caulfield12

You HAVE to pick the RIGHT player. You simply cannot afford to be wrong. Bellinger is the only hitter out there...but the risk is extreme of being left with an albatross contract by Sox standards. Think back to the Cubs' adding Lester to their young/emerging core to get that rebuild jump started. The timing here is ALL wrong to jump the gun by at least one year without knowing EXACTLY what you have throughout and across the organization. It's making a move just to make a headline and fire up the fanbase but the consequences of missing are way too high...because it means JR would simply use another failure in FA as an excuse not to dip into that water again. I watched this happen with SD last year...Preller missed out on all of his targets (Judge in particular), and they signed Bogaerts when they didn't even need to (had 4-5 shortstops on their roster already) and a top 20 MiLB prospect as well. That one move pushed out Wacha, Hader, Lugo and Soto...and might push out Ha Seong Kim as well in his FA year. Now you have a player past his prime with a bad contract who will likely decline unless he's playing at 100% health.

Sure, but they haven't really done that yet...maybe some of the players from the deadline trades. Maybe. It's pretty likely that NONE of the players acquired this offseason will still be around for the start of the 2027 season, which would be Robert's theoretical final season but he would likely be long gone by then as well.

Beltran and Andruw Jones the biggest winners. Sheffield will eventually get pushed in by the Veterans' Committee, probably after he and the writers who didn't get along with him are long removed from their various beefs/feuds and have passed on. Those numbers and NOT ever getting nailed for steroids equals an eventual vote in his favor.

Except you're asking for double the biggest contract in White Sox history when they don't have a rotation or bullpen (certainly with Santos looking iffy, even if he was 100% healthy as the closer) or a bench. You're betting your GM job right off the bat on being right...on someone there's a consensus he's simply not worth the $200 million he's asking for. You're paying at least a 25% premium for 2023 over-performance, and discarding 2020/21/22, exactly what they did with Benintendi, buying at an extreme high point and disregarding his 3 year stretch of struggling mightily. And that line-up doesn't look all that imposing at all from Robert/Bellinger on down...and God knows which version of Benintendi they get in 2024. If you have 2019-2022 Tim Anderson leading off instead of AB, sure, I might be more willing to agree.

Because politicians simply love to brag about "bringing in new businesses/generating economic growth." In the same way, they don't really spend enough time taking care of the existing customers...80% of effort is spent chasing the 20% of "new business." White Sox fans have been gouged to death in multiple ways the last couple of years, and they keep dumping ticket rises knowing their most loyal fans are the ones who will have the hardest time quitting/leaving because of the emotional connection.

I've figured out a way that Cease could be pitched to go Tigers, Royals, Cincy, KC, @Minn and Minnesota, lol. Avoiding Atlanta, @CLE, @Philly and TB. That's for the first month. Now I highly doubt Dylan would even accept being used this way...he would think of it as being "hidden" away from the very best teams and it would be too obvious. I think he will actually WANT to pitch against Atlanta (he's from that area), @Philly and TB at home because he loves competition...

Well...with Foxconn, not only relocate to another country, but be subject to China/Taiwan/US global trade war politics and technology embargoes. If you watched the glass company documentary...imposing Chinese labor practice and policy on US workers was a terrible idea from the get go. All that that said...Mexico City might not be more than a decade or two away for MLB. Or the incorporation of a Japanese/Korean division. Nevertheless...pretty safe bet they are anchored there at least 25-30 years.

But he loses a ton of value not playing CF. Robert has to be there to boost his trade value. And blocking the Cubs from getting him or winning the PR war with them is such a flimsy excuse. There are also numerous glaring issues with peripherals and his power numbers compared to 2019 MVP year.

So you don't believe in fWAR for assessing pitchers? At any rate, the odds of Cease having a lower ERA with veteran catching and improved overall defensive play across the board are not being taken into account...nor the injection of Bannister into the equation. At this point...roll the dice. Someone will go down in spring training. Hopefully it's not Cease Orioles have to also consider their prospects aging out or regressing...and how much higher the cost at the trade trade deadline will be, not to mention opportunity cost of getting left behind in the first three months of the season with few in-house alternatives to inject into the rotation.

