My/Your Off Season Plan

[BaconOnAStick]

I'll take Billy Hamilton as he is now and hope he doesn't get worse.

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

I'll take Billy Hamilton as he is now and hope he doesn't get worse.

If nothing else, he'd provide speed, which the Sox desperately need.

 

He might be a good buy-low candidate and maybe Steverson can fix him.

[Wanne]

Lmao, you guys want Papelbon? He's literally the only player in baseball who I don't want on this team purely due to his clubhouse presence. The guy is a cancer.

 

I think assh0le is a better term for him...most punchable face in sports IMO.

[OmarComing25]

Problem is speed is all he has, and it's the first tool to decline. Plus it feels like he got 20% of his stolen bases just due to Lester.

[caulfield12]

He sucked in the NL.

 

We have a hr park and we're decreasing our power even more...

 

Hamilton would actually be a pretty decent low candidate if we could consistently expect pop from RF, DH, 3b, C and at least one of the two middle infield positions.

 

Or in Old Comiskey Park, where his range would be even more of a factor.

Edited October 24, 2015 by caulfield12

[BaconOnAStick]

Right he doesn't help us find power, but I mean unless the Sox aDD twice as much payroll as they added last offseason this team isn't going to have to kind of lineup you're hoping for.

 

What I am sick of is having Dayan Viciedo, Avisail Garcia or whatever playing horrible OF defense in the corners with sporadic contributions at the plate.

 

Hamilton gives you improved CF defense, and improved defense on the corners by moving Eaton to LF and Trayce to RF. It's not Royals level good defensively, but it's better than anything I can remember. They would save a lot of runs those three.

 

Offensively you have a 25% chance Hamilton is terrozing the opponent's pitcher while our best hitters are at the dish. The guy doesn't only get in scoring position with relative ease, he makes life miserable for the opponent who has to constantly worry about him. He isn't the ideal CF for the White Sox, but he won't add to the payroll and he does enough things well to at least make him worth starting. Maybe Micah, Trayce, Eaton learn something from just watching him and the Sox lineup starts becoming a lot more disruptive.

[BaconOnAStick]

Don't write him off becoming a decent hitter either, though to me that would just be gravy.

 

[coco1997]

Exercise Alexei Ramirez $10m option

Sign C Matt Wieters 2y $26m

Sign 3B Jae-Gyun Hwang for 3y $12m + $3m posting

Sign RP Antonio Bastardo for 1y $5m

Trade SP Erik Johnson to Cincinnati Reds for CF Billy Hamilton

 

1 Adam Eaton L LF

2 Jose Abreu R 1B

3 Matt Wieters S C

4 Jae-Gyun Hwang R 3B

5 Melky Cabrera S DH

6 Trayce Thompson R RF

7 Micah Johnson L 2B

8 Alexei Ramirez R SS

9 Billy Hamilton S CF

 

BENCH: Tyler Flowers R C, Adam LaRoche L 1B/DH, Avisail Garcia R OF, Tyler Saladino R INF

 

1 Chris Sale L

2 Jose Quintana L

3 Carlos Rodon L

4 Frank Montas R

5 John Danks L

 

6/LR: Scott Carroll R

Relievers: Zach Duke L, Dan Jennings L, Nate Jones R, Jake Petricka R

SU: Antonio Bastardo L

CL: David Robertson R

 

---

 

I dont know.

 

Overall I like this plan, but I'd feel much more comfortable adding another starter. Montas & Danks at the back of the rotation is pretty shaky.

 

[caulfield12]

Relying on an unproven Korean hitter who pales in comparison to Kang and Choo is pretty out there.

 

We can't afford to guess via video like we did with Iguchi and have another Keppinger or Bonifacio sunk cost.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

Relying on an unproven Korean hitter who pales in comparison to Kang and Choo is pretty out there.

 

We can't afford to guess via video like we did with Iguchi and have another Keppinger or Bonifacio sunk cost.

 

I agree.

