caulfield12

Someone has a wicked sense of humor scaring White Sox fans to death...good thing we didn't get a signature on that $100 million extension.

The biggest concern is that Lynn isn't anything resembling that pitcher moving forward for $38 million...we still have Keuchel/Kimbrel on the books, and it's going to be impossible to move on from Abreu, as we've created a logjam at the position of most depth in the entire organization. Then we have Grandal's health, which is going to be pushed to the limit without a capable back-up catcher in sight. And no White Sox fan is going to write on their tombstone....well, we ALMOST THEORETICALLY were able to acquire Burnes, Wheeler, Machado, Tanaka, etc.

"Montas wasn’t directly traded from Chicago to Oakland like Bassitt was, but he was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team deal with Cincinnati that netted Chicago third baseman Todd Frazier. Montas would later be traded to Oakland, along with Jharel Cotton, for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick." I guess both teams came out okay because Hill was solid for the Dodgers, but LA would have been better off holding on to the much cheaper Montas. Frazier and company netted us a return that looked okay on paper but clearly didn't turn out that way.

Because the Twins were in the exact same situation with Buxton and Berrios. In the end, the White Sox have enough position player talent to overcome pretty much anything the next couple of seasons, but they have also clearly fallen far short of the Astros/Royals/Cubs models in terms of having early breakthroughs in their competitive windows. Something has to give. Until we at least win a playoff series, we're not any better off than the Twins or Indians...except a much more "profitable" or valuable franchise due to the Chicago market.

Burnes' inning count was significantly lower than Wheeler, who many thought would win based on "overall" performance across a number of statistical categories, but the playoff-bound Brewers must have factored in. Some thought Scherzer, part of that was obviously based on name/reputation, but he had a really solid year, obviously. In the NL MVP, none of the three favorites were in the post-season. Montas being in the Top 10 of the Cy voting being another reminder of how badly that trade went awry, along with Semien's current asking price this off-season and Bassitt's playoff start against the White Sox in 2020.

Sure, and we can make the same arguments about Tatis and Semien, even with the 30th ranked farm system. Others will argue about the resurgences from Sheets and Burger being proof of progress. In the end, the only thing that matters is results. We are in danger of falling into the same trap as the Cubs with all these significant $$$ contracts for veterans on the books at the same time: we have six of these currently on payroll right now, and everyone's speculating about adding at least 1 if not 2 more this off-season. The White Sox MO has always been to take advantage of these situations like we saw with Rodon for $3 million, Lynn on a "cheap" deal for last year via the trade...picking up closers like Jenks and Sergio Santos for practically nothing, then maxing out their value/return. We would be the SF Giants coming into last year, with Gausman far and away the biggest add and then finding good fortune at the back-end with DeSclafini and Alex Wood. Arguably, we're anywhere from the 2nd to the 8th best team in baseball right now, with #5 feeling about right (and we have no idea yet how much the Yankees and Dodgers are going to spend, for example.) We're also sitting on a 2-3 year window currently, with massive decisions on Giolito and TA looming. I don't really trust Hahn to make a youth-for-veteran/s trade, so they're really going to have to pull one out of the hat. Other than Scherzer and maybe Gausman, not seeing many true TOR playoff starting pitchers you can 100% count on for a solid start, other than maybe Giolito (internally). There are so many possible ways the starting rotation could go, both negatively and positively. And counting on those three young A ball pitchers (and Vera) rebouding...or Cespedes and Colas, well, if we had $1 for every Sox prospect who hasn't panned out the last two decades, we'd all be able to eat out at Ruth's Chris for one elegant meal at least.

And what is your magical answer? At least Chitownsox provided his plan.

Let's see where all these pitchers are at the All-Star Break. You can make equally valid arguments for Kershaw for 1-2 years as Robbie Ray at 4-5. In the end, Scherzer is the only true playoff proven ace remaining on the market. Everyone knows it. Clayton is a shadow of his former self, unfortunately.

So you would prefer a five year deal for Robbie Ray at max dollars? That's even more insane. Do we really trust the White Sox to win a bidding war for Max Scherzer?

By that argument, we shouldn't have given Lynn that money, or Keuchel. There are no guarantees for pitchers in their thirties. Even Scherzer was ouchy in the playoffs and had to be nursed through.

99.7...if he maxed out at 92-93 in that playoff start, nobody would be disagreeing.

It would be insane to let Rodon go to buy extremely high on Ray...when he will likely never repeat that performance. Plus, White Sox definitely looking at 1-2+ (option) year guys.

They're quite obviously teasing Scherzer. Nobody's buying it yet. One positive is just no way it drags on and on like Machado or even Wheeler. Kind of ironic that Wheeler would have been perfect for the Sox while the Phillies still might never make the playoffs even with him and Harper winning Cy Young and MVP.

Sure, but there's a very limited supply of players for RF and 2B that meet the criteria...and around five starting pitchers that would get anyone excited. Trading youth like Vaughn and Jimenez for veterans is even scarier...because each one of those moves means we really have just these next three years remaining, at most. We shall see, I guess. Unless the Sox now inhabit a world where Giolito gets Berrios extension numbers and Tim Anderson $175-225 million.

Shedding Greinke for Verlander, promising young pitching staff...they have to replace Correa, might want to upgrade in CF and back of bullpen, but they're going to be clear favorites in the West again unless Seattle goes crazy this offseason.

Not with twenty teams involved. They were around him throughout his rehab and had an exact figure they were comfortable with. Feels more like "the White Sox are active but not really" PR-oriented offseason tweet to keep fans engaged trick more than anything else.

Well, there will be a new game this year tracking the starts and fWAR/$$ on Verlander, Syndergaard, Rodon, Rodriguez, Kershaw, etc.

The closest I can recall to another one of the mid to late 30's HoF pitchers would be Tom Seaver, but he was a comp pick for losing Dennis Lamp in the 80s. Steve Carlton was completely done. That felt like more of a marketing gimmick.

Stroman will never pitch for TLR. The end.

He's already made $18-19 million. That's not too shabby. It has to be Scherzer or Kershaw that are their real targets.

See Juan Gonzalez…although the fences are significantly closer now than they were back in the early days of the new stadium.

It all depends on how sensitive you believe the front office and marketing department is to perceived threats to the White Sox hold on the AL Central...in reality, it might take the Tigers leading the White Sox by 3-5 games at the ASB next season.

Or Verlander returning...

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32647650/kansas-jayhawks-fb-jared-casey-lands-nil-deals-following-game-winning-heroics-vs-texas-longhorns Hooray for Applebee's, KU football, Greg775 and Lawrence, KS. Almost took out Oklahoma at home earlier this season...had them in real trouble, if not for a miracle "fumble-forward" play by Williams to sustain a drive and keep the ball away from the KU offense.

He will be some team's Daniel Palka this spring...competing for an NL DH spot.