ChiSox59

Do we know who else was outrighted besides Farquhar and Smith?

Wish kevan the best. A little surprised they didn’t want to ship castillo off and keep kevan but no big loss.

One of the top 3-4 FA and another top 10 or so FA signed with the Phillies after a 66 win season last year. Not every major FA decides to sign with the "blue bloods". Signing MM is a long shot, I get that, I just don't think the Sox will have to blow the rest of the market out of the water to land him (they probably wouldn't anyway).

Who do you consider to be MM main suitors?

I was probably off a bit on Ryu. With his injury history and age, I kind of doubt he's going to get a monster deal. But perhaps something like 3/$45-50 is more realistic. With regard to Machado and the bolded, your take is that the Sox will have to pay $20-30M above the next highest bidder to get him? Why? Just because the Sox haven't typically played in the monster FA pool? I've never understood that seemingly common opinion of many Sox fans on here. You really think the Sox are that looked down upon by players around the league? Just seems so little brotherish. I don't think Machado is going to take a discount to play for the Sox, or for anyone, but I do think he'll go to the highest bidder, assuming its not super close to his preferred location (where ever that its). If the Sox are the highest bidder, he probably signs here. They won't need to blow the next closest bid out of the water by like 10-15% as so many around here seem to think.

Right. But Hahn has specifically mentioned he'll be looking to do prospect for prospect deals this winter, so it definitely merits some discussion.

Hah, is this 100% confirmed? This changes everything on Jones. I was always assuming he'd be around because I thought he'd cost more to buy-out than to retain, but if this is true, this is a much tougher decision for the Sox than I thought.

Well, in my proposed deal of Avi, Rutherford and Lambert for Gray and Welker, we're also acquiring a similarly ranked prospect in Welker that plays a position of need in the Sox system (3B). Its basically a prospect for prospect deal. You'd really be trading Avi and Lambert for Gray.

What do you think Ryu will get?

Congrats to Adam!! a big accomplishment in itself.

A little bored at work today, so decided to start a fun thread on offseason moves. The idea isn't necessarily to predict what you think would happen, but what you would try do if you were in Rick Hahn's spot. I decided to have a little fun with mine, so its definitely far-fetched. But I think this is a team that could be super interested, adds guys to the next core without compromising the future, and stays within a payroll range that the Sox have operated at before the rebuild. My offseason moves: Sign Machado - 8 years @ $290M Sign AJ Pollock - 3 years @ $68M Sign Hyun-Jin Ryu - 2 years @ $19M Sign Daniel Hudson - 2 years @ $11M Trade Avi Garcia, Blake Rutherford and Jimmy Lambert for Jon Gray and Colton Welker Trade Kevan Smith or add him to DFA list below if needed DFA: LaMarre, Tilson, Scahill, Gomez and Farquahar Let FA to be Shields, Gonzalez, Santiago walk Roster as of May 1st (estimated 2019 salary): 1B: Abreu ($18M) 2B: Moncada ($570k) SS: Anderson ($1.4M) 3B: Machado ($37M) LF: Leury Garcia ($2M) CF: Pollock ($23M) RF: Eloy ($560k) DH: Palka ($560k) / Davidson ($1M) platoon Catcher: Castillo ($7.25M) / Narvaez ($570k) platoon BN: Davidson, Narvaez, Yolmer ($3.5M) and Engel ($560k) Rotation: Rodon ($3.5M), Lopez ($570k), Giolito ($570k), Ryu ($10M) and Gray ($2.5M) Bullpen: Jones ($1.25M), Hamilton ($560k), Hudson ($5.5M), Fry ($560k), Frare ($560k), Ruiz ($560k) and Burdi ($560k) Total payroll: ~ $122.75M

This. Let him pitch once or twice a month in mop up duty. I don't see it getting any more serious than that, and while I think Davidson is probably safe on the roster, that is definitely not a guarantee at this point.

He's a higher ranked prospect than Welker, at a position of higher need for them, and both are probably 2 seasons away. I think a Welker-Rutherford trade without other pieces makes sense.

Yep. Welker would definitely fit the bill.

While unlikely, let's just assume for a second that the Rockies are actually interested in Avi. They have Dahl (who has struggled to stay healthy) and Blackmon locked in, who are both lefthanded sticks, so maybe they would have interested in Avi in RF. Gonzalez is a pending FA. They also have Tapia who has some pedigree that they want to give a full time job. Is there a way to expand this deal that includes an OF prospect from the Sox? Maybe something like: Sox trade: Avi Garcia, Blake Rutherford and Jimmy Lambert Rockies trade: Jon Gray and Colton Welker The Rockies only have 1 OF in their top 15 prospects, so perhaps this is something they'd be interested in. Figured the Sox would need to add a sweetener in addition to Rutherford in order for them to give up Welker in addition to Gray. Sox get a backend SP with upside for the next 3 seasons and a top 100 prospect at a position of need (3B), while also clearing some of the OF logjam. Makes some sense in theory, if the Rox actually have any interest in Avi.

Seems like a discount.

Fair enough.

The swing in that top video is horrible.

Meh. The game of baseball has gotten so soft. You used to get your ass sat on the bench if you didn't slide hard into 2nd base. The Aguilar deal was a little dirty, but its not like he stomped on his ankle. Pretty tame as far as dirty goes. I may be biased - I grew up playing hockey, so I always played baseball with an aggressive mentality. I wasn't scared to railroad a catcher if he was in my way, or slide hard into 2nd base. So maybe I like seeing those things myself. Clearly that stuff isn't allowed in the majors any longer, but I don't particularly like how soft the game has gotten. Machado seems like a bit of douche, no doubt, and his comments about hustle are eyeroll worthy, but I'd still take that guy on my team 10/10 times.

Wasn't referring to the lack of hustle as much as the plays people have been calling "dirty".

Guy just plays with a chip on his shoulder. Is he a bit of a douche? Yah. But sometimes teams need guys like that, and I think the Sox are one of them. If anything, I could see this hampering his market a bit. In the end, I doubt it does, but from the Sox standpoint, it can't hurt.

You seem to be taking this a step far. You really want the Sox to just dump Abreu because they aren't going to be good in 2019? They aren't getting anything worthwhile in exchange for him this winter. May as well see how the roster shakes out, and hope he has a monster 1st half, and if the Sox are bad (as expected) get something of value for him then.

There is a 0% chance the sox non-tender Jose. Its not even worth discussing. And they certainly aren't non-tendering him because he "deserves a chance to play for a winner".

I just puked.

I'd be interested in the cost was cheap to acquire him - but I imagine lots of teams would be interested in the Yanks just want to give him away.