CaliSoxFanViaSWside

Didi will be fortunate to get half that.

It's basically all gone from this years pool money. Between who they did sign and what they traded away . If all the sources i was reading are correct it's possible they have slightly less than $500K left after I added up the cost of who they signed, how much they traded away and what the starting point was.

Oh i get that one. Puff the Magic Dragon.

I'm certainly not against Didi Gregorius. I've been pushing Moustakas and people seem to think he doesn't fit either even though I literally explained how he does fit. You have to remember people want the sexy names even though the Sox don't have the payroll for the sexy names at all positions. It's always like "Can't we do better than that ?" We all see the fit for who we want to see fit. People thought JDM was a perfect fit . I didn't and apparently neither did Boras and JDM. The next closest to a perfect fit is Grandal but there are just as many reasons not to go after him as there are reason to go after him. It's as if people have totally forgot what a bunch of stiffs we had playing last year and all of a sudden youngish potential 2-3 WAR guys aren't enough. Anyone you can get who might be had for a $10M AAV give or take a million who is undervalued without a QO needs to be seriously considered just as DJ LeMahieu last year. Moose, Dickerson, Gregorius or other names will provide depth and make sure we don't return to the star and scrubs lineup like we had before. We have the budding stars now just add the depth pieces and a very high quality starting pitcher and give it another year. There's no way the Sox have a shot at the playoffs in 2020 so why not just give the youngsters a chance to grow another year and see what we get this year from Robert, Madrigal , Kopech , Cease, Lopez, Rodon, Dunning , Collins along with the minor league OF's and Mercedes. If somehow enough of the youngsters do very well this year you can add at the All Star break.

Do you think my arguments for Dickerson are puff pieces ?

This means there's still hope for Vaughn, Collins and even Yermin Mercedes and Eloy to become the future 1st baseman.

Doesn't matter he was our ROY and will be our JDM playing LF next year. Next year he hit's .300 with 40 bombs if he can stay healthy. And Robert will be our ROY next year . Aong with Monncada that's a lot of star power in the lineup. Time to put some decent pieces around them and ditch the stars and scrubs mentality that we all knew didn't work before but all seem to be advocating we go right back to. Build depth.

That's also a lot of our pitching targets that will require giving up a pick. But I guess that means only one with a QO will be a target anyway. Weird to see Will Smith on that list. I have no idea what the Giants are doing.

I guess now he's a better option at one year than 3 or 4 years but he's never been a part of my plan nor has trading assets either . I think the price for 1 year would attract a few more teams so just like with Nimmo you'd have to beat the best offer so it's never going to be as cheap as you think.

Of course just like the assets for Joc Pederson and Nimmo will be cheap. I 've heard enough of these types of arguments for giving up assets that the Sox just had the rebuild to acquire and now frankly assessing the farm system we really don't have that many left. You trade from a position of strength when you have strength . The only hope for the Sox to have a position of strength is in pitching if they can acquire some top FA pitchers and Kopech Cease, Lopez Dunning and Rodon all back on the team providing that strength IF they can reverse the fortunes that have befallen them the last few years. And also to let the ones still left in the minors play out for better or worse.

Yes we need pitching as much as Boston does so why help them get it while hurting our own chances ? As far as DH goes we don't need a DH we need players to fill positions and depth to allow a rotating DH from among those positions. I have argued this all along and for no JDM . We have an abundance of 1st base /DH types and even more if we can manage to grab Grandal. Between Abreu/Grandal/Moustaskas/Collins/Eloy that's plenty of depth and DH's to fill the position.

With JDM out of the picture there goes a lot of realistic off season arguments. Mine however are still realistically alive.

So the Sox are supposed to trade for JDM give up assets and free up Boston to solve their pitching woes when we need pitching more than we need JDM ?

I didn't take it as anything but a bold prediction,not based on any insider info,just going against the grain that he will end up in So Cal and knowing the Sox can afford him if they chose to do so.

No because I just saw it when he appeared on MLB Network Hot Stove Show.

Anthony Castrovince, (MLB writer ) bold prediction is Cole to White Sox.

While your DInosaur and Macaroni and cheese posts surely prove, you recognize weird when you see it . If anyone has any idea what those 2 posts meant besides you I'd be shocked unless I'm the dinosaur and am out of the loop. You know you are the man Trev.

Pineda 2, Keuchel 3, Moustakas 3 , Dickerson 2, Grandal 5

For a guy who thinks OBP is the #1 priority it just seem odd you think adding just one OBP guy can solve that issue. Yes I know Nimmo is an OBP guy but that's predicated on the Mets willingness to trade him and then having the Sox make the best trade offer and him also returning to the guy he was the year before . So we trade assets in the minors and have Collins DH/1B when we need him developed as a catcher . He has to get his shot at catcher or he loses a lot of value being another 1b/DH type or maybe just trade him like we did Semien and Narvaez and let other teams make him better since the Sox don't seem to have the patience or knowledge to develop guys defensively. Hmm how did Narvaez' season stack up against Grandal's ?

