The White Sox have been “engaging” with ace Lucas Giolito and top prospect Andrew Vaughn about possible contract extensions, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports. For now, no deal appears imminent with either player. Both Giolito and Vaughn are represented by CAA Sports.
Giolito will be paid $4.15MM in 2021 as per an arbitration-avoiding contract with the White Sox back in January, and the right-hander is under arb control through the 2023 season. Vaughn’s MLB service clock has yet to start, so an extension would make him the third White Sox player (after Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert) in as many years to sign a multi-year contract before making his big league debut.
At the start of March, Giolito said “there haven’t really been discussions about an extension” with the team, though it appears talks have picked up to at least some extent. To some extent, Chicago has time on its side given that Giolito is controlled through 2023, yet naturally the Sox would love to lock up Giolito now before his price tag could continue to rise. If Giolito pitches as well in 2021 as he did over 249 innings in 2019-20 (3.43 ERA with an impressive 32.7K% and 8.6BB%), the White Sox could be looking at an extension worth tens of millions more by this time next year.
Looking at other extensions for pitchers who had between three and four years of service time, Giolito would surely be looking to top the four-year, $45MM deal Aaron Nola signed with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season. That contract covered Nola’s first arb year — he and the Phillies were approaching a hearing — and also contained a club option that gives the Phils control over a second of Nola’s free agent years.
The White Sox could make the case that Nola was a more proven commodity with 569 MLB innings at the time of his extension and hadn’t suffered any major arm troubles, whereas Giolito already has a Tommy John procedure under his belt. Of course, Giolito’s camp could counter that prices have simply gone up in the two-plus years since Nola’s extension, and that Giolito’s durability isn’t a concern after he averaged 175 IP in 2018-19 (and obviously Giolito could have banked many more innings if the 2020 season wasn’t shortened).
Both Jimenez and Robert signed six-year contracts with two club option years attached, with Jimenez receiving $43MM in guaranteed money prior to the 2019 season and Robert $50MM guaranteed in January 2020. It’s probably safe to guess that White Sox GM Rick Hahn is proposing a similar framework to Vaughn’s representatives, so a full eight-year stint would keep Vaughn (who turns 23 next month) on the South Side through his age-30 season.
Selected with the third overall pick of the 2019 draft, Vaughn demolished Pac-12 pitching over three years at Cal, then got his pro career off to a quick start by batting .278/.384/.449 with six homers in 245 combined plate appearances at rookie ball, A-ball, and high-A ball. His 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the pandemic, but Vaughn’s bat is considered so ready for prime time that he is expected to play an important role for the big league team this coming season, projected for the bulk of DH at-bats and occasionally spelling AL MVP Jose Abreu at first base when Abreu needs a DH day.
A pre-career extension would allow Chicago to install Vaughn on the Opening Day roster without any of the service-time machinations that teams often deploy to keep top prospects in the minors for just long enough to gain an extra year of control. Like Jimenez and Robert, Vaughn is a consensus pick as one of the game’s best minor leaguers, ranking high on top-prospect lists from Keith Law (who ranks Vaughn 10th), MLB Pipeline (14th), Baseball Prospectus (14th), Fangraphs (14th), and Baseball America (21st).
They’ve pulled off Robert and Jimenez before they even played a game and its looking good so how about Vaughn. If I were Giolito I would go one more year to see if I can be a better pitcher and get more.
I think the point is that they have the same agents. Giolito might get paid for a great next year before even throwing a pitch this year simply because he knows a guy.
After what Tatis just signed for, perhaps Vaughn should bet on himself too. Have a monster rookie season and then go after bigger bucks like Tatis did. As a DH/1B he obviously wouldn’t come close to Tatis money but he could certainly ask for a lot more than $40-$50M over 6 years if he has a monster first year in MLB.
@dorthy I agree. I think should vaughn not succeed next season that the offer they make him now would still be on table. He still has incredible upside even if he has a season comparable to jo “cant catch the ball” adell. Gio makes me a bit more nervous to lock up because of how volatile pitchers are these days
Vaughn would have to hit like Frank Thomas to get Tatis money.
