January 22, 20215 yr 4 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: Look you're not gonna find me defending JR in nearly anything, but if he gives the FO the $14m to spend, and they don't spend it on what they actually need, then you can't blame JR.. If the FO is TLR then you can blame JR. Honestly it'll be pretty stupid if they spend like $23M in 2021 on a DH and a closer when their 2 biggest strengths were offense and bullpen, and fail to get a SP when their most glaring weakness was the rotation, and then KW/Hahn makes another "Can't spend a dollar when you only have 50 cents" kind of comment.
January 22, 20215 yr 4 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said: Why not both though? Unless you think we can get Tanaka on a 1/$15M, I’m not sure there is a starter that warrants Cruz money on a one year deal. I guess Paxton would fall into that bucket too, but I think the generally uncertainty with him makes a Cruz signing more defensible. Which three DH prospects are you referring to? Vaughn, Collins, & Mercedes? I think Collins is the favorite to win the backup catcher spot even if they bring another catcher on a minor league deal, so he wouldn’t be going to waste. I think giving Vaughn a year of development time is defensible if you’re adding a Cruz caliber DH. And while Mercedes would be fun to see get a shot, the organization doesn’t seem overly eager to. I’m not going to complain about Cruz on a one year deal and in fact I’d be pumped. If both is really on the table, then sure. But I can't imagine there's even a dime leftover if we dump $14mm somewhere else.
January 22, 20215 yr Just now, YourWhatHurts said: Honestly it'll be pretty stupid if they spend like $23M in 2021 on a DH and a closer when their 2 biggest strengths were offense and bullpen, and fail to get a SP when their most glaring weakness was the rotation, and then KW/Hahn makes another "Can't spend a dollar when you only have 50 cents" kind of comment. Yes, this is exactly my point.
January 22, 20215 yr Just now, Eminor3rd said: If both is actually on the table, sure. But we ALL know that both is NOT on the table. You really think this team has $30mm more to spend this year? No I don’t, but I’d probably take Cruz + Richards over Paxton + La Stella and you can probably get either pair for around $20M. Cruz is just such a special hitter and one that can carry an offense in the post-season.
January 22, 20215 yr 2 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said: If the FO is TLR then you can blame JR. Honestly it'll be pretty stupid if they spend like $23M in 2021 on a DH and a closer when their 2 biggest strengths were offense and bullpen, and fail to get a SP when their most glaring weakness was the rotation, and then KW/Hahn makes another "Can't spend a dollar when you only have 50 cents" kind of comment. Lance Lynn says hello.
January 22, 20215 yr 1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said: No I don’t, but I’d probably take Cruz + Richards over Paxton + La Stella and you can probably get either pair for around $20M. Cruz is just such a special hitter and one that can carry an offense in the post-season. I don't think you're gonna be able to get Cruz + Richards. Not to put too much emphasis on the food accounts, but their claim that the Sox have ~$8mm left to spend passes the smell test for me. If they ask JR to stretch for a DH and leave nothing left for SP -- again, Cruz may be able to carry an offense in the postseason, but this offense doesn't need carried. Meanwhile, you're one injury and a disappointing development year from a bullpen game in Game 3 of a playoff series.
January 22, 20215 yr The whole Vaughn DH thing was ludicrous to begin with. a) People forget he's only had 200 minor league ABs. b) You don't burn the development of the 20th best prospect in the game to plug at DH because you had no one else.
January 22, 20215 yr 9 minutes ago, HOFHurt35 said: Lance Lynn says hello. And right or wrong, they are likely committed to developing Cease & Kopech and may not want a massive salary blocking them. If that’s the case, adding a cheaper mid tier starter like Richards, Wainwright, or even Archer may make more sense so they can support their young pitching by making a great offense and great bullpen into elite ones. You can then reevaluate your need for another starter at the deadline with a full roster mostly in place and your entire prospect war chest intact. Edited January 22, 20215 yr by Chicago White Sox
January 22, 20215 yr Extending Lynn seems to be "nice dream," especially if they're pretty sure Giolito isn't amenable to the good 'ol hometown discount...but not putting money into the back of the rotation when it's clearly the biggest area of uncertainty or volatility and you already had one of the better bullpens in the league with the addition of Crochet, well, we'll just have to wait and see I guess.
