Chicago White Sox

You literally gave props to Getz a year ago for trading said pitching prospect for Fletcher.

What now?

My thoughts exactly. Outside of being a dude to eat innings, which we don’t really need, he provides zero upside to the org. And I’m the dude arguing a platoon OF in Austin Slater could have theoretical trade value. I just don’t see any team wanting, or at least giving up something for Mike, when they could have signed him in free agency the past two seasons on the cheap. I will say, this makes me concerned there is some other injury we don’t know about or Thorpe is in worse shape than we realize. It just feels like if everyone is healthy, we have enough arms to have a full OD rotation, even after the Bush injury. Perhaps this just an insurance policy and the plan is to cut him prior to OD if no one important gets injured.

That’s my big beef. Obviously I think he’s a piece of s%*# person, but I just don’t see the point here. He must be more liked in the clubhouse than we think.

Definitely some parallels to the fist Major League movie.

What would you be willing to trade for him if you ignore the current OF roster concern?

Slater played for the Giants that entire time and was incredibly valuable as a platoon player. They certainly could have traded him for value if they wanted to prior to last season. Even last year he was able to be moved twice. That being said, he shouldn’t be a major hurdle to move on from if a better alternative presents itself. I don’t think they will cut bait the first week of camp, but I do think they will have a short leash with him.

I totally get that view, but I think it’s likely one of those things where Fuller told Getz “I can return this dude to form, go get him” and at the price of $1.75M it was worth targeting him early. I know we like to think all low level free agents are interchangeable, but ultimately you got move fast if you feel someone is undervalued.

One of the two is one of the worst contact hitters in the minors and the other is Sosa. Who do you think is more likely to succeed in the majors?

Harold’s hatred of Sosa, but love for Vargas is quite something.

That would be a horrendous trade

I don’t think some people here realize just how good Austin Slater was against LHP from 2019 to 2023. His 137 wRC+ would rank 25th overall amongst players with 500+ plate appearances during this stretch. The rest of the list is basically big name stars. I totally get wanting to give playing time to youth, but let’s not act as if giving this dude $800k above the league minimum is some crazy stupid move when we just brought on his former hitting coach to oversee all of our hitting. If he rebounds to his previous form, he will return something of value, even if that won’t be a top 100 prospect.

I got nothing but love you Caulfield, but my god do we need to get you a headline editor. And why is Alex Speas thread worthy at the moment?

You are a really odd duck…

What was “ridiculous” about their renderings?

Got to hope for extensions that buy back a year or two of free agent. It sucks to operate this way, especially since our only two elite prospects are pitchers, but Jerry is always going to Jerry.

This isn’t really new under Jerry…unfortunately we need him to before we ever shop at the high end of the free agent market, even moreso on the pitching side of things.

Because I don’t zero in on one attribute and say a pitcher will fail. Double plus changeup and plus overall command gives him a profile that can work with either minor improvement to the 4 seamer or some repertoire enhancements. The good thing is that we have Brian Bannister who was a key influence in us targeting Thorpe and likely has broader plans for him. But again, I’d be worried the world was on the brink of imploding if you actually made a post that didn’t anchor off of Murphy’s Law.

But that’s not what’s been said

26 year old and under players

It’s not even revisionist theory. It’s simply people who didn’t like Thorpe at the time of the Cease trade grasping at straws to confirm their pre-conceived notions. They love highlighting the last couple major league starts he got beat up (likely while injured) but ignore his extensive track record of minor league success. I can totally get being concerned that Thorpe’s margin of error will be thin because his fastball is a fringe offering, but the immediate need to a write a player over a small sample size (again, while likely injured) is just absurd.

It was like seven fucking starts…you are literally using a SSS to confirm a pre-conceived bias.

Today is literally his first day throwing off a mound since his injury…if anyone should be called Captain Panic it’s you.

The problem for Robert & Moncada is their first contracts were massive and I’m not exactly sure how to think about their extensions impacting their motivation given that factor. Eloy certainly had less to play for once he agreed to his deal and I do believe he is a guy who likely would have benefited from having a carrot dangled in front of his face each & every year. But agree, it’s absolutely critical to consider character when doing these extensions because everyone’s will to win is different and that will have significant implications over time.

Who? Stop speaking in generalizations and show the receipts. Regardless, I’m not sure your obsession with what “insiders” previously told us matters here. Fegan is reporting on specific tangible investments being made right now. This never happened under Hahn and we all could see it. No one is saying everything is fixed right now. We need to see if these investments and other actions (like hiring outside the org) pay off. That will take time. For now, it’s better to see us doing things differently and trying to address the massive cracks in our foundation than do the same old bullshit. No one is suggesting we should start doing cartwheels around the Rate to celebrate our upcoming dynasty, but there is some reason for optimism that maybe the Dark Ages will be behind us soon enough. And until Jerry passes, that is the best we Sox fans can hope for.