[Dam8610]

Exercise Alexei Ramirez $10m option

Sign C Matt Wieters 2y $26m

Sign 3B Jae-Gyun Hwang for 3y $12m + $3m posting

Sign RP Antonio Bastardo for 1y $5m

Trade SP Erik Johnson to Cincinnati Reds for CF Billy Hamilton

 

1 Adam Eaton L LF

2 Jose Abreu R 1B

3 Matt Wieters S C

4 Jae-Gyun Hwang R 3B

5 Melky Cabrera S DH

6 Trayce Thompson R RF

7 Micah Johnson L 2B

8 Alexei Ramirez R SS

9 Billy Hamilton S CF

 

BENCH: Tyler Flowers R C, Adam LaRoche L 1B/DH, Avisail Garcia R OF, Tyler Saladino R INF

 

1 Chris Sale L

2 Jose Quintana L

3 Carlos Rodon L

4 Frank Montas R

5 John Danks L

 

6/LR: Scott Carroll R

Relievers: Zach Duke L, Dan Jennings L, Nate Jones R, Jake Petricka R

SU: Antonio Bastardo L

CL: David Robertson R

 

---

 

I dont know.

 

The Sox seem to lose value on that trade. I mean, at that point, why not just keep EJ and let Trayce start in CF? The only thing Hamilton seems to have is speed. At least Trayce has speed, power, and defense, even if his hit tool isn't that great. Also, EJ will likely be much better as a 4th starter than Montas in 2016, with potentially both having available slots in 2017, when Montas is likely to be more ready for starting in the majors.

[PolishPrince34]

PolishPrince Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

 

• Tyler Flowers, $3.5M tender

• Avisail Garcia, $2.3M tender Play him in Triple A

• Nate Jones, $900K tender

• Zach Putnam, $800K tender

• Dan Jennings, $800K tender

 

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

• Alexei Ramirez: $10M for 2016 or a $1 million buyout

Don't pick up the option. Alexi offensive/defensive skills are regressing and $10 million is too steep for a 34 year old declining player. Cheaper options out in the free agent market that will put up similar numbers to Ramirez.

 

Impending free agents:

• Jeff Samardzija: $15.8M qualifying offer

• Matt Albers: Let go

• Gordon Beckham: Let go

• Geovany Soto: Let go

Elaborate if needed: Albers had a solid 2nd half of the season, but I'm sure he will be looking for a multi-year contract at $2.5-3.5 million a year. With his body type, mileage, and history of injuries let another team offer that type of deal. I hope Hahn has plans to upgrade the catcher position, so I would let Soto walk. Pitching staff numbers increased for the worse when throwing to Soto behind the plate.

 

Free agents

No. 1: Jason Heyward (8 years, $185) Sox bite the bullet and go for the young stud. How often does a 26 year old go on the market. He adds a much needed left handed at bat and brings defense versatility. One of the best defensive outfielders in the game and will make our pitching staff extremely happy. Hate to go 8 years and losing our 2nd round draft pick, but the only way to sign him if you want to play with the big dogs. Sox put an Opt out clause after year 4 of the deal.

No. 2: Colby Rasmus(three years, $27M). Colby is versatile 29 year old outfielder that the White Sox can use. He can play all 3 outfield positions adequately. Also, Colby brings in a much needed left handed bat to the lineup. This gives you option to use Melky at DH role more often. The only question is Colby's makeup. This year in Houston the makeup issues were never brought up and their coaches were happy with his work ethic.

No. 3: Cliff Pennington (1 year: 2 million) Cliff is perfect stopgap player to sign to give Tim Anderson more time to develop in the minors. Anderson needs more time with fielding and plate discipline and Pennington will help do that. Pennington is a little drop off from Ramirez, but saving $7 million to help improve other area of needs is a bigger priority.

No.4 James Russell (Minor league Deal) lefty coming off shoulder surgery. Needs a little more time to get healthy. Worth a flier.

No. 5 Matt Joyce (Minor League Deal) Had a horrible year in 2015. Worth an invite

No. 6 Sergio Santos (Minor League Deal) Copper might be able to work his magic again!!!

 

Trades

No. 1: Frankie Montas and Joey DeMichele for Kevin Plawecki Catcher New York Mets. The Sox get their catcher who is major league ready. Mets have young Travis D'Arnaurd and Plawecki is wasting away on their bench. He brings valuable offensive/defensive metric numbers to the Sox. Montas is the power arm that the Mets like and look for that can be added to their bullpen for the 2016 season. The former supplemental first round pick is highly regarded by scouts and at the age of 24 ready for a full time starting role.

