Nick

so glad I don't have to monitor his belly size....this board went nuts when they heard he slimmed down....can't sign a player just based on his World Series performance. Not a good sample size.

Apparently he didn't control the change inside the strike zone........never pitched in my life, all Greek to me.

Noah Song should start his baseball career in 2022.

I'm guessing Tanner Houck is not burning up his first year of team control by joining the club this late in the year. Looks like he could be a keeper. Interesting read on how he's developed cutter as an alternative to change up as his third pitch. You can do tons of analysis to improve a pitcher but what I read always brings back to the pitcher himself. He's got to be able to execute what the pitching coaches wants you to do. Some can, some just can't.

I'm optimistic. He'll do a great job. Perhaps Theoisque in his early years with bigger budget.

I want to be patient with these guys. We need to upgrade several positions. It's not time to sign a mega contract deal that can again hamper us in rebuild situation. Look for gems and give young guys chance to grow. We'll know when it's time to 'go'. I would target 2022 for playoff chase. Goal for 2021 should be to get more pieces for future. Looking at some contracts. I think the talk of JD Martinez opting out is very unlikely now. His contract expires after 2022. You can always find a DH for $8-10M price range. Sale is with us until 2024, with 2025 option. Xander is with us until 2026. Pedroia's contract comes off the books after 2021, $13.75M. JBJ should be let go after this year when he becomes a FA. He's not worth $11M. E Rod's final year is 2021. Not sure if I want to pay him big money. Beni is under team control through 2022. Really not excited about him. Devers is a keeper unless someone wants to give us crazy talent in return. That only happens if a team thinks he is the missing piece to complete the world championship team. Verdugo is a keeper. We'll have to see who steps up in 2021. Bloom will get a net gain in younger talent going forward. Veterans will be limited to no more than $10M for two years max.

I think you missed my point about a player opting out while claiming he's at risk may get paid. Flow chart.. Opt Out? if Yes then, at risk? Yes (can substantiate), then get paid. No then you don't get paid.... David Price Opted out and did not claim at 'risk' so he gets nothing.

If they are considered "at-risk" they can get paid. I don't believe anyone has attempted to use it to get paid.

Can you name couple of players that would have helped us last year or this year?

I didn't realize service time will be 'pro-rated' to the benefit of players. Players will be given 2.78 days of playing credit for each day spent in mlb in 2020. I hate that for player such as Dalbec but I'm going to consider myself lucky not having to watch 162 games from this bunch. Not sure if there are enough pitchers in our system to complete a full season.

It was a good signing.....only for $17M....He was our what? #3 or #4....remember two years ago, we thought and I'm pretty you did too, that we had one of best starting rotation in the majors. No one knew it would fall apart during the season.

Lets be clear. Most of us are okay with bloated contract as long as player is earning it. But we've now gone to it's okay to pay a guy for 7 years as long as he performs for 4 of those years. It's becoming rare that a player beyond 33-35 perform at the high level he's performed in the past. Who here doesn't want a team full of home grown talent? Cheaper team controlled years for younger talent. We all want the Xander experience. Size of contract doesn't bother me as much as the length. Waiting out for Price's contract to end is painful (even though Dodgers are picking up half of it) I think Bloom will be good for this organization. He thinks like a small market GM and then he wakes up in middle of night realizing, hey I got some money to burn.

Understood....I never really cared about being 'blocked' theory....It just gives you plenty of options which is always good to have..

It's good to know that Dalbec can also play third, which maybe his best position if and whenever Casas shows up down the road.

I want us to have the best team, then go out and sign the best pitcher on top of it simply because we can and piss off the Yankees. That's my dream season.

Potts homers Hudson Potts — who the Boston Red Sox acquired with Jeisson Rosario in the Mitch Moreland trade — also homered against Houck. (intra squad game where Casas hit a two run homer) Potts is a power-hitting 21-year-old third baseman. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound right-handed hitter, who reached Double A last year, has batted .256 with a .315 on-base percentage, .428 slugging percentage, .743 OPS, 57 homers, 94 doubles, nine triples and 224 RBIs in 423 minor league games.

Not sure if his career has taken off as some expected. We paid Sale $39.5M over 3 years. I think we'd look at him differently had we not extended at beginning of 2019. I still think we would have signed him but not for as much as shorter duration. I would continue to shop Devers and ask for the moon. 2 or 3 solid, player controlled major league ready players would help the Sox. We have the money to get us over the hump but we're not close to that hump. We need more better than average players at this point.

