Chicago White Sox

With Cowles gone, there is a little less positional fat on the 40 man roster. Romo, Murray, & Peters look like planned AAA depth at their respective positions. I think all three of them stick through OD. However, we still have 5 guys without options who aren’t locks to make the roster in Lee, Pereira, Hill, Mead, & Ramos. Without further additions, I’d expect two or three of those guys to fill bench roles (with a NRI like Kelenic being a possibility for one of those spots). There should be a way to clear one or two roster spots here if we wanted to add an OF or a veteran arm. On the pitching side, there is very little fat IMO. Eisert & Hudson on the left side could be DFAed to open up a spot for an addition in free agency or trade. That being said, they may want as many of these LH guys in camp and have the best man win (Hudson is out of options FWIW). Then you have a post hype prospect in Iriarte coming off a disaster of a season and with no signs of his stuff coming back. Do you try to sneak him through waivers before camp? Would any team actually take him? Unless you’re getting positive off-season reports, he’s firmly in the mix of players you DFA to open up a roster spot.

A couple OF’s they are still interested in?

Many of the big name free agents don’t get signed until January nowadays

Do you have any idea how many free agents remain unsigned?

I certainly think some guys will regress vs. their 2H production, but a lot of that is already reflected in the Steamer projections I highlighted above. But generally speaking, I do expect talented young players to get better over time. And that very much holds true on the defensive side of the ball for catchers and guys that are still somewhat new to positions like Baldwin (and maybe Vargas). Overall, I’m very optimistic about the positional group, but would like to see one more OF addition to improve the floor of the team. The pitching doesn’t look good on paper right now, but there is a tremendous of young arms that could enter the mix at some point and change the calculus. I am also very high on Burke (I know you are not) and view Kay as a complete wild card who could perform better than most think. All that being said, I still think another SP and RP is needed. This bullpen could actually be decent with Newcomb and one more high leverage arm added to the pen. Ultimately, you think there is zero chance of competing next year while I think with a few more additions there is some theoretical chance of being a fringe playoff team. By no means do I think it’s likely, but W-L records are highly impacted by luck and if we have some good news go our way and have a few breakthrough performances next year it might just be possible.

And by cooking, I mean at two 1 or 2 more free agent additions and 2 or 3 more trades when all is said and done.

Gun to head, I think the Sox end up trading a catcher. Obviously Lee is most likely, but could see Quero get dealt as well. Theoretically you can carry four catchers on the 40 man roster and we have done so at times in the past, but Romo feels like he’s purposely being added to be the 3rd string / AAA guy who can be called up (and sent down) in event of injury. I really think Getz has some more things cooking.

Early favorite for POTY

Getz has made it very clear that he wants Benintendi to be a big part of the DH rotation. Obviously you don’t trade Quero to facilitate that, but could be further proof they are seriously open to trading Quero if they can get value for him.

We had a 98 wRC+ from July 1st forward. The only real losses since then are Tauchman and Slater who combined for a ~105 wRC+. If we keep Sosa and use our bench guys appropriately from a platoon standpoint, I think will be a little bit stronger than it was last year. To go from average to good will certainly require Murakami to achieve his projections as previously mentioned. The defense being bad is very much a TBD to me. Robert, Colson, & Meidroth should be fine up the middle. Benintendi is terrible in LF but sounds like they are trying to play him substantially less there. Baldwin was awful in multiple spots, but I think he can improve in the outfield more reps. Hill is a tremendous defender and Pereira should be more than solid in a corner. Vargas is a question mark at 3B, but didn’t look terrible to me. I have no idea how Murakami be at 1B, but I’d hope he’s not awful if he could play 3B in Japan. Catcher is a bit of a wild card but hopefully the rule changes help Quero a bit and I think both him and Teel will continue to improve with time. Don’t think it will be a good defensive unit, but not ready to say it will be bottom five or anything like that.

So random question on this. Do we think that the Sox will have an above league average offense next year? Looking at the Steamer projections it sure looks like a 100 wRC+ is probable. Candidly speaking, if Murakami hits his projection I think we could crack the top 10, which would require a 105 wRC+.

Did Zavala not make the list?

Where is Antonacci?

