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Not getting him yesterday might have already cost the Phillies 1 WAR.

Most the board wanted to DFA AV. Half those people are now hand wringing. It's amazing.

Maybe the leak on Vientos was less "the Sox want him" and more "the Mets are putting this out there to let teams know Vientos is up for grabs"

It's not a "huge gamble" when there is no risk. He's not blocking playing time from a young player, his $20M wouldn't prohibit any competent owner from spending money elsewhere, and his value is so low that the return is going to be a longshot anyway. If they can get a decent return, do it. But giving him away because you don't want to spend $20M on what should be $150M+ in payroll flexibility is dumb. I understand Jerry won't do it, but I'm talking about what they SHOULD do, not what they WILL do. Jerry is too cheap and short-sighted to pick up the option, so Getz will get his scraps.

You can sign Houser to that deal in 4 months if you want. You absolutely take the 40 grade prospect.

The Sox have unintentionally fucked over the Cubs with their own incompetence…

You want to trade five major leaguers for one questionable prospect?

I'm all for Getz criticism, but this is basically the behavior of every GM.

No, what they SHOULD be doing is signing Kyle Tucker since their payroll will be peanuts in 2026 and beyond. Spend money on an actual superstar that fills a decade long roster hole, not on the hopes and dreams of Trout 2.0.

Another Fedde type signing would be nice. The old man OF signings of Tauchman/Slater/Taylor has produced 2.0 fWAR this season. Not bad for ~$6M combined. Getz has certainly had his misses in FA too but I’d argue he’s done better with the dumpster dive signings than Hahn ever did.

Yea. Give me prospects is where I firmly stand. I'll wait until an actual trade occurs before I get riled up about anything. But I'm also resigned to a meh return considering his value isn't anywhere near what it once was.

It’s almost like our GM was a crappy hitting 2b

I feel like there’s been a similar rhythm to these last few series. They come into the opener confident, maybe catch teams sleeping a bit, battle and grab a win. The opponent punches back in game 2, they visibly lose confidence with every hit that doesn’t fall for them or does for the other team, and let bad calls/breaks set the momentum too easily. Then game 3 is about if and how they respond. It does feel like their win rate in openers is higher than on the season, which speaks well to their pre-series prep. But adjusting in-series if Plan A loses effectiveness, or even being able to distinguish between bad process that needs adjusting and just unlucky results they should push through, is something young guys will have to learn with experience.

I've got an idea...

So now Getz is getting mocked for not real trades?

Welcome to SoxTalk!

Robert, hit a bomb or two and don’t get injured.

Trading any player on the MLB roster for scraps, or for guy who isn't likely to make it to MLB just isn't worth it unless you're doing the player a favor or setting up a relationship for future trades. If the offers for Robert are not providing any real potential assets they might as well keep him and exercise the option, or just let him go in the offseason. If the rumors are true and they can get something like a top 10 guy + a low level guy with promise, then they should take that. If not, don't just trade him for something that isn't likely to provide any future value.

Dude the only reason you pick up Robert's $20M option is if you can trade him and get better value for him than you can get now. That's a huge gamble. Outside of his current hot streak apparently you have GMs hoarding position prospects again, and not making quality offers for Robert despite the hot streak, and his base running and defensive prowess and Getz being willing to eat money which could make his remaing salary this year somewhere under $5M. Not only that but if he does great for the team trading for him they are the only team who can pick up his $20M option What does that tell you ? Does it sound like other GMs think he's worth $20M a year next year or worth a decent prospect for a guy who theoretically can have a major impact on World Championship aspirations ? Read the room of how GMs of contending teams seem to be reacting to Robert. We are once again overvalueing him the same as we did when he was being deemed by many here as untradeable after the 2023 because the Sox could never get fair value for him. That's turned out so well hasn't it ? Does the phrase throwing good money after bad mean anything to you ? I really think there's a lot of posturing going on between all parties right now. Getz isn't in the driver's seat but there should be a decent trade to be made out there for Robert.

I think signing an age 33 Schwarber to a long-term deal for the current state of this team would be crazy. I know he’s still a stud but I can’t imagine him A) wanting to come here, or B) the Sox being competitive before Schwarber ages out.

I'm slightly warming to the idea of holding on to Robert and picking up the option if they don't get the right return. Robert has been more healthy this year, and his offense has improved quite a bit lately. He's a very good defender and can run the bases well. Because of those things, though, I would be surprised if some team does not step up and offer something the Sox will accept. But I'll honestly not be terribly upset if he sticks around.

I've lost all faith in your judgement. You talk about the Sox and Getz being stupid. I don't think anyone actually doing his job would do any better in the same circumstances. There's no rational for signing a guy for 1 year $20M and hoping to squeeze decent position player prospects out of these other GMs. He's not going to have a Crochet style big year and Crochet wasn't making $20M. It's a lost cause. On one hand you're saying they will or should spend $20M on Robert and on the other that they would not or you don't think they will spend $20M unless it's on Robert. Do you not realize how strange that is ?

Holding onto Robert feels a bit like the Kimbrel QO, which led to Pollock, which led to Benintendi. Just best for both sides to part ways and move on by jettisoning the last remaining connection to 2019-2021.

