Chicago White Sox

Fajardo just missed Baseball America’s top 30 list for the White Sox. It’s going to be fascinating to hear Getz try to rationalize this one. Anytime a rebuilding club trades an 18 year old arm with good stuff who they just signed and who performed well will raise a lot of questions. Again, you have to be confident there’s something extra you can unlock in Booser and can spin him for much more at the deadline if you make this trade. Otherwise, it really does feel like you’re selling low on Fajardo as even the same level of success in complex ball would enhance his trade value. That being said, I do want a GM who will attempt to create value by thinking outside the box and Booser certainly fits that billing. Just nervous here given Getz’s atrocious trade record when he’s more or less buying a piece. The entire Bailey Horn sequence of moves remains bizarre to me as there was plenty of 40 man garbage to get rid of before selling Horn off for cash. It’s very clear they missed on their evaluation of him, which is strange since they should have known him well, but also a sign that Bannister isn’t going to be flawless. Unlike with the Fletcher trade, which I hated right from the get go, I will wait and see how everything shakes out with Booser before making too harsh of judgements. That being said, my early gut tells me never to trade legitimate prospects for relievers when rebuilding and instead target rebound candidates via the waiver wire and free agency.

He’s 19th on Pipeline’s current top 30 list for us…not sure if it’s actually up to date though.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know enough about Booser or Fajardo to have a strong opinion here. If Bannister likes this dude, then I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. That being said, this better not be another Bailey Horn situation where we end up dumping a guy for nothing a couple months into the season. You need to hit if you’re going to gamble on a 32 year old reliever.

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I would have DFAed Shewmake first, but neither will make it to Opening Day so it doesn’t really matter

I’m almost certain it’s former Soxtalk poster Orlando.

This will be one of the younger teams in baseball next year.

It’s a controllable, left handed reliever who can be flipped at the deadline if he’s any good. Bannister must really like him for us to be targeting him. Honestly, it just comes down to the price. Age doesn’t really matter all that much given this dude’s circumstances.

32 year old, left handed reliever. Quit baseball at the age of 26 and became a carpenter. Sat out for four seasons before finally coming back after figuring some life s%*# out and getting healthier. Made it the majors last year with Boston and was somewhat productive as a reliever for them. Appears to have five or six years of control remaining.

They shouldn’t trade him just so he gets more playing time. We’d obviously have to make it worth their while. But it’s clear they don’t want to rely on him from the get-go and given his position he should be available at the right price.

Yup, it’s really diminishing returns outside of a few spots. Quality over quantity is key at this point and that may prove challenging right now with Robert.

Goldschmidt to the Yankees. Getz needs to figure out a way to acquire Ben Rice.

But seriously, I’ve said it before, but there is a legit sales pitch to be made by the White Sox: Top Three Metro Market => Significant endorsement opportunities No Established Stars => Can immediately be the face of the franchise Limited Japanese History => Doesn’t have to live in the shadows of others Stress Free Environment => Can develop in the majors at his own pace Quality Pitching Development => Bannister a proven difference maker Top 10 Japanese Population => Access to some cultural elements of home Direct Flight to Japan => A small bonus that certain cities can’t offer The one thing Getz has been able to do as GM is sell his vision. Obviously the road ahead is going to be rough, but not everyone is afraid of a challenge. As someone who works for a Japanese company, I can say many of these guys value things differently than Americans. If this dude wants to create his own legacy, winning a World Series on the south side of Chicago would one of the best ways to do that. And I truly believe that can be a massive selling point.

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Thanks for sharing. Surprised they can fit two stadiums and a bunch other s%*# on that site.

Are the Sox giving up their plans then? I don’t see how the developer could be working with both the Sox and Fire simultaneously.

The issue I have is it only takes a handful of weeks to claw back a full year of control. And one month in AAA doesn’t change his long-term roadmap and I personally think it would be good for him given his challenges in Charlotte last season. IMO, unless you feel he’s a serious threat to be a top two finisher in the AL Rookie of the Year race, the value trade-off is just too much.

If he can stick at SS, that helps things immensely. But I can’t comprehend for the life of me how any intelligent being would think burning a year of service time and starting him on the major league roster next season makes any sense when we are years away from being competitive. I would lose all faith in Chris Getz if he did this.

Drew Thorpe for pitcher. Brooks Baldwin for hitter.

I will say 3.4 wins. My assumption is he falls off slightly from his past 4.75 win pace due to a lack of protection causing him to do too much. So if healthy, I’d assume he’s a 4.0 win player next year. However, I’ll assume some minor injuries and discount his production by 15% to cover games missed.

Trading a guy who was a star up to last season for a post-hype prospect and a 45 FV kid who projects to be a utility guy in the majors makes us deeper?

It’s amazing how many ways you can try to spin this thing. From 2020 to 2023, Robert put up 12.0 fWAR to Bellinger’s 6.5. He was nearly 2x more productive than Bellinger despite 10% less plate appearances. And even in your beloved “Bellinger was 10th in NL MVP voting” season Robert outperformed him by half a win. Full stop, Robert has been the better player since arriving in the majors until last year. I don’t even know what you’re arguing at this point because your story doesn’t hold without massive levels of spin. If you want to assume 2024 is the new version of Robert moving forward, then I’m not sure there is anything to debate. I believe both you and Balta both did this same garbage with Cease coming off his 2023 season and those pessimistic takes were both quickly proven wrong last year. I strongly believe the same will happen with Robert in 2025 and hopefully Getz doesn’t overreact to a single bad season and sell low for a bunch of crap that won’t move the needle.