January 22, 20215 yr 3 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: I don't think you're gonna be able to get Cruz + Richards. Not to put too much emphasis on the food accounts, but their claim that the Sox have ~$8mm left to spend passes the smell test for me. If they ask JR to stretch for a DH and leave nothing left for SP -- again, Cruz may be able to carry an offense in the postseason, but this offense doesn't need carried. Meanwhile, you're one injury and a disappointing development year from a bullpen game in Game 3 of a playoff series. I fully agree that we can’t add Cruz and then not add a starter, but I’d wager the addition of Cruz reflects growing optimism about revenues next year more than anything. The Sox will definitely add another starter, the only question is what tier will they pursue.
January 22, 20215 yr 2 minutes ago, HOFHurt35 said: Lance Lynn says hello. Lance Lynn was a pitching UPGRADE, not a pitching ADDITION, because they used Dunning to get him. Pitching upgrades are always welcome, but above all else, the Sox needed more ADDITIONS. The Sox are going to enter the season with three reliable starters (Giolito, Keuchel, Lynn), two question marks (Cease, Stiever), a prospect who, even if things go well won't be able to handle a full-season's load (Kopech), and a hail mary (Lopez). The Dodgers go into every season with like 7 reliable starters before they have to turn to prospects, because like 50% of pitchers hit the DL every year and a handful are going to disappoint anyway. Going into the year needing literally everything to go right with your pitching staff has always been a terrible plan.
January 22, 20215 yr 1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said: I fully agree that we can’t add Cruz and then not add a starter, but I’d wager the addition of Cruz reflects growing optimism about revenues next year more than anything. The Sox will definitely add another starter, the only question is what tier will they pursue. If they can find a way to get Cruz and a decent starter, then I can get behind it. But, if that starter ends up being a Gio-Gonzalez-lottery-ticket type, I still think that if you could add Tanaka to this roster for the same money, I'd do it every time even if Cruz is an overall more productive player. But, who knows, maybe you can't add Tanaka at 1/15.
January 22, 20215 yr 22 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said: Why not both though? Unless you think we can get Tanaka on a 1/$15M, I’m not sure there is a starter that warrants Cruz money on a one year deal. I guess Paxton would fall into that bucket too, but I think the generally uncertainty with him makes a Cruz signing more defensible. Which three DH prospects are you referring to? Vaughn, Collins, & Mercedes? I think Collins is the favorite to win the backup catcher spot even if they bring another catcher on a minor league deal, so he wouldn’t be going to waste. I think giving Vaughn a year of development time is defensible if you’re adding a Cruz caliber DH. And while Mercedes would be fun to see get a shot, the organization doesn’t seem overly eager to. I’m not going to complain about Cruz on a one year deal and in fact I’d be pumped. Btw I misread this initially, I see you weren't suggesting they could get Cruz AND Tanaka.
January 22, 20215 yr 4 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: If they can find a way to get Cruz and a decent starter, then I can get behind it. But, if that starter ends up being a Gio-Gonzalez-lottery-ticket type, I still think that if you could add Tanaka to this roster for the same money, I'd do it every time even if Cruz is an overall more productive player. But, who knows, maybe you can't add Tanaka at 1/15. Isn't Tanaka either deciding between the Yankees for 1-2 years and going back to Japan on a rich 3-4 year deal to finish his career there?
