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I think you hit the nail on the head. I won't go as far as to call him cheap but he is fiscally responsible to the ownership group and he is the biggest part of that group. I have no doubt he is very loyal and generous to his employees and loves his charities. All that being said he picks and chooses the part of the baseball operations that he will spend the most on and that has been payroll. The parts of the organization that he wasn't spending spending enough on were the ones you mentioned and international free agency and the scouting , and development processes needed to develop all the young talent whether drafted talent or IFA 16 yr old talent. And you can still see that the Sox are leery of that very young talent when they trade away Nate Jones and $1M their pool money to the Rangers who needed it to sign a 16 yr old : "Texas was short on bonus pool cash which was preventing them from signing star Dominican OF Bayron Lora whom they agreed a deal with earlier in the month. Lora was the 3rd ranked international free agent by MLB.com in this past J-2 signing period. The 16-year old outfielder is noted for his power from the right side of the plate and would instantly become one of the better prospects in the Rangers system. However, Texas had a finite amount of international slot money and after signing other amateur free agents including SS Maximo Acosta, Texas was going to have to make a trade to acquire more pool money. https://nolanwritin.com/2019/07/31/texas-rangers-nate-jones-international-money-white-sox/ "In return the Rangers parted way with a couple of minor league pitchers in Joe Jarneski and Ray Castro. Jarneski was a 12th round draft pick of the Rangers back in 2017 and currently is working as a reliever at the Rookie-Ball level. In 10 appearances, the 19-year old had posted a 1.62 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Castro was signed as an international free agent back in 2016 and was currently with the Rangers Dominican Summer League affiliate. The 22-year old made 9 appearances, 7 of which were starts and posted a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 innings. " The Sox seem to still prefer older guys like the ones they got from TX. They also traded away pool money to acquire Yeyson Yrizarri, Ryan Burr, Thyago Vieira and Caleb Frare. Also their big signing this year was Yolbert Sanchez who will be 23 this spring in March and just starting off in the states probably at Kannapolis . All of these things limit your ability to hit on the 16 yr olds who develop into 20-21 yr old superstars like Tatis, Jr., Acuna and Soto or others who turn into very solid big league players such as the 3 16yr olds the Twins got with the international picks in 2009 . Kepler, Polanco ,and Sano. Here's a great article on the scouts and development people and patience it took to get them to where they are now. http://www.startribune.com/international-signings-in-2009-prompted-twins-rise-into-a-contender/560076992/

Ok upset, disappointed, not what they wanted just to clarify my meaning but getting Grandal would be a big step in the right direction so ,yea, maybe no one is upset.

I think many forgot about him. I know I did also and I can't remember his name being brought up at all in the RF options thread. Among the right handers it was always Ozuna, Puig, and Castellanos. I wonder what he gets . 6Y/175M ?

Well hopefully we're going to get pitchers and hitters and yes quality is good . But somehow I can't imagine every single person pleased with any signing the Sox make.

Some people would rather have JDM than Grandal and think McCann and Collins are good enough and that a catcher should be farther down the list of needs. I have read those things many time over the last 10 threads discussing the future.

Gennett had a terrible year. He cannot command any decent salary at this point but his upside is probably the best on the market if he can return from injury to his 2017/2018 production which he didn't accomplish with SF. If you are going to be looking to sign maybe 5+ Free Agents then probably one should be a value play, If Madrigal struggles enough to be sent down Gennett offers the possibility of All Star level production if he can regain his mojo from 2018. It's not like his latest impactful season was that long ago. And he'll probably take the first decent offer so he isn't one of those guys waiting for a Minor league offer. He could be one of those guys that takes $5M a year for just a year and an option or a small base salary with incentives.

If that is the case might as well just just do the qualifying offer. No need to give him 2 years at that price. Take it one year at a time since you have that option. He made $16M last year . Hard to imagine them lowering their offer . I'll predict the qualifying offer, No idea who Sox might sign 1st. Unless it's Cole people are going to be upset whoever it is. I'd say Brett Gardner but maybe he will give the Yankees a shot to get him back so I'll go with Brock Holt

I was just pointing out that Moncada and JDM had basically the same OPS+ this year thus making him a current hitter of JDM's quality since that's the question you asked. I've seen posts wanting JDM and Castellanos to be added. At some point, like now, we have to value positional versatility and defense . Going forward if the goal is a World Series then JDM gets put in the OF part time and Castellanos gets benched or vice versa. I don't like that one bit. I know that wasn't your idea but with every single player we get we have to keep all those things in mind that Grandal supplies that JDM doesn't.

Tony might be thinking one of my posts was your post because I wanted the Sox to resign Avi after he was non tendered and one of the smartest organizations in baseball saw value in him signed him and got that value like Tampa Bay usually does and the Sox do not.

