Chicago White Sox

When did I defend those moves? Pretty sure I ridiculed Getz for saying defense would be a priority and then played Sheets in the OF like his predecessor did. Regardless, this is a silly argument. Lopez has proven to be an above replacement level player because of his defense. I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter on a good team, but he is a major leaguer in some capacity. Sheets put up a 131 wRC+ in half a season at Charlotte before being called up. Colas has never been over 100 wRC+ and regressed further last year. The big thing you keep missing is that signing cheap vets is a way to buy your prospects more time. The reason that we signed DeJong last year was to have a placeholder until Colson was ready (turned out he wasn’t). Let guys complete their development in the minors first before them into a major league role. I get the clock is ticking on Colas & Fletcher, but if they can’t fix their s%*# in AAA it’s unlikely they fix their s%*# in the majors.

Lol…I think you’re missing the point here buddy

That makes him a trash player?

Tauchman put up 1.1 WAR in 350 plate appearances last year and he’s a trash veteran? I bet if your wife performed fellatio six days a week you’d be whining it wasn’t enough.

The best part of this post is the Sox had the choice to cut Colas or pick up one of these beloved DFA players and chose Colas. Why do you think they keep him on the roster? Because they want to ruin his career by forcing him to suffer in Charlotte forever? Or maybe they didn’t like any of these DFA guys you keep hyping up that become available but that every GM passes on. This idea that allowing Colas to work on stuff at Charlotte for a short period of time based on guidance from our new Director Hitting is somehow a sign of incompetence is quite humorous to me. Until someone better comes along or the spot is needed for an actual prospect like Teel, Quero, etc. in a couple of months, you might as well see if anything clicks in a stress free environment.

We just hired a new Director of Hitting…maybe we should give him a chance to work with Colas before cutting him? Personally, I think they will cut him before spring is over with, but I really don’t see the problem of giving him a couple of months in Charlotte if Fuller thinks there is something for him to work on.

In conclusion, a Tauchman/Slater platoon has been better historically, has been better recently, and is projected to be better next year. But “age”…

Deleted this by accident: wRC+ vs. RHP (Career | Prior 3 Yr): Verdugo: 110 | 101 Tauchman: 101 | 110

fWAR per 600 PA (Career | Prior 3 Yr): Verdugo: 1.7 | 1.0 Tauchman: 2.2 | 1.7 Slater: 2.1 | 2.0 wRC+ vs. LHP (Career | Prior 3 Yr): Verdugo: 79 | 95 Slater: 121 | 111 2025 Steamer Projections: Verdugo: 292 PA | 102 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR Tauchman: 347 PA | 110 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR Slater: 203 PA | 98 wRC+ | 0.5 fWAR

Verdugo = 83 wRC+ | 0.6 fWAR = good Tauchman = 111 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR = bad

Sure…but why must Colas start the season on the major league roster when he hasn’t been successful in AAA? This is becoming like the South Park underwear Gnomes meme.

Benintendi plays LF…

Sosa should get playing time because he hit well in Charlotte (117 wRC+ in Charlotte last year), whereas Colas (89 wRC+) and Fletcher (79 wRC+) did not. I truly hope both give us some reason to invest significant major league playing time in them, but I fully believe it’s bad process to put someone in the majors who hasn’t proven themselves in AAA. If you think there is any chance they will be successful for the Sox next year, then showing their worth during a four week stint in Charlotte shouldn’t be a problem. If they can’t figure out how to hit AAA pitching, they won’t figure out to do so against major league pitching.

I got bad news for you…

We gave Colas & Fletcher full seasons in AAA and the majors last year and they failed spectacularly. There is nothing else to evaluate. Being “young” is not a predictor of future success. Again, Slater may not work out, but I can see the logic of what they are going for there. Chris Getz can’t afford another 120 loss season. Giving playing time to unqualified prospects is GM suicide. You have already decided Getz is incompetent one year into the job (and he might be) despite inheriting a disaster of an organization. Imagine how quickly you’ll get your pitchfork out if it happens again. It’s easy to suggest high risk, high reward moves when your ass isn’t on the line. Getz has to find value with a Kmart level budget. Again, getting 2 wins out of LF for less than $4M would be a great way to improve the team without blocking any real prospects. When he starts blocking real prospects, I will be right there with you in calling him out.

