spiderman

There's no reason to sign Moustakas to a multi-year deal. I would question taking on any multi-year deals to older veterans. Continue down the youth movement and be aggressive in signing/trading for premium talent.

I would love a hard salary cap in MLB with a floor (perhaps there would be some "exception" to go under the floor if you are rebuilding, etc.), but, just making things so not sure how close this would be, if every team had to spend $125M and the ceiling was $210M, what would be the negatives? Yankees/Dodgers can still go wild, cap would continue to rise as revenues do and teams like Miami, SD, KC, Pittsburgh are suddenly players for marquee free agents. Right now, the best free agents are typically limited to about a third of the teams and the smaller market teams only compete if they build from their systems and nothing goes wrong. The Cubs are spending $200M+ and are being accused of being cheap by their fans for not spending (so far) this off-season - that's after some pretty expensive free agent moves that haven't worked out. Point is, the Cubs can continue being wrong and still have a top 5 payroll. Imagine being a Pirates fan - you either build 100% correctly through your farm system and hope to compete for 3-4 seasons before trading everyone away.

If the White Sox had no realistic chance of signing one or both, that is pretty much the default position of most analysts. The big market teams (unfortunately, the White Sox operate like a mid-level one), particularly in LA/NY have the advantage to most elite players.

Agreed. If they go down the trading path, which is probably a good bet, they had better trade for someone (or trade/sign) who is here for a minimum of 3 more seasons.

I don't believe that Harper is studying farm systems, he want the biggest deal on the market. However, IF he did care about a team's pipeline of young talent, wouldn't that be a reason to leave Baltimore? Not sure I am understanding how Baltimore having a bad minor league system factors into his decision.

Just seems, if true, they like acquiring the same two positions over and over. If they have to trade anything of value (i.e. prospects), does that really make sense?

If true, the White Sox have an unhealthy obsession with 1B/DH types. The current roster probably has too many of these guys already with Alfonso, Abreu and Palka (DH, but attempting to say he's now a better OF). I'd much rather have the rotating DH in an ideal situation, but it probably doesn't matter much on the current version of the White Sox.

I'd rather give any openings to young pitchers (sort of how the White Sox handled Giolito last season). If they did want to bring in a veteran, I'd rather go after somebody who makes a difference for more than 1 year, but that doesn't make a ton of sense given that Rodon, Lopez, Nova (for 1 season) and Giolito (hopefully) are forming the core of the rotation. It's hard to block guys like Cease/Dunning, etc. for a 1 year James Shields type starter. Giolito will go into next season trying to solidify a future rotation spot, but right now, he's doubtful (or a question mark if being generous). If Covey can earn that #5 job, great. I'd much rather see that than a older veteran.

I'd rather not spend money on some borderline veteran, and just let the younger talent (and maybe a cheaper veteran) battle. There's a very good chance that whomever opens in the 5th spot won't be in that spot by mid-season anyway with some of the higher level prospects.

Is Ottavino the closer for any of the teams (including the White Sox) who sign him?

One snippet; Based on ERA, seems to be on/off. 2018: 2.43 2017: 5.07 2016: 2.67 2014: 3.60 (only 10 games in 2015) 2013: 2.64

I've also started posting more regularly. Probably just a coincidence that the quality of the forum has improved significantly though (or not).

No mocking, but I do question posters (of any history) claiming to have inside knowledge.

My guess is that the poster read the same (or similar) information from a few different writers and made an assumption that there would be news soon. It's possible that he is completely on the right track, however, it's rather obvious that the White Sox (and several other teams) are actively trying to make moves. Unfortunately, it's a slow moving market so it takes the entire off-season to complete your off-season moves. There will be a few more moves by the White Sox. Obviously, most are hoping for either Machado or Harper, but, if not one of them, they will do something of some significance. The problem is that this move can happen tomorrow, New Years Eve, mid-January or even later. A sign of the times.

Are the Indians re-tooling or rebuilding on the fly? Seems like an odd message to be sent if you're trying to compete by trading their ace.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the White Sox are probably talking on several fronts, but, to some degree, are impacted on larger moves, by the wait for Harper/Machado. Could they add another relief pitcher? Probably and it wouldn't impact the star moves they want to make. Can they make a major trade for a proven talent elsewhere? Lesser possibility unless they believe it enhances the chances of a signing of Machado/Harper. This is the time of the year to talk and and make moves. The White Sox have been fairly active already.

I'm sure they have all sorts of plans under consideration, but most of it is probably dependent on Machado/Harper making a decision. Arguably, the White Sox have been active already, adding a middle/backend of the rotation starter, a closer and a lefty for the middle of the lineup. Obviously, none of these moves are probably going to alter the win total much for next season and the biggest area's of improvement is still with the younger talent. I'm sure most are hoping they can land a true difference maker, but I am guessing that will have to come via trade.

This was where I was. The Dodgers got increased flexibility for 2019 with this move, and get prospects on top of it. Yes, the Reds got some major league help for next season, but I feel like they should have had a stronger position to not give up good prospects.

Why did they have to trade good prospects in exchange for a salary dump (by both sides)?

Never heard of it. Anyone else with any updates?

Is there any actual news on either Machado or Harper? Any reports from Rosenthal?

This is exactly the point.

Why is Anderson even a concern? I don't think he's proven to be anything more than a mediocre player. What am I missing here?

These winter meetings didn't live up to the hype. What does baseball need to do to have a 2-3 week sprint where most of the significant moves take place vs. being spread out over 3 months? Maybe it's fine to be 3 months and we're all impatient, but compared to the NFL / NBA, this seems to be boring as all hell. thoughts?