No. 2: Tyler Danish and Peter Tago for Arismendy Alcantara/2B-OF and Christian Villanueva/3B. Chicago Cubs are flushed with infielders in their minor league system. Alcantara and Villanueva have fallen out of favor and have been past by other prospects. White Sox gamble on Alcantara whose best position is 2B. Alcantara has regressed a little with his hitting ability and is striking out a little too much. He's super athletic and can play multiple positions. If Sox can get him on the right track with his hitting tool. Sox can have a valuable young asset for the next 6 years. Villanueva was a former Top 100 prospect two years ago. He plays average/slightly above average defense at 3B. He has the potential to hit 15-20 hrs and .250 + average that will walk some. Cubs have nowhere to play him due to the Byrant Factor. Sox give up Tyler Danish whose role in the future is the bullpen. Danish is still young and has potential. This was one draft pick I disagreed with when drafted. Tago is a power arm that the Cubs look for and add 2 bullpen arms that have potential to make their team in 2016/2017.

No. 3 Courtney Hawkins, Micah Johnson, and Kyle Hansen for Branden Shipley/Starting Pitcher Arizona Diamondbacks. Shipley is a super athletic starting pitcher that would fit in nicely in between our lefty rotation. Shipley throws his fastball at 91-94 mph with a lot of movement. He has a plus changeup with great arm speed and tumble at the end. He also throws a plus curveball that he throws for strikes. Diamondbacks have a lot young pitching and Sox capitalize by making this move. Micah has fallen out of favor with the White Sox. Sox come to the realization that he will never be able to play an adequate defensive job at 2B. Sox also give Hawkins and his potential. White Sox track record of not being able to develop their own shows in this deal.

No.4 Jose Quintana for Rafael Devers/3B/OF, Javier Guerra/SS, Brian Johnson/SP, and Matt Light/RP Boston Red Sox. White Sox finally pull the plug and trade one of their big lefties. Boston needs to make a move and gets a Top of line pitcher in Quintana. Sox hate to give up Quintana, but Red Sox are flushed with Top Prospects. Devers is a 19 year old stud that brings an outstanding hitting/power tool. He has explosive bat speed and has the potential to stick at 3B, but if need to can be moved to a corner outfield. Guerra is the #1 defensive shortstop in the minors. He's a plus/plus defensive shortstop and his offensive game is starting mature as well. Both players played at A Ball this year and will start in Double A next year. They need one more year to fully develop and then should be able to rock and roll for the 2017 season. We all know the White Sox are on the 3 year plan-HAHA. Johnson brings us an upside arm at the back of the rotation. Pat Light has closer potential . He throws plus fastball 97-99 and plus slider with tilt. Easily can fit in the back end of the bullpen this coming season, but needs a little more time in the minors. Hate to give up Quintana and his contract, but we need young hitters

Summary:

I'm slightly below the $135M limit. Right around $130 million mark. Added Heyward, Rasmus, Shipley, Plawecki, Alcantara, Villanueva, Brian Johnson, and Light. We still have most of our high end talent in our minor league system: Anderson, Fulmer, Adams, Michaleczwski. Plus we added probably the two most important pieces of all the deals in Rafael Devers and Javier Guerra. The way I've structured this roster, I think it would appeal to especially what Hahn wants to put in place for the present and future.

The offense and defense is much better. The bullpen is essentially the same except for adding a future closer in Pat Light which he would appear after the All Star break. The starting pitching got weaker losing Quintana in 2016, but Shipley brings #2 starter potential very soon. Brian Johnson brings another back end lefty to the rotation that throws strikes and will enjoy the new improved defense. This team might not make us a playoff team next year. 2017 is the 3rd year of the plan and that’s when Devers, Guerra, Anderson, and Fulmer will make their mark on the big league roster.

Eaton - CF

Abreu – 1B

Heyward-RF

Rasmus - LF

Villanueva-3B

Cabrera-DH

Sanchez/Alcantara – 2B

Plawecki-C

Pennington - SS

 

Bench

Saladino

Flowers

LaRoche

 

Rotation

Sale

Shipley

Rodon

Johnson

Danks

 

Bullpen

Robertson

Jones

Duke

Putnam

Jennings

Petricka

B. Johnson

Edited October 25, 2015 by PolishPrince34

[Brian]

Id rather overpay Alexei for one more year than bring in the super light hitting Cliff Pennington cheap.

