SoxBlanco

This doesn't answer your question, but his numbers might even get better with Moncada, Eloy, and Grandal hitting around him.

Thanks for clarifying. I asked a question earlier about whether the signing bonus would count toward 2020, but now I'm realizing that was a stupid question. If it didn't count, then teams would just call large chunks of a contract a "signing bonus" to get around the tax penalties.

I was going to ask this, but then I just figured Vaughn will still be the future 1B, with Abreu moving to DH. Or we could end up trading Vaughn.

Assuming we don't sign anybody to be the DH, how do these numbers look for a breakdown at C, DH, and 1B? Games played at that position are in parenthesis. Catcher: Grandal (90), McCann (50), Collins (22) DH: Collins (60), Abreu (38), Grandal (32), McCann (32) 1B: Abreu (120), Grandal (30), Collins (12)

Do people actually think Chisox378 is being serious? It's clearly a troll job. Probably best to just ignore his posts.

Good. I want nothing to do with him.

No, the rotation will be Giolito, Wheeler, Lopez, Hill, Cease.

Upon further review, your prediction of 4 years, $72M was made AFTER this prediction. The ruling on the field is confirmed. Great prediction.

Wheeler will take his place in the next week or two.

In a perfect world, we have five solid starters when Rodon is healthy and he doesn’t need to take anyone’s place. It could be like adding a great lefty reliever at the trade deadline.

Rodon isn’t a free agent after next year.

Possibly, but we could easily rotate Grandal, McCann, Collins, and Abreu among C, DH, and 1B. Should still be plenty of at-bats to go around.

Even if someone gives Cole $240M for 7 years, that still would be under $34.5 AAV. What kind of contract do you see somebody getting that would make that question a “yes”?

Great post. I definitely agree. I’d really like to give Collins as many at bats as possible next year.

I’d like to suggest locking this thread. Any rumors that surface can go in the specific thread for that player. Anybody agree?

And you would certainly win that bet because once we sign Cole, we'll already be over 90 million.

Good point. We also should have kept Moncada down for a couple more years because of his rawness and high strikeout rate. Same with Eloy. It's not like guys can get better while in the big leagues, so I don't know why we ever call these players up.

That's why it's smart to sign Grandal. Let Collins DH almost every day, and if he flops, McCann can be your DH. That's also why I like the idea of signing Castellanos to play RF. He can always slide into the DH spot if need be.

This is exactly the point I was getting at when I posed the hypothetical Eloy question earlier in the thread. People have an idea of what a player should turn out to be based on how highly touted or highly ranked they are/were as a prospect. The guys who are higher ranked should get a longer leash, in their minds.

Let's say Eloy's timeline was hypothetically delayed about a year, and his first taste of the majors was at the end of 2019. Let's also say he struggled at the plate in that limited sample size. Would you be willing to give him a shot a the start of 2020?

I don't mind this option. If they tender him a contract, can we get him for about the same price that it took to get Yonder Alonso last year?

When you say he is not a good catcher, is that based on things you’ve read? Or based on the eye test when you’ve watched him behind the plate?

Moncada put up a wRC of 130 in AAA, and we called him up and let him struggle for a year and a half on the big league club. Collins put up a wRC of 140 in AAA last year and some people don’t want to give him a chance.

After his initial slump in the majors, he went back to AAA and reworked his swing/approach. Did Menechino make the changes with him?

People have pointed out that the Astros hit better on the road in 2017. But the sign stealing might not have started until August or September to get ready for the playoffs. What did their offensive home/road splits look like in August, September, and in the playoffs?