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That was just Reinsdorf playing 4D chess. If Roberts talking about the Dodgers upset Ohtani's camp to the point that he now won't sign with the Dodgers, Jerry makes it appear the Sox have no interest in Ohtani months in advance . Now there are no leaks, no nothing indicating Ohtani to the Sox. Reinsdorf is one shrewd dude.

Well that may mean a trade with the O's int going to happen. They finally have a good team again. A very good team with great talent still coming. They need to replace their OF within 2 years. They have the pieces to do that . Why trade the OF prospects to us ? You want infield prospects ? What about depth, Injuries or someone you counted on being inconsistent. Those are the things the doomed the Sox so quickly and they didn't have the depth in the farm to sustain anything and you just expect the O 's to trade their cheap young insurance policies away ? They may trade their whole starting OF away before they give up the haul you're expecting from them. You want a good prospect or 2 from the O's then you might have to do things their way and capitulate a bit on your asks.

They are going all White Sox on us. We can win it all if we just had more over the hill high priced relief pitching !

Because they can trade their whole starting OF from last year if they wanted to since their contracts have 2 years left ( Mullins and Hays) and 1 year left (Santander). Trade them for pitching and replace them with Jackson Holliday, Cowser and Kjerstad. Or trade them for even more prospects and trade prospects for pitching. Staying the course just means do like TB does. Works for TB, not in World Series wins, buy staying competitive in a very very competitive division. Maybe someone wants to rent Santander for the year. Tampa Bay stays the course and takes their chance every year that they can get hot in the playoffs and win a World Series eventually. I'm sure they would trade for Cease if the Sox took Mullins, Hays or Santander to lessen the prospect hit the Orioles don't want to take. That would give the Sox more tradable assets. Accumulate tradable assets and prospects. Trade the tradable assets for prospects . When you don't have the money to spend that's what you have to do.

I think they have done your #1. Have they admitted their predicament? I guess you can say they haven't if you listen to Reinsdorf's lies and that Getz just prefers to label it a retool rather than a rebuild. But his actions have done what you suggest picking up cheap guys who they might be able to traded later and trusting the guys he's hired to make good evaluations and do things that are highly unlikely to happen by turning garbage into value. Of course we have the old fears that they do a lot of the stuff in #2 as evidenced by the boards reaction to any Talking Head with a pulse bringing up Whit Merrifield. The rest of Getz 1st off season and the coming season will provide pretty good clues how as to how he will differ from his predecessors.

Thank you . That's the same argument I used for the starting pitching not being rookies if it can be helped and you echoed my sentiment on Busch. Maybe your post should've been aimed at SoCalChiSox my fellow lover of LH savery . Where me and him differ is that I need other skills besides the savagery.

Then it was the wrong thing to say from Harold because Morosi didnt at all imply the Sox are highly interested or that we were likely to land him. He said they could be a good match. I'm not impressed with what either of them said. Until I see a rumor that says Sox talking to Merrifield I'll just relax about speculation that was neither new nor informative in any way.

What ? Now Outman is Benintendi ? Excuse me Beni can't even come close to playing CF and can't play anything but left field , SPrint speed is 47% while Outmans is 93%. It's odd you're putting future Outman in Benintendi territory. 4.4fWar to 0 fWar. If he goes downhill Out as you said he's still likely to amass more WAR than Benintendi because he's a way better defender and way faster runner, takes more walks and has way more power. If Outman becomes JAG he will be JAG in the majors. If Busch doesnt hit he becomes JAG in the minors. He didnt come from nowhere. He wasnt a high draft pick but once the Dodgers fixed him he put up plenty of good numbers in the minors but as usual you are siting pedigree as a reason to downgrade someone like Outman while it enhances your evaluation of Busch. I don't care if the Sox get Outman. Let's leave Outman out of the equation. I only brought him up as a reference point that rankings and pedigree are deceiving . I just dont want them to get Busch. I do keep it in mind that not everyone kills its when 1st arriving in MLB .It's mostly why I would've still wanted Kelenic and Nootbaar while their stock was down but that was because they had more tools so if you dont become what you are supposed to become maybe you can play a smaller role on an MLB team. What the Sox cannot afford to do is get a completely useless guy among the prospects they trade for . I understand you're looking for a savage but you're swinging for the fences when you have to keep the floor in mind rather than dream about the upside savagery. With skilled players you might still get something from their floor. With Busch his floor is AAAA hitter.

