Chicago White Sox

I think you’re wrong with that last paragraph. Reinsdorf is loyal, but he’s not going to sit back while all the young talent flops. This is really Hahn’s last opportunity to put it all together. The first wave of prospects didn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence, but I’m not writing them off just yet. My only real concern at the moment is that Hahn has made no changes to the coaching staff that failed to get these young guys to take significant leaps forward. Once he does that, he moves the arrow of accountability one step closer to himself. Hopefully the young guys all make big strides in year two, but if not I’ll be pissed if Hahn tries to blame the coaching staff at that point. If he feels like these kids underperformed, then coaching changes should be warranted now. Given his poor track record, there should be a sense of urgency to right the ship. I’m all for loyalty, but at the end of the day accountability always has to be part of the equation.

Do you actually believe we don’t have a top 10 farm system?

That’s another fair point, but he should be held accountable primarily for the development of the young talent. If Moncada, Lopez, & Giolito all struggle again, then I think his fate should be sealed. And I hope people realize I’m not defending Hahn, I’m just accepting the reality that our options are he’s better than history suggests or he sucks and the rebuild is likely in trouble. For now I’m going to hope it’s the former and support him doing what he sees best for the organization.

That’s all fair, but you saying you don’t want Rick Hahn spending money is saying you don’t want the White Sox spending money. At some point, you’ve got to give Hahn to prove himself one last time. There really isn’t an alternative.

Yes it is. We need to give him a chance to get his hand healthy this offseason. If he doesn’t show power next season then concern will be warranted.

You just said you’re not sure we have a top 10 farm system anymore which is beyond laughable. We will certainty be a top 5 ranked farm system by all major publications this offseason. I like you Jack, but you seriously need to take a breather from White Sox baseball.

To me, his ability to pitch will make or break his chances of sticking with us. Right now, he’s a weak side platoon corner infielder / DH. While he was exceptional against lefties last year (wRC+ of 144) & could create a pretty nice DH combo with Palka, guys with his skillset are generally tough to carry on a short bench. That being said, if he could pitch a couple times a week (even in mop-up spots), he just might provide enough utility to be worth rostering.

I mean, it was heavily rumored we were explored trading for him last offseason prior to a 100 loss season, so I think it’s all but a certainty we pursue him now.

Sure, but what starters do you fee comfortable throwing big money at? They’re very likely to get Corbin, after that it’s a wild card. Better off signing Machado and trading some positional talent for a controllable arm.

Good point. Gotta hope the rumored changes in the pro scouting department are true and pay off.

Castillo + Machado = BFF

Right now I see the odds as follows: Phillies 40% White Sox 30% Yankees 20% All Other 10%

lol...I guess coming off a 100 loss season we should focus on high character guys and not young, 6 WAR players.

Sure, but did the Phillies offer more money than others did for Arrieta & Santana? My guess is they probably did. And I’m not sure I’d call $25M on top of $350M blowing the rest of the market out of the water. That’s like 7% more money in total, obviously it’s more impactful if front loaded. Regardless, unless he just loves Chicago, money will need to be the key differentiator.

We just finished with the third worst record and will be competing with a bunch of clubs that will be playoff contenders next year. Offering a couple million more won’t be enough IMO. We will have to do something noticeable to get him to deal with the likely losing in the short-run. I think $20M or so above the next best offer is probably a fair guess and those dollars will need to be in the first few years so that it’s real value to him and not part of the post opt-out insurance policy.

Depends on how you view the Moncada / Madrigal situation. If you assume both of those guys will be major league regulars (which I do), then I think we potentially have 3B covered. If not, I’m more optimistic of us going out and signing a star 3B (Machado, Arenado, Rendon, etc) then us committing to a 5+ year contract to a legit TOR starter with Reinsdorf as owner. Therefore, we’ll likely have to develop our own TOR starters and Kopech & Cease are our best chances at that. I’d much rather move someone like Rodon, even I had to throw in a prospect because the odds of him being here after 2021 are slim to none IMO.

I feel like my numbers are pretty realistic. I’m assuming Machado’s top offers peak around 10/$350M, so we’d have to go to like 10/$375M make him seriously consider us. Pomeranz at $9M & Allen at $11M seem like fair pillow contracts, if not slight conservative.

I don’t think we can afford to trade Cease right now given how murky our SP situation is at the moment.

I think it’s just wishful thinking. I seriously doubt Avi has any trade value at this point.

To be fair, he’s had one great season at the plate and one good season. That doesn’t mean he’s a great catcher by any means (his defense leaves a lot to be desired), but offensively he’s held his own for the most part. Regardless, I fully agree that trading Narvaez for Gray would be a no-brainer.

I’m super interested in Jon Gray because I think he could potentially be a part of the long-term rotation (if willing to sign an extension at some point) or a tremendous flip candidate. Either way that’s a win for us assuming he does well next year. I just don’t believe Omar to be our long-term answer at catcher and would love to sell high on him.

I’m not sure how anyone could call Jon Gray a “marginal veteran”. He’s the same age as Narvaez and has significantly more upside. We’re talking about a former 3rd overall pick who has had very good peripherals in the majors. Get him out of Coors and he could easily be a stud. And I like Luery, but he’d a small price to pay to get an arm like Gray, especially when he only has two years of team control left.

Cause I don’t believe he’s a legit 122 wRC+ hitter. I’m willing to sell high on Narvaez and roll the dice on Gray becoming a TOR starter once healthy again and out of Coors. Like I said, I have no idea how other front offices would value him. The Rockies did sign Ian Desmond to a big contract to play 1B, so nothing would really surprise me with them.

I tend to agree. No idea how teams would value Narvaez though. It’s not very easy to find a controllable catcher who can hit like Omar did in 2018.

I literally just saw this, but included a Narvaez for Gray trade in my plan. I threw in Luery as the Rockies could probably use a guy like him who provides some depth at 2B & the OF. Would be really nice to sell high on a guy and I just don’t believe Narvaez will put up a wRC+ of 122 again. I’m also a huge fan of Gray and you’d only be losing one year of team control.