SoxBlanco

How much worse is JDM in the outfield compared to Ozuna?

I love that lineup. I've always said that Anderson will be batting around 7th or 8th when we are really competitive. Trivia question: How many teams in the history of MLB have had the first and second place finisher in the batting title race on the same team, and they were batting 8th and 9th? Answer: One...the 2021 White Sox

So teams are only interested in the guy they draft? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

JDM has to make that decision a few days after the World Series ends, right?

How do you know they weren't interested in Kelenic?

I would be happy with either guy, but Grandal gives us more flexibility. With Abreu and JDM, you have your 1B and DH locked in for almost every single game. With Grandal, Collins can still be in the mix at C, 1B, or DH. You would basically have 4 guys (McCann, Grandal, Collins, Abreu) rotating three spots, as opposed to the 1B and DH locked in every game without much flexibility. Also, Grandal's left handed bat gives the lineup more balance (not a huge deal in my mind, but certainly some added benefit).

A trade would most likely get us a better right fielder than the free agent options, but would a guy we could get via trade be so much better than a stop gap RF free agent that it would push us to a World Series? And if the answer is no (which is almost certainly is), then why waste any prospects at this point in time? Just sign a guy to a one year deal and see if any of our OF prospects can be our right fielder in 2021. If they can’t, then maybe there is a better RF free agent option next offseason. And if that doesn’t work, then make a trade next offseason. I just don’t see any benefit of a trade right now.

Let all the other teams argue and negotiate over Cole and Strasburg while we swoop in and lock up Wheeler.

It’s a running joke that Ron hates Jose.

Yeah, sorry for not clarifying, but that included Abreu and banking on a buyout for Calhoun. Like you said, it leaves us open to making more moves next season, while addressing some needs this year.

Nice. Thanks for doing this. I had us signing Grandal, Calhoun, Will Smith, Wheeler, and Hill. Total payroll is at 116.7 M.

Stone and Merkin have stated multiple times recently that Cole is not likely. Seems like this was intentional because either... A) We truly aren’t going hard after him and our front office wants to keep expectations in check. or... B) We will make a push for him but our front office doesn’t want another Machado situation where there was such a let down because of the expectations.

I think 7 for $250 gets it done.

Great thread. It reminds me of how many people criticized Hahn about the Sale trade when Moncada was struggling in his first year. "We should have demanded Benintendi...blah blah blah" The hindsight bias that exists on this message board (and every sports message board in the history of message boards) is so ridiculous at times. Bottom line: We had three great cost-controlled assets, and Hahn got a great return for all three. In addition, the extensions we gave them prior to that made them such a valuable trade chip. Hahn deserves a lot of credit for those trades.

That was my first thought as well. “If you’re thinking mechanics while you’re up there, you have no chance. You need a good approach.”

I believe it's in reference to the title of the thread. He's saying that the 11th pick shouldn't feel any different this year because you should always take the best player available. I could be wrong, though.

Would you be upset with an offseason of Wheeler, Keuchel, Grandal, Calhoun, and a bullpen arm?

His injury history might scare some teams away, but it shouldn't scare us as much. With Kopech and Rodon waiting in the wings, we have a solution should he miss time.

I feel the exact same way.

Agreed. Although I’m guessing that would take Grandal off the table.

Haha, I thought the same thing. I was 99% sure he was kidding.

@Look at Ray Ray Run, thanks for doing that. It's pretty interesting stuff.

His point was that there is no chance the Cubs don't pick up his option.

If we can land any two of the top 7 guys (Cole, Strasburg, Bumgarner, Keuchel, Ryu, Odorizzi, Wheeler), I will be extremely happy. If we land one of the top 7 guys and then land one of the lower-tier options (Hamels, Wacha, Wood, Miley, etc.), I will be content.

Yeah, I figured it would be confusing because of that reason, but I wanted to get the point across that Gonzalez and Walker had pretty similar seasons in A-ball (one year apart). I think Gonzalez is underrated around here because of his down year, but AA is a huge adjustment, and he got better as the year went on. His BB rate stayed the same from A to AA, and his K rate actually improved after moving to Birmingham. His knock this year was a lack of power, but he slugged .504 at Winston Salem compared to Walker slugging .426 at the same level and at the same age.