ChiSox59

Which is all "what if". Having him the extra year is definitive. We don't know that calling up Robert tomorrow would have any meaningful difference on his 2020 performance. Its logical to assume that he'd work through some struggles and adjustments, but these are just possibilities. For all we know he rakes from the beginning and it makes no difference. The extra year is for sure.

I don't even understand why Rendon is mentioned. While a player that good always fits, the Sox aren't fucking with Moncada and they have one of the best 2B prospects in the game that will be ready at some point next season. Cole on the other hand......is most definitely a fit.

This has been repeated so many times. The Sox would be without Robert for like 15 games in 2020. Losing him for 15 games >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than an entire season. The Sox can compete next year with Robert coming up in late April. They won't compete next year if they sit out free agency again. If you want to get up in arms about competing next season, worry about the Sox signing some SP and not Robert spending a little over 2 weeks of games in the minors leagues.

EE is also due $11M more than Abreu this season, and is a bigger defensive liability than Abreu at this point. But yah, Abreu isn't bringing back much, but I suspect he'll be moved if something relatively interesting is offered. If not, he stays.

Both the Dodgers and Braves are going to have 40 man issues this offseason. These are the teams that theoretically you should be able to extract the most value from because they'd rather get something for their assets as opposed to holding and creating roster casualties in the offseason.

Well, that fan is an idiot. Eloy alone is more valuable than Beinintendi at this juncture, purely based on amount of contractual control. I too agree many fan trades are funny - but there at least appears to be some willingness on Boston's end to part with Benintendi based on the recent reports, so its not quite as out of left field as the white sox trading Jimenez and Cease.

The good thing is, the Sox have a pretty impressive stable of controllable talent built up from rebuilding and draft. Free agency should be used to supplement a core, and hopefully that is what the Sox are going to do. Moncada, Anderson, Eloy, Robert, Madrigal, Vaughn, Giolito, Kopech, Cease, Lopez and 4-5 very good and interesting relief arms in a REALLY good start. The Sox should be able to fill in the gaps via FA and less regarded prospects (whether as contributors or trade bait). That is how a true winner is built, and the Sox are definitely pointed in the right direction.

I'd much rather see Kopech shuttled between AAA and the big leagues than be given phantom DL stints throughout the season. If you don't want to keep him in AAA until June 1 or whatever the exact day may be, fine, but instead of skipping starts and phantom DLing him, option him to AAA for 10 days. As I mentioned earlier, the Padres have done that with Paddack and the Rays with McKay, who are also pretty elite talents, so its not like the Sox would blazing some new trail. They should be able to get him to spend 6-8 weeks on the AAA roster and get the year on control back if they handled it that way, so long as he initially spends the first month in AAA. Once you use the option, may as well take advantage of it instead of just having him use a useful 25 man spots while being skipped, or accruing MLB service time while on a phantom DL stint.

It's easy to say pass on Bumgarner, and while I actually agree - there are only two or three clear cut better options in Cole and potentially Strasburg (he should opt out). I think Ryu is a better option too, IMO. But after that, Bumgarner is going to be at the top of the list. I just think he's very likely to stay in the NL, and for good reason - I think he's at best a mid rotation SP in the AL at this point in his career. Yep. I am more confident than others that the Sox will take a far more aggressive approach. How they figure out RF and DH will be the most interesting to me. The next week may provide some clues has to what their plans may be. There are plenty of options on the FA market to plug 1 or 2 SP spots - depending on how they plan to handle Kopech - but the RF options on the FA market are not great for this particular team's needs. While it seems like it should be easy to fill the DH spot - the Sox have proven that isn't really the case, so that too will be interesting. Part of the reason I love the Grandal idea so much is that he sort of fills the DH role, and I do think a Grandal/McCann/Collins catcher and DH platoon would be pretty lethal. I suspect Grandal will be in demand this offseason, but I guess you never know after how his offseason went. IIRC, the Sox definitely were in contact with Grandal, so you know the interest is there. No draft pick forfeiture this time, and while McCann has patched the catching issue momentarily, I predict serious regression offensively next season.

Yah, I like this. We’re on the same page.

+100. Nice post. It may be a PR nightmare, but at least people are/will be talking about the Sox. There are much worse situations than having a prospect so good that your decision to keep him in the minors leagues creates media attention.

Certainly not worth starting a new thread so putting it here, but the Rays DFA'd Ian Gibaut today. Interesting youngish relief arm that appears to have just been a causality of 40 man roster crunch. Surprised to see Rays DFA him, so perhaps they have a trade lined up for him. If not, doubt he'd make to the Sox in the waiver order, but if he does, they should definitely pounce.

Would be nice to grab one of those guys in a deal for Colome. All LHP as well.

Jordan Guerrero released.

You pinned instead of closing. LOL

Heeeeeeeeeesssssss baaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkk ......in the majors. Rockies just called him up. LOL

The trade season is clearly moving very slowly. We're a week from a hard trade deadline and Andrew Cashner and Martin Maldando have been the biggest names moved. Major yawn.

Nah. Robert would be up now if he was coming up this season. He isn't. It's next April.

I miss MB so damn much. So does my wife. She loved the 90-120 minute games. LOL

IMO - no, they should wait like 2 weeks. I really don't see any scenario that Robert breaks camp with the Sox if he doesn't appear in the big leagues this season. Only scenario I guess would be an extension, but that has been discussed at length as to why that is unlikely.