He has no other value than his bat, just like Frank Thomas.
Giolito 10-250 please and Vaughn I don’t know what to give him.
10-250?? People really need to learn about how long players have til FA and how that affects value
10-250 is fair offer. he will be 35 when the deal runs out.
Vaughn would be looking at a LouBob type contract 8-10 years 8-12 per with incentives to get over 20… the idea that the Sox are in these conversations suggests they believe Vaughn’s bat is ready and special. Could be a great season on the south side
5 years 135M – You gonna pass that up to get 4.8 & 5.7 the next two years ? Ask Carlos Rodon and Chris Sale about their decisions…one took the deal, the other passed…
I hope it happens!
gonna take like 240/8 for Giolito. probably something like 40/6 for Vaughn
sss847 –
Why would they pay Giolito that price when he’s under arb control until 2023? Would almost certainly be better off paying arbitration prices for the next 3 years and then making sure he’s healthy/productive by the time 2023 comes around. If he continues to pitch at an elite level, you could save enough in the next 3 years to be able to pay him $40 mil a year for 5 years after that and still come up around what you’re suggesting giving him now
Giolito will get super paid if they can convince him to sign. Especially if he comes out hot this season. 20 mill in 22 and 23 makes since. Then yeah, close to 40 mil per. And in 8 years – he’s still just 34. 8 years for 240 is a bargain. If white Sox don’t want to pay that- I’m sure there’s several mlb locations better than the south side of Chicago to take his talents
8/240?????? He’s not a free agent for two more seasons. Also, I doubt the white Sox guarantee a pitcher with an injury history 8 years. I would guess more like 4/60 or 5/80 with some possible options tacked on
why on earth would a kid who grew up in a wealthy family with a strong connection to labor unions, and who waited to sign his first professional contract 10 minutes before the deadline sign for cents on the dollar?
this isn’t a rags to riches dude who needs to sign a crap deal. this is a kid who has always known and maximized his value. absolutely no way an extension gets done for less than 9 figures.
I agree to some extent. I think he’d get in like area of 6yr/120 mil. Giolito knows Sox will be good for most likely the next 5-6 years. Obviously most players want to get paid but they also want to win. He could still sign another lucrative deal at end of that, minus major injury.
Think of Cubs “stars” who didn’t sign extensions- Rizzo, Bryant & Baez. Those guys praying for good year to resurrect their “value”. Bryant & Baez maybe let 50-100 mil slip away. So injuries & underperformance can derail a career/earnings! Think around 120 mil over reasonable amount of years is good for both.
There’s a bit of a difference between “nine figures” and $240 million. Like up to $140 million difference.
3S: Because he has already had one TJS. Nobody knows how many bullets are left in the arm.
Point 2, the White Sox hired his pitching coach. Lucas seems like a loyal guy and that will count for something.
The Chisox haven’t won 80 games in what, 10 years? So why would Giolito want to take a chance, with only 2 years away from freedom.
“a pitcher with an injury history”
He had TJ nearly a decade ago. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure I’d say he has an “injury history.”
So having Tommy John surgery is insignificant?
It is not in any way insignificant, but it is becoming more and more common for pitchers to have TJ so it no longer categorizes a guy as being injury prone. Getting injured once is not injury prone. Injury prone means multiple injuries. It means getting injured more often than normal.
Lucas Giolito had TJ surgery, Carlos Rodon is injury prone. Big difference!
Hard to give pitchers 8 year deals; he will also want UFA before he turns 30… 5 @27AAV was my guess
5 years $65 for giolito? Maybe with a club option or two. on the end, driving the possible control to 7 years.
Wut? Why would he ever sign that
Because his career ERA is 4.44 and he an injury history.
Career ERA is as relevant here as in discussions about Trevor Bauer. Giolito has been so much better the last two seasons than he was in 2018 and before.
