Eminor3rd

Better be basically for free

I think it’s going to be higher than that. I have some good firsthand info that I can’t repeat. But if it lands at 50m, I’ll be surprised and upset that the Sox wouldn’t beat it.

I’ve seen about fifteen Kikuchi starts over the last two seasons. He’s good. His release point reminds me a lot of Rodon, his slider (at its best) reminds me a lot of Kluber, and to my eyes, he tunnels well. He’s got a loopier curve and a splitter as well. Media reports on his velocity are overblown — if he can touch 97, I’ve never seen it in a game. He sits in the low 90s and ramps it up to the mid 90s when he needs to reach back. Unlike a lot of Japanese pitchers, he’s not afraid to throw the heater upstairs. There are a LOT of miles on his arm for his age. NPB aces routinely throw 30-50 more pitches in a start than MLB guys do. Also, premium young talent tends not to spend much time in the minors —he’s pitched 7-8 seasons in the NPB already. He’s had minor but recurring shoulder issues. Look, I’d love to get him. I think he’s a solid #3 over here with some upside. But there are simply too many teams on him right now. The winning bid is going to be full market value from a contender that thinks he’s more of a #2. For the Sox to BEAT that Would be to take a lot of risk on an arm with veteran miles on it that has reached its peak already. As fun as it would be for me (a big NPB fan), I just don’t see it happening. And I can’t blame our FO.

I don’t think there’s any chance the Sox sign this deal if they thought they were really in on Grandal. And I’m not saying they need Grandal. But they should at least try NOT to get a guy that’s going to make it even harder for their young pitchers to throw strikes.

I wish they would prioritize receiving skills with these guys.

I love him, but there are too many teams on him. He’s gonna max out his value, and I can’t think of any reason he’d choose Chicago over anywhere else even if we matched the highest offer.

I mean no one is going to argue that they like LAX, but that’s not really what we’re talking about lol

Every city is nice if you can afford to live where and how you want in it. Every city is miserable if you can’t.

Alright, children. That’s enough

Dig back into NPB. Gonna be a long year in Chicago. Dayan Viciedo just signed a massive three year, ten million dollar extension with the Dragons. He was the CL batting champion last year! Plus, my Rakuten Golden Eagles signed Hideto Asamura away from the lions. I’m so excited I’m buying a jersey.

I’d have no problem with grandal. Castillo is gone after next year. Collins is in the mlb as backup c and dh

Incredibly thorough, thanks @Y2Jimmy

Man, no offense, but that is really hard to believe

I said before that the Yankees getting their TOR pitching via trade specifically increased their chances of getting Machado. Paxton is 1. If they get another and just happen to move Andujar at the same time. Well. With Didi gone at the end of the season, asking Machado to fill in at third for just one season seems like something that could be sold to him.

Had a few big hits for us in Lehigh Valley last year.

No chance

Make a ban bet about it

Just the last thing the 2019 White Sox need to tie up money into.

This morning I thought peavy44 was a very old person, now I think he might be 8.

The right deal isn’t out there, that’s the point. No one is giving up freaking Keibert Ruiz for one year of Jose Abreu coming off a down season.

Somebody please correct my assessment of this if I’m wrong. This is how I see it: This is, at best, rearranging economic deck chairs, and at worst, essentially illegal double taxation. Trump lowers corporate taxes in exchange for the lobbying support and donations that made him president. He jacks up military spending in exchange for votes from middle America. Now he has a revenue issue. So he enacts tariffs that add revenue, but all the increases in production cost that results from the tariffs comes out of the pockets of the private market. Exporters that continue to sell pass the cost of the tariffs on to the buyers, who pass the costs on to their customers and/or employees. The only domestic companies that get way ahead are those that can only now compete with the exporters in price. So essentially the only winners are (1) Trump, who found a way to steal much or all of the money back from the voters while still getting credit for giving it in the first place, and still maintain a tailor-made excuse for cutting public programs, and (2) the few companies that successfully lobbied trump into killing foreign competition with tariffs.

This. Friedman’s never overpaid for anything is his damn life.

I don’t see any reason that Collins can’t take the Gattis path. Develop him as a catcher, give him one to two starts a week there in the Majors and he does DH and/or 1B the rest of the time. Grandal would not block that eventuality. Castillo is the stopgap.

No, it happens for sure. You might be right about him. It just doesn’t happen all that often. And there’s just so much downside with pitchers like this, especially those with this kind of injury history. Im just wary about our payroll flexibility. We have a lot of room now, but you can eat through it quickly and it takes a while to clear up again. In 2020, wouldn’t you rather have the fresh 3 starter with upside that showed up right then, as opposed to the 30 year old version of today’s Eovaldi?

Eovaldi is similar to those guys in terms of fastball velocity. Unfortunately he is not similar in terms of production. If he was, you wouldn’t be talking about 4/60, and the way this market is shaping up, you may not be talking about 4/60 anyway. Eovaldi pitching really well for a couple months at a time isn’t new. Pitching well for six months at a time, though, would be. Is it possible? Sure. Maybe there is something sustainable to his new cutter, like you speculate. But it hasn’t happened yet, so it’s hard to call it likely. And even if the performance is sustainable, I’d be shocked if anyone could put together an argument supporting his storied injury history. Two-tommy John club member. Shoulder and wrist problems to boot. What we have here is a highly injury-prone veteran pitcher who has, a couple times, produced like #3 starter over the course of the season. You’re advocating outbidding several contenders, in a thin pitching market, on the hopes that he’ll both be better than he’s ever been in his career AND stay healthy for the first time in his career? To add to a 100 loss team, in hopes that he maintains this for several seasons so he can still be good when we need him?