caulfield12

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/162064816/yo...e-orioles-offer Too late. Cespedes should take O's offer, by Richard Justice.

Confirmed on espn, no details out yet nor anything at the Baltimore Sun.

Confirmed on espn, no details out yet nor anything at the Baltimore Sun.

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/paul-...eveland-browns/ Really interesting article...

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/payroll/ $156 million Detroit Tigers $136.6 million Kansas City Royals ($149 million for 2017) $116 million Chicago White Sox $86 million Minnesota Twins ($23 million to Mauer) $69 million Cleveland Indians (actually closer to $90 million counting Swisher and Bourn) Seems these numbers are still about $3 million too low for each team... http://www.blessyouboys.com/2015/1/21/7824...ax-in-2015-2016 Player benefits also have to be included in the calculations for tax purposes. According to Maury Brown at Forbes.com, each club’s share of benefits was $11,656,837 per club for the 2014 season. If you’re still keeping score, that pushes the Tigers’ payroll up over $189.1 million, which would trigger a luxury tax at the rate of 17.5 percent on every additional dollar spent on player salaries. But wait, there’s more.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/15/mets-lurk-in-...ort-term-bucks/ Mets willing to go one year OR 3 years for around $60 million. Wouldn't it be ironic if Gordon, Cespedes and Davis all ended up back with their former teams? Orioles definitely in the running at five years and $90 million. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...ticle-1.2498246 This article claims an official offer has yet to be made by the Mets. Btw, Addison Reed just got himself a $5.3 million contract for next season, they also gave former Sox longman/spot starter pitcher Carlos Torres $1+ million.

QUOTE (DashFan @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 10:31 PM) Truly great stuff and a really gutsy performance when I had the pleasure of seeing him pitch up-close in Winston-Salem's first playoff game last year. I thought he actually seemed to have a better presence on the mound than Rodon. Just seemed to carry that Chris Sale level of confidence. It's unlikely he'll be another Sale, just because that's unlikely for anyone, but I'd expect him to be either as good if not better than Rodon. That's a damn solid 1,2,3 going forward and Quintana ain't bad either. I think Fulmer is a prospect to be excited about, and there's no reason to think the Sox can't develop pitching at this point. The major question marks are mechanics, durability and stamina. There's no doubt he's a bulldogish competitor who wears his emotions on his sleeves...and a great college pitcher as well.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 10:08 PM) There's little reason to doubt the Sox scouting of college pitchers. See, this statement is based on Rodon falling into their laps...and Chris Sale (who was obviously the best scouting example). But Fulmer and Rodon were the best collegiate pitchers those two seasons, respectively. Adams was a high schooler, as was Hector Santiago. We all know about Quintana's origins. The Sox are great at finding pitching, PERIOD, but that reputation with college pitchers is more based on 1998 through the Broadway, Ring, Poreda and McCulloch selections...before the drafting philosophy shifted dramatically.

I have no clue who NickyMitch93 is...but false twitter rumors and non-activity are definitely the stories of this offseason, unless you're a starting pitcher.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 09:33 PM) @NickyMitch93 I was told #WhiteSox have a 4 year offer out to shortstop NickyMitch93 Part of me isn't sure if this is true or not, but it was on twitter.com, so that makes me think it probably is. 4 years is kind of a lot, but if the dollars aren't crazy, I think it's a good call. Bridge to Anderson and I think NickyMitch93 can play some outfield as well, so could be moved there or flipped to another team. Solid Hahn move. Desmond?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 08:45 PM) God forbid people get excited about some prospects. It's also not fair to expect Rodon to be the next Sale, or to expect Fulmer to be ready as quickly as Rodon, etc.

Good luck with that! Latos and Fister do have the fact they won't cost draft pick compensation on their side. For teams with higher first rounders, that wipes out Kennedy, along with his higher price tag compared to Latos (who also has the reputation of being a clubhouse chemistry issue from time to time.) Fister has lost a lot of velocity, Gallardo more by design to induce groundballs and lower pitch counts. 1. Latos 2. Kennedy 3. Gallardo 4. Fister

That Fulmer assumption is a nice one to hold onto, like Tim Anderson will be on the MLB All Rookie team at SS in 2017 and have a 3+ war...or that Avi Garcia and LaRoche both won't receive more than 250 plate appearances this season.

The entire market is essentially captive to Scott Boras' hubris/ego, as he can't accept Davis being forced to sign for significantly less with the O's or another team...

"Why would the most enthusiastic Sox player not be at Soxfest?"

Well, there's always Carlos Gomez, Colby Rasmus and a 37 year old Jose Bautista next year...

"In recent days, the Orioles have increased their interest in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and are considering a lucrative multi-year deal in the neighborhood of $18 million per year, according to the source. The length of any potential offer is unknown, but Cespedes was reportedly seeking a six-year deal earlier this offseason." MASNSports.com reported Thursday that the Orioles had made Cespedes an offer. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles...0114-story.html So that's likely $90 million and five years...or $108 and six years, still a bargain compared to Davis.

