Chicago White Sox

Per Courtney Finnegan, the Sox are very much open to signing Fairbanks to a two year deal. Whether they can agree to financial terms remaining to be seen, but it does sound like he has some interest in joining the Sox. Additionally, take all of this with a grain of salt, but she said she also heard that Dustin May is a fall-back option at closer. Clearly this is a spot the Sox are willing to invest some money into.

You are literally setting an arbitrary $15M signing threshold because Getz signed a player to that amount two years ago when we were cutting payroll. I think it’s very possible they will sign someone over $20M. I don’t see them going beyond two years to ensure they have as much flexibility heading into the 2028 offseason. But I do think they are making a run at O’Hearn as a short term stopgap at 1B and I’d wager that will cost something around 2/$26M. I think they have serious interest in Fairbanks and that will very likely cost more than $15M over two years. Whether they can actually convince two dudes in their 30’s to sign with a 60 win team is a different matter. I’m not going to guarantee that because most guys will prefer a contender, but I refuse to believe 15M is some insurmountable figure like you are doing in every thread. Let’s flip the script, what happens if they sign someone over $15M? Are you willing to sit out the rest off-season if Getz proves you wrong?

Where in the f*** do you come up with this nonsense?

I’m not optimistic about Montgomery in CF. Feels like he good be an above average RF with his athleticism and arm though.

All else equal, I’d be hard pressed to take a HS prospect over one of the best college SS prospects in years. The latter provides a high ceiling without a ton of projection & development, which is what makes the pick so valuable in the first place.

I view them as being similar (especially bat to ball skills) but different. Antonacci has more power potential, but is not nearly as selective (as Meidroth is a unicorn in that regard). Chase is definitely the superior defender. No guarantee either is the starting 2B come 2027, but I think it’s the most likely outcome at the moment.

Probably, but there is a lack of positional guys on the 40 man roster who won’t be on the 26 man roster. Right now it’s just three in Cowles, Tanner, & Ramos (who is out of options). Got to have a couple depth guys with options who can move on and off the roster in the event of injuries with having to start the clock on actual prospects.

But at the same time, a major market like NYC or LA offers significantly more endorsement potential.

He wasn’t on the 40 man though. I more meant Bryan Hudson, etc.

They could…but still hard to carry two Rule 5 pitchers. I know we did last year, but that staff has even more holes (including the rotation) and Smith & Vasil were much more advanced than these kids.

True, but the bad teams already passed on him once and hopefully won’t be excited about adding him to their active if he’s performing poorly.

There is still some fat on the 40 man roster that can be trimmed. I just struggle seeing how we can carry two Rule 5 guys in our bullpen next year with some of the other pitchers in place (including Gilbert with no options). That being said, maybe you bring both into camp, get a good look at them, and then proceed for with one of them on the major league team.

I will say it’s better that it’s the Guardians who plan to compete next year than a true rebuilding team who could more easily absorb a lack of production.

Excellent…and it should be given our tiny payroll at the moment.

You also have better roster flexibility with someone like Palette who would have options and could move up & down. I just don’t get the logic here.

I hate that we didn’t protect him

Link to live telecast of Rule 5 draft: https://www.mlb.com/news/rule-5-draft-results-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

I could say that happening

How do we finagle Coby Mayo out of this.

He’s not going to be ready by 2027 though.

Robert + $7M for big red dog…who says no?

Meidroth vs. Antonacci for 2B. I may be the biggest Meidroth fan on this board, but he’s got to find a way to impact the baseball and/or draw more walks. If not, he becomes a high UT guy off the bench with Antonacci likely claiming the 2B job. Bonemer does feel destined for LF the more thought I put into it. Just not sure he will be ready by 2027 Opening Day or not. Big year ahead of him.

I wonder if there are big deferrals given how much he blew his projections out of the water.

I wouldn’t mind it with a 2nd pick, but I also think there is better upside with Bleday and he shouldn’t cost all that much.

A 20 to 30 year sample is completely irrelevant to the modern baseball environment. It’s been proven there is a significant advantage in the MLB today being a large market team vs. a small market team in terms of making the post season. There is a much lesser issue in the NBA and almost non existent in the NFL. You’re confusing a much different issue which is teams with stars in the NBA and elite QBs in the NFL are more to make the playoffs, but that has very little to do with market size because all teams have the chance of acquiring and retaining them unlike in baseball.