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Worth a shot. I liked him a lot in the 2016 draft class. Reinvented himself in Japan after adding a 2 seamer. Feels similar to the Fedde situation/signing.

They better hire some Temps in the ticket office.

Some will.

Nice. I'd rather take a swing on him than resigning Martin Perez.

It's a fine signing. Saw he was hitting 96-98 in Japan as well. Very similar to the Fedde signing. Locks up Martin, Smith and Kay in the rotation. Burke, Cannon, and Thorpe (when is he coming back) and then all the kids in the minors on the way up

Per Japanese pitch tracking data, Kay had a 5-pitch mix last year. Four seamer, cutter, slider, sinker, changeup. The cutter and changeup are mainly used against righties, the slider mainly against lefties. Stuff+ really likes the cutter, slider, and sinker. Hitters did not hit them very well either. None of the stuff he throws generates much swing and miss. Pounds the cutter inside to righties, changeups are almost always thrown below the zone and away to righties, slider almost always thrown low and away outside the zone to lefties, sinker almost always in on the hands to lefties. 4 seamer aimed at the top of the zone or trying to snag outside strikes. The xERA suggests his good results were mostly deserved although not at a <2.00 ERA level. As you'd expect, he's better against lefties than righties. Very high groundball rate against lefties. Note that the Japanese baseball has more armside run and tends to have better rise. This is due to a mixture of better grip + larger seams, leading to higher spin rates and more seam-shifted wake. Kay doesn't rely on spin rate but he might be affected by lower seams on MLB balls. Of course, every pitcher is relying on at least one of those two things. 4-seam fastball averaged 94.4mph last year, roughly the same as when he was last pitching out of the pen in MLB.

Who

Can't wait for Schriffen to start singing "Every miss begins with Kayyyy" for his strikeouts followed by Stone sitting quietly in contempt for 5 mins

This is the equivalent of Don't put out the good plates, grab those paper plates over there and just throw them away. We need someone to eat some innings then go away.

The Ishbia brothers presumably are not idiots. In spending somewhere close to $2B for the White Sox, they surely know that this franchise has serious troubles and a change in modus operandi is a MUST for them. They also know that the Cubs have become even more dominant in Chicago, that Wrigley Field is more popular than ever after the Ricketts renovations, and that Rate Field is one of the more obsolete stadiums in the league at this point. He also knows that, while the Sox have a hard-core group of die hard fans that are as passionate as any fan base, the fanbase is not growing and, if anything, market share is probably shrinking. It's no accident that he told the Pope his intentions to put the Sox in a new stadium. He wouldn't have said this with the press listening if the dream of a new stadium was unlikely. He also knows very well that the state isn't handing them $1B for the stadium, either, so that leads me to believe he's looking to privately finance the stadium. Turning this team into a winner on the field is paramount, but at this point it has to be more than that unless the Sox can somehow win several pennants in quick succession. They've made mistakes with the Suns, but that doesn't mean they can't learn from their mistakes. At any rate, having them take over the White Sox seems like the best option possible that I can think of - certainly better than keeping the team in the Reinsdorf family after Jerry passes.

A couple more moves like this should put the team in 2026 Playoff contention!!!!

I was thinking of players that are either blocked and or lost their polish, so their team may be looking to move them. Share some that you can think of. Brewers: Tyler Black - LH. Player 3B, 2B, 1B so can compliment our RHs. Orioles: Mayo, Mountcastle (one is going to lose out in their position). Kjerstad (seems to have fallen from the list. Big bat but doesn't provide much defensive value). Bradfield Jr (could be kept for depth, but with all their other OFs, doesn't have a spot. Diamondbacks: Lawlar- Not sure his time is up there yet, but if they are looking to win, then they may want someone more dependable. If Marte is traded, maybe it's less likely Lawlar moves. Red Sox: J Garcia - Their OF is stacked and he doesn't have a spot. Yankees: Spencer Jones, Dominguez. A lot depends on what direction the Yankees take in free agency. If they bring back Bellinger, I'd think at least one of these two are dealt. Mets: This team has a lot of prospect depth but are in win mode now. Baty, Jett Williams, Clifford, Ewing, Benge. Obviously not all of these players would be on the table. I'd be open to trading Taylor if it brought back a big bat. Cubs: Alcantara seems to be the odd man out in the OF and is out of options. Dodgers: De Paula, Hope, Quintero, Sirota, Tibbs. This team has tons of OF prospect depth and any one of them would be enticing. Again, I'd be willing to put Taylor on the table. Freeland switch hits, can walk and play SS/3B. I wonder if he is expendable. Reds: They have some pretty good SP depth. If Sox want someone to eat some innings, maybe Singer could be had. Chase Petty or Rhett Lowder could be odd men out. Reds would be interested in Robert and/or Quero.

