WestEddy

My 40 year old nephew has no pride in SuperBowl XX. It barely happened in his lifetime.

Okay, next 8 cases.

Yikes. Dude, it's a chat board. I've certainly gotten into my share of SoxTalk tiffs, and still do, but casually looking over the "78" thread, it's like you're picking fights with everyone over everything. While I disagree with the "lost a generation of Sox fans" idea, the Cubs make inroads into a citywide fanbase when they win, the Sox lose, and players like PCA capture the imagination of kids. That's important as us seniors shift to fixed budgets and die off/forget that baseball exists. I'm certainly not choosing a Shane Smith jersey over my next case of Busch Light.

My thinking is that you have about a half dozen systems that are elite. Not that they had just had 3 top 5 draft picks, but who fire on all acquisition methods and develop them. Then you have 10 or so that do most things well, 10 that just do okay, then 4-5 that really suck at all aspects. I think the Sox were in that last group a few years ago and might be in one of the middle 2nd groups now. They end up getting ranked based on having the next sure-fire starting shortstop, or Paul Skenes. A system shouldn't drop from 8 to 19 because they just graduated 3 top 100 guys and promoted another before he hit the lists. The Sox have another 3 guys who are probably top 150, and any of their top 5 could launch themselves into the top 15 with a gonzo first month. That would change the complexion of their top 30 and their rankings. To my knowledge, nobody ranks the other way. It's all about the "it" dudes. That's why I just call them listicles. They're interesting snapshots, but don't really tell a story about what organizations are doing.

Having a stud pitcher who can give you 7 innings every 5th day is invaluable. He gives the bullpen a break. Gives your team a chance to win every 5th day. Much more meaningful in the playoffs. Yes, a starting position player who produces, both defensively and offensively, is worth more. I'd argue that Miguel Vargas doesn't have more value than Christopher Sanchez.

No. While advanced, I'd think he'd have to ace a level for a few months to even get consideration.

That's worth at least an interesting arm from an unserious organization. I keep wanting to use Spencer Horwitz as an example. I think he's just a guy that Pittsburgh traded 3 pitchers for. However, one of those pitchers, Luis Ortiz, is under investigation for the Cleveland gambling scandal. What a horrible trade if he's the guy who talked Clase into selling single pitches to gamblers.

And this guy took a year off to sign with the White Sox.

I would hope LuBob gives you 20 before he's traded at the deadline... unless his contributions have us firmly in the pennant race. I think Sosa could bulk up a little, learn 1B more, and give us 30 on the dot.

DeJong had game power and elite defense. I think Colson has better power, and his defense can be up there. I'm not good enough to decide if it's "elite", but he sure looks pretty good. That's why I say that DeJong is Colson's floor. If you get around 15 bWAR during Colson's 6-7 years of control, that would be a disappointment, but still a win considering his draft position.

A trade for Martin would be trading low. Martin was 2nd in IP, and his WHIP and ERA were respectable. That said, picking a guy or two off the scrap heap would still leave the White Sox with 3 proven starters. Sure, maybe somebody hires Katz, and he sells them on the upside of a Davis Martin. If that's a thing. Or Baltimore has had their eye on him since his draft year and sees a tweak. But nobody's trading a top 150 OF for him. I think the Sox, as constituted on 9/28/25, are a 70 win team. It will take some moves to replace Houser/Perez, Tauchman/Slater and the inevitable regression guys like Colson, Teel and Shane Smith are going to experience. That said, some further development and a couple of moves could have this team in the mid-70's, and some luck could have them pushing for .500. Maybe Getz decides somebody else can take the win on Cannon's last 10% in exchange for another post-hype OF. But I think Martin and Burke are key to any chance at a respectable team next year. Bonemer's still a way's away.

I've had it impressed upon me that a key goal for a system is developing stars (of course), but also collecting and growing guys other organizations salivate over. Think Meidroth. Gamers who have one elite tool and a good baseball IQ. I suspect that's one reason why they wouldn't park Elko at 1B for a month and let him thoroughly s%*# himself with a .053 BA.

And the Mets begin the purge:

I could also see Getz collecting a group of misfit outfielders like he did in the infield last year. A trade dude, a roster crunch DFA, Rule 5, maybe Ramos/Mead being repurposed, Baldwin.

I wouldn't think they'd be trading any of Davis Martin, Burke or Cannon. They're all kind of in a "show me" state, and the team's going to be pressed for quality innings for the first 4 months of the season.

