ChiSox59

Would you be mad about Grandal (4/70) Abreu (1/17.8), Ryu (3/50), Smyly (1/7), and Dickerson (1/10)?

Feel free to take a hiatus until then. The quality of the board would improve drastically.

LOL. They legitimately rebuild to avoid doing this very thing. You're just ignoring what is clearly in front of your eyes because it fits your narrative, and you love being negative.

Obviously not. I just think the White Sox have a plan and know what they're doing . They get basically zero credit here. I've said what I think they should do like 1,000 times in the past few months. Priority #1: Sign Grandal Priority #1A: Sign one of the best best 5 SP FA. Cole and Strasburg are pipedreams. After them, its one of Wheeler, Bumgarner or Ryu. Wheeler would be my first choice after the clear aces that are pipedreams. Priority #2: Figure out RF. I'd prefer to trade for a RF as I think the free agent options are all poor fits for this roster. I've mentioned Nimmo, Pederson, Dahl, Tapia, Mazara, Startling Marte, Gregory Polonco, Brian Anderson and David Peralta as guys who making varying degree of sense. Priority #3: Retain Abreu via a 2 year deal at $15M AAV MAX, or on the QO. I think its safe to assume this will be checked off the list in less than 10 days. Priority #4: Sign a backend SP to eat some innings while Kopech builds up his endurance in AAA and Rodon rehabs. Someone who can transition to bullpen later in season would be ideal. I think who makes the most sense is somewhat contingent upon who is signed as Priority #1A. Someone like Wood, Tehran, Rich Hill, Smyly, Gibson, etc make some sense here. Priority #5: If you fail to do Priority #1, sign a DH bat for a season. We really need lefties, but Encarncion has legitimately no suitors, and may make some sense on a cheap 1 year deal if Grandal signs elsewhere. Priority #6: Get a decent veteran reliever. Nothing too sexy is necessary. Stammen, Hudson, Martin, Harris (Astros) are a few names. I would say if they cannot accomplish about half of that (doesn't necessarily need to be the exact player mentioned, but fill the holes as noted), the offseason would be failure. I don't want to spend money just to spend money. Ideally we fill a rotation spot and C/DH/1B with longer term options in Wheeler and Grandal. I am pretty confident the Sox to-do list looks very similar to this. They have plenty of payroll flexibility to work with. I think it will be a productive offseason. Does that summarize it enough, or would you like more detail?

Signing a 4 or 5 SP and an average RF/DH gets the Sox payroll to like $75-90M depending on your definition of 4/5 SP and "average RF/DH". This is still unrealistic.

What was the tweet again?

What a shocking take!

THE WHITE SOX ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE A $65M PAYROLL. I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS SO COMPLICATED FOR SOME TO UNDERSTAND.

I guess it depends on what your definition of "elite" is. If Grandal and Wheeler fit that description, yah. If its Rendon and Cole, prepare to be disapointed. Grandal and Wheeler are both awesome fits for this franchise, and while both may beat the largest contract handed out by the Sox, they aren't going to be franchise crippling deals. The Sox already have a really good young, cheap and controllable core. They just need to fill in the gaps with productive players. They have more than enough money to do that over the next 2 offseasons.

And what exactly does that prove? Most objective Sox fans realized that MM and BH would be great. but that it was at least at year early.

I did not say that the Sox would bump payroll into the "top 12ish range". I said they could bump payroll to $120Mish and still be below average. I don't expect the Sox to go into "top 12ish range" next season, but I do expect them to be in the $120M range. FWIW, the Giants were 12th in 2019 at $138M. I definitely see the Sox in the $150M range by 2022. I don't have "evidence". But the Sox didn't just rebuild for nothing. You only have to go back to 2015 for the last time they were in the top half of the league in spending, 2013 top 8, 2012 top 5. I get why everyone is pessimistic, but at least be objective.

That the Sox aren't going to suddenly operate as one of the lowest payrolls in the league moving forward? Or that the Negative Nancys conveniently ignore future financial obligations in every negative nancy post?

