[Giancarlo Stanton traded to Yankees]

Your what hurts? Please show us facts supporting when the the team payroll was even within $20 million of that. Krikey!!

 

Could have sworn it was $150 at one point, but I stand corrected. Nonetheless, the Sox have shown they are willing to spend money when it's pertinent.

 

The White Sox not spending now has no bearing on how much they will spend in the future. This team isn't good. They shouldn't spend right now.

[Abreu snubbed of Silver Slugger]

Boras is going to use it to increase Hosmer's AAV which will help cripple some team down the line, so I'm OK with this for that reason alone.

[Giancarlo Stanton traded to Yankees]

You took the click bait wite.

 

I know. Better to have the logical reasoning out in the open instead of leaving it in my head.

[Giancarlo Stanton traded to Yankees]

I wonder if Reinsdorf's history of not spending is the only reason the Sox have not come up in any of these articles about possible landing spots for Stanton. They have the prospect depth to get it done without mortgaging the future and will have virtually no money on the books once Shields is gone, which should at least make them worth mentioning.

 

It's not about his not spending, it's that is not the right fit and this is an albatross of a contract.

 

I'm not going to say it wouldn't be cool to see Giancarlo Stanton in a Sox uniform, because it would, but there is such little in the way of reward with so much more risk. It's not worth it.

 

JR is not going to spend money on Stanton or anybody else this off season. White Sox Math=low payroll=more profits=more moola for JR.

 

The Sox payroll was up around $150-170 million like 3 years ago, or did you forget about that? The Sox are young and the team isn't that good, this is not the time to spend.

[Big week for Eloy]

He doesn't suck.

 

Quite the opposite, he is the besss

[Trade avi in the offseason?]

I think right now the fan base is pretty well sold on 2019. If Abreu and Avi are dealt, that could change that perception. I am not sure how the fan base would react to seeing a time table of say 2021 as being realistic, or if things don't seem to be going positive by next season.

 

We all know Sox fans aren't exactly the most positive bunch in general. Right now Hahn has a surprising amount of goodwill, but it isn't to squint and see the lynchmob mentality return either.

 

Right, and that's not to say that what they are doing isn't putting feelers out there. That's likely exactly what they are doing. Hahn is still shopping. It just so happens to be that, with these two players in particular, you have to receive a certain package that I don't think teams will pay. Hahn himself has said that everyone is available or that everyone has a price. That will always be true with every player. That doesn't mean they will be dealt.

 

What was the number I remember being thrown out there, something like 99 out of 100 trade talks don't pan out? I'm guessing both of these will fall in that 99 category.

[Trade avi in the offseason?]

I don't know. This board is only a sample size of the fanbase but going by what fans are saying here, it looks to me like many will understand if Avi and or Abreu are traded.

 

This board understands baseball better than the average fan. The average fan will say "oh, so they're just gonna trade every good player we have."

 

I'm with Tony on this one.

[Your Off Season Plan]

Abreu is an average 1B, at best, with a good bat but not going to bring back 2 top 50 prospects so it's Groome or Chavis but not both. Chavis ++ is probably what were looking at.

 

Don't forget Devers was only 20 years old. Devers will improve as he matures and Boston knows it.

 

Jose Abreu finished with the 6th highest WAR among 1B at 4.1. I would count on him being a 3 WAR player moving forward, but he is an above average first basemen. That does not mean he necessarily has a ton of value, but the dude is still a great hitter.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

But how will one judge whether a team is "close" to competing if they only win 70 games, largely because the bullpen is awful? A bad bullpen also lends itself to overextending the starters in an effort to compensate. I'm not sure that's a good thing for the rebuild either.

 

Because it is very easy to keep track of how many games a bullpen blew the game. Whether you want to use conventional means like blown saves, or (preferably) you lean more towards analytics and look at WPA+ and WPA-, shutdowns and meltdowns, WAR, FIP, etc, you can tell how good or bad your bullpen was and how much work is necessary. I also don't believe that a bad bullpen leads to overextending starters. A bad bullpen leads to position players pitching and different relievers being called up from the minors with little to no effect whatsoever on the starting pitchers.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

This is 100% how I see this off-season happening.

 

One lefty vet and one righty vet. Guys to reflect wisdom and then, come July or August, if they want to try and get a title, the Sox ship them off to a contender. Honestly, Clippard seems like a guy the Sox could look to bring back too, even if he was only here like 15 days. He gave a lot of credit to Cooper on his way out the door.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

But it's not for no reason. It's to build an average to above average bullpen over the next few years rather than a complete dumpster fire. How will we even know if this team is "close" to competing if the bullpen is complete trash the next two years?

 

If you can't see that your bullpen is trash, then you are not paying attention.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

As a rebuilding club, this is when the White Sox should be trying to find glue guys for the bullpen. If you sign 3-5 guys to multi-million deals, you have no flexibility to find those guys.

 

Next year should be a year of experimenting with different guys, putting them in tough situations and seeing how they respond. Failing is good because they can learn that way. Bringing in seasoned veterans and paying them $9 million per year to win 5 more games in a year where 75 wins is your best case scenario is setting yourself up for failure.

