Nick

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.

You can't have it all.....We did not gain much from Ortiz retiring. His $16M got ate up and then some buy expected increase in arbitration eligible players. It maybe that in the future we live with a guy like Shaw while he's under team control. We gambled on Porcello and it turned out to be a wise investment. Spending $30M on Price, however, means we may need to live without Buchholtz and his $13M or use our farm system to trade for upgrade in the bull pen. Even Betran's contract seems almost illogical at this point. I'm not a big fan of Pablo but I hope he comes back. There's no point in trading guys like Moncada and Swihart. $1M per year keeps them on our roster for 2/3 years. Betts is my favorite but can you spend another $30M on a player? And we haven't even discussed Xander. How many $20M+ players can you have at the same time? I definitely do not want to pay $30M for a shortstop. No way. Cheap lineup.. c Sandy/Vazquez 1B Travis 2B Pedy SS Hernandez 3B Moncada LF Beni CF Bradley RF Betts DH Devers Utility Swihart

I was simply responding to Moon's topic on shedding salaries. Trading Buch has a bigger impact because Sox would have to eat significant part of Pablo's contract. $13 M vs say $5M...... This all points to we have little wiggle room to acquire new free agents without going over the cap. We need more team controlled players to step up. Kopech arrival would help. Hoping for a September call up.

Buchholtz is the best candidate. I serious doubt Sox can recoup $13M on an annual value from Pablo and Hanley. Pablo maybe $5M per year and Hanley $10M per year. We need Hanley. We simply need to do with make shift bullpen and hope that no starter (Price, Porcello, Pomeranz, Wright and E Rod) gets hurt. We don't need to sign anyone. We can trade away some surplus for relievers. IF ITS OUR INTENT TO STAY BELOW THE LUXURY TAX.

This is why someone like Kopech needs to be retained and developed. It really is about managing the 'program', to put it collegiately. In a sense, 'luxury tax' is the best tool for sports organizations to keep the owners in check. It's not a hard cap and owners can go over it but there's a penalty attached. It can also work the other way. Sox FO can use it as a defense to its fan base from claiming the team is cheap and hoarding money. Clearly we are one of big spenders as evidenced by either being close to or going over the cap annually. It also shines light on bad signings. We are currently hamstrunged by some bad investments. That will bite us in the ass as some of our younger players approach free agency.

Nothing gets done until near a deadline. Human nature.

I doubt E-Rod has reached his ceiling. Sale has reached his ceiling, and his decline in velocity, along with his violent delivery, might suggest a future decline in production, if not something more. So, I don't see a production crisscrossing as an impossible scenario, but I wouldn't expect it to occur in 2017. E-Rod has way too much talent, and upside, for me to include him in a trade for Sale along with Bradley Jr and Moncada. Porcello may have trouble duplicating his numbers next year but he is evolving into becoming top 20 type pitcher. I expect Price to have a better season overall. E Rod will continue to get stronger and he has tremendous upside from where I sit. This is NOT the time to trade him. E Rod's 2017 season is when Lester broke out in his career. I think we're undervaluing Pomeranz. Last year was first time he's had any success as a starter. He had not been stretched out in previous seasons. Throw in the factor of being trade into AL East parks, hitters, and pennant race, he had many adjustments to make. I expect him to evolve and have much better season. I fully expect Wright to recover and get back to where he was last year before the All Star Game. Our rotation looks good enough to get us to another Division Championship. Big question is if we can protect the lead with our bullpen. Maybe we should spend some money getting a top tier reliever. Right now I see us wasting 'quality' starts.

Just feels like we're financially trapped in a sense that we don't have much flexibility at this point. Best move is to acquire another cost controlled starting pitcher and then trade away Clay Buchholtz. Or do we roll the dice with trading away Buchholtz in spring training if everyone else is healthy? We can focus on getting a reliever via Buchholtz trade. Kimbrel, Ross, Kelly, Barnes, Abad, Hembree, winter singning/trade, spring trade (8)

Bradley Jr and Swihart and Owens and Johnson for Quintana? Is that enough for Chicago White Sox? Then trade away Buchholtz for a reliever under team control. Basically a $13M salary dump. Quintana, Price, Porcello, E Rod, Pomeranz and Wright.

It will speak volume about what the FO thinks about Moncada if we sign a long term FA at 3B.

He now has 8 lives left.

You don't think he'll take 4/$40M?