Predict the 1st Free Agent Signed

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

10 games, which is only down slightly considering they had an all-star catcher and their heir apparent catcher up for september call-ups (and is an actual platoon). 

Just don't act shocked when they bring him back.

Why would they grind McCann down in a dead month if they planned on using him next year? Your logic on this is terrible. So, because the white sox used a player on their roster for 10 games that means he's coming back? So I guess all the other bums that played in september will be back next year by that logic.

Dont act shocked when this opinion ages really poorly.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

Abreu, Wheeler, JDM, and then a trade for Nimmo. In that order.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

47 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

payroll has no business being under 125m/year in this market. I know JR is cheap, but with the new TV deal and the MLB streaming kickbacks...payroll should be 140m+ each of the next 5 competing seasons. NO excuses anymore. 

Once again, the white sox went nearly 2 decades spending the highest percentage of revenues on payroll in baseball.

Jr may be risk averse in FA and has a history of not inflating salaries but calling him cheap is such a baseless claim. He'll spend money on a team that can win, it's really that simple and it has been proven time and time again.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

27 minutes ago, southsideirish71 said:

So last year when they had two 26 year old FA's on the table and wanted them and had almost no competition.  Did they win either of them?  No.  Because history says we have a hard time paying absolute top dollar for top free agents.  I would love to be wrong. I would love to see Cole, JD Martinez, and a few others impacting our team next year.  There is zero reason we shouldn't spend the money.  I think they will spend money but it will be quantity just like they did last year.  They spent money last offseason.  Just on a lot of players over a single player.  This year they have a lot of competition for resources.  I believe they will give lip service on the top end pitchers but do not want to wait for the bulk of free agency to go by as their agents try to isolate each FA against multiple teams.  Our payroll will go up.  But based on history we wont see us winning any front line players over the rest of the MLB.  I would love to be wrong on this.  Last year's friends and family plan attempts for Machado tell me the Front Office is going to have problems when lots of teams are competing for the same resources.  

No competition? Both FA's signed for the money that was expected.

Another tired take is that the Sox had a better chance because teams like the Yankees and Dodgers weren't interested. Neither of those teams overpay guys just to get them. Hell the Dodgers let greinke walk to a divisional foe!

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

16 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Are the Cubs actually considering declining Q? Hadn't seen that anywhere. Cant see it happening 

No, they're not going to decline a below market value salary.

People think the Cubs are going to turn down a 10.5 million dollar option. My goodness. They could pick up the option and trade him a day later for an asset. They're not going to let him walk.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Balta1701]

17 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Are the Cubs actually considering declining Q? Hadn't seen that anywhere. Cant see it happening 

I can't read it as I've hit my article limit but here's a piece from the Tribune a few days ago on this matter. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

15 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I can't read it as I've hit my article limit but here's a piece from the Tribune a few days ago on this matter. 

Literally a piece yesterday written stating they'll pick it up but maybe they'll trade him if they don't want to keep him.

Quintana is coming off a horrible september and still put up 3.5 fWAR.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[EloyJenkins]

23 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

calling him cheap is such a baseless claim.

I am a diehard Bulls fan as well. It is not baseless when FA's specifically call it out and is widely known. 

Will he spend...sure, and I agree he has plenty.  But the optics by players and industry folk is that he is on the cheaper side. 

[bmags]

8 minutes ago, BackDoorBreach said:

They weren't supposed to compete last year.  There was no reason to sign quality players outside of Brychado.

I don't understand why people let them off the hook with this stuff. THey should hope every player they actively signs performs as well as they can. Especially when they have not shown they can sign productive free agents consistently and will need to soon.

The twins spent the same amount as us last offseason and got triple the production.

the Rays spent less than half as much 18.5 and over doubled our production.

We weren't looking to compete so we didn't spend more, but there's no reason we should be signing players that fail so often.

[EloyJenkins]

1 minute ago, bmags said:

I don't understand why people let them off the hook with this stuff. THey should hope every player they actively signs performs as well as they can. Especially when they have not shown they can sign productive free agents consistently and will need to soon.

The twins spent the same amount as us last offseason and got triple the production.

the Rays spent less than half as much 18.5 and over doubled our production.

