Chicago White Sox

Remember when Kopech hit that rough patch earlier this season and the Tommy Longo’s of the world were ready to declare him a bust? Seems like he’s already shut those haters up through his first six innings. The talent is beyond insane and he could easily be the prize of the deal.

Nice work Michael!!

Settle down Kopech.

K #4!

Where is fathom to comment on that 94 MPH fastball? 😜

Gavin Sheets with a three rub bomb in the 1st for Winston-Salem.

Got to protect there Moncada.

That’s good, we could use some fresh voices / optimism!

K number three!!

And given he’s right-handed, he should be the odd man out IMO.

Why does this gamethread seem so much more positive than usual? Simply because of Kopech starting?

No walks please.

I could be wrong, but I think he said he wanted to go heavy fastball the first time through the order and then go heavier with the off-speed stuff as the game progresses.

Kopech’s first inning: 11 pitches / 9 strikes / 2 balls 10 fastballs / 1 slider 3 swinging strikes

Two K’s!!!

One batter, one K!

Well hopefully Kopech can work through this Tigers order quickly then!

Hopefully soon. I just put my twins down for their nap and was trying to time this shit just right. Fucking Alan Trammel is going to mess this up.

I’m 100% aligned with this. We should also be pursuing Harper while we go after Machado. I lean towards Manny because he’s a far better organizational fit, but to your point we can always use the depth created by a Harper signing to fill other needs. The goal is ultimately adding impact talent, not settling for B tier free agents.

I think he was adamant about playing SS this year to increase his market. Being able to play the entire left side of the infield greatly increases the number of teams potentially interested in him. And he may very well prefer playing SS, but dollars will ultimately drive the decision.

He’s had one season below an .860 OPS in the last four years. I don’t see why we’d suddenly expect significantly less from a 26 year old going forward. Add elite 3B defense and what his signing would mean to the organization and 10/$350M is clearly worth it IMO. And I’m not against a Rendon signing, but I want to maximize my chances of landing a stud 3B and that means going after Manny this offseason and then Arenado & Rendon the following if we miss.

Please allow more than two innings this time baseball gods!

Without diving too deeply, I think they’re just normal in-season variances. In aggregate his numbers are fantastic and he’d still be a plus defensive 3B. I have no problem throwing 10/$350M at Machado. He should be our #1 target without question this offseason.

Machado should be the goal. Obviously that’s a lofty goal, but we should be putting all chips on the table to make it happen. Regardless, I’d love to sign some vets to 1 to 2 year deals at key areas of need. Outside of 3B, we could use a CF, DH, SP, & a RH reliever. While I’m not anticipating it necessarily, I think we should be positioned to take advantage of potential massive leaps from Moncada, Lopez, & Giolito next year. We should be past the point of running Adam Engel tier prospects out there on a nicely basis and hoping we get lucky.

It’s definitely getting harder & harder to cheer for losses.