SoxBlanco

Did Pollock even get injured 2 years ago? I have no clue, but he played 55 games in the shortened season.

Will we ever get to the point where a player just decides to operate early at the first sign of potential troubles? It would have been great if Crochet had TJS right after the 2020 postseason.

Kudos to you for posting this, Ray Ray.

Agreed. But some very vocal people (I won't name names) have been complaining about picking up that option because Kimbrel would not be traded.

Bump.

Can't believe so many people were ripping Hahn for picking up the Kimbrel option and not trading him. There wasn't much doubt that he would be moved. I've been saying it all offseason.

Sheets for Manaea?

I wouldn't be shocked at that either. But I also wouldn't be shocked if he got 400 PA as a DH this year, and put up 25-30 HR with an OPS of .850.

I honestly can't decide on how much I like Sheets. I go back and forth. One day, I'll be thinking, "Sheets had some solid numbers, but it was against very favorable matchups, and the pitchers will adjust. Trade him now while he's at his peak." Then the next day, I'll think, "Man, Sheets didn't just have good numbers...he had some good-looking at bats. He knows how to work the count and take his walks, and he's only going to get better. He also had some HUGE hits last year in key spots. He could be the lefty power bat that we so desperately need."

I actually think Mystery Team might contend for a Wild Card spot this year. They have been very involved in the last few offseasons.

Yeah, only way I would do that is if we also had plans to dump Kimbrel and his salary and then sign Conforto.

When Kenneth Walker dominated MIchigan this year (197 yards and 5 TDs), there were actual Michigan fans saying that if you took away some of Walker's big runs, you would see that they actually held him in check.

Exactly. Vaughn should not be part of any platoon. Vaughn can play RF against RHP, with Sheets as the DH. When we face a LHP, Vaughn can be the DH (or LF, with Eloy DH sometimes) and Engel can play RF.

Assuming he does not get injured, how many innings do you expect Kopech to pitch?

I'd probably go with a C or C-. With a grading scale, you have to think of all ends of the spectrum. For the people who gave an F, what would the grade be if we had the exact same offseason without signing Graveman or Kelly? That would be an F for me. But I think we did a lot for our bullpen. Yes, bullpens are very volatile from year to year, but as of now, it seems like we have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Now, only adding the bullpen pieces would result in a D for me. But we signed Leury and Harrison. Yes, they were underwhelming free agents, but they do provide versatility, and we are better off with both of them than we would be with neither of them. That's what pushes it from a D to something in the C range (possibly C- because they are redundant players, but like I said, adding neither of them would cause me to stay in the D range). If we add a starting pitcher like Manaea, I'd push us up into the B range. And if we add Manaea and Conforto, I'd give us an A.

I did a quick Google search to see what some non-biased writers felt about our offseason: ESPN: C- CBS: B Sporting News: B I'm curious how the Athletic graded us, but I don't have a subscription. Either way, seems like people here are MUCH harsher than others. Not really a surprise, as that's how the internet/message boards work when it comes to sports.

I agree. Very close, but I'm taking the White Sox also. I also think we have a much better bullpen. And with the loss of Correa, the lineups are fairly close (I'd probably give us the edge). Now, I realize they have more playoff experience and kicked our ass last year, but a lot of people here have been saying the Astros have a better team this year, and I just don't think that's true.

For this upcoming season only, if you were given the option to trade our top 7 for Houston's top 7 right now, would you do it? (don't take age or contracts into account, unless you are using age as a reason why they might get hurt or underperform this year) The swap would be Lynn, Giolito, Cease, Kopech, Keuchel, Lopez, Velasquez for Verlander, McCullers, Valdez, Garcia, Urquidy, Odorizzi, Javier

Yes, he was. He just went 0-2 with a K in yesterday's game. He was competing for a starting outfield spot last year in spring training but got hurt. He missed a month or so. When he returned, he played in only 9 games before leaving the team for personal reasons. This guy is very interesting if you look at his career stats (minors and MLB). He was the 8th overall pick and moved through the minors nicely while hitting the ball at every level (for example, in AA in 2018, he had an OBP of .403 and slugged .478). Then it seemed like things sort of fell apart the last couple of years. Perhaps the personal stuff played a part in that. I'm guessing he lost all confidence. Stick him in Charlotte and hope he can get his confidence back.

I'm currently of the mindset that there is zero chance we are spending more money if we keep Kimbrel, and a slight chance we would add one more piece if we did trade him (even if that one more piece is a trade for a starting pitcher).

I would love it if it was for Kimbrel, but I have to imagine the first thing to leak in the scenario would be "Phillies acquire Kimbrel" instead of "White Sox acquire Haisley...no word on the return".

I don’t love TLR, but that Astros series had little to do with his decisions or the fact that we coasted into the playoffs. Our starting pitchers couldn’t throw strikes and then got pounded when they were forced to.

Why can't Vaughn be the primary DH, while also giving Eloy and Abreu time off in LF and at 1B? Sheets could start in AAA.

Yeah, that lineup was my guess if we face a lefty. If it's a RHP, then here is my guess (also assuming Vaughn is out): Leury SS Robert CF Abreu 1B Moncada 3B Grandal C Eloy LF Sheets DH Harrison 2B Engel RF

Good call. My brain has become so used to thinking "25 man". I edited the post.