Look at Ray Ray Run

Rendon isn't signing somewhere to play RF; at least, I don't think so. You'd have to pay a hell of a surplus, I think, to get him to move positions at this point in his career.

Robert is a world class CF'er so no idea why you'd move anyone to that position. I've watched enough Robert at this point to believe we're look at an elite defensive talent.

When we're talking about the big stars there's been a couple reasons for failures, and a lack of leaving. I also think people greatly underestimate the incredible cultural change and shock that Japanese players experience when they come state-side; it's much more dramatic than any other players experience. Obviously the posting system has changed, which has had an effect as it's not as beneficial for teams to lose their stars to the MLB. Also, someone like Kaz Matsui just couldn't hit a high velocity fastball. If you haven't seen it consistently, and you can't hit it consistently, you just won't succeed in MLB. The league in general breeds better off-speed hitters too, which obviously impacts their transition. Would love to hear your thoughts as well.

Moncada's defense at 3rd base was worth about 1 WAR last year over average. If he was a below average RF'er last year (pure speculation) with the exact same batting line he goes from a 5.7 WAR player to a 4.6 WAR player. Obviously I am assuming he wouldn't be plus there, but that risk would be tied to the move and it's a risk I'm not sure I would take given that they have other holes that they'd see a much more significant net gain from than signing Rendon and moving Moncada. I'll also add, if Moncada improves at 3rd in his second season, we're talking about an even bigger loss in value as you may be pulling 2 WAR defensively and replacing it with 0.

Yeah, but Rendon isn't getting any younger and defense ages more quickly than offense. Moncada was excellent in his first year there with growth in the future. Rendon's defense is only heading down from here.

Yoan was bad at second. I'm not sure if Sox fans remember how bad he was over there; I don't think the scenario should be Yoan going back to second in any scenario.

If Moncada is actually all-in on this, and not just being a "good teammate" (which Rick would have to be able to read), then I'd absolutely consider it. I also don't think you're going to be able to sign Rendon if you want to move him off his natural position and I don't think Rendon would be a great fit in right field; he played 2nd base for a long time prior, but again you'd be putting him at a position in which you have an elite defender coming up into. Rendon's bat would play in right, but his glove would be a question mark and he has definitely gotten value out of his glove. Madrigal's glove would play anywhere on the diamond, but his bat doesn't play in RF and I doubt his arm would.

Moncada was a bad 2nd baseman; IDK why, but he was flat out bad over there. Moncada also was quoted saying he felt more comfortable at 3rd than 2nd, so this was a move he seemed to support and be interested in. This isn't really the same scenario; you'd now be asking him to move out of the IF all together. I'm not sure why we're using Moncada's prior defensive performance at an entirely different position to compare to Rendon's success at one position.

Moncada is a superstar level player, and he's a better defender at third (possibly) than Rendon. These are still people you are managing; what kind of message does it send to Moncada after all he's done and how hard he's worked that you're going to move him again, despite him being a bonafide MLB star? Ego's come into play in sports; heck, "Mr Selfless" himself Derek Jeter didn't move off of SS for a far superior SS (A-Rod). I wouldn't do anything that could be detrimental to Moncada, because he's every bit as important to this rebuild and teams success as Rendon would be. If Moncada came to you and said, "hey, I'll move to RF for this guy and master the position" then fine, but that isn't something that a lot of guys would do.

Resources are better spent on areas of need, imo. This isn't like having 7 pitchers because injuries happen. You're literally forced to move one of the two to a position they have not excelled at in a similar fashion. Rendon isn't likely to move, either, so in reality you have to move your best player who played excellent and may actually be a better defender than Rendon. I wouldn't be mad, but I think the money couldn't certainly be spent smarter.

That would make sense. So they have 304 days to trade him then; if that is how that's structured.

It literally says he will have full no trade in the 2020 MLB season so it will not be after the conclusion of the season. It's when the calendar officially turns over to baseball's 2020 maybe? This will only be Sale's 4th season in Boston, so he'd technically have to get through all of 2021 to have 5 years of service time with them.

Yeah, I get that but I'm also not sure when the calendar turns over to 2020 for these reasons. Spring training? FA opening? I'm admittedly not sure on the rules pertaining to that.

