Chicago White Sox

This is going to be a weird season, at least early on, where multiple long guys are needed.

Exactly, if my options are keep Kimbrel or dump him and doing nothing with the savings, then I’m 100% keeping as he can still be useful just significantly overpaid for a setup role.

We have Eloy Jimenez as our primary LF. If he needs a day off, Andrew Vaughn should play in his absence. If Eloy gets hurt, then Vaughn should be the primary LF with Engel getting the spot starts. If Vaughn also gets hurt, then Engel should be the primary LF and Gavin Sheets or Leury should get the spot starts. If Eloy, Vaughn and one of Sheets or Leury get hurt, then maybe, just maybe Harrison should get some playing time out in LF. Just take three guys above him getting injured. It’s readily apparent that Leury & Harrison are going to get way too much playing time.

Tony does think Leury being a “switch hitter” makes him a good hitter against RHP. You think Hahn would have done everything in his power to prevent Tony from having pieces that will play into his bad habits but alas that isn’t the case.

I think Harrison is definitely the plan at 2B, at least up until the trade deadline. If they can find an upgrade at that time, then Harrison moves to a reserve infielder role. Would just be a very expensive bench, but dude is probably moveable if need be as long as he doesn’t fall off a cliff. Also, regarding “settling” for Harrison, his addition only makes sense if the plan is for a large expenditure in RF. Until we lose out on Conforto and to a lesser extent Schwarber, Castellanos, & Bryant then I think those guys are still in the cards.

I proposed something similar for Gray, but I think the problem is the stress Moose’s deal puts on our 2023 CBT situation.

It’s mind boggling. They don’t even formulate a good 2B platoon and we have other guys who better cover the OF. Hell, at the moment, if Moncada went down for an extended period I’d rather give the playing time to Burger. I get versatility is valuable, but not when you have holes in your everyday lineup and rotation.

I’d hope Burger + Thompson/Dalquist + lesser piece is enough for one year of Manaea. And I’d love to get Allen included as a throw-in.

At least gives us a solid controllable backup catcher.

That package seems like significantly more than the one the Twins gave up for two years of Sonny Gray.

Sheets plus Rodriguez seems way too steep for one year of Manaea IMO.

What do you think Manaea or Montas would cost?

Finally a real god damn rumor!

You forgot the reliever with the benign spinal tumor who costs $24M if you’re painting it through this lenses. Personally I’m fine with Gravemen & Kelly for a combined $16.5M. What I’m not fine is spending that much on two setup men while spending $16M on Kimbrel plus $11M on Harrison & Leury.

I mean, if Rick assumed that he could move Kimbrel and had to eat $4M to $5M and got nothing of value then yes that’s really bad. If Hahn eats any money, then they better be getting quality asset in return.

What you have done this offseason out of curiosity?

I didn’t see this posted anywhere, but be prepared for lots of Velasquez during his starts!

How much are the White Sox paying you to create these threads? No one is arguing that a Vaughn / Sheets combo won’t be better offensively then the absolute shit hitting we got out of RF the last two seasons. People are concerned whether it’s enough to offset the value destroying defense they will provide and put too much strain on Robert. Also, what good does this “saving money” concept do if Hahn is just going to use it on more relievers and utility men? I mean, you are actually trying to argue that Leury Garcia getting a lot of playing time in RF and Josh Harrison getting any playing time in RF is somehow a good thing. Get me a legit two way RF instead of forcing a combination of 1B, middle infielders, and a guy made of glass in there. We’re in our championship window, please stop dicking around and address the position once and for all.

For the record, if Craig Kimbrel is on the Opening Day roster then Hahn should be fired. Zero excuse to pick up his option unless you’re certain you can move him. And there is zero reason to sign Joe Kelly if you plan on keeping Kimbrel around. I’m hopeful that Hahn is just negotiating through the media with all these comments, but each & every day he is still around that risk grows more concerning.

And all that’s fair, but you’ve got people like Jack who are acting like you’ll need to eat $10M of Kimbrel’s contract in order to move him.

I want Conforto, but after him I’d go Schwarber (even with the defensive concessions it requires), and then Suzuki. I’m not sure Joc or Rosario move the needle at all.

?…Craig Kimbrel put up the 6th most fWAR while dealing with a horrible health issue involving his daughter, whereas Dunn put a -2.9 fWAR season and was arguably the worst player in baseball. But good comparison bro!

Kimbrel’s 2H 2017’s FIP was 2.17. When did he start declining exactly?

I said are they accounting for context, which they clearly are not. And Kimbrel’s 2019 & 2020 seasons represent 60% of a normal season. And the final 91% of Kimbrel’s 2020 season was incredibly dominant. So Kimbrel was bad for like 22 innings with the Cubs. And if he was lucky with the Cubs, he was unlucky with the Sox. And his 2021 full season number would place him as one of the best relievers in baseball.

Yes it was, but remember these guys are all robots and not impacted by those type of things.