SoxBlanco

What if you truly believe Quintana will have a better season than Giolito (and you knew you could sign Quintana)? Then you wouldn’t even need a haul.

Thanks. So are we at around $164M for 2023 right now? If so, that’s much a much better position than I thought we’d be after filling out the rotation. @ChiSox59

Good call. What was the verdict on Pollock’s $5M? Is that counting toward the 2023 payroll?

No. I don’t. This conversation started because Sarava said he would trade Vaughn and Montgomery for Reynolds and then sign Bell to play 1B. My point was that IF we were willing to spend money on Bell after that hypothetical trade, then we should just sign Nimmo and keep Vaughn and Montgomery.

Isn’t that approximately what Vaughn and Nimmo will make in 2023 also?

What do you think the combined salary will be for Reynolds and Bell in 2023?

But then you suggested signing Josh Bell to replace Vaughn. If we’re willing to spend, then just sign Nimmo. Which option would you rather have? 1. Reynolds OF, Bell 1B, no Montgomery in the system 2. Nimmo OF, Vaughn 1B, Montgomery still in the system I would take option 2, and it’s not particularly close in my opinion.

What am I missing with Reynolds? There’s not a chance in hell I’m giving up Vaughn and Montgomery for him.

Agreed. I think Giolito is a bargain at $10M. The only way you trade him is if you think there’s a free agent available for under $15M that you think will outproduce Giolito. I believe that Lucas will rebound nicely heading into a contract year, so I’m not hoping they trade him. But I’m not a scout. If a scout told me that Lucas is toast and he’ll never be close to the same pitcher he was in 2019, it’d be tough to argue after last year’s performance. Yes, the defense let him down a lot, but even just using the eye test, he looked horrible at times. So am I hoping Lucas is traded? No. But if we did trade him, I would 100% understand the move.

Believed what? I didn’t say Manaea is definitely better than Giolito, so I’m not sure why you would say “substantially more”. If Giolito has another year like last year, he won’t get much in free agency after 2023. But Manaea is coming off a down year also, so he won’t get a big contract either.

You make the trade if you don't think you are downgrading the rotation. It's not crazy to think someone like Manaea pitches better than Giolito next year.

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.