I'm not positive the exact date in which the calendar turns over to being the 2020 season. Is it Jan 1? It may be when free agency begins. I'm not sure.

I'd say it's safe to say the report is wrong if it doesn't wrap up by the winter meetings. For huge contracts like this, there are a lot of details and things that do need to be worked out - typically, if you've agreed in principle something gets reported but, this time of year, it's possible the Club wants to announce and formalize at the Winter Meetings. If Tuesday comes and goes with no news though, then it was wrong. Regardless, I don't think the guy just made up his report for fun. Problem is, the only sources that truly matter with something this big are Baseball Pres, Owner, GM and the player/agent.

Per sources, Chris Sale will receive a full no-trade clause during 2020 season once he reaches 10 years of Major League service time. Sale's extension also includes an opt-out after 2022 and contains a vesting option for 2025 worth at least $20M based on starts. Sale would never come back here. I'd take Chris Sale in a heartbeat, and it's ironic how correct Cooper was about him being a max-effort guy all year (people laughed at Cooper for this too) being detrimental to his health.

Chris Sale is not coming back to the Chicago White Sox. Sale has a full no-trade clause.

Thanks for this; I was curious about that. I wouldn't worry as much about his K-Rate if he's a + fastball hitter. Off-speed in Japan really isn't behind off-speed stuff in the states, but fastball velocity is (at least that's how it was before, you would know more about this today).

I mean, allocating 225 million to a position that is currently filled by your best player seems like a waste of resources, and poor allocation of funds. I don't think you can just move Moncada - you could argue he's a BETTER defender at 3rd already than Rendon. So not only do you have to pay Rendon huge money, but you also need to move him or Moncada. Rendon is awesome, but he's simply not a need. Unlike starting pitching where the Sox want to claim they don't need an ace (laughable), they actually do not need any infielders.

I thought he'd get 5/125 so I was ready to spend that much, but I also understand that is more than Wheeler is worth at this point in time; I just simply think Wheeler is going to take off in the next 2-3 years and propel himself into the upper echelon of starters... but I've felt that way about plenty of players in my life who fell flat on their face, or simply didn't improve. Typically, 29 year olds in baseball do not get better; Wheeler has to skirt that to succeed. Paying for future production should be what free agency is all about, but paying in hopes that a 29 year old develops and improves is of course riskier than doing such for a 24 or 25 year old. Wheeler's projections aren't really rosey, but I just think the public projections are wrong on him. I believe he projects worse than most every starter none of Soxtalks want.

Say's who? They offered 5/125, how the heck is 6/132 a better deal? He didn't take the 7 million extra from the Sox; I don't think another 7 million is a game changer here; especially with another year attached.

You see a little different stuff in Japan. He could be a great fastball hitter who struggles with off-speed - which would be more beneficial in MLB and Nippon baseball. But if hes a bad fastball hitter who succeeds vs off speed then his k-rate would be very alarming. Tough to analyze these guys.

Same; always appreciate different view points and I agree with you regarding wealth management accounts and etc. Bottom lines drive a lot more decisions in the financial sector than it may in the massive contract/entertainment world. Ego's are much more involved when it comes to numbers for individuals, and the Unions goal is not individualized - it's typically a broad goal.

How is that obvious at all? The driving force according to actual reports was family and not money. The higher up in the market you go the more neccessary and the more pressure you feel to take the highest guaranteed offer. As I mentioned tax calculations 5 years out on a MLB contract is difficult to forecast exactly as it's tied directly to scheduling and tax laws change with relative frequency. You pay taxes based on the city you are in for that game, not based on your home teams locations. Youd need a schedule 5 years out and youd need to factor every city and how many games and etc. Its certainly possible though. If you can point me to a case of tax reasons driving a player to take a lesser offer I'd love to read about it. Gross salaries are how wages grow in baseball. Net take home is not the driving force behind salary growth. If I come taxes were a driving force in negotiations then teams in California would consistently have to pay more for the same quality of player vs Texas and Florida and that simply does not happen and "good agents" would charge California teams more than Florida teams.

The 71st pick is worth about 3.5 million. That means the projected outcome for that slot is like .5 career WAR. The odds the 71st pick becomes as good as even one year of Colome is damn near zero. Claiming the return here is better is just being negative, again.