Just by reading that I could tell it wasn't Fegan who wrote nor does it appear he consulted Fegan, Pretty shoddy work by the Athletic. It's like he read last years needs when we were hoping for Macharper but knew we'd get an innings eater . It really doesn't matter what this guy wrote. We all know their needs by now we're just all taking stabs in the dark about how they get filled and at what cost.

While I'd love to have Grandal I don't see him as an ideal fit like you do. How much payroll do you see the Sox adding this year? Then figure pitching if all goes right could add $40 AAV or higher when you consider the bullpen too. That puts you above $100M payroll and you haven't added Grandal, RF, DH or added the bench piece you also want. You've also committed a hell of a lot to payroll and perhaps forced the Sox into making a trade for a RF and by adding Grandal and Encarnacion forced Collins back down to the minors where we learn nothing more about him.

Guess we have different goals in mind . I'm trying to fill as many holes in the lineup as possible as efficiently as possible leaving the big dollars for the pitching. I'd be thrilled to have 7 guys in the lineup if you count McCann capable of 20 HR's many of whom are capable of 30 and even 2 capable of 40. Yea I'd love guys on base so the power guys can knock them in but when you need a run I'd rather have 1 HR then 2 walks and a single with a DP between them producing no runs. This is the HR era . If you have a couple of guys who can hit .300 like Timmy , Dickerson and Eloy or even Madrigal I'm good with a .325 OBP from a guy who can mash 35 HR's and back up 3 positions. You can't build a perfect team that allows the young guys room to grow get OBP and power and starting and relief pitching all in one off season for cheap so I sacrificed a bit of OBP for payroll and pitching considerations. It's not perfect but what plan really is?. The Sox just don't have the payroll or the ability to sign 6 or 7 free agents with so many being repped by Boras. This is as realistic as i can get I think it's a good enough plan to get the Sox over .500 and even to possibly get them into the playoffs if Robert and Madrigal can play well and the pitching they add can produce along with marked improvement from the young starting pitching but that s asking a lot to go right . You give the team a chance to get back Rodon and Dunning and give Collins AB's to see if he can be that OBP/power guy and give the OF prospects one more year to see if anyone can step up. The Sox will not be a finished product in 2020 nor a likely playoff team so finishing touches can be added later or even at the All Star break if the team is surprisingly good. but realistically 2021 is the target.

So on the one hand you admit your ignorance but on the other hand use it as an argument against him ? My goodness educate yourself. While he certainly isn't Yolmer Sanchez there he did play a lot of games there and had a .929 OPS and 149 OPS+playing 2nd base and made 1 error between 2nd and 3rd before he was elected to the All Star game. I guess all of a sudden the Sox don't need a guy like that. Let's resign Yolmer ! . For a veteran like him to even consider 2nd base just shows the type of team player he is “I feel bad for him, we all do,’’ said Brewers starter Gio Gonzalez, who faced a cold winter himself. “I’m 100% sure he deserves way more than he got. The guy is 30 years old, has 66 homers and almost 200 RBI (180) in the last two years, is phenomenal in the clubhouse, and nobody wanted him the last two winters? I don’t get it. “He has been huge for us,’’ Brewers manager Craig Counsell says, “and he’s the consummate guy on your team. He’s just a teammate, man. He cares about the right things. And that’s winning. It’s really special having him around. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2019/06/18/mike-moustakas-brewers-free-agency-all-star/1485238001/

I think both will test the Free agency waters . I mean Grandal bet on himself explicitly for that very purpose by taking the 1 year deal . Moose has been hosed by Free agency but by showing he's capable of playing 47 games at 2nd base now added to his resume he's increased his value, His value is tied to that so to think he'll be primarily tied to one particular position, he becomes the same guy who couldn't get good deals as a FA in the past. I think any free agent could resign with their former team if the offer is right but you can't really be too concerned with that. You just put your best offer out there and let the chips fall where they may. At this point as much as I like Grandal I could see a very daunting task for the Sox in signing a lot of free agents that expand payroll too quickly and leave Collins out of the mix. Grandal might be a luxury especially since he seems to think of himself as the standard bearer for catchers getting their worth , If he's expecting $20M a year that's money that could go towards pitching either in the bullpen or to increase offers to starting pitching.

Yea every free agent we go after is going to present challenges and their own set of unique circumstances and ability's. I did my best to cover a lot of different holes . There's not many perfect fits out there. I'd go so far as to say there is no such thing. Gerrit Cole is about as close as you get for the White Sox to a perfect fit but he is for every team that can afford him.