Con te Giolito

The only way I see a trade with the Rockies working is a 3 team deal. They have no reason to gut their farm when they already have excess MLB pieces that they would rather sell. Indians: Blackmon Rockies: Quintana Sox: Bradley Zimmer, Francisco Mejia, Kyle Freeland, Ben Bowden And I'm not even sure that feels quite right. But there is no way the Rockies trade Brendan Rodgers before an OF. I hope I'm wrong, but I just dont see a reason for them to do that.

Part of my anxiousness to get some more moves done is to quell this little thought I have that the Eaton and Sale trades were about something else. Like Kenny is somewhere saying "Heh, yea...were...""""""rebuilding""""""...that's what it is" when its really about getting rid of two dissenters who humiliated the org in March. And now secretly another half of the org is crafting a plan to sign Encarnacion and Bautista and go for it again in 2017. Do I really believe that this is what is going on? No. But I also dont find it completely implausible that the struggle amongst the brass over this team's direction is continuing even now. So yea, another trade or two just to squash any delusions of "well maybe if we..." nonsense would be very nice. Even if that nonsense only exists (for now) in my nightmares.

Dodgers are in the penalty, they can only offer $300k. If he comes out in 2017-18 they wont be able to sign him.

It took the threat of the Nationals for Dombrowski to pony up, Sox need to find a new muse to work on Luhnow. That Joel Sherman tweet of "80% chance Sale goes to the Nationals" still rings in my ear.

MLB wouldn't allow it. He'd have to wait at least until his arbitration years. With him especially they are going to be extremely wary of those sorts of tactics.

McMahon is the Rockies guy and yea, he's slid back. I'm still really intrigued by Gallo. That kind of power in a LH bat to me deserves an extended look, especially since he's only 23 (just turned 23 too). If the Rangers are really giving up on him I would at least explore it, the price for him could be shockingly low.

And as with Sale "their price" will come down a little and the Astros will meet them in the middle. What other options do the Astros have? Tampa is being completely unreasonable with Archer and Sonny Gray is more of the same for them.

Twice what Latos got. I guess that's the value added by throwing left handed and having AL experience.

You think the Sox will put that kind of value on a guy they had a chance to draft but didnt (and now has a torn ACL)? I dont know, maybe. The Mariners would have to bring in a 3rd team to get Quintana, they just dont have the headliners.

If he reaches those incentives he almost assuredly pitching somewhere else by the trade deadline. If not the Sox can say they "tried" and thank him for providing (hopefully) around 130-150 innings.

Somebody has to pitch.

Nah the Rangers could get him too if they really wanted to. The Mariners are a non starter though, Tyler O'Niell is all they have and he's barely on the level of the 3rd pieces available from Houston.

What contract? Melky will be a free agent in a year. There really is no contract to take.

Yea I've flipped on Robertson. They're better off dealing him now. If he sucks major butt they'll be stuck with him and I, personally, would like this roster almost completely gutted of the 2014-16 era by midseason 2018. Obviously some exceptions (Rodon, Anderson) but Robertson is not one of the them. Dont get greedy with him, he could easily have an ERA of like 5 by Memorial Day. Take whatever Washington or whoever will give and move on.

If he can give the Sox 150 innings at a 5ish ERA it'll be a successful deal. But between him and Shields...well maybe with their efforts Guaranteed Rate can recapture its former glory as a hitters paradise.

With so many teams in the penalty (I do not believe they can trade their pool money) and so many times likely swept away by the idea of nabbing Otani on the cheap that tradeable bonus pool money will be an incredibly hot commodity. This is not to the Sox disadvantage though. Assuming the Sox are going to hold some pieces for the deadline to sell the tradeable allotment dynamic does give them another slight edge to grabbing Otani or going for a massive LA class. Those deadline deals may be the perfect time to really load up on international bucks. Assuming Otani is going to demand the absolute max this means the Sox would only be competing against other teams who also traded for a max allotment. And every team that trades for a max allotment, thus joining the Otani sweepstakes, another one must fall out. The tradeable allotments are a zero sum game. This is something to possibly lord over deadline buyers heads when looking to possibly sell on Nate Jones, Melky or whoever. Wouldn't it be nice to eliminate the Red Sox and gain the max allotment in one fell swoop? And with Dick Allen's idea of flanking everyone for LA talent while the rest of the big players are all in a scrum over Otani that is a very flexible pile of dough. Conversely the Sox allotment also gains a ton of value and can be sold for more advanced propects. However I'm not sure that's a sound strategy considering the Sox new direction. Either way, this is one of those big hidden advantages of going full rebuild for even one season. The Sox can sit around playing 3D chess over bonus pool money while almost everyone else has to at least balance their interest in jumping into this with MLB club needs. And specifically on this issue they aren't even competing with that many other rebuilding teams as the Padres, Reds, Braves and A's are all in the penalty next go around.

Hester's career is likely over. Has to be a HOFer right?

Honestly, I dont know why he isn't waiting until 2019 when he can get $200m having never pitched an MLB inning. But if cannot wait that long he sure as hell isn't going to wait another year just because he really likes the Dodgers or Cubs. My honest guess is this is a negotiating ploy with MLB to try and get them to let him over as an exception and that he wont actually post unless an exception is made. In that case the ideal world for the White Sox is an exception being made for Otani, but the allotment penalties still being enforced in regards to his bidding war. The Sox committed payroll for 2019 is almost nothing, they really could make a play for him next offseason if they're allowed spend.

Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Royals, Athletics, Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Padres, and Reds are all in the penalty. Cant sign a player for more than $300K. You'd figure he'd want more than that right? And if he's willing to wait until July 6 2018 for those teams to jump back into the mix he may as well wait another year and a half to be completely exempted and get his massive contract the old fashioned way. Still competing against Boston and New York at least though, not to mention everyone else in baseball throwing their hats into the ring. Definite longshot and hopefully Sox will have an idea of what their chances are by July this year.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/ml...e120496093.html At least one of the affiliates is already very happy with the new direction.

Well they are literally bound by the CBA (Sox are too) to how much they can sign him. Money is really not an object in the Otani negotiations if he comes over in the next 3 offseasons. MLB will be extremely wary of him signing a quick extension too. He'll have to wait until at least his arb years, and it'll have to be merited. Even then the league may have problems with it. There's really no circumventing the allotment. It'll be a strange saga to say the least. He'll just go wherever he feels like the best. Though "fixing" Giolito, having Rodon go off and seeing the other arms in the system make big strides would sure be a nice selling point for the White Sox.

Trades are different than free agency. It'd be really low of the White Sox to make Quintana wonder where he is going to play for two months, especially while he's under a long term contract that he signed so he would have some security. Ballplayers expect to get traded, its part of life, but guys like Quintana who have been great on and off the field deserve the courtesy of getting it over with one way or another. If he's not dealt within a week or two Sox should either take the best offer or pull him back. I think he gets dealt soon though. Luhnow and Hahn have a middle ground they can and will find.

Yes. 100%. Buuutttt it may not be worth preserving your entire allotment while guys you like sign elsewhere just for a shot at Otani. That's the more pressing question.

Damn Reed has cratered...he's really #12 now? And then he compares him to Jon Singleton. And Franklin Perez is officially noticed now, I guess the time to strike on him lasted all of 12 seconds.

You've lost your mind. Trout!? For Quintana?!