SoxBlanco

If Gallo put up another 4.2 WAR season last year (so back-to-back 4.2 WAR seasons), what kind of contract do you think he would get this year? Let’s just assume his 2022 numbers were exactly the same as his 2021 numbers.

Exactly. Gallo batted .199 for a full season and still put up 4.2 fWAR. And that season was only a year ago.

I would definitely get behind that plan. And I don’t disagree with your second paragraph. I think I’ve just entered the depression stage after seeing all of these huge contracts. I just keep thinking, “Wow, there’s really not much we can do, and all we can do is hope for a miracle where everything goes right in 2023.” Hell, maybe we are due after everything that went wrong in 2022.

I would definitely think about pulling the trigger on that, but then what would we do in the outfield? We’d still need to sign somebody. And since we need to sign an OF anyway, it might be better to just keep the prospects, sign someone like Conforto, and let the youngsters battle for the 2B job. The success of the 2023 will come down to the health and bounce back ability of several guys. Even if we acquired Lowe, we’d still need our core to bounce back, so I don’t see someone like Lowe (I realize he was just one example that came to mind for you) being a bold move that pushes us over the top. In my opinion, the only kind of move that would have a really significant impact is something that will cost money that JR is unwilling to spend. And since we all know that’s not changing, I really don’t see much that Hahn can do at this point. That’s not to say he doesn’t deserve blame, because some of his bad contracts put us in this position, but I’m just talking about what he can do from this point forward.

I get what you’re saying, but who do you have in mind? If that hypothetical package you presented doesn’t get you Reynolds, then who might it get? And if sending a package of Ramos/Vera/Sosa gets you somebody worse than Reynolds, then is it really a bold move that could help us win a championship in 2023?

Yeah, good call. I’ve always wondered if his April struggles were due to cold or simply taking a while to shake the offseason rust off.

They didn’t push back the start of the season to July, did they?

Ah, makes sense. My bad.

Wait, Vaughn has played 290 innings at 1B? I guess I wasn't paying attention. I thought he played mostly OF and DH.

Jose was terrible to start, then improved, and then it seemed like he was bad again last year. I'm simply using the eye test, but I recall multiple instances of him just dropping the ball on a throw not in the dirt.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Are those outfield metrics? Maybe I just don't follow what you're saying, but we're talking about 1B here.

What is your evidence for claiming Vaughn's 1B defense is poor/bad?

You're not wrong. The FO has spent a lot of foolish money, which really hurts when you have a tight budget. But the fact that there are teams throwing out HUGE contracts while we are figuring out ways to get creative with trades and hopeful bounce-back candidates because we have to stay at this strict budget of $185M (or whatever it is) is ridiculous. Hahn deserves blame, but JR is the bigger problem by a mile, in my opinion.

Yep. We need JR to di…scover how much he is handcuffing this team and just sell.

Well that would be a nice change. Seemed like Bundy was getting rocked by the rest of the league and then consistently shutting down the Sox.

I was making fun of the blurb because it said the exact same thing in back to back sentences.

Has he only come out of the pen? Or has he also started? Tough to tell from that blurb.

This was my thought exactly. If they trade Liam for Glebry and then sign Nimmo, the payroll would be around $180M.

I wonder how most people would feel about trading TA, signing Andrus, and then signing Nimmo.

I've had a weird feeling since the season ended that we might trade Anderson.

What if you truly believe Quintana will have a better season than Giolito (and you knew you could sign Quintana)? Then you wouldn’t even need a haul.

Thanks. So are we at around $164M for 2023 right now? If so, that’s much a much better position than I thought we’d be after filling out the rotation. @ChiSox59

Good call. What was the verdict on Pollock’s $5M? Is that counting toward the 2023 payroll?

No. I don’t. This conversation started because Sarava said he would trade Vaughn and Montgomery for Reynolds and then sign Bell to play 1B. My point was that IF we were willing to spend money on Bell after that hypothetical trade, then we should just sign Nimmo and keep Vaughn and Montgomery.

Isn’t that approximately what Vaughn and Nimmo will make in 2023 also?