If you look at pitchers entering arbitration that sign extensions the $65m range is accurate. His career ERA is almost 4.5 and he has 3 years of arbitration left so he will be paid accordingly. I’m not saying he hasn’t pitched better the past 2 years but his market is his market and his stats are his stats.
He’s looking at maybe $25-30m range in arbitration earnings, so getting 18-20m for free agent years on the end of the extension is fair value.
Giolito has 2 full seasons (25+starts) as a starter under his belt and had ERAs of 6.13 and 3.41.
Bauer was a free agent and had 6 full seasons of starting under his belt.
Agreed. He underperformed expectations the first six years of his career and the Nats pretty much gave up on him, given that at one time he was being called the top pitching prospect in the minors.. He seems to have it figured out now, but a part of that is a pretty high intensity workout regimen that may not age so well. On the other hand, he has a great head on his shoulders and if you can extend him at a reasonable price I think you do. Rooting for him to be great.
I would say that’s a little on the light side. He’s probably a lock for another 25-30 million in arbitration, so you have two free agency years valued at 35 total…not likely he signs for that. Probably need to be in the 25/per range for those FA years
He’s only making $4.15 million this year and he’s only got two more bites at the arb apple. Even if he doubled his salary that still is only $24 million (24.45 if my math is correct) So bake that in and then figure the White Sox give a slight discount. So maybe $65 is a bit light but maybe $75 or 80 over 5 years. $80 million minus that 24.45 is $55.55 divided over 3 years is $18.51 million. That seems completely reasonable. Again with possible club options on the back end of say $22 and $25.
If he doubles his salaries through arb, it would be 4.15, 8.3, and 16.6 for a total of 29.5. Which is in the 25-30 ballpark. I totally agree that 5/75 or 5/80 (which I actually proposed in another comment) are in line with extension trends and would be a fair value. That puts his FA years at an AAV of 22-25/per which is reasonable.
I was not counting the $4.15 already. But I think we’re on the same page.
thats the contract John Danks got. and that was 9 years ago. zero chance that seals it.
Yeah, not happening.
He has all the leverage to bet on himself, because he doesn’t need the money, and frankly never did given his family.
My guess is the pro-union, very progressive Giolito is going to have a very high expectation, or bet on himself staying healthy, for the sake of other players in the league.
Wouldn’t surprise me also if he would rather just go back to California when his contract is up, or at least give himself the option to do so.
Giolito won’t sign for anything except a contract that the Sox would be idiotic to give him, in my opinion. If he wants to go to free agency, let him. You can always still sign him at that point.
Post-college players like Vaughn would be crazy not to take a Jimenez/Robert type deal. Bank $40MM plus before even hitting the show, which is good when your defensive profile isn’t versatile.
Blancos, as an obvious White Sox fan that’s a surprising take. Giolito finished top-7 in Cy Young voting the last 2 years and he appears to be getting better. If you can overpay for the next 2 pre-free agent years to get an additional 3 on the back-end without killing the salary structure, I think you take that every time. 5/65 or 70 would be an absolute steal. Otherwise – yes, you could ‘always sign him’ when he’s a free agent, but 2 more Cy Young years and he will require Bauer/Cole type money.
My point is I don’t think there’s any chance that he would sign a deal like that. I bet the Sox have already tried it. I’m just being realistic.
Signing any pitcher to a long deal is a huge risk, and the Sox don’t have much incentive to take that risk right now.
@ Blancos – got it, and you are right of course that any deal will have its tipping point. If we are talking 7/175 or something, I’m out too.
this is something they happen to be very good at-
why? Not sure. I assume it has something to do w/ loyalty to a fault.
So the good side is they sign young talent @ a fair value & Don Cooper is the pitching coach for 73 years.
Matt Thornton was 1 guy-
@ atlas bunts – Cooper got fired my friend… So – 72 years.
Getter done Hahn
They need to stop with these extensions of people who have never played a game, and stop with these dumb service time games.
Robert was a risk alone, but Vaughn literally offers nothing besides his bat.