[caulfield12]

The Red Sox won't have to give up that talent for Quintana when they can buy it on the FA market without wiping out 1/3rd or 1/4th of their top prospects.

[Chicago White Sox]

The Red Sox won't have to give up that talent for Quintana when they can buy it on the FA market without wiping out 1/3rd or 1/4th of their top prospects.

Not necessarily directed at you, but when did buying starting pitching on the free agent market become attractive? I've seen this idea thrown out a lot in Cubs-related discussions as if it's a no-brainer. Sure, teams sitting on tons of cash can go out and sign a top starter to a monster deal, but how often have those signings worked out for the club? IMO, there's nothing riskier than signing a frontline starter in free agency and most organizations know this. Doesn't mean they're betting giving up half their system for a cost-controlled alternative, but it does clearly demonstrate why a guy like Quintana is so valuable.

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

Id rather overpay Alexei for one more year than bring in the super light hitting Cliff Pennington cheap.

Agreed. I'd rather have Saladino start at short for a season than bring Pennington in.

[caulfield12]

Not necessarily directed at you, but when did buying starting pitching on the free agent market become attractive? I've seen this idea thrown out a lot in Cubs-related discussions as if it's a no-brainer. Sure, teams sitting on tons of cash can go out and sign a top starter to a monster deal, but how often have those signings worked out for the club? IMO, there's nothing riskier than signing a frontline starter in free agency and most organizations know this. Doesn't mean they're betting giving up half their system for a cost-controlled alternative, but it does clearly demonstrate why a guy like Quintana is so valuable.

 

It's tricky. With the Red Sox, Masterson, Porcello, Sandoval and Hanley all flopped and it cost Ben Cherington his job.

 

Two years before that, almost all of their offseason moves turned out perfectly. In the end, teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox do have surpluses at both the major and minor league levels.

 

Dombrowski is likely to be aggressive. We'll see if Hahn does the most obvious thing in trading Q.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

I just can't see us moving Quintana if we sign Heyward.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

It's tricky. With the Red Sox, Masterson, Porcello, Sandoval and Hanley all flopped and it cost Ben Cherington his job.

 

Two years before that, almost all of their offseason moves turned out perfectly. In the end, teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox do have surpluses at both the major and minor league levels.

 

Dombrowski is likely to be aggressive. We'll see if Hahn does the most obvious thing in trading Q.

I'm curious to see what Dom does because he'll be aggressive and I wonder if he comes for Q or Sale and goes all out.

[Flash Tizzle]

The Red Sox won't have to give up that talent for Quintana when they can buy it on the FA market without wiping out 1/3rd or 1/4th of their top prospects.

Fortunately for us, not every team can buy a frontline starter.

[Jerksticks]

I think Dom wants to put a contender on the field THIS year. Trading for the cheap Q contract allows him to also sign a Price/Greinke type. Gonna cost him though.

[BaconOnAStick]

The Sox seem to lose value on that trade. I mean, at that point, why not just keep EJ and let Trayce start in CF? The only thing Hamilton seems to have is speed. At least Trayce has speed, power, and defense, even if his hit tool isn't that great. Also, EJ will likely be much better as a 4th starter than Montas in 2016, with potentially both having available slots in 2017, when Montas is likely to be more ready for starting in the majors.

Hamilton is a top 5 defensive CF in the game, the only guy definitively better than him with the glove is Kiermaier. Adding Hamilton and then surrounding him on the corners with Eaton and Trayce may give the Sox one of the best OF defenses in the league. That's also a group that's going to steal a lot of bases, not just Hamilton, but Eaton and Trayce have the ability to get a lot of steals as well.

 

Yea I know the Sox will be insanely lucky to get 30 HR out of all of them combined., but that's not really the point of acquiring Hamilton. The point is to enable the rotation to give up even fewer runs than they would and buy a few small ball runs, which may come in handy if Sale/Quintana/Rodon are keeping opponent's scoring low.

[Dick Allen]

Hamilton is a top 5 defensive CF in the game, the only guy definitively better than him with the glove is Kiermaier. Adding Hamilton and then surrounding him on the corners with Eaton and Trayce may give the Sox one of the best OF defenses in the league. That's also a group that's going to steal a lot of bases, not just Hamilton, but Eaton and Trayce have the ability to get a lot of steals as well.

