Chimpton

I couldn't give Getz anything but an F after the worst season in history, and nothing he has done this winter suggests they will be much better this season.

Not necessarily 'excited' but interested to see if Vargas can improve from his poor showing at the end of last season. Not expecting amazing things but his showing at the end of last season was too bad to be true.

I picked 49-52 hoping that the majority of the players have a minor improvement without the Grifol effect. I know that hoping for 'bounce back' seasons from players will usually result in disappointment but I am trying to be an optimist. My main worry is that the pitching looks weaker than last year and that is before any potential injuries.

They couldn't hit last year either.

Well I know it is only Spring Training but if you had said the score would be 10-0 in the 3rd, you wouldn't have thought it would be the White Sox with 10!

One issue is will 'big name' FAs want to join the White Sox 'project', recently there has been a suggestion that the White Sox are so dysfunctional that 'big name' FAs would not sign. Even if the Jerry regime is cleared out by 2025/26 it maybe be too soon for players to risk signing on long contracts not knowing if things have improved yet. Obviously a lot will depend on who the GM and manager are. I find it most unlikely that the Ishbia brothers would give hundreds of millions to Getz to spend. Venable may be the man to stay as manager, a lot will depend on how he manages this season, not so much results but how the team and younger players develop.

Sadly it is now 2025 and those GG seasons are a distant memory.

For that 4 season spell between 2019 and 2022 he was probably near 'star level' which made his drop off even more dramatic.

It would be hard to get any worse. Hard but not impossible!

I think you mean 'So much cheaper than experienced relievers'.

I agree but Fletcher has only had 100 games and those weren't in long spells, so it is still worth giving him a good go next season as results are not going to be important, and if after a season chance he still isn't up to it then yes, minors or release.

Even if they do get off to another record setting losing pace wouldn't it be better to still play the young players than to get a couple of ageing vets in the hope of getting nearer 50 wins than 40 wins? At least that way the season will not be a complete waste as young players will get experience and the Sox will know which of them isn't going to make it.

Even if the White Sox had 2 Golden Bats per innings it would have made little differences last season.

Yes that is a big difference!

I think the current White Sox are more like the Washington Generals!

The high asking price is to try and fool us into thinking he is a hard negotiator, but all the the other GMs know he will fold.

The asking for high returns is similar to what we got last winter about Cease. Other GMs won't offer anything near what Getz is supposedly asking, and when Getz gets deperate he will accept a lower return because Crochet and probably Robert will be gone before Spring Training or at the latest by opening day.

Yes, once on the MLB team they seem incabale of adjusting, or seem not to be coached in a way that helps them adjust, too many prospects who are hitting well at AAA struggle when brought up and face MLB pitching on a consistent basis and are then just sent back down to AAA and yo yo between the two, there seems to be little or no coaching or development after they join the MLB team.

Not so sure what you mean by 'smart hitter', but for a few years he was very good before suddenly falling off the cliff and becoming bad very quickly. But in general White Sox hitting prospects seem to lack the consistency to have a long career, or lack the ability to adjust when they get a poor patch. Also many seem to struggle with the step up from AAA to MLB, so many seem to bounce around that AAAA level and not take the next step.

The only one that sprang to mind was Tim Anderson, that was partly my point, is this a White Sox thing or is developing a hitting prospect harder?

Thank you, that was what I was wondering about. So projecting hitting prospects is harder and as a result riskier.

That is partly what I was asking, is it just harder to identify and develop hitting prospects or is it just a White Sox thing?

Arguably Semien and Tatis only developed fully after leaving the White Sox. Abreu was harly a prospect when signed as he had years of experience, albeit in Cuba. As for Robert I will give you that one, although his 2024 was not MVP calibre.

Is it harder to identify/develop hitting/position players than pitching prospects? I only ask because the White Sox recently have an appaling record both with position players drafted or position player prospects traded for. whereas pitchers seem to be more successful. Going back to 2010 Frirst Round Picks arguably only Tim Anderson has been a success as a position player pick, whereas Sale, Rodon and Crochet have all been good picks as pitchers. So basically is it harder to identify position players who will succeed and even if you pick highly touted prospects, like Vaughan, is it harder for them to develop to MLB level?

Another great first round pick by the White Sox. Those first round picks of Madrigal and Vaughan who were supposed to be can't miss picks are sure looking bad 5/6 years later.