If he doesn’t live up to expectations, and it’s always a possibility, he will be nothing but dead weight, because he’s a first baseman.
Stop worrying about service time, and let them play if you think they are ready, especially in a win-now season. There is nothing stopping them from extending Vaughn at any other period during the next several years.
As far as Giolito’s concerned, good luck with that.
Why? Every early contract the Sox have signed someone to has worked out great for them. Even the Tim Anderson contract which at the time I thought was really stupid on their part now looks like a great move.
I also don’t get why the Sox are painted as such evil people with this stuff. There’s also a risk for them, mainly that they are committing tens of millions of dollars to players that they could alternatively be paying $500k a year with no long-term commitment.
Because at some point the deals will bust.
I think Robert could be an all-time great. But to this point, he shown a tendency to get injured and looked brutal at the end of the last season.
He could be Eric Davis, or he could end up looking like Chris Young. if he doesn’t get the bat right.
And I mentioned the issues with Vaughn.
The only thing the White Sox should be worried about is fielding the best possible team this year. If you think Vaughn is ready for opening day, put him on the roster. You have Lance Lynn for one season.
Stop playing these dumb extension games that could put the team in a bad situation financially, because you are worried about what will happen in four years.
If they play well, extend them at that point, as you did for other players over the past decade. The White Sox are literally the only franchise that plays this dumb game with prospects. The Padres certainly don’t do this.
And FYI, you know who is watching all of this? Lucas Giolito. That’s another reason I don’t think he will resign unless he gets top dollar.
Actually just about every team in baseball plays these games, not just the Sox…
The Sox are one of the few that (successfully) try to work early extensions to avoid having to manipulate service time to gain an extra year. The Padres are one of the very, very few teams that haven’t played those games in recent years. How well has that worked out for them? Like the Sox, they have won absolutely nothing so far, and it didn’t buy them any good will with Tatis; he didn’t leave one penny on the table.
I’d say it’s worked out pretty well for the Padres, considering they started their rebuild around the same time — beginning with the trade for Tatis — yet have managed to create a deeper, more successful team at the major league level — they went farther in the playoffs and had the third best overall record in the league — without depleting their minor league system, which remains one of the best in the game.
The other reason extending so many young players is foolish is that if you know how to draft and develop players, and do a solid job with pro scouting, you don’t need to worry about losing everyone, because you can easily replace them.
And good for Tatis, and the Padres! Rewarding players with a solid deal is what should happen, and it probably will build goodwill in the clubhouse, in addition to the fact that they aren’t playing service time games.
Lol ok hold on a second. So you’re all for the 14/340 Tatis deal despite the fact that he seems to get hurt daily, but you have a beef with the Sox giving Robert a 6/50 + two option years deal because he’s “shown a tendency to get injured?”
After one year in the league, Robert already has a gold glove, and looks like he’ll be hitting 25 homers a year in his sleep. Time will tell, but even if his bat never quite becomes what everyone is hoping for, he can still be a huge part of the Sox being successful. And no $340 million commitment has been made.
Yes, because the Padres called him up when he was ready, saw what he could do over the better part of two seasons, then opted to make a decision on his contract. No way I would have given him that much, but I’m always going to side with players over owners.
What did the White Sox do? Claim Robert was tired when he was clearly ready to get a call up, then pretty much hold an opening day promotion or manipulation over his head to get him to sign a deal before even seeing what he could do in the majors.
And Robert hasn’t shown half of the talent of Tatis. I hope he gets there, but he had a very rough second half of the season, despite his defensive play. If that doesn’t improve, the deal comes into question especially in the latter years.
The White Sox did it the right way with Sale, Q, Eaton, Anderson and Moncada. Call them up when they are ready, then let them prove to you they can play before you give out an extension.
Now, because they are worried more about contracts than development, they are suppressing development in MLB, then threatening players with AAA in order to get them to sign a deal, before they know if they can actually play. Jimenez and Robert played, Madrigal didn’t and was sent back down. It’s not only wrong, it’s a poor way to handle player development.
