Look at Ray Ray Run

Gio, Reylo, Cease are literally the only starters they have that they can rely on for opening day. Cease and Reylo are still big question marks; obviously both could improve and be very good but they shouldn't be relying on that. Hahn has no interest in overpaying the three guys left, so if their prices don't come down I'm pretty sure the Sox are out and that's actually fine with me.

If the team is unwilling/unable to pay premium free agents then they should trade the ones they were lucky enough to find in the trade market... it's an interesting concept to say the least.

TIL that James Shields has not formally retired. Someone might want to let him know that it's over.

About -1.7 WAR for the season.

Walker, McHugh, Salazar, Wood and Miley are guys I would take ahead of those who have signed from that tier for sure. There are others that would be a toss up that I'd probably take over the current signees as well. Although Salazar is never going back into a rotation.

I think you would catch that was a joke and a slight exaggeration; Covey might have the edge over Rico Garcia lol

Here's a list of starting pitchers still available; the ones who have been bolded are better than Dylan Covey: Name Hyun-Jin Ryu MadisonBumgarner Homer Bailey Ivan Nova Wade Miley Andrew Cashner Jason Vargas Julio Teheran Gio Gonzalez Rich Hill Dallas Keuchel Aaron Sanchez Collin McHugh Robbie Erlin Matt Moore Josh Tomlin Clay Buchholz Chad Bettis Cody Anderson Tommy Milone Jeremy Hellickson Taijuan Walker Tyson Ross Jhoulys Chacín Felix Hernandez Jimmy Nelson Edinson Volquez Marco Estrada Clayton Richard Alex Wood Danny Salazar Kohl Stewart Shelby Miller Steven Wright Rico Garcia Drew Smyly Matt Harvey Wade LeBlanc Jerad Eickhoff Wei-Yin Chen Ervin Santana Ross Detwiler Trevor Cahill Derek Holland Edwin Jackson James Shields

Unless the target was Brett Anderson, the market didn't run out of anything after his signing.

You basically just declared the rebuild dead and suggested they should start all over and trade their elite talent they acquired. I'm not sure I would classify you as "one of the more optimistic posters." In fact, you're less optimistic about this rebuild than Moan4Yoan which is really tough to do.

Yeah, I've always liked Jim, and I understand his outward frustration after watching this for decades but he does lead that brigade and he surrounded himself with those types of people. Had the White Sox signed Anderson, I guarantee he would have tweeted out some negative angle regarding the signing as well.

They probably follow Nelson, who of course tweeted the signing out as some negative reflection on the front office. I'll go ahead and pass on the guy with 4.6 K/9 in the modern game. Thanks.

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-pen-mlb-owners-vote-could-be-big-news-for-baseball-fans-cutting-the-cord-200214832.html I was incorrect regarding MLB.TV though - they will not be apart of this at the start; blackouts will still exist. "Asked to clarify what exactly the “revised interactive media rights agreement” looks like, Manfred said, “The biggest single change was the return of certain in-market digital rights — the rights that have essentially become substitutional with broadcast rights — those rights will return to the clubs.” When the Yankees reacquired YES Network, it was under the premise that they would gain exclusive rights to sell their streaming services locally: Asked how the deal might affect the digital streaming rights to Yankees games within the team’s market, club president Randy Levine said he expected Major League Baseball to announce changes to its policy soon. Teams cannot currently sell digital rights to local broadcasts. Now, apparently, they can.

???? Please, stop. I honestly can't believe people even propose things like this. The corner is here, let's start over again!

I do the same shit that drives me crazy when my wife does it; repeat the same thing 10 different ways in one response. ? I blame my wife for me becoming this way.

Ding ding ding. Guys who are hoping to not be signing their last contract will likely factor in other reasons to drive their value next time they negotiate if they fall into that crowd. I'm not mad at the white sox for missing out on a player like this.

