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Well.....you don't HAVE to give him the attention

Long time lurker here. My two cents, which echo those of many others... Solid, deep organizations don't make decisions about seizing opportunities based on blocking prospects. Look no further than Tucker in Houston. That dude, without question, was major league ready (with a heck of a lot more upside than Collins). Did Houston stop pursuing guys when the opportunity came? Collins will be ok. The more depth you create, the better. I want 30-40 guaranteed bombs in my lineup. That's, barring a catastrophe, what EE brings. For one year, it's an easy decision. The rest can be figured out later.

And you COULD stop being pessimistic on every optimistic view, signing, and idea

This would make me a happy boy. Gonna make it so sweet to have him and betts locked up for the next decade.

This. If you get Castellanos you almost make the lineups that Ricky can run out there fool proof to where he can’t possibly Jack it up, although somehow I’m sure he could find a way

You'll pass OUT after getting hit in the head with a 450 foot BOMBSKI by CASTELLANOS

There are plenty of at bats to be had for Mazara if they get Castellanos

If Vaughn has a generational bat, you hope all three produce and likely flip Castellanos in the end.

I like Collins more than many but to say he could provide as much to the offense as Robert is just plain wrong. I'm about 99 percent sure those two players do not exist in the same offensive plane of existence as each other

I absolutely understand why they'd sign Edwin, but I'd love to give 130 games to Collins personally. It's risky though.

I don’t know about superstar, I do think he will be a top 50 hitter in the game easily. I don’t think Collins will ever be close to that nor do I particularly care. And $15 million? Really? That’s quite clearly fine. And nobody ever gets blocked. What happens if Vaughn has an offensive year the likes of Eloy or Robert had? We just trade NC. The return won’t even matter. Now what happens if Vaughn doesn’t? Are we worse for having NC at up DH another year? I believe in NCs bat. He’s not JD - but he is available and likely at a price much lower than I expected in November.

Why? What makes you think that of Castellanos, as opposed to every other player in the league? How many guys in the last 20 years or so have made the kind of leap that JD Martinez made at the end of their 20s? I can think of one: Jose Bautista. And both of those guys were oversized, fringey, slap-hitting utility players that made swing changes to turn into highly disciplined, uppercut pull monsters. That doesn't describe Castellanos at all.

Plenty has been written the past year or so about Mendick impressing the brass as a quite solid utility man (speaking defense), better than serviceable anywhere you put him, and a stronger athlete than people give him credit for. He might not have Yolmer’s glove overall, but the dude was a shortstop in college, primarily a shortstop in the minors, and played other positions when it was clear his path forward was as a utility man. Minors: SS - 325 games 2B - 144 3B - 80 OF - 18 Sox (2019): SS - 5 2B - 3 3B - 3 To my eye, he looked solid period. Poised and mature. Actually ideal for this roster. Only question for me is whether to rely on someone so inexperienced when 2020 is clearly a “go for it” year. Offensively he should be far stronger than Yolmer.

Sox gotta slap those big balls around and have Santa bring home Nick C for Xmas. Imagine the TV panning the Sox dugout and see those name veterans waiting to play. Nick would be in demand later if Jerry's kids can play. Twins have lost 14.3 WAR the Tribe is rebuilding and it's time to contend.

Mazara OUTFIELD Fielding percentage 4 seasons = .989 Castallanos OUTFIELD fielding percentage 4 seasons = .990 Don't mix in Castellanos defensive infield stats. Also, Castellanos got better as he learned to play outfield and when he played in a smaller park. Ask any Cub fan. Most want him back badly. Meanwhile, Nick would be an incredible get for Hahn.

Then you either trade Castellanos for prospects or Micker for an MLB piece, if something goes wrong.

He's 27. His birthday is in March. Somehow, 3 different ages have been cited for Castellanos in this thread.

