I've come to the conclusion that the front office asked for a pie in the sky offer just to see if someone bit, but realized it didn't make sense to trade Cease if they are still stuck with Eloy, Yoan and TA. Had they been able to trade one or more of those guys, then they would have bent a little on the Cease offer. Knowing too they can go back to the drawing board in the offseason.
James has always been critical of the front office but knows the real problem is ownership. I share this opinion. You probably get similar results with a new front office with the same ownership constraints. Jerry knows this too, which is why he won't fire anyone. Think an 87 year old, on death's doorstep, wants to go through a re-org process?
Hunter Brown, Yainer Diaz, Gilbert, Clifford, Pena - Done
If Cease + Robert were even on the table, I'd be talking to Baltimore. They have like 10 guys in AAA ready to go and not enough spots for them all.
I'd trade Eloy in a heartbeat if we had a good offer for him. I've given up on him staying healthy. I traded him to the Marlins for both of my last two offseason plan projects.
White Sox get: McNeil & Alvarez
Mets get: Eloy & Liam
Done. Heck, if we don't have to cut payroll, then you could go get Conforto.