Chicago White Sox

His defense was horrible last year by advanced metrics, but prior to that he’s been fine for the most part. So the question is that a sign of things to come or just a blip on the radar. Personally, I lean toward the latter and believe he would be fine in a corner spot playing half his games at the Rate. 1B would be more of a fallback option years down the road IMO.

I don’t follow. Are you suggesting we should not have acquired Frare from the Yankees for international bonus pool we couldn’t use because they had 40 man problems? If so, how does that make any sense? Regarding the so called “riff-raff”, those guys will be discarded as we make external additions. For now, they can stay on the 40 man roster and provide organizational depth. As for fringe guys like Thompson & Mendick, the odds suggest you’re way better off not protecting these guys too early. Look at Clarkin for example. We put him on the 40 man a year too early and to create roster space had to try to sneak him through waivers. Instead of a team being forced to use a 25 man roster spot on him for a full year, now a team only had to take a temporarily flier on him with a 40 man spot. With fringe guys, I’d much rather keep them off the 40 man as long as possible and make a team select them in the Rule 5 draft.

I know people will disagree, but I’m all for Cruz at the right price. Given his market size should be tiny, I’m glad to hear we’re actively engaged and staying in the mix.

Holy fuck, what an insane finale. I hope Paulie rots in hell for all eternity for the shit that he pulled.

I think you’re right but I can’t recall who that was.

Lol...I was 100% kidding. I think they simply thought now was the best time to sneak Clarkin down.

The Sox did hype up Clarkin a bit and ultimately put him on the 40 man roster last year when it was very unlikely IMO someone would take him in the Rule 5. That being said, hard to be too upset with losing him after his horrific 2018 season. I don’t anticipate him being on the Cubs for very long.

This may be a reach, but it seems like keeping two roster spots open means we’re probably signing one of Harper or Machado in the coming weeks.

I didn’t hate the deal, but did not like Clarkin being the second piece.

Easily the best moment from the Ian Clarkin era: https://mobile.twitter.com/jon_greenberg/status/1064992238521016331?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet

I’m assuming that has to be the case, but wasn’t 100% sure. Just surprised anyone would claim him at this point.

So did the Cubs add Clarkin to their 40 man roster?

Well he’s still technically a starter right now and would be in the top 6 on our current depth chart. I personally think he’ll end up in the bullpen as a multi-inning guy (which can be valuable) and I’m not sure which 10 guys are clearly ahead him for bullpen roles. In terms of RH relievers, I’d only put Jones & Hamilton well ahead him and Nate is always a huge question mark. A healthy Burdi would also be ahead of Jordan as well. Otherwise, I don’t see how guys like Burr, Vieira, Ruiz, & Fulmer are that much different in the pecking order. And outside of Fulmer, most of those guys are shorter outing types. I think some of you guys are really selling Jordan short as a possible multi-inning reliever / spot starter.

If I had to guess, I’d assume Clarkin or Tilson is coming off, with Ian being the more likely of the two.

I agree, I’m still pretty high on Stephens and would have been surprised if he wasn’t protected. I do think his future is probably in the bullpen due to a lack of durability. As long as the velocity picks up a couple ticks that should work fine.

Thanks Jimmy. Any word on Adams or Thompson?

Fully agree with this. I just want to keep those risks short-term so they don’t hold us back from addressing other needs in a few years.

All very fair points, but the difference between him and Morton is you’ll have to pay him for that breakout talent he flashed last year. Charlie only got 2/$14M from the Astros, Eovaldi will likely get somewhere between 3/$48M & 6/$68M in this market. There still could be some upside there, but it’s greatly outweighed by the downside risk IMO.

I think you’re spot-on with the fatigue angle. I really think the Sox add him to the 40 and let him challenge for a bullpen spot and serve as rotational depth.

The problem with Eovaldi is you’re paying him for how performed down the stretch & in the playoffs with the Red Sox. He had never really performed like that before and given his injury history, you’re taking on a ton of risk with him. I’d need Cooper & Schneider to feel confident they could keep him healthy & productive in order to sign him for what he’ll likely command and even then I’d hate going beyond three years.

And I’m totally fine with that if we plan to spend big on a starter. That’s called being forward thinking and thinking through the best multi-year plan for the organization. I just can’t agree with the concept that adding one veteran starter right now somehow blocks one of our kids in 2020. Let’s say we sign Eovaldi and all three of our young starters take a leap next year (Rodon, Lopez, & Giolito). Worst case scenario, we have a young left-handed starter in Rodon under control for two more years that we can trade to fill other holes or add prospect depth back to the system. I just don’t see how anyone could view this as a problem.

Jesus Christ man, adding one controllable starting pitcher won’t block anyone. You are the first person I have ever met who cried about having too much starting pitching. If they all work out, which is incredibly unlikely, we have some depth to deal from. That is a good problem to have. Regardless, Kopech & Cease (if healthy) will be given their opportunities next year no matter what and room will be made if necessary.

Sure, I’d count all external acquisitions.

Yes, he honestly believes that for some reason.

I think we should definitely protect Stephens. I still feel he could be a quality reliever. Adams I’m far less concerned about given the low K rate. I do think there is a decent chance they protect Thompson based on his AFL showing.