Chicago White Sox

Dude, he said it was a fair opening offer. When Boras is probably asking for 6/$150M, you don’t come out with your best possible offer. This is negotiating 101.

I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about here. The Sox botched the Machado process and lost out on Wheeler despite being the highest bidder. No White Sox “insider” claimed either guy was getting paid too much. In fact, guys like James & raBBit have ripped the Sox endlessly for their failures. I can’t think of any other free agent in recent years that we seriously pursued that we missed out on. Your take here is not based in reality.

I really don’t like PNoles, but this is a good assessment of things so far:

I still think there is hope for Conforto, but if Hahn ignores RF and his only lineup addition is Josh Harrison at 2B then he’s completely failed this offseason.

Yeah, the loss of a draft pick shouldn’t be a big deal. I guess the big question for them is do they want to lock up Conforto now or wait a year and hope to bring back Gallo. Even with all the moves they’ve made this offseason, I don’t see the Rangers competing this year. Might be better to save their financial flexibility for another year and pursue what they may deem the safer player. No idea there, but I do agree they are one of the bigger risks alongside theoretically the Padres. Looks like the Red Sox should be out now.

Alright, let’s go through Conforto’s market team by team with any connection to him. IMO, there are four primary factors to consider: 1) Payroll / CBT implications | 2) positional need | 3) readiness to win | 4) local vaccine mandates. Yankees: 1) ~$4M away from 2nd CBT threshold | 2) already have Judge, Gallo, & Stanton to cover RF, LF, & DH | 3) championship roster already in place | 4) local vaccine mandate poses significant risk | Conclusion: NOT HAPPENING Red Sox: 1) ~$19M away from 1st CBT threshold | 2) upgrade possible but already have four guys to cover three OF spots | 3) ~2 wins away from 6th playoff spot per FG | 4) Canada vaccine mandate poses some risk | Conclusion: POSSIBLE THREAT Blue Jays: 1) ~$49M away from 1st CBT threshold | 2) already have Springer, Gurriel, Hernandez, & Grichuk to cover OF / DH | 3) championship roster already in place | 4) local vaccine mandate could be a deal killer | Conclusion: NOT HAPPENING Guardians: 1) No CBT concerns / payroll down ~$15M vs. 2021 | 2) could use OF help / LH power | 3) ~6 wins away from 6th playoff spot per FG | 4) vaccine concerns are minimal | Conclusion: POSSIBLE THREAT Diamondbacks: 1) No CBT concerns / payroll down ~$20M vs. 2021 | 2) upgrade possible, but already have multiple guys to cover OF / DH | 3) 2nd lowest projected win total per FG | 4) vaccine concerns are minimal | Conclusion: NOT HAPPENING Padres: 1) ~$9M away from 1st CBT threshold | 2) could desperately use a corner OF upgrade over Myers or Profar | 3) championship roster already in place | 4) vaccine concerns are minimal | 5) POSSIBLE THREAT Rangers: 1) No CBT concerns / payroll down ~$20M vs recent trends | 2) have options but could use a corner OF upgrade | 3) ~10 wins away from 6th playoff spot per FG | 4) vaccine concerns are minimal | Conclusion: POSSIBLE THREAT That’s four possible threats for Conforto, but I think Cleveland is a massive long shot given their ownership group’s past spending habits. Boston could use an upgrade, but I’m not convinced they will want to blow their remaining CBT space on Conforto when they have other decent options. As for the Rangers, the big question to me is do they want to lock in another $20M per year in long-term commitments when competing in 2022 is very unlikely. Ultimately it’s the Padres that scare me the most. They could really use an OF upgrade, the Tatis injury puts more pressure on their offense, and they’ve shown they’re willing to spend big & go into the tax to maximize their chances of winning.

He technically had two years of control and wasn’t scheduled to make ~$20M per year.

Crochet with Burger or Sheets for one year of Manaea would be a disgusting overpay. And why does it make more sense to address our known needs at the trade deadline than right now?

He made that dumb grin over a possible trade for a rental pitcher with the A’s? I don’t buy it, he was definitely hinting at something more impactful IMO.

If we don’t add anyone, then he’s the primary DH by default.

I’m hoping Rick does and realizes that his offseason sucks a fat you know what so far and that he better nut up and land Conforto.

When have they told us the opposite? When they told us they wanted to add power, add better left-handed balance, and improve the defense? Show me how they’ve addressed those needs so far this offseason.

And just to be fair, I fully agree that the bullpen needed to be addressed and I actually like both RP moves in isolation. But if those are the only moves we make then it’s a complete failure on Hahn’s part.

How about you don’t pick up Kimbrel’s option and don’t sign Leury to a ridiculous three year extension? Instead use Romy in the UT role. That’s $20.7M in savings right there if you assume a league minimum guy replaces Craig. And instead of giving Gravemen $8M for three years, go trade Jake Burger for a cost controlled reliever from a rebuilding team. There are ways to improve the bullpen and bench without spending $30M in free agency. And yes, I’m aware that Conforto isn’t just a 2022 investment. However, Gravemen & Leury’s salaries alone would cover $13.5M of Conforto’s 2023 & 2024 salary. Replacing Harrison after the 2022 season with a pr-arb guy saves another ~$5M. And Hendriks has a $0M CBT payroll figure come 2024 given the structure of his deal. Point is we can get pretty close right there and can always move guys as needed to free up the rest.

Fully agree…we may be capped out at the moment, but I find it impossible to believe Jerry told Hahn to temporarily go over budget while he looks to move Kimbrel. What happens if he gets injured? Do we have to trade one of our good players then? Would never happen in a million years. If anything, Hahn will dump Kimbrel and claim the savings will be used for mid-season additions. You know, why address known weaknesses in the offseason when you can a premium to address those same needs at the deadline.

When has Jerry ever allowed Hahn to go over budget with the caveat he needs to move a player later? That would be completely unprecedented territory and make the decision to pick up Kimbrel’s option in the first place even more nonsensical.

Fucking gross…Rick Hahn should be fired tomorrow if this is reflective of a championship window offseason.

There are other ways to buy prospects though. My point is if the market doesn’t view Kimbrel as being worth at least $16M on a one year deal then you’re destroying value by picking up his option. Now, if you’re saying there are teams who think he’s that valuable but simply can’t afford to fit his salary into their budget and are willing to give up a prospect in exchange for cash considerations then maybe you can still come out ahead. But man, I hate the concept of picking up an option and basically being forced to eat some money to move said player. Just seems too risky and bad process overall.

Then it was a massive mistake to pick up that option.

I’ll be honest, if we’re trying to trade a $16M catcher that only a few teams can afford and are specifically looking for a young catcher in return then we’re really going to struggle to get a trade down. Very few organizations have to soon-to-be-ready MLB catchers that are readily expendable.

It’s going to be painful watching him overused.

Has there been a single rumor / connection to the Red Sox?

Absolute insanity we gave Leury a three year deal at a player friendly rate.

So you think aren’t interested at all then?

They brought Nick Ciuffo in on a minor league deal, but I’m sure we’re all hoping for something better.