Chicago White Sox

I know I’m in the minority here, but I truly believe accelerating the rebuild is about the TV deal and making sure the fanbase doesn’t lose interest in the team. Adding a bunch of B free agents will help, but adding a whale has always been the #1 goal for this offseason. We know because our front office was willing to think outside the box (right or wrong) and potentially add Machado to a 100 loss roster. This is the first time in my entire fandom that I truly believe the hunt for a whale is real.

I mean, they obviously didn’t sign a whale (not that you suggested they did), but who did they sign other than Lynn & Reed?

They could probably add $100M and break-even from a P&L perspective. Our TV revenue alone is over $100M I believe.

They can’t be that stupid. We need a god damn whale and then several B guys on short-term deals. There is a market inefficiency right now with non-star, over 30 free agents. We should take advantage of that, but only if we plan (hope) to sign Harper or Machado.

FIFY

Do you like Hahn now?! ?

What’s the penalty for signing Grandal assuming we land Harper?

?

I think it comes down to roster spots. I really feel like we’re going a bunch of additions in free agency.

100% agree, assuming Avi is non-tendered.

I’m saying Colome is cheaper than the closer options in free agency.

I don’t think he’s quite there just yet. I believe he was banged up for a while at AAA, so maybe that explains some of his offensive struggles. I’d still make him force the issue and not just hand him the job.

Which they were obviously going to add. But perhaps they felt they were better off getting a cheaper closer option and using the savings toward the rotation or offense.

I don’t think so. Narvaez had a wRC+ of 122 last year, making him not only one of the best offensive catchers but a good hitter in general. The problem for him is that he’s unlikely to repeat it. I actually like Zavala’s offensive upside but I think that’s closer to league average hitter than anything special. And he will no doubt require a learning curve. Seby will no doubt be a downgrade next year with the bat (if he’s the replacement), but probably an immediate upgrade with the glove.

fWAR doesn’t account for framing and Narvaez was dead last (or close to) in all of baseball in that metric. He needs to make massive improvements defensively to be worth much.

I think they’ll still add a cheap veteran backstop to pair with Castillo. I’m guessing this is more about helping our young pitching staff than anything.

Wow, not surprised they sold high on Narvaez, but the target is a bit strange. To me, this pretty clearly indicates we plan on being active this winter and putting together a competitive team. No other reason to trade for a reliever with two years of control.

I agree, I think if he gets non-tendered it’s because of the roster spot.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they non-tendered Davidson, although given the salary is so small & not fully guaranteed I’m leaning they will.

I just think $8M is more than Avi will get on the market and with only one year of control left, tendering him doesn’t make any sense IMO. I’m hoping the Sox are looking at an upgrade, but even if they’d be content with him for one more season simply let him test the market and then try to resign for like $5M.

Rising TV deals > sagging attendance.

Shit, I think you’re right. Does that mean we got back half of the money we owed Castillo last year?

The Mets taking on Canó is reducing the prospect haul, not adding to it. And a 36 year guy just busted for PEDs would make me pretty nervous about his next five seasons. BTW, I’m pretty sure the Mariners still had to pay Cano’s salary while he was suspended, but it goes to the league rather than the player.

Alright, with the non-tender deadline tonight at 7pm CST, I figured we could use a thread for final predictions & news as it comes in. The Sox have six players eligible for arbitration. Unless your name is Ron, three of these guys are no-brainers: Jose Abreu, Yolmer Sanchez, & Carlos Rodon. That leaves three guys on the bubble: Avi Garcia, Luery Garcia, & Matt Davidson. So of the three bubble guys, who do you think gets tendered vs. non-tendered? My predictions are below: Avisail Garcia – $8.0M - Non-tendered Matt Davidson – $2.4M - Tendered Leury Garcia – $1.9M - Tendered

Ignoring the source, I’m going to say it seems incredibly unlikely the Mariners would close/announce three different deals on one day, including a complicated, multi-player blockbuster.