poppysox

That is why the question of who...is always turned into a discussion point that the person isn't trying to make. Pick any players you want... don't tell me you are trying with a payroll under 90 million. We have experts in the organization who, in theory, know dozens of players in our price range who could improve the club. Spend another 100 million and make the team competitive within the division.

Almost forgot Austin Hays in my list of interesting players. He would be very high on my wish list.

Yes...he is rough around the edges,

We should be above that as a major market player IMO.

I am only advancing my opinion that we should have a payroll in the 175+ category. We have baseball experts within the organization to figure out the best way to spend it.

Disappointing but not terrible IMO. Injuries do happen. He got some big hits last year. Vaughn was crap until he was great for Milwaukee. I'm hoping the new coaches can unlock some of this talent.

You're obviously easy to please.

At the time, Dunn and Heyward's contracts were considered big. I'll bet you got the point. Benitendi's 5 X 15 isn't big by today's standards, but he drives hate on this site.

Pitching, pitching, and pitching. We are in an era where even the starters only go 5 innings. How many games did we lose after leading after 5 or 6 innings? It seemed like every other game. Position players are OK for now, once Montgomery gets his RF spot. I would take a flyer on a Max Kepler type until Montgomery gets promoted. I don't hate Benintendi like most here do, but Baldwin in left would be an interesting experiment. Our new coaching staff might want to consider how using the 3 catchers might be worked out. I already named 7 players who can be considered, along with dozens more. There is just know reason to not win some games while developing the kids. By 2029, the kids are going to be getting expensive.

If you refuse to have an annual payroll of 150-200, we are settling for a losing record year after year. Walk before you run. IMO, we need to become a competitive team before we add the 1 or 2 100 + type of players that can put us over the top.

The lack of 100 million dollar contracts doesn't bother me. I understand the negative impact of giving a hugh percentage of yearly payroll to one player can have if they go south. Heyward and Dunn are examples of contracts becoming burdensome for the Chicago teams. My complaint is that Jerry is not spending to the level our fans deserve on a reasonable total yearly payroll, say 175-200 million.

Never to late to b**** about something on Soxtalk.

Tell me about it.

Then he should be super involved in building the team.

There are many players available in the 5 to 13-million-dollar-per-year range who would improve the club's prospects for competitiveness. Sung-moon Song, Max Kepler, Caeb Ferguson, Iglesias, O'Hearn, Cody Ponce, Zack Littell, and the list goes on. My thought is that watching a competitive baseball team while I wait for a new owner might keep me interested. I know that what will now happen is that some posters will tell me they disagree with some of the above-mentioned players being good. That, however, is not the point I am making. When we get a new owner, we will hopefully be in the bidding for the so-called superstars. Until then, as a major market team, let's at least try to compete in our division.

I don't get it. Can someone explain what makes 2029 a magical year for consummating an ownership turnover? The two parties apparently agree on the price. Why would the new owner want Jerry to select a ballpark site instead of himself? Jerry could drop dead tomorrow or live til 100. Estate issues are not really an explanation for selecting 2029. I can't understand a billionaire investing money while saying, "Sure, Jerry...you can run my investment into the ground for the next three years." If Ishiba is committed to buying the WS, I imagine he could negotiate ballpark and salary cap issues, as well as those with Jerry. I just don't get it.

I'm talking about adding 100 million in additional payroll per year. In other words...$170 million per year.of total payroll instead of 70. Your opinion that the WS are 9 to 11 players short of being competitive is also an exaggeration of our situation. $100 million per year would easily buy the 5 or 6 good players needed to compete. That is, if we don't need to find a Robert replacement.

The reason you don't understand is that you don't read and try to understand what a person is saying. I said to spend 100 million on improving the team. NOT on 1 player. This back-and-forth discussion was my saying the WS could extend Robert and build around him had nothing to do with a 14 M or 20M per year. Trading Robert needs to improve the team in 2026 IMO. A six-year rebuild for any team should be against the law.

You can take the team and spend 100 million to fill it out, and it would be a competitive and watchable team. I don't have a better CF player than Robert at this point. My interest is not in waiting 3 years for us to make an effort Yeah...probably the only game in those 5 seasons that was really exciting. I'm sure you can follow the point I'm making. At the trade deadline, I advocated for 14 or 15 million per year for 4 or 5 years for Robert. You and others said that was way low, blah...blah...blah. Now he is hot garbage IYO. I few Robert as a 5 tool player who has had real problems staying on the field. But, until we have someone better to play CF the WS have much bigger problems to solve than reducing payroll.

Yep...How pathetic is that? I enjoyed the hell out of the "Field of Dreams" game. The game is what I watch...not some groupthink on what makes a top stadium.

We are the only major market team in a division of small market teams. I refuse to trade "one of" the best players on that team for salary relief. Get me a player that will be a 2-3 WAR (your standard) for Robert, and I'll buy that. IMO if he is healthy, he blows that 2-3 WAR to smithereens.

Who exactly would that be? Robert, if healthy, is worth every dime. 20 million doesn't buy a star anymore. Jerry isn't going to spend the 35+ million to buy a star from outside the organisation. I am well aware of the "he can't stay healthy" argument, but it's that vs you will get some 5 million dollar castoffs and watch nothing until 2029. Apparently, Robert is the only chance we have of watching a star "potential" player for a while. I would be thrilled to hear that we extended Robert and intend to build the club around him. We need to start somewhere. Trading one of the best players on the team to avoid his salary is not fan-friendly IMO.

Not bad at all. Let's keep Robert and build around him using some of Ishbia's money. If we wait much longer, there won't be any new fans to give a crap about this franchise.

Very true...but something is better than nothing.

WS should consider doing something like this to get the fans back into the game.