caulfield12

Wouldn't we be better off with Escobar AND Leury/back-up veteran catcher VERSUS $14.5 alone (basically a wash) with Kimbrel's salary? Not sure what argument there is there, other than about Hahn's ego needing to be massaged...he just better hope that Rodon doesn't repeat 2021 next year. If so, he needs to come up with the equivalent starter, because Kopech's results seem like they are about as predictable as Dylan Cease's, except far fewer innings, K's, etc. Can count on those two to destroy most of the AL Central, but against top teams, no idea what will happen.

Segura is going to be 32 at the beginning of next season and will give you a 2ish fWAR at second. Now is that really worth $12-14 million to the White Sox? Maybe. The problem is that that spot would have provided the same production, roughly, and maybe even more, for a FRACTION of the price had we kept Madrigal. Which, once again, is all fine and good at $190-200 million, but it really starts to sting in the $170-175 million payroll range. It means you're losing out on a starting pitcher, Marte/Conforto, etc. The real comparison should be 2/$20 for Escobar (roughly the same age, a bit older) versus slightly more for Segura AND basically getting nothing in return for Kimbrel that couldn't have been purchased on the open market (at even less $$$ per fWAR). Which ends up being a pretty negligible return for Kimbrel.

I'm guessing Kimbrel for Segura plus $2-3 million in cash? Something like that? Still think they're better off with a Kemp or McMahon (Tier B/C prospects) than spending $10-15 million on declining veterans.

Rodon and Escobar, haha...RF still a massive mystery if Conforto slips from their fingers. Might be a repeat of 2021. Gausman over Ray despite LHedness.

Kimbrel not being in red sticks out like a sore thumb since he didn't technically have negative fWAR and doesn't consider the players surrendered in acquiring him, either. We certainly didn't get the production of an elite $16 million closer who we paid a top of the market price for. What would be far more interesting is $$$/fWAR allocated across MLB bullpens the last three seasons.

But the Padres did actually win a playoff series last year. Nobody will be satisfied just having a seat at the playoff table next year...at least I hope aspirations are grander than that.

No, no and no. The only way this makes any sense is if you're 100% convinced his changes in one season from an erratic AZ career to TOR and top of rotation are sustainable. He used to struggle to get through 5 innings because of high pitch counts and elevated BB/K rates. He was like the mirror of a three outcome hitter on the pitching side. Much like Rodon before last year, incredibly frustrating to watch. The potential and stuff was always there, though.

This probably means they decided they can't afford both Tepera and Graveman too, so went with the better choice to their evaluators. The Dotel and Linebrink comparisons are the first that come to mind...as Crain was more of a value add with question marks who out produced expectations before breaking down. Now that's typically where we excel in the bullpen, not paying going market rates. Pretty much everyone questioned Herrera, it was quite obvious he was toast...and that they were attempting to catch lightning in a bottle. We still need to bring in 2-3 if not 3-4 Jimmy Cordero's and hope for just one of them to break through. The money should be reserved for Top 3 needs. And maybe this makes a Leury return more difficult unless the budget is a legit $190~200 million. I think most Sox fans would also like to shore up the backup catching spot as well with a veteran with solid defensive and leadership skills.

See Cano deal...

At the very least, their own closer in Iglesias....

At least you didn’t suggest trading Abreu to open up 1B for Vaughn. Baby steps.

Pretty sure the mods wouldn’t even be comfortable doing that…well, some would.

The problem is the value of a 1.5 fWAR RFer is negligible. Including the salary increases, not even sure you would claim Gurriel for free based on his arbitration numbers increasing.

Nobody has a clue. Just internet speculation. I still think either one year or as many as possible, but in the middle (3-4 years) seems the least likely. And don't see a team risking $17.5~20 million for 4-5 seasons coming off his (relatively) disappointing 2021.

Sure, but they really liked Wood, just not as much as DeScalfini. We will see if they circle back to Cueto after January if other options are off the table. Obviously, Gausman has to be the next priority to address.

There's simply no logical reason for them to trade Rogers or Alcantara, both of who put up 4+ fWAR seasons. Sixto Sanchez is as untouchable as it gets. That leaves Lopez (LHP) or Luzardo? Hernandez and Cabrera are two other SP on their depth chart.

That's going to be a massive insurance underwriting deal...especially coming off that dead arm period at the end of the season. Scherzer doesn't need to do a tryout, but without his current medicals, seems dicey. They wouldn't even trade for Escobar in-season based on suspicions, can't imagine they'd risk signing damaged goods and having to pay out $80-120 million in the middle of their contention window. Gausman is the realistic target, but that's true for most of baseball, which means we are going to have to beat out 8-10 teams for him, and the Giants already have the "home field" advantage in that he was so comfortable out there already on the West Coast and with the Giants' coaching staff set in place. The last time I remember that becoming a big issue was the David Wells deal in 2001, and, of course, good 'ole Johnny Danks.

Probably so...but doesn't seem like the greatest idea in the world, unless the plan is to create more animosity between posters. SoxTalk Hunger Games. Or Squid Games, or something like that.

The best you will get out of SD is Frazier or perhaps Grisham if they've soured on him enough....or taking on most of Wil Myers' 2022 salary. Highly doubt the Royals would trade fan favorite Merrifield to a divisional rival...for the same reason the Cubs wouldn't trade Kris Bryant, unless you paid a huge premium. If that's the case, just go out and sign Chris Taylor instead and save the prospect talent for when you really need a veteran SP at the trade deadline.

Of course, the irony was that he was trying to SPITE the rest of baseball by offering that contract in the first place, and he was so fortunate to be bailed out by the Orioles because that deal went BAD really fast. I would hope almost a quarter of a century later than offering Scherzer wouldn't be for the same contrarian reasons. And, outside of Kuroda and the steroids era (Clemens, Pettitte, etc.), there haven't been many pitchers who beat the aging trends that become so pronounced at age 38 and up.

Why would we want to give up all those seasons of Vaughn for just two of Gurriel, when he just managed to put up a 1.5 fWAR season with 21 homers and 62 RBI's? That would be pretty close to the absolute floor for what we would expect with Vaughn getting regular playing time next year. And it's not like he's a particularly strong defender, either. Doesn't make much sense for the White Sox.

Some have Conforto down in the $45-55 million range for three years, but he's either going to go for a short-term repair his value deal and go back into FA at age 30 a year from now OR take the longest number of years and total dollar amount in all likelihood. There's also a number of concerns out there about a player like that in his early to mid 30's losing his skill set, since it's largely based on maintaining offensive productivity and not offset by much on the defensive side of the equation. Logically enough, the White Sox would prefer to get him for 3 or potentially 4 years, but definitely not a 5 year commitment. (Of course, we say the same thing about someone like Jose Abreu each and every year now, but eventually time will catch up with him...well, unless he's Nelson Cruz 2 minus the PED's.)

Alex Wood was always the odd man out assuming they make a full court press on retaining Gausman...

$6-7/year sounds pretty realistic...that said, he was very effective for the most part and quietly got the job done after some initial hiccups.

That's a lot for Loup but coming off a very solid year. Still don't like buying high on the secondary relief market when the variability in performance is so high.