Chicago White Sox

What did he say again?

Dude has been the most durable pitcher over the past decade. Why does his age matter if he’s still productive?

We literally offered Wheeler a 5/$125M contract. I don’t think we go beyond that year figure, but I could see us going a bit higher in total dollars. And that might get you in the ballpark for Gausman who has a connection with our pitching coach. Stroman would cost much less than that too and would make a ton of sense for us. And why is Scherzer off the table? He’s not getting more than three years and that’s something Jerry might do. I’m not banking on it, but it’s not totally impossible like Cole was last offseason. And I don’t get the Verlander hate when he’s been insanely good in recent years.

Man you’re starting to get worse than Parkman with all the unfettered pessimism.

Again, what if they simply prefer other free agent starters? This is a deep pitching class and most of them have far superior track records (health & performance) than Carlos.

What?

Why does this matter? Let’s just win a god damn World Series.

Josh Nelson already trying to make the connection on Twitter.

Yup! Although I’m glad most people aren’t blaming Kimbrel’s option for this.

I don’t think you can go with that as you’re starting five next year. You have to assume Kopech & Keuchel will play limited roles in the postseason do to innings limits (and likely performance with Dallas), which means you’re one injury to Giolito, Lynn, & Cease before getting into real trouble. I think the Sox passing on Rodon is because they have free agent starters in mind they like better.

Lol…good thing the offseason literally just started!

I have no idea what your first paragraph is getting at. Also, why are you blaming all our wild pitches on our catchers and not the pitchers? We literally had six and four additional passed balls vs. the Dodgers & Rays. And regardless, Zack Collins greatly skews our wild pitch totals vs. the guy who was expected to be our playoff catcher. And I’m not sure why any of this matters, unless you’re suggesting a few extra passed balls is why his velocity dropped and his HR rate spiked with us.

I think the problem is Carlos was going to take the QO if extended. I get people loved what he gave us when healthy (so did I), but dude has a terrible track record of health. As long as they take the $18.5M and reinvest it into another pitcher I’m good here.

If they’re passing on him to pursue a different starter then I’m 100% cool with this as I’m not optimistic he holds up for an entire season. If this is a sign of a tight budget, then that’s problematic. For now, I’m assuming it’s the former rather than the latter.

I’d guess somewhere in the $175M to $180M range.

Iglesias getting one is great news for the Kimbrel market.

First off, when did I say I was only referring to certain deals? I said I wasn’t referring to the trade deadline specifically when I said I think the pro scouting has improved. With a very tight budget the Sox were able to add two All-Stars and bring back a third one this past offseason. Their offseason wasn’t perfect, but it was probably the best one since god knows when. 2006 maybe? Second, I’ve never even said our pro scouting staff is good. Being better than one of the worst pro scouting functions in all of baseball doesn’t mean you’re good. My point was the pro scouting staff has gone through a major shakeup since the Tatis dark days and to stop penalizing the current group for the past group’s misdoings. That being said, you’re using the Kimbrel trade as proof of our pro scouting group failing despite arguably the two best pro scouting departments in baseball (Rays & Dodgers) wanting him. So yeah, unless you made these predictions at the time of acquisition, I’m going to call you out for using hindsight to rip our organization.

Sure, it’s fine to expect some regression, but no one expected a near 5 ERA. Some of the best organizations in baseball were competing for him in the Dodgers & Rays. I don’t hear Balta ripping on them though. There is plenty to rip Rick Hahn for, including the price he paid for Kimbrel, but using his disastrous time with us as a pro scouting failure isn’t one of them IMO.

Taylor getting a QO hurts as I can’t see him not accepting it.

Updated list: Confirmed players being extended a QO: Nick Castellanos, Reds Michael Conforto, Mets Freddie Freeman, Braves Robbie Ray, Blue Jays Corey Seager, Dodgers Marcus Semien, Blue Jays Trevor Story, Rockies Noah Syndergaard, Mets Carlos Correa, Astros Chris Taylor, Dodgers Other players that could receive one: Jon Gray, Rockies Carlos Rodón, White Sox Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox Justin Verlander, Tigers

I wasn’t referring to the deadline deals specifically (adding two All-Stars in the offseason is a nice step up from what we’ve historically gotten), but funny you don’t bring up the Tepera trade at all. Again, apparently you knew a guy with a 0.50 ERA was going to suddenly flop. If only we could replace Hahn with you we probably win the last two World Series.

Whoops, I’m traveling through Indiana right now and didn’t realize I wasn’t on Central time. Looks like we got another hour to go.

What is called asset allocation?

I have a feeling half the board is going to riot in 15 minutes.

30 minutes to the deadline and not a word on Rodon yet…