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Obviously not a good thing for the White Sox, but glad the Royals were able to do this. I’m all for starts sticking with their original clubs long-term and not just immediately signing with the Yankees, Dodgers, etc. upon hitting free agency.

Since the Royals spent money and we seem to love all things Royals maybe.... ....never mind.

Nicky Lopez reaches third on a softly hit grounder because he plays the game the right way. Maldonado strikes out on a passed ball but waves Lopez home because he is a good veteran leader. Just one example.

They don't have a surplus of pitching. They do have a surplus of pitchers similar to Cristian Mena though.

Back to that phrase “nationally renowned” which goes along with demand and ratings/views. Benetti was one of the few anything “national” about the Sox since the return of TLR which was not negative or embarrassing. Well, I guess he was too embarrassing for elites, aka the likes of JR Hahn and Boyer. Say whatever you want about the weaknesses of Bill Veeck and his under-resourced teams, but he always identified with the common fan more than the C-Suite types and always would fight on the side of those who loved the White Sox more than money or profit…like Benetti when he first debuted with all the idealism, wonder and awe of a newly-recalled rookie later round draft pick. Appreciate Sox Machine for having the vision and foresight to invest (the new stadium project has sucked many back in it seems) during one of those really dark times in team history. And Josh Nelson needs to update his approach to be less like the written version of grumpy Hawk Harrelson. Don’t be a homer all the time, but also be fair when the front office has done something well. Obviously a much higher standard than mere everyday message board commentary from the cheap seats. Challenge/scope of task in front of them is certainly a daunting one.

There are guys who are legitimately good and introspective writers who have amazing insight into what is going on. Then there are those who just stand on a virtual street corner and scream about the end of the world like a revelations preacher. Jim and James belong in the first group. I will stop there.

Awesome for Fegan. Best White Sox writer hands down. Maybe it's time to become a Patron despite Josh Nelson.

You called Fletcher an All-Star OFer for the next 6+ years. Go away.

Maybe they stumbled across some secret sabermetric research that shows character strongly correlates with runs scored. That's all I got.

A healthy dose of athleticism and veteran leadership

The bottom three of the lineup could be historically bad with DeJong, Maldonado, and Lopez likely down there.

I don't buy Crochet as closer. They just recently announced he's going to be stretched out. This team doesn't need him as a closer when they are going to lose 100.

The Sox don't have enough of anything lol. They should be targeting dudes with high extremely high ceilings in any Cease trade. JR will never ever pony up for elite talent in free agency. The Sox are going to need to find their elite talent from within.

Going with their all defense and players who swing w paper towel roll for a baseball bat combined with their uncertain rotation and current bullpen as constructed I see them losing 105 games. The losses may not be as bad or as frustrating as last year but they are definitely going to add up.

You're coming down too harshly on Vaughn. How many times was he thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to a double? His hitting will improve this year. If guys get on base ahead of him, he could be an RBI machine. His biggest flaw is his tendency to swing at third strike sliders out of the zone. He knows it, and he will work on it.

Also, will share the Ramos write-up because I absolutely love the kid and Law has gotten me even more hyped:

Eloy, Kopech and Moncada are all going to have real good 2024 seasons. This should help lead the team into playoff contention.

I like this move more if Benintendi wasn’t on the roster.

Then why keep him? The team will be awful with him or without him, what's the difference between winning 60 games or 70 in the grand scheme of things? At least if you deal him you may (notice I said may) get some guys who could help you to go from 70 wins to 85 and then to 90 in time.

His expected batting average was .225. In his limited big league at bats the only thing he's demonstrated is incredible luck. It's not just a single loft stat, it's the single best indicator of sustainable success. If you take a walk or hit a home run the outcome is not on doubt. Make weak contact (which he did a lot of) and in a small sample size the range of probabilities in incredibly wide. His xwOBA trended down with each increment AB. It's likely with another 100 PAs his average would have reverted to his expected numbers. Moving past his good fortunes at the plate he (on very limited opportunities) only measured out to to 30 percentile on sprint speed. Which is likely an indicator of below average range. By comparison Robert was in the 84 percentile. He may have below average sprint speed for an OF, he would be near the bottom as a CFer. Thus significantly reducing his expected FV if he's not a viable option at CF.

