turnin' two

Yeah, Columbo would be sufficient I think. Jessica Fletcher? Shawn Spencer? Diagnosis Murder? Any of those would work.

But you are a very public representative of your team. You are interacting with fans. No. Just no.

There was a contingent here last year that was all about drafting him, especially late due to "value". And while he has the - right to work and have a job -- he is in no way entitled to play in MLB. This is a no, just no. Not at all. Not ever.

Somehow I think he will still be able to hit a little. As for the question of this thread, I think it is too early to tell. Could be Rendon or Goldschmidt, but either could easily be signed to an extension, or have poor years. Not really worth thinking about yet.

By the time the Sox have to worry about this, the NL will have the DH.

No you couldn't. Not until after the World Series! ?

They would have been best off keeping him and Smith and dumping Castillo for nothing.

Careful..careful...

I don't know. Teams do weird things in the draft. Pretty regularly.

Any plan that hinges on something you can't accomplish, is a bad plan. What is the point of Nova being better than Estrada, or Holland or anyone else? What does he do? Was that money on a 4-5 starter well spent? No it was a waste of 9 million dollars. Jordan Stephens could have done what Nova will do. Regardless of whatever personal stipulations you have on an "innings eater" it doesn't matter. That is the bottom line. They have wasted every dollar they spent this offseason. They could have allocated it to a superstar, which is far more difficult to develop that the guys they spent money on. A backup catcher. A 4/5 starter. A below avg 1B/DH, a 4th OFer, and 2 good bullpen arms. They spent 40 million dollars on that crew. Seems like a terrible strategy. Especially when for another 10-12 million in annual salary you match what the 2 premier free agents in a decade received. They spent 40 million dollars in case they hit the lottery. That is a stupid strategy. Especially when they weren't ready to pay the piper.

I think you are over-estimating Nova. He has had seasons with fewer than 100 IP, shouldn't that disqualify him? Or it doesn't matter because he was healthy last year? Seems like an arbitrary cutoff. Nova has never thrown 200 innings, and over 180 once. He doesn't seem like a classic innings eater to me. He has had ERAs over 5 more often than under 4. He is a mediocre back end pitcher. Maybe a 4 instead of a 5. Hooray. still a waste of money. Estrada and Nova have similar career numbers. Maybe Estrada is declining. Again I have to ask, does that matter? If this year doesn't matter, as you imply, why spend an extra 6 million on a place holder? You also seemed to ignore Holland, I wonder why. The other guys may not meet your personal criteria of an innings eater, but they would have accomplished basically the same thing as Nova. And just because he threw a whole 161 innings last year, doesn't make him any more likely to be healthy than Hellickson or Miley this season. And yeah, my main problem with this offseason is the complete lack or strategy and long term planning. They spent 40 million this year planning for having Machado, then lost Machado becuase they wouldn't spend 50 million over 10 years. That is so ridiculous it isn't even funny. How can anyone defend any part of that sort of a plan. It shows a lack of strategy, a lack of planning, a lack of thought. It is just idiotic. You missed my argument entirely. My point was they could have used that money on players that would have an impact. This season and in the future. On the field and off. They could have filled in the roster with lesser pieces around and built a better team for now and the future. Every dollar spent this offseason was spent poorly. As were the dollars not spent.

Well, obviously Harper and Machado weren't one year. But for bookkeeping and budgeting, that was their one year impact on the payroll, and would continue like that for the 10-13 years. As for Nova, Hellickson signed for 1.3 million. Matt Moore signed for 2.5, Marco Estrada signed for 4. Wade Miley for 4.5, Derek Holland for 7. While those comps vary in terms of being better than Nova( Estrada, Miley) to worse (Moore), they represent options that were less expensive. And all the Sox really needed was cannon fodder for the back end, so... that 9 million on Nova seems poorly spent. For McCann, well, they had Kevan Smith right? He is 28, hit better than McCann last year and was pre-arb (read as very cheap). Poor roster management led to losing him for nothing. If they had any inkling they would be trading Narvaez, Smith should have had a 40 man spot. To lose a guy for nothing, then to spend more money on a replacement that was, well, worse, seems like a bad trade off to me. I know it is backup catcher, and it isn't the end of the world and the 2.5 million shouldn't be a big deal in terms of a MLB team, but it just demonstrates poor planning and lack of foresight. As for Herrera, I have no problem with his deal, it is a market rate deal. But the problem is the whole deal makes no sense. To be paying what 16-17 million between Colome and Herrera on a terrible team makes no sense. Especially when they have in house options that could take those innings, would they be as good, no they wouldn't, but obviously being good isn't the plan again. Cody Allen, Jesse Chavez, Joakim Soria, Justin Wilson, Trevor Rosenthal, Greg Holland, Jake Diekman, Shawn Kelley, Brad Boxburger, Hunter Strickland and Bud Norris all signed for less, and in some cases, waaaaaaaaay less. Is Diekman or Wilson as good as Colome or Herrera? No, would that make a difference on this Sox team? I fail to see how. And guys like Allen, Rosenthal, Norris, Boxburger, Strickland, Holland and Kelley seem like at least reasonable substitutes. But so are guys like Minaya, and Infante and Burr and Hamilton and Burdi and Stephens and Adams and so on and so on. If this team can't even produce relievers that can take some innings, well then, ugh. The Mets paying 10 to Familia makes sense for where they are as a team. The Sox paying to Herrera, makes less sense. The relievers they signed, are pretty solid, at least. The problem is that it is money down the drain. Maybe you can trade them. Maybe this team is miraculously good next year with Kopech healthy and Cease up and the bullpen becomes important, but it seems like a poor allocation of money a year in advance.

