caulfield12

Just the very process of contesting a grievance...regardless of whether they win or lose, they'll lose in the court of opinion with other players and agents.

2020 Mutual Option includes a $2.25M buyout (Grandal's deal) Base Salary=$16 million At the rate things are going, we'll inevitably get broken down Josh Donaldson about 3 years too late.

The majority of Heyward's fWAR came from defense after his first 2-3 years with the Braves...

That's not even considering that they might still bring back Kimbrel...

It seems pretty clear that Boston will keep at least one of Martinez and Bogaerts...can't remember if Jackie Bradley's due for FA, it's either after this year or next, we've been linked to him for probably about 3 years but they might as well let it all ride on the shoulders of Luis Robert.

Grandal next year becomes even more important if Collins/Zavala flop or we can't draft Rutschman.

Until you consider front offices are comprised of not even obsessive "fantasy/sabes" fans, but professionals paid hundreds of thousands to extract value where it's available. Rendon is most definitely on the Big Board of at least 8-10 teams. Philly will be the first one, since they didn't convert on Machado and are stuck with Franco now.

Like Lilian and her LH hitters, I wouldn't be shocked to see Yasiel Puig brought on board for name/marketing purposes. Although knowing Hahn, it will be Castellanos, whose season stats are skewed by getting to hit against White Sox pitching so much. Would be okay with Ozuna as well, but he's so erratic, they might be better off just waiting for one of the other five outfielders not named Jimenez/Robert to claim RF.

If you look at Bogaerts, Rendon and Goldschmidt, at least one of those is likely to re-up with their respective organizations. Same thing with JD Martinez, especially if they win another World Series in Boston. There are probably five outfielders that are intriguing for RF, but there's simply no guarantee they will be any better than Rutherford/Gonzalez/Adolfo/Basabe if you factor in the opportunity cost. We NEED pitching, a veteran starter...the opportunities are more abundant there, if JR will okay the signing of a contract for over $68.5 million (well, once you get past Verlander, who will be season+option or season to season at this point, and only choosing teams that are built to contend from Day 1.)

Except you can say the exact same thing for the Phillies. They're 100% in win-now mode, and have a bit of an issue in the outfield...and that's putting it lightly, once you get past McCutcheon, who has been trending downward for going on three years now.

And why would any legit star player from an another organization want to play for the White Sox in the future? The Astros, Braves and Padres have all done some shady things, but this would take the cake.

Doesn't matter what the front office subjectively wants or prefers...one iota.

It's pretty depressing when even Palk Smash has been neutered by the never-ending stream of bad news.

Maybe because tonight's morphed into stumbling punch-drunkenly toward the door?

Well, for one thing, the player's association would file a lengthy grievance that they'd likely win. 2) We would lose Jimenez 100% at the end of his contract. 3) NO FA would want to sign with the White Sox, unless they were Tier D/E (we've moved well past B/C tiers with this type of backhanded move)...

Who Burg is, or Burger's odds of a comeback (at 3B) after the two shredded Achilles' injuries...? Well, there's likely to be a need at 1B unless we select Vaughn, which leaves a BUNCH of guys starting with Palka and Collins (assuming he's NOT a full-time catcher) battling it out for DH to replace Alonso and Abreu.

https://www.facebook.com/295879541178/photos/rpp.295879541178/10154553449186179/?type=3&theater I tried to find a Carl Skanberg Sox cartoon and this is the best I could find at his personal FB page...

Don't forget Hansen...

We might have another option, Danielle Gibson after hitting for the 4 homer "cycle" for Univ. of Arkansas, haha...I think it even might have happened in the first 4-5 innings or consecutive innings, pretty cool feat at any level. https://deadspin.com/arkansas-danielle-gibson-hit-a-damn-home-run-cycle-1832854144 https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/roster/danielle-gibson/

Adolfo has a ton of pure ability...just not expressed with flat out sprint speed, but he's got a lot of other tools in his toolbox. He's the the one that outside evaluators usually rave the most about beyond the immediate Top 5 prospects.

No, I think they value that year of control matters even more with all these injuries to Kopech and now Dunning...you have to get the most of your position players and hope/pray for health and bit of "good luck" from your starting pitching.

Well, in the end, the MLBPA can't force every single player into free agency. They're getting some nice baselines set here by Machado, Harper and Arenado. Arenado's obviously content with the Rockies and feels at home there, no need to go through that process (and there's certainly a good chance if COL isn't competitive that he does elect free agency when the opt out year kicks in...)

That makes sense...145-175 pound athletes are logically going to have a harder time putting the same amount of torque or pressure on their joints. It's a different version of all the problems with his hips and knees and back that Tiger Woods has experienced the past decade...especially when you start swinging a club hundreds of times per day from the age of 2.

And a bobblehead night, if we can manage to find enough corporate sponsors this season...