 

Yea I know the Sox will be insanely lucky to get 30 HR out of all of them combined., but that's not really the point of acquiring Hamilton. The point is to enable the rotation to give up even fewer runs than they would and buy a few small ball runs, which may come in handy if Sale/Quintana/Rodon are keeping opponent's scoring low.

Since moving into USCF, if the Sox don't hit HR, they lose. I wouldn't mind the Sox getting Hamilton if they changed the rules and you could steal 1B.

[SCCWS]

I'm curious to see what Dom does because he'll be aggressive and I wonder if he comes for Q or Sale and goes all out.

 

I hope he goes for Q but my gut says he goes after Price ( who he already went after in Detroit), Greinke or Zimmerman.

 

[beautox]

I've been thinking a lot this post season since my last offseason plan and this is what i think is both realistic and likely, looking forward to some spirited conversation with regards to this post. Last year the sox were 1st in the AL in fWAR for starting pitching(4th overall) and 7th for relieving(16th overall) total pitching the sox were 3rd in the AL(9th overall), and dead last for hitting. Seeing how around 40WAR got you into the post season this year and how at the all star break we were still in it, there is hope to be had.

 

 

I would tender contracts to all ARB eligible players: Flowers, Garcia, Jones, Putnam & Jennings. Next I would decline Ramirez's option and pay the 1M buy out. With the free agents to be I would QO Samardzija, knowing he is going to decline, re-sign geovany soto for 2 years 6M and let Albers who was solid for us walk and beckham to never be heard from again. I think a certain subset of our fanbase would be very excited if we brought back the following players and if they're useful why not. Sign Mark Buehrle for 6.5M provided hes healthy and wants to play one more year. Sign AJ Pierzynski to a two year 7M deal with a 500k buy out. Lastly i would sign Steve Pearce to a 4M deal possibly with an additional option.

 

I would look to make the following trades:

 

C Tyler Flowers to Seattle for SS Brad Miller - Hahn has actively been trying to upgrade this spot for quite some time and the mariners are desperate for catching help since Zunino hasn't panned out. By installing Flowers as their catcher that is a swing of 1.2WAR, -.8 to .4WAR. Miller in the outfield has been a disaster for the M's and he isn't going to supplant Cano or Marte. Miller is a slighty above average defender at SS and 2B and can out produce Alexei for 1/20th of the cost.

 

RHP Erik Johnson, OF Avisail Garcia & RHP Spencer Adams for 3B Martin Prado & OF Marcell Ozuna - Miami need young cheap pitching Johnson provides that and Loria has consistently shown a propensity for not wanting to pay anyone more than league minimum, taking all of Prado's salary and their outspoken outfielder in Ozuna solves some of their issues while giving them a lottery ticket in Avisail to play in left and a promising young arm in Adams in addition to 11M freed up to pay someone like Juan Uribe this offseason. Loria is on record saying he would trade Ozuna and Ozuna has had a down year in addition to being upset about how his major league service has been handled.

 

LHP John Danks + 6M, 2B Micah Johnson & OF Courtney Hawkins for RHP Braden Shipley, LHP Cody Reed & UT Phil Gosselin - John Danks would've ranked second in fWAR and innings pitched on the d-backs staff, they've got some great young arms coming up but they need an inning eating stalwart to break their staff in. Johnson replaces Chris Owings at second base while fitting into their aggressive strategy on the base paths (2nd in SB overall in the league) and Hawkins is a change of scenery candidate going to a system that has had a lot of success in developing young hitters. Shipley appears to be a possible 3/4 on a staff in a year and a half, possibly two, Reed has a lot of potential but has issues with conditioning and is a long way away and Gosselin is a solid utility player.

 

1B Adam LaRoche for RHP Jonathan Papelbon. This is a bad contract / "cancer" swap, both are FAs after '16. LaRoche goes back to a place where he has had modest success backing up the oft injured Zimmerman and providing a left handed bat off the bench. The nats rid themselves of Papelbon and the sox get a high leverage reliever with a chip on his shoulder.

