in actually running it. He’s gonna piss away his best core in 2 decades because he’s stubborn and cheap. The Rockies just gave out a $162M deal, the Blue Jays are trading for stars to add to a championship core, the Dodgers spend money like there’s no tomorrow and Jerry buys another reliever and trots a couple 1B out to RF because the actual difference makers wanna be paid as such. What a pathetic excuse for an owner.* *This rant will be partially rescinded pending a Conforto/Castellanos signing and a trade for a good SP.

Finishing this offseason is very simple: Trade Kimbrel for salary relief (don’t give a fuck about the return at this point) Sign Conforto to a 4/$90M deal (don’t give a fuck about Colas or Cespedes) Trade Burger, Dalquist, & Adolfo for Manaea (don’t give a fuck if he’s a rental) Do those three moves and we’re as strong as any team in the AL.

Sox had never made playoffs back to back years. Now sox fans pretending the game isn't fun and this team not worth watching because there are some teams who are better on paper on their likely quest to make playoffs 3 years in a row. Spoiled. I hate on the FO as much as anyone, and this was a brutal off season, but this team and these guys are a great time to root for.

I agree. I think Cease will ultimately be the ace of the staff.

Y'all went too negative for Ray Ray.

On the most basic level I like watching the games because I get enjoyment out of it, but this team just isn’t good enough to win the whole thing and that was supposed to be the goal this season.

I’ll just say everything I have heard tell me this front office is trash and has no clue what the real world dynamics are like. They are in make believe land and completely failed consistently throughout the off-season. The team is still really good - but that doesn’t mean the process and front office get any grace from me. They have sucked period going back the past 12 months (basically post Lynn trade).

Caulfield, holy shit that was not the point of me quoting a month old tweet.