Whats supposed to impress me above ? Does Harold agree with Morosi that the Sox and Merrifield would be an excellent match. Since that's all Morosi said saying no s%*# Jon sounds like he agrees that they would be an excellent match.

Why is everyone going apeshit about this? All Morosi said is that HE THINKS Whit Merrifeld and the Sox would be an excellent match. There's not a thing about any actual interest from the Sox. He's a talking head and his opinion means squat. Merrifield is likely not even being strongly considered at the moment.

I'm not advocating getting Outman from the Dodgers in a Cease trade. That ship has sailed even though Getz might ask for him the Dodgers wont part with him now. I'm saying if it wasn't for 58 AB's Busch wouldn't be a top 100 prospect anymore and he can't field a lick. Rankings are deceptive. Outman was never ranked and yet put up 4.4 fWar last year because he was a very good defender and baserunner to go along with OBP and power. Excuse me If I don't trust your scouting report on Busch or the extreme risk of Outman becoming just a guy profile. If you still cant understand how Outman always had a better chance than Busch or Vargas to become a useful MLB players I can't help you. Speed ,defense, athleticism and a discerning eye along with his power gave him an opportunity. Busch still can't get an opportunity because he doesnt possess useful tools beyond hitting. Even Vargas got more opportunities than Busch because he's faster and can play multiple positions although none of them very well. Those other skills mean a lot when it comes to the opportunity to continue to get playing time. Unfortunately Vargas just didnt hit well enough or field well enough to stick but he did walk 12.5 % and K'd 20% and managed a .1 fWar and 85wRC+ in 81 games . In 27 games Busch walked 9.8% K'd 33% and his fWar was a -.5 and 49 wRC+. Skills give you opportunities. Even the Dodgers know that Vargas had enough skills to get him a chance over Busch. Should the Dodgers have given Busch more playing time over Vargas because of his ranking ?

I'm having a really hard time seeing Busch as a can't miss hitter.Sure he put up great numbers at AAA last year but once upon a time the majority here viewed Vaughn as a can't miss top hitter and now Busch is going to clean his clock? Busch is older than Vaughn and is about as useful at 1st base as Vaughn. He's also not much faster than Vaughn ,26.9% vs 25.5 % in sprint speed. The whole reason I like Outman better than Busch or Vargas last year was because Outman could play all 3 OF positions very well and has near elite speed a shade below Robert. If the bat failed he wouldve still been a likely guy to be a strong side of a platoon and or at worse a 4th OF who can PH, PR and play very good defense. If Busch fails to hit you have nothing and he doesn't fit the Getz profile for what he's looking for.Of course the Dodgers are going to push hard for anyone to take Busch in a trade. Luckily the Dodgers didnt give him enough AB's to ruin his rookie status or less he'd be nowhere to be seen in the top 100 like the Sox did with Colas. The fact that Busch is still the 44th ranked prospect in baseball is actually laughable. If the Dodgers had given him 58 more ABs he'd be just an ex top 100, 26 yr old who put up great AAA numbers who is useless anywhere but DH and 1st base . How anyone can salivate over him because he is technically still 44th on MLB Pipeline and the Dodgers #2 prospect is beyond me. The only thing holding him in those rankings is 58 ABs he didnt get. Miguel Vargas was the Dodgers 5th ranked prospect and #94 in MLB Pipeline a year ago. Why is no one still clamoring for him ? He's still 24, a switch hitter and the Dodgers played him more than Busch last year and he lost his rookie status so he's no longer ranked. He played more than Busch because he actually can run a little, play LF, played a little 3B, 2B and 1st base no not well but better and way more versatile than Busch. The Dodgers gave him a pretty good run from April through June then sent him down. After he got sent down in 60 games in AAA he hit 10 HRS , 407 OBP .886 OPS.

