Chicago White Sox

So the guy who has been healthier and has hit more HR’s due to more PA’s has somehow demonstrated more power than the guy with higher ISO. Got it.

Sosa showed a lot more power in the minors? Based on what metric? Age 20 season: Mead = .212 ISO | N/A - Covid Age 21 season: Mead = .208 ISO | Sosa = .131 ISO Age 22 season: Mead = .215 ISO | Sosa = .197 ISO Age 23 season: Mead = .192 ISO | Sosa = .236 ISO And thanks for ignoring the “cashing in on Sosa” and “limited role for 2026” points that are pretty important to the hypothetical.

We traded for Periera and gave him a 40 man roster spot. Baldwin hit too good down the stretch to not get consistent at-bats somewhere and the lack of reps in the OF last year shouldn’t be used against him IMO. And then you have Hill who was also tendered and given a 40 man spot. If we assume Benintendi is the LF, it’s actually kind of a filled OF but with room for someone to overtake Periera or Hill. If they plan to make Benintendi mostly DH, then Kelenic’s chance to make the OD roster vastly improve. This is all assuming no other additions either. Don’t get me wrong, I could see Kelenic making the OD roster, but I don’t think it should be expected. And I don’t think that conflicts with Kelenic looking at the guys in front of him and saying “Chicago is my best spot for a major league job” with no guarantees he will got one. The reality is everyone ahead of him was some combo of good in the majors or AAA last year and he wasn’t. To me, it should be a cut and dry uphill battle for him to make the team, but one not impossible to imagine.

Because right now this is a very limited role and theoretically you’re cashing in on Sosa and replacing him with a guy who might offer similar production (eventually) who you will otherwise lose for nothing. Also, you’re ignoring the fact that Sosa has an additional season of development and was just as bad as Mead was before this past season. If 500 PA’s is some sort of death sentence for a young player, it should have been for Sosa as well.

That‘s in game power. Lenyn maximizes his slightly above average raw power about as good as anyone. Mead has similar or maybe better raw power, but hasn’t been able to translate to in game. Whether he can with more reps is a TBD.

He’s a much easier hold in my mind if you’re willing to do that.

That I’m not sure of, but will admit it seems a little odd a face value. That being said, how often are guys signed to minor league deals assured major league spots?

Similar raw power / bat speed. You’d be gambling on Mead improving his ability to square up more consistently with support from Fuller. Based on his minor league profile, that seems theoretically feasible to me. Obviously I have no idea what the Sox think, but my guess is they have some plan to right the ship with Mead. But if I can’t get anything for Sosa, I’d certainly keep him over Curtis.

Why do you think that?

I think people are sleeping a bit on Lee. His arm is legit special. I don’t think he returns a ton, but I think he has more value than Romo and is tradable.

Romo definitely feels like the replacement for Lee. Will be interesting to see what he returns if traded.

There must be accountability or else the integrity of ban bets will be in question.

Looking at this roster, I still think the Sox end up trading both Sosa & Lee before Opening Day. Mead certainly sucked last year, but offers a similar hitting profile to Sosa, is a better defender, and has more years of control. Given that Mead is out of options and Sosa should theoretically have some trade value after last season, I could Getz cashing in and giving the limited bench role to Mead instead. The Lee situation is pretty obvious. If you keep both Teel & Quero, there is simply not enough playing time for him and he becomes nothing but an insurance policy against in-game injury (which is a poor use of a bench spot). He won’t return a ton, but there is zero chance he slips through waivers and must be traded if you don’t plan on putting him on the OD roster. I fully expect a trade to happen at some point, although it’s possible the Sox hold into spring to hedge against injury.

It’s much less two way conversation over there.

Harder to post random crap over there though, so probably not getting the same fulfillment as he does here. Feel bad for the guy as he means well, but a bet is a bet and there are real consequences to losing.

You sure about this one? Not sure I can take any more on poor soil and the lack of ingress/egress at the 78 site.

If he lost a family member, he would not have had to get approval from his employer is the point I was trying to make. There is a very big distinction here. And as someone else has pointed out, this wasn’t a lifelong friend and a normal “funeral”. No matter your political beliefs and whether the situation was fair or not, this was certainly going to be a distraction and risk conflict in the clubhouse. And let me be very clear here. I am supportive of differing political views. What I am intolerant to is hate in any form and Charlie Kirk routinely made dumb, hateful comments that created further division in this country. You seem to be arguing for a greater tolerance for political & religious freedoms, but then are surprised by the baggage that comes with being BFFs with a political pundit who was very black & white with his views. If there was a similar extremist on the left side that someone pulled the same move with I’d feel exactly the same.

We really need some general free agent movement. Bregman should help, but don’t think we see a lot more trade movement until guys like Tucker, Bichette, Valdez, & Suarez sign. And U fully expect a couple more interesting trades from Getz before OD.

Drafting and developing has certainly gotten better. I’m a big fan of Shirley and think he’s legit good at what he does if unimpeded. Need to see some more wins on the development side before I say we are even average there, but am confident we are no longer multitudes below the normal bad teams.

I wasn’t referring to you…you have always seemed to like the kid.

Not sure to be honest, but’s he got some pedigree from past prospect rankings and for certain people he has friends in the right places. I personally don’t see enough to pay up what would likely be a steep price to block someone like Vargas who also has some prospect pedigree and doesn’t cost us anything to give him an extended look at 3B this year.

I’m actually kind of shocked how good this system is for having practically nothing coming from Latin America. I really like the top 9 guys. I think Schultz & Smith are both suffering from some prospect fatigue and deserve a greater benefit of the doubt when it comes to their somewhat lackluster results last year. If Schultz’s slider comes back next year (which I don’t see why it wouldn’t), then I see him as the same high ceiling, 60 FV talent he always was with the same question marks on health & durability. Bonemer has a fuckton of helium right now and could cement top 30 prospect status with a strong start to the season. And candidly, I think that Braden is being slept on a ton. Dude no doubt has contact issue concerns, but he has insane physical ability and was pushed up three levels in his first professional season. Overall, the top nine is very fucking good. I think 10 through 20 is where you start seeing the cracks. Lots of low ceiling SPs, an intriguing arm who likely ends up being a reliever in Batista, a high ceiling high floor OF in Wolkow, and a bunch of UT / 2B types. We’re really going to need some breakthrough performances from guys in the 20’s and beyond to fill in the gaps here. The likely graduations of many guys in the top 20 won’t help matter, but what should be a strong 2026 draft should help by season’s end. Again, really need the LA program to start bearing fruit in the next couple of years if we ever want to have a consistently good farm system.

A lot of negative WAR was framing though. He’s known as a good pitching handler and I believe the other aspects of his defense are viewed as being solid (or will be with time). But yes, maybe going young at catcher is a tougher sell when you are trying to win a World Series. But if it allows you to afford Tucker…maybe?

I agree, but probably harder now after signing Murakami and keeping Robert (assuming that they do).

Let’s be honest, Vargas has two full seasons worst of plate appearances and was significantly better in his second set. There is still plenty room for improvement at his age and with his limited experience. We’ll see if he can ever live up to his past top 60 prospect status, but he’s far from a finished product (good or bad).