Nick

I think you are missing two big FA after 2019.....along with Porcello, Sale and Hanley will be gone. It will cost us $5M to say good bye to Pablo. That means $40M in savings (Hanley/Pablo) to replace Porcello/Sale/Xander. ($70M if Price opted out year earlier). Starters Price 17 18 19 20 21 22 (unless he opts out after 2018, we should be hoping for this?) Sale 17 18 19 Porcello 17 18 19 E Rod 17 18 19 20 21 Wright 17 18 19 20 Pom 17 18 Hanley 17 18 19 Xander 17 18 19 Betts 17 18 19 20 Bradley 17 18 19 20 Beni 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pedy 17 18 19 20 21 Swihart 17 18 19 20 21 Vazquez 17 18 19 20 Leon 17 18 19 20 say Travis 1B 18 19 20 21 22 23 Devers 3B 19 20 21 22 23 24 It would be nice if both Devers and Travis would be ready for 2018 season. Jason Groome perhaps can help the Sox by 2020 season when Porcello/Sale reach free agency. Can Dalbec and Chatam arrive by 2020 (if Xander goes elsewhere)? We just don't have much coming off the books. Anyone still wanting to trade E Rod? You're f***ing nuts. I would also prioritize Porcello and Sale before Xander. I rather have pitching than a SS wanting to make $30M. I also rather keep my OF in tact. More I think about it, there's no reason to get rid of any of our catchers. Swihart can learn to play multiple positions, C, LF, 1B, 3B DH. Just having a chance to get to the playoffs and doing some damage once we're in it, FOR NEXT 3 YEARS, we have to give credit to DD. I can see us being competitive for 2020 if couple of kids come through.

Anyone think players did not get much out of this round of Collective Agreement? Fangraph while back had an article about the gap widening between team revenue and competitive balance threashhold (Luxury Tax). For us simpletons, it just means more money in the pocket for the owners. Henry could always use the excuse of not wanting to pay the tax, therefore suppressing payroll. Big spenders are already close to the gap and unwilling to go over the cap and face what appears to be harsher penalties. What that tells me is that it's unrealistic to award a $40M annual contract to Betts or any one player. There's simply not enough room to fit under the cap if you are paying couple of players $70M. It's possible that more players will benefit by getting a raise to $15-$20 per annum range, thus making the league more competitive. Sox will struggle for forseeable future to keep it under the cap.

Don't we have several 'farm sytem' players excelling in the majors? Beni, Bradley Jr, Betts, Xander, Swihart, Vazquez and Holt. Throw in E Rod for good measure. It's not asinine to think they are still in AAA. We still have Devers, Travis, Groome, Dalbec, Chatham and Oakimey in the minors. Let's just see where we are in three years. Looks to me like we're sitting pretty good. Xander/Holt 3 yrs, Betts/Bradley Jr/Vazques/Sandy Leon..4 yrs....Swihart 5..Benintendi 6...Sam Travis/Dever...7 years.....HOW MANY f***ING YEARS DO YOU WANT COVERED? Price 6 yrs, E Rod 5 yrs, Wright 4 yrs, Porcello 3 yrs, Sale 3 yrs, Pomeranz/Kelly 2 yrs, Carson Smith 4 yrs, Thornburg 3 yrs, Barnes, Hembree, Elias 5 yrs...I'm a half empty type guy but our glass looks to be pretty full.

Unless he can play 3rd, I'd say NO

Can Ortiz be that guy that just plays for couple of months? Start working out after the all start break and return in August for the playoff run. How hard can that be?

We will compete for the World Championship next three years. We will then have to make some tough choices. Sale, Porcello and Xander will all be free agents and Betts and Bradley Jr the following year. Pablo will come off the books in 4 years Hanley after 3. But it's a problem every team faces. I like our position today than say couple of days ago. You got to go for it.

I doubt that Price will opt out of his contract. I can't see a club doing better than 4 years at $120M, that Sox will have left on his contract. That said, we will have Price, Porcello and Sale for three years. (hard to imagine extending BOTH but that's another topic). E Rod is under team control for five more years. Steven Wright for 4 years and Pomeranz for two more years. This is as good as any rotation in the majors. We will be competitive going into every single game, chance to get a quality start. With Carson Smith coming back, Kelly continuing to improve out of the pen, Barnes, Hembree, Ross Jr, Robbie Scott and one of the starters available for pen duties, our bullpen is beginning to take shape. DD brings up the fact that he's not under pressure from the owners to stay below the tax limit. It sure would be tempting to tell DD to 'go for it' and sign EE. (but I digress) Xander, 3 years of team control, Betts and Bradley Jr, 4 years of team control, Beni, 6 more years of team control, Swihart, 5 more years of team control, Vazquez and Leon 4 more years of team control, Pedey 5 years under contract, Hanley, 3 more years under contract, Pablo, possibly 4 more years under contract. Throw in Devers and Travis, we're in pretty good shape. I know it won't happen but wouldn't it be nice if Henry said f*** It, let's sign EE and Champman, it's only money!!!!!

DD is not going to hide E Rod in the minors. We already benefited 'extra' year by way of 130 days. He's under team control for another 5 years. To stretch that to 6 years is unnecessary and sending wrong message to E Rod. He's at the same point as Lester when the latter had his break out season. He's on the cusp of something good. I would just let the nature take it's course.