There's really no pressing need to concentrate on those 2 positions when there are major holes all over the roster. At minimum the Sox are going to be very bad this year and maybe slightly less bad the following year That should be plenty of time to figure out if Sosa and Colas along with the other top prospects can be anything resembling MLB talent and also plenty of time to trade Cease and maybe Robert to bring even more talent into the pipeline and on the roster and make even more trades if any of this years starting pitchers on short term contracts results in some tradable value and start resembling a team that can compete in the Central by 2026.

Or it could mean no one will meet his price and Cease won't be traded til the mid season deadline and he'll get injured or be even worse than last year . Or Getz eventually lowers his asking price and we all cry that the return sucks. Have to balance the downside risk with the upside to be fair.

I don't know where the Reds fit into the whole RSN/Bally fiasco but Getz has a tough row to hoe trying to pry prospects out of teams who now must cling to prospects in order to maximize payroll efficiency. That's why I keep suggesting that he may have to take MLB talent with 2 -3 years of control left along with less prospects while teams are now copying the Tampa model of keeping the farm flourishing by trading away your productive MLB startiers before they become too expensive. It may be very hard to win a World Series Tampa's way but it keeps you at or near the top when done right. But then again it's not easy to win any World Series . Can't say I blame any team that hoards prospects now among the small market teams . There may be a lot of teams interested in Cease but it's looking like it could take a while . Of course if you are one of those who think all these tales of financial woe by owners is mostly fabricated BS and accounting tricks then ignore this.

Yes that is the emphasis in no uncertain terms that I mentioned. Better start earning your place, be better than you have been. You have a lot to learn and a lot to lose.

I wouldn't say they have written him off but they are emphasizing that despite constantly being told or coached to make better decisions he continues to make the same mistakes. They want to see progress in his approach to fundamentals and dedication to thinking the game and put his talent to better use. He's not getting any younger and they are emphasizing to him in no uncertain terms that he needs to take what he is told seriously. They wanted him to play winter ball but looks like he is a brand new father so he chose to be there for the beginning of his new son's life instead.

I really enjoy CHGO coverage of the Sox particularly Vinnie Duber. He measures everything he says about the Sox making sure he isn't overly critical so as to not jeopardize his media credentials or journalistic neutrality but he is fair in his assessments . CHGO also does a fine job covering all the other major Chicago sports teams too.

Earned the burn out of turn . Learn to yearn.

I was hoping for him just to add to the confusion.Sirotka, Soroka Sirota ! All Mikes !

Well looks like all our projected starters are going to be dubbed The Bannister Bunch or Bannister's Boys. Difficult assignment turning chopped liver into prime rib but it seems like he takes a lot of pride in helping the downtrodden pitchers rediscover their abilities.

I haven't been in his head like you have but like any player who hasn't lived up to the hype there are reasons. For him it's been finding a 3rd pitch and command. However like many of our players health has been a large factor , particularly his knee.

I know you are describing it as "haven't had much luck since" but luck is the residue of design. International Free agents have never been the Sox strong suit among a host of other things. Branch Rickey like to use that quote about luck being the residue of design which is attributed John Milton in the 17th Century. To expand the definition we have this: Luck isn't for the chosen few, it's the residue of design. It's created through conscious, intentional focus and clarity – and by being willing to make choices that support rather than subtract from your intended outcome. stephaniepollock.com This does not sound like the White Sox under the Reinsdorf's ownership in many many different areas.

That won't happen, he needs starters innings badly. He has to be developed as a starter. Leasure probably is in the pen. It's very difficult to project anything for the bullpen when so many names are so new to us.

I'm aware of the situation but he's looking for a job . I know you and I and many others have a very low opinion of JR but that level of pettiness is hard to fathom if he truly wants a shot to find some viable starting pitcher candidates who fit his budget and has a good name recognition with fans. It might not be as unlikely to happen as bringing back Tim Anderson to play 2nd base but they both have bottomed out and may provide upside. That seems to be where we're at right now, searching for cheap bounceback candidates.