I think he's often uninformed and has some truly bad takes. Just my opinion. I love Jim and James though. Best in class.

AI is the future. It will take about 3 months before the algorithm figures out Jerry is an asshole.

And then if the Pats want Maye, you do the double trade down, take MHJ and then take Bowers/Nabers/Odunze at 9. Fields becomes loaded with weapons. Chaos ensues during the draft. Armageddon ensues if it fails.

That sounds about right, but the combined average .600 OPS isn’t going to be pretty.

They have a surplus of pitchers similar to Christian Mena as it compares to OFs, of which they literally had Robert, Benintendi and Colas, one of which is firmly entrenched in a doghouse that has been welded shut.

2036 is the year we get him.

If I’m reading Fangraphs right, we were tied for dead last with a 59 wRC+ out of the 7 to 9 spots last year (that is so hilariously bad…lol). Honestly, it’s hard to imagine a combo of DeJong, Lopez, & Maldonado could do worse. My guess is we get around a 70 wRC+ or a little higher out of those spots this year, which is still terrible (still bottom four overall) but a slight improvement with hopefully much better defense.

They do? Mena just turned 21 and has 130 innings at AA or above. I'm not seeing anyone else in the Sox minors with similar experience at that age. All of their other "similar" pitchers are two or three years older than Mena.

Maybe Jacob Gonzalez is one of those dudes that internalizes everything and becomes the best player from the class. I really, really hope.

God I hope Gonzalez makes us eat our words. The amount of 2023 1st round alternatives on that list makes me sad.

Or their defense will fall off a cliff from career norms like Benintendi

Great way of saying this.

This. I don't think I would ever use the word "surplus", but they have acquired a lot of pitching with these recent deals who are all in about the same time arrival frame. Picking the guy who you think you could most afford to lose to shore up a position which you have absolutely nothing in does make some sense if you are trying to push guys into this window.

and if preparation and discipline was able to prevent TJ than that would be great. It may prove to be the right strategy, and they might get something great for him at the deadline, but but to say its anything other than a massive risk is crazy talk. Similar to if I was selling my loaded Jeep Grand Cherokee for 80k, and someone came and offered 78k. I can wait for a better offer, but id sure be taking a big risk! need to be an experienced car guy to know when to hold, and when to just sell. I trust getz! but no doubt a bold strategy!

You only get on these lists by being terrible the previous year. ?

I agree. I don't think they're nearly as worried about this as others. If it were someone like Giolito or Kopech I'm sure they would be a little more panicked but Cease is a different cat. They know what a hard worker he is and how disciplined he is in his preperation. They know no matter what happens he's going to be mentally and physically ready for the season and will perform at a high level the same as he always has.

Not sure how anyone can say with a straight face that the Sox have a surplus of pitching. Teams with a surplus of pitching, if something like that even exists, either have top 5 farm systems or are perennial world series contenders. The Sox are neither of those things.

A potential injury isn’t the only risk. There’s also the risk of poor performance. We all think about his 2022 season and feel like he can get back to something closer to that, but the truth is nobody knows.

I’d prefer to reset offers for Cease at the deadline or even next year. The point is that an offer like Ortiz and Hall may be adequate for 1 year of Cease, although that’s certainly argumentative. To suggest Getz should take that for 2 years of Cease, because of the risk of his arm falling off, doesn’t make sense to me. It’s a risk but a calculated one.

Building an shopping/dining complex at GRF was never going to work. Nobody is going to go there on days other than home games.

Don't you think Seattle checked the medicals prior to agreeing to the trade?

if none of those teams could've outbid the O's offer for Burnes I doubt any of them had a serious offer for Cease...

What does Tray hate more: Andrew Vaughn or a South Loop stadium?

That’s a fair call-out and if he’s above average in CF then I can dig the move a lot more. I guess I’m skeptical his CF defense would be that good given the lack of speed, but would love to be wrong on that because the bat would profile much better in CF.

You have to consider the source my friend. But no, it wasn't really needed.

Was the effort searching deep in the recesses of memory to dig up this ancient thread really worth it to post some needless inconsequential bit of random information? Seriously, WTF?

Funny enough the DeLoach guy they just traded for made me think of LaRoche.

How has Andrew Vaughn escaped trade speculation? Because no one in their right mind gives anything of value for a light hitting below average RH 1B?