I think he’ll get 2 years and between $25M to $27M. Sox would likely have to be on the higher end of that range or slightly above. Regardless, I’m not that concerned about paying him an extra million or two. The payroll is going to be nothing next year and this is about the biggest size free agent I could see us actually landing.

Thanks, all! My son said their team buses got an Oak Lawn police escort down 95th Street when they got close to the school. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR059p3DAh3/?igsh=ZXg3NHhkaWpxczZq 🤣

Huge congrats to your son and the whole team!!!

Congrats! Caught the tail end of this one. Huge win.

Keeps the spot warm for Ely Brown. Robert might return an actual player.

Getzy knows this isn't the good Acuña, right?

He’ll turn 24 on March 12th before the season starts. Still not very old but he is looking like a broken prospect à la Vargas and Mead at this point, and I would avoid him like the plague. Also, to think the Sox could be the team to fix his swing would be foolhardy.

BR State Champs! It’s a 16-0 shutout of St. Rita. BR’s second title in school history and first one since 1981. #69 ❤️

Rays sign Mullins to 1 year deal

Yes

I’m trying to find out if Michael Marino is credible or even a real person.

Big Red Dog or bust!

I feel like only way that happens 1-for-1 is Sox kicking in barely any money. Just tell teams you’ll include at least half and send best offers.

I still think they’re a good fit for a guy like Bleday.

Basically, an exact redo of Fedde, whom they wisely sold high.

That’s everyone attending? Looks way lighter than last year.

SoxMachine clocks in... Looking overseas for rotation help, White Sox sign Anthony Kay to two-year deal - Sox Machine

Sinker had a nasty 86% ground ball rate last year

I don't mind this at all. Jerry is never going to sign off on the prices FA pitching is getting nowadays, and at least Getz is getting creative. For a backend arm, they could do a lot worse, and now it creates a little competition between the fringe guys.

I like this move. Can't complain about it at all.

Ponce is hard to comp too, I think. He was pretty mediocre in Japan, similar peripherals to Kay but worse results (and never pitched a full workload, not sure whether that's due to injury or what). But then he was utterly dominant in Korea, almost doubling his Japanese K rate. Talent is lower in Korea but not really "you get double the strikeouts" lower. Not to mention Japan is having a dead ball era and I don't think Korea is.

The one dude just got 3/$30M yesterday

If he can't find success in the rotation you can hope the stuff plays up in the pen and you're still not paying him a lot. Now we need two more like just like this to have actual depth (even if it's poor depth).

Surprised a multiyear contract but with any amount of success he'll be gone at the deadline.But as we saw with Fedde, the market isn't strong for these comeback types. He'll have to be outstanding with better than expected stuff to be in demand.

The one thing I really do like about this is if he performs...they won't necessarily rush Schultz and Smith now...so that alone is worth the low cost and gamble here.

Hope this one is as successful as Fedde.

More hyperbole. I don’t believe anyone said or expected the Sox to sign Cease. Certainly not me, but you appear to be referring to my recent comments on some of Getz’s free agent acquisitions. Even though Manoah is likely to be bad because he hasn’t been the same guy since his TJ surgery, $1.95 million for a potential starting pitcher is less than half of what Getz gave to a player everyone knew was a terrible 2B in Nicky Lopez at $4.3 million two years ago. Also, it is almost a third of the money Getz gave to a mediocre reliever in John Brebbia at $5.5 million, which was just as bad of a signing for a rebuilding team. Yes, Getz essentially lit $9.8 million dollars on fire when he signed these two players and they delivered a combined -0.4 bWAR in 2024. Regardless, what @caulfield12 said in his previous post pretty much nailed it: ”Shopping at the Dollar Store consistently just leads to more extended poverty.” What is the strategy here and where is it leading to? Because it looks like another non-competitive season to me.

I'm surprised he's getting a MLB deal at all frankly. Then again, it's hardly any money and he was actually pretty good to end the season at AAA.

Another nonsense ESPN listicle about trade targets and who could be involved. McDaniel/Passan give Robert a 60% chance of being traded: 2025-26 MLB offseason: Ranking players who could be traded - ESPN

It is still amazing to me that Indiana and Iowa play their HS playoffs indoors and the state of Illinois plays at ISU and/or NIU. Neither facility is much of anything. I do not mean this as a slight to Iowa or Indiana but shows how ass backward the state of Illinois is. The IHSA (athletic body of the high school sports) is the epitome of Illinois bloat, waste and incompetence.

Table 7, baby. If I could sit with the Sodfather, the Pope, and Jermaine Dye sign me up!!!.....all that is missing is Don Pall. No disrepect to Paulie, of course....I just doubt that he talks much. I would probably end up being at the end of the table with the 2 guys I don't recognize but I'd just be happy to be there.

