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You're a reasonable guy. Offensive production all around baseball was bad last year. I don't know how much the new shift rules will help but I don't understand how Andrus on a 1 year deal is blocking anyone. Popeye isn't ready. Romy looked legit in 2021 in Birmingham for 400 AB's and for 15 games in Charlotte but expecting a .700 OPS from him seems farfetched given his setbacks in the minors in 2022. Sosa is capable of that and I sure as hell hope that he hits the dickens out of the ball in ST if no one else in brought in. Romy could surprise us too if 2021 wasn't a mirage. It's just very hard to know what to expect from those guys because their track records were kind of skewed by missing 2020. All we have to go on with Romy is a very good year in the AA in 2021. I don't see how this argument about Andrus as depth and with his hitting being on par with Leury's going back to 2018 means anything. Leury doesnt even have a career War total to match what Andrus did in 1 year which is the most recent sample from 2022. The aggregate of Andrus skills as a total player dwarfs Leury's skills unless the ability to play a lot of positions badly means that much to you. But so be it. With a good organization that would spend some money we wouldn't even be having these petty arguments about who's the best slug to start and backup at 2nd base. Depth be damned lets go Leury ,Romy and Sosa !

Pretty unlikely anyone signs him for 2 years at his age and offense prior to 2022. No one will think he can get 3.5 War again but a solid 2.0 WAR could still be in the cards for him with regular playing time .Plus if he plays 2nd base it's likely he won't be getting the same defensive high marks he did at SS. Anyway here's an article on Fangraphs from 9/20/2022 that searches for answers about why Andrus did so well with the White Sox. Hint: Doesn't look like he found any real answers. Most Sox fans who enjoyed watching Andrus last year will enjoy this article. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/elvis-lives/

Looks like he robbed Benintendi 3 times on this highlight reel. Also Tim got doubled off 1st on a nice grab. Eloy robbed also. Not sure how old most of these are but he's still a very good fielder.

He's still very fast and has one of the best arms in baseball. Right now he's our best option for 4th OFer.

There's more to take into account than just those stats. You got an old guy past his prime and a guy about to be 27. Gavin was a .906 OPS, .346 OBP 155 wRC+ at home. Couldn't hit for s%*# on the road .508 OPS, .243 OBP and 43 wRC+. I don't think he's a .900 OPS guy but he's also not a 500 OPS guy . I suppose if you split the difference he's a .700 OPS guy ? But if he can ever replicate that home OPS on the road he'd be a pretty damn good hitter. So Gavin does have upside if he can find a place to get PT .He's not a FA til 2028 but the Cubs would have had to trade for him and pay an equal salary to Hosmer. As a GM I'd probably go with Sheets just to find out if he can become a 30 HR guy and since they do have a huge opening at 1st base. Cubs just went with the cheapest guy possible I suppose.

True enough. Even though I got a lot of flak for saying I prefer Andrus over Leury and I honestly was perplexed about that, I was just trying to be fair about why he always gets a positive rating as far as BsR goes. Plenty of good base runner get brain cramps on the bases from time to time. Being fast often means being aggressive and sometimes you pay for that aggressiveness. Straying too far of a base on a line drive with less than 2 outs is another example. Also on a team that had trouble scoring every base running mistake , every bad send by a coach where a runner gets thrown out at home sticks out like a sore thumb. Moncada and Engel were involved in that triple play which I would rank higher than the picked off 3rd move as far as dumb plays go and they are also generally considered good base runners as far as fangraphs BsR goes. There was just a whole lot of bad going on last year.

Anyone with Leury's speed is going to be a positive baserunner. If you routinely get from 1st to 3rd on a single, 2nd to home on a single, 1st to home on a double and steal at a decent rate you will be considered a good base runner. Just like he is consider a decent fielder because of his speed. It doesn't necessarily mean he is above average at everything. He doesn't have an accurate arm and often misses cut off men.

It's wise to tell players to work on your weaknesses. It's how you grow as not only a player but as a person also.

Ventura's old number. Kind of remind me of Ventura looks too.

