caulfield12

We haven’t even gotten the bullpen to the point where it’s better than 2021, especially if we have to trade Crochet for a starter.

If they are willing to go up to $70-75 million. And aren’t forced to go six years, that will be the clear end of those negotiations from the Sox side… Actually, all things being equal, he’ll stay with the Dodgers and White Sox would have to overpay by 10-15%. Has been on the West Coast pretty much his entire career.

“As a strong season for Nick Castellanos progressed in Cincinnati, it became increasingly obvious that the slugger would opt out of the remaining two years and $34MM on his contract in favor of a return to the free-agent market. Castellanos, however, is perhaps seeking an even larger payday than most would expect; MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Castellanos and agent Scott Boras are eyeing a contract of seven or even eight years in length. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweeted this morning that the Marlins still have interest in Castellanos even after landing Avisail Garcia, though Feinsand suggests Castellanos’ asking price is too rich for Miami’s liking.” Goodbye Castellanos. Pretty much guarantees Conforto gets at least $90-110 million and five years. Better off doubling or tripling Contreras’ coaching salary to get the very best out of Vera and Colas.

How are they acting like a World Series contender? Now we’re supposed to be satisfied to trade our remaining prospect capital from the #30 ranked farm system when we were promised unprecedented financial flexibility? Acquiring Castellanos or Schwarber when we already have six DH’s on the roster? Luis Castillo? Sonny Gray when his best days are now behind him? We already let one of our All-Stars go for zero in return, and a Top 4 draft pick. Now we’re going to trade Vaughn and/or Crochet for Castillo…which will leave Vera as the last legit piece in the farm system, along with Montgomery.

Or the situation the Cubs were in the last 2-3 seasons…basically standing pat but afraid to do a teardown until it was unavoidable. But trying to compete without Darvish made little to no sense, other than for the financial savings. Of course, the White Sox are still years away from the backside of the rebuild…but haven’t yet acted like a top contender does, either. Heck, even Conforto and a veteran starter in the $10-12 million range won’t excite many, especially if they go cheap at second base as well.

Many White Sox fans became skeptical of the team’s commitment to rebuilding and desire to win a championship as an inability to spend money during free agency became apparent. Hahn assured Chicago fans that the money that was supposed to be used for Machado and Harper would be spent one way or another. In 2019 and 2020, the White Sox would spend money on quality free agents, including Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel, and Liam Hendriks. Although not the best free agents available, Grandal, Keuchel, and Hendriks were the best available players at their position. Another tactic utilized by the White Sox front office has been to substitute a free agent signing with a call-up of one of their top minor league prospects. In 2019, Chicago called up slugger Eloy Jimenez to appease the fans upset about failure to sign Machado or Harper. A year later, the White Sox would call up their number one prospect in centerfielder Luis Robert while calling up outfielder Andrew Vaughn this season to fill the void by not signing a free agent outfielder or designated hitter. The issue with the prospect callup tactic is that the White Sox will not have a top prospect to call up before the start of the 2022 season. The lack of a readied prospect will now force the team to sign a premium free agent during the offseason. Furthermore, for Chicago to compete for a World Series in 2022 and 2023, the team will need proven veteran talent and not players that will need a few years to develop. What potentially works in the White Sox favor if the team were to target either of the three free agents (Matz and Semien gone, only Castellanos remaining) is that they wouldn’t be the most expensive free agents on the market. Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Javier Baez, and Trevor Story are projected to be the most expensive free agents of the 2021 offseason. These free agents could enable the White Sox to work on more affordable but still expensive contracts with either Castellanos or Semien. The White Sox will need to sign free agents to bolster their roster before the 2022 season as none of their prospects will put the team over the top to compete for a World Series. Chicago does not have a premium prospect to fall back on and call up if they do not wish to spend on a free agent. If the White Sox are serious about winning a World Series in the next few seasons, it will be up to Reinsdorf and Hahn to spend the money they have been reluctant to spend on premium free agents the last few off-seasons. https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-ownership-cant-afford-any-more-half-measures-during-upcoming-offseason/

They’re not going to add another defensively-challenged player for the type of money Castellanos will be asking for…

I think they meant he interviewed for the Sox manager’s job, supposedly.

There’s another potential factor here at play. Both Madrigal and Conforto are/were super tight with the former Oregon State manager…and there a lot of rumblings on both sides (Sox and surely Nick’s) that he wasn’t perceived as a unifying presence in the Sox clubhouse, arrogance or overconfidence not backed up on the field, questions about his religious beliefs, bordering on proselytizing, etc. Guess it just tends on how tight that OSU baseball community is whether it will make any impact at all…or it could be a major bone of contention, like Wheeler’s wife strongly preferring the East Coast.

