Chicago White Sox

Because having an incompetent manager isn’t great for the development of young players.

Byard to Bears

I think Fields should have far more value than Mac, but I agree that the path to get a 2nd is hard without the Falcons involved. When I look across the league, I see nine other teams with a QB need (NE, PIT, DEN, LAR, NYG, WAS, MIN, ATL, & TB). Cousins (MIN or ATL) & Mayfield (likely TB) will address two of these spots. WAS is taking a QB at #2 and I think NE will do the same at #3. Someone is likely to draft J.J. McCarthy around the #10 pick IMO and it’s very possible he’s starting right away. Russell Wilson probably get a starting gig somewhere as well. That likely accounts for seven of the spots. I personally think the Giants go with the best WR available at #6 and add a cheaper QB veteran to compete with Jones or take a guy in the 2nd. As such, I don’t really seem them as option for Fields unless the price drops to like a 4th. The Raiders are not an option for Justin at all given the Getsy hire. Don’t really see DEN or MIN making sense either for various reasons. Specifically for Fields, the list of options is very much limited. Cousins staying in MIN and Wilson going somewhere other than PIT or ATL would greatly enhance Fields’ market.

Mac Jones to the Jaquars for a 6th round pick. Got to think there is at least one team out there that would do a 2nd for Fields. I still hope Cousins resigns with the Vikings and the Falcons end up taking the plunge on Justin.

So what are our expectations for Bears free agency? On the defensive side of things, I think we see one splashier signing for the D-Line (more likely an EDGE IMO) plus a starting safety. Offensively, I expect at least one WR added (unsure of the caliber) and a TE to pair with Kmet. Not sure what they do on the O-Line, but at minimum they will add some depth there even they plan to go with Bates at Center. I do kind of think that they might make a serious run at Saquon. PFF projects he will get a 3/$36M deal with $19M in guaranteed money, which is very doable for us even if the common thinking is don’t spend big on RBs. While I generally support that logic, I could get behind it as a creative way to help Williams out early on and I do think Saquon is a unique talent for the position.

So random thought, but what if Soroka magically returns to form? Would he be a guy worth trying to extend or would we better off flipping him? He won’t be 27 until August, so age wise he’s a legit fit for us. Can’t even begin speculating what an extension might look like, but my guess is it wouldn’t be exorbitant. But if you send Crochet down to AAA for a few months and claw back that extra year of control like I proposed, there is a path to a pretty solid rotation of the future (and as soon as next year) if paired with a Soroka extension. Soroka Crochet* Nastrini Eder* Cannon That rotation would obviously be lacking at the very top even if Soroka were to return to form (unless Crochet were to take a massive leap forward), but it could theoretically be solid enough to be competitive in the AL Central and you’re hope would be that Schultz and whomever we take at the 1.05 (if we go with a pitcher) could eventually provide that type of TOR production. This is all hypothetical at the moment and most of the guys highlighted above have a ton of question marks, but it’s fun to dream on guys like Soroka and Crochet going from complete wild cards to rotation stalwarts. And if it were to happen, it would greatly increase our chances of being competitive by 2026.

Why do we have to evaluate a manager by wins & losses?

FIFY

Give me Arias, Hampton, Lalane, & Rice and let’s get this s%*# done!

Given this team has no hope of competing, it’s important to focus on other key priorities for the year. From my perspective, here are the top 10 goals for the 2024 season: Get a Fucking Haul for Cease - This one is straight forward, but the moment we decided to hold Dylan into the season was the moment we decided to go all-in on getting a godfather package. Any Cease trade needs two legit high-end prospects (plus other things) and one who can help really soon. Make it fucking hurt. Develop Fletcher into a Platoon OF - This team is lacking young positional pieces and that means turning Fletcher into a useful major league OF is a must. And being a solid 4th OF is not a good enough outcome…we need to see this kid lock down a strong-side platoon role in RF with plus defense and a 110+ wRC+ against RHP. Turn Kopech into a Legit #3 SP - I have 100% given up hope of Kopech ever turning into a TOR starter, but I still think he’s far too talented to flop around at the back of a rotation. It’s time for Bannister & Katz to unlock some of Micheal’s potential and turn him into a still somewhat erratic, but mostly productive mid rotation starter. Began Building up Crochet as SP - The key word here is “building”, because no way is this guy going to be ready to provide any meaningful innings this year. As such, send him to Charlotte for a few months and let him move at a more gradual pace. This also allows us to claw back a year of control and retain him through 2027. Fully Assess Fedde & Soroka - This one is a bit tricky, but we need to quickly assess what we have in these guys and determine whether they can be part of the future or not (assuming results are there). With Soroka in particular, if there is no path to an extension, he must be moved at the deadline. We have a bit more flexibility with Fedde, but have to carefully weight go-forward value vs. potential prospect return. Keep Yoan & Eloy Healthy - This one is simple, but we need these guys to show-out this year so we can possibly trade them for something of value and that requires them to be healthy. I’m somewhat optimistic that Yoan will suddenly find the will to fight through pain given he’s effectively in a contract year. Eloy is a wild card, but I do believe he can still be a dynamic hitter if healthy and return a legit prospect. Develop Some Future Bullpen Pieces - The Sox will almost certainly start the year with a bunch of veterans in the major league pen, but once guys like Leasure, Berroa, & Speas are ready they should be called up and given ample opportunity to prove themselves this year. Same applies to Horn if he doesn’t make the OD roster. Give 30+ Starts to Minor League SPs - The OD rotation appears packed with vets, but we need to be prepared to allocate starts to youth once ready. Flexin should be on the chopping block if one of Nastrini, Eder, or Cannon prove ready earlier in the year. But post July, we must commit a good chunk of starts to those kids or others who prove they are ready for a shot to help get some development out of the way. Make Vaughn Prove Himself - It’s officially put up or shut up time for Andrew and if he doesn’t take a massive leap this year then I’m afraid it will be time to move on. The glove and base-running will never be there, which means the kid needs to put up a 120+ wRC+ to be useful. Play him everyday and see which version shows up. Protect Luis Robert - I know it will be easy for Grifol to slot Robert into the lineup everyday, but the dude is the single most valuable asset in the organization and should be managed with some caution (especially in a lost season). Not suggesting we completely baby him, but give him an off-day every couple of weeks and rest him whenever banged up. Another healthy season will greatly enhance his value.