We weren't looking to compete so we didn't spend more, but there's no reason we should be signing players that fail so often.

Ding Ding Ding. Great points. The Twins, Rays and Braves all dusted us in offseason moves and were not supposed to be truly this competitive yet. Combination of great FA signings and player development. 2020 has ZERO excuses for the White Sox. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

6 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

I am a diehard Bulls fan as well. It is not baseless when FA's specifically call it out and is widely known. 

Will he spend...sure, and I agree he has plenty.  But the optics by players and industry folk is that he is on the cheaper side. 

How is he cheap with the Bulls? Theres a cap and the Bulls offered max contracts to every major free agent they could in the past two decades. He paid Jay Williams his salary after he got into a bike accident that was specifically noted in his contract as a voidable offense. Then Jay William's had the nerve years later to criticize the guy. 

[Balta1701]

 

Just now, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

How is he cheap with the Bulls? Theres a cap and the Bulls offered max contracts to every major free agent they could in the past two decades. He paid Jay Williams his salary after he got into a bike accident that was specifically noted in his contract as a voidable offense. Then Jay William's had the nerve years later to criticize the guy. 

They literally sold a draft pick to Golden State because they ran out of people that they had bothered to scout. They released a statement saying that the move was done to "build equity with ownership".

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

5 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

Ding Ding Ding. Great points. The Twins, Rays and Braves all dusted us in offseason moves and were not supposed to be truly this competitive yet. Combination of great FA signings and player development. 2020 has ZERO excuses for the White Sox. 

The Braves won their division last year, how weren't they supposed to be competitive This year? The Ray's were in the playoff hunt last year. The Twins were always a year ahead of us in terms of their rebuild.

How were those teams not supposed to be competitive?

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

They literally sold a draft pick to Golden State because they ran out of people that they had bothered to scout. They released a statement saying that the move was done to "build equity with ownership".

Great, the Bulls were at the cap for 3 decades and they went over it when they were winning. He's been very vocal that they will not go over the cap for a losing team. What's wrong with that?

The Bulls were at a roster bind and didnt want the pick. Teams give away their second round picks almost every single year.  Please link me to your quoted statement about building equity by not drafting a guy in the second round who wouldnt even have a guaranteed contract.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[chitownsportsfan]

2 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

They literally sold a draft pick to Golden State because they ran out of people that they had bothered to scout. They released a statement saying that the move was done to "build equity with ownership".

Jordan Bell is the most overhyped 2nd round pick in history.  He's as likely to be out of the NBA in 2 years as in it.  He could barely get off the bench for a GS team desperate for any body over 6'6" with a pulse last year.

 I'm far from a JR or GarPax fan but "cash considerations" for Jordan Bell was a complete nothing of a move.  If it was anybody but Chicago nobody would have given a fuck.  

[EloyJenkins]

1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Braves won their division last year, how weren't they supposed to be competitive This year? The Ray's were in the playoff hunt last year. The Twins were always a year ahead of us in terms of their rebuild.

How were those teams not supposed to be competitive?

The Braves caught a fluky run last season...i live 5 minutes from their park...they super overachieved last season. They made a couple great moves to fix issues they had and their player development has been amazing the last 2 seasons. Almost every call up has made a major impact whether they have stuck or just filled in. The rays play in a blood bath division that gave them little chance and they once again made gang buster FA acquisitions that hit. The Twins got unreal production from every middle of the road FA they signed. 

Not sure why you are so on fire right now, but all 3 teams 2 seasons ago were on the outside looking in - especially the twins. 

[Balta1701]

Just now, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Great, the Bulls were at the cap for 3 decades and they went over it when they were winning. He's been very vocal that they will not go over the cap for a losing team. What's wrong with that?

The Bulls were at a roster bind and didnt want the pick. Teams give away their second round picks almost every single year. 

No, they weren't. Even they didn't bother trying that excuse. They literally said it was so that ownership would have more money available. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Jordan Bell is the most overhyped 2nd round pick in history.  He's as likely to be out of the NBA in 2 years as in it.  He could barely get off the bench for a GS team desperate for any body over 6'6" with a pulse last year.

 I'm far from a JR or GarPax fan but "cash considerations" for Jordan Bell was a complete nothing of a move.  If it was anybody but Chicago nobody would have given a fuck.  