He was comparable to Rodon in that the fanbase said, "We got lucky for a year but paying up for him based on one year ? No Way !! Look at how he did before that. Too big of an injury risk". You are saying the same thing about ANdrus, that his previous years outweigh his time with the Sox. You can make it age related if you want to but many of our fans were saying Bon Voyage to Rodon and telling us Sox management knew his medicals better than anyone. As far as the Andrus hot stretch went, I've never seen Leury do that . You at least have to be capable of producing at a high level . Leury's never had a 2 War year let alone 3.5. Say whatever you want about luck or his "measureables" . Without trying to get too weird about it, hitting a baseball is an often mystifying thing. I'd be a lot happier with Andrus than Leury because he is capable of doing things Leury can't. That was proven last year. The likelihood of them being similar is greater than the chance of him being miles better also. But the key is there's also a greater chance of Andrus being better just because he is more talented. All it takes is a look at their careers to know this. Would you argue for Leury over Kemp, Biggio, Escobar ? They will cost money and players. You're always going on about Steamer right? They have Leury at .2 War for 2023 and Andrus for 1.8.

I don't get your criminally overused quote at all. If you want 17-21 Leury back offensively he was used just as much if not more in those years. 2020 was 16 games so might as well leave that out. 2017 PA 326 Negative offensive War , Positive defensive, Positive BsR 2018 PA 275 Negative offensive War, Positive defensive, Positive BsR 2019 PA 618 Negative offensive War, Positive defensive, Positive BsR 2021 PA 474 Positive offensive War, Positive defensive, Positive BsR 2022 PA 315 Negative offensive War, Negative defensive, Positive BsR The only things that gave him any positive War are usually his defense and base running which is all related to his speed. Fundamentally he is not good defensively but he does out run down flyballs and is useful at SS. If by a useful bench player you mean PR and some kind of defensive replacement , that's not enough to be useful. Good depth is being capable of producing War offensively and defensively with some level of consistency.

Leury can be easily discarded, not stuck with him. He is not indispensable .

Right you're just reiterating what I said, a minor reset. But the Dodgers have Plans B, C, D etc because they know landing Ohtani will not be a slam dunk but they are doing everything in their power to make sure they are as attractive to him as he is to them. They still have to be a top team to stay pretty for him. Players like him want to win a World Series just like I'm sure Trout does but time goes by quickly and to maximize your chance to win as a player you must be near your peak and so does the organization you choose to win a Championship. We are not talking about the White Sox here. The Dodgers will want to win their division and get to the World Series .

There aren't many game changes at 2nd base unless you count Gleybar Torres and his control is 2 years. Probably arent getting him unless you trade Hendriks. Their strength is their infield depth and thats the Sox strength also even though Sosa or JRod may not be ready . You don't need significant upgrades. As we saw last year with Andrus, he played smart. stole bases, fielded well and hit HR's. He put up 2 War in 43 games. Yes he hit well but also played stellar defense and ran the bases well. These are things we often take for granted, intelligence , poise, professionalism which we got for may years from Abreu. I saw the same qualities in Andrus and he seemed to love playing in our park, which in itself, seems to be difficult to find. McCann's only 2 decent years were with the Sox. One of the things that Grifol and Hahn agreed on was Benintendi may be a very nice fit for our park. Sosa may eventually be everything we want at 2b so we don't need someone long term. We need a smart poised guy who hit well in our park and can hold the fort until Sosa is ready . He will give you positive War even if he can't replicate 2 War in 43 games again. I can't say the same for Romy. Everyone doing just a little bit more adds up. It's why quality depth is so important. I wouldn't trade Sosa.

The Yankees and Dodgers may be the key to the rest of our off season. The Dodgers are being especially quiet. It's not like them to show cracks in their depth and not be thought of as a top 5 team. Maybe it's a minor reset with thoughts of Ohtani but the Dodgers never put all their eggs in one basket. They've got a lot of talent ready for MLB but that talent is unusually strange in that they do not have fixed positions to play but are highly ranked. That's one reason why I picked Outman out of the bunch. He's an OF who can play CF too. No ranking but power and defense. The ranked guys have great hit tools and power but who knows what positions they end up playing. LF and 1st base and no versatility is not what the Dodgers do when they keep their best prospects. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Dodgers trade some of that highly ranked talent.

I think the main point of what Grifol told him is "be ready IF we need you out there. Continue to work on your game as always. Do not think of yourself as a useless guy only capable of one thing. Be prepared to be more even if we don't think that's where the best you is. The best you is staying in the lineup as a hitter. That's what will help the team most." Grifol is all about positive reinforcement and encouragement but if he doesn't see you trying to be the best you possible he will get on you for your lack of effort in the tough love way that every parent should have inside them. Probably much the same way he raised his girls. Kindness with expecting firmness of resolve.