If Collins and Vaughn were in the lower minors, I might be able to get onboard with that idea. But for Collins, at least, that time is now. For Vaughn, that time COULD be as early as September, but very likely 2021 barring an unexpected setback. And while Castellanos and Abreu are both decent hitters, their contracts are at-best “break even” in the $15-20M range, so you can’t really expect to move one of them for anything much. And neither are good enough to warrant this type of shuffling and the inefficiency that comes with it. As good a contact hitter as Castellanos can be, his on base skills are fairly mediocre, and he’s never even hit 30 homers in an era where KETEL MARTE just hit 30 homers. That’s not really all that much to make up for being a base clogger and a butcher in the field. His “fantastic platform year” was worth 2.8 fWAR, and steamer project 1.6 for 2020. Even if you take the over on that, how much better is that, really, than what Collins would put up? A win? Maybe a touch more on the high end. But then what if Collins breaks out? Now he’s a similar offensive contributor who can also catch. You’re throwing that chance away for a marginal upgrade at a cost of probably $15-20M over the next several years. Its just a really inefficient use of resources for a team that has given itself a very narrow path to success with its limited budget.

My pre FA plan was Mazara as 4th OF and Nick in RF. If we can get both that's pretty decent upside. I'm just not sold at all on Mazara and there is no reason to be. At least with Nick you know he's going to fuck at the plate. I've said this a million times but all of his metrics have him progressing in the power dept. Getting out of Comerica is just a bonus. AND he knows the division.

Boras absolutely plays the media; do you think he lets Heyman fist his ahole every night for fun?

Maybe the plan is: 2020: have Mazara play RF with Castellanos at DH. If Mazara does well, they’ll tender him and then trade him, allowing Castellanos to move back to RF for 2021 2021: Castellanos in RF, Abreu at DH, Vaughn at 1B

Oh God please sign this guy. I truly believe he will hit the shit out of the ball with us.

Castellanos is also 27 so he's just entering his prime. He fits great with the window. It's hard. As someone who's not that big of a Vaughn fan, I don't mind it. I prefer him as a trade chip rather than a long-term piece. Go get a TOR starter with Vaughn as the centerpiece. He's a top 25 prospect.

You really want to bank on a Betts type FA next year? I give the front office credit but c’mon everyone is going to be in on him next offseason. Adding castellanos does not block Vaughn. If anything it makes Mazara a role player, when Vaughn is ready you move Mazara to the bench Castellanos to RF and you have Abreu and Vaughn at DH/1B. Castellanos doesn’t block anyone in my opinion

Woah this is awesome news. Get Cast and this team really has a shot in 2020. Cast would rake in Guranteed Rate. I didn't think they had the balls to go after Cast after Keuchel and Grandal... will see what happens, but I'd be happy with Puig and/or EE, but I'd be super happy with Cast.

No player is going to say “I don’t want to be here” or “I’ll stay if they pay me the most money.”

I posted my preferred lineup, with E. E. at DH, in another thread. Here it is with realistic projected home run totals, for 2020: Realistic HOME RUN production, with EE at DH (It could be even better, but this is conservative): SS Anderson 25 3B Moncada 30 LF Eloy 40 DH Encarnacion 40 C Grandal 25 McCann 10 1B Abreu 30 RF Mazara 25 CF Robert 25 2B Madrigal 5 TAKE THAT TWINKIES!!!!!! You know how I love having 3 dangerous left handed hitters, in the mix. That's precisely what I have been advocating, for the last several years.

Thanks for that. I'll say this: locking him in is definitely part of their plan. I have no idea what Robert or his representation wants to do though.

Couple things. 1. I don't bank on anything. I do think Betts is a pipedream, but I also think he is like...the perfect fit....and if there is anyone the White Sox should shell out a mega contract offer for it, it should be him. Will they get him? Most likely not, but I wouldn't remove all doubt right now. Springer would be a pretty great consolation prize anyway. 2. I do not and will not factor Mazara into any plans after 2020. He is a 1 year roll of the dice. If he blossoms, he'll be here in 2021, but I am not counting on it, and neither should you. 3. Signing Castellanos absolutely blocks Vaughn. If not, the Sox are going to have the worst OF defense in the league with Eloy and Castellanos, even if they have an elite defender in Robert in between. We need to play better defense moving forward! Castellanos can fake RF for a year or so, but by 2021 he should be the full time DH, And so should Abreu. 4. If his market has cratered to the point to where like a 3 year $40-45M deal is possible, id consider it. But definitely would want nothing to do with a NTC, and I would be trading Castellanos most likely within 18 months. But I doubt his market has cratered that much. Some of you guys just want to push all the chips in right away. Be patient. Castellanos would seriously handcuff this team positionally. Try to take the long view. Not to mention, EE will be cheaper, be a 1 year commitment, and is probably a better bat anyway.

