Chisoxfn

How much is part of that related to his injury issues this past year? Not to say he bounces back cause he is old with a lot of innings, but I wouldn’t bet against it. That said I am only acquiring him if I get something else of Long term value with him.

Is there an article associated with it or just audio?

Those sentiments were always, in my opinion, overly aggressive. That said, it is like when the Bulls traded Butler....everyone thinks it is easy to get a superstar or do X and Y. I always said, when you blow things up (and in the Sox case - it was absolutely the right move to make as the team just didn't have the underlying farm system / flexibility to ignore a rebuild), it ultimately takes time (and more time than fans think), that everything ends up like the Astros/Cubs, but the reality is, things aren't near that easy and more teams end up sucking forever because they are just bad organizations. I'd say the Sox are trending / in that level, but the one caveat I would have is they did have a damn near 20 year run of being a quality team (unfortunately they never made enough post-season runs, but they were a pretty solid team in contention for a long damn time). Most of my child/early adult life, I knew the Sox had a chance at the playoffs each and every year (with very rare exception). My dissapointment in the franchise was how they would underwhelm or fall just short...not that they were absolute freaking turds. The complete disappearance of player development and effective drafting ruined that basis though and the good news is, we have seen some of our younger/talented players emerge, but what we haven't seen is enough "home-grown" talent supplement the youth acquired in trade (Tim Anderson is the lone exception). If the Sox are going to succeed, Tim Anderson has to be a common thing and the Sox need to regularly maintain a strong front-office.

Or they are making sure they make public statements that don't paint them in a corner from a trade front, etc. The urgency fans have isn't / shouldn't be the same urgency a front office operates in. While missing on targets can hurt (and none of us know who those targets were, outside of Wheeler...so we don't know that we missed out on these other guys), going crazy and putting this organization in a tough spot in the near/long-term by filling the roster with bad contracts, doesn't help either. My personal opinion (and I said it last year) was that the Sox are never going to become an elite team because of free agency and if I were them, I would try to swing aggressive where they can, but when the big boys play, don't assume you can beat them at the cash-spend game (and yes some smaller market teams have done it - but i'd argue they rarely win), instead be opportunistic on players who the market maybe isn't as active for and use your money / flexibility in the trade market (taking on guys who have market dollar deals from teams looking to shed said player). Yes, you pay a bit of a premium cause you give up something, but maintaining your long-term financial flexibility is huge. I will not pretend that the Sox are going to operate like a large market team, because they don't generate the revenue of a large market team, so what they need to do is be smart, nimble, develop their talent and than aggressively win on the trade front (including using their cash to get guys who can and will be long-term pieces). My fear has always been this organization has NOT shown an ability / proven track record at developing players and/or being creative & aggressive on the international front (albeit, Robert was a nice aggressive play and they have done a nice job on Cuban free agents (Abreu / Alexei). The one thing I've always applauded Kenny for is, when it came to the trade market, he was always able to play with the big boys (and I think that skill can bode well for them...especially given how "overvalued", in my opinion, prospects are in this era).

I don't think it would be that bad if the Sox got a Price or Sale + one of the Red Sox other good young MLB players + cash (as long as you don't give up 2 big prospects in the deal) and than had a Mad Bum / Keuchel / Ryu. Price and Mad Bum (or others) aren't aces anymore, but they both are upgrades to the rotation and proven vets who understand what it takes to win and have been there/done that in the post-season. Rotation is upgraded, lineup is upgraded, and while Sox use some payroll, they stay away from the LT deal that prevents them from being creative on the trade front, opportunistically pouncing in free agency, and having funds to lock up core players as they (hopefully) develop.

I’d be all over a 3yr 75M offer for Mad.

Shutting this down. RELAX

Bummed Sox didn't make a bigger play at this. He is Machado like and would have made this offense elite. Not judging anything on this and for all I know, Rendon had zero desire to come here, but Sox front office has some work to do.

Not done until it is done. Lots of smoke but who knows, maybe Sox just come in heavy at the end. No inside info but I never thought we'd win a battle on Rendon anyway.

I am okay getting Price if you get enough sweetners around him. I also could see Price bouncing back. Getting away from the monster is a plus and while he's aging, he still isn't that far removed from some pretty good years. I don't think the Sox are going to win the free agent battle, so using cash in creative fashions via trades and extension of potential buy-low candidates, etc, is probably the best path.

