I wonder if a 3 year/$90 million deal would work. The Sox could pay him $20 million in 2016 and $35 million in 2017/2018.

 

That's a huge payroll commitment for 1 guy in the last 2 years of the deal, but the duration of the contract isn't too bad. Plus it saves money for 2016 while Danks and LaRoche are still on the books.

Oh I think there's no way Cespedes signs one. I could see Upton signing one.

I wonder if a 3 year/$90 million deal would work. The Sox could pay him $20 million in 2016 and $35 million in 2017/2018.

 

That's a huge payroll commitment for 1 guy in the last 2 years of the deal, but the duration of the contract isn't too bad. Plus it saves money for 2016 while Danks and LaRoche are still on the books.

 

Gross...Cespedes is just not worth a huge number like this. Much rather have Desmond for significantly cheaper

Oh I think there's no way Cespedes signs one. I could see Upton signing one.

 

in today's era of money and max salary, it is a few and far in-between when a player will leave when there is money on the table.

Rick Hahn is on record recently when he said “Our goal and intent all along has been to maximize the window to win a championship while these players are on our roster", referring of course to the core comprising Sale, Abreu, Quintana, Eaton, and Robertson.

 

Kenny Williams is similarly on record when he stated last July “If we do anything, it will be consistent with trying to maximize this three-year plan or window that we set out originally.”

 

That choice of the word "maximize" by both of these execs should strongly suggest that with the huge hole or talent deficit the team currently has in both left field and right field, combined with seemingly no competition from the typical big spenders in the marketplace (i.e., the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels), that the Chicago White Sox should walk away this offseason with one of the two available premium outfield talents in either Cespedes or Upton. Anything less at this point, particularly after weeks of hearing the Sox "are in" on talks with these players, would be quite disappointing and would certainly require Hahn and Williams to explain exactly what they mean when they use that word "maximize" in the context of making the team competitive in the next few years.

I wonder if a 3 year/$90 million deal would work. The Sox could pay him $20 million in 2016 and $35 million in 2017/2018.

 

That's a huge payroll commitment for 1 guy in the last 2 years of the deal, but the duration of the contract isn't too bad. Plus it saves money for 2016 while Danks and LaRoche are still on the books.

 

that is a way to think outside the box and being creative with the salary.... look at heyward salary. being creative to get the deal done.

 

i like it.

 

now whether this club is capable of doing it...... that is another question.

But we can't maximize and simultaneously protect or mitigate against long-term financial risk...thus, we take the conservative/careful/cautious route, and end up predictably with...?

 

There is never going to be a better opportunity for Hahn to win or lose his job with his next move/s.

But we can't maximize and simultaneously protect or mitigate against long-term financial risk...thus, we take the conservative/careful/cautious route, and end up predictably with...?

 

There is never going to be a better opportunity for Hahn to win or lose his job with his next move/s.

 

ahhh that is wrong, but then again it is how one will look at it...

 

i see the salary fixing itself by key contracts coming off the books in the next 2 yrs.

 

danks and laroche contract - 28 mil coming off,

mekly contract coming off the following yr. i think. beside if there is a temp signing on the SS positions.

frazier and someone else, contract comging off the yr after.

 

the salary has a nice stagger attrition to correct itself.

 

the biggest problem is, will the sox have the prospects to step in???

ahhh that is wrong, but then again it is how one will look at it...

 

i see the salary fixing itself by key contracts coming off the books in the next 2 yrs.

 

danks and laroche contract - 28 mil coming off,

mekly contract coming off the following yr. i think. beside if there is a temp signing on the SS positions.

frazier and someone else, contract comging off the yr after.

the salary has a nice stagger attrition to correct itself.

 

the biggest problem is, will the sox have the prospects to step in???

 

Farzier, Melky, and Duke's contracts all coming off in the same year.

And Lawrie, too.

And Lawrie, too.

 

and there is the correction in the salary problem being fixed and at the same time fixing the team now.

 

a win-win situation.

I must be dead.

I can accept losing out on Cespedes or Upton if it requires doing something dumb. But this not going over three years idea is beyond ridiculous. We have Chris Sale under control for four more seasons and our goal should be to maximize our ability to win during that window. The next two free agent classes are bad, so refusing to sign one of these guys will either hinder our chances to compete in the near future or cost us significant minor league talent. How is either option preferable to signing one of these guys to a 4 year deal?

 

Honestly, I'm going to lose my s*** if we lose out on these guys because of this three year nonsense.

