Chicago White Sox

So is it safe to say that Herb was wrong on this?

I do think that stat may be skewed a bit given that most players above 270 pounds were probably just fat guys (see Cecil Fielder) and not freak athletes.

He had 83 percentile range last year.

Exactly. The Dodgers aren’t the wild spenders some here think they are. Yes, they sport massive payrolls and will go hog wild for the right player (see Betts), but Friedman values financial flexibility and would rather go big on a short-term deal than a long-term deal. Personally, I think some of these concepts the Dodgers would be all over. They know how to develop talent and would quickly refill the cupboard. And I agree that Cartaya is probably the one prospect they have that is untouchable. With their other top prospects, they actually have some redundancy where it doesn’t really hurt them all that much to love them. My main beef with a Dodgers trade is how the centerpiece would actually fit this team. Vargas & Busch both have great bats, but neither can really play a position that helps us. I feel like if you’re trading Anderson, you need to get a legit two-way player that can anchor the trade.

I’m with you…I’m still unclear what makes him such a bad teammate.

I mean, if we’re actually trying to win, why not make some sort of bold trade? I 100% believe this team will be massively better next year with a new manager and hopefully better health, but it’s still the same roster that hasn’t made it past the first round of the playoffs and just lost its best hitter. This plan just reeks of the typical half-assed approach we’ve come to known from this franchise.

That’s all you think we’ll do? And what kind of left fielder are you expecting?

Not defending Hahn because he sucks, but part of the foolish money spending is a result of not being able to make significant long-term commitments. And that falls entirely on Jerry for being a risk adverse POS.

The Sox should be taking advantage of this market and strongly consider selling Anderson, but I think there is zero chance it actually happens. Even if he’s a monster in the clubhouse (which I’m not quite sold on yet), I can’t see the front office losing both faces of the franchise in the same off-season. That would be the ultimate PR nightmare and goes against their desire to actually compete next year.

I’d say no very quickly on that.

And it’s the fans of 70% of teams who will suffer.

How about a floor and a cap?

Sure, but at the end of the day it’s MLB’s CBA that allows poor teams to cake in revenue sharing money and for rich clubs to spend without limits. It’s beyond broken and I say that as fan of a franchise not horribly impacted by that.

It’s not this contract, it’s the fact they’re going to spend 4x some clubs. The competitive balance in baseball is broken.

Also, sell fucking everything

I got to be honest, baseball kind of sucks when the Mets can roll with a +$300M payroll. Really fucking lame.

Sure, but they have a ton of top 100 prospects. Miller & Busch are both top 50 guys at multiple sites, BA has Pepiot as a top 100 guy. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get Caraya, but he seems like an untouchable.

Which prospects are you referring to? Outman?

The Sox are at a critical inflection point right now and really need to pick a lane. If Jerry isn’t willing to spend like a serious contender, then there is a legit argument to do a hard retool by selling off all major pieces with two years or less of control. We could get a ton of near major league talent for the likes of Anderson, Giolito, & Hendriks. Yes, we’d be mostly punting the 2023 season, but it would help set us up for a new window beginning in 2024 with several core pieces still in place (Robert, Eloy, Vaughn, Colas, Cease, Kopech), all the pieces acquired from the trades mentioned above, an influx of talent from the farm (Montgomery, Ramos, lots of pitching), and newfound financial flexibility. If that’s not possible because Jerry claims he wants to win, then you have to tap into the farm and add a legit difference making LH bat for 2B or OF on top of a Gallo like addition at the other spot. I don’t have a ton of ideas there, but a guy like Brandon Lowe would help tremendously. Going half-assed next year would be highly problematic given we’re quickly running out of time with certain core members and Jerry is unwilling to support a competitive payroll without playoff revenue. As such, push some chips in and give yourself a legit shot at a World Series if all goes right or make some moves that hurt your chances next year but will take advantage of a great seller’s market and help set ourselves up for the future. It’s really that simple although I fully expect Hahn to half-ass it.

With all this movement, hopefully Hahn can finally do something in the next couple weeks.

I’m simply trolling Harold…I too do not want Madrigal back

Other than he’s historically been a quality defensive OF where Sheets ranked as one of the worst.

What if we trade Lopez to the Cubs for Madrigal to solve 2B? Would that help or hurt?

Early polling results suggest a 9.8 excitement level which is impressive!

Now we got Guillens talking about it ?