ChiSox59

I don't think the Sox are ever going to be one of the premier spenders in baseball, and I DO think that they need to spend their money wisely. I also do give the Sox credit for offering Wheeler 5/$125M. There is nothing you can do when you offer the guy a deal above what all 29 other clubs would offer, and he still won't take it. I do expect them to spend most if not all of that $125M yet this offseason, that ya' know, just started. What happened last offseason happened last offseason. Its over, and frankly, we're not in a meaningfully worse place because of it. But please continue to drag every conversation back to that - its so much fun to talk about!

$25M AAV for a good not great pitcher is in fact a huge sum of money. But you dismiss because it doesn't fit your narrative. You're not worth arguing with, continue to b**** away about nothing in early December if you so choose. No matter what the Sox do, you'll complain.

JFC dude, its December 9th. They just tried to break the largest contract in franchise history twice within 2 weeks. STFU.

I mean....in this market, what is a market rate deal for him? We need a good SP. Keuchel would be a fine 2nd SP addition, but we don't really need 2 SP on multiyear deals. We need one a multiyear deal and one on a 1 year deal. Kuechel for 3/$45M is whatever, but if that's you best SP addition, we're basically punting 2020.

You only don't care because it doesn't fit your narrative.

I don't want Keuchel. But this is silly way to look at it. WAR is a counting stat. Kuechel sat out half the season.

Per Heyman.

Lol, of course its not my money. But the Sox are always going to be a team on a budget. Paying average players a shit ton of money, and trading away cheap controllable talent are the two best ways to ensure we end up right where we were before we traded Sale, Eaton and Quintana. So yes, I care deeply about how the Sox allocate their funds, and you should too.

I would. Its desperate because he's not a good fit for the overall roster construction. As @bmags said earlier today, we should be analyzing deals based on putting the club in the best position to contend for the upcoming window, not compared to the hot garbage we threw out there in 2019. Of course Ozuna is an upgrade over that -- pretty much any MLB regular would be.

Yah, but Santa is delivering a toy that was like...super cool in 2016, but is now just something that was.

Becuase some random DR reporter that no one had heard of started this rumor? Lol, cmon man. The Sox haven't done anything wrong here, and Reinsdorf isn't going to come out and say they're working to finalize a deal. He could very well just be messing with Heyman. That being said, I doubt this rumor is real because Ozuna is a desperate move, and we're not really in a position to be making desperate moves.

I'd prefer that to giving Bumgarner 5/$110M and Ozuna 4/$80M.

Yah, well, things change when you get reconstructive elbow surgery.

Thank god.

The dude has pitched 14 major league innings. He is owed/guaranteed nothing.

This. Its a no brainer. Its also not even worth discussing, because barring offseason extensions, there is a 0% either one of Robert or Madrigal are in the majors until the 2027 season is secured.

Yah, that's fair. I actually think Buxton is a pretty great comp for him, though perhaps Robert has a tad more offensive upside, Buxton a tad more defensive upside. Hopefully he can stay healthier than Byron has.

6 WAR ceiling? His best season was in 2017 and he was a 5 fWAR player. 2.8 and 2.6 last 2 seasons. And the GG is meaningless. He is, at best, an average LF with a poor arm. That won't translate well to RF. I don't think anyone has an issue with the bat, but its just a question of fit. I think punting OF defense is super stupid, so that is why I am not gung-ho on the Ozuna train. I also think paying anywhere near 4/$80M for him is just going to be bad news. I'd be more receptive to the whole thing had we not resigned Abreu for 3 years for no reason. Ozuna would be a huge upgrade, but he isn't a perfect fit by any means, commits the Sox to poor OF defense for at least the next 3-4 seasons, and takes the Sox out of the running for much better RF fits next offseason. I certainly don't want them to go into 2020 with Leury as the RF, but there are options that shouldn't cost much via trade or FA that are nice 1 fits that make much more sense to me, personally.

Does he really have that much bust potential though? With his defense, even if the bat never comes elite, he is likely a 3 WAR player, Similar to Buxton, who certainly hasn't been very good with the bat, but still has been immensely valuable when on the field due to his defense.

Would think we'd start seeing some movement around the league here pretty soon... Speaking of which, anyone know a good stream from MLB Network? Can't seem to find one, and for some stupid reason my directv account won't let me play through their website unless connected to home wifi.

I don't agree with Balta very often, but +100. I would take Calhoun at 1/$6-8M over Ozuna at 4/$75M. If we can get Ozuna at 3/$50M or less, the calculus changes a bit, but I find that hard to believe in this current market. The benefit to Calhoun or other 1 year options via trade is that we open RF up for a nice FA class next winter. We also give Adolfo 1 more year to stay healthy and blossom. Calhoun is not my top choice by any means, but I'd take him over Ozuna based on the years and price 10/10 times. I do think signing Calhoun does make the Sox need to find a better DH option than Zack Collins, though.

I mean, FWIW, Chisholm is generally ranked fairly closely to Madrigal. MLBpipeline has Chisholm 53, Madrigal 40. But yah, I am not trading Madrigal for Gallen either. I don't get why so many people are ready to trade our mlb ready 2nd baseman. The guy is going to be a fixture at 2B for the next 7 seasons - why are we filling a hole by creating another? Unless Rendon is walking through the door, trading Madrigal would be so stupid.

Its a good price (I am not saying otherwise), but its not nothing. Obviously its far less than he'd get on the FA market, which is a big reason why he'd command a large return.

He has 4 years $48.5M left. So while that is cheap for a player with his talent, its not like like he's making nothing. 20: $7.6M; 21: $11.1; 22: $13.1; 23: $16.6M Up to $1M in escalators per year.

Exactly. Trading Cease makes pretty much no sense.