JR could be back loading contracts to also dump as much money as he can on a new owner along with what you said about the current team payroll. He seems like a guy fixated on nickel and diming or a saving a million here a million there into the near future where there is less money committed. By the time Benny's contract is over 3/4 if not more of the current team won't be under contract.

There are areas that you do not want to get that stuff on !

Better get it by the 5 gallon drum !

You are right.Even with reasonable health you still have to get some career years from guys like Eloy and Robert to get favorable outcomes. Kopech, Giolito, Lynn, Clevinger are all guys who can be much better or total blahs. Anderson has to field better and still hit. Grandal could be feeling 100% better and screw up his back in the 1st week playing in bad weather. He better be rubbing the Tiger Balm or Icy Hot or over his damn body. Maybe the rest of the team should too, all over their hamstrings, obliques, shoulders, elbows, quads, calves, groins (be careful with the IcY Hot there). Go out there smelling like an old folks home.

That's why I wanted Colas up at the end of last year. A lot of people were against it and still want the Sox to gain the extra year. We know rookies struggle. It would have been nice to get any struggles out of the way at the end of the season. Now if he struggles it'll have to be when , after they hold him down to get the extra year ? People also got sick of me mentioning Outman, another rookie, but right about now he's looking better and better as 4th OF, but the Dodgers are themselves thin in the OF so it's highly unlikely they trade him. Duvall will cost probably closer to $10M than $5M ,maybe right in the middle at $7.5M, but right now, as fans ,we are in the unenviable position of not knowing if they spend any more or how much if they do. Spending another $15M could get them what they need or spend $7/8M and make a trade. Hahn doesn't seem to want to trade any of our top rookies so that doesn't leave much to trade with unless you find takers for Sheets, Burger, Yolbert Sanchez, or Cespedes.

When exactly are teams supposed to work in a hot rookie when he's perfect for the opening they have ? By the time Colas started playing, to the people who do the rankings, Colas was just another older Cuban prospect, just a 45FV . By the time the season ended he got ranked in the top 100 and went from A+ to AAA and never slowed down. You saw how Montgomery slowed down once he got to Birmingham 19 yrs old and he was tired . Colas was a beast but yes, as of now if you count 2nd base they are counting on rookies . Maybe they rely on Sosa or Romy which is not quite as exciting. But I suggested Andrus , you didn't want him, I agreed that Tony Kemp might be a good option, Escobar would be fine, Gleyber Torres great !. Who do you like at 2nd base ? Did you agree or disagree they might have to trade Hendriks ? Do they trade minor leaguers ? You can't just keep crapping on everything. The Sox had 4 position players with 2 or more War last year. 3 of them barely clinging to 2 War and the top guy walked with 3.9 War and the other 2 WAR guy also walked and you don't like him.

As of now though he's the backup OF in CF and in the mix for starting at 2nd base with Romy and Sosa. A career War of 1.9 playing 10 years isn't really good . You have super subs putting up 1 War per season or more depending on playing time. There's a chance a lot of guys play with minor injuries . The grind of baseball does that to you. If you play, produce, if not, go on the DL. Negative War isn't helping the team. At that point you're better off playing just about anyone else . Well maybe not Romy was a negative War guy too. This is the reason why I want Andrus or really anyone else in the black hole of 2nd base or some guy who can play CF as the 4th OF. I've been talking about more OF since the Off season began. Outman would look pretty good right about now. But I'm pretty sure the Dodgers will hang onto him. Contenders do not go into a season witha bunch of negative War from the previos season. Vaughn's negative War you can let slide because he's no OF. Last Year the Sox had only 4 position players at 2 fWar and above and 2 of them are gone; Andrus 2, Anderson 2, Robert 2.1 and Abreu 3.9. They need a whole lot of health and raised performances to even come close to winning the division and real live breathing depth is huge.

I used to stick up for Leury because he was my adopt a prospect but Leury Garcia is a poor excuse to have playing most positions. He should be a getting his minor leagues and NRI contracts after last year. ANdrus got DFA by a non contender w 1.8 war because they no longer wanted to pay him more money when his bonus kicked in after 550 AB. He shouldn't be getting any games. The Sox should have a versatile 4th OF and a decently versatile INF who can provide way more than Leury does. I'm totally mystified by anyone being OK with him on a team that's supposed to care about winning.

definitely more offensive upside but he's basically a LF now and not good at any other positions defensively.