WestEddy

https://www.futuresox.net/2025/11/06/chicago-white-sox-40-man-roster-decis-2/

I agree with you that he is now a 1.4 bWAR/85 RC+ over 100 games CF.

Sure. But it's his age 28 season coming up. His prime. It wouldn't take much, stay healthy OR mature a bit as a hitter, and he's worth his contract. If Teel, C. Monty, Vargas, Sosa, Brooks, Quero, Meidroth, Antonacci - a few of these guys get just a little better, maybe Robert doesn't press as much thinking he has to hit a 5-run HR every time up. He did just put up his highest walk rate, and lowest K-rate since 2022.

Kent's accumulated bWAR places him firmly in the Hall-of-Really-Good, but that used to be really borderline. I think Robin Ventura has 56 career WAR, and nobody talks about him for the Hall. Kent should have moved over to 1B, but he wanted to set the 2B HR record. And he was a complete prick to the media, so much that the "character" issue detracted from his original candidacy. Oh, and there was him breaking his wrist doing a motorcycle stunt, which was not allowed under his contract, then lying about it to the media.

Or just normalize his post-ASG hot streak and iron out some of the slumps.

And this is all in hindsight, admittedly. In 2025, Getz chose well, or got lucky. In 2024, he didn't. If he paid Perez $8M, and 2023 Perez showed up, that's bad. It's more that spending that $16M on one or two guys puts all your eggs in one or two non-elite baskets instead of spreading it around on 9 guys, 6 of whom actually worked out reasonably well.

I think Robert serves a few purposes on this team - He still plays plus defense in CF, which they don't have in the upper levels. His offense is middling, for a CF, but again, he covers the position for a team with no good options in the upper levels. He also has name recognition, which isn't nothing. For the state that this team was in, yes, you can look at a bunch of players in aggregate. They needed bodies to play positions and eat innings. For that $16M, they covered RF, backed up CF, and got 185 innings pitched (not counting Wilson's 47). I'd argue that Maton and Rojas didn't block anybody who was worthy of ML playing time, and Wilson was eventually displaced by somebody more deserving. If you spent $8M on a starting pitcher, and $8M on a RF, you're still slotting in replacement players for bullpen innings and OF/IF backup.

Not so much. He's put up 1.4 bWAR in part, due to his only playing 100 games a season. His injuries are baked in, at this point. I agree that this is the player he is, now. That's why my "IF" maxes out at 2+ bWAR, not 5.

I'm not saying he's "barely" overpaid. One bWAR is worth about $8-9M on the free agent market. So Robert's 1.4 bWAR is worth about $12M. If he hits and stays healthy, maybe he could clear 2 bWAR, which pays for itself, as the difference between opting in or out is $18M. Getz signed a bunch of free agents. For the (roughly) $16M he paid to Houser, Alexander, Perez, Bryce Wilson, Maton, Slater, Michael A. Taylor, Tauchman, Rojas - they produced around 5 bWAR. Of those 9, Wilson, Maton and Rojas can be said to not have really worked out.

It's a stupid meme. Chris Getz is not Rick Hahn.

Yes, in retrospect, the best time to trade Robert was in that off-season. I'm not sure why Getz should have traded Robert, but not Yoan, Eloy, Benintendi, Vaughn and Crochet after 2023. He probably saw Robert as part of the remaining "core", to be evaluated in the first 4 months leading up to the deadline.

Blog story about the Contemporary Era HOF ballot candidates being released, along with analyses of their cases: https://www.lonestarball.com/general/87510/the-2025-contemporary-era-hall-of-fame-ballot The players are: Roger Clemens Carlos Delgado Jeff Kent Don Mattingly Dale Murphy Gary Sheffield Fernando Valenzuela While I don't feel he's generally a Hall-of-Famer, a Fernando enshrinement would certainly be a statement by MLB on the current "situation".

I agree. Adding on, looking at the guys they just "picked up" for nothing, Houser, Civale, Perez, Bryce Wilson, Gomez - Bryce Wilson is the only one who truly sucked for them. I don't think they're going to have trouble finding innings floating around on the free agent market or the waiver wire. They can fix guys.

The game changes. Hahn was a "genius" when he tied up Quintana, Sale and Eaton to those contracts, then was a dupe when he tried replicating the same template on Robert, Yoan and Eloy. I don't think they're overpaying him by much. They don't have a CF in the upper minors. He's a nice risk to take. If he turns in his regular last two years of ho-hum, for them, that's solid if he can stay on the field. If he finds his old self, maybe somebody panics in July and gives them a guy or two.

I really don't have opinions about the two hires. I've read interesting things about them. It seems that Getz isn't quite the micromanager that KW/Hahn were. This looks like Bannister/Fuller/Venable running the things they're supposed to.

Maybe it's just instinct. Or not realizing bags were loaded and there was a force out, not a tag play.

Thank you. You're proving my point. I agree with you, this was best left unsaid.

You're kidding, right? Like, you're struggling to argue with anything. People here still openly weep about Reinsdorf saying this wasn't a rebuild. They still act like they're paralyzed by confusion over that remark. "We have a seat at the table" is posted at least once every couple of days here. Tell me how "Anybody would have great interest in Ohtani" helps anybody. Jerry also doesn't need you whining because he didn't give you another punch line to whine about for the next 6 years. It's a good thing that Chris Getz is doing such a great job pointing this franchise in the right direction that you only have nonsense to complain about anymore.

No, it wasn't. They were staring into the jaws of another rebuild just then. It would have been pathetic to pay lip service to pursuing a player who would have zero interest in their situation at that time, or for the next 5 years. People get mad because the front office won't "tell them the truth", yet when they do, they fall on the ground and weep for hurt feelings.

Hope/dePaula would be a smarter move than tying up tons of money in Tucker. And Murakami's kind of an unknown at this point.

Wait a minute. Do you actually mean to say that when the White Sox were heading for a 100-loss season in 2023, when they had no hope for a salvageable 2024, when Reinsdorf had just fired his GM and VPBO were looking at another rebuild, and then said, no, we won't be bidding on Ohtani, THAT drove him to sign with the Dodgers? LMFAO!! No, the White Sox haven't been active in the Asian market, much. The Dodgers have a legacy right now. There was a whole debate about how Sasaki didn't even seriously entertain any other teams' offers. Every single player transaction in the league doesn't have to be Jerry Reinsdorf's fault.

You seem to be picking other things to argue that nobody mentioned so that you don't have to address the unassailable points I made. That's okay. The White Sox minor league rankings have been used as one of the primary supports or foundations of the rebuild over the last 2-3 years. Since you keep circling around to bringing up the White Sox, I've noticed you seem truly anxious that the White Sox don't have a can't miss All-Star at every position in the high minors right now to ensure they'll start a dynasty, soon. And that they don't have a good 6-10 can't miss ace starters lined up to account for some injuries. It just seems weird that a truly elite system in the game doesn't have an heir apparent for the outfield ready to take over this next season. One would think they'd have 3 top 20 in the game prospects at AAA fight it out in spring training. You said, "You're making the argument that Betts, Freeman, Teoscar, Muncy (soon to be replaced by Murakami) and Ohtani should be blamed for wanting to play there." No, I'm not. I've never said that. You just said that. I'm not you posting on your account. How many teams can produce prospects to displace three former/current MVPs including the greatest player in the history lol??? Nobody's asking for them to kick people off the team and sub in minor leaguers. If they had home-grown, perennial All-Stars at a position, they wouldn't have to go out and sign a free agent. It's one thing to develop guys that listicle writers fall in love with and overhype. It's quite another to develop a team that grows and graduates together.

moved