Nobody ever made fun of Al Gore...

Everyone is really excited to hear your plan, Dick. Signing Jackson and Cespedes and Gordon...what else do you have up your sleeve? Well, cross one off your list. So what now? Austin Jackson? Cespedes? For how much and how many years? You're content with Saladino and Erik Johnson? We know the plan probably involves a contract extension for Ventura, John Danks and the firing of Don Cooper. The Gordon Beckham ship has sailed twice, so that option's out, thankfully. Your persistence in defending all of them is admirable, albeit shortsighted.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 11:37 PM) What has changed? Opt outs aren't anything new. Once again you back step. Now, what do you do if the Sox Sign Cespedes tomorrow? Complain about how much they spent and how they will be out of the free agent market 3 years from now. Everyone knows your act. Link us to something that says they would sign a reasonable 4 year contract with an opt out after 2. How do you know the Sox haven't floated that, how do you know they would sign it? Let it be stated they at least went for it. That didn't work out in 2011 and 2014, but they're kind of past the point of no return where half-measures won't get them anywhere beyond the low 80's for wins. The farm system isn't self-sustaining, either. If they sign Upton or Cespedes tomorrow and it's for less than $100 million and less than five years, I will have zero complaint....because it works out wonderfully or they're forced to change the decision makers and coaching staff and try a new approach instead of continually being in desperation mode. As you always point out, if the Royals can make terrible moves like Omar Infante, Alex Rios, Jason Vargas and Guthrie and still not miss a beat, there's still hope the White Sox can hit the jackpot just once on an acquisition.

The Royals contract the last two years has been valued at $50-70 million but they've only received $20 million each year because they have the lowest media rights deal in all of MLB (and yet can still afford 4 years and $72 million for Gordon, when the White Sox media packages give them at least $65-70 million just for regional rights. (Both teams also had an increase of $25 million last year or the year before for national, such as FOX/ESPN/TBS/TNT, etc.) I think it's reasonable to assume they believe that having a much more marketable product in 2018 and 2019 would push the projected valued of the deal (assuming for inflation) into the $80-120 million range per year. So you're talking the media rights quadrupling (at a minimum) and going up by a factor of six on the maximum upside. Splitting the difference at $100 million (which is a lot less than the White Sox would/should receive, by the way), that $44 million (including buyout) for Gordon in 2018 and 2019 isn't much at all.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 09:13 PM) Then why in the other thread did you say never go more than 3 years? Because that WAS the market December 23rd. A LOT has changed since then. If the rates were $125-150 million for Upton and Cespedes, clearly those would be longer than 3 years and questionable signs. It's when the money gets in the $75-100 million range over 4 years that the equation changes dramatically...not to mention all the opt-outs/options/clauses that teams are getting creative with, like the Scott Kazmir contract with the Dodgers. You can sign Cespedes to a four year deal with an extremely high probability he opts out after year 2 or 3, so, while technically a four year deal...it's also not one in actuality. At any rate, for Upton and Cespedes, if the rates are reasonable, I would be willing to guarantee a fourth year if that was the deciding factor, knowing the contract as structured made it likely the Sox would only have to pay them for 2-3 seasons.

Here's the thing. The Cubs just paid Zobrist for four years and he's MUCH older than Cespedes and could be Upton's father (joking). Was it an overpay, maybe...but if you approach FA negotiations with a dogged determination never to go past 3 years you might as well not even bother. Just tell all the agents...well, if your client can't find 4-6 years anywhere, ring up the White Sox. It's the kind of rigid decision Wal-Mart would make about unions or health care benefits. Last time I checked, the White Sox weren't a monopoly or even close to an oligopoly in the AL.

Yes, because you have that "hometown" discount (see Buehrle, Konerko, Sale, Q) and flexibility with the structuring of the contract...you can then afford to go out and sign another starting pitcher to solidify your team for the two most critical seasons when you need to compete. Desmond and Fowler would make more sense signing late if you had them for team control for at least 2 seasons, if not 3. The reason for that is well-documented...what happened to Morales and Drew. Plus, that gives Desmond time to adjust to playing outfield in 2017 if that's the biggest need of the Sox...IF IF IF Saladino can actually hold down the position for an entire season, which is a big IF. As I stated many times, the Royals are likely to lose Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas, Escobar, Volquez and Wade Davis after 2017...the odds of keeping more than 1-2 are infinitesimal. At that time, at least still they'll have Gordon, Ventura and Sal Perez as "hometown" heroes for bumping up their next media rights deal from $20 to $100-120 million per season. $40 million for Alex Gordon (+ $4 million buyout) over those two seasons won't be the end of the world. He's worth more to the Royals than any other team for marketing purposes.

Who the heck are we actually competing with for Fowler? The Cubs? Cardinals? Orioles? Angels? Would the Orioles really give up a draft pick for him? Does he really make enough of a difference to make the Angels a sure-fire pennant contender from their current status? Every columnist coming out and suggesting Garcia as a rebound candidate didn't have the benefit or misfortune to suffer through the last 4 months of the season watching him flailing away helplessly.