“Therefore, if the Mets decide their financial resources may be better spent elsewhere, Conforto will surely look to cash in, preferably with a team that has an obvious need for a right fielder and is looking to compete for a championship in 2022 and beyond. Therefore, with all of these factors considered, the Chicago White Sox might be the best fit for Conforto, and may emerge as the biggest threat to sign him away from Queens. The White Sox have struggled to get consistent production at right field for the past decade. In regards to overall WAR, the White Sox right fielders have been ranked poorly in the last decade. Adam Eaton, who was the primary right fielder for the White Sox in 2021, was not the answer and ended up being released during the season. Adam Engel is under contract through 2024 but is more suited for center field. Eloy Jimenez will slot in as the primary left fielder. Gavin Sheets, who spent some time in right field in 2021, may be more suited for designated hitter. The White Sox are a young team who are set to compete in the immediate future. They have a young squad that is mostly all under cheap, rookie contracts. Conforto fits the team’s timeline, and he fills an obvious need for them. If the Mets lose Conforto in free agency, they would receive draft pick compensation, which may deter teams from pursuing him. They better hope that’s the case, because Conforto and Boras do not seem interested in giving the team a hometown discount, and the team needs an outfielder like Conforto more than they realize.” https://risingapple.com/posts/ny-mets-sign-michael-conforto-threat

Can we please have 1997 hitting machine Albert Belle on our 2021 roster at least...if just for ONE season? Screw the cost. Of course, we inevitably end up with Manny Ramirez or Ken Griffey, Jr.,, but 3-5 years too late.

BILLIONAIRE CLASS DESPICABLY GREEDY AND SELF-SERVINGLY BRILLIANT WILLING TO THROW OTHERS UNDER THE BUS >>> RACIST TROPES See all the controversies recently with NBA and NFL ownership. Of course, when you combine the TWO, then you really have an organizational dilemma...

The White Sox modus operandi before Koch/Linebrink/Dotel was almost ALWAYS to draft and/or find guys on the cheap (or even waiver wire) like Jenks, Foulke/Howry, Santos, Crain, Damaso Marte, Matt Thornton, etc. Paying top market dollar for relievers has almost always been fool's gold, and it was again with Kimbrel. Hendriks worked out fine, but he actually saved a lower percentage of his opportunities than Colome, who was a complete disaster this season.

Or Frazier, who's highly likely to produce in the 1.5-2.5 fWAR range for $7.5 million, or $7 million more than Madrigal for roughly the same level (or less) of production. Going off 2021, he proved he could have ONE really decent (3-4 fWAR) season, but repeatability an OBVIOUS concern to the rest of MLB.

If that's our (very high) standard, they WHO exactly would be an upgrade for the White Sox? He's pretty much right in line, maybe one-half tier below, Zack Wheeler.

What other logical choices are/were remaining? Ray? Unlikely, too much of an overpay off Cy season. Stroman, no way, TLR hate. Gausman, too expensive. Scherzer too expensive 10X. Kershaw about as likely as Corey Seager one day being called Mr. White Sox. That leaves Trevor Bauer and Zach Greinke. (Note, I'm sure there are some pitchers like Daniel Hudson and at least one veteran starter in the $8-12 million range, but even that might take getting rid of Keuchel, and not a supplement to the current rotation.)

They do have a new stadium and dominance in their market...but still not the comparative advantage because Houston, Seattle and LAA are formidable organizations in terms of organizational resources. Three years from now, the situation might have shifted back to the where the Rangers and Sox were positioned roughly a decade ago, where the Rangers were one out away from a WS win.

Everyone thought having Cuban own the White Sox would be fun. But this kind of spending is like late 70's and 80's Yankees, Steinbrenner in his prime. It's got to be tremendously demoralizing to those bottom 6-8 MLB franchises who have essentially been reduced to feeder or relegation status...like the A's, Pirates, Royals, Orioles and Diamondbacks.

Maybe we could follow the KW plan and pay 0.50 cents on the $1 approach...locking him in for $21 million for the first three months, then letting him become a FA again at mid-season.

There were 2 if not 3 times during Machado that it appeared imminent with ESPN banner headlines....that was the most frustrating part, yet not being able to close the deal. It was like the ultimate tease, and it went on and on and on and on with no conclusion. At least with Lincoln Riley saying "he's not going to LSU," it took less than 48 for the guillotine to fall on the heads of Sooners' fans. I can just imagine all the excuses we'll be hearing for the next 3-4 months. Wouldn't go to that 7th year with Semien. Won't go 5 years with Conforto "because they don't feel comfortable." But we targeted the RIGHT guys, it's just the price points were all wrong. "We didn't anticipate the going rates per our own internal calculations on anticipated fWAR to be so lofty." Oh where, oh where did our "unprecedented financial flexibility" go??? As it stands right now, some are trying to extend Cease and Kopech...when we still have Kimbrel and Keuchel on the books, and two bigger priorities on our roster to deal with. One would have to assume Giolito is as good as gone, and Kopech is unlikely to get an extension as well with his own TJ and extreme velocity history. Same with Cease. Other than TA (who will be a FA at roughly the same age as Semien, and one would think asking for at least 7 years himself)...where are they going to spend the money, exactly?

Uh-oh. White Sox falling behind every field but AL Central...with Minnesota making biggest move so far. At least this flurry of signings is more exciting than most years. Hard to charge owners with collusion.

KW Special.

It's the NL/position player equivalent of Cralos Isle of Rodon.

List all the available players (not counting trades) you would be happy if the White Sox were to sign only one of them. Four SS, K.Bryant, S.Suzuki, Gausman, Conforto, Ray, Kershaw...better not hear either Greinke or Bauer.

In Rick (Hahn) and Romy's High School Reunion We Trust.