And in the case of Vaughn, it’s even more puzzling, because they have every reason to get him more reps. He has never played above A ball.
You’re acting like they’re throwing extensions at just anyone; they aren’t. They’re giving extensions to extremely high end prospects with elite skills. That’s it. It has been worth the risk on literally every player they have extended over the last handful of years.
Not only have those prospects been extremely high end, but they were dominant at the AAA level or already producing at MLB level…. this is not the case with Vaughn… you would think his complete lack of experience past A+ would lower the cost of an extension when compared to Robert or Jimenez? You would also think that Vaughn would value himself equally to these players…. Vaughn already got a huge draft signing bonus, so I would assume he’d be willing to wait out an extension until the offer reaches the level of the ones Jimenez and Robert signed…. if I was Rick Hahn, I wouldn’t feel a sense of urgency to make an offer in this range without any AAA or MLB track record
Sticking with 6/100 as a strong calculated risk and fair to Giolito (if Hahn was allowed by JR). That’s about 3/70 on his FA years after his 3 arb seasons. If he wants to gamble on hitting FA in 3yrs to get a Strasburg type deal, at least club is making a real effort. Vaughn should be no rush to promote, but we shall see.
I think that’s in the ballpark, maybe an opt-out after the fifth year. Jerry will be clutching his heart putting nine figures in ink, though.
Vaughn would be pondering over an Eloy- type contract.
Vaughn is a 23-year old DH? A young man who can only play 1B and is blocked by the MVP. You’d like to think he’d be more nimble, at least enough to play LF? Obviously not.
Well he’ll be playing more 1B every year that Abreu stays with the Sox. Abreu is an RBI machine but getting old, so you have to give him more rotation at DH to keep him fresh and keep his bat in the lineup.
But the Sox do have a lot of DH types. I would definitely give Vaughn reps in LF. Why the hell not?
Giolito’s not going to sign an extension unless it’s record breaking. My guess is 5/$150MM. If he has a monster season, add 3 yrs and $100MM to any new contract.
That would certainly be record breaking. Jerry is not going to triple the current record.
um no
He won’t get 5/150 because he isn’t a free agent. He has 3 years of control left that will probably cost the Sox about 30 million or so total. Every person on here suggesting a 20+ AAV is ignoring the very important fact that he is not a free agent and will not see an extension that high. At best he gets 30 per on FA seasons, which I think is pretty high. So if he signs a 5 year deal, he won’t break 100 million
Replying to CWSAscension’s 6/$100million estimate.
Nevermind, the reply ended up in the right place. Sometimes it doesn’t at the end of these comment threads.
Is it possible that the White Sox see a significant raise in minor league salaries coming up in the new CBA, and these deals won’t look so one-sided next year? The new structure obviously won’t reach nearly to these levels, but when you raise the floor you generally raise the ceiling.
no need to rush Vaughn yet
No, there isn’t. Which is why I don’t understand this rush to extend him.
If they send him down, and bring him up past the service deadline, no one will question it, because it’s the sensible thing to do in terms of his development.
Make him earn his money.
i kinda agree with your comments on extending guys early. its getting crazy. all the crazy gymnastics to avoid looking like your depressing service time when guys like White, Kelenic, and Vaughn havent played at AAA yet and there was no need to justify keeping any of them down. keep him down for exactly as long ad you need to and bring him up the 1st day after you pass the 1 year cutoff. the union can complain all they want but until they can formulate set criteria to prove that a player is ready they wolnt win one grievance.
If he gets an extension, it would be foolish for the Braves to not to the same with Fried. Fried is the better pitcher in my biased opinion… but statistically the arguments is very real to support that stance. Braves should go lock him down either this season or next
While I agree the braves should extend fried(preferably after another solid and healthy year), the numbers don’t really support him being a better pitcher than giolito.
Time to cue up the Carly Simon/James Bond song ‘Nobody Does It Better’ once again for the White Sox and their contract extensions?