The Sox may have whiffed, but they're not in a meaningfully worse position for doing so. One could argue they're in a better position with a budding superstar in Moncada at 3B and not owing Manny Macho $270M over the next 9 seasons. And they still have the $250M they offered to Machado to spend. The Sox are not suddenly going to operate as one of the lowest payrolls in the league moving forward. The negative nancys continually disregard that. They could sign Wheeler, Grandal, Abreu and Encarnacion and still be below average.

I didn't say that is what I think would happen. I said that would be best case scenario. Jose is high as a kite if he rejects the QO.

Yah, I mean 99% of Sox fans are blindly pessimistic. The Sox have frankly earned it. But there are a whole bunch of obvious reasons and signs that things are changing. Feel free to ignore them if you want. The Sox are going to be very active this offseason.

Yah, I don't really agree. But continue to feel like the world is stacked against you, if that is your thing. The Sox clearly are not in the top tier of desirability, but after the 5-6 teams that are there, they're no less desirable than the rest of the bunch.

I think Dunning/Steiver + Walker + prospect in 20-30 range maybe get you Nimmo. I don't think it gets you Conforto. But some others here think that doesn't get you close to Nimmo, so its hard to tell.

There is frankly no basis for this take other than pure pessimism. While I don't expect the Sox to sign Cole, Rendon or Strasburg, there are plenty of FAs that make varying degrees of sense. Sure, there will be competition for their services. But there are few teams better positioned to add FA than the Sox. Rick Hahn also likes to make trades. I find it very unlikely we go this entire offseason without adding a everyday player or rotation member via trade.

All hope is lost. Looks like Sox should just fold the organization.

I don't think that is what happened here. I doubt the Sox think he'll decline. I think the Sox have probably been offering Jose a 2 year deal between $25-30M. He wants more $ and years. It got down to QO day, and they said OK Jose, we'd love to keep you but it has to be at a price that makes sense, so if you're unwilling to take this deal right now, we'll give you the QO offer then, feel free to test the market. If it doesn't work out, we'll be here for you. The Sox know its very unlikely a team is going to give him a multi-year deal and give up a pick, at least not until like March. They now have all the leverage in the world. I assume Jose's agent will tell him he has to take the QO, or he'll sign the 2 year/$25-30M deal the Sox have been offering in the next 10 days. I think from the Sox fan perspective, best case scenario is that he does in fact reject the QO. Because the likelihood of the Sox getting him on a 1 year $10-12M deal just went up exponentially in that scenario, though obviously we'd have to play the long game there and go through a large portion of the offseason without a DH or 1B.

Yah. He pretty much has to take it. I don't even think they're interested in him long term, but they need to fill 3.5 rotation spots for next season and he solves 1 of them. Let him pitch on a 1 year deal, then he goes into the market next year without the QO. Frankly it is a win-win for both sides based on the circumstances. Definitely more risk for him than the Twins, but Odorizzi is a guy that could get Kuechel'd if he rejects the QO, or find himself signing a 2 year deal with an overall value just slightly higher than the $17.8M he could get in 2020.

The defensive ceilings aren't even remotely close. I see what you're saying, but I have lived in MN my entire life outside of 4 years in college and watch a lot of the Twins when the Sox aren't playing. I know more about the Twins than most Twins fans. I assure you Polanco will not be their SS long-term, and while I cannot guarantee you they'll sign Didi, I can tell you that they will try. Just like I said Odorizzi would get the QO offer a week ago when most thought he wouldn't.

I just explained it above. Polonco is a terrible SS. He won't be there longterm.

This post reflects a lack of understanding of the overall situation. It is a great play for the Sox, and it proves they aren't willing to make an emotional decision and overpay Abreu on a multi-year deal. Clearly there is a divide between what the Sox are offering and what Jose wants, or this would not have happened.

Don't really see the fit. We need a DH/1B, not a 3B. Don't pay for an elite 3B an then throw him at DH when you can get a solid DH bat pretty cheap.