ChiSox59

I guess. I am just not in love with taking what you can get for McCann just to create space for EE and relegate Collins to strictly backup duties. I guess we'll see how things shake out, but its definitely an option.

The primary reason is he's going to be on an innings limit in 2020, and if he starts the year in the majors unimpeded, he'll be shut down by August 1. No thanks. The extra year of service is just an added benefit to handling this the correct way.

These are wildly different circumstances. Bryant also wasn't returning from a major arm reconstruction surgery. Such a silly comp. Plus, Brant hit like 15 homers in ST that year and was clearly one of the best players on the Cubs. If Kopech mows down all his competition in ST, this will be closer to a comp, but then you're also still discounting the whole arm reconstruction thing. So yah...not anywhere near the same thing.

But but but I threw 14 innings in the major leagues and then blew out my elbow! How in the world could they not put me on the major league roster after I haven't thrown a competitive pitch in 18 months! I don't understand! Grievance!!

Because McCann hits lefties well, therefore he'll likely against LHP most of the time. Then you only have DH and 1B for Grandal, Abreu and EE. Who all mash lefties.

I think Leury will be the primary CF over Engel to start the year. I’m pretty sure they’ll add someone to play 2B and then shift to bench. Several names that make varying degrees of sense. i hear ya on the DH concern, but EE isn’t going to sign somewhere that he’s going to regularly end up on the bench against LHP, which he rakes.

Too bad EE can't play RF! I just really don't see the fit based on who is on the roster curretnly. Having to sit one of EE, Abreu or Grandal everytime McCann or Collins is in the lineup is silly, especially against LHP.

Keep banging your head on the wall if you'd like. Kopech will be in AAA, and that is where he should be. Its really not even a question.

My bad!

Seems I convinced someone! Pretty sure I was trying to get you on this train a week or two ago - now you're convincing others. May have posters wrong, but pretty sure!

In regards to the bolded guys, seems like a lot of adding for the sake of adding. Give me Ryu/Keuchel and Wood/Walker/Gio then a guy like Gennett or Dietrich for 2B and then bench and call it a day. I guess EE makes some sense if McCann is traded, but doubt Sox want to rely on Collins on primary backup.

I like the McHugh idea, perhaps as the third guy. We could easily park him in the pen. Keuchel + Wood/Walker + McHugh is about as good as we can hope for at this juncture. With Wood and Walkers injury history, would be nice to have a vet swing man like McHugh.

Correct to the edit. Obviously Keuchel is not signing a 1 year deal.

Rich Hill is in fact injured and just had a TJS alternative surgery. He’s not an option.

I hate bringing up Cubs trades because they’re mentioned wayyyyyyyyy too often here. But Quintana still makes a ton of sense. Just have to wonder if Cubs would expect more from Sox than from anyone else considering circumstances.

Madbum would not be good at GRF. Fine not doing this. But ya, it’s getting thin. Doubt Ryu is in the cards with the teams that still need SP. Keuchel and a 1 year deal is probably what we get.

Darvish was better and more healthy than Ryu before he became a FA. Darvish amassed 19.3 fWAR is 6 seasons before he was a FA vs Ryu 15.1 fWAR in 7 seasons. The market has definitely changed a bit since Darvish got his deal, but Darvish IMO, and certainly with respect to fWAR, was a meaningfully better bet at the point in which they became FAs.

Same amount as Wheeler though. I too would rather bet on Wheeler moving forward, but he's gone, and we likely would have had to 2x the outlay for what Ryu will get. So you're definitely paying for the better bet. I don't know if the Sox will sign one of Ryu or Keuchel. I honestly can't say I blame them too much if it will require 4 year commitments, because I think the chances those guys are anything more than average #5 SPs - if they're even pitching - by the back end of those contracts is pretty much 0%. But as you said earlier Jack, as of right now, Sox pretty much need all of Gio, Cease, and Kopech to admirably fill the 1-3 spots in the rotation moving forward.

Yeah, you hate Ryu. You've mentioned that. He's definitely not perfect - I too would prefer a 2 year deal - but that isn't going to happen.