 

 

 

Payroll comes in at approximately at $115.46M; thats including Alexei's buy out, dead money from Bonifacio & Peavy and the 6M sent along with Danks to Arizona. Less than the $118.8 from last year. Some believe the sox payroll can reach 130M, put me in that camp as well but the only long shot FA I would remotely pursue would be Jason Heyward and additional veteran 5th and 6th starter types to store at AAA in case of emergency or if Montas falls on his face.

 

 

I firmly believe that Thompson has the possibility to be like Brandon Crawford and Randal Grichuk; a tools player made good on said tools even with mediocre minor league results. Moving Eaton and cementing Trayce in centerfield while adding Ozuna and relegating melky to DH and 5th outfielder drastically improves the defense; the amount that Cabrera, Eaton and Garcia gave away out there is sickening. The fact that the sox had the best starting pitching by fWAR in the AL is a testament to the staffs ability and why maybe we shouldn't be moving any of them and should be supplementing them with better defense across the diamond. Moving Cabrera who was -15 in defense to DH(-17.5) full time would barely be a decrease in his value at this point.

 

Miller provides the sox with at the very least a utility man and bridge to Anderson with the potential for a solid regular to replace Sanchez if he falters. Understandably a lot of people are skeptical of Carlos Sanchez, but he is only 23 years old and a switch hitter. The fact that he had even modest success at the major league level in the second half should be very telling, the organization loves his glove and his bat should come along. Young hitters take a while, it is even more pronounced in switch hitters especially power. Carlos could be a fixture for the sox for a long time to come and I would like to see the sox give him a very long leash.

 

This is some back of the napkin math and I look forward to hearing what others think with regards to what realistic expectations for WAR could be going into next year and defensive rating(this will be very crude and simple).

 

DH - Melky - 1-1.5 WAR, if he is capable of producing his second half the sox will be in fine shape at DH. Defensively D-

 

C - AJ & Geo - 1.5-2.5 WAR and C defensively I think we're looking at average and in the same area as Grandal and Lucroy and slightly above Flowers himself.

 

1B - Abreu - 4 WAR somewhere between his first and second full year and inline with his second half. D- defensively but luckily in this offseason plan we've got Steve Pearce to back him up late in the game and provide pop off the bench.

 

2B - Sanchez - 1.5-2WAR this him just duplicating his second half of the season and growing. A- Defensively

 

SS - Miller - 1.5-2WAR putting him back at shortstop and a change of scenery could do him wonders. B- Defensively.

 

3B - Prado - 2.5-3WAR leaving him at 3B along with a wRC+ of 100 would do wonders for this team, in addition to coming to a more hitter friendly ballpark. A+ Defensively.

 

LF - Eaton - 3.5-5WAR by moving him to left field his defense plays up we could be looking at an Alex Gordon like player if his second half is a precursor. Defensively in CF C- in LF B-.

 

CF - Thompson - 2-3WAR I stand by why I think Trayce makes the step forward. Defensively A.

 

RF - Ozuna - 1.5-3WAR a change of scenery could be what he needs to get back to the promise he previously showed. B Defensively.

 

SP - Sale - 6-8WAR if ever there was a Kershaw clone we're blessed to have him on the team.

 

SP - Quintana - 4.5-6WAR Continues to do a better impression of Andy Pettitte link.

 

SP - Buehrle - 1.5-2WAR if he is willing and healthy no reason to think he wouldn't be a great addition to this team and give a certain segment of fans something to be excited about, plus he can retire a white sox at the end of the year.

 

SP - Rodon - 2-4WAR I personally believe he reduces his BB/9 closer to league average and takes off and never looks back

 

SP - Montas - 1.5-2WAR another young arm that will need to reduce his BB/9 to be successful, last year he threw just shy of 130IP I think the sox push him to the 150-160 mark.

 

Bench Sans Geo (Saladino, Pearce & Gosselin) - 1.5-2WAR first time in a long time its a younger athletic bench that should offer some interesting traits offensively.

 

Bullpen - 3-4.5WAR there is potential upside with Jones, Papelbon, Duke and even Robertson.

 

On the low end this team looks like its capable of producing 39WAR right on the cusp of the playoffs and with plenty of money to spend midseason on acquisitions one way or another, with some maturation(Sanchez, Thompson, Ozuna & Montas) and possible break outs(Eaton, Quintana & Rodon) the sox could be in the thick of it.

Edited October 27, 2015 by beautox