ChiSoxFanMike

This contract makes literally no f***ing sense. Why not use that $70 million to try to lock up one of their stars (Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, etc) rather than signing an aging NL pitcher? I don't get it, but more power to them.

I am going to be genuinely upset if Cespedes is not on the Sox come Opening Day. I felt like the Orioles were their biggest competition for him, and now they're out. And Upton is still around too. I feel more confident than ever about the Sox landing one of the big two because I honestly don't see anyone else paying them more than the Sox would.

I just woke up and Davis going back to Baltimore is great news for the Sox! We can just about assume that they're out on Cespedes now. So who's left? The Sox, Mets, and Tigers? Anyone else?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 10:47 PM) Sadly, nobody's floor is "elite" anything. What exactly do you mean by this? I'm not following.

I feel as if Fulmer's floor is an elite closer and his ceiling is a solid ace or a great #2 starter.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 09:17 PM) Your pitching is elite, but your offense can be better. Other than EE and Posey, it's a lot of "meh" guys. I would try to get a high-upside outfielder. That seems like the easiest place to make a big difference. It's also a potential sore spot since Kemp is a wildcard and Eaton may not put up the same caliber of fantasy stats. I wouldn't invest too much in pitching going forward. You already have 3 studs and a couple other solid guys. Eventually, you run into diminishing returns. It's also generally a good idea to invest heavily in hitting because it's harder to find impact bats in FA and you don't get as many crippling arm injuries. It's hard to say what to do in the draft without knowing what players are eligible. Even if it's just players that have never been in the majors, there should be better options to contribute this season. Thank you so much for the reply! I appreciate it. I should've been more clear about who is still available to be drafted. Here are the best remaining outfielders that I'd be able to draft. It's a pretty picked over list (as this is a 12 team league), but Khris Davis is kind of intriguing to me. He's still fairly young and has some decent pop. Do you see any potential in him? A lot of my outfielders are solid hitters for average, but none of them have a ton of pop. Davis could bring some balance I suppose.

Jo's body is shot to hell at this point. He should just retire now.

First off, I apologize if there's already a thread about this, but I didn't see one, so I decided to make another. With that being said, fantasy baseball is very enjoyable to me. I didn't start playing it until last season, but I got hooked on it immediately. I joined 2 leagues and I won the championship in both of them. Since baseball is coming up relatively soon (woo!!! ), I figured that it could be a cool idea to make a discussion thread for anyone else that plays. I am currently in the 2nd year of a dynasty league, and here is my roster. Does anyone want to take a minute to critique my team? Any feedback is welcome. Thanks. C - Buster Posey 1B - Edwin Encarnacion and Greg Bird 2B - Dustin Pedroia SS - Addison Russell and Yunel Escobar 3B - Kyle Seager and Stephen Piscotty OF - Matt Kemp, Adam Eaton, Christian Yelich, and Ender Inciarte SP - Chris Sale, David Price, Madison Bumgarner, Cole Hamels, Jose Quintana, Wei-Yin Chen, Daniel Norris, and Brandon Finnegan RP - Jonathan Papelbon, Huston Street, A.J. Ramos, and Glen Perkins I think pitching is my strong suit, as well as catcher and first base. I have the 5th pick in the draft and I'm thinking of taking Carson Fulmer. Is that a smart idea? I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone else enjoys this and hopefully we can create a nice discussion thread here. Thanks.

I'm picking him in the first round of my fantasy baseball dynasty league. He's going to be a stud.

