Chicago White Sox

Usually you don’t have weeks to assess these things when working on major deals and have to evaluate in real-time. That being said, I you’re right that Manfred is purposely introducing certain things late in the game to make it harder for the union to reject.

Why is this so bad for the players? I guess I don’t get Tatis’ beef with the concept.

From what I can tell, it seems like the the pre-arb bonus pool and then the international draft in exchange for a QO are the biggest two sticking points at the moment. I don’t think the latter is too much of a problem, but rather something that was introduced late in the game. But a $30M gap in the pre arb bonus pool is challenging. My guess is the players eventually concede down to $50M or give in to a 14 team playoff format.

Yeah, we got to hope of these youngsters pan out and keep the window going. At least there is quite a bit of talent in Low & High A that can hopefully help three years from now.

Yes, I think our window is realistically 2022 to 2024. Doesn’t mean we have to completely blow everything up in 2025, but there will need to be some serious retooling given how expensive the core youngsters will be by then and the fact we could lose Abreu, Giolito, Grandal, Anderson, Lynn, & Hendriks by then.

I think 3rd division winner getting all three games at home makes sense. I’d have WC1 winner just get normal HFA so there is some benefit (even if small) from winning the division but not getting a bye.

This appears to have some fucking legs…don’t stop now boys!

So just to jinx to any hopes of a CBA being agreed to in the next 24 hours, below is a new offseason plan that pushes our payroll to the absolute limits of the new CBT. While I'd rather not trade Andrew Vaughn, this plan assumes he's moved in a package for Ketel Marte with the Sox then rolling with a Sheets / Burger platoon at DH. How happy / mad would you be with this offseason? To me, this firmly places the Sox as the best team in baseball heading into Opening Day, but feel free to rip away if you disagree!

Yeah, it appears the owners are actually making their best & final offer for real this time.

Normally I’d feel that way, but with Ken Rosenthal providing updates and not Bob Nightengale I feel like there’s real legitimacy here. Plus the offer looks good at face value.

Just wait for to the owners to slip in uniform costs counting against the CBT to blow this up last minute.

True, but there are small market teams that can probably only afford a payroll in the low $100M’s. I think having some defacto cap is good to certain teams from striving toward $400M payrolls.

It really seems like there is a light at the end of the tunnel here. Crazy it took the owners this long to make real concessions, but this seems mostly fair from what I can tell. Also, overall this is a pretty decent CBA for the Sox. The luxury tax is just high enough to not be a major deterrent for us during our competitor window (2022 to 2024). The draft lottery rules should hurt whichever teams in the Central plan to tank. And an international draft is a game changer when your owner refuses to pursue 14 year olds. Get this shit done so Hahn can add a RF, 2B, & SP next week while I’m on spring break!

You’re reading it right. This is basically a Steve Cohen tax.

40% of Chicago would be the 16th largest metro area and I’ve argued repeatedly there are fans that watch both teams. The Sox are a large market team no matter how you slice it.

Good question. I know Jerry voted against him, but not sure about the others. Either way, curbing Cohen makes sense. We don’t need a team with a $400M payroll.

The first tier of the CBT is already a defacto salary cap for most teams. Tell me this Jack, how many instances have teams exceeded the third tier / second surcharge? I’m not sure it’s ever happened, so this proposal affects one single team. And given that small market owners already are resistance to raising the first tier of the CBT, this seems like a great compromise for all parties.

So basically the owners want to implement a Steve Cohen tier tax which makes total sense. If the players reject this offer because of this specific element then the players are being selfish and truly don’t care about the competitive balance of the game.

It’s happening bro…a written proposal is a really good sign.

Why do you think this? Didn’t he take less money to play for us over the Cubs?

What’s not true?

Didn’t see this posted anywhere and thought it was Heuer at first.