caulfield12

Maybe someone should call the Sox ticket office and inquire if anyone purchased a season ticket plan for 2026 based on their belief in an Okamoto signing this off season... Always follow the money.

Probably because he’s expected to be the first $100+ million NPB position player…along with Murakami.

Pirates are all over this FA market AND considering giving offers to an array of hitters from Schwarber to Okamoto. “And yet the Pirates were primed to spend more than twice that on Josh Naylor before he re-upped with Seattle for five years and $92.5 million in the first signing of the winter on Sunday night -- and they're considering other possibilities to supplement Paul Skenes and a rotation that was among the five best in MLB in the second half. The most exciting: The Pirates are strongly considering giving 19-year-old Konnor Griffin, the consensus minor league player of the year in 2025, the opportunity to win their big league shortstop job, sources told ESPN. While the idea is by no means decided, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Griffin wowed scouts by hitting .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases in his first professional season after going to Pittsburgh with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft. The internal models for multiple teams have off-the-charts projections for Griffin, who has also dabbled in center field.” https://global.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46999006/mlb-2025-26-offseason-passan-predictions-free-agency-kyle-tucker-schwarber-alex-bregman Now even the Pirates and A’s are (or will soon be) burying the Sox in spending. Well, at least there’s the Rockies Rays and Twins still…I guess.

Imai Murakami and Okamoto are all well out of their price range. We might get another bargain basement deal out of the KBO, but not if it requires a two year contract. One year with team or mutual options for 2027. Fluffy pieces about possible interest in a free agent who will receive at the very least a three year deal are not worth anyone's time either....not unless they actually get a signed contract as we learned with 2 ESPN headlines about Machado being close to signing.

"If Ohtani moves out of California after his Dodgers contract expires, he won't be taxed California's 13.3% annual rate on the $68 million he'll receive annually through 2043. If he were to move to any of Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming, he would avoid being taxed at all,” Stebbins wrote." Ohtani contract one of the central issues that will frame the labor dispute/lookout. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/shohei-ohtani-68-million-loophole-033459813.html&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjQ_suU0fuQAxWNwOYEHW5kCM8QFnoECAgQAg&usg=AOvVaw3rALYJW-D4I97-yM7EUk_S Shohei Ohtani’s $68 million loophole in Dodgers contract expected to help cause MLB lockout in 2027

The White Sox never prioritized coaching outfield defense going back to the days of Rusty Kuntz coaching up Alex Gordon as he transitioned from 3B to LF...

Wasn't that the same argument for acquiring Austin Slater as the very first move last off season?

Okamoto...

A 735 ops (last two months of 2025) one dimensional player is basically just an older and more expensive version of Gavin Sheets...

Johnson loves to say "man" lol. The only thing the Sox had that was even sort of similar was those Santos AAA call up videos shot from the manager's office.

Here's a good example. Iowa women's basketball is still selling out an outdated 15,500 seat arena two years after Caitlin Clark left. Let's say they have just the #20 team in the country. Despite getting a new men's coach who has won everywhere he has gone and pretty much brought the entire Drake Round of 32 team with him, including a Top 10-20 NBA first round pick in Bennett Stirtz, they are only selling about roughly half those seats. Winning is everything...or at least the association with greatness OR whatever is right below it with Clark's national fame/cultural cache.

What are the odds a Sox signee even gets a deal that goes into 2027 unless it's a club or mutual option? 5-10% Ponce if basically 20 teams all pass on him. Seems like a Preller low budget deal like the lefty starter out of KBO who was a flop last year, Hart.

The odds of Gonzalez making the big leagues as a regular are 5-10% at best. Just doesn't possess any real plus tools. Even Meidroth has his offensive approach, contact ability and theoretically higher OBP that differentiates him.

Trusting Santos to make a pressure kick even in a dome...well. Might have gotten bailed out on the return.

Wright got burnt...wow.

Well...that quickly changed, except for having a bottom quartile K.

Let’s say an additional 20 fWAR. Does that bring them to league average even?

More good advice here than currently available through HHS. If you want a further scare, look at everything Chet Lemon went through after his first series of strokes.

Barry/Berry from LAD fiasco. KW learning curve there. James Baldwin trade, pretty sure.

He was excellent with Bill Raftery on the Wake Michigan OT game this week.

Out of price range for Okamoto...he will receive something close to Benintendi money.

https://global.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46917752/mlb-free-agency-2025-26-passan-perfect-offseason-moves-dodgers-yankees-mets-tucker-schwarber 21 teams with their ideal off season moves from Passan. Sox Rockies Pirates Twins Rays etc. without one listed.

His WAR totals didn't exactly light the world on fire like Teel did in the second half. It's not that easy for a catcher SS CF to finish at -0.2 fWAR. bWAR was 1.2, so a pretty large discrepancy. The relatively weak power numbers are concerning to a number of people. Not seeing that it's obvious he gets a consensus Top 50 prospect/s like Teel obviously would...especially OFers or SS.

His WAR totals didn't exactly light the world in fire like Teel did in the second half. It's not that easy for a catcher SS CF to finish at -0.2.

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