I always state this, but they’ve loved him since the draft and inquired on him last offseason

He is a better fit for the overall plan than Encarnacion. Can get multiple years of control, still young, plays OF (not great but passably), and would really hit well in GR. If you can get him at an AAV of $17-18M would be great. He can DH against RH, then play RF against lefties with McCann becoming DH. Am not sure what the down side is, since this guy is a good and productive hitter. It might also allow us to consider trading Vaughn for more pitching, or trading Castellanos if we see that Vaughn will meet his lofty expectations.

Castellanos has about 2.5 months in his career where you'd be happy to have him DHing. Not to mention abreu needs to be DHing like yesterday.

Not really. So we punt Vaughn and commit to shitty defense for the term of Castellanos contract (likely at least 3 years) just to improve our DH spot? Just sign EE to a 1/$10M deal. Castellanos would make 2020 super fun - I can't deny that - but it such a bad long term play. Keep RF open for a FA splash in year. Abreu to DH. Vaughn to 1B.

Yup, and then they have an awesome trade chip with Vaughn to go get another pitcher, should they need one. After watching that MLBN video, I'm pretty excited about Mazara. I've always liked him. I kind of don't want them spending money on Castellanos because they're going to need to lock up Giolito/Moncada (and possibly Mazara if he takes a step forward)

All. The. Boras. Clients.

Ok. As I said hes a 2.5+ WAR player with a wRC+ of 90. The more tools the less risky a prospect. Calling a guy the most risky prospect when he impacts the game in 5 ways just isnt a valid concern imo. Robert is safer than say Eloy who relies on 2 tools to carry his card.

Hopefully this future sox report is right. They have been miserable this offseason

Well this would kick a lot of ass.

I think Scooter Gennett could make a ton of sense for the Sox. Handles 2B for a month or two and then can shift into a utility role at 3B/2B/OF.

I want no part of Mariota, Winston,fits, dalton. A bunch of washed out garbage give me Cam. If you want this RPO offense, give it to the guy who knows what to do

Wouldn't the Red Sox be willing to lauch JD Martinez and his contract for little of nothing? If they're rebuilding on the fly and they need to shed payroll, then I'd think he wouldn't cost much in terms of prospects. I know he has some sort of a No Trade clause but the White Sox are building a very interesting team here.

There is absolutely zero benefit to sending Collins back to AAA. If the White Sox plan on sending him back down they might as well trade the guy. He'll be 25 years old coming off a season in AAA with a wRC+ of 140. There's no benefit in a guy going back to a level he's completely dominated.

Tim Anderson has hit 20 HR once in his career, so projecting 25 is... not conservative.

Those numbers are conservative? lol.

Because Leury hits lefties better than Engel. Engel sucks man. Any situation where Engel projects to get more than spot starts and late defensive replacement work is a situation I cannot get behind at this point.

Engel would be my choice as well. Much better in the field and hitting lefties much better lately.

If that option doesnt vest this contract is likely terrible and the argument is moot anyways.

He's not the only problem, but he's not just a symptom either. He's a playoff killer on any team because he's pretty bad at football. Conversely, this team with a competent quarterback is probably a wildcard team given how closer the defense held most games.

Zack Collins is not someone who should be preventing the Sox from acquiring players like Encarnacion, who can easily provide 35+ HRs and a .350 OBP. Everyone who wants to compete next year should not be willing to roll the dice on Collins and potentially have a black hole in the DH position. You can’t survive in the AL that way. Especially with 80 games at Comsikey. A one year deal is not going to cause any harm to the rebuild. Collins should still be given a decent amount of at bats next season and Encarnacion will only be blocking him for a year. It’s Vaughn who pretty much renders Collins uselss.

It reads exactly like Soxtalk as of a week ago.