Chicago White Sox

Straight up? No, but I think we could potentially get there with a couple more pieces.

Pure speculation, it just feels like there has been absolutely nothing on the Sox as of late and we all know the Sox work best in the shadows.

Completely baseIess speculation, but I feel like something pops for us today.

You wouldn’t trade Vaughn and other pieces for Ketel Marte?

I don’t think anyone wants to trade Eloy or Vaughn for the sake of trading them. It’s only under the premise the Sox want to maximize their chance of winning a championship the next few years and assume there will be some sort of budgetary constraints. At this point it’s beating the dead horse, but we are way too right-handed. Up until this point it made sense to amass as much talent as possible, but now we’re in the stage where we need to optimize the roster to give us the best chance in the postseason. There are a lot ways to get more balance in the lineup. From a free agency standpoint, we could just go sign Michael Conforto which would allow us to stick with a combo of Eloy & Vaughn at DH & LF. That makes Sheets expandable, but I don’t seem him being able to deliver much in return if you need to trade for a SP or 2B. Regardless, if we can address those spots and not require a major trade to do so, then this is the ideal solution. Another free agent route is the Harold proposal, which is to sign Schwarber to be your primary DH and then trade Vaughn is a package for a stud RF. As numerous posters here have pointed out, the DH market is one Jerry is typically willing to play big in and this may be a more realistic path forward if the Conforto market gets out of control. Again, teams with impact RFs to trade are more likely going to rebuilding like the Pirates and will almost certainly prefer Vaughn who is far cheaper and can be sent down and recoup an extra year of control. On the trade front, you could also acquire a left-handed or switch hitting 2B. Ketel Marte would be a tremendous piece for us and is under a very reasonable contract the next three years, which makes it easier to allocate funds elsewhere. Again, a team like the DBacks will likely prefer Vaughn to Eloy for the reasons stated above. Another theoretical concept I’ve brought up is doing a unproven prospect for prospect trade, with Gavin Lux being my main proposal. This assumes some risk with an unproven player, but allows to maintain a pre-arb player at a greater area of need. To me, the only way I think trading Eloy could theoretically work if you’re trading him to a contender for pitching. Like I’m sure the Marlins would have a ton of interest in him, but who here is willing to move five years of Eloy for three years of Pablo Lopez? Who else has excess controllable pitching that has a need at LF or DH? I’d wager most contenders are looking to add starting pitching and not subtract right now. TLDR - If moving one of the two is required to optimize the roster, it’s much more likely and logical to move Vaughn. If not, obviously keep both and let them build up their value.

Isn’t Caulfield your last name?

Vaugh’s value may be low relative to a proven major leaguer, but I bet most teams still view him the same as when he was a consensus top 20 prospect. And while I think his value will skyrocket within the next 12 months, I do think you’d get better bang for you buck right now by dealing Vaughn. For example, the Pirates are going to prefer the cheaper asset in Vaughn if you were to discuss a Reynolds trade, same for the Diamondbacks for a Marte trade. And Eloy’s offensive ceiling is just insane. We saw a glimpse of it in 2020 when he had some of the best quality of contact in baseball. Give another four months to recover and a full spring training to prepare and he could be our best hitter next year. Ideally we find a way to keep both, but gun to head I’m definitely moving Vaughn over Eloy.

I think Marcus would prioritize winning over playing SS. Also, I could playing for a west coast team also being a key tiebreaker.

It’s only relevant because it shows Reinsdorf doesn’t have a precedent against it. We know he doesn’t like super long deals in general (see Machado capping out at eight years) and in particular for pitchers. But I think on shorter term deals he’s willing to go really high on an AAV basis. Just depends if he would do that for an aging pitcher, which obviously remains to be seen.

They wouldn’t. I was just curious what kind of moves Pal has heard we might make.

Then what do you propose doing this offseason? How do you get us closer to winning a championship?

Semien wants to get paid SS money similar to Machado wanting to get paid SS money. I’d wager he’ll happily play 2B if the money is right.

They’ve set the AAV record under Reinsdorf before. I don’t think 3/$120M is necessarily a problem unless Jerry just doesn’t like throwing big dollars at an aging pitcher. To be clear, I’m not saying it’s likely, just not impossible.

What you hearing Pal?

I can live with it if our rotation is Scherzer, Giolito, Lynn, Cease, & Kopech.

I think you’re looking Vaughn + Crochet as a starting point TBH. Burger is a nice little piece, but don’t think he moves the needle much for someone like Reynolds. The Pirates have little reason to move him now unless you make it worth their while.

For us?

Get me Scherzer then I’m 100% cool with saying “fuck RF defense” and signing a big-time DH in Schwarber.

Be a hell of an offense though!

So here’s the remaining starting pitchers on MLBTR’s top 50 free agents list: 05) Kevin Gausman: 6/$138M | $23M AAV 07) Robbie Ray: 5/$130M | $26M AAV 09) Max Scherzer: 3/$120M | $40M AAV 11) Marcus Stroman: 5/$110M | $22M AAV 14) Eduardo Rodriguez: 5/$77M | $15.4M AAV 18) Carlos Rodon: 1/$25M 19) Jon Gray: 4/$56M | $14M AAV 22) Anthony DeSclafani: 3/$36M | $12M AAV 23) Justin Verlander: 2/$50M | $25M AAV 26) Alex Wood: 2/$20M+ | $10M+ AAV 27) Steven Matz: 3/$27M | $9M AAV 33) Clayton Kershaw: 1/$20M 34) Yusei Kikuchi: 2/$20M 37) Noah Syndergaard: 1/$21M 39) Alex Cobb: 2/$16M | $8M AAV 40) Zack Greinke: 1/$15M 46) Corey Kluber: 1/$12M 48) Danny Duffy: 1/$10M 50) Andrew Heaney: 1/$8.5M If Matz signs soon, that would be 5 of MLBTR’s top 11 starters off the board and giant chunk of the B / C tier.

The pitching market is starting to move real fast.

This is basic negotiations 101 though. You’re starting position is not what you’re expecting and it’s probably even more ridiculous with Boras at helm.

Sounds Wood is basically nearing terms with the Giants…

Collusion restrained?