I'm not sure how many times I have said the higher up in the market you go the more pressure for a player to take the most money. Every single marquee free agent has taken the most guaranteed money. Even wheeler was at the middle of the market. Rendon, Harper, Manny, Stras and Cole all took the most guaranteed money. The rule doesnt really apply as much to a guy whose money difference was 1-2 million. Those guys are not market setters. At the bottom of the market you get a lot of reasons why a player signs with a team; playing time and growing value over the duration of that deal being big drivers. Porcello, for example, likely could have gotten more guaranteed money but he thought it would be smarter to reser his market next year in hopes of a bounce back season.

Eh, the Cubs decision to streamline their game on a national channel was a smart move back then, but when judging the Sox TV revenues vs their perceived fan base interaction they've done incredibly well. Also, given that most every team went the cable direction it's hard to be critical. You could argue the Sox haven't made the best move in regards to expanding their fan base, but baseball is such a regional sport I don't really see immense value in making your games nationally televised in the modern game. When the Braves and Cubs had national coverage it clearly grew their brand, but I'm not sure how feasible that angle is today. Because Jerry was one of the first to market on these ownership % deals, he did incredibly well because he timed it with the cable boom.

Yes, baseball is now in the 21st century.

From a business standpoint the sox are really savvy which makes them not spending really tragic. The Sox were at the forefront of taking ownership in their cable channels to get a % cut guaranteed instead of a yearly contracted amount thats flat. Some teams started their own network like the Yankees but the Sox weren't in a position to do that. Maybe they are looking at streaming revenues. I know they didnt spend a lot last year but they also didnt generate any real attendance and they were still the 6th most profitable team I mlb baseball. The sox know what they're doing from a business and money making standpoint.

I am not a Hahn hater to the degree that many here are - I think most would agree with that. I try to call it like I see it, and Rick should STFU talking about shit like that. Obviously the White Sox extend Eloy regardless of whether they signed Manny or not. I understand what Rick is trying to do; he's trying to douse the flames by throwing fan favorites out there as pieces we have given money too in hopes of the fanbase says "he's right, I love Eloy and wouldn't want to lose him."

Grandal really has no split issues - as I noted above, his career wRC+ vs righties is 119 and lefties is 114.

Yeah, and this makes the catcher position really lethal; I'll give them that. Let's say McCann maintains his level of play vs lefties which is likely possible. The White Sox had 50ish starts vs lefties last year. Lets say McCann starts those games at catcher. That's a wRC+ of 132 at the position and he maintains his defense at the same level he's worth 1.8 WAR (roughly) in those 50 games. Then take Grandal in the remaining 112 games vs righties and we'll assume his wRC+ is around 120 against righties (Yasmani really doesn't have crazy splits vs L/R, he's pretty much the same in his career vs both - 114 vs 119). That's worth 3.9 WAR. So the White Sox would be getting 5.7 WAR just out of the catchers position - Grandal also adds additional WAR value when he DH's. That makes them the best catching combination in baseball and matches the production of the best catcher in baseball (Realmuto).

Rick tried to cite Eloy's team friendly extension as further proof that the money is being spent. I guess every move the White Sox make over the next 5 year will somehow have to do with the 250 they offered Manny and wouldn't have happened had Manny accepted the contract. So apparently, the White Sox wouldn't have extended Eloy to a good deal, or resigned Abreu, had they gotten Manny; so it was either Manny or everyone else. That's what Rick Hahn really wants us to believe.

Medicals are exchanged following an agreed upon return. Frequently after reviewing medicals if there are red flags you did not see before, you will go back to the team and discuss additional compensation, or something, to offset the medicals. If you can't agree upon the additional compensation, the trade can be voided. See the recent Tommy Pham trade if you'd like an example.

With the blackouts ending, smart teams are getting out in front of streaming; I'm actually surprised not to see the sox pushing anything here. Yankees signed a contract with Amazon to stream their games. Teams need to find a way to profit off something other than cable tv prices. The yankees teaming with amazon was one of the implied reasons they went back to the mega deal hammer for cole.