Harper and Machado cost a combined 55 million in average salary. The Sox spent what, 42-43 this offseason, and none of those guys moved the needle at all in terms of ticket sales, or merchandise or anything else. Not to mention that they won't help the team be better in any significant way. Oh, and suitable replacements could have been had for all those guys at much cheaper prices.

Ah, thanks, my French grammar has never been strong.

I get it. It has been years of failure from this organization. Failure on the field, failure drafting, failure developing, failure in the international market and of course, failure in free agency, I'm not giving up my fandom. I don't think I could even if that is what I wanted. It has been a part of my life for my whole life. But right now I feel used, beat up and taken for granted. It isn't the failure that has made me angry this offseason. It is how the front office has treated the failure. They seem petty, ignorant, and incompetent. Maybe they aren't. Maybe they just don't know how to deal with the failure. I am sure there is pride in that front office, and this offseason, and the last 10 seasons, have been a kick right to that pride. I'm not giving up, because I am invested in the team, mentally and emotionally. I have watched too many terrible streams on MiLB TV from Birmingham and Winston Salem to give up. I can't wait to see Eloy. I can't wait for Robert. I can't wait for opponents to face Kopech and Cease on back to back days. But for this year, well, I am going to try to not be invested. I will check in on games because that is my way. It is what I do. I will watch Eloy and Moncada, Rodon and Lopez. But I am also going to spend more time using my MLB.tv to watch the Cards, a team that always tries to win. I'll watch great pitchers and matchups. I'll spend more time watching Mike Trout. I sure as hell won't spend any time on the Padres though. I'm not giving up, but I may take a bit of a break. I won't fight for the pride of my team. I feel beat up. I feel exhausted by being a fan. I still love the game. I love the team, that is the only way I could be this pissed. But how this front office has treated the fans is absurd. When I saw that quote from Middleton about signing Harper so they wouldn't let the fans down, I could honestly never imagine the Sox feeling that way. And that sucks. The team seems apathetic to the fans. I'm going to give that back to them for a while.

By the way, bad news guys. My toilet was backed up so I called a plumber, what he found blocking the pipes was the last decade of White Sox baseball.

Yeah, it is just habit and sentimentality. I am trying to de-program my brain, but I don't know if it will work. All the Sox memorabilia all over the place doesn't help. I bet watching this year will help break the spell.

Machado, Tatis.... wait... what???????? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok that is fair enough, but does that give you value? What if the catcher is only so so defensively? Is it worth paying a premium for his offense for 120 games? The catcher debate wasn't my point, I don't expect Rutschman will be available when the Sox pick anyways. Obviously a SS or a CF can offer defensive value that a 1B can't. But if it is a HS SS with a questionable hit tool, there is a lot of risk in that profile, and it doesn't seem to fit with the Sox developmental abilities (do they have any developmental abilities? I don't know, I know they don't have that one though). Personally I think the team needs more of those high risk guys in the system, and I wouldn't be against Abrams or Witt if they were available. Personally, I just don't think Vaughn should be dismissed because he plays first. If you buy the bat (again, I have never seen him play, so I am basing it off his results and reports), it seems like he will be able to justify a Top 5 or Top 3 draft pick regardless of his position. If he is the best player, even just on the merits of his bat, you take him.

This is great. Thanks for posting it! His list of 5 is exciting, it shows the Sox will have a choice of excellent prospects. However, I expect they will make the worst choice possible. Ce la Vie.

It is a shame that I can't even imagine what it would be like to be a Philly fan right now. I only remember baseball joy in the foggiest recesses of my memory. Philly has added 3 All-stars and 2 real good solid contributors this offseason. The Sox have Manny's facebook friends.

Let's start a gofundme to buy the team. Shouldn't cost too much, it isn't like they have any real assets.

Great job in here team, I'm handing out likes like a drunken sailor!