Chicago White Sox

I appreciate you posting this…great stuff

I don’t believe Crawford is attainable for Robert even if I wish it, but teams going for a championship don’t typically want to rely on a rookie with warts to fill their main hole.

I’m starting to think we’re going to see an infield of Montgomery, Meidroth, Antonacci, & Vargas across 3B, SS, 2B, & 1B respectively next year. Sam may not be there day 1, but he is starting to look like a legit everyday guy.

Tauchman is a lefty

I don’t know how Tauchman is viewed as a platoon player. He’s got a 120 wRC+ against RHP and a 192 wRC+ against LHP. And in the prior two years, he was over 100 wRC+ against LHP. I think he’s a legit good hitter who comes with injury risk and limited defense / speed due to his hamstring.

Like I said before, he probably doesn’t work out, but the dude is crushing it in AAA this season. And once we move all the veteran OFs, I’d rather give him two months and see if he shows something than give someone like Fletcher another look. I do believe there is a bit of market inefficiency with guys like this because the amount of teams willing to go through growing pains for a 27 year old with question marks is incredibly slim. As such, very few of them get chances like this to see if they can adjust at the major league level. IMO, this is exactly the type of low risk, high reward move a rebuilding team should make.

Vargas I am very much torn on. His offensive results so far this year have been roughly league average, which reflects significant improvement and a sign that there is still plenty of room for growth. The plate discipline figures overall are good and his power numbers are fairly solid as evident by a .179 ISO. His biggest issue right now is a shitty batting average (.223) due to a very high popup rate and a little bit of bad batted ball luck. I’m very much unclear on what’s causing him to get underneath the ball so frequently, but if he can make adjustments and get his popup rate to a more reasonable level he looks like a 110 to 120 wRC+ hitter to me. The low end of that range would be at his current raw power / bat speed and the high end would be with further strength gains (which I think are possible given his frame). For him to be an impactful player at 1B, he will need to find a way to get to the higher end of the wRC+ range. Defensively I think he can eventually be plus at 1B so that will help some, but ultimately him being part of the long-term core will come down to additional improvements with the bat as league average production simply won’t cut if at 1B. I’m giving him the rest of this year and 2026 before I make that call.

I feel like Meidroth is going to be our starting SS until Carlson or Bonemer pushes for a job. To me, he’s going to be a ~3 win player when it’s all said and done. The defense at SS is better than expected and he has that “it” factor that won’t show up in defensive metrics. Offensively he remains a work in process, but the reality is he has both elite plate discipline and elite bat to ball skills. He needs to find a way to impact the baseball more, whether that be through further strength training or sacrificing some weak contact for strikes and more bites at the apple (which he did plenty of in the minors). He’s also a smart baserunner as evident by his 11 steals so far despite lacking plus speed. He’s unlikely to be a star given the lack of raw power but he should be a key contributor on a playoff caliber team.

Last night was one of the most enjoyable games of White Sox baseball I have witnessed in a long time. Many of the young guys had stellar games and/or stellar moments. This got me thinking about the young guys currently on the roster. Right now, we have 12 players under the age of 26. Of the players listed below, who do you see as part of the future core, what role do you see them playing, and what kind of performance do you expect out of them? Position Players: Chase Meidroth (24.0): 325 PA | 9.8% BB % | 13.2% K % | .059 ISO | 84 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR Miguel Vargas (25.7): 409 PA | 9.5% BB % | 17.1K % | .179 ISO | 98 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR Lenyn Sosa (25.5): 319 PA | 2.8% BB % | 23.5% K % | .143 ISO | 92 wRC+ | 0.7 fWAR Kyle Teel (23.4): 101 PA | 13.9% BB % | 27.7% K % | .096 ISO | 122 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR C. Montgomery (23.4): 58 PA | 10.3% BB % | 25.9% K % | .196 ISO | 129 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR Edgar Quero (22.3): 224 PA | 9.8% BB % | 17.4% K % | .086 ISO | 98 wRC+ | 0.2 fWAR Brooks Baldwin (24.9): 182 PA | 5.5% BB % | 29.9% K % | .139 ISO | 71 wRC+ | -0.7 fWAR Pitchers: Shane Smith (25.3): 86.2 IP | 8.41 K/9 | 3.84 BB/9 | 0.93 HR/9 | 4.29 xERA | 1.1 fWAR Grant Taylor (23.2): 18.1 IP | 11.29 K/9 | 2.95 BB/9 | 0.00 HR/9 | 2.08 xERA | 0.8 fWAR J. Cannon (25.0): 88.1 IP | 7.34 K/9 | 3.06 BB/9 | 1.43 HR/9 | 4.90 xERA | 0.7 fWAR Sean Burk (25.6): 101 IP | 7.57 K/9 | 4.19 BB/9 | 1.43 HR/9 | 5.23 xERA | 0.4 fWAR Mike Vasil (25.4): 64.0 IP | 6.61 K/9 | 4.78 BB/9 | 0.70 HR/9 | 4.32 xERA | 0.1 fWAR