Right. Keeping par with half of your acquisition engine working, and the other half having been recently reworked is promising.

Jordan Walker better be the 3rd or 4th piece in that deal. Dude's out of options. Frankly, I think he's a DFA at this point.

I'd say: SP - S. Smith, Martin, Burke, the odd journeyman signing, and a hodgepodge of Gomez, Cannon, Shane Murphy, McDougal, Tyler Schweitzer, and Duncan Davitt until Mason Adams, Thorpe and Bush rehab, and Schultz rounds into shape. I agree that Grant Taylor gets starter innings at Charlotte. RP - Somebody practically announced that Vasil will be in next year's bullpen again. I also see the cast of usual suspects getting another shot. Getz has shown he has little patience for the guys who get a clear shot and muff it (on the offensive side). Maybe he relies on Bannister more on the pitching side. That said, Eisert, Ellard, S. Wilson, Gilbert, Leasure, Wikelman and Booser should all get long looks here. We keep hearing names like Chase Plymell and Peyton Pallette, but none of them seem to have forced the issue, yet. C - Teel/Lee. I see a few "this team has big questions at catcher" articles on MLBTR and think the Sox can capitalize. Quero graded out as one of the worst defensive catchers in the game, and while he put up good BA and OBP, the power hasn't shown up. Maybe there's enough offense for Miami or TB to gamble on coaching his defense up. 1B - Gotta be Lenyn Sosa. Vargas' bat takes a hit here. Unless they find that Naylor's very affordable. 2B - Meidroth/Sosa until Antonacci or Gonzo force the issue here. And by "force the issue", I guess I mean, look slightly more like an average major leaguer than Meidroth. 3B - Vargas/Mead - Vargas started out strong, defensively. Maybe further conditioning and development turn him into the 3-WAR 3B I envision. I'd also imagine Mead has pretty clear instructions on what's expected of him coming into 2026 camp. I blinked, and the dude fell to a .584 OPS. SS - Colson. duh. OF - There's got to be a spot for Brooks Baldwin for regular ABs here. Maybe WillBob and Fletch pick off a month or so? Also a spot for a Quero/Robert trade return OF? Rule 5? DH - 10-D. If they can't trade him, he's got to spend more time here than LF. tl;dr - Quero, Robert and Tauchman are all good candidates to get traded. Meidroth is a nice story, but Getz doesn't strike me as having his Gordon Beckham who will start 5 years without a swipe at an upgrade. Rule 5 could make SP and OF fun spring training stories. There's probably 10 bullpen arms bouncing around the game that will be tweeting their White Sox horror stories at the end of 2026.

And keeping par with Minn, Det, and Cle is happening with a very muted international presence, as of yet.

I'd imagine the Chinese team he played for beats out the Brewers and Rangers.

So you're saying it's very noble of me to post something that disproves a belief of mine...

This was asked about in a SoxMachine P.O.Sox column. It's subscribers only, so no link. James: How much do organizations monitor offseason regimens? A lot. Most advanced prospects and big leaguers are training at private facilities but are talking with teams both about their baseball activities and also their lifting and training programs. The bulk of players you’ll find in the team facilities over the winter are rehabbing injuries, but the recent draftees are pulled in for performance camps and other sorts of orientation over the offseason as well. It tends to be younger players or guys who already live near facilities who make use of training at Camelback Ranch or the Dominican Academy over the winter, but that is an option. Lenyn Sosa memorably trained at the Dominican Academy before the 2022 season to get guidance on some major swing changes he was making, but now the location and capacity of the Sox DR academy is part of why they’re replacing it. But Prelander Berroa blew out during a spring game. Drew Thorpe’s UCL gave way in a backfield game after he had spent most of the spring rehabbing from his surgery from last August. Ky Bush was throwing a bullpen the week before spring started and felt his elbow give out. They didn’t arrive with elbows which happened to be injured that no one knew about until they were in the facility, but got hurt in the ramp-up process that is precisely when pitchers are the most at-risk for these sorts of blowouts. Elbows are still exploding all over the place across baseball, so there are clearly elements of the offseason process that could be improved. But part of the reason the last lockout caused so much anxiety was the absence of offseason monitoring and communication on training between teams and players, which has been the norm now for a while now. So, something new to worry about when they lockout after next season, I suppose.