Chicago White Sox

Seems good?

Awesome and thanks for tracking this. Also, where has Baldwin been playing all spring? Has he just been coming off the bench?

They also need to prove themselves in AAA before they deserve another major league opportunity. Hopefully one of them starts the year strong and forces the issue, but there is zero reason to expect them to be successful this year in the majors when they were bad in AAA last year. Honestly, the only reason Colas is probably even around is he has serious power potential and perhaps Fuller wanted a few months with him to see if there is any hope they can fix him.

The Athletic article stated Ishbia decided to exit his pursuits of the Twins and buy out Sox minority owners after Jerry reached out to him.

We don’t have credible options in the upper minors which is why we signed three veteran stopgaps. And I’m not sure why you’re naming guys in the lower minors when you’re arguing we should be giving playing time in 2025 to OFs who could be part of the future. Those aren’t related at all. The reality is we will likely rotate some of the IFs in the OF this year. Baldwin has plenty of OF experience and should be an option in the corners. They have already talked about Ramos getting some playing time in LF. I could see the same apply to Sosa potentially. Just because we don’t know their exact plans doesn’t mean they have one. And again, free agency is going to be a solution whether we long-term additions or as a bridge to Wolkow, Zavala, Saucke, etc.

Canario doesn’t have options so he’s really not a 40 man substitute and Garrett was worse than Fletcher & Colas in AAA last year and is approaching 30. Both guys have absurd contact issues and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s why Getz has no interest in them because he knows it’s very unlikely he can fix them.

Why do we need our long-term OF solutions on the 2025 roster? It’s clear that OF is going to require serious additions via free agency even if Braden hits.

I disagree on Fletcher. Zero reason to cut bait on him. Colas is probably next on the chopping block if I had to guess. Who would you replace them with on the 40 man roster?

Which guys are you referring to in regard to the test drive comment? The reason Colas and Fletcher are still around is they have options. My guess is Colas will be one of the first guys cut in the coming months if Fuller can’t find a way to quickly unlock his potential. Fletcher probably sticks around longer since he has some defensive value and could factor into the CF mix with Taylor in the event of a Robert trade, but if he fails to hit in Charlotte he too could be shown the door. I don’t really see any evidence that Getz is loyal to these kids given he added three veteran OFs to guaranteed contracts.

What makes you think Getz is loyal to these guys?

He doesn’t and he stole that idea from SoxTalk.

I wasn’t blindly hoping anything…him dropping out of the Twins deal and buying a ton of White Sox shares after a call with Jerry tells me everything I need to know. And I never once said it would be an immediate switch…the deal with the minority investors doesn’t involve Jerry and I have always stated there would be have to be a follow-up transaction for him to take over control. No idea when that will happen, but I seriously doubt he’s going to wait for Jerry to die when there are ways to get around the tax issue for Jerry.

There is literally nothing insightful from this interview. Sounds like a bunch of speculation on Bob’s part.

Why is this the case? Has something new come out that I’m missing?

Where did Nightengale comment on this by the way?

That’s not entirely true though. The Athletic made it very clear that everyone they had talked to believed that Ishbia stopping his efforts to purchase the Twins and instead buying out the minority owners was likely a precursor to a larger deal with full control of the White Sox. They never implied when it would take place, but they certainly suggested it was likely to happen at some point.

You are literally nuts. Jerry went to Ishbia with this opportunity. His sons aren’t keeping the team long-term and Hobson is not part of the equation. Absolutely wild that you’re trying to wish your way to a different outcome than the one that’s all but certain happen just because you hate private equity companies.

Again, my point is Chris Getz isn’t just a fan like us, he is accountable for the results of the team. He got a free pass last year because of the s%*# sandwich he inherited, but if we lose 121 games again that might be it for him as GM. As such, he can’t just run out any random young player next year and risk total disaster across the field. He’s got to balance developing young players while also shoring up the team in a few spots with a budget that’s candidly garbage. Slater is a guy who put up a 137 wRC+ against LHP from 2019 to 2023. He was admittedly bad last year, but was much better with the O’s (114 wRC+ against LHP) to close out the season. The question is can he be a +120 wRC+ platoon hitter again over the course of a full season. If he can, he helps shore up a position that we got -2 wins out of last season and actually creates a trade chip with some value (even if not massive). For $1.75M, I believe it’s a worthwhile gamble, especially with his former hitting coach now in our org. As for Meidroth, he was the third piece of a major trade and like all prospects of his stature he could certainly bust. I personally like that we acquired him and believe his combination of elite plate discipline and bat to ball skills will play at the majors to some extent. If he’s a full on bust, it doesn’t really change my opinion of the trade unless there was a red flag missed or his carrying tools don’t hold in the majors. I can and will certainly hold Getz accountable for a broader set of misses, but it wouldn’t be unfair of me to completely change my stance on a particular move I supported just due to the benefit of hindsight.

If he sucks oh well? You were one of the biggest fans of the Fletcher trade and now rip Getz to shreds for making it. Are you seriously going to pretend you’d give him a free pass if Canario sucks as well? You will demand Getz be fired the moment Canario fails if we were to actually trade something to acquire him.

How does Meidroth look for those watching?

Really good stuff. Lots of quality prospects not making the top 30 reflects we haven’t seen KW was in charge of the farm system. My guess of the top 30 prospects in no particular order: IF (9): C. Montgomery, Meidroth, Ramos, Bonemer, Gonzalez, Bergolla, Perez, Albertus, Antonacci OF (5): B. Montgomery, Wolkow, Zavala, McLain, Saucke CA (2): Teel, Quero RHP (9): Taylor, Iriarte, Adams, Burke, Gonzalez, Batista, Carela, Nastrini, Smith LHP (5): Schultz, Smith, Bush, Larson, Eder IMO, Eder should not be in the top 30 over Pallette or Adler. I’d also have Ronny Hernandez at the very end of the list, although not sure who I would remove to make room for him. A 121 wRC+ for a 19 year old catcher is super impressive despite shortcomings to his game at the moment.

Nope, just another dumb, lazy article on the matter

Hobson is in the process of becoming the controlling owner of the White Sox?

Again, could be Ishbia’s camp, could be the minority owners who are selling, could be the banks overseeing the transaction, could be the MLB executives approving the transaction. There are so many parties involved, this thing will leak to some degree. This is completely different than Ishbia buying a couple percentage points in the team when he wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He will likely be the majority shareholder when it’s all said and that’s a massive fucking deal. People like Greenberg will be hounding anyone and everyone to get the scoop on this because we all know this is happening. Jerry may not want this to leak, but this is so much greater than him at this point he won’t be able to control it.

Pallette? They have permanently moved him to being a reliever. I saw one article that talked about how they looked at how his arm recovers after starting vs. reliving and they felt pretty confidently the stuff was regularly with the latter.