WestEddy

Touki Toussant gave up 4 hits in 5 and struck out 6 at Charlotte, today. I'd imagine he's in the bullpen, soon.

I think Benintendi was probably worth 3-4 years when the Sox signed him, and they had to go to a 5th just to close. They had to up their offer to Fedde, too.

Jirschele has been Golden Boy much longer, but yeah, Santos could be Getz' guy.

Or they should try to lose, then fail at that, too.

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I think some 40-man complication weigh on any promotion. Thorpe's not on the 40-man, Iriarte and Eder are. Shane Drohan is rehabbing, and will have to come off the 60-day IL soon. Joe Barlow has also come off the IL, and he could be replacement fodder in a bullpen purge, if one is coming. While Thorpe is manhandling AA, it can be argued that Mason Adams has done more that warrants a callup. Ky Bush is right there, too. Clevinger is also set to come off of the IL. So a bunch of guys are in front of him in the activation line. I'm guessing Getz will wait until a couple trades clear some spots to begin adding.

Poor guy. I wonder if his mom will send him a "waiver claim" card to cheer him up.

From Seattle for Gregory Santos. 4th OF type. Good strike zone judgement. He's ranked 29 in MLB's white sox top 30.

SoxMachine wrote about it this month https://soxmachine.com/2024/03/zack-wheeler-white-sox-retrospective/#:~:text=Reports were that the White,to have extended relatives nearby.

I think 5/$125m

You're right. And I agree with that assessment. Reinsdorf doesn't chase the top end difference makers. But he will spend a bunch of payroll on Joe Kelley and Benintendi to suck. He spends money. He's had an idiot GM who was too clever by half, and a bro-dude VP who had to get his pet players years after they were good.

Great. I agree. He spends. Just not wisely. It's frustrating, yes.

Then the correct sentence would be "Reinsdorf won't spend on the top players in the game." When they're competitive, they're top 10 in payrolls.

It isn't. Reinsdorf won't drop $500m on a player. That is correct. In 2022, their team payroll was 6th highest in MLB. Randomly picking a year out of their last competitive window - 2008. 5th highest. I get the narrative, Reinsdorf won't sign the huge contract. The lie is in saying "he won't spend money", because that's demonstrably untrue.

Baseball-Reference has Crochet with CAA. Has he switched to Boras?

Hahn's foray into bullpen arms wasn't cheap. Grandal and Benintendi weren't small potatoes. No, Reinsdorf does not play in the deep end, but it is not a correct statement to say he won't spend on free agents. We'll see what Getz does in a couple of years when they start getting competitive.

Charlie Tilson, for example.

Ozzie probably pivots away from Benny, Vaughn, and Maldonado sooner? Maybe a swing of 2-4 games? He probably starts screaming for more bullpen churn at some point.

Semantics. The argument is that Reinsdorf is averse to signing "top" free agents. Like, he won't spend the money. This is a situation where the Sox are reported to have submitted the highest bid, and the player's side went elsewhere. Players opting for less money and another team is a different argument from JR being cheap. When they're competitive, it's not crazy for the Sox to have a top 5 payroll. I think everybody agrees Hahn spent that payroll unwisely.

Guaranteed money is guaranteed money. We're not talking 10/$150m. It's more like 3/$30m. I don't even think it's "he doesn't trust his own health". If somebody offers you $100 guaranteed, or $100 contingent on you doing something, and I get to decide if you succeeded, you'd probably take the $100 guaranteed. \ It's a moot point, because it certainly sounds like Getz is open to dealing Crochet.

These are two different arguments. "Reinsdorf won't pay free agents" is not true. In this situation, they offered more to Wheeler, and he went elsewhere. The other is "Hahn can't close a deal", which I don't believe is correct, either. In the Wheeler situation, the reported story was the wife threw down, and that's it. Nobody disputed the reporting, so either it's correct, or there's a worse version that both parties believe the wife story covers up well enough. Jake Peavy waived a no trade to come to the Sox.

It was reported they had the higher offer, and nobody jumped up and said it wasn't true. As far as pursuing going higher, I'm tired of playing the "White Sox don't deserve the benefit of the doubt" game. Hahn and Reinsdorf are businessmen. I'd imagine they pursued it some, they found no movement, and moved on. They can't take 3 weeks wooing somebody who won't be wooed. The problem was there was a whole FA market and a whole trade market, and they put their eggs in one basket. It didn't come to fruition. You can't spend a dollar if the store owner suddenly doesn't want to sell his wares. But you can't find that out at 4:59, and all the stores close at 5.

And just to be clear, I stated they had 15 good prospects across 4 levels. I don't think they'll have 15 guys to pick from in 2025, but I do think they'll have a few arms hitting every year for the next 3-4 years, as they're set up. Jonathan Cannon, I think, is not a power pitcher. I think he'll start, but he'll get moved out of the way by the AA wave.