Robert since coming off the IL July 8th BA .318 OPS .957 HR 3 RBI 11 SB 4

I am not immensely enjoying the Guardians having a gambling scandal with a starter and their top tier closer no siree I do not exist solely for schadenfreude at all.

His trade of the guy that this thread is about disagrees.

More like cannon fodder

Why the hell are those shitheads being posted again?

Give me as many options over Clevinger as possible.

Why would cheap flyers on dumpster dives raise concerns about Bannister? Is he supposed to turn s%*# into gold on a regular basis ? The Sox are still a bad team but it's the bullpen that's actually better than the hitting and defense relative to the rest of the AL . Plus they got 2 good prospects from out of the blue with Shane Smith and Vasil . Plus the starting pitching hasn't been bad either with other outstanding pickups like Houser and Civale . Also Perez was pretty good before he got hurt and Burke, Cannon, and Martin all have mid to back end SP futures that plenty of teams would want . They could all be better than their projections. The bullpen kind of panned out the way I thought it would in the beginning of the season. The had a lot of arms to go through and they'd be trying them all out at some point and settle on some regular guys eventually. I think failed miserably is a huge exaggeration again relative to the budget constraints and performance compared to the rest of the league. Yes they are last in games saved and 1st on blown saves ( guessing on those things since last i heard) and that hurts in late inning trade bait and in the Sox record in 1 run games but a bullpen with Sox overall ERA in the middle of the AL would look a little better if the offense wasn't near or at the bottom in many categories. You're literally crucifying Bannister for not raising arms from the dead when everyone knows bullpens always perform erratically . Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees and Tigers BP ERA is worse than the White Sox. Sox are respectable 3.94 . Want to talk about failing miserably ? The Dodgers despite their hundreds of millions spent have worse Bullpen and starting pitcher ERAs than the Sox.

Chris Flexen DFA'd. Scoop him up

That would be cool. Get the GMs together in a hotel bar, feed them drinks, watch their inhibitions drop, and have tiny Ken Rosenthal creeping from behind fake plants and the bar listening to all of their trade discussions and reporting everything via his Twitter. 🤣

He sure sounds like a guy the Sox would target. 🤣

Still pissed we don’t have one high end reliever to deal.

No which is the point of the stop gap

I didn't say giving Robert the option is what Jerry WILL do, as he's proven time and time again he's extremely cheap and short-sighted. I'm saying that's what the White Sox SHOULD be doing, but they won't. They will dump Robert for whatever they can get, because their owner sucks.

78 wRC+ this season, 84 wRC+ last season. He’s been the very definition of a below average hitter. Past 1-2/3 seasons combined he’s accumulated 1.1 fWAR. Oh, and then there’s the issue of him constantly getting injured. Sox need to move on; sunk cost fallacy to throw another $20M at this guy.

it will be funny if they pay Robert $20M for next year when they would not give Rodon a $18M QO that wasnt even gonna materialize (into anything except a free compensatory pick)

Hey! We agree on something.

It is also the step in breaking a system at which ownership has full control over a player for six seasons, which they get to manipulate for a 7th, paying them a paltry percentage of their open market wage, so yes. Even if a few guys make "more" the majority still make a lot less than they could. Remember the entire pricing structure built into arbitration is to afix a smaller than 100% percentage to what they would be making on the open market, compared to what their similar piers are making at these reduced tiers.

I'm really hoping they value adding meaningful veterans to this lineup beginning this off-season. The young players will likely benefit from better hitters around them in the lineup. Teel/Querto (C/DH) Vargas (3B / 1B) Meidroth (2B/SS) Montgomery (SS/3B) Benintendi (LF) Robert (CF) ** (likely moving on) are all likely here next season in some form, but adding OF, exploring 3B/1B should be priorities. They shouldn't sign a 34 year hitter, I'm talking about someone who they expect to contribute for the next 4-5 seasons.

Houser could easily go the route of being a 40 grade pitcher again next year.

Taylor is eaxactly the type of player we would want to get for the rebuild. Thing is, we already have him. Just keep him.

You 100% pick up that option if the offers are bad. Are you worried about our payroll breaking $40M next season? What are you saving that $20M for?

Honestly - I don’t have any problem with that approach.

I would rather do this with Lee instead of Haase, not that the Sox have shown any desire to do so.

I’ve never wavered in my Sox fandom, but the ‘84 Cubs were fun to watch. I was the perfect age (12) for that season. My friends and I had no obligations. Summer was spent playing baseball, then playing intellivision while watching the Cubs (and Sox). Ryne Sandberg was so great that year. I remember watching the Sandberg game before going to a family picnic. Kind of hard not to get caught up in it all. Chicago was ripe for a winning team. The stretch from the 83 Sox to 84 Cubs to the 85 Bears (throw in Jordan getting drafted by the Bulls) was a pretty good time to be a Chicago sports fan. RIP Ryno.

This video has both inside the park home runs and the famous Chili Dog home run:

You haven't seen a home run unless you have seen Dick Allen hit a home run.