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Sox are winning the division in 2026. Ron has decreed it. So shall it be.

Well yeah, cuz they get thrown in a bullpen which isn’t as vital a role as a good starting pitcher in your rotation.

And why do we need them here that quickly?

Young pitching prospects get to the majors quicker if they go the bullpen route.

wat

I think if Seattle doesn’t land Marte or Donovan, maybe they can look to the Sox for Sosa. They have a comp pick too. And they once dealt their comp pick to us in a deal for a reliever.

For sure. He'll be a top 100 prospect this year.

Right around $18.6 million using the 5% overage.

And how much do we have? i realllllly want another comp pick in a Robert deal

I would throw Oppor into the top group for 2027. His stuff is such that, if it clicks in AA, he could come fast.

Ron: I was pleasantly surprised to read that you would not be surprised if the WSox compete for the Division championship. As it stands though, too many shortcomings in the pitching staff inc. no high leverage L or R arms and no Closer. Murakami's defense at 1B might be an issue. Meidroth might not single or walk enough to start him over Sosa, who was one of the best hitters on the team last year. Braden might come up and rake, or not. Robert or no Robert. Etc. As far as acclimating pitchers through bullpen appearances, OK, but in the Minors. There it could have value. Bringing a pitcher in a game in high leverage situations puts the microscope on what they can or can't do in crunch time, often against the best hitters. A starter can often get by after walking a lead-off man in an inning and then working out his control on the fastball or spin on off-speed pitches as the game progresses. Conversely, as we witnessed the last two seasons, bullpen guys came in , walked the first guy they faced, and then let hitters take advantage of their lack of control. So let the Minor league pitchers prove what they have before they come up and f things up worse than they already are.

I think moving guys like Aldrin Batista and Mathias LaCombe to relief roles in advance of R5 makes sense. Smith, Schultz and McDougal are basically their only hope for awhile at top of rotation arms. They must stay in rotation.

Right. It’s unlikely It’s not about losing the player. Sox slot will be around $11.3. Rays will be like $10.5. Rays have $20 million to spend. Nobody has ever gotten more than $9.3. The only issue is Rays theoretically offering full slot at 2 and Sox having to potentially pay more than they’d like to. They’ll take the player regardless. TB and Pittsburgh both could easily. TB has $20 million and Pirates have $19

I don’t really want Verdugo. Fine taking a flier on Kelenic due to age.

Meanwhile, Getz just signed Jarred Kelenic and the Sox are considering giving him playing time according to James’ article. You just described Kelenic to a “T” — the ultimate teammate. An even better team player than Verdugo, right? Pretty funny that you would post this in this specific thread. The truth is that cheap beggar teams can’t be choosers. If you don’t want to spend the money, you have to accept the warts sometimes.

Verdugo is also a guy who has run himself out of multiple organizations. There's a reason he continues to beg for a job from teams. Immaturity, lack of hustle, and poor work ethic is not something this team really needs right now after they finally shed most of the Hahn era guys.

IIRC, wasn’t Kelenic good in AAA originally? His second go round he was lost even before he got back there. Just reading the tea leaves, and Kelenic choosing free agency over going down, and that the ST invite was written in, this guy fully expects to make the team. And who knows about starting. I bet there is an informal understanding that he has a spot that is his to lose in ST. In other words, he doesn’t have to destroy in Arizona, he just has to not be bad. Kelenic didn’t necessarily have to come to Chicago. But Chicago is where as Mr Fox says, the worst outfield in MLB may exist.

We haven't done this for a few years and some posters wrote that they enjoyed reading these so I'm bringing it back for the year 2026. Have added a number of new entries particularly from the first four decades or so of the franchises history. I hope you will enjoy them. Feel free with comments, memories that you have for any of the factoids. Maybe you were at the game mentioned, or watched on TV...things like that. January 2, 1986 – Former two-time owner of the White Sox, Bill Veeck died at the age of 71. Veeck owned the club from March 1959 through June 1961 and then again from December 1975 to January 1981 when he sold it to the group headed up by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Veeck buying the team the second time, with considerable help from then Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a big Sox fan, saved the franchise from being moved to Seattle with the Oakland A’s relocating to the South Side. Major League Baseball was trying to settle the lawsuits filed by Washington state, the city of Seattle and King County over the Pilots being relocated to Milwaukee in 1970. Moving the financially strapped White Sox to the Pacific Northwest would have ended the legal issues. Veeck saved the team but never really had the financial resources to make them competitive especially with the advent of free agency in his second time owning them. Part of his syndicate included some of the richest people in America but he had made a promise to never go to them for additional funds and to always turn them a profit. He was however known for his promotions, stunts and off-the-wall ideas which ranged from installing a shower in the center field bleachers at Comiskey Park, to broadcaster Harry Caray leading the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the seventh inning to the infamous “Disco Demolition” night. Veeck was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. January 2, 2020 – The White Sox signed Luis Robert to a multiyear contract without him having played a single Major League game. The future Gold Glove winner agreed to $50 million for six years, with team options worth $38 million more over two final seasons. Robert showcased five-tool talent finally staying healthy in 2023 with 38 homers, 36 doubles, 80 RBI’s and 20 stolen bases in an All-Star season, but injuries always seemed to dampen his great potential and limit him.

No one else can offer him 11 mil in reality. Tampa would punt 5+ signings to save a million bucks to do it.

And if the Sox make him the nominal offer, they get the 2nd overall pick as well as their regular 1st rounder in next year's draft.

That's what I thought. That's why I didn't understand this talk of "what if the Rays have a deal with him for more money."

No, which is why this discussion is pointless. The Sox will sign the top pick in the draft, regardless of who it is.

But they can't do anything if the Sox pick him. What, he chooses to go back to college over a $1mil difference?

Even if he has "demands", he has no leverage if they pick him 1st. If he wants 11m but they offer 10m, all he can do is go back to college which is a HUGE gamble.