Chicago White Sox

This is way too simplistic of an analysis. There are other operating costs other than payroll and to some degree those are more fixed in nature. As such, those fixed will reflect a greater portion of total revenue for small market clubs than large market clubs.

Steamer projections for three possible CF options: Acuna: 385 PA | 88 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR | $0.9M Bader: 436 PA | 96 wRC+ | 1.3 fWAR | $10M Robert: 477 PA | 95 wRC+ | 1.6 fWAR | $20M Offensive projections aren’t too different and fWAR figures above assume Acuna is playing 2B. That being said, if Acuna can provide plus defense in CF, he’s probably around the same fWAR as the other two guys and at a fraction of the cost. I still think Robert will be over 100 wRC+ next year (and possibly by quite a bit), but there is no denying the health concerns.

He graded average or better in all major advanced metrics. Obviously his speed is completely compromised at this point, but he gets good jumps and makes all the plays he can get to. Now, if his health is currently worse than was it was for most of last year, I’d certainly pass. But for $2M or about $1M over league minimum, I will happily see what I can get out of him next year.

I think Braden comes much sooner than that if all goes well (big caveat). That being said, it’s part of the reason you add a cheap vet to hedge against any delay in his readiness. And I fully agree those are the three guys who should get the focus heading into camp. And given two of them are RH hitters, I think that vet we bring in being LH makes the most sense. Tauchman just checks a lot of boxes. As for Kelenic, I view him as a lottery ticket who needs to go absolute HAM in camp to make the OD roster. However, in the unlikely event he figures things out, he should still have two more seasons of club control and I doubt he gets traded.

Tauchman is who I’d grab. He’s going to be dirt cheap because of the injury risk, which is totally fine because as some point you hope Braden forces his way onto to the roster.

Depends on how good Acuna’s defense is. From what I have read, it seems like he could be pretty damn good out there. Look at Bader, he really isn’t all that great of a hitter (last year looks like an aberration), but is a solid player due to plus defense. Acuna certainly wasn’t good in the majors last year, but I think his tools are being slept on a bit. He actually had really good contact rates in AAA last year and was league average in terms of chase rate. His bat speed has been above average up until last year when he made purposeful decisions to slow down his swing to help make better contact. By no means do I have a ton of confidence that he’ll take a massive leap, but I certainly view him getting up to say an 85 wRC+ being within reason.

IMO, we need to understand what Acuna & Baldwin are capable of defensively in the outfield. If Acuna can be a plus (or better) defensive CF, there is some actual path for him to be an everyday guy out there without crazy improvement with the bat. As for Baldwin, he was objectively bad in the OF defensively last year, but the reasons for that seem addressable for him with more reps. Given the infield is already pretty full and will likely be stacked in the near future, I think the best play for both Acuna & Baldwin is to be used primarily in the outfield this year. They may (or even likely) end up UT guys but now is the time to see what we have. If these guys can’t be OF fixtures, then we’ll need to find one or two long-term solutions. Bader isn’t a bad player, but he’s not a long term solution and is an expensive band-aid that I don’t think we need given current roster construction.

Price is probably fine if you are trying to compete and need a CF, but the fit makes no sense for us. I could honestly see Acuna providing as much fWAR as Bader next year if Luisangel can tap into his power some. Bader’s bat is going to regress a lot next year and there is no simply no reason to block Acuna in 2026.

This is why I don’t get the complaints about the Carlson pick before he’s even entered full season ball. The defense has a chance to be truly elite and there is plenty of offensive upside including some legit power potential. At the 1.10, I’m not sure what else you could ask for us.

Good sign here. Law is better with positional prospects than pitching prospects IMO and he appears to be on the high end for Braden and Carlson.

I’ll keep saying it, but Meidroth is not the same as Madrigal. The former is one of the most selective hitters and the other is one of the most aggressive. Both have great bat to ball skills and not much power, but Meidroth is going to get on base at a significantly higher rate than Nick and has much better baseball IQ. Obviously it’s very much possible that the lack of power pushes Chase to a reserve infielder role, but he does offer a different and better skill set than Madrigal.

I’m assuming it will be early this week when guys are technically working.

