Chicago White Sox

We also have Hendriks, Gravemanx, Lopez, & Kelly. At some point we’ll also have Crochet. I gues I’m not following your logic here. Bullpen are volatile and we have multiple guys with high ceilings which gives us a better chance of having enough high leverage relievers.

Interesting comments on the bullpen Balta ?

This is the same org that cost us a year of Vaughn control for like 19 plate appearances.

Theoretically an all replacement level team would be worth 48 wins

I believe you can earn extra draft picks if you start a rookie on your OD roster and he finishes top 3 in RotY voting. Not sure that changes much, but still a new consideration.

Glad to see the clubhouse snitch is back. Hopefully that precious intel continues to make KW & Hahn excel at their jobs.

Good point. I still view that as a panic signing, but god damn was he awful after that first season.

Just to be clear, I’m no Hahn / front office defender, but the Sox were targeting quality pitchers prior to the fiasco that was last offseason. In addition to Lynn, they went hard after Wheeler & Burnes. Perhaps this is one area where our pro scouts are actually earning their paychecks.

You expected him to get more than 1/$12M?

If they’re adding an OF of significance, either we’re trading for one directly or will need to free up cash. If it’s the latter, I think one of our relievers will be gone.

Oh Bruce…???

Honestly, if there is one person in this organization I have some faith in right now it’s Ethan Katz. He’s by no means a miracle worker, but he fixed a broken Giolito and Lopez and took Cease & Rodon to the next level. If he’s telling Hahn that Clevinger is the dude he wants, I think $12M is a price worth paying.

The rumor from Footlong is Giolito for Kepler and one of Maeda or Paddack. That being said, the guy is 100% full of s%*# and I think we can put this rumor to rest.

Yup, his ISO was .099 after August 1st and his wRC+ during this stretch was definitely propped up by an abnormally high BABIP. Could just be a rough stretch power wise, but I’m not sure I’d be overly excited committing to him for the next three years during his age 37 to 39 seasons.

Keith Law wrote a piece on Abreu signing with the Astro’s. Let just he’s not a fan of giving Jose the contract that they did ?

Jerry has always done things his way, for better or worse.

Agreed, but still interesting that someone finally outed Jerry for this.

Not sure where to place this, but wow wow wow:

Who is our #5 starter in this scenario?

It’s exactly what I predicted for a one year deal with no team option. Eager to see the final terms as it would be nice if some of the guaranteed dollars were going towards a potential option.

Who would you be targeting for the OF?

Happy for Jose but signing him to that deal wouldn’t make sense for us. Still need to add a quality LH outfield to offset some of the production he provided last year.

Same title that he had with the Reds…wonder what the background is for leaving them / joining us. Also, I believe this is what Grifol & Hahn were whispering about during their press conference. Exciting addition for us.

100% my theory as well. Added muscle hurt his flexibility and made the repeatability of mechanics more challenging.

Is that mechanics driven though and therefore correctable? I’m not sure why else he’d suddenly lose velocity at his age short of suffering a major injury that we’re unaware of.