I'd be willing to wager the difference between the two and how they will approach ownership, winning and making money will be completely different. And there were "warning signs" about JR and EE going back to the beginning when he and Einhorn bought the club. The "insult" to the Veeck family at the first press conference and this "Jerry Reinsdorf was a “source of intrigue” and in the future could become a “source of controversy.” –From a story by reporter Linda Kay, Chicago Tribune January 30, 1981.

The great thing about the historic Soxfest was they always ran two amazing parallel paths for entertainment, giving a great experience to both adults and to the kids. I know they are trying to rebuild with the full knowledge that fan engagement is at a multi generational low, but geesh you would think someone would think to do better than this.

First off, good call on the baseballs. They were 100% confiscating baseballs at security, so you saved me $20 and some major frustration. I still do not understand this policy (which was not communicated), as they were not even selling baseballs at the merch table. A few things turned out very well. As soon as you mentioned no baseballs allowed at entry, I started scouring through my baseball cards (an old hobby I have recently picked up again), and I was able to find a Colson and Bryan Ramos. Since time was limited, I ended my search there and packed both cards in cases. After arriving, we looked around for a bit and found the "meet and greet" room. The workers told us they did not know who would be signing next, but they would be receiving the wristbands and info soon. Once the "package" was delivered to the workers, we approached them and one of the two "meet and greets" just so happened to be Colson and Bryan Ramos together, along with Cubbie Mike Tauchman. It was fate and we secured our wristbands for that line. Colson was extremely outgoing and friendly with me and my son. He took the time to engage and joke around with both us, asking my shell-shocked son what sports he played, which I had to answer for him, and also giving me advice on which pens/sharpie worked best on baseball cards. It was by far the highlight of my son's night, and who am I kidding, mine too. Ramos appeared to be slightly less shell-shocked than my son, but understandably fairly overwhelmed by the event. He still managed to be friendly and welcoming to my son, despite slightly crushing the baseball card he attempted to sign lol. Tauchman kept his shirt on, thank God, and was also kind with my son. He was able to get separate pictures with all of three of the players. After that, we were able to get in the other line with Edgar Quero and Miguel Vargas since everyone with their wristband had already signed and there was still time left in the hour. For those two players, we did not have anything to sign other than the little Sox Fest poster they gave us at entry, already containing the Tauchman auto. While planning to get the posters signed, we struck up a conversation with two young gentlemen in the line behind us who had a whole book full of White Sox baseball cards. After a few minutes, they very generously offered my son a baseball card for each player. He very appreciatively accepted and we were able to get those two cards signed as well. During our downtime for the meet and greets, we attempted to check out the only other activities, which was whatever was happening in the main theater and the merch table (also in the main theater). Every time we checked, there was absolutely nowhere to sit as every seat in the theater was occupied, and even the standing room area was crowded and we were always in the way. We did check out the merch table and made a few trips to make purchases. They were selling "mystery" bags for $80, which included a "mystery" signed baseball, a "mystery" bobblehead, a White Sox Bluetooth speaker and a few other smaller things. The bag was a very nice White Sox cooler bag, which will come in handy for road trips. We went for it, and the Bobblehead was Luis Robert, but unfortunately, the mystery auto was the Cub Mike Tauchman, which was greatly disappointing so I decided to roll the dice again and get another cooler bag in the process. This time it was Yaz Bobblehead and Paul DeJong auto baseball. I was done "gambling" at that point and convinced him that Paul DeJong was an awesome autograph to have. We also purchased a Mark Buehrle slip and slide Bobblehead. Overall, I might have been able to experience more if I was attending with other adults, but that many people crammed in a space with nowhere to go is overwhelming for a child. You were not kidding when you said it was not kid friendly. Since there was nowhere to sit in the theater, we were not able to experience any of the programming happening on stage. When he got a little hungry, we bought a few hot dogs (pizza, hot dogs, and popcorn were the food options), but we ate them sitting on the floor in the hallway because there were no areas to sit and retreat. No tables/chairs outside of the occupied seats in the theater, unless I was missing something. This was also difficult for me as I was carrying around two cooler bags, a bag I brought in, and two Sox Fest posters. With nowhere to sit, it was difficult holding onto everything while trying to eat a hot dog, sitting on the floor in a theater hallway. You were not kidding when you said it was not kid friendly. It was also extremely unorganized where none of the workers seemed to know what was happening, and no schedule of events was provided. I hope they do not attempt this format again. I find it odd that prospects/younger players were the focus of the event, but not younger fans. I miss the previous formats with an open floor, a schedule of multiple activities to choose from at any given time, and an area with tables to sit down and gather yourselves. This event was a cluster, and felt more like an adult night out that requires alcohol to quell the chaos. Oh, and we got to ride on a school bus.