Chisoxfn

Yeah - that is a pretty damn good team. I would prefer something better in the rotation - i.e., more of a Bassit, but that team is better and the Sox can always bolster the rotation closer to the deadline.

You can't overreact from one start a piece from the main horses. Cease had nerves, Lynn is just an awful matchup vs. Houston and Gio was good but not perfect, but against a really damn good team. This rotation has some horses and the nice thing is - two of its best starters, Lynn/Gio, can actually go deep into games and throw innings (*knock on wood*). Cease is the one that can't and Keuchel if he can bounce back is more a 5/6 inning pitcher not a 6/7 type of guy and Kopech is a total unknown. It is why I would have loved someone like Matz to plug into the rotation and just give you more certainty around innings, but there are obviously other options out there to do it and we still have to see what happens with Keuchel/Kimbrel.

You and I are super aligned. I think they mucked this up and can do so much more and better with this squad - but it is still a spectacular squad with 7 guys that will be above average hitters (in my opinion) and that is before they address RF and 2B, which I would be stunned if they didn't do. And I don't expect it to be a Edwin Encarnacion/Adam Eaton type in either of those spots.

Not at all - no chance that happens.

This seems like a great deal in all honesty.

I know many hate on Baez here - but 3 out of last 4 years 4.5 WAR or better and they are getting at least 4 prime years in that 6 year window (28-32 by my random definition). Tigers got better here as long as they can contain him.

I don't get the Baez hate. He was very good with Mets and has been a 4.5-6 WAR player in 3 of the last 4 years. He is in his prime and as I mentioned earlier - was very good with Mets down the stretch. I know he has off field / other stuff - but as a pure baseball player - he is very good and physically gifted. Again - if I'm going to invest - he's the type of talent I don't mind going LT with (with my caveat - he obviously has had some issues in how he has handled himself).

If Conforto wants to sign for $100M or less - than sure. I am thinking Schwarber goes for less years and money but I am probably wrong on that front. Conforto isn't bad - I just think he's the type of guy you roll your eyes at if they really need to go 6 years. But you know what - it isn't my money - and I will say this - if they got Segura and Conforto - that is a really deep lineup top to bottom. Defensively it might be meh - but that lineup will be able to hit with anyone in baseball. And you can replace Segura with countless other 2B options. The lineup would also have some depth with people like Sheets, Burger, Romy, and potentially Leury (if they bring him back). I will assume at this point the Sox get Segura and a back-up catcher they like for Kimbrel. Note: I like Schwarber's ascension and think he has made the adjustments needed to fully unlock what I think is a pretty special bat. But yes - Conforto is the better fit for the Sox roster and probably why he will ultimately be who they sign.

No - I might not love the offseason so far, but the winner of the offseason doesn't always correlate to the season and we still have months to go. And - this is still a 90+ win team that lost a lot of its top talent due to injury last year with more players than not having arrows still pointing up (vs. down), including a number who are widely considered elite talents in this league. The major loss they have is Rodon - which is huge - but they still have good starting pitching and a deep pen and reasons to be optimistic with some of their young pitchers (Cease - another step forward? Gio - is this the year he fully breaks out? Kopech/Crochet - do they each take steps forward?). And quite frankly Keuchel has some reason to be optimistic for some reversion back to being a quality starter - not the guy who was stellar in the COVID shortened 2020 but certainly better than the guy who was dumpster fire the 2nd half of the year as he struggled through some back issues + having an inability to deal without being able to put anything on the ball. Robert / Eloy / Vaughn / Moncada / Timmy / Grandal / Abreu - That is a lot of reasons to be happy. 7 players who are either already real good or have all the potential to take steps forward to that and more. Abreu / Grandal being the only 2 who I would say are on the downside(s) of their career - but both of which are still clearly very good players, especially at their respective positions. And Grandal technically put up the best WAR of his career in '21. (and in just 90 games). Oh and the rest of the teams in the division - they would all be envious of the list of players I just outlined.

Schwarber still intrigues me. Suck defense but I think his best offensive years are still ahead of him. As a bat - way better than Conforto in my opinion. It is too bad Eloy is so damn limited in the field, but shoot - would be kind of crazy fun seeing Schwarber and Eloy with Robert just covering insane ground. His peak might not be much different than Schwarber (to be honest)...just from the right side. That said - Eloy has that potential to have multiple 1000 OPS type seasons and might even have some 50HR years in his future.

They should be able to at a minimum upgrade one of those spots and keep Kimbrel (not what I am advocating from - but if somehow they couldn't move him and hold tight, I'm just saying, it isn't the end of the world). Want depressing - look at the Sox from 2010-2017, now that was depressing.

Honestly - I am sure Kimbrel bounces back - either in the set-up role or as a closer for another team. So worse case you just pay a lot of money to have him be what they originally hoped he would be (or at least close to it) and you have depth if Hendricks were to get hurt. It is a horrific use of $16M for a small-to-mid market team but I am sure Kimbrel will produce much better in '22 than he did with the Sox in '21.

