Chicago White Sox

I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, but Boston covered Moncada’s signing bonus and corresponding penalty. He’s essentially owed the minimum for us.

Guaranteed up-front money means it was already paid?

Lucas has a real shot at the single game strikeout record right now.

Lucas Giolito is a motherfucking ace...

Ok, done! Now how do I access this article?

Eloy walk!

Robert, Madrigal, Collins, Vaughn, & Walker all with walks early on.

Are you guys releasing individual rankings or doing a round table like you’ve done in the past?

Shoulder might be separating as we speak as Lucas just tossed two 93 MPH heaters in a row!?’

Oh I agree, I was just saying it’s not a great comp in terms of player style.

Other than being left-handed power bats, they aren’t very similar though. Sheets is not really a three outcome type hitter.

I agree. They’re going to want to add a left-handed bat and basically only have a handful of options to do so: RF, DH/1B, & C. And when you actually look at the free agent options, there aren’t a lot of quality LH hitters at those spots. To me, not prioritizing Grandal would be crazy even if you still think Collins has a decent chance to stick at C. McCann is a nice player (I was 100% wrong on him) and has done a great job with Giolito, but Grandal is a significant upgrade and a much better fit. And I’m not against the idea of going into 2020 with a three heading catching monster of Grandal, McCann, & Collins, with Zack & Yasmani basically splitting DH duties. Trade for a RF or simply sign a stopgap (if you want to buy time for Walker / AA guys) and you suddenly have a very nice looking offense. That would definitely be my plan on the positional side unless they are willing to go balls out for Rendon.

We can easily afford Grandal & Wheeler. If I had to guess, they’re looking at deals around 3/$60M & 4/$80M respectively.

Because Grandal is probably the best left-handed bat on the market and one of the premier catchers in the game. How would you address the left-handed bat problem?

That’s exactly what I would do, but insert Grandal as that left-handed bat. And down the road, replace Abreu with Vaughn and then flip flop him and Eloy.

We shouldn’t be sacrificing at-bats with our two-hole hitter in this day & age.

Right now, I’d either go for a stopgap in RF like Gordon or I’d target someone like Nimmo via trade. We can definitely sign a high-end reliever with Colome & Herrera coming off the books after the 2020 season.

Yeah, that’s very similar to what I’m looking to accomplish, although I may look at the trade market to solve our RF problems.

If I’m Hahn, I’m going hard after Grandal & Wheeler right out of the gate unless I’m prepared to go 6/$200M for Cole.

I think you’re taking your opinion and applying it to others. There were many here who called out Hahn’s confidence throughout the process and had major issues with it well before we ultimately missed out on Machado. And there are many posters here who believe we’ll never sign an impactful free agent and the only reason they are upset right now about the Manny miss is because Hahn gave them the slightest bit of hope. To say Hahn’s blatant cockiness throughout the offseason didn’t make the broader fanbase angrier is simply not true IMO.

And that’s the question. Did they really have this cap the whole time or did they think SD was a bluff and simply botched it at the end? I honestly lean toward the latter because 1) It’s hard to believe they could have been so confident for months while having an eight year limitation, 2) Reinsdorf did offer A-Rod a 10 year deal back in the day, 3) they brought on two of his buddies for a combined $14M, & 4) their reactions just reeked of being caught completely off-guard. I personally lean towards them thinking they were in the pilot seat the whole time, trying to dictate the process by negotiating through the media, and eventually allowing SD come in at the last minute and quickly get things done. I think their lack of experience and ego undid then and they simply didn’t want to negotiate against themselves at the end (not realizing they were no longer in the lead). Obviously there is no way to prove this and the miss would still be a result of their incompetence, but it would be better than the alternative.

I really don’t believe this. I think Hahn thought they had a great chance at signing Machado and let his cockiness show. I just hope they thought SD was a bluff at the end, because having high confidence with an eight year limitation means our leadership is completely incompetent.

Rodon is under control through the 2021 season, so there is reason to hold him next year. Also, I’m not sure he said we were becoming a top free agent destination, but more so an improving one.

Trust me, I’m not going to defend Hahn here. His track record of building winning baseball rosters is terrible and he routinely spins pretty much everything. That being said, I do think he realizes he fucked up last offseason with all the hype and am glad he admits that fans have every right doubt our ability to land a stud free agent until it actually happens. At some point, it’s put up or shut-up time and quite frankly that has to be this offseason. They really have to start “augmenting” as Hahn puts it and stop the losing. No more fucking excuses.

You really don’t think people were more pissed because of the way Hahn talked last season? He literally spent the entire offseason hyping up our financial flexibility and made it seem like we were prepared to do whatever it took to land a Harper or Machado. Honestly, had he said nothing half this board wouldn’t even be that mad right now as they would assumed it was never a possibility in the first place. Expectations most definitely matter and he has nothing to gain from setting them. Good for him to learn that lesson, now him, KW, & Jerry have to realize that 95% of the time landing elite free agents is all about offering the largest guaranteed package. Getting cute and trying to get a guy to accept vesting options isn’t going to work in any normal free agent market. Match years and offer the biggest AAV or prepared to come our empty handed again.