Not sure trading for an interior lineman prevents us from drafting a tackle at #9. IMO, this suggests Poles might be getting close on a Fields trade, because right now we’re super short on picks after the 1st round.

I called you a “yes man”? Not even sure I get what that would mean.

I’d say almost no chance they can be competitive next year. I think 2026 is the earliest we could see a decent product and that requires the first wave of minor league talent to mostly be successful and for us to do well in any sell-off trades this year, especially in regards to Cease.

Depth is significantly better than it has been lately, especially on the pitching side of things and at catcher. OF is still a weakness in the system and we really need Wolkow or one of the LatAm kids to step up this year.

We have four years of control left with Robert. If we won’t be competitive until 2026 at the earliest, then you have to seriously consider it. But yeah, if we could find a Robert like talent in return who is controllable from 2026 to 2031 that would be a massive for us.

Trading Fields to the Falcons for their 2nd round pick plus a swap of 1.09 for 1.08 would be a good outcome for us. Guarantees us one of the offensive players you highlighted or the top defensive player in the draft. Also, has Bowers stock fallen as of late? I thought he was as regarded as highly as these other prospects, at least pre combine.

You lost me at RBIs

JFC…someone post the old man yells at cloud meme.

Edit

I do think there is a chance this team is fun bad. Last year was a compete s%*#-show and the losses were legit painful. At least for me, I fully expect a 60 win team this year and some of the most uninteresting baseball imaginable. I kind of look forward to witnessing first hand all the dumb s%*# Grifol will do with his collection of misfits & has-beens. The offense will likely be terrible and seeing Getz’s vision of a bad pitching, bad hitting, plus defensive team come to life will be fascinating. Gamethreads will be a riot and I’m going to love when all the fans in the stadium turn on the team and start booing the likes of Maldonado, DeJong, & Moustakas before they wither away into the DFA afterlife. I’d much rather prefer a competitive team obviously, but if you’re going to be bad, do it with a complete lack of style & grace.

The need for this board to attribute all blame to one driver is frustrating. Jerry Reinsdorf has been an absolutely atrocious owner and has certainly killed a lot of fan interest during tenure. However, the current ballpark is also a problem and will never consistently draw causal fans or tourists. The proposed ballpark in the 78 will address the latter and Father Time will address the former soon enough. There is literally a path to becoming an elite sports franchise right in front of our eyes and many here would rather Jerry lose and/or a bunch of tourists not be taxed for using hotels. I hate to break the news to you guys, but even if this deal doesn’t happen, Jerry has already won the life lottery. His kids and their kids and their kids will forever be blessed with unfathomable wealth. Whether he can make another couple hundred million off a stadium deal doesn’t change the calculus. So what does Jerry losing actually accomplish? It puts the franchise in a weaker state for the next owner and causes us Sox fans to lose out on what will likely be a truly incredible ballpark experience. But hey, at least when tourists come to visit their hotel stays will be a bit cheaper…seems like a huge win for us Illinois taxpayers!

Does the current deal hurt the taxpayers of Illinois?

Probably a big nothing but would theoretically would be good for a Cease trade market:

A 2 WAR floor OF with six years of control would command much more than Mena and I say this as a fan of Christian. People are over-inflating the certainty of Fletcher’s bat and likely the quality of his CF defense. From what I have read, he can probably be adequate in CF but would not be above average. His defense is based on reads & jumps and that will only take you so far in CF.