Thad Bosley

Good point, Poppy!

Because Scott Merkin and Steve Stone have both publicly stated that the Sox would not be pursuing Cole. So couple that with tweets that don't mention the Sox in on the guy, and that's why I think the Sox aren't taking a seat at the table. Now maybe that changes at some point, and I hope that it will, but at this point in time, it doesn't appear the team will be competing for Cole's services.

Agreed. It's a bit disappointing that the Sox are apparently not taking a "seat at the table" and at least trying to pursue this guy, what with the team's unprecedented financial flexibility. I mean, I thought Hahn said the team would compete for the premium talent once the time was right to do so. The time is now right to do so, yet, where are the White Sox with regards to Cole? Why can the Rangers, Phillies, and Giants have a seat at this table, and not the Sox?

Castellanos is just not a viable option for the Sox, IMO, given his sub-par defense. Our young pitchers and whoever we pick up via free agency just cannot have terrible defense on both OF corners for the next few years.

The narrative will be a very positive one when that happens, as he’ll be lauded for having led the team through the tough times, with that eventual reward of making it to the promised land of postseason play.

Let’s hope! After all, Jose is the team leader in the clubhouse for a reason. The more players the Sox have who comport themselves the way Jose has all these years, with his work ethic and positive attitude, the better the team’s chances.

“Short-term suffering”? Have they forgotten the four miserable years preceding the rebuild, AND the fact George W. Bush was still in office the last time this team made the playoffs? They’re going to need better thought out go-to lines than this type of gobbledegook if they want to re-establish credibility with the fan base.

He'll be back, and it's going to happen soon. He'll be back either with a 2 year contract with an option, or maybe even a 3 year deal, one or the other. That should be pretty obvious by now based on what we've seen hinted at and signaled by both sides. Meanwhile, Jose will be our version of Washingon's Ryan Zimmerman as the long-time face of the franchise when the team makes it back to the World Series at some point in our competitive window.

If Moncada moves off of third, it won’t be to go back to second. He’d shift to the outfield.

What’s your view on Puig if playing on a team where Jose Abreu is the clubhouse leader? Any chance his potential could be optimized playing in this what seems to be a very Latin-friendly environment on the team? Just trying to think of any valid reason one might be inclined to go over one year with this guy.

Meh. I’ve been following Steve Stone pretty closely on Twitter lately, as he’s seemed eager to sort of signal the Sox’ intent this offseason. He’s been pretty adamant that the better-than-average defensively at third base Moncada is not going to be returned to second to once again become the below-average defensive second baseman Moncada. I would intend to agree with and believe that view.

Let’s just sign Jose to a three-year contract already at $45M, $50M, whatever the hell it turns out to be, have a little love fest with the guy to start the offseason off on a positive note, and move on. Neither the length of, nor the money in, this contract is going to cripple this team in any way, shape, or form in either the near or long term future. Period. He’ll transition to DH at that time when appropriate, and that will be that. The clubhouse maintains its leader, and the organization keeps the face of the franchise. Win win all the way around.

That’s easy, glad you asked: Your ENTIRE view on the matter!

Shaddap.

Have the White Sox even remotely hinted that they want to play hardball with Abreu with this new contract coming up? No? Then why do you keep coming up with these silly scenarios that are completely out of touch with the very obvious reality of the situation.

Hawk Harrelson is, once again, a finalist for the “Ford C. Frick” award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. If he wins the award, he will take what many of us believe to be a rightful place in Cooperstown for his broadcasting achievements. Here’s to hoping we get the pleasure of listening to him give his acceptance speech next August at the Hall of Fame inductions! https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/hawk-hall-legendary-white-sox-broadcaster-harrelson-finalist-frick-award

40 years of stubbornly ineffective strategic vision from Reinsdorf. But he’s the one who will be leaving behind the losing legacy on the baseball side of his ledger. Wonder if that even matters much to him, a billion dollars later.

In other words, Abreu would be the one year stop gap measure at first until Vaughn gets here, and EE would be the one year stop gap until Abreu can slide over into full-time DH duties in 2021. Makes a lot of sense to me!

Why are you so confident then that our major market team can sign even a “tier 2 guy” if, other than the Robertson signing, they don’t have what you consider to be an encouraging track record in doing so? What makes this offseason any different?

So “JUST gottaBELIEVE” in a non-major market approach by a major market team to compete in a league dominated by the likes of New York, Boston, and Houston by going after “tier 2 free agents”. Sounds like a great plan to me - except for the plan’s extraordinary failure rate as employed by the team just a few years ago. Set the bar higher if you want our team to actually optimize the window of competitiveness coming its way.

So everyone except the top talent is a “realistic target” for this major market team with unprecedented payroll flexibility. SMFH!!!

As the need/desire for a “left handed hitting right fielder” becomes so evident this offseason, the complete miss on Harper last year hurts just that little bit more.

I most certainly do have high expectations, and hopes, associated with Vaughn. That's because I, like yourself and every other White Sox fan, had to sit through a miserable 100 loss season in order to gain access to his services. Therefore, I want him to be a very significant, contributing player to these upcoming years of competitiveness the Sox are getting close to entering into. Same goes for Madrigal before him. Both are key "rebuild babies", and I look forward to enjoying watching them excel in White Sox uniforms.

Yep.