Chicago White Sox

If you gave Getz a $170M payroll, you’d certainly be better, but you’d run into the same issue as always with Jerry afraid of the long-term commitments needed to sign the true impact guys. Unfortunately, we need to wait a bit longer for the SP prospects and Braden to make the show and then start to establish themselves. Once that happens, post union negotiation, we should be ready to make some bigger investments and hopefully will have seaized more influence in the org.

I mean, he literally says a $100M of additional payroll to get to $170M total…

Pirates have made a 4 year offer to Schwarber per Rosenthal. You know your favorite franchise has hit rock bottom when Bob fucking Nutting is trying to blow your biggest free agent contract out of the water.

Robert is 100% being shopped despite the typical “GM speak” from Getz. No other mention of outfield moves which probably makes sense given Robert posturing. It seems like we’re very open to moving a catcher if a quality offer comes in. Vasil staying in the bullpen is now 100% confirmed as others had said. A decent LH corner infielder will likely be added in FA. My money remains on that being a 1B rather than 3B and the primary target being O’Hearn given his price tag and connection to Fuller. Not mentioned in your post, but Getz mentioned Burke & Cannon would be competing for rotation spots (unlike Smith & Davis) which suggests that another SP will be added.

Is Wisdom even going to get a major league deal? If it’s a minor league, who really cares. I agree though, pretending he is the answer to a major league need would be pretty fucking stupid.

And I’m ok with that if better OF options present themselves

Money might need to be adjusted some, but Castellanos is a $20M sunk cost. As such, the theoretical trade is: Robert at 1/$10M + Benintendi at 2/$15M for Crawford

They agreed to a specific two way contract with him, so I’m assuming he would accept an assignment in AAA if DFAed. Honestly not too worried about him getting claimed.

I’d love to see us add him on a pillow contract

My bold predictions for the offseason are as follows: CF Robert, OF Benintendi, & $7M cash the to Phillies for OF Crawford and OF Castellanos (would be released immediately) Sign 1B/OF O’Hearn to 2/$27M deal Sign OF Bleday a 1/$2M deal Sign RP Hunter Harvey to 1/$8M Sign SP like Adrian Houser for 1/$4M Draft best pitcher available (starts season in pen) Lineup: Meidroth, 2B Teel, CA* O’Hearn, 1B* Montgomery, SS* Vargas, 3B Quero, DH# Bakdwin, LF# Bleday, RF* Crawford, CF* Bench: IF: Mead OF: Pereira UT: Sosa BC: Lee Rotation: Smith Davis Burke Key* Houser/FA Bullpen: CL: Harvey SU: Taylor SU: Leasure MR: Gonzalez MR: Gilbert* MR: Rule 5 Guy LR: Vasil LR: Murphy*

If we keep Robert, I don’t see why we need Hill. Baldwin should get some time there in a backup capacity. Pereira mostly played CF in the minors and should be able to handle in a reserve role. Hill is 40 man roster depth and the fact he is on a two way contract that pays him a healthy salary if in AAA is very important as it’s clear to be more then wouldn’t kept him otherwise.

He’s 100% a dude the Sox should add. The A’s non-tendered instead of giving him $2.2M and they weren’t able to trade despite that nothing salary and multiple years of control. Add him to the mix and see if Fuller can work some magic. It’s a zero risk for us given our situation.

Hill is on a two way contract and can be sent to AAA for $450K instead of his major league salary.

If we plan to start Derek Hill post Robert trade, then Getz should be fired on the spot. Pereira is interesting, but shouldn’t be handed a spot. Benintendi probably shouldn’t play the OF much whether we are trying to win or trying to move him.

Sounds like our needs are: LH corner IF/OF bat Back-end reliever Back of rotation SP It’s also very obvious the Sox want to trade Robert and that would likely create the need for an OF to be added.

Hell yeah!!

IMO, Robert needs to be traded for an OF ideally. I think you got to go with Colson at SS, Meidroth at 2B, & Vargas at 3B for the first half of this season and see what you have there. Mead and Sosa can rotate in there as well (and elsewhere), but I want us to have a sense of whether Meidroth is a legit regular (which I believe he will be) vs. a nice reserve infielder and whether Vargas can handle 3B defensively. And after them, you still have Antonacci coming fast and maybe Ramos depending on what happens with his development and option situation. Long term, you hope that Carlson & Bonemer are pushing for spots and we probably end up with a SS at the top of the draft next year. That ignores a bunch of other semi interesting infielder prospects throughout the org. Our OF depth is still incredibly weak and even moreso in CF. If at all possible, try to cash in Robert for an OF prospect that can potentially with Braden to fill two of the three holes long-term.

Do you really think Chris Getz is building his offseason plans around selling season tickets and fan reaction? He’s simply trying to make the team with the very limited resources he has. Our payroll was like $80M last year and that’s without a TV deal to open the season. There is no way they go down again after showing some signs of improvement. Let’s also not act like a $90M payroll is a big deal, it will almost certainty be in the bottom 5.

The Sox have cut significant payroll the last two years and are now basically the lowest in the sport. With a TV deal now in place, there really isn’t anywhere to go but up. I fully expect to be right around $90M when it’s all said and done, which would give Getz ~$25M to spend if he doesn’t end up unloading Robert. O’Hearn and a couple of arms seems very possible to me. A $14M AAV isn’t that big of a number, especially if it’s only a two year commitment.

I think he’ll get 2 years and between $25M to $27M. Sox would likely have to be on the higher end of that range or slightly above. Regardless, I’m not that concerned about paying him an extra million or two. The payroll is going to be nothing next year and this is about the biggest size free agent I could see us actually landing.

Robert is a far more valuable player IMO

Big Red Dog or bust!

What’s wrong with O’Hearn? If you can get him for under 2/$30M, you should just go ahead and do it. I’d also go out and sign Bleday to be part of the OF mix if we are able to trade Robert for an actual return. In a perfect world, I’d also cut bait on Benintendi or at least move his ass to bench and see if Sosa can handle some LF. Lineup: Meidroth, 2B Teel, CA* O’Hearn, 1B* Vargas, 3B Montgomery, SS* Benintendi, LF* Quero, DH# Bleday, RF* Baldwin, CF# Bench: BC: Lee IF: Mead OF: Pereira UT: Sosa I could easily live with the above for a year and hopefully Braden and Antonacci eventually push for spots as the season progresses. I still don’t love the catcher situation and believe Quero should be cashed in for another position of need (preferably in the OF) but maybe we are better off letting the bat develop for a year and then make a move when his value is up.

I’d definitely add a veteran OF if we end up moving Robert. I love me some Brooks Baldwin and want to see him get everyday at-bats whether in one spot or moved across the field. He put up a 119 wRC+ after July 1st and should be given a chance to improve his defense in the OF. Pereira is an interesting low stakes gamble, but I would not just hand him a job. Pencil him in as a platoon partner for someone (Baldwin for now) and make him force his way into more playing time. If Robert goes, see if you can find another Tauchman like guy on the cheap.

I’d certainly give Brooks the job but concerned Getz would feel differently due to defense concerns. Can Pereira handle CF? I wouldn’t actually hate a platoon of those two if so during a lost season.