caulfield12

They're currently closing down their Russian operations.

https://www.southsidesox.com/2018/9/4/17805656/under-the-radar-bennett-sousa-southpaw-white-sox I would guess he's picked up 2-3 mph along with most relievers these last few years. He's definitely not the flamethrower type, quietly effective.

They're still NOT going to do it, with that club option there...what about adding a signing bonus like Berrios at the beginning ($5-7.5 million) to sweeten the deal? Giolito's basically 27 1/2, and has 11.2 fWAR the last three years combined (obviously 2020 brings the average down). So he would be 32 1/2 hitting Free Agency again. Berrios is almost exactly the same age, 27 1/2, and would hit his free agency at 34 1/2. 9.6 fWAR vs Giolito's 11.2 in comparison, so that's not insignificant. You could go back ONE more year in Berrios' history, then it's 8.6 fWAR vs. Giolito's 11.2. Just can't imagine that Lucas is going to be able to ignore that club option/control issue, the fact that he's seemingly back in form throwing harder than in 2021 and also quite peeved about the arbitration situation and then having the offer he supposedly turned down leaked online. None of that's going to sit well with him and his family. Balta, are you seeing anything differently which would make you believe an extension is still realistic/possible/feasible...or has the bridge already been crossed and burned behind him? I guess if they won a World Series, and then rewarded Gio in a similar way to the Strasburg deal, but that still doesn't sound like JR...especially for a pitcher and looking what happened with that specific example.

Didn't Parkman already write this? It's kind of the same position the Indians are in with Ramirez, Bieber, Clase and Karinchak to a lesser extent. Except I think Jack picked the players that were closer to FA or veterans like Gio, TA7, Hendriks, Lynn and Grandal... A bit like the Oakland A's trying to drive their team into the ground ala the Cleveland Indians in Major League 1...so as to further justify their relocation to Las Vegas.

Should be the ghost of Bill Veeck then...even if he was a penny-pincher out of financial necessity, fans at least had fun and relished their underdog/blue collar status.

Is that actually, by definition, BOLD?

If Gonzaga, Duke (in Coach K's final go-around) and Arizona (down 7 in the first half to Houston) all go down tonight... Might be one of the lowest rated Elite 8's in recent memory with the lack of star power. Villanova becomes one of the favorites now despite having almost an anonymous/underrated conference season. Jay Wright has quietly become one of the Top 5 if not 3 coaches in basketball. And impressive if Texas Tech can lose Beard and hardly miss a beat with a new coach but essentially the same oppressive defense.

It's called the Tiger Team even...anticipating the events of Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/us/politics/biden-russia-nuclear-weapons.html

Daniel Palka would be even better. Well, Andrew Miller just retired after a 16 year career (and blocking the White Sox from trading for Miguel Cabrera)...thankfully, we can't sign him. Otoh, signing Miller would have allowed Crochet to start every week in Charlotte in order to see what we actually have in him. Also, just noticed we lost Jace Fry to the Washington Nationals.

Stop whining, Rodon!!! A certain GM just got too cute, and assumed NOBODY else amongst the other "pretty smart/market efficient" 29 MLB front offices would see things any differently than the Sox. Well, who knows what he will produce this year, but the Giants worked miracles with Gausman/Desclafini/Wood last year and I'll tend to trust their pitching evaluations at this point, coming off a historic 107 win campaign. Not only that, but Rodon was already at 96-98 today in his first spring outing. Granted, it was 81 degrees in AZ, but his slowest FB was 95 and Lopez, who throws hard himself, was at 93-95. No guarantee Rodon pitches 140+ innings again, but it wouldn't shock me either. As you said, even at 2.4-2.5 fWAR vs. 4.9/5.0 fWAR, it's a much better return on value in FA than 75-80% of White Sox free agents signings under the Hahn regime. And that's EXPECTING him not to pitch more than 70 to 80ish innings, something like 12-14 starts out of 30 something.

Let's just start with ONE post-season series.

I'm assuming we're talking December, 1941...although I'm not sure going to war constitutes a positive or negative/whining outlook.

https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-160280956 "Like most people who love baseball, Jeremy Barfield had a great time watching last year's World Series on TV. For Barfield, though, the final out of Game 5 carried with it a significance few fans understand. That final out meant that in five days, he would be in a position he'd grown increasingly accustomed to recently. He would be out of a job. "My thing is, obviously I enjoyed the World Series as a fan, but it's a ticking clock," said the 27-year-old outfielder, who has been on the open market four times in 12 months. "It's like, 'Here we go again.'" Players become Minor League free agents when they've been released from their original contract or after their first six full seasons in the Minors. They often find themselves waiting for the phone to ring with considerably more angst than that of big-league free agents. When superstars such as David Price, Zack Greinke and Jason Heyward become free agents, they inevitably fuel a hot stove rumor mill and end up with big paychecks, but there are no guarantees for players in Barfield's situation."

Yes somehow we're marginally worse while being simultaneously being more expensive.

Some will probably believe this is actually real and Hahn was just being super sarcastic...or it would be considered tampering with the FA market.

Your what hurts?

It's like Machado in a different way...always about an additional guaranteed year, or a club option. That's why the only Boras players we will succeed with will be internal draft picks or be finding a home for guys like Rodon who need to rebuild value before going back on the open market. But we usually don't take those guys either, unless there's a possibility of team control in the second year.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/jose-berrios-18945/ Compare year by year with Berrios at 7/$131 including signing bonus of $5 million, as well as differences in options and incentives. How would Giolito's reported deal be even close? Very suspicious timing to release this the day after a contentious hearing with ill feelings from the player and his family. Not surprising at all to see things end this way. The White Sox only believe in club options, and that approach is going the way of the dinosaur if you want to attract the best talent today, good luck with that.

Okay, that makes more sense. It seems sort of fair, but not compared to Berrios and not with a Year 5 club option vs. mutual or player option. That would have made the Sox window they were 100% willing to commit to through the 2024 season, with all bets after that hedged.

So essentially if Lucas pitches well in 2025 it's 5/70...but he could be injured and the club option works against his getting that massive payout if the Sox control him at that stage of his career for only $20 million again...when he would be hitting free agency younger and looking at $30+ per season like it would take to equal the Berrios deal (2/$60 after Year 5).

2023/24 is his walk year, he wouldn't have 3 arbitration seasons remaining...so potentially giving away 3 FA seasons but much less backside protection if he has another injury in 2024-25.

How much was the club option year worth? That would seem to be one of the key points. For a pitcher with previous TJ surgery, pushing FA back by two years really dampens the value of that big FA contract if you're already touching your 30s. He's obviously betting on himself...and saw the trap door at the end of the Sox approach which was more to the team's benefit than his. This also has to explain partly the arbitration fight over such a small amount. Of you compare that to Berrios' salary in his theoretical first two years of FA, it won't be close. Then thete's that two year age gap...if it was a player or mutual option for Year 2 of FA, much more palatable for the player but not the Sox modus operandi. Wait a second...so the club option would be Year 3 of FA, so it would be buying out two and possibly three years of free agency but not close to the monster backend numbers of the Berrios deal to make it a no brainer if you line the two up against each other and compare their production as well.

Well, let’s check back when there are two 105-107 win teams competing against the Sox in the Central. Everyone thought 2006 was “unfair” with the Tigers and Twins. 2015 was terrible roster construction.

96-98 against Robert. 98 against Abreu. Might be a bit of a hot gun, lol. Gas. Lopez was at 94. 97 with the overpowering K against Abreu. 95 the slowest, against Moncada.

Lambert or Bust!