Balta1701

He's too expensive, but the White Sox spending a couple million extra on their bench is not the worst thing in the world when their payroll is so low. The money they didn't spend in the international market this year has to go somewhere, amiright? He should not keep the starting 2b job though.

I think the fact that every option is "Meh" to some extent is why there isn't a clear answer. We don't have a clear internal candidate, the veteran candidates are ok but nothing special, and all of the trade options are "hope a team is letting someone go cheaper than they should" guys. My personal preference right now is to use the resource we have in abundance - free agent money - and fill the hole on a temporary basis. That's entirely because we have such a low payroll right now. But if moving a couple guys does clear out a 40 man roster glut, well I get why we'd do it, I just am utterly scarred by this team's history of "3 or 4 for 1" players. If we un-did every single one of those moves, where we gave up 3 guys to get 1, that we did over the last decade, we'd make ourselves substantially better. If there's chaff on the 40 man that can be cleared while we hold onto the young guys, generally I think the franchise is better off holding onto them. But, if 2 of those guys are potentially going to be exposed to the rule 5 draft, may as well turn them into something that has a chance of being good, but also a chance at being rotten.

I enjoy how we posted 2 comments almost simultaneously and our reaction in both cases to the proposed details are somewhere around "meh". Mine is "Meh" to making the move, yours is "Meh" to giving up guys who are lower on the list.

If the Mets are willing to give the guy away for a low price...then there's gonna be other bidders to drive up the price right? This isn't the White Sox trading away a closer and only talking to Toronto's GM. There's just so many ways to make this team better without giving up the guys in our system...I can't say I despise this concept, but meh.

The "multiple guys for one guy" deal setup is one that I'm really not thrilled about us doing yet. I'm much more willing to do that for moves that put us over the top at the end. Nimmo is a potential fit, but man when we have this much money to spend, we're giving up 3 different guys from our system? Eh. I'd rather take on a bad contract.

For a guy who is a decent offensive producer on a really bad team he also gets a ridiculous amount of praise from some people. We may not have any issue with Jose Abreu, but we may be tired of people treating him like he's way better than he is. We're literally in a thread where the team is assuring the guy he's got a lifetime contract according to the headline, when he's not even the best 1b we've had in the last decade. A lifetime contract guarantee isn't a lot of "grief".

I would genuinely be disappointed if they went into next season with Leury/Cordell/Palka as their Right Field options. Right now, I don't know that this team will be competitive next year, but I also don't know they won't be. But I'm pretty darn certain that if those are our RF options, they won't be competitive no matter what. I am ok with a cheap 1 year stopgap, but I need another RF.

Gun to my head I take that and figure out the bullpen later.

It's worth noting that both those guys pitched a good number of big league innings before they were hurt, Kopech has not. If Kopech comes out in ST and is dominating people, I won't be mad if he breaks camp with the big league team. However, in 2018, Kopech struggled with his control a lot during the first half and only snapped out of it at the end of June following something like a 7 walk/4 IP game. Because of his inexperience he may be a guy that needs more time to find a rhythm. In either case, we still need to know who the 6th starter is because if Kopech stops at 150 innings or they give him a short break to conserve his innings, we need that extra option to fill in.

Am I allowed to add a reliever or two and a 6th starter? Generally I'm pretty thrilled with that, but there's some depth missing.

You're missing one important detail though - as rules have changed and the game has evolved, passing stats have substantially improved. In 2002, Tom Brady had 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions...and he led the league with those 28 touchdowns. The average QB rating in 2002 was 80, in 2018 it was 92. The #3-#4 quarterbacks in passer rating in 2002 would have been about 21st and 22nd in 2018. That old guard took their leap in stats at about the same time the whole league did, in part because that's when the pass interference and defensive holding rules changed.

Scooter Gennett should not accept a spot as a bench piece unless he thinks he isn't healthy. Someone like Detroit or Baltimore will give him a couple million to start somewhere for them. If he comes out and is the hitter he was in 2018, he sets himself up for a big payday. He is better off taking a little less money for a starting position than he is taking more money for a part time position with a contender unless he doesn't think he can stay healthy again.

Most guys are pretty willing to switch positions if you pay them enough and give them a starting spot. The question I would have is more "is Gennett really what we're looking for out of RF next year"? Hypothetically if he struggles or is hurt again next year, but some other stuff goes right, that RF spot could be a big enough hole that we really regret not doing something different. His ceiling is higher than some players who should be comparable money, but his recent injury history suggests a potentially low floor.

Brees was pretty remarkable in that his development was so slow with the Chargers that they drafted his replacement before he broke out. I can't remember any other QBs like it, who struggled for 3 years and then suddenly turned into a real good QB.

I'm still not sure why the White Sox would make a move for Betts when he's under control for only 1 year, but another problem with the White Sox's system right now is that it's top heavy. Madrigal, Robert, and Vaughn are all top 50 or better talents, then we have no one in that 50-100 range. We have some guys who might step into that range next season but they're not there yet.

How long did they employ Aaron Hernandez? They literally traded Demaryius Thomas earlier today, a few hours before this came out.

After the last 2 offseasons, if Mike Moustakas gets a decent contract offer, I really don't imagine him turning it down.

I do think that's true, but the Red Sox are also competition at least for him. Castellanos I don't know. I could definitely see a situation where he overplays his market, turns down a 2 year deal sometime early in the offseason, and winds up as one of the last guys standing at the end of February.

With these DH only types, moving them could be a little difficult. Not a lot of teams need a true DH, especially when they're a few years older than this, and then you knock out any rebuilding teams, teams like Tampa Bay that won't pay that money, and teams that have their own DH, and you only have a couple options.

Do we really want to sign 2 different guys in their 30s to be 1b/DH types and trade away the guy in his early 20s at that spot? Are we that close right now that we'll pay $35-50 million on the 1b/DH spot next year to fill those roles next year, and then be willing to trade away the young 1b while still paying those prices? If we weren't keeping Abreu, Castellanos or Martinez make sense. If Abreu is on a 1 year deal, they make sense. If Abreu's going to be here for the rest of his career, then going all in on another DH and keeping Abreu at 1b...not a fan.

If they're not trading Vaughn, and they're 99% sure going to sign Abreu, then neither Castellanos nor Martinez makes good sense to me, because they're both DH types and neither Vaughn nor Abreu is moving off 1b. The only way those DH options work is if Abreu is signed for one year, and it seems like we all expect more than that. Signing 2 expensive DH/1b types when we just drafted a DH/1b...seems like an iffy long term strategy to me.

Well good, we have Madrigal coming up who will play most of the season at 2b but occasionally will need a day off.

This would address the "Middle of the order LH bat" need with a guy who can hit somewhere between 4th and 6th. I'm generally ok with this concept this season. Probably would let Yolmer depart if I intended to do that, so I'd want to get the deal done before the Dec. 1 deadline.

Some version of what Nova said is the standard - that he would be happy to be there next year. That's different from "my agent's job is to make me be here next year" - the latter makes it sound like you're willing to take a discount to play there and unwilling to play elsewhere even if you get slightly better offers.

The last pass? The corners were too far away but so were the safeties, they were 25 yards down the field. They were playing against Brees trying to go over the top for a 50 yard touchdown and it helped them get the 7 yard completion.