Chicago White Sox

We can’t afford to trade more relievers in all honesty. Hendriks, Bummer, & Crochet are the only reliable guys we have at the moment assuming Kimbrel is moved.

What? Dude has a 136 wRC+ against RHP over the course of his career (2,187 PA’s) with strong BB & K rates. He’s also never been below 118 in a single season, including his “down” 2021 season. This idea that he’s overly streaky or “all or nothing” is simply not true and if we got the average version of him he’d the perfect addition to our lineup.

I’m still struggling with how we address the offense. 2B & RF are the holes, but I’m still not sure how you fit all of Eloy, Vaughn, & Sheets onto this roster. It’s easy to say that Gavin should be the odd man out, but the kid just put up a 143 wRC+ against RHP as a rookie and has one of the better approaches at the plate. To me, he passed the eye test this year and 100% needs to be the strong side of a DH platoon as head into the 2022 season. Andrew Vaughn is another guy I don’t think we can move. He was damn good offensively once he adjusted to the league, posting a 119 wRC+ over July & August. And that’s after missing out any serious minor league development. I think people have become too harsh on him due to his end of season struggles. I think he could be our best hitter as soon as next season and his plate discipline is desperately needed. The challenge is where do you actually play him? While he exceeded all expectations in the OF, the reality is he’s not very good out there. Rocking both him and Eloy in the corners would be problematic. Speaking of Eloy, but no idea how you could ever consider moving him right now. I get he disappointed this year, but he also didn’t get a spring training and was coming off a tough injury. At the end of the day, this is a 25 year old kid under contract for the next five years at reasonable rate who posted a 139 wRC+ in his second season. I don’t care what people say, his offensive potential is absolutely insane and you’d be selling low on him right now. I think he’s a clear hold, but should see more time at DH. So yeah, that kind of leaves us in a bind. Even if you considered moving Vaughn or Eloy, what kind of return would you be looking for? Would the Dodgers consider a Vaughn for Lux type deal? To me, that’s the only type of move I’d consider with Andrew. If so, that would free up RF for Conforto and allow us to add two left-handed bats to the lineup: Tim Anderson, SS Luis Robert, CF Yoan Moncada, 3B# Michael Conforto, RF* Eloy Jimenez, LF Yasmani Grandal, C# Jose Abreu, 1B Gavin Sheets, DH* Gavin Lux, 2B* Again, no idea if the Dodgers would even consider such a deal, but it’s the only move I can think of that fills one of our major holes with a young, potential impact talent who happens to bad LH while also relieving the redundancy we have in LF/RF/DH with guys who are poor defenders. Hahn will have to think outside the box if he wants to fix this offense as we have a lot of great pieces, but ones that don’t necessarily fit all that well together.

We need multiple relievers too.

We still have a great core, but still have multiple holes to fill. The first two questions that need to be addressed are Rodon & Kimbrel. Both will be super expensive to retain, but also create massive holes if not brought back. And don’t get me wrong, I 100% realize Kimbrel sucked a fat you know what, but I personally think he rebounds next year and without him we have a gaping hole in the setup man spot. He should still probably be moved, but fixing this bullpen is going to be a real challenge with Heuer gone and both Foster & Marshall busting this year. Bringing back Tepera is basically a must at this point. As for Rodon, unless you’re worried his shoulder is going to blow up, I don’t think you have a choice but to extend him a QO and hope for the best. We need another starter to hedge the risk that Keuchel is likely cooked and Kopech probably can’t handle a full workload. Beyond those moves and completely rebuilding the bullpen, we have a massive hole at 2B and need to figure out what we’re doing in the OF corners and at DH. Can we survive an OF defense that contains both Eloy & Vaughn? Has Sheets shown enough to be given an opportunity at DH to start the season? Beyond those obvious questions, we need to mix things up with a lineup that is too right-handed and struggles against breaking balls. I’m honestly not sure what the solution is, but I feel like a shakeup move may be needed but will be hard to execute. With a payroll quickly rising in cost, I’m definitely concerned that Hahn cuts corners on the offense and commits his resources to our pitching staff. It’s going to be a shame if we go with another half-assed RF next year. Either commit to Vaughn there despite the defensive limitations, make a shake-up trade, or go out and sign Conforto. We can’t follow up Mazara & Eaton with more garbage. Honestly, we should be able to patch together a AL Central favorite roster together pretty easily IMO, but if we’re serious about getting a ring then Jerry has to open the checkbook quite a bit beyond the $170M target I have in mind and that’s probably unlikely. If if that’s the case, Hahn is going to have a tough time this offseason with minimal payroll flexibility and a bottom five farm system. At least we have La Russa in place whose tactical genius is worth an easy five wins.

Uncle Jerry needs to open the wallet. No more Adam Eaton half measures and entering the season with little depth. And while I think many here are overreacting to a weird 2021 season for certain players, it’s clear we need to diversify the offense. Too many RH hitters and too many guys that struggle with breaking balls.

First, because he’s a troll. Second, because Moncada just put up a 4.5 win season despite underwhelming power numbers. Third, we can’t afford to give any quality left-handed hitters.

Do some crazy shit Tony! A La Russa / Baker fight be an epic way to end the season!

Our offense legit looks hungover like they went on a 24 hour bender after game 3

Go away

No way, he’ll be movable in the offseason and anything is better than nothing. Also, Hahn isn’t going to admit defeat in that move after the price he paid.

Here we go boys. We gonna get four and then three in the ninth.

Everything about Kimbrel since coming over has been terrible. No idea how things got so bad for him by simply changing teams.

Alright, greatest comeback in baseball history begins now! If not, someone better find that old guy with the cane and break it in half!

Hey Kimbrel, man the fuck up and end this inning.

It’s very clear that Ron is to blame for this loss. If he doesn’t break the gamethread rules, today is a very different day. If the mods ban him right now, the Sox can still win this thing!

Embarrassing half inning for us. The offense just doesn’t look they want it and the crowd is basically non-existent right now.

This has to be the pitch right here

Robert solo bomb needed now more than ever

Fuck this cat up Moncada!

Shit call there

I thought that would have been bang bang

Keep battling Timmy!

Get loud boys!!