Moncada is right there with him now and Eloy will be just like him next year. I don't know if Grandal would have the same effect but I am not in favor of clogging up the roster with DH only types and Grandal does check the boxes in some key areas of need, LH, OBP power and a position player. Even if his D is overrated he's still very valuable playing that position. Don't get me wrong I like Martinez . I wanted him when the Red Sox signed him because not many teams were after him . Many thought then it was too early in the rebuild but I'm never against getting quality players at any time since they could always be given an early opt out thus having the ability to get assets for him.

Good question. They had him long enough to make him a better fielder yet it took individual attention from Ron Washington to get there. You can never say how much coaching helps along with maturity/desire . After all it took him until he was 29 to get that kind of WAR in one season.

Good for Avi. Just what I was hoping he would do. It was a BOMB !

also Dozier, Starlin Castro , Kipnis, Kendrick . Still hate your idea but its generating good discussion so giving you a little help.

Exactly why I've been saying sustained success is a mirage of Hahn's mind when they haven't done much at all to change orgnizational philosophy especially in the beginning of the rebuild when it was more necessary . Not too late to catch up but does anyone really see them buying a load of high speed cameras, taking IFA seriously and actually trading for more bonus pool money and becoming Luhnow ruthless to make sure all are on board with the philosophy change ? I know I don't see it happenning.

You can't even call it a career year . He did great for only 297 plate appearances, He had a career 1/2 year. And yea no thanks. Those are the kind of numbers we hope Collins can get. And Gallo had 2 years with high K around 200 per season , high walks and less than .210 batting average but high OPS due to the 40 and 41 HR;s he provided. One guy like that I could possibly stomach like Collins but 2 you 're relying on walks too much without a hit tool. Too typically all or nothing or the BB, K ,HR outcome. Also the Ranger more than likely will move both Choo and Mazara. Choo as a semi salary dump and possible eating some of that contract.

Not by me. I repeatedly said he was slow as molasses to anyone who speculated him in CF by using his sprint speed numbers.

He was a free agent after 2019 only if you couldn't work out a deal for longer. Tampa signed him to an incentive laden deal for 1 year. Sox couldve gave him 1 year and an option, But anyway beside the point. Yea so you are telling me you would have rather kept Cordell, Tilson and Palka because they were more valuable to the Sox than an MVP season from Avi ? You already said the chances of them breaking out was 0.1% , If Avi had an MVP season I think the odds would be just a little bit higher they could get a decent sized asset for him don't you? And even in a non MVP season I'd rather take the chance of getting a low level minor leaguer or maybe even OMG shocker the Sox could trade for IFA Bonus pool money !

Re: Avi I always thought the purpose of a rebuild was to collect assets , identify talent and make transactions to bring in more talent. Avi was obviously more talented and similar in age to Cordell, Palka Tilson so why get rid of him over them ? There are always other options for a player besides him playing in the future. The more assets you collect while still in the rebuild perhaps your odds go up of making a trade . One silly insignificant trade such as how the Astros got Yordan Alvarez can make all the difference. Hey I'm all for getting the top talent . I was the one who suggested getting Rendon and moving Moncada or playing Rendon at 2nd . Just bring in the WAR machines and do whatever you have to do. But if they start crying poor once they have 1 big contract then I'd rather not hear about how they need the money for the future to lock guys up. which is what we heard from KW just last off season when we didnt even land a big contract yet.

Read the thread from early June through July 1st.

Where's Eloy ?

I thought it was Yadier Molina.

He must be reading my posts But Gardner also looks like a good choice . I'm just concerned about his age.

It would be extremely tempting. Players are not invulnerable to injuries that threaten their careers. There's already a bunch of peeps around here who call Moncada soft. A bird in the hand my friend.

Won't happen. These reporters are all shills for the agents. Every year everyone forecasts big bucks being spent and the last couple years the market has been tight . He's not a 2 way player . Why anyone thinks he gets $20M for 5 years is beyond me. Oh look he's a Boras client . Just shocking the richest most powerful agent out there already has one of his lackey's out in full force.

I understand that concern but I just don't see any other option. If the Sox were in a position of strength I'm not even sure I could run with your idea then either. There are plenty of decent names out there who should perform as they always do barring injury. Of course the trick always is do you get them and if you don't what's plan B ? Do you settle for someone like Avi in RF ? I'll toot my own horn. I was one of very few who recommended resigning Avi after he was non tendered. Turns out one of the smartest organizations in baseball agreed with me and got good value for the money and now he gets a chance to play in the playoffs . I really want to see him do well. Now I haven't been tooting the Avi horn again since I prefer Gardner/Dickerson more but I'm just recommending the Sox concentrate on kicking some ass early in the process with good offers and then get on a roll showing the late signers/stragglers that they mean business. A lot of these guys are Boras clients so I can't say how effective that will be but they have to show everyone they will spend the money by making a flashy early signing if possible. I mean if your plan was to get everyone started thinking big so you don't have to look at so many posters saying Cole etc. are pipe dreams more power to you. Think big.