I like burgers.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 12:17 PM) Sources: Cespedes believed to be weighing 5/$90m w/possible option offer from O's vs. one-year deal with Mets and become a free agent again. https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/...062113365889024 ...and this pretty much means the Sox are out. Damn. It's not like it was unexpected, but it sucks nonetheless.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 08:11 AM) Ok, so let's talk about Jimmy Butler. For whatever reason, he's not being recognized as the complete stud he is. I'm actually trying to come up with the reasons that both the national and local media aren't talking about Jimmy Butler enough. Here's my best attempt to explain. - DERRICK ROSE: A huge majority of Chicago still wants him to be the man. So anything Butler does is just looked at as "sidekick" work for when Rose comes back to being great. The national media cannot get past the downfall of Rose and would rather use that storyline than the rise of Jimmy Butler - JOAKIM NOAH: Just watch the highlights in the clip a few posts above to see what I'm about to talk about - Jo doesn't want Jimmy to be the man. Jo's bench role coupled with the downfall of Derrick is killing him. See how the entire bench goes bananas for Butler all game and Jo stands there, stoic, expressionless, with the rage building inside of him. He misses the glory days of his "little brother", the youngest MVP in league history, and his playing 40+ minutes per game. He does not want a changing of the guard. - THE NBA F*CKED UP: Jimmy Butler went at the end of the first round. He is now a top 5 NBA player. There, I said it, Jimmy Butler is a top 5 NBA player. The NBA, the talking heads, and all the experts will never see Jimmy as a guy performing at or above other guys taken in the top 10 of the NBA Draft year in and year out. The Top 5 are: 1. LeBron James 2. Kevin Durant 3. Steph Curry (I don't want to hear it) 4. Kawhi Leonard 5. Jimmy Butler I also don't want to hear about AD until he actually factors in W/L's, and I don't want to hear about Russell Westbrook because he's a sidekick who shoots a low percentage. - USAGE RATE: Jimmy Butler's usage rate falls well below the above studs mostly because when Derrick's on the floor, he hogs the ball. A man of his talents should NOT be 41st in the East in usage rate. But he has a f***ing BALL HOG on his roster who his spineless coach runs the offense through when he decides to actually suit up. Derrick's usage rate is 31st in the NBA. Derrick Rose: 250th in PER, 31st in Usage Rate Jimmy Butler: 17th in PER, 41st in Usage Rate Makes a ton of sense, right? Nope. Players with a higher usage rate than Jimmy freaking Butler include: Dennis Schroder, Reggie Jackson, Isaiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Rose, Marreese Speights, Emmannuel Mudiay, Zack LaVine, Brandon Knight, Jeff Teague, Alec Burks, Markieff Morris, Nikola Vucevic, Trey Burke... need I go on? The only guy on the PER list above Jimmy with a lower usage rate is a center who can't handle the ball (Hassan Whiteside) whose PER is boosted by 4+ blocks per game. So, in summary, as long as Derrick's worthless ass is on this roster, Jimmy won't get the usage or respect he truly deserves as a superstar in this league. Oh, and Fred Hoiberg is a dunce. This is the best post I've seen on here in a long time. Well done.

That is way too much money to give to a scrub. I wish they could just cut ties with him already.

To be fair, the Cubs are going to be f***ed in a few years when their youngsters are all demanding raises and 36 year old Lester is falling apart while Arrieta is on the DL because he blew out his arm.

In reference to Cespedes: I don't know how credible this guy is, so take it FWIW.

This guy might be a good possibility for the Sox depending on how much he gets paid.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 04:36 PM) Or what if they do spend a lot, Cespedes tanks, and then they have no money for upgrades for the next 3 years? It is absolutely worth the shot. It isn't every day that a team has players like Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Eaton, Abreu, Frazier, Lawrie, and potentially Anderson and Fulmer all in their primes at the same time. Add Cespedes to that core and that team is going places. If the Sox don't make another move, they'll definitely regret it down the line.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 04:33 PM) If there was ever going to be a time for the White Sox to spend big on a free agent...it's here and now. If not now, when exactly? This. It's now or never as far as I'm concerned.

It'll suck to see Alexei in another uniform other than a White Sox one, but it was time to part ways. That being said, I'll always root for him and appreciate how he helped the Sox in his tenure here.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 12:19 PM) Is Fowler the best option out there? No. Does he make a solid improvement to this team? Absolutely. If he ends up being the guy, it is somewhat disappointing but lets not act like this isn't a sizable improvement. Think of it this was, if you can't have the top 2, he's the next best option. That may end up being what the Sox are faced with, Fowler or nothing. Is Fowler the best option out there? No. Does he make a solid improvement to this team? Absolutely. Is it smart to forfeit the comp pick in order to get him? Hell no.

If the Sox give up a draft pick for Dexter Freaking Fowler, then I don't know what to say about this franchise.

Ugh. I hate this.

You know it's a slow news day when we're talking about how many pages we see in this thread lol

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 08:45 AM) 176 pages of Cespedes talk ??? I only see 27 pages, although my settings might be different.

Hahn should offer 4/90 with a mutual option for a 5th year at $20 million right now. Do you think Cespedes would accept that?