I miss Hawk. A true legend and I don't give a rip that he was a homer. I know he's retired, but I'd love to have him call at least a handful of games a year, especially once this team gets itself back in contention. Sucks that the end of his broadcasting career came during what was the worst stretch of White Sox baseball in my lifetime (and that stretch is still going...I sure hope it is about to end).

Clearly the Red Sox would want more. I don't think the Sox acquired Mazara to flip him. Don't think Mazara has that much value that a team would be demanding him in a deal (and if it was, it would be a bigger deal and we'd hear about a 3 team deal already, imo). This was the Sox buying a guy they think has LT upside, while also increasing their depth.

And if so, would you be interested in taking on his contract if you were the White Sox.

In an absolute heart beat. I also could see a variety of scenarios where the Red & White Sox could match-up.

I'm guessing this is a guy they are going to give a chance, and he'll get at least 450 at bats, albeit, I don't think this takes Sox out of adding another outfielder and he could just as easily be a DH. Bottom line I think Sox are going to make a handful of more moves so the team has more depth and quality players, with a couple keys to Sox next steps being Lucas, Moncada, and Timmy Anderson backing up and building on last years break-out performances while Lopez & Cease take more steps forward and Kopech / Robert (and a lesser extent Madrigal & Vaughn) ideally explode on to the scene.

A year ago...Soxtalk posters be like...we really need to acquire some guys with real upside. Sox go out and acquire Mazara, a former top 10 prospect in all of baseball who has gotten Albert Pujols comparisons from Bill James. Soxtalk be like...we should have signed Calhoun to a short-term big money deal (veteran who pretty much is what he is, who has actually trended down with 2 of his last 3 years being career worst, including a .652 OPS).

This. Don't judge anything in the vacuum of one move. On paper, I don't have any issue with this deal and could see many scenarios where it pans out. A year ago people were calling Moncada a bust and now he is one of the best players in baseball. Not saying Mazara will have that same "switch" flip, but lets not pretend that he doesn't have potential upside and worse case we are talking about a young, solid platoon guy. If the Sox like them and the change of scenery works, who is to say they can't extent him a year from now or even 2 years from now.

Around Anaheim everyone thinks he is signing with the Angels. National media seems to lean Yankees, but local media and local connections all indicate Angels (almost as if they are assured Cole will come to them and they can match with best & final bid).

I'm good...I'm the 8 seed and knocked off the 1 seed in my league thanks to Sanders not getting the 9 points he needed to beat me (we were literally 50/50 on projections).

Eagles came roaring back just in time. Division still stinks though.

Supposedly Collins is not a fan of Gar. I don't think there would be wholesale changes, mainly just the exodus of Gar (and potentially Boylen). Haven't seen anything rumoring Pax to be on the out.

I think Wheeler had stacked together a better trend, but Ryu, if you get comfortable on the medicals, is a better pitcher than anyone not named Stras/Cole. He's a bit older but he's been really really good when healthy. I don't get everyone's hate on Bumgarner though. Dude has a ton of innings, but he's still productive and while he's a fly ball pitcher and that doesn't bode well at the cell and he will likely regress. He is also just a physical beast who I could see just continually putting up 2-4 WAR type seasons year after year.

3 or 4 years for a guy who has thrown as few innings as he has in his MLB career is pretty darn risky (vs. Bum who is a pretty good bet to throw innings). No guarantees as guys can get hurt, but I think Keuchel/Bum have shown a lot more of a track record to throw innings and be solid. Are they likely to deteriorate, yes, but I think you can probably expect to get a couple 2-4 WAR seasons out of Keuchel/Bum and with Ryu you might get 1 6 WAR season and a couple 1-2 WAR season's with like 50 innings combined. I like Ryu on a 1 yr deal with a big AAV (ideally with a 2nd year option) and I'd look at it as Ryu + another arm.

Heck of a pitcher when healthy...unfortunately, he hasn't really been healthy for a full season...in like forever. Coming off a very strong campaign though and as close to a "full" season as it gets for Ryu.

This. Seems like with the way the market has headed, this wouldn't be a bad move and than see what you can land via trade (at a more controlled cost...albeit at a premium price from a prospect perspective).