Lukakke Appling

I would think this gives them the biggest bonus pool.

Must have been a substantial deal. I wonder who/why?

LF/1B. He can be a third catcher allowing Teel and Quero to be in the lineup together. Just an idea.

We’re trading him for D. Rushing.

I wonder if there will be a trickle-down where they bail on other agreements? Because you’re right…hard to believe they’d just have nearly $4M just laying around.

The German Marquez talk in a different thread had me wondering if Rodriguez had any involvement in his signing as an amateur.

Is Marquez even getting a major league deal at this point? He’s been bad and/or injured for 3 years now.

Pipeline has him as a 65FV, which seems kind of absurd. There’s only 2 guys in their top 100 with a 65FV (and nobody higher).

He’s the leader this team has been missing. #LongLiveDrake

He had a 112 wrc+ in 2024 in a tough home park. I don’t k ow what the hell happend last year, though.

This kid makes me laugh every single time.

Yeah, I don’t think scouting and signing a dude who would go on to be the consensus #1 prospect and all-star SS is the elephant in the room he thinks it is.

NO! Everything he does is s%*# or everything he does is awesome! There is no room in-between for independent rational thought. I thought you knew this.

There’s one at every party.

Former Rays executive. Per Fegan. Seems like a good thing. https://soxmachine.com

Cool. You said can’t afford.

It’s not a bad idea. I always suspected he takes his at bats in the field with him and loses focus. Left field he can just catch the ball and hit the cutoff man.

ESPN’s headline article predicts Murakami signs with the White Sox. “Prediction: Chicago White Sox.Murakami's deadline to sign is Dec. 22, so we're running out of time. His market still seems wide open. The Phillies could also be an interesting fit, or maybe the Los Angeles Angels want to do something. Indeed, if any of these top 10 free agents land in a surprising spot, Murakami might be the one. The White Sox have money to spend -- their current estimated payroll is just $68 million and that includes $20 million for Luis Robert Jr., who might be traded. They have a desperate need for power and Murakami fits at either third or first, depending on where Miguel Vargas ends up. This would be a nice roll of the dice for a White Sox team that looks to be on the rise.”

Which one?

Personally, I’m not signing any bat-first guy to a big contract when there are legitimate concerns they can’t hit velocity. Well, personally I’m not signing anybody, but you get the idea.

I think their comp pick is in the 35th overall range. I reckon the talent we could push down to that range would be better than any prospect we could trade for.

I would trade him for a comp pick centered deal in a heartbeat. One of those picks with our bonus pool would be awesome. But who knows, we’ll have to wait and see.

Kim re-ups with the Braves at 1/20M

R/R, low OBP, high whiff, bad defense, and slow. Stick him at first and you’ve got your Andrew Vaughn replacement.

Not sure if this helps or hurts Robert’s value. They’ve been about the same hitter the past two seasons, but Robert brings more to the table and will start the season 5 years younger. Is that worth the difference? Who knows. If anything maybe it’ll put some pressure on the Mets.