My honest opinion - I don't particularly GAF what the Padres or the Braves, or anyone else is doing. It was refreshing to see the Padres give Tatis a shot from the get-go this season. I personally think it was short-sighted and kind of dumb, but definitely refreshing to see a team stay "fuck it" to the contractual control and actually put their best talent on the big league roster. That being said, the Padres are in a slightly different spot than the Sox seeing as they just spent $300M on Machado, and also have a couple other large, long(er) term contracts in Hosmer and Myers. The Padres were no longer tanking or frankly really rebuilding once they gave Machado $300M. My position on Robert would likely be a little different if Machado was on the Sox.

So basically shut down potentially your best pitcher in August because he's hit his workload for the year? Hard pass on that scenario. IMO, they need to do something to limit his workload in the early part of the season so if they're actually in contention they don't just lose his services for the season down the closing stretch of the season. And sure, let him go every 5th day down in AAA if that is the medically correct thing to do, but you can still control his workload in the early going by only letting him go a few innings per start and working up from there. Much easier to do that in AAA than in the big leagues.

Never seems like a stretch. They took on Alex Rios bad contract at the time, and they didn't even get any prospects in return. I personally don't really care to blow our financial flexibility on adding bad contracts. You could convince me on a guy like Grienke. But I just don't think its a wise use of resources unless the prospect coming back with it moves the needle that much. Obviously it is a case by case situation, but its not something I am really advocating for. I did mention taking back Rusney Castillo in a deal for Benintendi in that thread, and that would be of interest, but again, doubt the Red Sox care to use one of their better assets just to save $25M on Castillo and add some quality vets for the stretch run.

I've mentioned this multiple times throughout the season, but I feel this was an important enough topic to start its own thread. This may come off a tad controversial, though I don't think it is at all, but I am firmly in the send Kopech to AAA to start 2020 camp. Here is why: Innings Limit / Controlling Workload Kopech is going to need his innings controlled in a big way next season. He has maxed out at 140 innings in 2018 before he hurt his arm. His previous highs in professional ball were 134 IP in 2017 and 65 IP in 2015. Obviously, Kopech is not going to be ready to throw over 200 (high stress / intensity) major league innings next season. If the Sox are even a little bit serious about trying to compete next season, they're going to want Kopech on the mound in August and September. The best way to do that is limit his innings early on. Sending him to AAA to open the season allows the Sox to take it easy on him in the early going. Let him pitch just once a week. Start with just a few innings starts, and slowly build-up the workload over a couples months in AAA where he won't need to overthrow and the stress on the arm is less. FWIW - Kopech has 3 minor league options remaining, so that is not of concern in the slightest. Contractual Control I was pretty firmly in the leave Kopech in AAA group last summer. Obviously, I was super excited to watch him pitch at the big league level once the decision was made. I understand being a little more aggressive on promotions of pitchers as opposed to position players, primarily due to injury risk and using the innings that are in the arm whil you have the control. What is done is done, obviously, but what transpired was pretty much that worse case scenario for the White Sox, outside of a career ending injury. Losing close to 20% of his control was a serious kick to the nuts. Letting bygones be bygones, one benefit to taking it slowly with Kopech early next season and letting him build up his innings in AAA is that they can get a year of control back. Kopech will go into 2020 with 1.041 years of service time. He was called up August 20, 2018. I don't know the exact cut off, but if he stays in AAA until late May / early June 2020, the Sox could delay his free agency from 2025 to 2026. As someone who cares about the seasons when several of our core players will be approaching FA and the Sox should be pretty good - I'd love to have Kopech around in 2026. BUT BUT BUT - KOPECH WILL FILE A GRIEVANCE! I say non-sense. The guy has 14 innings of major league baseball under his belt and just got a reconstructive elbow surgery. He is by no means guaranteed an opening day roster spot just because of his prospect status. He would have absolutely zero grounds for a grievance. It is perfectly reasonable for the Sox to want their prized asset to build up his innings slowly in the minors, so he is ready for pitching deep into the season at the major league level. Allow time for Lopez to continue to iron things out as SP Opening Day Rotation: Cole (or other SP acquisition), Giolito, Cease, Wood (or other SP acquisition), Lopez. I have made in no secret that I want the Sox to add Cole. Most people think there is no shot, so insert Bumgarner, Hamels, Odorizzi, or whomever floats your boat instead of Cole. The bottom line, I think the Sox need to add two legitimate SP to their rotation via FA or trade this winter. Cole and Wood would be my choices, but you can insert whomever you'd like - the point remains. Keeping Kopech in AAA allows the Sox to give Reynaldo another couple months to see if he is a long term rotation option, or if it is time to move him to the pen. If Kopech starts the year in the bigs, they either only add 1 (legit) SP, or Lopez is in the pen to start the year. What is your opinion? How would you handle the situation if you were in charge? If your answer is that Kopech needs to be on the OD roster, how are you going to handle his workload so that his is still available in August and September? If you're worried about grievances, the Sox certainly can't shuttle him between AAA and Chicago like Padres have done with Paddack, and it appears the Rays are going to do with McKay. With just a 25 man roster, the Sox can't really afford to skip Kopech a bunch throughout the summer while keeping him on the 25 man. Just curious how those that feel he should without a doubt be on the MLB roster all season plan to handle that.

Nope, Abreu was not included. $50M is probably a tad high - perhaps closer to $45M if they non-tender Yolmer, but its in the ballpark. Point is, average MLB payroll is $135M. Sox could add Cole ($30M AAV), Grandal ($20M), Wood (8-10M AAV), Abreu ($8-10M AAV), and 2 relievers ($15M AAV) and still have a below average payroll. While obviously I'd love to see that happen, it won't. But the point is, at some point the Sox are going to add some serious payroll. My hope is that they do it by adding a few elite players, rather several over the hill meh veterans as they have done in the past. I am hopeful that they'll change their ways with a legit 5-7 year contention window ahead, but I understand those that say "I'll believe it when I see it".