For old players, common sense means ignore entire track records of success and focus only on spring results. For young players, ignore all track records of failure and bad spring training results and instead focus only on “age”. Make it make sense…

100% this. Doesn’t have to be a full year of results either, give me a solid four weeks and we can trade cut one of Tauchman, Slater, or Taylor.

Slater makes less than a $1M over the league minimum. If Colas warrants a major league look, we can trade or cut Slater. The problem is Colas was more than 10% below league average as a hitter in the International League last year despite playing half his games in a bandbox and being a no glove corner OF. Why in the world would just hand him a major league opportunity and expect a different outcome? If Fuller has some plan for Colas, then give him a month or two in Charlotte to prove himself and then make a call to put him on the major league roster or DFA his ass when the 40 man spot is needed. In the interim, play the veteran who hopefully won’t contribute to the worst offense in Major League Baseball history. And to be very clear, I do not like having signed both Slater & Taylor. It should have been one or the other. Having both on a rebuilding club, unless Robert is moved early into the year, doesn’t make a lick of sense.

He’s a fucking weak side platoon OF. From 2019 to 2023, he put up a .862 OPS and 137 wRC+ against LHP over 662 plate appearances. That’s 16th overall for players with over 600 PA’s against LHP during this time. The 15 players above him were Paul Goldschmidt, Yordy Alvarez, JD Martinez, Yandy Diaz, Ketel Marte, Teoscar Hernandez, Jose Altuve, Nelson Cruz, Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Jose Abreu, Nick Castellanos, Xander Bogaerts, & Carlos Correa. I guess those guys also suck despite the 545 career fWAR from them. Again, I don’t have a problem if you think the upside of Slater from a trade chip perspective is not worth committing playing time to. But saying he is now bad with certainty and/or was never very good at his isolated role is ridiculous.

No offense, but this is nonsense. And I don’t mean the part about Meidroth being ready (although I would fully disagree on reacting to spring numbers for a dude 30% above league last year in AAA). Colson has done nothing to deserve being the OD shortstop for the Chicago White. If his feelings get hurt that a different kid who actually was successful in AAA last year got an opportunity over him and it affects him in any way then he’s not going to make it as a major league athlete. This idea that all our prospects should be sitting around a campfire in Charlotte and bonding with each other is silly. Call each guy up when they are ready and when service time is optimized…full stop.

I can tape a picture of Kathy Ireland to my wife’s face, wait around six months, and hope she becomes Kathy Ireland or I can acknowledge right now that the idea lacks all logic and reason. And saying Slater is “bad” now because of one bad season after five great ones is just garbage posting. He may be bad, but he wouldn’t be the first guy in his 30’s to have a bad year and then rebound. He was better when he joined the Orioles last year and guess who we just hired to be the Director of Hitting for our organization. You may not ultimately feel the value equation warrants giving him playing time, but saying he is unequivocally bad is simpltabsurd. Only a Sith speaks in such absolutes…

Colson is 3.5 years younger than Colas and can technically (for now) play a premium position, so not really comparable prospects. Regardless, Colson took massive hits to his prospect stock over the past 12 months.

Exactly…Colas still needs to work on stuff. He improved his BB rate considerably last year and did so without racking up a ton more K’s, but it came at the expense of impacting the baseball. If he can find a way to square up on the baseball more frequently with better launch angle, his game might actually play in the pro’s with the aforementioned improvement in plate discipline. But let him work through that in Charlotte without the pressures of major league pitching. It’s a long season and he can come up when he’s earned it.

Yup, logic dictates being a below average hitter in a bandbox at AAA will translate to being a good one in the majors. Holy s%*# people have lost their minds here.

Make him earn it. He can still get called up in a month and get a fuckton of at-bats. He hasn’t shown enough in AAA to warrant a major league opportunity. I get the “it’s a lost season, play the young guys” thought process, but you got to at least show something to warrant such treatment. I hope he worked with Fuller this offseason and can find a way to tap into his raw power because a .154 ISO for him while playing half his games in Charlotte is embarrassing.