Chicago White Sox

Does anyone know if this is happening? Definitely want to be part of the Q&A session if it’s still happening.

I’ll feel better if we have $30M to work with, but we’re also losing one of our top three players in this scenario. That being said, if they could somehow find a way to land Kodai Senga and say Conforto on a pillow contract I’d be fairly content with that off-season.

That’s the problem. Give a quality GM a $200M budget and we’d blow this s%*# division out of the water. The problem is the bad money and over-investment in the bullpen that will leave little money heading into the off-season.

I agree on the latter, but Rick may see more upside with those two as a 1B platoon than what a scrap-heap SP or OF would provide. Not saying it’s the route I would go, but it definitely hints of Rick logic.

I miss the optimistic CWS as well, but pretty sure the past 12 months killed that person. And in all honestly, I can’t recall the last time we entered an off-season where it was this clear there will be little financial room to play with. Usually there is a reason to dream that we’ll spend some, but defaulting to the trade market just months after being unable to acquire a single useful addition is a terrifying proposition. I’m hopeful that guys like Yoan & Grandal will be better, but I don’t think that alone is enough to overcome CLE and losing Abreu is going to hurt a ton as well. If Jerry isn’t willing to push up the payroll a bit, I think we will be hard pressed to make the playoffs next year. Not trying to be a negative Nancy, but Hahn has really put this roster in a tough spot.

They should be depth, but Rick on a shoestring budget definitely scares me and neither guy has much trade value. A desperate Hahn is a dangerous Hahn.

It still shouldn’t result in either Vaughn or Sheets playing OF.

You still have to fill the obvious holes we have. Guys rebounding may not be enough to get us past CLE and certainly won’t be enough to make us serious title contenders. A competent GM might be able to find a way, Hahn will burn what little liquidity he has on underperforming role players.

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.