The two utes/youths...still think the positrac tire testimony was the best part.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39336934/2024-nfl-draft-answering-questions-teams-top-10-picks-bears-commanders-patriots

Who's going to worry about the Sox getting too much talent back, though? Even with a head start of 3-4 big trades and Rodon and then Robert and multiple top five picks like Madrigal and Vaughn...they still completely screwed it up. In the AL Central. Almost like a charity for other teams to help put "another" viable team into Chicago with a new downtown stadium to help raise the value of all the other teams in the league. They're still a 3-5 tear slog away due to free agent and young int'l talent handicaps that are self-sabotaging the entire enterprise. It's not like you have a real visionary GM with a blank checkbook. Heck, the Royals and city are going to spend $2+ to $6.4 billion on their project and the consensus is the White Sox will struggle to get over the $1 billion hump.

Still 7/25 top free agents unsigned according to Mlbtr, but much higher percentage remaining for #'s 26-50. Can't imagine the White Sox jumping into the Jorge Soler market unless the price was under $15 million...even that might be too high.

Jerry-Rigged?

LHP. Reportedly good stuff. Eeovaldi was all potential until he wasnt, although he possessed Top 5% stuff and younger.

"Look at the final four teams," a league source told NBC Sports Chicago. "Elite play-caller, elite-play-caller, elite play-caller, and it's only been one year, but [Baltimore Ravens OC Todd Monken] is right there. Quarterback is obviously the most important thing. Playmakers probably second. But an elite play-caller and scheme are instant elevators. I think after you list off the top [play-callers], most of whom are head coaches, he's right there in the next group." Poles and Eberflus promised to search high and low for the best offensive coordinator they could find. They wanted a lot of boxes checked. Waldron didn't even seem like a remote possibility until Carroll stepped down. Waldron isn't perfect and took his fair share of criticism in Seattle. Shanahan and McVay are criticized a ton, and they are the two best in the NFL. It comes with being a play-caller." https://www.yahoo.com/sports/elite-shane-waldron-gives-bears-220456798.html

Second most discussed after the Orioles, in fact.

Only TWO months until Padres/Dodgers in SEOUL...with more than half the free agent class still remaining unsigned. https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-dodgers-to-open-2024-season-in-seoul-south-korea March 20th/21st home and away, first regular season MLB games played on Korean soil

Both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May will return from Tommy John surgery. Between Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Miller, Sheehan, Stone, Gonsolin and May, the Dodgers look to have upwards of eight legitimate rotation arms for the 2025 season, depending upon how everything shakes out here in the next 15 or so months. Not to mention Clayton Kershaw eventually...

Okay, then did not renew his contract and replaced him with someone else...the spin would have been he was better off in Chicago forming a "power center" along with Barfield, in the same way that Haber and Hahn were always tied together...

Not Wolkow?

Going the route of crediting his teammates here... https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/geno-smith-reveals-seattle-seahawks-success-game-winning-drives

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39364835/legislators-ensure-potential-kansas-city-stadium-funding-vote Ironic that former Royals' 2B and All-Star Frank White had his veto overrode as Jackson County Exec. Looks like the potential costs are ranging from $2 billion to $6.4 billion.

At least Phil Nevin is happy...or potentially unhappy with all the overwhelming infield talent just waiting to be unleashed on the major leagues blocking his kid.

Chapman, 35, is the hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball since velocity-tracking was introduced to the game and pitched vital innings for the Texas Rangers en route to their first World Series championship this year. With a fastball averaging more than 99 mph, he struck out 103 in 58.1 innings, walking 36 and allowing four home runs with a 3.09 ERA. The Pirates, who project to be one of the youngest teams in the majors next season, also added veteran lefties Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales earlier this winter. Texas hoped Chapman would help stabilize a thin bullpen, and while he never pitched well enough to lock down the closer job, he pitched in nine postseason games and allowed two runs in eight innings, striking out six and walking five.