Jose Abreu

He actually might because even though Grandal and McCann split time, Perez also only caught 32 games

Cool video of various MLB stars gushing over Abreu

He's all the " scientific" aspects of Trevor Bauer but without the harassment scandals

Very true. I just wouldn't frame it as "likely" like I did in the conversation about him vs Robert and Jimenez. But in the 2024-2026 latter half of our window, I can totally see Vaughn putting up .380+ OBPs with 30 bombs and 35 doubles.

I didn't say best hitter on the team, I said best out of the 3 players referenced (the others being Robert and Jimenez). I'm sure he'll struggle early on, but he has the makeup and approach to make an impact fairly soon

I say this as someone who thinks Eloy is the most underrated current player on the Sox, but IMO it's likely that Vaughn ends up being the best hitter out of those three. I just love his swing and power/patience combo

I don't want to put this in PHT because I'm sure the common answer I'd get is 162 with full stadiums, but how many MLB games do you guys think will be played per team next season? The vaccine trials are hitting snags and I doubt that it will be safe for fans to be in stands. Thus, the owners are likely to pretend that they can't afford to pay players for a full 162 game season and we'll have to enter the same song and dance. At this point I'm optimistic that we get more than the 60+ we got this year, but my question is how many more? Will they just play a full season without fans, despite it retroactively contradicting the idea that they couldn't afford to do more than 60 this year when there was room for ~100?

Now this is something of which people should be asking, "how do I explain this to my kids?"

Move one of the best defensive 3B in the sport to RF for a guy we haven't ever watched play 3B?

Thank you. I really don't get how people aren't realizing this. All I've seen is a lot of arguing over Hinch/Cora, but what is being missed is that Reinsdorf seems to have had a change of heart and is actually running the organization (and the Bulls) as it should be.

No

I am shocked that Reinsdorf is willing to let go of Renteria (who still had another year on his contract) and pay top dollar for a Hinch/Cora given the pandemic and his complaints about his finances. Today's news has made me much more optimistic about the Sox free agent spending.

Yeah, I don't really get that. Maybe people aren't too familiar with the details of the scandal, but Hinch is the one who was bothered by the plan and even destroyed a monitor to discourage them from continuing. It was really Cora's operation. The only move I would be opposed to the Sox making for moral reasons would be if they wanted to acquire an Aroldis Chapman or Roberto Osuna. If you ask me, that kind of character issue is what teams should really be avoiding.

Put me down as apparently the only person who would like this. He should absolutely be the hire.

That's a lot more likely than anything involving Ricky

Still a useful player, but much like Michael Brantley, I'm afraid he can't play RF regularly. Unless of course you want him to DH until Vaughn is ready with the occasional corner outfield start, in which case I could see a fit

Not to mention, is Cease's stock so low that you have to trade 5 years of him and even more for 2 years of Benintendi, who himself is far from his peak value?

He also seems like the kind of player who will age well, even if he's a 1B/DH during those last 3 years

I agree with this to an extent but I don't think he'll want to leave this soon in the contract. Especially after he made such a big deal about signing that contract with his long-term home in mind

Not great https://www.actionnewsjax.com/sports/ex-major-league/7H7GFSQOO5BYI5V42CEBCYL7JU/

Stroman, Benintendi, and Cruz would be a much better offseason than I'm expecting. I'll go: First transaction: Declining options on Encarnacion/Gonzalez, non-tendering Rodon/Mazara etc. Crazy trade scenario: trade Cease, Madrigal, and Stiever for Syndergaard (rental), Conforto (rental), and Seth Lugo (not expecting this exactly but Cease+ to the Mets wouldn't shock me)  Biggest signing: La Stella  2021 closer: Heuer  Bauer 2021 team: Mets

Maybe not Bummer, but Foster and Heuer are definitely used to it

Unless a reliever gets lit up or there's another injury, this is doable without Rodon/Cease. Bummer, Foster, and Heuer can all go multiple innings

For clarity's sake, the extension was with ESPN, not NBC Sports Chicago. Although I'm sure he'll be with the Sox for a long time too