Chicago White Sox

Based on the press conference, here is what I think happens this off-season: Pito not retained via free agency Vaughn traded for a controllable SP Sox go with a Sheets/Burger platoon at 1B Eloy shifts to DH full-time Sox sign a LH hitting reclamation project OF Colas called up by May 1st to be everyday RF Romy, Sosa, & Mendick compete for 2B job Sox’s 26 man roster come May 1st: Lineup: 1B) Sheets* | 2B) Gonzalez | SS) Anderson | 3B) Moncada# | LF) LH FA* | CF) Robert | RF) Colas* | DH) Jimenez | CA) Grandal# Bench: IF) Mendick | IF) Burger | OF) Pollock | UT) Garcia# | BC) Zavala Rotation: 1) Cease | 2) Lynn | 3) Trade | 4) Kopech | 5) Giolito Bullpen: CL) Hendriks | SU) Bummer* | SU) Graveman | SU) Lopez | MR) Kelly | MR) Diekman* | MR) Lambert | LR) Martin Pitching should be solid, but offense becomes an even bigger question mark than it already is. Hahn spends all off-season talking about the improved lineup and OF defense, but ignores the fact we lost two of our best hitters.

Maybe if he hadn’t bungled RF for multiple straight years and didn’t have an obsession with playing 1B/DH types out of position I’d feel better. IMO, there is zero reason to say anything but “upgrading our corner OF defense will be a major priority for us this off-season”. I know Rick is going to Hahn, but he should avoid the lawyer speak after this s%*# show of a season.

Apparently expect lots of trades because Hahn has gone hog wild on relievers & role players the past couple years. At least we know to set expectations low this off-season.

The fact that he had to caveat “might” is real scary

If you really want to go for it next year, then bring back Jose for 1B and trade Vaughn+ for Jazz.

No one is arguing the players didn’t underperform. People want Hahn gone because he has failed to take a talented core and transform it into a serious championship contender. Last off-season was one of the worst executed plans I can remember in my 38 years on this earth. Rick Hahn had a team coming off a 93 win season but who was destroyed by a clearly stronger Astros team in the playoffs and failed to make any impactful moves. Instead, he let one of his best players leave for nothing and then spent $40M+ on a variety of role players. The issues with this roster were very clear coming into the season (Hahn even acknowledged most of them) and he still did nothing to address then. Honestly, the time for excuses is gone. If Rick isn’t going to swing for the fences during our competitive window, then he’s already admitted failure and he has no one to blame but himself for the lack of depth and shitty farm system. It’s a time for a change even if he’s not the sole reason for our struggles.

Oh no doubt Hahn should be gone as well, but it’s very clear this leak came from Jerry.

?

I want Hahn fired as much as anyone, but to be fair he had planned on running a legitimate manager search prior to Jerry intervening.

The good news is anyone is far more competent than La Russa, so from a marginal standpoint this will be an easy win.

Holy s%*# this is tremendous news! The reign of terror is finally over!!

Probably not, but definitely concerned they half-ass this and gamble on every under-performing player and a few reclamation projects via free agency returning to form.

If ownership isn’t willing to spend what’s needed to finally complete the roster, then trade Cease & Anderson. Would suck beyond belief having the move those guys, but we desperately need to pick a clear direction. Can’t just roll with the same and hope for the best.

The more I think about this, the more I feel like the need to increase their payroll a bit to land a LH hitting OF and a #3 type SP. If they’re unwilling to do that, I’d probably suggest doing a soft rebuild.

The difference between KW & Hahn is Kenny could actually scout talent. And during Kenny’s era that was enough to be successful. The problem with Rick is he can neither scout talent or build a quality top to bottom organization. Having the smallest analytics department is an absolute joke if you’re not a legit talent evaluator. It’s really that simple unfortunately.

Yup, if Lynn goes down two weeks later who knows if Cueto is still available and how much worse this season would be.

Carlos Rodon is currently 1st in fWAR amongst all pitchers. Rick Hahn passed on offering him a QO, which would have secured him for the 2023 season at $18.5M or resulted in the addition of a compensation pick. Instead, this was his actual plan: Signed Kendall Graveman to 3/$24M - 0.6 fWAR Signed Joe Kelly to 2/$17M - 0.4 fWAR Signed Leury Garcia to 3/$16.5M - (1.1) fWAR Signed Josh Harrison to 1/$5.5M - 1.3 fWAR Signed Vince Velasquez to 1/$3M - 0.2 fWAR Acquired AJ Pollock ($11.5M salary) - 0.7 fWAR Acquired Reese McGuire ($0.4 salary) - 0.4 fWAR So for a total of ~$42M in spend for the 2023 season, Rick Hahn was able to acquire 2.5 fWAR. That’s $16.8M per win and in areas that usually provide the least marginal value. Things look far worse when you consider Rodon would have only cost $3.2M per win and would have required only 44% of those funds. Also, those ROI figures don’t even account for the following: The $36M in commitments beyond the 2023 season to three guys who combined for negative fWAR this year (Graveman, Kelly, & Garcia) The $13M we’re on the hook for now for a 35 year old OF who has a poor track record of health and who no longer appears to be able to hit RHP The fact Joe Kelly was going to be severely limited for the first two months of the season and still gave him one of the biggest reliever contracts in FA The “pitching depth” that Hahn prioritized coming out of the lockout have a +6 ERA (Kelly) & +5 ERA (VV) TLDR - Rick Hahn is really fucking bad at his job and needs to be fired ASAP.

Six games against the Twins means a 3rd place finish is still possible and we all know Uncle Jerry is a big proponent of “1st is the worst, 2nd is the best”. Failure to finish the year 2nd may have some consequences plus would improve our odds of a top six pick. Let’s hope the Twins bring their A game and rough us up to finish this s%*# show of a season.

Is this from an Athletic article?

I think we have to accept the fact that Eloy is a DH, but at least a damn good one if healthy. Obviously he’d far more valuable at a position, but it is what it is at this point. Just got to hope Vaughn can be solid average there if they decide to part with Abreu.

I’m not sure how Vaughn will be there, but Eloy would legit die on his first dive at 1B.

Question for the board, but who would you pick out of the following: OF: Conforto, Gallo, Joc, or Bellinger SP: Clevinger, Manaea, Thor, or Eovaldi

It is but I am worried about the lack of playoff revenue causing us to maintain or slightly drop payroll. Hope I’m wrong.

We are still competing for a playoff spot against teams with less financial resources than us. And only the Indians are a truly great organization. We should have a huge advantage over the other clubs in the Central, but alas we have one of the worst owners in baseball.

I fully expect them to address these holes on the cheap and simply pray for better health and/or rebound seasons. My guess is Joc or Gallo for the OF seems inevitable. Throw in a starter on a 1/$8M deal and that could very well be our off-season. Unfortunately, when your bullpen & bench are nearly the same size as the entire Guardians’ payroll, it tends to hamper your ability to make big moves.