caulfield12

So if you have ten years of position player moves in FA and Yasmani Grandal sticks out as the best, that’s not exactly saying much. Any GM in baseball could have had him for those same terms…but weren’t to do so. The Brewers, for example. got a lot more out of Grandal for just a one year commitment, then Narvaez, Pina, etc., for a fraction of the price. Wouldn’t it be better if we could have developed the full potential of our own players like Semien or Narvaez (or even Collins), rather than trading them off early when they struggle in one area or another? Then we have no option but to try to fix that hole through FA. Even Avi Garcia, we arguably would have been better off retaining him than misallocating for that position since he left the Sox and moved on.

Buehler going for the second time this postseason (and first times ever) because Price could never go more than two and they just had a full bullpen game. Leaving Urias or a miracle with Scherzer’s dead arm for G7, if they can somehow beat Ian Anderson.

Giolito is nearing the same position the exact same position the Twins were in with Berrios and Buxton this season…and Moncada starts to look less and less attractive when he nears the ballooning back end of his deal.

Going back to Roberto Hernandez, we have never ever spent Top 3-5 money on a closer until recently…that’s the only way to survive with a mid-tier budget. The lone except until recently was Billy Koch, and everyone knows how well that worked out. Linebrink and Dotel/Linebrink two others, but for set-up when they were acquired. In fact, the entire draft philosophy for 2-3 years running was advanced collegiate position players and big arms that were supposedly destined for the big league pen…except there’s not much left to show for all those draft picks.

Except this was never the case historically until Robertson, Hendriks and Kimbrel. Wasted DH spending is altogether different story dating all the way back to 2010 and tge decision to push out Thome for Kotsay/rotating guys.

Sure, and that's why we are always #2/3/4 for an A-Rod, a Japanese TOR starter, Harper, Machado, Wheeler, etc. It wouldn't be possible to avoid if we were in the West or East in either league. We have a MASSIVE advantage of being in the Central, where you can still win division titles with a mid-tier payroll because 80% of the teams are well below the White Sox in revenues/resources. Unfortunately, we're not as good as the Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis or Cleveland front offices over the last twenty years...and we don't have anything approaching the Cubs' ability to spend near $200 million every year, either.

Wherever we are in that Top 10, it's much closer to 10th than 1st at the current moment. How would you rank Tony LaRussa against those 10 managers? Which GM's would you take Rick Hahn over in that Top 10? They really have no choice but to make a high-risk trade OR spend money, and it's not Hahn's nature to do either one of those very well...except for extensions of his own players. For example, if Cease was the actually the 4th best pitcher in baseball, according to FG, then he would get a similar haul to the Sale, Q and Eaton trades. If you don't believe he is ever going to be a true TOR guy that you CONFIDENTLY start a Game 5 or Game 7, then of course you don't ever make that trade, but dealing guys like Burger or Sheets isn't going to move the meter, either. That's the kind of move the White Sox would have to make to shake things up, or trading Lucas Giolito. Otherwise, you're having to move Jimenez or Vaughn to get back anything of value, and I don't currently trust this front office to make the right decisions on either one of those guys, TBH. I actually do prefer not to live in a fantasy world where dealing the guys we don't want on the team like Keuchel and Kimbrel are going to replace spots on the roster that only FA spending can replace when our farm system is so bereft of talent ready to contribute at the big league level. At any rate, thanks for putting words in my mouth. Nowhere on this site this entire season have I mentioned rebuilding. I think you're confusing that mindset with Parkman posts. Until proven otherwise, though, assumptions about a 2022 payroll of $170-180 million are coming from where, exactly?

Let's see what performance we get out of Grandal during the next two seasons, when he's going to be critical to the team's success in the post-season... Considering we have nearly a decade of moves to look at now with Rick Hahn, I would hardly define that signing as an unparalleled success, especially if you consider what happened against the Astros, and the fact that the Dodgers refused to rely on him defensively when he was even younger. Catchers are not meant to maintain their level of play into their mid-30's unless they switch to 1B/DH. Somehow, Sal Perez and Posey managed career resurgences, but I would hardly count on it, anymore than we should expect a Lance Lynn repeat of his 2021 numbers. To me, Grandal and Jose Abreu are quite similar at this stage in their careers. They're not hurting the team, certainly, but they're not generating any surplus value due to their salaries and decline age curves hitting right in the heart of our window. I would give that signing a B/B-, considering the fact that it was the biggest overall contract in the history of the franchise.