Second round picks are traded all the time for cash considerations.

[bmags]

8 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

How is he cheap with the Bulls? Theres a cap and the Bulls offered max contracts to every major free agent they could in the past two decades. He paid Jay Williams his salary after he got into a bike accident that was specifically noted in his contract as a voidable offense. Then Jay William's had the nerve years later to criticize the guy. 

They have one of the smallest front offices in the league. They didn't pay a fee to attend a predraft international scouting combine. They are still apparently traumatized from having to amnesty boozer and sold off a second round pick to get back in JRs good graces. They were scared to go over luxury tax with a contending team and sold off korver for nothing.

[EloyJenkins]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

No, they weren't. Even they didn't bother trying that excuse. They literally said it was so that ownership would have more money available. 

Agreed. But the conversation should not come to Jordan Bell. Once again, JR is not cheap in reality...but in rumor and perception he is considered one of the cheapest owners in the NBA. it is not debatable. Him not firing GarPax only fuels that perception. Unfortunately that perception bleeds into the White Sox organization as well. The Machado deal did nothing to fix that either. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

4 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

No, they weren't. Even they didn't bother trying that excuse. They literally said it was so that ownership would have more money available. 

Here's the exact quote.

“We had our board up there, and we were sitting there with Jerry and Mike (Reinsdorf) and we said, ‘Here’s five players in the second round that we really value,'” Paxson said in an interview on the Mully and Hanley Show on 670 The Score. “And when we got to that pick, those five players were gone. And you know, sometimes when you’re dealing in a situation with where you are looking ahead to the future, you have to build up some equity with decisions that you make. You look back to when we did start this rebuild, the first rebuild in 2003, one of the things Jerry did a year into the rebuild was let us use $3 million to buy the Phoenix pick where we got Luol Deng. And so at that point, Jerry at the time stepped up.”

[Balta1701]

2 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Second round picks are traded all the time for cash considerations.

So teams that have been bad and in rebuilding with weak rosters for years but with considerable financial resources might find luck if they gamble and buy several of them to see if they can find a couple rotation players?  Hmm, this seems like a smart strategy for the Bulls, I wonder why they haven't done it. And wait, you're telling me that MLB gives you the ability to sign international free agents, and the White Sox have money available to do this? What did they use that money for last year? I sure hope they spent it and didn't use it to get another team to write them a check.

[chitownsportsfan]

1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Second round picks are traded all the time for cash considerations.

 That's why I concluded with had it been any other team nobody would have blinked an eye.  

Chicago's NBA FO is about league average.  They've had some good teams, some good luck, and some bad luck.  There's really no easy narrative.  It's a club that has mostly been good, but never elite, in the last 15 years.  

I'd take GarPax over WillHahn, I'll say that.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

Just now, bmags said:

They have one of the smallest front offices in the league. They didn't pay a fee to attend a predraft international scouting combine. They are still apparently traumatized from having to amnesty boozer and sold off a second round pick to get back in JRs good graces. They were scared to go over luxury tax with a contending team and sold off korver for nothing.

So they amnesty boozer and somehow that's spun to be negative thing showing their cheap. My lord

Scared to go over the tax? Who could they have acquired to put them over the cap that they didnt? I'll wait.

Dont want to take this conversation too off topic but how anyone can argue that a guy who spent the highest percentage of revenue on payroll in baseball for almost a 20 year window is cheap? Its laughable. 

[EloyJenkins]

1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Here's the exact quote.

“We had our board up there, and we were sitting there with Jerry and Mike (Reinsdorf) and we said, ‘Here’s five players in the second round that we really value,'” Paxson said in an interview on the Mully and Hanley Show on 670 The Score. “And when we got to that pick, those five players were gone. And you know, sometimes when you’re dealing in a situation with where you are looking ahead to the future, you have to build up some equity with decisions that you make. You look back to when we did start this rebuild, the first rebuild in 2003, one of the things Jerry did a year into the rebuild was let us use $3 million to buy the Phoenix pick where we got Luol Deng. And so at that point, Jerry at the time stepped up.”

Using Paxson (a total JR puppet) does nothing to help your case. Paxson gets into near yelling matches with radio hosts trying to defend the same tired excuses every year.