Look at Ray Ray Run

What does this mean for Cole is the real question? Cole is at least 25% better than Stras over the next 7 years. He should be getting north of 300 million now. Yankees felt all good about their "all-in" Cole offer of 7 years 245 million jajaja

Very good comp, although Felix was at least a bill of great health. Stras may be a better pitcher with lesser stuff, but that stuff is going to fall and it's going to fall quickly.

1. A guy who has had 2 seasons of 200 IP in 8 years. 2. A guy coming off the most substantial work load increase in baseball last year by a wide margin. 3. A guy with chronic injury issues. The only thing I'll say positive about Strasburg aging is that he has shown an ability to pitch without his peak stuff which does matter. That said, this contract will be an absolute abortion in 3 years.

7 years, 245 million. LOL what a disaster of a contract. I'm sure there's a lot of deferred money in there as the Nats love deferred money, but that is still absolutely absurd.

this is the least shocking news of the off-season. I think Stras was -500 to go back to WASH.

No, I think people think the Sox are in on players because they've been incredibly aggressive. I'm not sure how Sox fans can continue to say the Sox are all bluster and no action this off-season. They signed Grandal before any other major signing was made at a very fair valuation. Then they turned around and offered 125 million to Wheeler which was 7 more than anyone else in the league. Baseball thinks the Sox are going to be aggressive, because they have been aggressive and they have told everyone who will listen that they're ready to compete and contend and they're going to spend the money to prove it. I don't know how people can look at this off-season so far, and say "same old White Sox."

I get it, and one of the things that may be the Sox biggest piece of supporting evidence is how much they are spending this off-season. They can likely claim that they were clearly trying to win, and thought this was the best decisions for the organization (keeping him down). I also agree that having a case is different than winning; if Bryant loses his case, none of this matters and it's a moot problem. If Bryant wins though? This opens up a big can of worms.

Dick also said that Hector was way off on the Eloy extension, that's just not true: Héctor Gómez@hgomez27 BREAKING NEWS: The White Sox are close to an agreement with Eloy Jimenez for an 8-year extension that would pay him between 65-70 US$ Million. With Incentives the contract could get to the 75-80 million Range. Source says deal is pending only a Physical.@z101digital @ZDeportes Hector said the deal could reach 100 million; but it ended up closing at 80ish million peak value.

They've been linked to almost everyone at this point; whether real or not, who knows, but they've been rumored as involved with anyone who has a pulse. Also, that's not really a bad thing anyway. They weren't linked to Grandal and boom.

If the Sox bring Kopech up immediately following the deadline, he would have a case regardless of everything being presented in this thread as evidence to the contrary. If he dominates AAA in April, then what? If your argument is innings management, it's going to be more difficult to argue that if he's called up at a very convenient time for the organization.

What are you implying? Everyone around baseball seems to think the Sox are going to continue to make substantial splashes. Do you think that's a league wide fabrication?

This is quite the reach. I'm not sure how it's bad to deny something until it becomes final. That seems like a normal way for the FO to do business.

Yeah, I don't think we know enough of the inner workings of the organization to know what's going on here. If Hahn is given a budgeted amount to spend in FA this winter, and he handles the negotiations, it could be that Jerry won't even hear about a deal until it's at it's final stages. If the organization runs everything through Reinsdorf before submitting any bids, then obviously the story would be a complete fabrication. We don't really know how things work, so it's tough to pass judgement, but that seems like a pretty strong denial from the owner of the team.

Villar is a SS and utility guy, and he was claimed so I'm not sure it's safe to say that because the Orioles are cheap as fuck and want to spend no money that Villar is undervalued by baseball. Villar also isn't exactly a beacon of consistency; he has 5 sub 2 WAR season and 2 3+ WAR seasons. Steamer projects him to be a 1.8 WAR player which isn't something people are writing home about.

Yeah, Heyman seems to have an issue with people pushing stories or narratives that he doesn't jive with. I don't really trust anything Heyman says, but these are some damning words from the owner of the team that's for sure. Seems odd that if the Sox were interested in the two that Jerry and Hahn had zero conversations about them though...

Yeah, would seem odd for Jerry to come out and flat out deny it like that.

Sure, but the Sox have said he's 100% healthy and ready to go as well. I understand the argument they would make, and it may hold up for all I know because Bryant may even lose his Grievance - that's the favorite right now - but the Sox need to be careful with these decisions going forward as baseball is clearly at an impasse between the union and the owners on this topic.

Yeah, but the White Sox said he was here to stay.

The signings and price has been low because those players are bad. Schoop? Dozier? Kinsler? These guys are finished. I don't think you can argue that 2nd base is easy to fill when baseball in general struggles to fill the position with above average MLB players. I agree that it's a position you can switch a player into, but in general the position is weaker than SS, 3rd base and the OF in regards of quality big league talent.

Sox own words could come back to bite them on this one. If he was truly ready for the big leagues and here to stay, then what other ready for the big leagues starter is spending 2 months in AAA? Plenty of big leaguers get hurt and don't spend months in the minors to gain a year of control.

Robert is damn near impossible to pitch this way, and Kopech would have a hell of an argument if the Sox bring him up within a week or so of deadline; figure it this way, he was ready enough to be called up for good right before his injury (Sox were quoted at the time saying he's here to stay), and then he recovered fully from the injury by ST. You could argue they want to control innings and limit his risk in the big leagues, but they can't argue that and then call him up a week after deadline. Madrigal I think the Sox would be fine on, as he doesn't have any explosive tools. Robert I don't think anyone could make an argument for him not being ready.

There have been rumblings that this was going to be decided soon. I don't think some realize how big of a deal this ruling is. I don't think Bryant wins, but he has a better chance then anyone before him and this ruling has massive ramifications for the White Sox and the rest of baseball. Assuming they rule on this prior to the start of next season, if it does rule in Bryant's favor the White Sox are better off just starting Robert in the big leagues - same with Madrigal obviously. They likely can't call him up real close to the deadline without losing a grievance and a year of control. I wonder when this is finalized because if the Cubs wanted to trade Bryant this obviously has huge ramifications on their return.

Yeah, they're just giving you a new rundown of their top 30 for each team. They said at the end of the year, that they were done moving guys and they took a lot of questions regarding the Robert situation, and they stubbornly have stayed consistent with their valuation on him.

Yeah, this is my argument as well. His bust potential with his bat is obviously legit as he has some swing and miss, and he hasn't been tested yet so it's hard to conclude how he will adjust. That is a fair take to have, but his BR and defense are elite. He doesn't even need to be a great bat for this to matter. Buxton was just a 2.7 WAR player in 1/2 a season! The point of being a legit 5 tool prospect is that if one of the tools doesn't show up in the big leagues, you have 4+ tools to carry you. The less tools you have, the more carrying power one tool must have, but when you have 3 carrying tools and 2 + FV tools, you've got some security.

Nah, they already did their year end updates on the BOARD. That is where Robert will sit to start next year.