Chicago White Sox

What was the Cannon article about and was it good or bad?

Couple of immediate takeaways on the positional side: I don’t love having three catchers on the roster. I get the conceptual reason, but I don’t think it’s all that beneficial in reality. If Teel or Quero were to get injured mid game while catching and we had to sacrifice the DH for one game then so be it. As such, I do think there is a real chance one of the catchers is moved before OD. Lee is out of options and I think he’s the most likely one to be moved, but we also know that the Sox have been listening on Quero. I don’t see how this roster can justify keeping both Sosa & Mead as they are highly redundant players. Sosa obviously is further along with the bat, has shown an ability to hit both LH & RH pitching, and technically played SS in the minors (and theoretically could play there in a pinch). Neither has options and Sosa clearly has zero chance of making it through waivers. My guess is Mead ends up getting traded or DFAed ahead of OD, but if you believe in his talent the more prudent move would be to cash in on Sosa and hope Mead can develop into a similar player next season. I really think we need to add another outfielder and ideally a LH one. I don’t believe that Benintendi should be the primary LF due to his terrible defense, but right now there is no one on the roster capable of dethroning him. There aren’t a ton of options in free agency, but Tauchman would make a ton of sense for us at the right price. Have him and Baldwin in the corners with Pereira as a weak-side platoon for Brooks and I can see a passable OF start to form until Braden is ready for a shot. This shifts Benintendi to a reserve role and part time DH and forces Hill to Charlotte.

SoxMachine recently posted an article with Jim Margulus’ current projection of the opening day 26 man roster. Fangraphs’ Roster Resource page also has its own projection. As such, I thought it would be interesting to share both of these and see where people disagree and where we think future moves may take place. Lineup: 1B: Murakami (L) 2B: Meidroth (R) SS: C. Montgomery (L) 3B: Vargas (R) LF: Benintendi (L) CF: Robert (R) RF: Baldwin (S) DH: Quero (S) CA: Teel (L) Bench: BC: Lee (R) IF: Sosa (R) OF: Hill (R) IF: Mead (R) - SM | OF: Pereira (R) - FG Rotation: Shane Smith (R) Davis Martin (R) Anthony Kay (L) Sean Burke (R) Sean Newcomb (L) Bullpen: CL: Leasure (R) SU: Taylor (R) SU: Vasil (R) MR: Eisert (L) MR: Gilbert (L) MR: Gonzalez (R) MR: Hudson (L) - SM | Alberto (R) - FG LR: Jedixson Paez (R) DFA or Returned: OF: Pereira (R) - SM IF: Mead (R) - FG IF: Ramos (R) - SM & FG RP: Alberto (R) - SM RP: Hudson (L) - FG

Cincinnati Inquirer

Antonacci has walked more than Meidroth?

Reds still keeping conversations open with Sox on Robert despite recent outfield additions per Whittenmeyer.

Probably should. LF may be his eventual long-term home with how packed the infield situation is.

Honestly, I get the vibe the org is super high on Meidroth. Every interview I have heard recently from various members of our front office lists him as part of the core alongside Colson, Teel, & Quero, which I have found interesting. I like him a lot more than most people here as he has two elite traits that I think will lead him to above average offensive production, but I totally get why people are less high on him due to the lack of power. I also like Antonacci a ton and could easily see him stealing the 2B job from Chase eventually. It’s a good problem to have and one that can help solve itself with more positional versatility.

I believe Baseball America mentioned in their top 10 write-up that the org will try to get Antonacci some run out in LF at some point.

What in the world is pretty boy hitting?

If Moncada could play the OF, he could be a decent utility guy assuming he comes dirt cheap. That being said, I doubt the Sox have real interest in him.

Then we better sign a corner OF or bring back Tauchman.

I’m guessing the Reds weren’t offering two of those three pieces though or a deal would have likely happened.

It’s not a two month commitment if he’s hitting well and healthy

Because his actual results have been down and he hasn’t stayed healthy. Teams aren’t going to pay up until he shows his offensive struggles are behind him while also maintaining health leading up to the deadline.

Robert’s xwOBA last year was .033 points higher than his wOBA and above league average overall. And that’s despite a rough start to the season when he had little protection and was still working through stuff. If he can play even 2/3 of a season and hit like that he’s well worth his $20M salary. If he can get his wRC+ to say 115 and stay healthy, he provides a fuckton of surplus value. I can’t guarantee he will stay healthy, but I think there is a good chance he gets his wRC+ to that figure and erases the notion he is suddenly a bad hitter. Given we have nothing else of value to use the money on, I’m ok rolling the dice on Robert and seeing what happens.

He has another team option and could be QO’d after that if he mostly returns to form and stays healthy. If he produces and stays healthy (both ifs obviously), he is no longer a pure rental at the deadline and any return would reflect that.

I’m expecting more than 2 wins from Robert next year so his loss is bigger and harder to replace in my view. I also am a big context guy and think his value is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Him slotting into between Colson & Murakami is fascinating to me. Those guys all have contact issues, but if you put some high OBP guys in front of them pitchers are going to have a real hard time getting through the three of them without making a mistake. Again, I would trade Robert for a quality return but I don’t see the Mets paying the price needed because money doesn’t mean as much to them as it would the Reds or Pirates. And I get no joy lining Uncle Jerry’s pockets with money, so if all I can get is scraps and payroll relief, then let’s hold and make a fucking run at this thing.

At this point, I say keep Robert and make a run for the last playoff spot. It’s going to take some luck and a couple breakthrough performances on the pitching side, but I think the lineup can actually be pretty good next year if we hold onto Robert. Maybe bring back Tauchman on the cheap and add him to the OF / DH mix, but I think there is a very talented core in place and one that is setup well against both LH & RH pitching. Just not very excited about what I expect the Mets to offer and don’t see another obvious fit at this time. As such, let’s roll the dice and see if the baseball gods help us luck into the playoffs. Crazy s%*# has happened and I’m sick and tired of fucking losing.

Yes, he got a couple things right and then also overplayed his hand a bit but was not a total fraud. It’s clear that whomever his source was was fired as part of Getz’s first wave of layoffs.

Phillies might consider dealing Castellanos for him, but that would only save us $12M overall in the long-run.

I believe he was formally Al’s Cheesy Beef and got a couple things right he heard secondhand and then tried parlaying that into a fake insider account before outing himself as Orlando on Soxtalk becuase of a pair of Nike’s. But because he so badly wants attention, he created this account to spew out fake rumors. Is FootlongComiskeyDog still doing this con? He blocked me on Twitter for calling him out over fake rumors so can’t tell what he’s up to. I did listen in on one of is Twitter spaces and practically died of laughter at how dumb everything he said was.

Looks like Orlando…I mean Bartolo is still making up rumors based off what he reads here. What a fucking loser.

His xwOBA was .322 last year which is slightly above league average. Not sure how anyone would call that BAD for a CF.

But why? If all goes well, we’re drafting Roch at the 1.01 next year and that will push Colson to 3B. Okamoto is a luxury we don’t need at the moment.