almagest

I really don't think Boston is looking to add Betts to sweeten the pot to trade Price. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I think they're trying to clear salary so they can resign Betts, and trading him to then resign him in the offseason is just odd.

That's why I said I'm not optimistic. I think they'll still try, though.

I think the Sox view Mazara as a stop gap (unless he explodes and turns into a 3+ WAR player) and are planning to make a push to sign Betts when he's a free agent. There's no reason they can't, especially now that there's a bit more clarity around key piece salaries for the future. They have not converted on this tier yet, though, so I'm not optimistic.

It’s a little strange that we still don’t have terms or a confirmation from the team.

Depends how much cash. He's probably not going to get you more than a 4-5 starter would, so they would need to chip in a lot. I don't know if its worth it for them.

If they can guarantee Betts signs an extension for 3 or 4 years... maybe? I'd think about it for sure. Adding Price would likely mean I'd deal one of Vaughn or Madrigal, leaning towards Vaughn. Would also add Mazara. I assume the Red Sox would be tossing in a lot of money too, or the return would be Mazara and someone not Vaughn/Madrigal.

True, but once something comes out it's usually done quickly. Grandal happened fast, Mazara took a couple hours.

I think its dead, based on how quiet it's been and how stupid that Gammons tweet was.

I guess because Moncada is at 3rd and they're penciling Madrigal in at 2nd. I'd be absolutely fine with that IF they get a competent RF and a SP or two. It doesn't have to be this offseason either, though my faith is pretty low that they'll be able to make any substantial moves before starting to worry about free agency. I think we'll be entering our competitive window with Mazara then Adolfo/Basabe/Rutherford/Gonzales in RF and we'll need to rely on Giolito/Kopech/Cease to carry the rotation.

No way. I don't buy it. That would be incredibly stupid. Vaughn + Madrigal would be the starting point for a true ace, not a 34 year old former ace with injury concerns.

His career OPS+ is 112 largely due to an outlier year in 2017, so no, I'm not.

He was 10 points better in OPS+ and his defense was bad in LF. In RF it would be even worse. I don't buy it.

I think people should look at this move separate from spending more money. There was no real right fielder available besides Calhoun. Castellanos and Ozuna would likely be worse than Mazara out there, and Calhoun's career offensive numbers are close to Mazara's. This move says "we don't like what's available in free agency" and I can't fault them for that. If Mazara sucks they likely let him go and see if Basabe/Adolfo/Gonzalez are ready, or look at free agent/trade options next year. If he's good then they can try to extend him, trade him for pitching or keep him around for one more year as they continue to look for a long-term option in RF. Also, people assuming 2020 would be a competitive year are fooling themselves. They'll probably be around .500. Kopech, Cease, Robert and Madrigal all need time to develop at the MLB level and will likely struggle for a good part of the season. Lopez and Rodon are unknowns. We may see some regression from Anderson, Moncada and Giolito. Unless the Sox signed Cole, Strasburg and Rendon this wouldn't have been a competitive team. That said, if they don't spend money wisely on good free agents this and next year then I'll join in on the hate for that like I did last year with Machado and Harper.

They need offense but not like this.

1. That'd be $200 million in salary added during one offseason. That seems pretty high for a team with a previous high contract in the $60 million range. 2. Obviously this one's hard to say since we won't ever hear anything about it, but what about past White Sox behavior indicates they have a plan now, especially if it's adding a player at the level of Wheeler (but not adding Cole or Rendon)? I'm not trying to be negative, it just doesn't happen with them. I'd hope they learned their lesson from Machado last year but who knows? 3. They might be and I sure hope they are. We haven't heard them connected with either Cole or Rendon this year, though, and in fact we've heard they're NOT in on Cole.

It could be, but Castellanos is a Boras client. I assume his timeline will drag out a bit since he's not Cole or Strasburg.

About what? We haven't heard anything else credible besides random Twitter morons and Marcell Ozuna.

Then they'd better sign Cole or Rendon, or both.

That's been my impression as well. I think they went all-in on Grandal and Wheeler with the intention to make some minor deals or signings to fill out the backend of the rotation plus RF. Unfortunately, Wheeler went to the Phillies and they don't know how to proceed now. Honestly, if they're not going to try for Rendon and Cole they might as well sign a cheaper backend starter (Keuchel I guess at this point since Bumgarner wants $100 mil and the Sox aren't linked to Ryu) and maybe Calhoun or something and see what happens in the rest of the year with Kopech, Cease, Rodon and any minor league starters of interest. 2020 won't be a competitive year without Cole/Rendon. I think trading any of their top prospects at this point of the rebuild would be a HUGE mistake.

I'd have no problem with something like this. I'm really nervous trading for a starter because the Sox have three top-tier prospects right now (Vaughn Madrigal and Robert) in the minors and not a whole lot after that. Trading away any of those three would be a terrible idea for staying competitive for more than a couple years.

I'd be more ok with that than seeing the Sox trade Madrigal and/or Vaughan.

Smith just signed for 3/39 with a 4th year option at $13 mil with a contender. I don't think you were getting him for 3/40 without that option year or making that year guaranteed, and then you're looking at 50+ million. Yeah he's really good but I don't think Colome kept the White Sox from signing him, plus $31 million isn't going to be a third of their budget longer-term.

Colome was pretty good last year. Who are you getting for 8.5 mil/yr that's going to be as good or better in the same time period?

Once all the other team information came out I figured Wheeler would go elsewhere. Any time we hear any deal info leak the player is as good as gone.

Thank god we're hearing from lemonade again.