It IS possible Bumgarner told the White Sox he isn't interested. MANY aren't interested but don't say so. If Wheeler makes his decision based on in-laws and Bumgarner makes his based on horses, fuck 'em. I don't want them. They don't want a World Series. They want leisure.

Nobody seems to take into account the fact that a non-negligible percentage of free agents in any sport simply stop trying once they get their contract. I guess it makes you sound anti-labour to acknowledge this concrete fact of human nature.

Still there are other ways to spend money. The Sox had a higher payroll than this ten years ago.

He knows we are a sleeping giant and he lined up to sign with the Sox.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I heard he has a horse farm near here where his wife's family lives.

I don't think they've done that this offseason. I don't want my team overpaying guys just to say they did it. They struck out on Wheeler not because they were cheap. He's one of the rare players who take less money.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think some of you all are underestimating how big of a signing Grandal is. He provides an offensive upgrade and helps with the young pitchers. Some consider him to be the best defensive catcher in baseball. I'm even more bullish on Lopez because of him.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

You are convoluting framing with defense. He is NOT considered a great catcher. And on top of it, being known as a framer catches up with you. Umps don't live in a bubble.

Because they've sucked for a decade, don't look like they will improve any time soon, and are still being run like a minor league outfit by a cheap ass owner. That's why.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yeah if he’s so great the Sox wouldn’t have been able to sign him.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

It was a nice signing for sure.

Is he going to give you better production than what you got from McCann? I don't think it'll be appreciably better offensively.

The Sox need starting pitching.

Signing good starting pitching for less that $20 million per year should be a no-brainer.

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Pretty much. And they do things that appear nice but really are kinda shady with "free" tickets that you can't use on games vs the Cubs, Yankees, Opening Day, etc. And their ushers can be shitty when there are 12,000 people in the park.

But yet I'll be all in come April!

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Pretty much. And they do things that appear nice but really are kinda shady with "free" tickets that you can't use on games vs the Cubs, Yankees, Opening Day, etc. And their ushers can be shitty when there are 12,000 people in the park.

But yet I'll be all in come April!

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Baseball Prospectus disagrees with you.

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/s ... id=2800934

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

You think the Sox missed out on signing Boomer again? Bumgarner wasn't the answer.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

He signed for slightly less. I've seen way too many sox fans bending over backwards for the front office by saying he took less. It was 2 million less total over a five year term. That's nothing.

If he is truly your target, you make him an offer he won't refuse. You know in advance the FA market is irrational. That's just the life of MLB. The Sox seem to take pride in being fiscally sound.

The real bitch is that JR has been making money hand over fist during this rebuild. The fans have stayed loyal. The implied agreement is that when it is time to compete, that money will be spent. Unfortunately, rather than starting a rainy day fund in the budget each year like Theo did during his rebuild, Hahn just allowed to pay out divedends in full. There was no account so that he could overspend when the time came. JR compartmentalized each year so that they have to meet a budget each fiscal year.

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

They do. But here is where I stand. Don't talk about spending and moves and then not sign a single 'big name' pitcher. If Hahn is going to talk the talk, then walk the walk and get somebody in here. Don't give me this "oh we offered more money but Wheeler wanted to stay East." Fine. Sign the next guy.

Or just come out and say, "Look we have Kopech, Dunning, Lopez, Giolito, and others in the minors that are young but we are going to ride with our young guys and see what happens." I'd be totally find if the Sox came out and said that.

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Cole was worth the investment. They had the money. They chose to not even enter the discussion.

However, if the logic is that there is no one but Wheeler...then pay the premium for him to move away from his in laws for six months a year. Somehow Machado was able to do it last year.

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

Exactly. The signing was add on value. It certainly didn't fill a hole. The right fielder only partially filled a hole. 100 games up until the 6th or 7th inning when a lefty comes in. However, it was pointed out Engel hits lefties decently, .313 .360 .482 .841, so maybe Hahn was more shrewd than at first glance.

I'm going to say I doubt that will turn out to be the case.

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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

Because it's all framing. He's double anybody else. That will change and change quickly. Ask Tyler Flowers.

Not at all. Bumgarner will be 31 in August. Signing him for $14 million a year with another $15 million deferred is the perfect JERRY deal. Not even close to giving up the farm for Robbie Alomar (Twice!) and Carl Everett.

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Agreed.

However, that is giving up on 2020. There is going to be a learning curve. There was going to be even with Wheeler. It would have been nice that while these guys are taking there lumps, you have 2 days out of 5 that you know you can compete (maybe 2.5 even).

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

You could be right. But maybe the young guys catch fire and make up a really strong rotation. There is at least a chance of that. Better chance than there was of signing Cole.

I'd rather see Kopech and Dunning getting their clocks cleaned once in a while than see Manny Banuelos, Hector Santiago, and Dylan fucking Covey rounding out the rotation.

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I'm going to say you are wrong and the numbers back me on it. The years were extravagant.

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

I agree with you.

Right now, Covey is still in the rotation for next year. That is unimaginable. Now, I think they will fill the roll with some buster who is at least MLB proven.

Sox will spend that same 20+ million they would have given to Wheeler this year on a collection of shit, just like they did last year. Sox love, if nothing else, to waste money on shitty, short term deals.

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

We are on the same page. I really expect them to catch fire for periods of the season.

However, every single young guy is going to be on an innings limit. The best case scenario is they do great but end up being shut down in September

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

I do have to say that I like Ryu as much as any pitcher who was out there. I think he is a better pitcher than Wheeler when healthy. He put up 180 great innings last year

I'm preemptively prepared for him not to be a White Sox.

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

It's a real throw of the dice. 33 yrs old, really have no idea the mileage that's on him and to top it off, I don't really hear the clamors for the Dodgers to re-sign him. He had a helluva year.

and he hasn't pitched in a cold April-May

That's why Wheeler was the better option.

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

Wheeler didn't want to be here. Bumgarner either. And I'd bet Ryu doesn't want to.

It's just the way it is. It's the Calgary White Sox.