Unbelievable

[BamaDoc]

This is post trade (which was not a salary dump) and per spotrac  but they list the Sox payroll as #7.  Respectable for the window?  On the right side of the page, they have the luxury tax calculation and have the White Sox at 210 million.  They have JR within 20 million of paying the luxury tax!  I am not sure anyone had this in their predictions.  I find fault when I think I see it but conversely, one should give credit when due. I certainly can fault some roster construction but uncle Jerry is spending more than I expected. Perhaps season tickets have jumped post lockout resolution?  I am not pro Jerry but trying to be fair. Looking for my fire retardant clothing……….lol.    Side note, could you imagine this board if we let Jansen walk at 1yr 16million only to trade for Kimbrel at 1-16?  

[CentralChamps21]

4 minutes ago, BamaDoc said:

This is post trade (which was not a salary dump) and per spotrac  but they list the Sox payroll as #7.  Respectable for the window?  On the right side of the page, they have the luxury tax calculation and have the White Sox at 210 million.  They have JR within 20 million of paying the luxury tax!  I am not sure anyone had this in their predictions.  I find fault when I think I see it but conversely, one should give credit when due. I certainly can fault some roster construction but uncle Jerry is spending more than I expected. Perhaps season tickets have jumped post lockout resolution?  I am not pro Jerry but trying to be fair. Looking for my fire retardant clothing……….lol.    Side note, could you imagine this board if we let Jansen walk at 1yr 16million only to trade for Kimbrel at 1-16?  

The Sox and Dodgers kind of backed themselves into their own corner. The Dodgers couldn't afford a closer until they unloaded Pollock's salary and the Sox couldn't afford an OF until they unloaded Kimbrel's.

[Tnetennba]

Post trade, the over all salary allocation looks far better.  It was just mind boggling for a while and with their history the fan frustration is understandable.  Today the payroll looks far more sensible than it did on Thursday.  Still not the best use of funds in some areas, but nothing we should really be setting our hair on fire over.  Add another starter and a Crochet replacement (FA or internal) and the off-season looks far better than it did two days ago. 

[he gone.]

The statement "the money will be spent" is very open to interpretation and likely those who have picked their side will remain on said side. From my perspective the Sox have mostly not held up their end of the bargain. Which is to say when you make that comment it's not a 1 for 1 that the $250mm allocated for Machado is going to be spent. Nor is it realistic to say if we had Machado that it would be the only signing. The Sox would still have to supplement with pitching contracts, OF, utility guys, etc. Based on that, I am not accounting below for signings like Eaton, Leury, Harrison, etc. I also adamantly disagree with Hahn's (biased) interpretation of including contracts to Robert, Eloy, etc. All he is doing is locking in arbitration years. It's a calculated decision to possibly overpay v injury risk v underpay. The extra year or whatever at the end technically is spending - but again, it's risk mitigation tactics. It's hedging. It's business, not "the money will be spent". It's naive to think Machado would be a one person signing. You still would need to supplement RF, SP, etc. Like if you have Machado it's not like we aren't in the market for Keuchel types to solidify a rotation ... so more money than $250mm would've been spent. I am also not counting guys like Abreu ... that's a guy who was on your team and would remain on your team. He wasn't going anywhere regardless of a Machado signing. You're not signing Manny to be competitive and letting Abreu walk. 

Lastly, I am not comparing their payroll to other payrolls. I don't care if we're 7 or 20th. The way i look at it is season tickets are up 30%. I have my all-time high payroll for Sox tickets. The price to park, eat, etc is at all time highs. JR was still charging equal each year when he took payroll down and was uncompetitive, so that's money pocketed. He should be spending at the very least 30% more than his all-time high & a bit over to account for years where he didn't. There are ways to do this where those contracts are shorter and at a higher AAV to correspond with the "core" contracts expiring and needing to be re-upped.

2022 Off-season:

Kendall Graveman - 3/24

(Not including Kelly, Harrison, others - don't think they're more than your regular additions that would happen during course of business

2021 Off-season (plus in-season):

Kimbrel - .5yr/8mm

Liam Hendricks 3/54

Lance Lynn (eventual extension) 2/38mm

2020 Off-season:

Yaz 4/73

Keuchel: 3/55

Edwin Encarncion: 1/12

Add those all up? You have $264mm of the $250mm allocated. Unfortunately as teams looking for the next step sometimes do, they had to spend in 2020 when their window wasn't open/opening. Arguably i think it was a poor move to push the pedal down a year early, but part of the job in a way. Much rather would've had that money spent 2022, 2023, 2024. 

So, is Hahn right? Kind of. At the same time, not really. Are the Sox spending? Kind of. Are they misallocating? Kind of. Are they doing a great job? Kind of. We tend to remember the bad stuff - Machado not signing, Eaton, Tatis trade, Keuchel, Kimbrel, Madrigal, etc. but don't remember the good stuff ... Lynn for Dunning during this window and a reasonable extension. the fact we have Eloy and Cease for Q. Abreu re-signing when he was mid 30's and looking like maybe falling off. Yaz. Overall I think Hahn has done an above average job. I think JR has not. I in no way think the money is being spent, but at the same time that was a dumb PR statement to make.

 

End of the day this will be a fun team. We have depth now with the Pollock trade. 2b isn't ideal, but it's 2b at the end of the day. The thinnest position is SP. With a thin minors I think it was silly not to attack a high-end experienced arm since they'll be expensive to acquire mid-season and were multiple available. Scherzer contract was too heavy, so get it. But Verlander 2/50mm? That's a deal you have to beat - he's a difference maker. Going into a playoff series with Verlander, Giolito, Lynn, Cease and (limited innings) Kopech is heavy hitter stuff. Or Rodon. Or Stroman even. You needed an extra arm. They didn't get it. Ultimately i think that bites us and is the difference between a pennant, WS etc. 

[Texsox]

The money will be spent could mean I'm taking the family to Europe for a month and buying a villa in Tuscany. 

 

[hi8is]

I’m sure they will have authorization to add more salary at the deadline too.

[BamaDoc]

I hope we will have payroll room to add.  I do feel fairly confident that Jerry will not pay a tax and that for us, the 230 tax threshold will be a hard cap.  I don't agree with that but hey it is easy to spend other peoples money.