Just among their current roster they have tied up Aaron Bummer, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert with the last two getting deals even before they made their MLB debuts. Then there where their past ‘team-friendly’ contract extensions to Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Adam Eaton that paid huge prospect dividends when the front office finally decided to cash them in to undertake a much needed rebuild that has put them into the position of being perennial World Series contenders for the better part of this decade.
There where a couple of busts in the past, notably the John Danks extension that pre-dated all of the ones mentioned along with a minimal Nate Jones deal that never really hampered the team’s finances. Both were pitchers which probably goes a long way into explaining why the team has been more confident in dishing out extensions to their position players.
One thing is for certain. There is an MLB team on the other side of town who probably wishes they had been as pro-active in tying up their young core as what the White Sox have done in the recent past.
* were (where) x 2! lol
I love about everything they’ve done in the rebuild, except for whoever scouted the Vanderbilt pitching staff in 2015 and recommended taking Carson Fullmer over Walker Buehler. How much does that one hurt?
Personally, I’m wondering if JR is contemplating selling in the next year or two. If he gets Gio and Vaughn as well as Madrigal locked up, and they all have decent production the next year or two, and the Sox can be a very competitive club, the Sox will be worth much more. And, JR won’t have to worry about paying all these guys in the latter stages of their contracts once he sells.
Reinsdorf has been majority owner of the club for 40 years now. With a current valuation of $1B+, I don’t think it matters what they do with the roster at this point, at least from a financial perspective.
Still, I really hope his son does sell the team soon. They need a majority owner who cares about things like increasing market share.
Michael Reinsdorf is the President/CEO of the Bulls. He is not even a member of the White Sox front office. Jerry Reinsdorf will be selling the White Sox when the proper time comes while son Michael will retain the Bulls. Jerry has owned both teams and been a big part of NBA and MLB ‘politics’ but his first love was always baseball. Conversely, his son Michael is the basketball fan and will continue on in that sport.
Aaron- yeah I heard a few years ago that when Jerry passes he wants the team sold.
Gosh if only. No instead he is greedy and evil. He has said the only time they’ll be free from his clutches is when they pry it out of his cold dead hands. Which because he’s cartoonishly rich won’t be for 25+ years. He’s also gone on record telling fans to F off.
@cysoxsale
You do realize JR is 85 y.o., right? Pretty sure he won’t have control over them for the next 25+ years.
you do realize that a cockroach (and that’s what he is) can survive even a nuclear blast. his absolute hatred of Sox fans and his multi-billion dollar worth keep him going
@cysoxsale
Math must not be your strong suit. Let me put it this way:
Do you really think JR will still be running the team when he’s 110? 85+25=110
If you’ve ever seen video of a 110 y.o., then you can safely assume JR will not be running the team at that age (assuming he makes it even close to that age).
The idea of signing Vaughn to an extension is a terrible idea to me. I’m all for these extensions, but in the case of Eloy, Robert, Moncada, and Anderson; the Sox had seen them all succeed in the minors and/or the majors. Vaughn has barely played in the minors, not nearly enough to know what he is. That is what scares me about this extension talk.
The White Sox recent track record with extensions to their positional players is solid. They’ve scouted Andrew Vaughn since his freshmen year at the University of California and didn’t even blink when he was available with their #3 overall pick in the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft. Vaughn was not only the best college bat then, he was also considered one of the best in the last decade. He has continued to impress as a professional and with his work last year at the White Sox alternate site versus the team’s best young pitchers. Vaughn possesses the most elite organizational hitting tools since Frank Thomas. He is more of a sure bet to produce power and average with a high BA/OBP/OPS and minimal SO’s than any player in their system since Thomas.
I hear all of that. But he’s only played up to high A. Also I hold no water with stats and progression or regression of players at the alternate sites last season.
If baseball fans really want a true education when it comes to baseball and its players I highly recommend a subscription to The Athletic. Their White Sox beat writer James Fegan does incredible comprehensive work with his articles including in depth features regarding virtually ever player. His recent piece on Andrew Vaughn is no exception: theathletic.com/2428886/2021/03/11/how-white-sox-p…
I can all but guarantee that most fans would change their skepticism regarding a Vaughn’s chances at not only being the opening day DH but perhaps with an extension as well.