January 22, 20215 yr 7 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: If they can find a way to get Cruz and a decent starter, then I can get behind it. But, if that starter ends up being a Gio-Gonzalez-lottery-ticket type, I still think that if you could add Tanaka to this roster for the same money, I'd do it every time even if Cruz is an overall more productive player. But, who knows, maybe you can't add Tanaka at 1/15. I fully agree, I’d take Tanaka on a 1/$15M deal over Cruz, but after him everyone has question marks to some extent. Also, I think we could add Cruz & Richards for roughly $20M and based on my numbers that would push us just above a $140M payroll. That doesn’t seem totally outlandish to me. Edited January 22, 20215 yr by Chicago White Sox
January 22, 20215 yr 3 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: Btw I misread this initially, I see you weren't suggesting they could get Cruz AND Tanaka. Oh gotcha, yeah no way that’s happening. I think we settle in around $140M give take one or two.
January 22, 20215 yr 1 minute ago, caulfield12 said: Isn't Tanaka either deciding between the Yankees for 1-2 years and going back to Japan on a rich 3-4 year deal to finish his career there? Yes, and it seems like most people are leaning towards him going back to Japan.
January 22, 20215 yr 47 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said: I don't buy this but FWIW this is pretty much the same thing that happened with Encarnacion last year. I believe the hold up with him was that his father passed away so he went back home to be with family for a bit
January 22, 20215 yr 4 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: Isn't Tanaka either deciding between the Yankees for 1-2 years and going back to Japan on a rich 3-4 year deal to finish his career there? Jim Allen just mentioned on his podcast Sunday that the initial report was misquoted to make it seem like he was considering Japan to a much greater extent than he really was (apparently the actual quote was more along the lines of "there's a non-zero chance I'll go back to Japan"), and also mentioned that, at the time he was considering only multi-year deals but is now open to all offers (likely after the Yankees signed Kluber), which has brought more teams into the fray. So, it's still possible he does that, but it seems significantly less likely than before. Edited January 22, 20215 yr by Eminor3rd
January 22, 20215 yr Author Just now, Eminor3rd said: Jim Allen just mentioned on his podcast Sunday that the initial report was misquoted to make it seem like he was considering Japan to a much greater extent than he really was (apparently the actual quote was more along the lines of "there's a non-zero chance I'll go back to Japan"), and also mentioned that, at the time he was considering only multi-year deals but is now open to all offers (likely after the Yankees signed Kluber), which has brought more teams into the fray. So, it's still possible he does that, but it seems less likely than before. I think the Twins sign Tanaka
January 22, 20215 yr 1 minute ago, Jose Abreu said: I don't buy this but FWIW this is pretty much the same thing that happened with Encarnacion last year. I believe the hold up with him was that his father passed away so he went back home to be with family for a bit If you want to throw more onto this, pretty sure international travel now requires a negative covid test and a 7 day quarantine. For fun, say he agreed in principle on Monday, I'm uncertain on how things are there, but it might legitimate take a while for him to travel here (assuming he has to do the physical here and they can't make an exception).
January 22, 20215 yr 28 minutes ago, kleedawg said: I don't think you want your 2nd catcher DHing. I know we did that last year some, but we were carrying 3 catchers with covid rosters True, but that still leaves room for both Collins/Yermin on the roster to start (if you're considering a DH-only like Cruz anyway), with Vaughn able to come in and replace the lesser one whenever he's ready. And it's still possible that neither Collins/Yermin can really cut it defensively.
January 22, 20215 yr Author 54 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said: Who the fuck is this Leo character? He was asking Al’s for information a few weeks ago so not an insider in my opinion.
January 22, 20215 yr 8 minutes ago, fathom said: I think the Twins sign Tanaka That stadium is better suited for a sinker baller...but he still needs to keep the ball in the center 1/3rd of the field. What is the relationship between Tanaka and Maeda, for example, as that's another key consideration. Then you've got the money they just spent on JA Happ as well. Of course, then the question becomes why don't they just go with their known quantity in Odorizzi if he's willing to back off one year in his demands (3/$39 down to something like 2/$28)? They're definitely not going to add contracts beyond the window they have closing with Buxton and Berrios leaving after the 2022 season. If there's a Twins' Way, it's never to overspend. Edited January 22, 20215 yr by caulfield12
January 22, 20215 yr Just now, fathom said: He was asking Al’s for information a few weeks ago so not an insider in my opinion. Good catch on that
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