PorkChopExpress

I'm curious to see some of these guys with different teams and whether those teams will be able to get these guys to play to their full potential. I feel like Luis Robert, Jr. would be an MVP if he was on the Dodgers/Rays/Red Sox/Guardians/Twins/etc., but as long as he's with the White Sox, he'll only be what he currently is because the White Sox are incapabe of getting the most out of their players. Young guys with loads of talent and potential dwindle away if they "develop" in the White Sox system, and veterans with a history of success sign with the team and never reach that success again. There are exceptions, obviously, like Tim Anderson, for example, but for the most part, being a member of the White Sox organization seems to be a death sentence for players' careers. A lot of people complain about trading Tatis for Shields back in the day, but that's because Tatis turned into a superstar with another team. I have no faith that he would have come close to being that player if he had stayed in the White Sox system.

Yeah I don't get sitting a guy the very next game after he has a huge day. It's not like you need Sheets in the lineup or something, and Haseley would give you better defense.

Perhaps it’s your grammar.

I'd be curious to see how it compares to other GM's track records across the league.

Weren’t the Brewers looking for a 1B? Am I imagining that? Maybe they’d like to take Sheets for some minor league project/prospect.

I realize it’s only 5 games into spring training, but I was really hoping to see some power from the core players early to at least begin proving the power outage last year was a fluke. Instead, they’re barely getting hits at all. And soon most of them are going to leave spring training for the WBC. Not exactly giving fans much to believe in right now. Yuck.

What court are you referring to? I thought there were no criminal charges filed and there is only a pending MLB investigation. Is that wrong? Is there a civil case filed? Are you referring to custody hearings?

No, you were the one who read something that wasn’t said. You associated the criticism of a player’s attitude with his race.

Andrus.

Any chance this is a precursor to a Jazz Chisholm trade?

No you don’t.

This was my thought. These guys get hurt running and throwing, so why is the team ok with such fragile players risking injury in the WBC? On the other hand, though, maybe they will be more ready at the beginning of the year having played some competitive baseball prior to opening day as opposed to the coddling they get during spring training (at least as things have been run in recent years - Grifol might change that) and they actually win more than they lose in April and May so we don't have to hear about how the season is long and championships aren't won in April or May, blah blah.

That would make sense if the Sox weren’t offering 10 cents per dollar offered by other teams. Cheap.

Unless you’re playing the White Sox.

It’s that or nothing.

Only 75% of the time, though.

I agree. Eloy's and Robert's contracts are crazy valuable IF they can stay healthy for a full season. Per BR, Eloy is making $10.333M, $13.833M, $16.5M (Team Option) and $18.5M (Team Option) over the next 4 years, while Robert is making $9.5M, $12.5M, $15M, $20M (Team Option) and $20M (Team Option) over the next 5 years. With top tier guys getting $30-40M/year, and guys like Joc Pederson and Bellinger getting $19.65M and $17.5M respectively, and knowing FA signings just keep getting higher and higher each year, I just think it would be crazy to trade away either Eloy or Robert at this point. If they never amount to slightly better than average players, hell, you're only paying them what you'd have to pay a slightly better than average player on the FA market. But if they can get close to what we think is their potential, you're paying them half of what they'd earn on the FA market.

If they have the green light to spend, and they need a catcher, why aren’t they just paying Contreras?

How many of the worst balls made it into White Sox games? Possible factor for the power outage?

I can't see how getting a catcher helps the Sox, unless it's in conjunction with other moves where they either get rid of Grandal, or some of our other 1B/DH guys thereby creating a need at catcher. With that being said, though, how about any of the Toronto catchers, Jansen, Kirk, or Moreno? I don't know anything about how they rate on the defensive side of things, and they're all RH, but I like the offensive potential and they're also 27, 24 and 22 YO, respectively.

You know when the Dolphins got a bunch of criticism for sending Tua back out too early after concussion? This seems worse.

If JR can honestly sit there and say “I’m now giving you your chance” while ignoring the fact that his dipshit choice to hire TLR burned 2 prime years of “the window,” and likely set more than a few players back in their development, then maybe this is happening, but I don’t think JR is that dumb. He’s just stubborn and doesn’t like the notion that spending money is a must for almost every team if they want to win. There are a few exceptions, and he’s trying to prove that the white Sox can be an exception, too.

You’ve cracked the White Sox draft method. (I know he was an international signing)

Seems a little light, like we coud actually have matched that. I would have liked to see Hernandez in a Sox uniform. He seemed like a very good player that never got full acknowledgement because he was always in Guerrero's and Bichette's and even Biggio's shadows. Oh well.

If Pollock declining his option is truly an indicator of players wanting (or not wanting) to play for the Sox, it might be hard to convince FA's to sign unless the only other teams that want them are equally as undesirable to play for as the Sox. In other words, there might be a limit to what can actually be done this offseason. That's based on reading into Pollock's decision, but based on comments from other players that recently "left" the organization, they may be facing an uphill battle.