Chicago White Sox

I don’t think it happens, but I think it would totally be fair game if they added a couple starters and simply said they need to get the rust off before joining the big league rotation.

The fanbase will riot if the money isn’t spent. This past offseason they had an excuse that they were a year early. Come this winter it’s now or never time.

What are we spending all our money on if Wood is our big pitching addition? The Sox aren’t going to rock a sub $80M payroll like some here are suggesting.

We don’t have the assets to trade for a top of the rotation arm. Wood is a fine pitcher when healthy, but if he’s the big addition you’re putting a ton of stress on your offense & bullpen to deliver and basically writing off any chance at a World Series run next year as the rotation simply won’t be postseason ready.

Didn’t we offer $100M+ for Tanaka? I agree that Cole is a pipe dream, but I think Wheeler is a realistic get as I don’t think he gets more than four or five years max.

Spot on man. That being said, I do think Cole & Rendon won’t happen. Anyone after them I think is fair game though. Either way, the team is going to spend some serious money this offseason regardless of how badly we botched the Machado deal.

Wood is fine, but given the youth of our staff and the boatload of money we’re sitting on, we need to aim higher if we only plan to add one starter. If we want to add two and buy Kopech some time in AAA, then I’m all for Wood too.

wRC+ isn’t predictive and it’s very clear Jose has gotten unlucky this year based on the quality of his contact. That’s not to say he’s extremely valuable, but he’s been better than his core numbers suggest.

JFC no way in hell am I taking Heyward off the Cubs’ hands because of a solid two months of production.

He really needs to commit to the curve going forward. Use the rest of this season to regain the feel for the pitch in preparation of the 2020 season.

If it means adding Rendon I’ll take that chance. That being said, he’s probably a total pipe dream. Honestly, give me Ozuna, Wheeler, one strong bullpen arm (Betances if he comes back and looks strong), and a stopgap at 2B. I’d love Gennett on a short-term deal (two years or less), just not sure if that’s realistic or not. Add those guys on top of Robert, Cease, Kopech, Collins, etc. and that’s a team with legit aspirations for a playoff spot.

While I think Rendon is probably a pipe dream, if you get him you simply move Moncada back to 2B and make Madrigal (once he gets here) the 10th man and rotate him all over the field. That would be an excellent problem to have.

Because WAR is a volume-impacted stat and doesn’t account for high leverage situations. Colome being limited to the ninth (for the most part) isn’t his fault and he shouldn’t be penalized as a result. Also, Colome has outpitched his FIP by nearly half a run over his career. I love FIP but it’s definitely the end-all, be-all.

I know we’ve had our disagreements in the past, but I fully agree with you here. They will have to spend significantly just to avoid the “cheap” label. And with the young core taking some major strides this season, they’ve simply run out of excuses. There will be some serious spending next offseason.

He was bound to hit a rough patch...now just need to see him make the necessary adjustments and recover.

@Jack Parkman definitely deserves a ton of credit on Gio. I don’t know what he saw last year, but Gio is a total stud. Glad he was right because the road to contention is that much easier with one our TOR spots filled. Now I’m just hoping Lopez can regain form by bringing back the curveball and at least emerge as a quality #4 type starter. I believe he’s far more capable than that, but honestly that might be good enough for what we need once Kopech, Cease, and a high end free agent are in place.

Guys - I think it’s pretty obvious @DirtySox didn’t realize Castillo was catching today. No need to pile on.

?...almost makes me think Cooper has something to do with that.

His curve used to be pretty nasty. FG had it as a 55 / 60 pitch which is plenty good when paired with his fastball. Just for whatever reason he gave up on it completely in exchange for the slider.

I still have full confidence that Madrigal will be an above 2B for years to come and with the juiced ball and some swing changes he could be much more than that.

I’m unable to watch the game, but is there an easy way to tell how much he’s thrown each pitch today? The talk of increased curveball usage is very promising to me.

I’m not sure WAR is a great way to evaluate relievers. That being said, most teams need relievers come the deadline and there are only so many truly elite options. After those handful of guys, a guy who has proven he can handle high leverage innings becomes pretty valuable. Whether that commands a top 100 prospect or not remains to be seen, but I think there will be plenty of interest in him.

I’ve been on suspension until today, but I got to say I love this year’s approach to the draft. Upon further consideration, Vaughn was the right pick for the spot. He’ll move fast and quickly provide us with a middle of the order bat to pair with Jimenez. After that, I love grabbing a pair of athletic, projectable HS arms plus a HS outfielder with elite / plus, plus speed. Sounds we’ll also land another four or five interesting HS kids on top of that to boot. I absolutely love the infusion of youth & athleticism into the system, but the question quickly becomes where we will play all these kids? There’s going to be some logjams on the positional side. Here’s what we’re potentially looking at Great Falls & Arizona this year: Outfield: Connell, Weaver, Comas, Mieses, Coronado, Guerrero, Beard, Acosta, Glass Infield: Quinteiro, Delgado, Maldonado, Gladney, Pimentel, Diaz, Ramos, Sanchez* 1B/DH: Reyes, Abbott, Mendoza Catcher: Ortiz, Torres The outfield & infields are going to be packed and I’m sure I’m missing some guys. Really wish we had another short-season team, but regardless it’s going to be fun seeing who breaks out of this group. Really need Getz & staff to step up and play their part now.

Lopez needs to figure his shit out and fast. I really wish he’d bring back the curve as that was his bread & butter breaking ball with the Nationals. Still no idea why they completely cut bait on that and went with the slider.

I will guarantee short of an injury that Cease is up this year and most likely sometime in June.