Chicago White Sox

First off, you’re changing the argument again. You said Hahn couldn’t sign a premier free agent who plays a position and you were wrong. Now you’re going on other tangents, none of which are related to Kimbrel’s option and how it would freeze our offseason. Second, the bold applies to like 95% of free agent signings, so no idea what your point is there.

Fully agree, although I’m pretty sure they made sizable changes into be pro scouting department completely unrelated / before Hostetler.

Is your argument that we have never signed a high profile free agent under Hahn or that Grandal has been a B grade addition? You’re moving the goalposts like crazy here.

I just find it humorous that anyone thinks we’ll pick up Kimbrel’s option and completely freeze the roster. If there’s any chance that Craig is unmovable, then Hahn will simply pass on the option. I also love that people ignore than Kimbrel was 7th in fWAR amongst all relievers despite hit shitty tenure with us. If his bad two months were April & May instead of August & September, nobody would be questioning that teams would be interested in him on a 1/$16M deal.

Yes, you can copy and paste this quote. The Sox aren’t going to pick up Kimbrel’s option and hold him into the regular season. It simply won’t happen. And they would never let it put their entire offseason on hold. Stop trying to be Jack Parkman. As for your comment about Hahn not succeeding in any position player market, that’s 100% not true as we signed Grandal. Hahn also made the largest bid to Wheeler, so there is a sweet spot where Hahn can land impact free agents. It just won’t ever be the truly elite guys that require massive multi year commitments, but that’s due to Jerry more than anything. Zero reason we can’t sign Conforto to a 4/$60M type contract unless Reinsdorf has capped our payroll below $170M next year.

My god man…stop being a Balta echo chamber. The Sox aren’t picking up Kimbrel’s option and carrying him into the season.

Grandal is better against LHP than RHP and should be in the lineup every day. He’s that important to our offense.

If we sign Taylor, he’s going to be an everyday guy. He may rotate around a ton, but he wouldn’t be a depth piece per se.

Didn’t Kike get 2/$14M? Taylor has a stronger record that him regardless. Honestly, I could see someone going to 3/$40M or so.

Did you watch him with the Cubs? What did the eye test say then?

Josh Nelson playing insider sure is fun. Anyways, I’m not against Chris Taylor by any means, but I’d definitely prefer Conforto.

The bad two years you were referring to were 35 total innings, of which the final 15 innings he was actually really good. He also didn’t have a pre-season in 2019 and dealt with COVID insanity in 2020. The dude literally had a xwOBA in the 100th percentile over the first four months of this year and was perhaps the most valued commodity at the trade deadline. His addition didn’t work out for us but that doesn’t mean you overreact and dump him for nothing. Again, Hahn will know if a market exists before he has to pick up the option.

Yeah, I wouldn’t complain about Marte, although I’d prefer Conforto given he’s several years younger and less likely to suddenly fall off a cliff IMO.

These guys aren’t robots. You can view these things as excuses, but wearing down from a massive innings increase or dealing with a sick child are legit reasons why a guy’s performance could fall off. And guess what, Hahn can talk to opposing GMs and determine if there is a market for Kimbrel at 1/$16M. They aren’t picking up that option unless they are confident they can get something back for him.

Yeah, it’s been two straight years of dumpster diving in RF and all the prospects who had a chance to grab that spot flopped. Also, it’s time to accept an OF with both Eloy and Vaughn (or Sheets) in the corners isn’t going to work defensively. Time to invest in a legit RF and preferably one who hits from the left side. Conforto should be the target and won’t break the bank like he could have if coming off a strong season.

Unfortunately that’s the hot new claim amongst Grandal haters. He apparently calls a ton of 0-2 fastballs because he’s aware he can’t catch the breaking stuff.

We literally just gave up Madrigal & Heuer for 1 1/3 years of Kimbrel. This idea that classic closers are somehow much less valuable than they were two years ago simply isn’t true.

Man, had the Sox signed Wheeler the same offseason they got Grandal I would have been the happiest person in the world. So damn close to the perfect offseason for White Sox standards.

Andrew Miller in 2019 got a 2/$25M deal as 34 year old free agent coming off a -0.4 fWAR / 5.19 FIP season. I’m assuming a 33 year old Kimbrel coming off a 2.2 fWAR / 2.43 FIP season would get quite a bit more. You continue to ignore he was the best reliever in baseball before we acquired him and there are many reasons that could explain why he sucked with us (35 inning YoY increase, changing teams mid-season, dealing with a sick child, uncomfortable with new role, etc). Major league GMs aren’t as pessimistic as you and base everything on the last two months.

This is a terrible prediction. Even if they pick up the option, he will not be on the team next year. GMs actually watch baseball games and witnessed a guy who was the best reliever in baseball leading up to the trade deadline. Someone will prefer him than signing one of the few elite guys to a huge multi-year deal. All relievers are risky, ones that only require one year commitments far less.

Why is Kimbrel on a 1/$16M deal stupid? His salary doesn’t work for us, especially when we already have an expensive closer, but there are other big market teams that are probably excited about the possibility of getting him for 50 cents on the dollar.

That’s definitely the nightmare scenario!

For shits & giggles, but if Hahn were to leave does KW take over as the main day-to-day guy in the front office this offseason? If so, do things actually change with him taking on a more hands-on role? KW was incredibly aggressive as a GM, so just kind of fun to think how things might be different if he’s the one manning the phones.

What does “evaluating the team” mean in this context and why does it take so long?

The Sox will be able to trade Kimbrel. We won’t get back what we invested in him, but I could see a controllable reliever with upside as a potential return. I think the Phillies make a ton of sense as a potential trade partner and I’d happily take someone like Seranthony Dominguez as the main piece.