I can accept losing out on Cespedes or Upton if it requires doing something dumb. But this not going over three years idea is beyond ridiculous. We have Chris Sale under control for four more seasons and our goal should be to maximize our ability to win during that window. The next two free agent classes are bad, so refusing to sign one of these guys will either hinder our chances to compete in the near future or cost us significant minor league talent. How is either option preferable to signing one of these guys to a 4 year deal?

 

Honestly, I'm going to lose my s*** if we lose out on these guys because of this three year nonsense.

 

and to add, its not like the org has an abundance of top rated prospect knocking on the door to step in..... 4 yrs is the most i would go.

I can accept losing out on Cespedes or Upton if it requires doing something dumb. But this not going over three years idea is beyond ridiculous. We have Chris Sale under control for four more seasons and our goal should be to maximize our ability to win during that window. The next two free agent classes are bad, so refusing to sign one of these guys will either hinder our chances to compete in the near future or cost us significant minor league talent. How is either option preferable to signing one of these guys to a 4 year deal?

 

Honestly, I'm going to lose my s*** if we lose out on these guys because of this three year nonsense.

I agree. If Cespedes signs somewhere else for 4/$90 or 5/$110 or something like that, and it turns out the only reason the Sox lost out was because of the years, there will be a pissed off fan base.

 

And yes, I recognize that he MIGHT get more than that, but the Heyward and Gordon contracts weren't as huge as it was once thought they would be.

The three year thing is really so stupid.

I agree. If Cespedes signs somewhere else for 4/$90 or 5/$110 or something like that, and it turns out the only reason the Sox lost out was because of the years, there will be a pissed off fan base.

 

And yes, I recognize that he MIGHT get more than that, but the Heyward and Gordon contracts weren't as huge as it was once thought they would be.

 

and the reason why the FO didn't sign them is, another element may be at play here. but as someone else mention this morning, lets see how the rest of the offseason plays out.

The three year thing is really so stupid.

In the free agent market, yes it is.

If they said at the beginning of the offseason they wouldn't go past three, it would have saved 200 pages of threads and lots of hand wringing.

 

Gordon's deal actually has a fifth year mutual option, by the way ($91 million for five years)...he was the one, along with Zobrist, that nobody wanted for more than three years.

 

KC has a payroll now around $135 million. They ended last year at $152 million, but weren't paying Cueto or Zobrist in reality.

 

To put it in perspective, the White Sox earn at least $40 million more per season for their media rights/broadcasting deals alone...not counting the ancillary benefits coming from the Cubs now on Comcast revenues.

Edited January 7, 201610 yr by caulfield12

If the Sox think they can get one of those two for three years or less, we might as well get over the fact that they aren't landing one now.

How many teams offered Gordon 4 years other than KC? What are the current offers for Cespedes? What are the offers for Upton? What was the Sox best offer for Gordon?

 

If you answered I really don't know to these questions, any whining about the White Sox and how they are NEGOTIATING currently with free agents is premature.

If the Sox think they can get one of those two for three years or less, we might as well get over the fact that they aren't landing one now.

 

 

I don't think they actually believe this but I also don't think that these guys have markets. The Orioles can't afford Davis and Upton/Cespedes. Giants are trying to trade for Ozuna and are linked to Fowler. Angels supposedly have no $$. Detroit is supposedly out of $$. The Rangers want Upton on a shorter deal. I still think the Sox are the favorites for Cespedes but I could be very wrong.

I don't think they actually believe this but I also don't think that these guys have markets. The Orioles can't afford Davis and Upton/Cespedes. Giants are trying to trade for Ozuna and are linked to Fowler. Angels supposedly have no $$. Detroit is supposedly out of $$. The Rangers want Upton on a shorter deal. I still think the Sox are the favorites for Cespedes but I could be very wrong.

 

My main issue is that Gordon got 4 years guaranteed & an option for a 5th.

 

He was the oldest OF'er of the 3 & was projected to be the cheapest & still got 4/5 years. That's my concern.

I said this yesterday, but if the Sox were only going to go 3 years on these guys, there's no way it was going to work financially with where this year's payroll is already at.

How many teams offered Gordon 4 years other than KC? What are the current offers for Cespedes? What are the offers for Upton? What was the Sox best offer for Gordon?

 

If you answered I really don't know to these questions, any whining about the White Sox and how they are NEGOTIATING currently with free agents is premature.

 

That could be a reasonable position to take in terms of Gordon, but what if the White Sox have this same standard for Cespedes or Upton?