Leaderboard

Hello everyone! I just found the board a couple of weeks ago and this is my first post. I'm from Southern Illinois and I am primarily a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but I've always liked the White Sox as well. Being from Illinois is part of that, as is my disdain for the Cubs 😁. Anyway, I am honestly more excited to watch the Sox this year than the Cardinals. It's nice to see a team seeing their division weakening and then making additions to the roster to make themselves dominant. I just wanted to say hello to everyone and share my excitement to really root on the White Sox this year. As a noob I won't agree or disagree with anyone's take on these signings, but again, it's nice to see a team that appears to be trying. Hendriks seems like a good add to me!

Right team. Wrong pitcher

Actually, you are. But you didn’t answer my question.

Well, I heard about it yesterday morning! If Harold had sources why didn’t he know about it then! See how easy that was? Im sorry but they had every move this offseason way beforehand. I’m not going to doubt your sources but it could very well be that they are not as connected as you? Or maybe we’re asked not to break it?

Can we all agree that the Omar Narvaez / Alex Colome trade was a massive W for Rick Hahn?

Has anyone factored into their calculation the fact that Hendriks gives 110% out on the field, rather than merely 100? That is literally ten more, which makes a difference when extrapolated over a 162 game season.

@maloney.adam thank you for introducing us to the food guys. Some of these guys bashed you but still listen to Schins . You are the poster of the offseason!

excruciatingly pissed I had to be stuck with that hell thread for months and it happens while I'm sleeping.

I heard about the signing yesterday afternoon. If those dopes are "insiders" why did they have to wait for Passan to break the news?

Sign Bauer and keep Kelley, Madrigal, and Heuer.

Your welcome @Orlando! And thank you so much for kudos! I really do enjoy this time year and discussing the offseason with you guys.

I don't think anybody is questioning his info. He definitely has sources, and I appreciate when he shares information. I just don't understand why he was trying to discredit Beef/Portillos by saying they would have leaked the Hendriks signing sooner if they were true insiders. Those food accounts might not have had the signing yet, or they might have had it and chose not to leak it just like Harold. Either way, it doesn't mean they don't have sources. It seems pretty obvious they have connections somewhere, even if it's secondhand.

Narvaez

Me - I had to seperate this into a new thread. Didn't need 80 pages of historical garbage. Lets get the big news in its own thread.

I guess the big difference is that at no point in this contract is it actually 18M/per for for some reason some people can’t comprehend that

I don’t question his info. I just don’t think his comment made much sense. “These guys are dopes. Why did they need Passan to report it? I knew since yesterday and also did not report it.”

FWIW: Harold told me this yesterday afternoon. There’s no reason to question his info.

Please don’t trade Kelley.

I still think signing a free agent is more likely but Corbin Burnes is definitely a “target”. Probably expensive though

You can't treat last season like Andrew Vaughn did nothing. The typical movement would have seen Vaughn go from High A to AAA by the end of the year. His normal spot this year would be either breaking camp after signing an extension or coming up in a month without one. He did go to the Covid camp and did get a ton of experience against high end talent and pitching. That also can't be ignored. The Sox know better than anyone if he is ready or not. They will tip their hand over the course of the next month or so with one simple action. Do they sign a DH or not. if not, they think Vaughn is ready.

The Padres pushed Cole Wilcox to the 3rd round signed him for $3.3M and just traded him to the Rays. Teams can and will trade their players whenever they want.

It's a fucking business Jack. These guys know what they signed up for.

I wouldn't spend a dollar on a DH. Spend it on starting pitching and fill DHs ABs internally. I'm content with Leury at DH if we can get a solid vet SP. Between Eloy, Yermin, Vaughn, Collins and Abreu we can fill DH ABs.

The reason we are in the mess we are in today is because the conservative media apparatus, the President of the United States, and the majority of Republicans in the House and the Senate spent the time since November 7, 2020 amplifying conspiracy theories that the election had been stolen from Trump with no actual evidence of that fact. And when the courts overwhelmingly rejected those claims, continued to amplify and push remedies outside the framework of the Constitution to prevent Biden from being seated as President. So yes, it is more than just Trump being Trump - as Mitt Romney said on the Senate floor, if the majority of Republicans had told the American people the truth from the word go - that Donald Trump lost the election - we might not be in the mess that we are in today.

lol, was just thinking about when Ryan McGuffey tweeted that he'd rather have hendriks for 3 years 50 million than 4 years 50 million (paraphrasing) and how that, in a way, is what is happening.

We've reached the point of this discussion of comparing save stats as to who is better. At least it's not ERA comparison. But still dumb no doubt.

I cannot believe some of you are so eager to get rid of Madrigal for average mlb players.

I sure hope not. They should sign Bauer for just money (and a lost second round pick) and just win the ALC (certainly) and the AL (maybe) for the next 3 or so years.

Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero / Jimmy Cordero

They brought in lance lynn. Does that not make you happy? They have a new pitching coach using analytics and science and he is jazzed about Cease. They have Kopech finally ready. I swear sometimes this page. They just signed the best closer in the game. The bullpen is stacked. They actually spent money.

For a franchise that is very stingy with money to drop 18 million a year on a reliever for the next 3 years minimum is not the smartest move. If we had 180 million dollar payroll, cool. 130 Million dollar payroll not so much.

