Chicago White Sox

Kind of confirms they are landing Murakami. You don’t add an Assistant GM with lots of international scouting experience unless you’re planning a whopper of an addition in that area.

Get that s%*# out of here and head back to the minor league board where you positive folk belong!!

I also think it will be smaller, but I also think comparing in zone contact rates between the MLB and the NPB is probably a bit of a reach given major differences in stuff and repertoires of pitchers in each league.

If we’re treating Forbes as gospel, they lost $41M in Operating Profit in 2024 with $185M of player expenses. My understanding is that ~$30M is tied to benefits & bonuses that are mostly fixed in nature. With $277M in revenue, that would imply a break-even point for salaries of ~$114M. Attendance increased by 5% last year but was paired with a 10% price cut for season ticket holders. TV ratings reached an all time low in 2024 which would have hurt them on the Comcast Sports Net side of things. They may be healthier on the back end now with the middle man cut out, but have almost certainly taken a hit with the distributors with that being passed onto the team directly. We don’t know what the old deal was worth, but Fangraphs has a random article where they estimated it at $120M (seems high to me, but let’s go with it). Let’s assume that this new deal results in a 20% loss in revenue for the Sox. Without further improvements in attendance and TV ratings, we’re looking at a break-even salary point of ~$90M. And that’s with extremely low attendance and TV ratings, which should both go up as the team gets better next year and even further into the future. TLDR - The Sox have plenty of financial room to take on Murakami’s salary next year and beyond.

The idea the Sox couldn’t afford any of these guys is absolutely absurd.

You have their financials back to 2009?

What’s radically different between now and the 2013 season? I’m really not following here.

What financial situations are you referring to?

We signed a 27 year old, international 1B coming off a 99 loss season back in 2013 despite concerns over his “slider bat speed”. With a solid young core starting to form, some bigger prospects on the cusp, and the 1.01 pick in place next year with a rare elite college SS at the top, now is the time to take a swing on a 26 year old, international 1B with “contact issues” despite coming off a 102 loss season.

It’s risky no doubt, but also one of the cheaper ways to acquire a potential star and that probably excites Jerry. I also think the big name Japanese guys generate a lot of revenue, which I’m certain is factored into the contract offer.

I think he’s going to get way less than projected, but still a fuckton of money for an unproven player with legit question marks with the bat. But ultimately, I think Pete Alonso getting 5/$150M sets a ceiling here as he has a much higher floor than Murakami does and should receive the higher AAV.

I’m thinking around 6/$110M with a $34M posting fee. Ends up being a $24M AAV which feels right to me in this market.

I think Sosa can be a very valuable piece, but they should try to get him some time in LF at Benintendi’s expense.

The Ishbia have cleared out the debt and a clean balance sheet means we can afford a $90M payroll and Murakami by default.

That’s a tough one, although I think Meidroth at 2B makes more sense with the addition of Murakami’s power.

🤔

What in the f*** is BolaVIP and why are you sharing this AI slop?

Is the issue his fundamentals or is he just spacey? The Sox certainly don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, but not everything is necessarily their fault.

No one ever ripped Marcus Semien for his plate discipline…dude rocked like a .400 OBP in the minors. Defense was certainly questioned, obviously prematurely in hindsight.

Never said no one was in on him, just said no one is publicly linked to him yet. If a Yankees were in the mix, that s%*# would be leaked so hard to drive up the price. It’s a very promising sign of where his market stands.

I provided eight pieces of evidence. This is eerily similar to when we signed Abreu years back. People were doubtful back then despite all the supporting points that showed we were a serious threat for Jose. Looks like history is going to repeat itself by Monday.

lol…doubters grasping at straws trying to convince themselves Murakami is heading elsewhere. Unfortunately for them Christmas will be coming early this year in Tokyo & Chicago.

That’s literally nothing but speculation

Imagine this lineup next year: Meidroth, 2B Teel, CA* Montgomery, SS* Robert, CF Murakami, 1B* Vargas, 3B Benintendi, LF* Quero, DH# Baldwin, RF# You might get 120 HRs out of the #3 to #5 spots!

Let’s get pumped!