@Aaron Sapoznik
I’m 50-50 on him being the OD DH. It definitely wouldn’t hurt him to get some seasoning in AAA, in fact he probably should just to be on the safe side, but I’m not about to complain one bit if he does break camp with the team. And with AAA starting later this year, it could make it all the more likely he will be the OD DH.
I do think him being the OD DH and getting the extension will go hand-in-hand. He will either get both or get neither (at least by OD for the extension).
If I were a betting man, with where the momentum is going with this, I’d bet (by a slim margin) he’s the OD DH (and gets the extension). Just my gut prediction.
Collins is quietly having a nice spring and hitting good pitchers in the process. He is at least making a case for backup C (or 3rd with limited Grandal situation + Lucroy) and/or some DH duty…..that development could further stop Vaughn from being rushed despite his long-term hitting expectations.
Collins actually should be the DH. The White Sox have yo-yoed him all over the place and he’s hit and cut down on his strike outs at every level. 120ABs over 2 seasons is not enough to know what you have.
One of the benefits of extending guys early that doesn’t get discussed as much as it should is the advantage of the AAV dropping in later years. Take the Sox for example. Their team AAV is almost $40MM more this season than their actual payroll ($166MM to $128MM, according to Cot’s). This is huge come ’23, ’24, and ’25 when option years and potential arb years could push the AAV to where they can’t afford (or unwilling) to keep a specific player. It’s very possible the team AAV in ’23, ’24, and ’25 is lower than actual payrolls those years, and possibly by a wide margin.
Obviously there’s a giant risk in extending Vaughn right now, but if he ends up being the real deal, having him at $6MM or $7MM AAV will not only be a bargain compared to who knows what he could command in ’26 in arb, but that could make a huge difference in who they would be able to keep in ’26 instead of letting that player go to F/A (or in who they could sign as a F/A). This is especially the case if JR is still alive and running the team in ’26.
I’d gamble on Giolito unless he wants 4yr $65 mill or somewhere in that ballpark
I’ll correct the first sentence of my post. The AAV won’t drop in later years, obviously it stays the same because it’s the average annual value. It just makes the deal more advantageous for team AAV. $7MM for the first year looks worse (since the player would be making $500K in that year) than $7MM for the final year, especially if that player makes $15MM+.
Not saying Vaughn specifically would approach $15MM in his final year of arb, I’m just using a general example to show the value.
White Sox are just a quality organization. They take care of their players. This is why they get extensions done with most of their young players, and this has been happening for a long time. This team was partially built on the enhanced quality we got back for Chris Sale (Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech) and Jose Quintana (Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease). Sale and Quintana’s trade value was heightened because they were both on long-term, team-friendly deals. Quality organzation.
Barry, this team was built by trades and a 10 year tank job. They haven’t won 80 games in 10 years.
And I don’t believe they have any proof yet, to back up any notion that they won the Chris Sale trade, as of now. Yoan Moncada has not shown yet, that he is anything to brag about. Kopech – what has he done?
@Dogbone
If you ignore his MVP-caliber season in ’19, then I guess you have a point that Yoan isn’t anything to brag about yet. Because every player in MLB should be based off their 60-game ’20 stats, especially Yoan, fighting the effects of COVID-19 throughout those 60 games.
I know, he’s such a sissy for not being able to tough his way through COVID-19 last year. In fact, I suggest you mention that to him if you ever cross paths with him. I’m sure he would appreciate that constructive criticism.
Someone else mentioned the Robert last minute extension and then the announcement he made the team out of spring training. Same script again. Vaughn knows the deal. Sign the contract or go to AAA. And to be perfectly honest he should be heading there anyway to get some seasoning.
Two words guys:
Liam F*ing Hendriks
@Rallyshirt
I see you took advantage of the Buy 2 Words, Get 1 Free sale at Jewel. Nicely done.