Abreu and the Sox avoided arbitration by agreeing to a 1yr/$13M contract.

Wow. That is way below the close to $18M some projected him to make. This number certainly makes him much more tradeable now.

They will need his production this year when the slumps hit Moncada and Avi.

They’re not going to be good this year.

They are gonna be goos this year.

They BETTER be good this year.

Btw- .500 is fine by me.

Whereas before I would have predicted they both play for the Sox next year, both Avi and Yolmer going to arbitration increases their chances of being dealt massively.

Yolmer had a pretty good 2017. He seems like he would be the absolute perfect backup utility infielder for a Sox team that is contending in 2019 and 2020.

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They are deciding between James Shields and Miguel Gonzalez being their opening day starter.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Neither you or I have any idea if that is a conversation that is going on right now.

If they have to set it right now, Giolito should be #1. However it is probably going to depend on how guys do in the Spring as to how they lineup their pitching to start the season.

And, yes, I think the Sox should be between 80-85 wins this season.

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Giolito is not going to be the opening day starter. It will be a veteran.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Should be Giolito. If the young players are what they are counting on to be the new identity of this team well then fuck it, let's embrace it. Giolito is their crown jewel, their best overall prospect of all the guys on the minors and the majors. Start this shit off right.

Edit: My bad. Read the report wrong. Definitely NOT looking at Matt Kemp.

Sure they are. Just waiting for the Dodgers to give up the prospect they want.

They gotta be holding out for what they want, it makes too much sense. Would be a perfect DH. If he's a douche and you don't want him around, they have the luxury to afford cutting him. Get 2 nice prospects and best case scenario he hits 15 homeruns in the first 3 months of the season and is a tradeable piece with one year of salary left.

Yep. No reason to do the Dodgers any favors. If they want to drop payroll to sign a FA then pay up, bitches. Gavin Lux should would help fill the massive organizational hole they have up the middle.

The Sox were 26-32 in August & September, which is when they had some of their prospects playing regularly. You don't think they can go from a .448 to a .500 win% with those guys?

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The fact that they are choosing between their 4th or 5th best starter that could likely pitch opening day is just dumb White Sox decisionmaking "respect the veterans" bullshit. Its highly unlikely both of them finish the season on the roster. If Hansen/Dunning excels or Rodon comes back from the dead they'll both be out. Even that might not need to happen. Fulmer is intriguing again after his late season flash and there's a decent amount of guys in AA/AAA who could very feasibly become interesting enough to justify playing time.

Jesus.....they still owe him $43 million? For two years? Yikes.

I think the Padres are paying some of that.

Giolito or Lopez should be the game 1 starter. If they line it up where one of those guys as the SP for the home opener, I'm ok with it. If the latter is the case, Gonzalez takes the ball in KC.

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dh Delmonico
c Castillo/Narvaez
1b Abreu
2b Moncada
ss Anderson
3b
lf Eloy
cf Cordell
rf Avi

some things could easily get moved around in the OF/dh/1b world, but that's an OK squad these days. They have good pitching, the bullpen particularly is much better than most are giving it credit for. Avilan, Soria, Viera represent what should be 120 pretty qualiy innings out of the pen.

Not gonna win the world series, probably wont sniff the playoffs, but .500 is doable.

Baseball Prospectus Top 101 out today. Sox have 8 on this list. Most of any team. Highest I have seen Burger on any of these lists.

I agree with some of it. I think Rutherford is still a top 50 prospect so I'm glad to see BP still believes in him a bit. They are crazy high on Hansen (like everyone), Dunning (like everyone) and Burger.

Seeing these lists and how high people are on Kopech, Hansen, Dunning, and Cease coupled with having Giolito, Rodon, Fulmer, and Lopez being on the main roster already, this pitching staff HAS to be elite. Even with injuries and busts, 5 of these 9 have to hit, right???

No.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Surely that was just a bit right? No way anyone actually believes that 5 of those guys are going to be elite

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Who will they be lucky to have the careers of?

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Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Paul Wilson.

Todd Van Poppel, Kirk Dressendorfer, Dave Zancanaro and Don Peters.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Wow, getting killed. An elite staff, not 5 elite pitchers. Out of that list, its not reasonable to believe 2 could be top level MLB #1 and #2 and a combo of 2-3 from that group are solid #3's for an MLB staff?