Con te Giolito

Well the Dodgers went and spent $200m this offseason on the likes of Justin Turner and Rich Hill, crushing whatever theory there was of them caring even a little about the tax. I was one of those who thought the Sox could get some of LA's prospects by taking on salary...well that idea is completely shot. The Yankees make a little more sense as they will almost have to sign at least one expensive starter next offseason (Tanaka will opt out) and have ambitions of signing Harper and possibly Machado in 2 years. But even they aren't going to give up guys they really believe in from the farm just for payroll flexibility. The appeal of Quintana for the Yanks is it helps them be sneaky contenders in 2017 and gives them a solid lefty innings eater right through the heart of their championship window.

If there is one legitimate criticism of Hawk its his failing eyesight, which is really kind of tragic for a former professional athlete and shouldn't be held against him as a person.

None of those teams care about money. Even with the luxury tax.

RB coach is gone too. Still a bigger head needed to roll. I was really disappointed with Fangio this year looking back.

Zero accountability for a 3-13 season.

I unironically love TWTW. The Frazier moment was great too, crazy old coot actually abandoned the booth to go check on his boy gotta love it.

Also Botgraphs isn't as bullish on Rodon as most here are. Projects his walk rate to go back up, which would be disappointing.

Heh heh heh heh

Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi 24m24 minutes ago Sources: Brian Dozier trade talks expected to resolve, one way or another, in next week. #Dodgers still one of teams in talks with #Twins. And you think the Q talks have been excruciating....

I dont get it either. Maybe I'm an easily impressed simpleton but there are hardly any announcers across of all of sports that I'm not entertained by.

You know I'm a bit nervous about talks with them heating up. Because once talks heat up I'll go perusing BravesWeb to get a feel for their system and who they like, and somewhere in a comment section or fan board I'll read that Kevin Maitan, a 16 year old who has not played yet, is "untouchable". I dont know if I can handle that, in a offseason that has featured such rampant use of the word that'll be the last straw.

I bet $1000 internet bucks Quintana isn't dealt tomorrow. This is gonna be a slow, slow burn.

Gotta wonder how serious the Braves are.

best thing from Kopech's twitter is definitely his lifetime goal of throwing a 107 mph pitch. strong Lawrie vibe...love it.

Also Rodon's value is really tough to pin down. The potential is there for top 5 pitcher in baseball, and the trajectory he's on right now would probably lead him to the top 20. His worst case (non injury) scenario is what he is now, which is a strong 4th starter. Some say Chris Archer is worth more than Chris Sale, this is not an argument I'm buying and I dont think there are many (maybe any outside Tampa) teams who buy it either. But whatever, there's an argument to be made that Archer's control makes him more valuable than Sale. Well Rodon was basically tied with Archer in ERA and trailed him very narrowly in FIP and xFIP. Rodon also walked fewer batters than Archer, but struck out fewer guys as well. Archer threw 35 more innings, which matters. In 2016 Archer was better than Rodon, but really not by much. But you factor in Rodon's age (he's 4 years younger than Archer) and control (both have 5 years) and its not hard to convince yourself that Rodon is the guy you'd rather have. Its not outside the realm of possibility that Rodon could fetch a Sale-like package, even if I personally dont think he would.

You dont trade Rodon until you are 100% certain he wont be signing an extension. So the Sox have to wait at least one year, probably two, before seriously entertaining the idea. He just turned 24 and he's as poised to break out as any pitcher in baseball and with the army of talented righties in the system Rodon can serve as the lefty anchor to the Sox rotation for a long, long time. But if the rebuild is coming along slowly or Boras just wont budge on the extension front he'll probably have to go at some point. Hope it doesn't come to that.

The Pirates are so good at drafting and development they replenish the farm system every 2 or 3 years without trading away anyone. They have a Meadows-like (or better) outfield prospect about every other year. First McCutchen, then Marte, then Polanco (dark horse MVP candidate, get ready for the breakout this year) now Meadows, they are extremely good at finding and developing young outfielders. Probably the best in the baseball at it. And it kind of brings up a flaw in Pittsburgh's thinking here re: Cutch and Meadows. Their fear is that in 2 years McCutchen walks, then Pirates get nothing, and there's nobody on the farm to replace him. So they are trying to get out in front of that by getting what they can for Cutch now (even though his value has cratered) and using Meadows to take his place. Normally that would make sense but if history is any indication the last thing Pittsburgh , of all teams, should be worried about is nothing having a young OF on the farm two years from now. Maybe they will need a bridge player in 2019, but that's probably the worst-case scenario. Meadows is excess for them and Quintana really is a perfect guy to exchange that excess for. It gives them two years (and probably more) not only to compete with the Cubs and Cardinals in the AL Central, but also two years to develop a hier apparent in CF. McCutchen still walks at the end but look around baseball and ask yourself who is going to give the Pirates more value in a trade than what they would get out of two seasons of Cutch. The Nationals might've but the Sox outdid them with Eaton. The only argument left is that they are running scared because the big bad Cubs caught lightning in a bottle with that pitching staff and rode it hard. If that's really how the Pirates org feels they should all quit their jobs and find something else to do. You're in this game to compete and Pittsburgh's roster is without a doubt a contending roster with Quintana.

Well yea...I suppose the Pirates could gut their entire farm system and pick up Quintana but realistically speaking a 3 or 4 player return modeled after the Boston return that didnt include Meadows would be a no-brainer for the Pirates.

Right. If the Pirates could acquire Quintana without Meadows he'd already be on the Pirates. Its nice that somebody in the media seems to be reporting it but it isn't difficult to surmise what the Sox are asking from Pittsburgh.

Saunders is awful. He strikes out like crazy and manages to be just as bad, if not worse, than Melky in the OF. He had that hot first half but then completely tanked. Not much younger than Melky either.

Toronto springs to mind right away, but really any team that needs some platoon help at DH and/or LF. Tampa or Oakland may start sniffing around if the price is low, those orgs are often more commitment averse than anything and Melky walks after the season. Detroit may be intrigued, especially if they move JD Martinez. Keep in mind you're not really asking for anything too good prospect-wise from any of these clubs. More often than not the guy you get in return for Melky will be a change of scenery piece or someone who has been passed up by more than other prospect.

Well you get an .800 OPS switch hitter who may not be a good LFer but is hardly the worst LFer in the biz. And its one year of $15m, not 3 years of $45m. If you got a team that's really going for it that's a guy you could use. Gets on base, has some power, can play the OF...he's a step above the power bats with low OBP's and no position. They aren't getting a T100 prospect for him. Either a couple T250 guys in the low minors or an org guy blocked for the forseeable future. Those aren't bad returns...adding a new name to the Sox T30 isn't a waste of time.

That isn't really a good answer to that question.

So if OSU had one more loss but owned the H2H and won the B1G you wouldn't be complaining the other way?

You know I'll believe in a quiet White Sox offseason when I see it. Moves will always be made with this front office, especially with the impending changes to the QO system.