Don't look at me - he had his flaws but I wouldn't have traded him for a closer getting paid $16M/yr when you have Liam Hendricks under contract.

The good news is - Lavar will want him in a big market and if Lonzo fits in Chicago that means the stars would align towards a great player wanting to come to the Bulls (in time). Heck - from that other tweet it sounds like Big Baller Brands is already working a bit to make that happen.

Technically - Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Nationals, Braves, A's, Phillies are all teams that are contenders or big spenders who have done nothing (A's contenders - although they are losing a ton of people). Cardinals were in same camp and made one move. Reality is - Blue Jays/Rangers/Mets/Mariners/Marlins are teams who made a ton of moves, unless I am forgetting something.

But Grandal does it from the catcher spot. I have a problem with too much of my lineup having these 3 outcome production because I just don't think it works from an overall roster construction perspective. My dream offenses (sans the cheating) are the Astros. They have lots of good athletes and lots of quality hitters who have quality at bats and can make contact when needed but also hit with authority.

I don't know what thread it was in - but whomever is proposing 6 years on Conforto - no thanks. I already don't like him for 4 years. That is a lot of money/years to give to a guy who has has hit under .260 in 3 of his last 4 seasons and 2 of his last 3. I know he has some power - but beyond that - he is a mediocre athlete and a mediocre defensive player. Those are NOT the type of people you give big long term deals to and be happy about it. Give big deals to guys with true talent or stay in the 3yr range/buy low on people like Gallo. There are people I would have given the money/years to - Matz and Ray are two of those people. Gaussman I was more suspect on - but Ray has the stuff that I'll take the chance that he's like Wheeler - arrow pointing up following the changes and you are going to get 3 out of 5 really really good years in that deal and just live with maybe 2 years that aren't there (whether due to injuries or age or whatever). Now if Kershaw wants a 1+1 - by all means I go that route and we all know I'm still perfectly opening taking a shot on someone like Rodon - where if it hits - it will hit big and if it doesn't, well you aren't going 5 years (although I could be wrong). I do think the Sox completely miscalculated free agency and the market this year or they always knew they weren't going to be in on these guys and had a plan to wait - similar to what some of the other big money teams are doing, but my preference would have been to hedge my bet - buy something now and wait for some more later - because you can't get caught with your pants down with a team as competitive as this one is.

I presume you mean Texas - right?

Shocked. I know people hated on Kelly but he has done a really good job at ND. They haven't won that big game but they have been very very good during his tenure. Will be curious to see what they can pull and kind of surprised he would have went to SEC. He had built such a great situation at ND - fanbase even I think had come to accept they weren't the perennial NC contender they thought of to point where everyone was happy with the every few year playoff loss, etc, knowing they are basically a lock to be top 10 every single year. For Kelly - he is jumping to a much more difficult situation in SEC.

If I were a team - Correa is who I would give the most money to from a positional standpoint. Not Seager, not any of these other people. Correa. Guy is a stud - will get him for his prime at a premium position.

Kris Bryant is a good move that I would support. He's the type of guy I pay money to. He's flexible and quite frankly I feel like he's a guy who is going to produce over next 5 to 6 years at a pretty high clip. And if anything - you have some added flexibility in that he can play a good OF or due to injury move back to 3B and play a GG 3B as well (with Moncada moving or just filling in due to an injury). If only he was a lefty is all I can say - but he's still a darn good player and fits from a marketability perspective. And I think he's the type of guy that in 3 years you could move too. I kind of feel same way about Trevor Story to be honest. Conforto gets me the least excited - mediocre offensive play who has hit under .260 in 3 of his last 4 seasons, including 2 of the last 3, who plays a mediocre at best defense. Story & Bryant are both above average defenders, who I get it, aren't Left handed hitters, but can provide premium defense at premium positions and bring flexibility. Story can presumably be a damn good 2B while being able to back-up Timmy at SS (in case of an injury) while Bryant fills a hole playing above average RF defense while also providing flexibility for Moncada at 3B.

I wasn't ripping the deal - more fact that the Rangers weren't very good during the window he was with the team - so the signing didn't really work out well for them -but you are right - Arod played really well during that window (I mean its Arod - one of the best players to ever play the game).

Will this work out better than the 10YR 300M (or whatever it was) Arod deal? I love Seager and if he is healthy he'll be a star, but still surprised he got this many years. Well not surprised cause this aligns to rumors - but if you told me six months ago that this would the deal he got, coming off another year where he was hurt, I wouldn't have guessed it. He was obviously really really good when on the field though. I do think Rangers are buying his best years - which I respect - and he has a shot to win an MVP or two here - so buying future production vs. past production huge here.

Yeah - this seems like a stellar hire for USC. Was it money that made Riley leave or more of like an ego thing so he can go build his own program vs inheriting Stoops?