Look at Ray Ray Run

Between just 6 guys: Hendriks Kimbrel Graveman Kelly Velasquez Bummer They have 49.83 million dollars tied up this year. If you had Reylo, it's up to 52.5 million. That's honestly amazing. The more amazing thing is I think there's a very good chance their best reliever in that bunch is the lowest paid one (Bummer), although obviously Hendriks is the favorite there.

At this point, if he's worth nothing it makes no sense to move him. It's absolutely outrageous how much money they have tied up in the bullpen, and if their plan was to spend money on the bullpen this off-season keeping Kimbrel was even more braindead, but it's obvious at this point the Sox misread the market (again, nice common theme here), and now they're stuck with paying 50 million dollars to their bullpen

See, while everyone else is angry and upset now I was over that weeks ago because I already knew the Sox would do nothing. I've also accepted that Kimbrel will be on the team; it will be another miss for the insiders. Picking up the contract never made any sense; picking it up thinking that it somehow had surplus value that would make him a valuable trade piece made even less sense. If they move him, it will be for nothing. Here's to hoping I'm wrong about both things, but I've accepted the reality long ago and see no reason in getting upset about it. Ready to hope our guys can overcome the ineptitude of the front office and play some great baseball.

Conforto has always been kind of up and down. Regardless, one thing that is undeniable imo is that he is better than what they have out there.

fathom, how do you even find these people lol? given the "influencers" that exist on WST, I pretty much just default that everyone there is pretty much a dope and none should be taken very seriously.

I remember when people used to say the Sox couldn't give out a big free agent contract because they were worried about signing their core, such as Giolito, when he became a FA soon. So much for saving that money to give to their guys, huh? lol

What? The NBA and NFL, two leagues that don't have exemptions, are much better constructed for the "good of the whole" than MLB. I don't think you seem to understand what an anti-trust exemption grants. Might want to read up on what it means before spewing off a bunch of nonsense. edit: the way MLB operates the MiLB for example would not be allowed had they not had an exemption and no one can argue that isn't a large worker base that is being greatly exploited.

If they keep 15 relievers, those 14-15 guys aren't going to pitch unless the game is well out of hand. If you keep adolfo and send him down later, after all other designations and claims, there's a better chance you get to keep him imo. However small that difference may be.

What's the 28th man on a roster ever really gonna do?

For me, it's the Mets. Degrom I think needed surgery and is not going to be 100% again. I think Scherzer gets old more quickly than most think; he started showing signs last year in the first half and then broke down late in the season. Marte is old and speed has a way of aging rapidly and unexpectedly. I hope Bassitt is good but there's always something weird about SP's getting out of Oakland. Also, linedrives off the face can impact a pitcher forever. I'll say the Mets succumb to injuries and the Cohen tax was wasted dollars on a team fighting for the final playoff spot at best.

Rosers expanded to 28, Micker likely can make the team to start the year.

Rosters expanded to 28 guys to start season Micker.... COME ON DOWN! You're the next contestant on can he play right field!

Moncada has 270 games at a wRC+ of about 127. That not good enough of a track record for you? Eloy and Robert were out most of last year and the offense was 4th in baseball. Robert has 550 AB's with a career OPS of 857. What do you think his floor is? Eloy missed much of the year and was bad by our standards after he came back and had a wRC+ of 101. What do you think his floor is? Sox had 4th ranked offense in baseball last year without Robert and Eloy for much of the year, and without anyone having a career year outside of maybe Yaz. I think the Sox have a lot of wiggle room to go from 4th to bad as you are saying. A lot of those things you said last year but for Robert actually happened and they were still damn good.

For people who don't look at the moon and see an asteroid, it's a little harder to see Jack.

Given how many playoff teams, this would be more than a bold prediction; it would be a catastrophe of injuries I'd have to imagine. Like 6-7 major injuries to stars. Even if they start slow, no one should run away with that division or extra playoff spot. Conclusion: Very Bold, the boldest of bold

I originally had him a little lower as my actual prediction but figured this is bold predictions. I'll add that I do think offense in general comes back a bit this year and we see a bit more power and league average offense is better than last year but still think he'll fit right in there in the top 20-24 hitters in the game. Vaughn sprays the ball to all fields. Last year he was a little off balance, but if he gets a little batted ball luck off setting the brutal stuff last year, he could be a lot of fun.

I'll say Vaughn drops a 320/395/510 slash line

Vaughn leads the team in average and OBP

cancelled.

Thanks, don't follow that stuff too closely. That's good to hear! edit: just saw him call it a false alarm lol.

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

I wouldn't invest that much of my money into a position that is extremely volatile. I don't think the expected outcomes between Collin Mchugh/Chris Martin and Graveman/Kelly are all that different, but the difference in price is 7.5 million a year versus 15 million. While I don't hate trying to make Velasquez a reliever, it seems they might even be stretching him out and in that case that money should have just been held onto because Velasquez has proven to be terrible in an extended roll.

The White Sox pitching staff had the highest fWAR in baseball last year. Their relievers had the 2nd highest. Their RF was 23rd in baseball. Their 2B ranked 23rd.

No one is arguing that a good bullpen isn't important to win in the playoffs. The argument is that no one had the Braves bullpen anywhere near the top last season; heck, no one even would have put them in the top 10 after the regular season ended last year. They were 12th in FIP, 13th in fWAR, 10th in ERA, 18th in K Rate. Then in the playoffs they got hot and carried. Trying to project and predict who is going to be great in a bullpen, and great in the playoffs, might as well be a crap shoot so investing heavily there doesn't move the needle enough to warran that substantial of an investment.

The problem is the Sox aren't all that "young" or "ascendant" at this point. Their core has played a substantial enough amount of big league games at this point to where projections become a bit more efficient and reliable. Last year I had the Sox as one of the better teams in the AL and winning their division. I'm not a big fan of Pecota in general and said it was less efficient then the win totals posted by sportsbooks who had the Sox all as the best team in their division. I did mention that the Sox should have done more last off-season as well to eliminate some of the if's. I feel that way pretty much every off-season though.