Balta1701

The same logic applies here as did for FA...not a whole lot of suitors, and all the downside risk - he gets hurt or VictorMartinez's a season and the team is stuck with 2 more years.

No it does not guarantee he's staying in Boston. They still need to cut payroll somewhere.

He has pitched 4 big league innings in 2 years? I get it if he can start the season pitching, can you convince me he will?

We might still offer him that, but it's way too much for a guy who should be at DH in a saturated market.

Good thing we've changed the GM and President of Baseball Operations since 2016. Anyway, I think this one is pretty likely, and I would use it in my ideal offseason - because I'd go for one of the 2 big pitching acquisitions as the biggest guy I could add, and would still need RF help.

A team like the Dodgers would be far smarter to offer 7/$220 or 8/$230 because it's a higher total than what Wash put on the table and it reduces their luxury tax total if they spread the deal out longer.

wait what? $40 million per year? You can't have written that right.

The immediate signing of Durant and Irving with the Nets this year within the first few minutes of free agency was almost certainly tampering to the point that the NBA changed their rules when they understood what had happened but they couldn't prove it. Much more recent example.

They wouldn't do it to help out Scott Boras. They'd do it to make sure that a player they wanted knew they'd have money to spend on him. The White Sox will not casually work with Scott Boras even if it gives them that sort of advantage. Some teams...might.

At the very least his side waited until they knew whether Encarnacion would be on the market. Being at the end of the line can give information like that, there could be someone else who unexpectedly opts-out or has an option not picked up.

There's no way the White Sox are going to be helping Boras out by doing "just a little tampering" or whatever people are imagining. Maybe some other franchise, but not this one. If they think the White Sox are their best chance, they will absolutely be doing it blind.

I honestly do not know. Scott Boras's response may well be "They'll put a 4th year on there if we hold out".

I don't really think it's possible for them to have a "pretty good idea" that someone is willing to beat his current contract, I think the owners aren't going to give him the advantage of the kind of back-channel communications people are imagining they're doing, and I think he's in the same basic position as 2 years ago - a solid DH in a market with lots of DH options and no one necessarily gunning to give a huge deal.

February.

I would do this. That is approximately my upper limit, give or take.

Exactly. What do the Cubs want? Good (maybe not even great, just solid) players that can help them now, with a little bit of control/cost limit. What do the White Sox have precious few of? Guys that can help a big league roster right now, under control, aside from their elite guys. Happ falls right in the Hahn development failure Gap.

Great. What do we have to give up to get this player? Seriously suggest something as I have no idea how to make this match. Bummer + Colome + Dunning/Adolfo?

While I think Cole's actual contract will be a pretty smart risk (see how movable Greinke, Verlander's contracts have been), I would definitely be out at anything close to that dollar amount. Literally 20% higher than I'd consider..

I am aware of all the reasons why we will not do this. Cole + Moustakas.

That's almost certainly why he hasn't gotten in so far, but hopefully the burst of publicity with his retirement can overcome that. If a guy devotes a few decades to a team that's a reason to get this award. Having everyone else in the league hate him is also a reason to get in.

I'll tell you this, the hard core baseball fans in Dallas-Fort Worth love the White Sox.

How many of them had to face off against Chris Sale and Jose Quintana as part of those stats?

I strongly prefer one of those 2 to any of the other RF options I've seen considered.

You're right, was looking at wrong column.

Unless people like us start making a big deal of it at events and phone calls there won't be negative publicity, not that they care about. Only a handful of people out in the real world care about this and what it really says about the organization. Find Rick Hahn at Soxfest or a callin show and make this your question. This is the most blatant example of them not doing everything they can to win.