Ryu on a 3 year deal. Keuchel on a 3 year deal would be OK as well. Really don't want to go to 4 years on either . While I prefer Ryu overall, I'd feel more comfortable going 4 on Keuchel because he's more durable and I feel he may be a bit cheaper. But I'd consider the 4th years for both depending on the AAV. I'd be fine with pretty much any of Walker, Wood, McHugh, Gio, or Smyly for the last spot. Likely in that order.

Ugh. Bumgarner is literally the type of signing that I just covered in the post you quoted. Signing Bumgarner to a 5/$100M deal he will require is going to be thorn in the side of this organization by 2022, right when they're entering the prime with this core. No one denies he'd vastly improve the club in 2020, but he doesn't really fit the timeline, and the commitment he will require is only going to make things harder on the Sox when they're actually ready. Not to mention that Bumgarner is a flyball pitcher. He'd get absolutely torched pitching in Chicago in the summer. He is not a good fit. But continue to pound your fist for the Sox to spend dumb money on bad fits. If they do, you'll be filling threads with negativity about what a terrible signing it was within 24 months.

I also think calling Hahn a failure at this point is premature. He literally hit a home run on each of the key trades. He signed arguably the best prospect in baseball. Our core is young, cheap, controlled long term, and incredibly talented. The Sox overall have struggled to full in around those moves, but they also haven't really stuck their neck out that much on those moves either. Hahn had some bad slipups pre-rebuild that we're all aware of, but I think he's done a pretty good job since Sale and Eaton trades. I think we were all hopeful when this started that the Sox would be entering their juggernaut stage by 2020, but that always required pretty much everything to go right. A lot has gone right. Injuries have hurt. We probably lost a year and half with the Kopech injury, and certainly injuries to Rodon and Dunning didn't help either. Getting close to nothing out of 1st rounders Burger, Burdi and to a lesser extent Collins to this point sucks. Adolfo unable to stay healthy delayed, and perhaps even completely derailed, what very well could have be our OD RF in 2020. I am hopeful for a healthier year for our farm system in 2020, and hopefully a couple of those guys return to be key pieces of the core. The lack of activity at the WM has everyone on the ledge, and while the premium long term assets are gone, I do expect the Sox to fill in the gaps with interesting players. We'll likely be looking at a roster that will need alot to go right in 2020 to be in the mix for the ALC come next August, but it will without a doubt be the most exciting Sox team we've watched since at least 2012. Step off the ledge, friends. Everything is going to be OK.

This is a good post, and I definitely agree. I look forward to the day there is new ownership. I asked this in another thread the other day and didn't get much of a response. What is the succession plan when Reinsdorf passes? Will his family take it over? Is anyone in his family interested in running it? This has been explained to you many times, but I will try again. You don't get credit for offering the highest contact if the player signs elsewhere. But it shows the Sox willingness to be aggressive, and perhaps even overpay if the situation is right. That is a good sign. Spending big money to sign players who may improve the 2020 team, but will likely impair the 22-25 seasons when this thing is supposed to be at full speed likely isn't the wisest decision for a mid market team like the Sox. Its frustating in the moment because we all want to watch winning baseball sooner rather than later, but I also respect the patience, because if they blow their load now, that 22-25 window looks a lot less enticing if they don't bat close to 1.000.

Thanks for posting. Great video to listen to guys like @Balta1701 and others who regularly site tampering not being that widespread. Directly from Sampson - "Every team tampers. Every single tampers every single day of the year. It happens. We deny it because it is against the rules. But there is not one player who we have ever acquired who we did not tamper with."

If (and big if) the Sox signed Ryu and say Walker or Wood...they're very much in the mix to win 82-88 games, which very well could be enough to win this division. No way the Twins repeat their miracle 2020 season, the Indians are likely to tear it apart, and the Tigers and Royals are two of the worst teams in baseball. We all knew 2020 was probably a pipedream to be a WS contender, so not sure why the last 10 days changed that, unless your opinion of the Grandal signing was that the Sox were going to follow that up by completely emptying the clip at the WM. Which was also a pipedream. But I will never convince you to view anything White Sox related in anything other than a pessimistic lens, so I don't know why I bother responding.