SoxBlanco

Problem with that is if Giolito has a solid first half, we aren't going to want to trade him for two reasons: 1. We will likely be in the hunt for the division. 2. We can't simply sign a free agent to round out the rotation like we can now.

That's true. If things ended up like he expected, there still wouldn't be any games being played because of Covid.

I'll predict a three-team trade. The return won't be exciting, but it will allow us to free up some money to sign an outfielder.

Man, there was a month stretch where I truly thought he was going to be a part of our rotation moving forward.

If a wRC+ of 93 is a “disaster” for a rookie who skipped AA and AAA, then we are looking at one of the best hitters in the game.

I actually wouldn't hate Gallo. His defense is solid, and getting out of NY could help. I know it's scary because of our history with the Adam Dunns of the world, but if we aren't going to spend for Nimmo, I wouldn't be mad if we signed Gallo.

Gun to your head: Will the Sox end up with one of these four players on the 2023 roster?: Conforto, Benintendi, Gallo, Nimmo

I won’t disagree with you there. I’m strictly talking about my history as a fan.

I am 89 days younger than you, and I agree that 1B has to be the pick here.

This. Thank you. That’s why I made a post yesterday asking if I missed an official announcement of the dollar amount. People were talking yesterday like the 8 million amount was official, and I didn’t understand why. This $12M number is pretty much exactly what I was expecting.

Exactly. And that's why if you are going to claim Clevinger has no chance in 2023 of putting up the type of season Cueto had last year, then there was also zero chance of Cueto putting up that type of season coming out of 2021. And we already saw that is was, in fact, possible.

Was this the extra inning runner rule?

I replied to this already, but I have a question for you: Who was/is more likely to have a 3.5 win season? Cueto heading into the 2022 season, or Clevinger heading into the 2023 season?

Wait, what?? Zero chance that Clevinger is better than Cueto next year? That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. EDIT: I suppose you mean that Clevinger's 2023 has no chance of being better than Cueto's 2022. Not as ridiculous as I first thought, but still a pretty crazy claim.

Unrelated to the current conversation, but I forget who you were before changing your name. What was your previous SoxTalk name?

Did I miss an official announcement of the dollar amount?

How long before the dollar amount gets announced?

I didn’t really have another player in mind. I was thinking Nimmo or one of the shortstops (which won’t happen).

I wouldn’t mind trading Hendriks as long as we used the money to sign Nimmo (or some other big contract).

Do you think Cueto gets a larger contract than Clevinger during this offseason?

Right, but you’d have to look at it as a completely separate move to adding a 5th starter. Whether or not we replace Gio with Clevinger, we’d still need a 5th starter. If Sox have no interest in Clevinger unless it is packaged with a Gio trade (I have no idea if that’s the case…just saying hypothetically if that IS their thought process), then there are two options: 1. Sign a 5th starter like Quintana or someone along those lines. 2. Sign a 5th starter like Quintana, and then replace Giolito with Clevinger. If those are the two options, I can see why the Sox would choose option 2 if they truly think Lucas will never be good again. Of course, the third option is to just sign Clevinger as the 5th starter, which is what I would do, but option 2 is better than option 1 if you think Lucas is toast (which isn’t far fetched after watching him pitch last year).

If Clevinger does end up being a replacement for Gio, the Sox must feel like Lucas is truly toast at this point. I wouldn’t bet against him going into a contract year, but it’s not that crazy to think Clevinger will have a better year than Gio next year. So if the price for both is similar, and you can get something of value in return for Gio, and your scouts think Clevinger is the better pitcher next year, it’s a no brainer to pull the trigger. Like I said, I wouldn’t choose to go that route because I wouldn’t bet against Lucas in a contract year, but I would at least understand the move.

It depends on whether you think this team is closer to what we saw in 22 or in 20/21. I think last year was the anomaly, so I don’t think it’s overly optimistic to think this team will be better next year.

But Clevinger is going to cost the same as Giolito, and possibly a little more. Signing Clevinger and trading Giolito isn’t a move a “cheap” team would make to help them financially.

@Pal This the name you heard?