The sage one puts me in my time out chair.....and I'm good with it when I'm talking stupid.

Position Players-looking ahead C Vazquez 2022 1B Dalbec (?) 2025 2B 3B Devers 2023 SS Xander 2026 OF Verdugo 2024 OF Beni 2022 OF Duran (?) 2026 (?) DH JD 2022 (probably can't move the contract) When will our #1 prospect Casas be ready? What about Chatam?

I do hope he gets well.....I never wish any player any harm to his career.....Betts included (he didn't love us anymore...that happens in life) Kopech is still under team control for four additional years. Moncada had signed a new deal that will keep him with White Sox until 2025. White Sox pitching coach concerned about Michael Kopech Jul 12, 2020 ESPN Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper says he is concerned about right-hander Michael Kopech, who recently opted out of the upcoming 2020 season. Kopech, 24, missed the entire 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but was expected to contend for a spot in Chicago's rotation this year. He has publicly discussed his anxiety and depression, which Cooper cited Saturday in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. "I don't know what is going on with Michael, but I know he deals with some anxiety and depression, and my thought is, I sure hope he's OK," Cooper told the Sun-Times. "And I hope he gets to where he needs to be, where he's feeling good and wants to come back, because we will welcome him back with open arms." Kopech also missed the start of summer camp earlier this month because of what the White Sox called a personal matter. EDITOR'S PICKS White Sox RHP Kopech opts out of 2020 season MLB players who are opting out of the 2020 season "Last time I saw him in spring training, he was in a great place," Cooper told the Sun-Times. "But let me put it this way: I sure hope the kid is OK. I'm concerned that he's not OK." Kopech, who touched 100 mph during spring training this past March, has not made any public comments about his decision to opt out of the season. The White Sox did not announce Friday whether Kopech has tested positive for COVID-19 or has been exposed to the virus, with general manager Rick Hahn saying in a statement that "reaching this decision is incredibly difficult for any competitive athlete, and our organization is understanding and supportive." "Michael has been pretty open and available to [the media] on a lot of tough topics, but he's not in the mood to talk right now," Cooper told the Sun-Times. "When Michael is ready to talk, then you are going to get the real deal." White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon also expressed support for Kopech. "It's Michael's decision, and we have no idea what's going on in his world, and as a team, we support him 100 percent," Rodon told the paper. "It's a tough loss. He's a guy who can boost our rotation or wherever he would line up in the row of arms. But looking forward to having him back next year." Kopech, who made four starts in 2018 before suffering the elbow injury, was a key part of the five-player trade that sent All-Star pitcher Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox after the 2016 season.

He did give us 3 pretty good years, no? Moncada became expendable because of Devers and the belief that Dustin would play 2nd base for the Sox until 2021. I really hated to see Kopech go. Sale's contract was also team friendly. Not sure what we would have done to make the team as competitive those first two years absent Chris Sale. I'm really interested to hear what the Sox would have done to improve had we not done the deal with the White Sox. What was available then?

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. All in all, though, not many of these deals look bad. Chris Sale trade was good and I'd still do it. In hindsight, extending him early was the mistake. We could have gotten him cheaper had we waited.

Suppose you are the league's top stud pitcher at 28. Would you sign a one year $50M deal or settle for 10 year, $30M deal? If you were an agent, what would you advise? I'm just curious to see if there are players/agents willing to gamble.

Bloom, I don't have the energy to do this but... masslive while back (one, two years ago) had details on baseball transactions during DD era. Specifically it dealt with who was traded for who. I understand that this board hates DD and blames the lack of current talent in the minors, all of it on DD. Would you have time to revisit the transactions? I claim that changes in international pool/draft had bigger effect on dearth of Red Sox farm compared to earlier Henry era. It's just gotten harder for top finishers to stockpile younger players. If we had Ray's budget, Devers would be on the chopping block for two good young players. There would be this constant churning, thus better farm system but the parent team not good enough to win the World Championship. I'm good with 'churning' concept with the caveat that if we have enough talent, we go sign that one difference maker, usually an ace to "go for it".

Do we need to expand the roster size to accomodate more pitchers? Just wondering......