 

I think they bring in one or maybe two veteran relievers, but I don't see it being multi-year deals. I think the more likely scenario is that they bringing guys like Albuquerque, Farquhar, Infante, Minaya back and sorting through those guys throughout the season while bringing in others on MLC's. Legitimately, we all had no idea how good Swarzak and Kahnle were going to be at this time last year. I see the Sox doing that exact same thing again.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

I don't know for sure what Swarzak would do, because him taking a 3/$15 deal from a team seems just as likely as him taking a 1 year, $7 mill deal. He's still making a significant amount of money and betting on himself in the latter scenario. That's the reason I think he'll go that route.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

I would love to see Swarzak back on like a 2-year deal. Toss him in the closer's role and if he pitches like last year, a team could look to buy him at a nice price.

 

I initially thought about a 2 year deal, but I think that works against what both sides are trying to work towards. Swarzak will be trying to build his value so he can get at least one big contract in his career - he is 32, afterall, even if some relievers tend to last a bit longer - while the White Sox will try and keep as much off their payroll as possible heading into 2018 without it being a surefire piece for the future. If Swarzak comes out and has another 2 WAR season as a reliever, then you can look to give him maybe a 3/$30 contract so he can be your closer for the intermediate term, but if not, then there's no big loss.

[White Sox unlikely to chase big free agents]

The more this all comes together, the more the idea of a guy like Swarzak coming back here as the closer makes sense. Short term, should be cheaper, will be looking to build his value while providing a stable arm in the back of the pen. You give him like a 1 year, $7 million deal and if he proves he's "legit," then you can either look to extend him or trade him. If he bombs, it's $7 million, not $36 million.

[2017-2018 MLB player movement rumors and reports]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/11/masa...f-contract.html

 

 

 

I think it's a smart move by Tanaka sticking with his team that made it to the ALCS. Wonder if the Yanks use Tanaka to try and lure Darvish to NY?

 

I also think it's a smart move by Tanaka because he never would have gotten $67 million over the next 3 seasons anywhere else either.

[WS: Dodgers v Astros]

As with the Cubs in November 2016, it now seems to be accepted wisdom on sports talk radio that nobody can realistically hope to compete with the Astros for the next 3, 4, 5 seasons. After all, they just won the World Series, and will bring back basically the same team. Pencil them in, since that's how it always works in baseball.

 

Bet the house on it.

[Trade avi in the offseason?]

That monetary value probably isn't far off though. I'd say, value wise, he's fairly comparable to Wil Myers, who just signed an extension that pays him $20 million per season after he passes his would be arbitration eligible seasons.

 

Myers could certainly improve off that, but let that contract be a warning to those advocating an Avisail extension.

[Sox make roster moves]

Can certainly put Petricka in that number; Putnam's best years were better than Petricka's. Even Infante and Minaya, two rather modest relievers, pitched as well last year as Petricka ever has.

 

100% agree. There might be something there, but a 29 year old who has never shown that much really isn't that valuable during a rebuild, especially with the sheer number of AAAA arms available.

[Giancarlo Stanton traded to Yankees]

Would be interesting to see if a team could trade for Stanton and re-negotiate his deal to pay him more until 2020 but just end the contract there instead of it being an opt out.

 

Very doubtful MLBPA would approve of that re-structure.

[Sox make roster moves]

I still don't see any way that they tender Putnam a contract. I know they like it when he's on the mound, but I don't know how you can guarantee the roster spot of a 30 year old who has spent that much time on the DL. A non-tender and minor league re-signing seems like the most likely route they go with him.

[Your Off Season Plan]

Sign C Rene Rivera - 1 yr/$6.5M

Sign SP Clay Buchholz - 1 yr/$9M (+1 team option year/buyout)

Sign 1B Yonder Alonso - 2 yr/$26M

Sign RP Neftali Feliz - 1 yr/$4M

Sign RP Brandon Kintzler - 2 yr/$10M

Sign RP Brandon Morrow - 3 yr/$24M

Sign RP Ian Krol - 1 yr/$5M (+ 2 team option years/buyout)

 

I don't see any significant trades happening. Doubt Abreu or Avi get moved, and no one else is worth giving up on.

 

Almost all 7 of these guys are dudes you sign and then hope to flip. Krol is more of a project piece that you hope to mold. He's only 26 and was actually very solid in 2016. Needs to work on control.

 

I would love for us to grab a big bullpen arms like Holland, Davis, or McGee, to flip at the deadline, but I can see the contending teams overpaying for all those guys and the Sox just going more for the B-tier and reclamation arms to try to sell high on.

 

But bottom line, all these guys (except for Rivera and Krol, and maybe Morrow due to years of control), are signings you make with the sole intention of dumping by July.

 

This was Brandon Morrow's first "healthy" season in 6 seasons, and he still only pitched in 45 games, and you want to give him a 3 year contract.

 

Also, this whole "bring all of these guys in to dump them" strategy works in video games, but does not work very well in real life. You can do that for a couple of guys, but bringing in 7 players for a combined $84.5+ million to dump them sets a really bad example for the franchise in free agency.

 

Frankly, with the guys the Sox have, I'm OK with one or two small signings in hopes of reclamation (so that they can keep them moving forward) and seeing what the guys in the system can do.

[Your Off Season Plan]

So you could say he was going after Hahn, solo?

 

I do believe you win the internet today.

[Your Off Season Plan]

I'm still hoping that I wake up in the morning this off season and find out that JR has sold the team. Hopefully when JR leaves he can take Hahn with him.

 

You are probably the only person on this entire site that has real issue with Rick Hahn.

[Off Season Buy Low Candidates]

On June 2nd, Kyle Schwarber hit his season low OPS of .621. After that date, in 278 PAs, he put up a .246/.338/.561/.900 line.

 

The dude isn't going anywhere.