If they want to get under the cap, they will have to trade Buchholtz. Can we get another young, team controlled reliever for him? Lets look at risk vs reward for Clay. What if he does get off to a bad start? We'll have to f***ing eat his contract. Right now, we have chance to get rid of his $13.5M AND GET SOMETHING IN RETURN. I love how everyone here thinks nothing of throwing money away. I'm glad you don't run my business. Are we already giving up on a player that we gave up boatload of talent?

Clay B making $13.5M per year with performance uncertainty is someone holding Sox back from making financial moves. Pablo is so despised for lack of productivity he's worth penny on a dollar in today's market. I'm willing to gamble the #6 spot (we still have five starters as you know) if it comes to that with guys like Johnson, Owens and other deplorables in Sox farm system and find a better use for $13.5M.

Lets just be honest. Desire to retain Clay Buchholtz comes from the theory that WE are still not confident with our starting rotation, despite having two former Cy Youngs, two all stars from 2016 and a young arm if he's healthy, may become #2 type pitcher. Maybe it's time to simply clean out our farm system (non pitchers) and trade for a White Sox starter. That will allow us to trade Clay B and open up some cap space this year. If it's Moncada and Swihart, then I guess I can choke it down. I will start dreaming about Devers in lieu of Moncada. I'm not Theo's biggest fan but I think this is the type of move he'd make. If you don't look back and look ahead way off in future, all of sudden you have Sales, Price and Porcello at the top of your line up today and still have one of best offenses in the majors.

We'll have the same issue of 8-10 guys in arbitration years with one more year of experience. I can see that adding up to another $15M. We are really screwed for near future. We're at $185M with no moves. Say we do nothing. We lose $20M after 2017, $15M will be eaten up by automatic raises. Unless we do something creative, we're pretty much stuck with what we have. Maybe trading is the way to go. If we want to win next two years, maybe you do make the move for Sales without trading away Bradley Jr, then trade Clay and pick up a reliever.

Thing with Clay is he is not merely costing us $13.5M. He will cost us $27M because he will only provide us with 1/2 season of production. Only reason his name is coming up is because we are at the f***ING COMPETITIVE BALANCE LIMIT. Perhaps having a f***ing #6 pitcher making $13.5M is a luxury we can't afford. Stupid thing is doing same thing over and over and expecting different outcome.

This... Why in the hell would we give this up for someone who appears to have peaked?

Maybe we ought to think twice about former St Louis players.

Point is he may not even start. Both Pomeranz and Wright were All Stars last year. Price and Porcell former Cy Young award winners. E Rod needs an opportunity to have his break out year, he's at same point as Lester was when his career took off. Money is tight from standpoint of budget constraints. It makes sense to trade him. Signing Beltran, trading Clay for a reliever would have strengthened the team with net $4M investment.

That proves my point. I rather use Buch's 13M elsewhere and take a chance on our remaining starting pitching and get a Chapman type reliever. Having a $13M pitcher as a 'safety net' is not a luxury most teams can afford. Especially one already spending $50M on two starters. My concern is that we won't be able to protect leads. Hey that's okay, we have that extra protection just in case someone runs into second base and gets an ouchy.

Is our starting rotation depth really any worse than other teams? What makes you think 5 of 6 wont' be ready to start the season? (Wright is the only one that finished on the disable list) If above is true, why the concern? Is the 3B job Pablo's to lose? Team won't say it but is the FO concerned about finances (not from cash flow but butting up vs the tax limit)? Does the team feel the need to fill DH spot in addition to acquiring a relief pitcher? Anyone willing to compare %of team's payroll spent by major positional groups? 1. starting pitching 2 relievers 3 catchers 4 infielders 5 outfielders 6 DH...How does Sox compare to other teams? Maybe Moon can do this just for major market teams.

I agree on Elias. Name of the game is being able to replace someone like Porcello when he's due $30M in 3 years. We can't keep all the good players. It's not possible. We've already shot our load with Price. And we will pay big for retaining Betts (I would give him $300M over 10 years first chance I get). You have to pick and choose. If we keep Buchholtz, then we can't sign someone like Chapman. I would still consider trading away Xander before Bradley Jr. SS is a defensive position. You can find .250 hitting slick defenders. Bradley Jr is an elite center fielder that has some pop. We won't be able to keep 2 Boras clients. Count on it. If the goal is to win the world series, Champman would become more valuable than Buchholtz. I'd roll the dice on depleting starters. Hope for the best with Porcello, Price, E Rod, Wright and Pomeranz. Big question mark is can we protect the lead from innings 6-8?

Good catch....he should be in there. I also like Scott more than Abad. My main point is that we don't really need two NEW relievers. I think we can manage with one. Especially now that we are budget conscious.

With no additions, who would be your eight? Kimbrel, Kelly, Smith, Ross, Robby Scott, Abad, Hembree, Elias, Wright/Buch/Pomeranz

I hope NOT. We could have just offered Beltran for 1 year at $20M.

Were we napping when Astros signed Beltran for 1 year deal? $16M sounds reasonable. To Plan B.

We keep talking about the need for two relievers....I only see one. Buch, Wright or Pomeranz will be in the bullpen. Carson Smith will eventually return. Hell we don't really need to add anyone. This team is good enough to compete for Division title. We are f***ed because of Pablo signing.

Xander needs to get out of his funk...his early success hid his finish last year.