SoxBlanco

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.

I figured it would be nice to have a place to discuss who makes the 26 man, as well as what we think the opening day lineup will be. If Engel is healthy, Vaughn is still out, and we face a lefty (Rodriguez), this is my guess at the opening day lineup: Leury SS Robert CF Abreu 1B Grandal C Eloy LF Moncada 3B Harrison 2B Engel RF Burger DH

Great call on that one. Your firsthand knowledge of what that feels like gave me optimism.

Probably a very unpopular opinion by me, but I think the White Sox were better than the Astros last year, and I think they are still better this year. Yes, the Astros destroyed us in the playoffs, but I'm not going to let one series completely determine my opinion. Going into that series, many people thought we were the better team. The one thing we were severely lacking in was playoff experience.

You have absolutely loved using WAR projections over the past several weeks on this message board. But now the Kopech projection gets a snicker? I never saw you once say that Rodon's projection was questionable because of his injury history and potential innings pitched amount.

I would guess Leury plays SS and Burger is the DH (with Adolfo/Sheets in RF, depending on who we are facing and whether we keep Adolfo on the 25 man). Leury SS Robert CF Abreu 1B Grandal C Eloy LF Moncada 3B Sheets RF Burger DH Harrison 2B

The wording of this gives me more optimism. Sounds like he was sore yesterday, and they told him to get some rest and come back tomorrow to get looked at again. But I also don't know what the hell I'm talking about, so don't get your hopes up.

I YouTubed the career altering Bo Jackson injury yesterday right after Vaughn got hurt. He immediately got up after the injury, and then went back down. Then he actually walked off the field (with some help). Was he just a tough son of b*tch?

Yeah, the crazy thing after all this speculation is that it could be all just a precaution, where he's just sore and then completely fine in a day or two.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I just wasn't sure if there was a scenario where a rehab stint turns into an option. And while the extra year would be great, I'm not a fan of manipulating the system to make it happen. I tend to lean more toward Ray Ray's point of view on that topic.

If Vaughn is only out for a few weeks, could this end up being a blessing in disguise? Send him to AAA once he is healthy and get a year of control back?

I think people just like blaming the front office at every opportunity. If Kimbrel would have gotten in a car accident on the way to the fields today, people would blame it on Hahn for picking up his option.