Are we going to start being Bulls fans when they didn't want to trade Deng in a deal for Kobe? Seriously, I know none of these guys are that guy like Kobe was but for the love being content with signing an aging #4 starter and assuming that your kids are going to be ready for primetime this year isn't a good idea. Nick Madrigal is a nice player and I like him, but dropping 10-15 million on an eh #4 starter and a questionable 5 hole on a championship caliber team isn't busting the window open, it's cracking it open barely and hoping we get a breeze. Pitching wins titles. If our scouting has decided that they can get a #3 or above caliber starter for the 3 guys that keep being mentioned, you do it. The day after you do it, you sign LaStella or Wong and take the extra money you have and wait until the trade deadline or bargain shop for a DH in about 2 weeks. Going into last year, it seems like the Sox always find 1-2 new quality arms for the pen from their system. It's a machine. Take advantage of it. You have tons of SP in your system. Go get the freaking MLB quality pitcher and let's go win now. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. A move with those 3 guys leaves you zero glaring holes. Rant over. Have a super night and go Sox!

The difference is Harold never claimed or tried to “break” info. That said, it’s entirely plausible the food guys get info, but not enough to know when things are done. Either way I don’t get the hand wringing. If Harold already knows everyone why does he care?

*begins refreshing Soxtalk and Twitter obsessively*

He retweeted a guy that said Giolito/Lynn extensions afterwards so I'm assuming in regards to that.

For Benintendi? I wouldn't trade the Red Sox anything more than Reynaldo Lopez. Benintendi hasn't been good in like 3 years. I don't get this board's obsession with him.

Colome was great but I think the Sox got all they could out of him and are jumping ship at the right moment.

Nah, we're not all allowed to agree on anything on this site.

Reality and your reality are two different things. There is more to making a point about a player other than "winning" or "saves." This is a team game and there is a lot more at work than that; you don't have to be an analytics guy or professional to understand that. I am a fan of Colome, for the record. But there are a myriad of excellent points that run contrary to your frankly silly blanket statements. And it seems that you are ignoring them. There are other factors simply besides "getting the save" that easily make Hendriks an arguably better closer than Colome, which include fielding and other elements you yourself mentioned yet scoffed at. You definitely come across like a simpleton here. If you don't think statistics play a part you're silly. If you think every save merely comes down to the closer himself and nothing else then clearly not very much is actually "observable" to you. Tunnel vision isn't a compliment. You're not listening.

Its either 4/54 or 13/54.

Man, I am so torn about Madrigal. The analytics guy in me knows getting Castillo, Gray, or Woodruff greatly enhances our chances of winning a world series over Madrigal. It squarely puts us in the Dodgers/Padres/Braves/Yankees category (probably above Yankees). I completely understand that Madrigal in today's game doesn't really add as much value as it would seem - HOWEVER god damnit i love madrigal. he's the everyday guy grinding, the small guy against the odds, slapping the ball around the field, playing old school. he just embodies the white sox and the south side. grinding out at-bats, putting the bat on the ball. he's a thousand cliches rolled into one fat cigar. and i like smoking that cigar and want to see him on the sox for the next 10 years. I want that feeling when he gets up with two outs and nobody on that the inning isn't over.. that he's going to be able to knock a single and turn that lineup over to anderson who can double him home or another single that leads to Moncada/Abreu/Eloy/Robert. There's just not another carbon copy of Madrigal out there. he's a special throwback guy and i want that on my team. That being said i get that mednick can pick up slack ... that lastella can do that too & our team is probably better with a rotation of Giolito, Keuchel, Gray, Lynn, Kopech, Cease and knowing that you have those guys at reasonable prices for a bit too.

Eww. Would certainly hope for more than Musgrove for a Nicky Big Sticks package.

Dodgers?

Yeah Texas was first team I thought about. Honestly next team I thought about was Cubs and Hendricks, but that would cause the worst spelling ever on this site.

Reminds me of that time Machado would only play short.

Oh yeah - in grand scheme of things, nothing major to get upset about. Team is still better and I'm not one who worries about perception of moves or no moves. To be honest - this team didn't need to do a lot in the off-season for me to feel good about them. The only thing I wouldn't have wanted was to spend a bunch of money on some over the hill bums or to trade Kopech or any of our front line pitching prospects for a short-term rental. Those types of moves would have irritated me to no other because i think they would be too short-sited. Compound that with the recent move the Indians made and this team is more than good enough to enter the season and you can tinker from there and upgrade based upon where things look in June/July. Don't need to spend it all now - although like you said, I expect a few more moves because they need some extra depth in the rotation. Those are the types of places where things can go south fast and put you in a hole that you don't make the playoffs. The positional depth on this team (*knock on wood*) is strong where even if a few players regress, I expect others to step up, that the offense should be good regardless (and its why I was never a big fan of allocating all that money to Springer). I'm also pretty excited about the coaching staff, in particular Katz. I don't think he will be some miracle worker, but I do think this was the right time for a fresh voice and interested to see how some of the young Sox arms can take steps forward, in particular Cease, Kopech and Croquet. Less fascinated with Lopez because I don't think his stuff has looked good (and I don't think that had anything to do with Cooper) - however, the new coach might surprise us, especially if he can help Lopez find that curve again.

Ingredients for a great closer •great stuff - check •ability to go multiple innings - check •composure to close out close game - check •balls to tell your wife you ain’t going back to Canada - double check

They just signed a reliever for the highest AAV and people still take shots.

Assuming health checks out, Kluber could be a great option for a short-term spot in the rotation. I'd be all for it. 1 year + incentives and maybe an option? Giddy up.