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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.

I think it's possible because he was injured a lot last year but from June to Sept he was really good. Every month not much difference from the other June , July and August. Very consistent when before he became a more of a contact hitter, he was known to be streaky. Like I said I think he'd be agreeable to one year with a mutual option and incentives .

You think OBP is our #1 priority ? Really? Yea its up there but surely it's pitching and power . You don't think .845 OPS is good enough to play DH ? Again sorry , really ? Maybe you better start remembering how many AB's were given to ALonso and AJ Reed Palka etc who occupied DH last year. Here you have one of the most consistent power hitting guys who can hit both righties and lefties fill in at 3 positions in the field, a huge hedge against injuries and under performance and he's not a fit ?

I'm not counting on Moncada being hurt but many here consider him soft. I just think between all the positions he can play there's just no doubt he would fit. Injuries happen we know that and when you can play 1st, 2nd and 3rd that's one hell of a backup for 3 positions especially when you consider it was Sanchez playing a lot of 2nd and 3rd last year . 1st base isn't so hard to learn for a career 3rd baseman so lets not pretend it's like playing SS. When Abreu wasn't playing 1st are you forgetting all the AB's Yonder Alonso got or the immortal AJ Reed ? Maybe you forget all the crap we had at DH I sure don't. How is Moose getting AB's there not much better ? Can you really say with 100% certainty that Madrigal will be entrenched at 2nd base all season after he is brought up or when exactly he will be brought up ? Someone can say he's not a good OBP guy but you can point out flaws in any player If he was so great in every area I wouldn't be saying how much of a bargain he was. But just to counter that argument he drew career high in walks last year. I just get amazed when people don't think he's a fit when the Sox lineup was one black hole after another at with terrible hitters backing up 1st and 3rd and starting at 2nd base and DH . There's nothing wrong in stocking the lineup with HR hitters like the Twins did . Last year we would have loved him instead of all the crud we had at 1st ,2nd DH and to play 3rd when Moncada went down . Those 35 HR's .516 Slg, and .845 OPS last year would've helped too. I'm not building a World Champ here. I don't think anyone here can unless they have a crystal ball. Lets not get paralysis by analysis here. I've addressed a lot of different areas with just 2 relatively inexpensive pieces to the lineup leaving a lot of money to be spent on pitching which is still the No. 1 priority. He might take 3 years to sign but if anyone is worried he'd block someone that's really silly to care about. If you are so good to be blocking someone who cares ? There are always areas that need improvement and positions of strength to make trade from. Even without Grandal it's a vast improvement over last year and even better when Eloy becomes our JDM . It's time to really start believing in the guys we have already and the one who is coming who can be the best of them all WAR wise and potentially as a hitter too which is saying a lot when you have Moncada and Eloy.

I was vacillating between Gardner and Corey Dickerson. Both haven't played much RF at all so if that's a problem for just one year I understand. I don't really consider it a big deal. Dickerson won a GG in LF in 2018 , doesn't have a weak arm and is a hell of a hitter when not injured. Just look at his stats in 2019 in his limited AB's High BA, Slugging and OPS. I've been doing a lot of research on him and he's become a really good hitter the last 2 years by choking up and cutting down on the K's and making more contact. As he's progressed with the new style he's worked the power back into his game also and is capable of 20-25 HR's in a full season . I think he's way under rated much like Lemahieu was last year. He also isn't a liability against lefties like Gardner, Calhoun and Pederson. If you add Grandal, Moustakas, Dickerson and Luis Robert that could be an extra 100 HR's the Sox didn't have last year and 3 of those 4 are left handed. Along with the power of Moncada, Abreu and Eloy that's a real lot of power along with some OBP from Grandal and while Dickerson doesn't walk too much that high BA will put him on base and as a contact hitter along with Madrigal eventually you could have an ideal 2 hitter in Dickerson and 9 hitter in Madrigal. I'm not worried about Moustaskas getting AB's since there will be plenty to go around between 3rd when Moncada misses games at 3rd and if Madrigal doesn't come up for a month then plenty at 2nd too. As primarily a 3rd baseman he could also play many games at 1st without much trouble. Also between Grandal , Moose, Abreu and the rest of the power hitters you have DH pretty well covered while keeping players fresh and having more power off the bench for those late inning HR heroics that we didn't have last year . The best part is Moose and Dickerson shoudn't cost the Sox all that much in AAV maybe $25M a year at most . I think Dickerson can be had easily with a 1 yr, base salary around $8-10M but with incentives based of AB's and performance make another $5M if he remains uninjured and productive . Moose is also pretty good against lefties so between him and Dickerson neither one has to be taken out of the lineup. I wish I could figure out a way to work Collins into getting a lot of AB's without removing Grandal but with his catching skills and hitting ability still a question there's vast difference between him and Grandal. However if the Sox are successful at getting starting pitcher adding Moose and Dickerson as the bats might not seem good enough for some people but it would be if Collins can add the OBP and power we lose in not signing Grandal. Guess we'll just have to trust that between Eloy , Moncada, Abreu, Anderson , Robert , Madrigal, Moose and Dickerson that its a good enough lineup to give Collins more of an opportunity . I think that lineup is pretty good, versatile and even better if Collins can step up. It's certainly much better than last years lineup. , more balanced ,more power , no black holes against left handers or right handers. Maybe Collins against lefties isn't the best but I'd be thrilled to see him mash righties. Imagine Eloy, Mocada and Robert all ending up great hitters. That lineup is sweet if that can happen sooner rather than later. I truly believe Moncada and Eloy will be hitting superstars next year .

Nothing wrong with making money but something is amiss with the Sox IFA agency process. That's the much larger story here.

Christian Mena and Wilfred Veras from their last signing class are both 16 though. Sanchez was 22 and Elijah Tatis was 17. Can't find the ages of right-handed pitcher Erick Bello and Venezuelan catcher Ricardo Aguilar who were also signed. After those signing the Sox had $1.7M left of which $1.25M went to TX so they still might have $450K depending on the accuracy of everything I read.

Of course you can also pretend to disdain it as a convenient excuse not to spend the money but they do seem to like using it for older guys so who knows.

I don't really care about analysis and I haven't done a ton of research on it but Baseball Ref . for instance just says traded for intl. bonus pool money. Maybe there's a place that has the amount of money the Sox traded but I haven't found it yet but then again I haven't looked that hard . You can usually find out the amount of money traded in articles about the trade but looking up each trade while more thorough takes longer than just having a list from year to year. MLB white sox page just says future considerations instead of intl. bonus pool money so that's no good .

It's possible Reinsdorf disdains the whole process of the exploitation of 13-16 year olds since that seems to be the ages that many of these guys start getting peddled to the big league teams.