This actually would have been the MUCH better choice this past trade deadline...now we're just older and more expensive.

Good idea. The Twins responded quite positively to such threats....they got a chip on their shoulders. Anything is better than complacency in the AL Central. Maybe it will take the Tigers going out and spending on C, SS and their starting rotation to set the tone and force a response from the Sox, instead of KW's usual bromide about the Tigers "just put themselves in a position to come closer to competing with the White Sox" bravado.

We were talking about it the other day," Correa said. "It was me, Altuve, Yuli, Bregman. We've asked the same question. We said, 'Why? Why do we keep showing up and getting it done?' And we came to the conclusion that it's because we hold each other accountable. And what I mean by that is we expect everybody to be better than [the] previous year, and we expect everybody to show up in great shape. ... We make sure that they prepare every single day to help us win because we know that the four of us can't get it done by ourselves." ESPN.com/Jeff Passan

The one that says they’ve sustained their competitive window alive longer than any team the last decade not named the Dodgers… They have been in the thick of it for seven seasons now…if it wasn’t for this play, the Royals wouldn’t have been in the 2015 World Series. The Dodgers are at nine, but this just MIGHT be their last year and they’re doing it with a $250+ million payroll.

Can I cut and paste this quote for later in the offseason when they still haven’t offloaded him or signed any player to more than a $12.5 million/year contract due to “payroll concerns/flexibility” or hints they will make their needed changes in-season or at the All-Star Break? Hahn really had a good situation with Hernandez at $6 million before that became untenable. Because we have never succeeded under Hahn in FA in the position player market (unless you count international/Cuban free agents only)…so why would or should we suddenly expect that to change or improve?

Except the Astros are going to have an extra $50 million of financial flexibility from where they will end the World Series payroll-wise compared to the Sox position with Kimbrel added... While our pitching is unlikely to improve on 2020 numbers, they somehow have a better farm system and the home field advantage bringing Verlander back into the fold for his last seasons. Knowing them, they'll probably take a shot at Syndergaard, Kershaw or Bauer, too.

And never holding runners or throwing anyone out...not to mentioned all the extra bases surrendered by improper fundamentals and lack of accountability for said mental lapses and/or lack of situational awareness.

Ironic, since we discovered Escobar, Semien, Anderson and Tatis, Jr...

"The free-agent crop of relievers is, as always, a crapshoot, with Raisel Iglesias (34 saves, 2.57 ERA with the Angels) perhaps the best of the lot, with Daniel Hudson and Ian Kennedy next in line among closers." MLB.com Then Kimbrel and Kenley J.

I don't think they will commit to any $10+ million contracts until the Kimbrel and Rodon situations are resolved...and the potential Kimbrel may take months to materialize, or drag into the regular season. They're unlikely to give a high enough enough subsidy or include a good enough prospect to make offloading Keuchel logical. It likely also drags into the regular season, hoping he can re-establish himself, but that makes it just as likely the Sox would keep him or have to worry about hitting his incentives to lock in yet another season at a price the White Sox cannot afford when they're in the hear of their window.

Game, set, match. Alvarez and Tucker can rake, thank god the former isn’t on the Dodgers. Managed to shut down Red Sox for three games in a row without McCullers or Verlander or Greinke. Since our other thread derailed, Scherzer out with a dead arm, Kelly hurting, they might have to go to David Price/bullpen and hold Buehler back for a possible Game 7. Doubt they would risk starting h8m twice in one week on short rest.

Watching it in two hours…

Seems there were all kinds of budget and safety concerns on set…there was also a mass walkout and some non-union replacements thrown into the mix.

How many runners could Maldonado gun down with the Sox pitching staff? Seems like his CS percentage would fall by 20-25%+, but certainly no automatic bases from average runners with a gun like that.

Okay…so the question is whether to give Taylor 3 years vs. 2, and how much they have to overpay ($28-30 million for 2) to aboid that third year or make it a realistic option based on year 2 performance. And have no doubt he would be starting at 2B Opening Day. The problem is where we get the payroll space for that kind of move….or Conforto/S.Marte or some of the secondary options in RF.

With Ketel Marte included, you’d have to trade Jimenez/Vaughn (probably ask for both to start) and Crochet. Not sure you get there with Sheets, Burger and Crochet. Which means the fairest package would be Vaughn or Jimenez, Sheets or Burger, and Crochet. Once again, that pretty much limits the remaining window to the next couple of seasons.

Schwarber showing off some stellar defense at first…kept it to just a 2-0 deficit.