He had a 16.4% K rate across July & August. That K rate was fairly consistent in both months and radically different from the rest of 2025. Obviously there is other noise in those numbers which you are seeing. The point is him being more patient & selective was finally paying off in terms of his K rate. I’m not guaranteeing he is fixed, but it’s a noticeable change in trend that followed a significant improvement in his chase rate that followed a well documented offseason in which he used a Trajekt machine to improve his pitch recognition and ultimately swing decisions.

People are taking way too simplistic of a view on this. They are certainly right in saying we have failed to cash in on Robert for two straight years. And I fully get the skepticism that the third will be the charm. However, Robert went through some drastic changes last year and may have turned a corner with the bat. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s injury prone, but with half a season’s time it could address the other element that has impacted his value which is being a bad hitter. Not saying the juice will be worth the squeeze ultimately, but the calculus is arguably different now than it was a year ago if you believe in his improvements. All this being said, I’m not sure I see a better use of his $20M next year that doesn’t involve a significant long-term contract that Jerry won’t permit. I’d rather roll the dice on Robert one last time, try to build some momentum with the positional group, and see where things stand in July. If someone is willing give up real value for him right now, I’d certainly accept that offer. But based on what have seen and heard so far this offseason, teams don’t appear to be willing to pay up for 2nd half Robert (or 75% of that guy) even if we include cash. As such, we likely need to hold and hope he can be both healthy and productive.

I’m all for the signing too, but let’s not treat it more than it is. Minor league lottery ticket at a position of weakness. He’s got to show he is not 30% worse of a hitter than Dominic Fletcher before I start considering him for the majors.

Yes, I’d like to bring back a player who just put up a 115 wRC+ and 1.4 fWAR despite some physical deterioration from age & injury. He’d obviously have to pass a physical and would have to come cheap, but at say $2M I’d bring him on and run him out there until he breaks down. When that inevitably happens, the hope is either Braden is ready or someone like Pereira is ready for a bigger role. Meanwhile, you want to hand a starting role to a post hype prospect that has lost some athleticism, comes with significant makeup concerns, has a career 84 wRC+ and 0.9 fWAR over essentially 2.5 seasons, and is coming off a 64 wRC+ in AAA. If you hand him the LF job, you are very likely looking at a negative win player. The only reason people are excited about him is because it’s a name they remember from top prospects lists a few years back. Unfortunately, the reality is a 35 year old and injured Tauchman would almost certainly blow Kelenic out of the water next year in terms of production. If Kelenic can show some signs of improvement at AAA, then he’ll find a way to get an opportunity. Until then, he should be below even Tristan Peters on the depth chart.

Put me officially down for believing that Pereira is far more likely to be a positive contributor next year than Kelenic. Beyond being a bit of a head case, it just feels like Kelenic’s physical tools have deteriorated some since his prospect glory days and he hasn’t really shown any signs of improvement with his swing & miss issues. I think people are excited because of the name and former prospect status, but I don’t really see much of a reason to believe. With Pereira, he’s made some small gains with his plate discipline in the upper minors and I feel like his combo of power and ability to walk could result in him being a productive three outcome type of hitter eventually. No guarantee there, but I do feel like his chances of being a solid 4th OF / short side platoon bat is fairly high and that’s far more optimistic than I feel about Kelenic right now.

I don’t think Bailey Horn was really a punt either

I mean a veteran who has shown some success in the majors.

Kelenic is on a minor league deal…give him playing time in Charlotte first and see if you can fix him there. If he performs well, then find him a spot on the major league roster. I don’t understand the desire to hand a guy who has been bad in the majors across multiple seasons and who was terrible in AAA a starting spot. Pereira is a different story because he actually was good in AAA and hasn’t had a lot of major league opportunities. With the lack of options, he should land a major league role to start the season, although I’d probably build the roster around him being a short side partner for Baldwin. As such, we should probably go sign a LH hitting corner OF to serve as competition and/or a placeholder until someone is deserving of this spot. If healthy, Tauchman is a perfect fit of what we need. It’s ok to have veteran stopgaps at a couple of spots.

Hey, before you go attacking posters who actually wanted Imai, just remember we had this in the bag before you decided to body shame the little guy!

lol…NBB is such a clout chasing loser. Hopefully that’s our own @Baron holding him accountable for his miss.

What a fucking clown to do this after incorrectly saying we got him last night

Still need another SP…who is next on the list?