Hey, it’s going to be winter calendrically (which is definitely a word, despite the red squiggly line that just appeared) and it’s already winter meteorologically for a lot of the country. (Takes a look at weekend forecast. Sees lake effect snowstorm. Cries.)

Fortunately for us, that means that it’s time for HOT STOVE ACTION, which is a term you probably shouldn’t Google at work, just in case.

White Sox sell Sale, but are they sold on larger sale?

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 02: Chris Sale #49 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning on October 2, 2016 at U. S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 02: Chris Sale #49 of the White Red Sox  (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

Hey, so the Red Sox are gunning for it. Tuesday they traded Yoan Moncada (possibly/probably the best prospect in baseball) to the South Side, along with Michael Kopech, another very highly-rated prospect. (He can throw 105 MPH!) This could signal a full-scale firesale (decent band name) for the White Sox, though they don’t have to do that. It could also signal a major year ahead for the Red Sox, though we probably should have seen it coming. Boston GM Dave Dombrowski has never met a prospect he didn’t want to trade.

That doesn’t make him wrong, necessarily. In fact, if most of baseball is clutching onto prospects tightly, and you have plenty of them, it might make sense to exploit the market a bit. Plus, the Red Sox had a very good team last year, and this trade doesn’t rob them of any 2016 contributors. But it is a bit concerning, for the long haul. If they miss their chance to win in this window, which isn’t impossible since the baseball playoffs are a total crapshoot, they could find themselves bereft of organizational depth and youth, meaning when Dombrowski exits his successor will have a hell of a time fixing the problem.

But, the Red Sox are a very rich baseball team, so they can afford to eschew young, cost-controlled talent more than a team like, say, the Rays can. As for the White Sox, they have multiple players that could very well fetch big returns on the market. But as Grant Brisbee laid out for SB Nation, that can actually cut both ways:

The White Sox could be swimming in prospects. Rolling around on them. Handing them out as party favors. They would use their prospects for stapling things around the office because they’d have too many of them, really. And as we all know, the point of baseball is to acquire prospects. The team with the most prospects at the end of the year gets a parade right down the middle of the Internet.

Except this brings up the Greater Theory of Rebuilding, which I totally didn’t just make up:

The total number of prospects you can get by trading all of your best players is inversely proportional with how much sense it makes to trade them.

That is, if you have a ton of great players, you can exchange them for a whole bunch of prospects. Except … you have a bunch of great players. Maybe keep them? Build around them? Do good baseball things with them?

Trading Sale doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll go full-scale rebuild. He was an excellent pitcher, but they can get hurt at any time, and Jose Quintana has been almost as good or better for a few years now anyway. With Sale’s contract off the books, a player in Moncada that could very well step in and contribute right away, and the remainder of the offseason to look around, it’s not inconceivable that Chicago decides to make a few incremental changes. The AL Central isn’t a juggernaut of a division. If things don’t pan out, then you could look to trade a few vets near the deadline, play young players down the stretch, and have a good idea where you stand heading into next offseason.

Or, maybe you just blow it up now, if you’re getting offers too good to refuse. Both are possible, and it actually puts the White Sox in a nice position of strength, for a team that just went 78-84.

Other Hot Stove Action from the winter meetings

wade davis cubs
KANSAS CITY, MO – OCTOBER 14: Wade Davis (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

Here are a few more comings-and-goings, as of press time. (Ha, like we have an actual press.)

-The Cubs and Royals are reportedly finalizing a deal to swap outfielder Jorge Soler for relief stud Wade Davis. The Cubs have a glut of outfield depth, with Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant, Jon Jay, and Albert Almora all likely to see time in one spot or another. Soler is still promising, and could offer a lot to the Royals if he can hit for an entire season. Davis was hurt for part of last season, but if he’s on, he’ll be a great addition to the Cubs bullpen, for the one season he’s under contract. (Which limits the upside of the deal, sure, but it also limits the downside if his forearm issues resurface.) And hey, the Cubs didn’t re-sign Aroldis Chapman.

-The Rangers re-signed Carlos Gomez, as partially reported by Jon Heyman:

-The Red Sox are bringing in Mitch Moreland, which, sure, why not:

-And the Rays are signing catcher Wilson Ramos, formerly of the Nationals:

The knee Sherman mentions is the torn ACL Ramos suffered on a play at the plate in September. He’s reportedly not expected back until the summer for Tampa, but if he recovers, that could be a nice value signing for them.

Quick hits

NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 03:  Singer Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – FEBRUARY 03: Beyonce (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

-Hey, the Grammy award nominations are out, if you care about the Grammys. Personally, I became a lot happier once I realized that they’re essentially the Teen Choice Awards, but if you want to believe that one of the five best songs written last year came off a Bieber record, more power to you. (Oh, wow. I’m old now.)

-It looks like Oregon has a new coach, which we’ll write about in more depth later this morning:

Taggart has unquestionably turned around the USF program, from a 2-10 record in 2013 to going 10-2 this past year.

-Speaking of new coaches, Temple’s Matt Rhule went to Baylor, thanks to what I imagine was a garbage truck full of money. (He was in Philadelphia, maybe the garbageman was Tony Danza!) In related news, the high school kid with the @mattrhule handle on Twitter has already suffered from mistaken identity.

-Check out this sweet meteor action, which you also probably shouldn’t Google at work:

View post on imgur.com

Think of everything we missed before dash cams, people. It’s tragic.

-Ben Koo writes that conference championship games should be replaced by another playoff week, and I don’t think he’s wrong. As long as Western Michigan would have gotten in.

-United Airlines is now going to charge a fee for overhead bin usage, which is hilarious.

-Lamar Jackson is probably winning the Heisman, but that’s no thanks to a Louisville recruiting feed that cast its vote for Jabrill Peppers.

-Here’s a dog adorably taking out what I imagine to be years of pent-up frustration on this cat:

Cat dunk

 

-Brian Cashman said the Chris Sale trade makes the Red Sox the Golden State Warriors.

-Ohio State fans drank $1 million in beer at games in 2016. Which actually sounds low, if you’ve ever watched an OSU game at an OSU bar, as I did last year in Denver. Though the pitchers were reasonably priced, now that I think about it.

-Kevin Harlan once again did play-by-play of two idiots on the field, and it was once again better than the actual game.

-Joe Tessitore is getting ESPN’s college football playoff game.

-Tiger Woods returned at the Hero World Challenge, and though he had an up-and-down tournament, his impact on the ratings was enormous. The interest is still there. But his game probably isn’t, at least not yet, and maybe not consistently ever again. (Still, if he cleans things up, he could easily win a major or two this year, especially with Augusta and Quail Hollow in the rotation.)

Fake news headline I wish was real

Area Man Expertly Feigns Excitement When Girlfriend Announces She Has Christmas Ballet Tickets

One last glorious moment of procrastination

And finally, magnets! Nature’s illusion:

Magnets from gifs

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.