Eminor3rd

Avisail Garcia Jeff Samardzija James Shields Scott Linebrink Mark Teahen Honorable mention: Mark Kotsay. Nothing personal, I just hated his inclusion on the roster and everything it represented.

1. Frank Thomas 2. Lyle Mouton 3. Matt Thornton 4. Jose Quintana 5a. Paco Martin 5b. Ron Karkovice

They JUST dumped Santana so they could move Hoskins back to first, had the worst defense in a decade last year.

Alonso is a substantially better defender than Abreu. But yeah, this means Palka has to *gulp* play the field... !

I'm fine with that -- I meant I hope we didn't give up anything significant.

It's a trade

Better be basically for free

I think it’s going to be higher than that. I have some good firsthand info that I can’t repeat. But if it lands at 50m, I’ll be surprised and upset that the Sox wouldn’t beat it.

I’ve seen about fifteen Kikuchi starts over the last two seasons. He’s good. His release point reminds me a lot of Rodon, his slider (at its best) reminds me a lot of Kluber, and to my eyes, he tunnels well. He’s got a loopier curve and a splitter as well. Media reports on his velocity are overblown — if he can touch 97, I’ve never seen it in a game. He sits in the low 90s and ramps it up to the mid 90s when he needs to reach back. Unlike a lot of Japanese pitchers, he’s not afraid to throw the heater upstairs. There are a LOT of miles on his arm for his age. NPB aces routinely throw 30-50 more pitches in a start than MLB guys do. Also, premium young talent tends not to spend much time in the minors —he’s pitched 7-8 seasons in the NPB already. He’s had minor but recurring shoulder issues. Look, I’d love to get him. I think he’s a solid #3 over here with some upside. But there are simply too many teams on him right now. The winning bid is going to be full market value from a contender that thinks he’s more of a #2. For the Sox to BEAT that Would be to take a lot of risk on an arm with veteran miles on it that has reached its peak already. As fun as it would be for me (a big NPB fan), I just don’t see it happening. And I can’t blame our FO.

I don’t think there’s any chance the Sox sign this deal if they thought they were really in on Grandal. And I’m not saying they need Grandal. But they should at least try NOT to get a guy that’s going to make it even harder for their young pitchers to throw strikes.

I wish they would prioritize receiving skills with these guys.

I love him, but there are too many teams on him. He’s gonna max out his value, and I can’t think of any reason he’d choose Chicago over anywhere else even if we matched the highest offer.

I mean no one is going to argue that they like LAX, but that’s not really what we’re talking about lol

Every city is nice if you can afford to live where and how you want in it. Every city is miserable if you can’t.

Alright, children. That’s enough

Dig back into NPB. Gonna be a long year in Chicago. Dayan Viciedo just signed a massive three year, ten million dollar extension with the Dragons. He was the CL batting champion last year! Plus, my Rakuten Golden Eagles signed Hideto Asamura away from the lions. I’m so excited I’m buying a jersey.

I’d have no problem with grandal. Castillo is gone after next year. Collins is in the mlb as backup c and dh

Incredibly thorough, thanks @Y2Jimmy

Man, no offense, but that is really hard to believe

I said before that the Yankees getting their TOR pitching via trade specifically increased their chances of getting Machado. Paxton is 1. If they get another and just happen to move Andujar at the same time. Well. With Didi gone at the end of the season, asking Machado to fill in at third for just one season seems like something that could be sold to him.

Had a few big hits for us in Lehigh Valley last year.

No chance

Make a ban bet about it

Just the last thing the 2019 White Sox need to tie up money into.

This morning I thought peavy44 was a very old person, now I think he might be 8.