I don’t see the Bader fit now that we added Acuna. Cheap corner outfield who can be a stop-gap for Braden makes more sense now.

Starters are going shorter than ever which forces a bullpen to play a bigger role. Let me ask you this, what value is there in having a 5th bench piece vs. an extra reliever?

Yup, perfect stop gap until Braden is ready.

The infield to start the season is going to be Murakami at 1B, Meidroth at 2B, Colson at SS, & Vargas at 3B. With Baldwin & Acuna both capable infielders, I don’t think we carry more than one of Sosa or Mead. If Chase or Miguel falters, then the backup infielder or even Baldwin could push for one of their roles. At some point and potentially fairly early into the season, I fully expect Antonacci to put the heat on both of those guys. Outside of trading one of Sosa or Mead before the season, I’d go in with what we have and see who establishes themselves.

One thing to add is Periera doesn’t chase a ton…he was squarely around league average last year in AAA and above average in the majors. His K issues have been more driven by poor in zone contact and I truly believe that’s far more addressable (within reason) than teaching someone at this stage of their career to radically improve their swing decisions. Given his double plus bat speed, there are likely some approach changes that can be implemented situationally to improve his contact rates with only minor sacrifices to his power output. It’s still a risky profile but one I am eager see first hand this spring.

I agree. Fuller will fix ‘em though!

I personally think they will want both of these guys in camp though. I will say that adding Dominguez will make it harder to roster both of them to start the season.

Sounds like Benintendi is going to be used a lot more in the DH slot to keep him healthy and hopefully improve his defense when he has to play LF. For Baldwin, I think people are way over-reacting to bad defense that is the result of being new to the position. Way too early to say he can’t get decent in OF with more reps.

I feel they’d drop Alberto before Paez if it came down to that given where they were selected in the R5 and nothing has changed since then. We traded for Gilbert last offseason and he’s arguably our best LH reliever right now depending on what happens with Newcomb (which isn’t saying much, but makes him safer IMO). I really hope they don’t drop Bush & Berroa when they’re now approaching a year into their rehab process. Still think Ramos or Hudson are most likely.

I don’t understand your desire to hand a starting major league job to Kelenic after how bad he was in AAA.

Iriarte has lost a ton of status the past two years as his stuff has gone backwards. I’m not yet fully convinced someone would put a claim in on him at this point.

Kelenic can not play CF IMO.

I guess my question is what you expect the OF alignment to be and whether a RH or LH makes more sense. IMO, with Baldwin & Acuna locks for the roster, we can probably get by with just one infielder on the bench (Sosa or Mead). That allows us to carry two dedicated OFs on our bench if we so choose. I also think they plan to give Benintendi heavy use at DH and much less time off it in LF. Theoretically that means there could be up to six players in the OF mix. My belief is Acuna is going to get serious run in CF. He will likely sit against tough RHP, but don’t believe they will platoon him. Baldwin fills in CF when Acuna needs a day off (or if he’s in the IF). Otherwise, he’s going to be in a corner on most days against RHP while likely filling in the IF from time to time. I think Pereira starts off as a weak side platoon partner in one of the OF corners with gradual exposure to some RHP. Benintendi should be a part-time player in LF, primarily against RHP. I believe those four combined can more or less cover 2/3 of the OF plus a chunk of DH plate appearances and some fill-in time in the IF. That leaves two roster spots to address the other corner OF spot and fill in other bench type roles like late-inning defense and pinch-running. IMO, Hill can possibly fill three distinct roles by helping against LHP (115 career wRC+), providing elite late inning defense, and being a pinch runner when needed. He’d have to be paired with a LH bat though and I really don’t think Kelenic should be counted on to be that guy. I’d much rather take a shot on Tauchman again (if healthy) and run him out there until he either breaks down, until someone pushes for his playing time (maybe even Kelenic if he does well in AAA), or Braden proved himself ready. Now, if they are committed to making Kelenic a thing and doing so from the get go, then I’d be willing to go the Hayes route and use him as a hedge. However, I do worry his price tag will be too rich for us, especially for such a role. Either way, I’d rather invest bigger dollars into a SP than a very ordinary OF like Hayes.