I thought Schultz’s slider was considered one of the best in minor league baseball last year? Both BA and Fangraphs had a 70 grade on the pitch coming into the season, so something just doesn’t jive. Did he suddenly lose the ability to spin it? Is it a command issue? Is the pitch less effective due to broader arsenal issues? I maintain optimism on Schultz because he was incredible coming into this year and the control issues seem to be outlier-ish to me. Feels like maybe the change in schedule and some underlying health issues (hopefully just the knee) are the culprits? But admittedly, I don’t know what other changes Bannister has made and if those mechanical adjustments have lead to a degradation in stuff. And if so, I have to ask why change something that was working?

Robertson should be the guy in the OF. During the early days of the last rebuild I wanted us to target guys who were viewed as being AAAA types but were actually producing high end numbers in the minors. While he’s a bit older than desired, Robertson fits the billing to a T. Always has had plus power, but he has gotten his K & BB rates to a much better place and the offensive results are terrific now. Will those results translate to the majors? Probably not, but the risk is definitely worth the reward. Kyle Stowers is the exact same age with some similarities in terms of offensive profile and he has been a massive hit this year when given a shot. For a club lacking both OFs and power, this is an absolute no brainer move IMO.

Oh boy

Come on Wilson…don’t f*** up the little trade value you currently have

That’s your opinion

Is DePino more of a 1B profile at the big league level?

DePino getting $150k is pretty interesting.

Both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs show Tauchman being a free agent after the 2026 season. Is there a different site showing otherwise? I didn’t even realize there was a such a loophole, but I do recall we all thought Flexen would have an extra year of control as well but ultimately didn’t. Just wasn’t sure the reason.

I will repeat what I said previously, but I do think one of Sosa, Lee, & Martin could get moved. I certainly don’t expect it, but to me, those are three guys who likely aren’t here by the end of the 2026 season and you start listening on them now in the event someone is willing to overpay.

Feels like he could be the answer at 2B at some point next year. I just don’t think Sosa is long for this team and it kinda feels like they want to see if Meidroth can stick at SS long-term to increase his value (at least until Carlson or maybe Bonemer are ready for a shot). A middle infield combo of Meidroth & Antonacci would be extremely unique and would serve as a fascinating pair of table setters, but would put even more pressure on Getz to find significant power in the corners.

I think the reality is we just need the best talent possible. There is already a core starting to form at the major league level that’s burning service time, so guys who are close to ready can certainly help accelerate things. At the same time, Getz is not trying to rush the broader org rebuild as evident by our recent draft having four overslot prep picks. I would avoid guys out of options or kids who are far away but require Rule 5 protection, but otherwise 40 man roster status is fairly meaningless to us in the grand scheme of things for at least another year.

Which article are you referring to?

I think someone said Boughton ended up agreeing to a figure that allowed them to push him down to #11, so my guess is he is he’s getting around $300k.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest there was any risk. There weren’t any Hail Mary HS picks in rounds 11 to 20 to worry about and teams wouldn’t burn picks and the slot bonus they come with in the first 10 rounds. More just trying to show the math would work.

Let hug watch officially begin.

The 5% overage alone is worth $600k and all the seniors they signed in rounds they could theoretically save another $700k or so. As long as Carlson is at slot, they should probably have enough to cover the couple of other overslot guys.