Look at Ray Ray Run

Something definitely is brewing but I would predict friday as an update day from the team.

Surprised burr couldn't even get a bag of balls as return!

I said that Merkin writing about Wheeler was not a direct indication that they had signed Wheeler or were close to doing so. You replied with the above. A beat writer writing about a player that the Sox have been tied to isn't direct; it's speculation based on rumors. There was nothing more to the Merkin article than that - that was my point. You disagreed with that point. It's not a big deal, but back tracking now is weak while pretending as if you never were critical of that take from me. Edit: I don't want to carry this conversation on any further; have a great holiday week.

Spill them beans!

OK. You seemed to be pretty critical of my opinion that the Sox didn't sign Wheeler and release Yolmer because of that. At what point can we concede the point that he wrote the article because he had been fed some inside information? If the Sox sign Wheeler in a week, will you circle back with I-Told-You-Sos? My entire point last night was the Sox had not signed Wheeler and released Yolmer for that reason. You disagreed and you belittled my opinion; now it appears that was accurate, but you are standing in principle by your initial belief. The Sox have not been directly tied to any of the names you mentioned. Speculatory? Sure, but the Sox were the "reported" high bidder on Wheeler. That is what, likely, drove Merkins piece.

Yeah, must be hard for you to be on the right side of a debate for once. ?

Teams get a chance to claim you before any other players enter the picture.

I'm not sure what you are arguing. Wheeler wasn't signed yesterday. Yolmer wasn't released due to this signing. Wheeler has been the ONLY pitcher linked to the White Sox by name so far, so Merkin writes about him because he's the main piece connected to them. Yolmer was released because the Sox never had intentions on keeping him, so the day which they released him really doesn't tell us anything. This is why I tend to believe they gave him a jump start on that market and allowed Yolmer to be one of the first players through waivers before teams commit money elsewhere.

He wrote about Harper and Machado too; countless times. That didn't mean the Sox were going to sign them; in fact, the opposite happened. His job is to cover the news stories and rumors surrounding the team.

Yolmer is not related to wheeler - I tend to agree with Dick here. This is merely doing Yolmer a solid by letting him hit the market sooner the others who will hit when non-tendered. Thats my opinion.

You linked it after you read it, did you not? As did many on twitter. That's how news spreads. Implying that Merkin had some insider information and withheld it just goes against the way the FO has attempted to work this off-season and how they have worked so far this off-season.

Why? Because you told me I was a dope when I said nothing is imminent, and that Merkin didn't know anything nor was he implying anything - he was simply discussing a topic his "followers" would be interested in to generate clicks. Still waiting on the announcement of Wheeler... I love optimism, but I hate all the smoke around Wheeler; it feels like there is no fire when smoke surrounds the White Sox and a signing.

It's almost like 2 guys in the media (Merkin and Chuck) are trying to capitalize off the wheeler stories by using them to generate views. Amazing. Neither this nor merkins article meant anything. Wheeler isnt signing today. The sox being able to keep a signing quite overnight was an anomaly, not the norm.

Think everyone is losing their mind over nothing direct at all.

I think they have a list of all players they will tender and the order in which they do doesnt matter. As Dick said, this could be doing Yolmer a solid.

Why?

Minnesota has double the income tax as Illinois. Again though, I think these guys just want the most guaranteed dollars regardless of tax brackets.

Yeah because a guy near leading baseball in hard hit % and avg exit velocity really benefited from the balls being juiced.

I agree with your top paragraph - even if we didnt see entirely eye to eye on team physicians main objectives in the past. You need to protect yourself against all the quacks and loonies out there - like Tom Bradys trainer - but at the same time Ellsbury should have the right to seek help from anywhere he can; especially given his individual case. Also I believe the doctor they're accusing him of seeing is in nutritional therapy.

The Yankees are trying to deny Ellsbury pay for this year for seeking outside medical treatment without requesting approval. This is an issue that I have a pretty strong opinion on. The team doesnt own my body and have a very specific desire for my outcomes - which revolves around me playing. The Yankees are arguing that Ellsbury seeked medical treatment from outside the organization without their approval. They are arguing that warrants them not paying him. This is a poor decision by the Yankees imo but we'll see how it plays out.

I'm not sure why you think the bottom. I always say, for a pitcher bWAR is a better reflection of whet you did and fWAR is a better predictor of what you'll do going forward. For position players the difference is tied mostly to the defensive metrics they use. When you see a big difference, due to fielding metrics volatility, your better off taking the average of the two imo. When it comes to catchers though, I'd agree I'd lean toward FG but I'd also argue that framing is overvalued by BP and FG. I just think they deserve the edge for valuing it at all vs BR.

Zimmerman actually a decent comp and example. Abreu probably been more consistent up to this age too.

My takes that it's a slight overpay. Stop citing that its possible he regresses and is replacement level. That's possible of every single age 32 FA. My goodness. It was possible of JD Martinez as well. All you can do is analyze the deal based on projections we do have. Every FA has a floor variance that would suck. The point I have made 1000 times is if the worst sunken cost/lost dollars this team experiences in FA is the 14 million dollars to Jose Abreu then that's a hell of a free agency track record and we should be happy as hell. I've never called it a good signing. Ive merely stated that it does not have some inordinate amount of risk attached to it differently than other free agent contracts and the floor on it ie certainly palatable and not terribly damaging. Therefore, it's not a big problem and doesnt warrant to countless overreactions on this forum.

Great and they'd be paying a replacement player about 10 million more than they should. Who cares? His 2021 contract should have zero impact on any future signings then. You're giving them a hard cap. It's not like if there was a player available in 2020 fa that they'd pass because it would surpass the 140 million budget for one year because of abreu.

In 2023, 1 million dollars will be significantly less than the league minimum salary. That means in terms of salary compensation, with the time value of money as well, it's very very little to the team. The impact on the actual budget for these terms (the duration of the contract) is zero. When I say terms I mean 3 years.