Jack Parkman

The whole thing I'm doing(again) is managing my expectations. Do I hope they can pull off top tier FA? Always. Do I expect them to actually do it? No. I'd argue that anyone who expects it is going to be disappointed, where those who don't would be ecstatic if they pulled it off. It is a protective shell. If you never expect anything, then when you get something it's a pleasant surprise.

And I'm going to be skeptical until shown otherwise. I think the Sox have a comfort zone with player contracts and they proved last year that they're not willing to step outside it, even if it means losing the player. I don't think that Robert was as risky as Abreu tbh but JR has always been ok with guys from Cuba for some odd reason. I'm going into this offseason with zero expectations again, and hopefully they prove me wrong. @Chicago White Sox You have to realize that there are a lot of Sox fans that are classically conditioned to expect the worst. It's just a part of the fanbase's psyche. If you don't accept that, you probably don't want to continue posting here.

Preparing for the pitching adds to be Odorizzi and Wood, and the offense adds to be Gregory Polanco and Justin Smoak. There's going to be too much competition this winter to expect anyone else.

My god raid Tampa and Oakland's FO. The Sox should operate mostly like them but with occasional 150M payrolls during championship windows.

I'd rather have JDM, give Collins a year at 1B and let Abreu walk tbh. They should bring in someone as backup in case Collins sucks.

Jankees lighting up Verlander in the 1st.

Scott Boras is going to run this offseason. The following free agents are all Boras clients: Cole Strasburg Ryu Martinez Ozuna And i'm pretty sure he has others free this year as well. Don't expect anything to happen until 1/15 at the earliest. Boras clients will set the market at almost every position, and especially SP.

Yeah, because they really need that TOR arm to take pressure off of Giolito and Kopech. It also invigorates the fanbase and proves that they aren't half-assing the rebuild. After the Samson comments this offseason is really important. They absolutely have to land a bigger name this winter. The Sox have 3 holes on their roster and this fills one of them. They really only need to spend a lotbfor a TOR starter and a RF. They can be smart about DH.

That's about as high as it's going to go.

If it costs 5/155 to get Strasburg you do it and don't think twice. If he really wants to stay in Washington or go to California you really can't do anything about that.

Corbin is younger and got an extra year. Sale got 5/150 and he's the same age, had less of an injury history, is left handed and a better pitcher when healthy. If you think Strasburg is getting more than Sale did last winter you're nuts. The Chris Sale deal is Strasburg's ceiling.

Nobody with a brain would give Strasburg more than 6 years, and even that is generous. He opts out to gain $30-40M to his bank account. If they're talking about similar length/money to Cole then that shifts the priority. If I had to predict his contract it would be 5/$140M

People need to realize that teams with good QBs get calls because those teams being in the playoffs is good for business. It's all about the benjamins.

He's been healthy for 2 seasons. I'd rather have Strasburg on a 5 year $28-30 AAV deal than Cole on a 7-8 year $32-35 AAV deal, despite Cole being 2 years younger.

If he opts out, Give me Strasburg. Let everyone else waste their time on Gerrit Cole.

So to clarify: I believed that Reinsdorf actually was trying to build 2nd place teams from 2000-2016. What he's doing now is anyone's best guess. We'll learn a lot this winter now that the Sox have an established core.

Nylander has 2 goals in 3 games but the trade is already a disaster, amirite?

Nylander wouldn't have been the guy I targeted in a Jokiharju trade, but he's still a good player. Is he rough in his own end right now? Yeah. But the offensive talent is ridiculous. If they could turn back the clock I would have seen if Alex Tuch was available because he would have fit the team perfectly.

Nylander was the most noticeable player in the first 2 games on that line. Toews and Kane are playing like ass. Every time Nylander had the puck in the opposing zone things were happening. Nylander wasn't the problem, 19 and 88 were. Nylander has some work to do in his own end but the talent is obvious. The only way that trade isn't going to be a win-win is if the Hawks sabotage Nylander by sitting him in the press box after 2 games in which he played well. The core forwards are all bigger problems than Nylander.

Being a "good manager" is like winning the tallest midget contest. The best ones are the ones that suck the least. They all suck to a degree and none are geniuses.

You do realize that Moncada is likely to be that guy too, right? You willing to pass on him?

It makes a lot of sense actually. He's not coming back until August and there's not enough time for him to rebuild his value in a trade. His agent is Scott Boras, so he's not re-signing for anything reasonable given his injury history.

Hard pass on Ryu and Keuchel.

They're going to bring back Colome but they shouldn't.