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Wow. The Sox getting this guy is huge. A starter from day one who can hit 50 plus homers. Are happy days here again? Bears during the winter; Sox summer?

"The Swallows will receive a $6.575 million posting fee and could receive more based on performance incentives in Murakami’s deal." https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2025/12/22/baseball/mlb/munetaka-murakami-posting-white-sox/

So do Sosa & Vargas though. Honestly, I need to see Quero impact the baseball more and hit less ground ball before I move him up above any of the other guys. If Meidroth can’t get his OBP to the levels I’m expecting (.370+. vs LHP), then he could eventually move down. But I want high OBPs in front of my best two power hitters against LHP in Sosa & Robert.

Zero chance I’m moving Robert anywhere below 4th in the lineup when he has a career 130 wRC+ vs. LHP. He’s got to be a top 4 hitter against LHP. I could see a strong argument batting him second though. That being said, I kind of like the idea of keeping him in the 4 hole regardless of pitcher handedness and letting him focus primarily on impacting the baseball rather than getting on-base. I could be convinced on swapping Montgomery & Murakami for sure. Whomever ends up better against LHP should be in the 5th hole IMO.

Totally

Sure, switch him with Vargas then. Except he has a tendency to clog up the base paths compared to Teel/Vargas/Meidroth.

Thought I heard 2-3 whistles there blowing it dead. Didn't really matter, except rubbing salt in the wound.

I, too, would like to join Team Rodriguez. Hiring him, the #1 pick win and now this signing and even the Bears in the span of less than two weeks? It had to be due to inexplicable outside forces.

Last year yes, but I don’t believe he’ll ever replicate a .287 ISO again (his career avg against LHP is .134) and his defense is god awful. Candidly I don’t want him on team as I think he’s got a 1 win ceiling at this point in his career and gun to head I’m taking the under on that for sure.

I meant play him over Hill. Give the at bats to someone interesting at least

Quero has to be way higher than that against lefties. He absolutely mashes them.

He was very bad against LHP last year as a righty. Maybe that changes at some point in time, but Pereira is a natural partner for him.

Murakami his lefties better than rights until proven otherwise. Move Robert down to 5 and Montgomery up to clean-up Flip flop Murakami and Quero.

Hill has hit lefties well over his career.

Also, Benintendi is fine against lefties in his career and had an .849 OPS against them last year.

Baldwin is a switch hitter. Why not start him over Hill?

Against LHP: 2B - Meidroth (R) 3B - Vargas (R) DH - Sosa (R) CF - Robert (R) SS - Montgomery (L) CA - Quero (S) 1B - Murakami (L) RF - Pereira (R) LF - Hill (R) And to be clear, I don’t love the idea of Hill on this roster, but I’m using Fangraphs’ 26 man projection as my basis of available players. As such, against LHP, our best LF option is Hill by default due to plus defense and a career 115 wRC+ against lefties (SSS).

I love that you spent that much effort on this post and all my other posts you meltdown over. I own you, and never forget it as you seeth over the next one, and the ones after that.

How did he listen to you ? He just has continued doing the work he already started if you're claiming victory for the hire of Mr. Rodriguez. Please enlighted me as to how you are now claiming Getz listened to you ?? Did he suddening become acceptable now because he hired a guy from Tampa ? He's been upgrading international player developmment and player development in general for much of the last year+. All you did was go on a rant that sounded good in theory when youre ignorant of what's actually happening yet proclaiming we should all be unhappy about it. You gave no actual examples of what was wrong . All you said was fix everything behind the scenes and get ahead of the curve and stop accepting half assed measures which you couldn't name. Now 1 hire made you giddy ?

Funny how in such a short period of time I picked the guy they actually signed and they got the number 1 pick in the draft and they hired an ex TB exec who has a very good resume to continue the good work Getz has already been doing building a foundation based on player development for far less than $160M. The tide has turned and the Fire Getz thread is long gone from the front page despite the many tears of the disenchanted amidst those coaches and players who have all bought into Getz' vision. My own vision was for the Sox to reestablish themselves in the Asian market ( early in this thread) and they did it and it didnt cost nearly as much as I anticipated. 1st time in 20 years. I didnt expect it to happen since it was a fantasy scenario thread with mystery money provided by the Ishbia's. Progress is happening. Everyone is now seeing it .

He’s a big boy.

Playoffs year 1……just wait till Ben gets more of the players he wants in offense.

Here’s the rationale provided by AI: (Oh boy, this feels too much like a caulfield post. I apologize in advance.) The rule feels counterintuitive at first, but it’s really about leverage, player development, and keeping the amateur pipeline stable. Here’s the rationale, step by step: First, MLB wants a clear choice point for players. High school seniors are at a natural decision moment: go pro now or go to college. If they’re drafted, they can sign and start their professional careers immediately. If they don’t like their draft position or bonus, they can choose college instead. That’s a clean fork in the road. Once a player enrolls in a four-year college, MLB wants that choice to “stick” for a while. Making college freshmen draft-eligible would create chaos, with players constantly bouncing between college and pro ball after just a few months. Second, it protects college baseball programs. If freshmen were draft-eligible, top recruits could be drafted again immediately after arriving on campus. Coaches would have no roster stability. Imagine building a team around a freshman ace or shortstop, only to lose him to the draft six months later. The current rule ensures schools get at least three years of development and contribution from elite players. Third, it balances bargaining power between players and teams. High school players have leverage because they can threaten to go to college. College juniors and draft-eligible sophomores have leverage because they can threaten to return to school. College freshmen would have almost no leverage. They’d already be enrolled, already used a year of eligibility, and wouldn’t yet have proven themselves at the college level. MLB teams could draft them cheaply, which is something the players’ union historically wanted to avoid. Fourth, it encourages development rather than churn. MLB prefers that players either: enter pro ball immediately out of high school, or spend meaningful time developing physically and mentally in college. A single freshman year often isn’t enough to evaluate true growth, and allowing drafting after just one college season would push teams toward speculation rather than development. Finally, the three-year rule creates a predictable system. A player at a four-year college becomes draft-eligible after: their junior year, or turning 21 years old. That gives MLB scouts, colleges, and players a shared timeline. Predictability matters in a system that spans thousands of players and dozens of levels of baseball.

What do you got vs a LH?

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/fantasy-baseball-offseason-reactions-munetaka-murakamis-deal-with-white-sox-spells-trouble/ Of course there's this very skeptical view of Murakami. That the White Sox can't be right while 29 teams with bigger scouting depts and better, more advanced analytics departments are all wrong. If it was MIL CLE TB instead...the perception would be quite different. Also, the Dodgers keeping Muncy at his advanced age instead of pursuing Murakami. Lots of factors to consider. If we substituted Colson Montgomery's history for Murakami and made him a FA...the demand might be higher for Colson due to 4 successful months of MLB play and his ability to play above average SS, but not many teams would guarantee more than three years because of the possibility of that floor falling out from under him and him outgrowing the position or having back problems due to the torque created by that violent swing.