Chicago White Sox

One thing I just thought of is how vaccinations will impact things at the trade deadline. I’d assume players that aren’t vaccinated will come at some discount as it puts downward pressure on total team thresholds. I have not been able to see anywhere online if Escobar has been vaccinated or not.

It’s out of control stupid and goes beyond just Tony at this point.

Mercedes in against a righty. Just for perspective, he’s put up a -7 wRC+ against RHP in 38 plate appearances this month. I have no idea what the organization’s plan is with Yermin at this point other than close their eyes and hope he magically discovers his April production.

Awesome! Do you think Jerry will be willing to absorb some payroll?

Fuck yes! At this point, I’d be pushing very hard for an Escobar / Calhoun combo from the DBacks and save the rest of my chips for the bullpen. Kole is about to start a rehab assignment for his hamstring injury, so he should be ready pretty soon. Add those two plus Burger to the mix and you’ve suddenly transformed the lineup from a power perspective and can hopefully survive another month or so until Eloy & Robert come back. Vs RHP | Vs LHP: Anderson, SS | Anderson, SS Lamb, DH* | Grandal, C# Moncada, 3B# | Moncada, 3B# Abreu, 1B | Abreu, 1B Calhoun, RF* | Vaughn, LF Grandal, C# | Escobar, 2B# Escobar, 2B# | Burger, DH Goodwin, CF* | Garcia#, RF Vaughn, LF | Goodwin, CF*

This offense in its current state is an abomination

Which is great to hear! I know we all want a deal to happen ASAP, but at the same time we don’t want to allow desperation to force Hahn into making a bad deal.

Fully disagree. Development isn’t linear and a hitter as gifted as Vaughn can transform over 200 PAs, especially when his baseline is a 40 wRC+.

I’d be fine with sending down Vaughn if we had other legitimately good options but we don’t. And the issue development wise isn’t sending him down, but rather delaying his learning on how to hit a major league slider which is his primary problem at the moment.

I’ve always been irrationally found of Mendoza, so glad to see him turning things around as I had not noticed that.

Exactly. Getting an 80 wRC+ out over Leury isn’t moving the needle, but getting Vaughn to be league average against RHP come the stretch run could be incredibly valuable. Given how bad this division is, we can afford to take our time with Vaughn, especially if we’re willing to make other changes.

Some of us don’t consider this an “all in year” and value the 2022 & 2023 seasons near equally. As such, punting Vaughn’s development this early into the season is a very short-sighted move and will only delay these growing pains into next year. For now just stick with him on a near everyday basis and if he’s still struggling against RHP once we’re fully healthy then make a change. But playing proven garbage hitters like Leury & Hamilton over him is just plain stupid IMO.

I’d keep Gonzalez on the 40 man roster over Rutherford, but otherwise I’d be down for all this.

Because we shouldn’t settle for Peralta for 2022.

I love that Balta doesn’t watch games or even post here anymore, but has risen from the grave because there is some good outrage to be had.

Burger is now up to a .920 OPS, which ranks 15th in the AAA East league. For those into advanced metrics he’s put up a 136 wRC+ and that’s not driven by Truist Field as his road splits are actually more favorable. He played 2B again last night and Jim Margalus was at the game and is expected to publish a report today on how that went. It’s time to call him up and send down Yermin. At bare minimum I think he gives you more than you’re currently getting from Mercedes while providing some positional flexibility. Best case scenario he provides a much needed spark to the lineup. Either way, the time for action is now.

Bailey is also a guy not worth trading at this point, which is why I didn’t put him in that second group. Let him cook in the oven for another year or so and then see what you have. I just think you’d be selling super low on him right now given the rough start he had at Kanny.

Sorry, I worded that poorly, but Foster does indeed have options and is the other who could go down.

Beard is in Kanny but hasn’t hit very well and has actually gotten worse as of late. He’s still plenty young, but IMO he’s been passed by Krogman & Weaver this year.

Another thing I will say is given the state of the farm system, going after non-rentals will be challenging. I still think Kelley is our best trade chip (not that I want to move him), but his recent forearm issue is going to suppress his value some and he hasn’t performed well enough in Kanny to warrant top 100 consideration. If he’s out best prospect, then we’re basically forced to pursue rentals unless we want to move Kelley plus two other guys in the top eight in one fair swoop. Even then, you’re looking at guys with maybe one year of additional control and I don’t think it’s worth it. Just go after rentals for now and hope that Jerry will spend a little bit in the offseason to fill our handful of holes.

The immediate answer is to call up Fry. I do think Crochet should go down to AAA to get some innings, but that’s probably not going to happen. More likely is Burdi & Burr get the boot at some point, although perhaps Foster does have options and could be another candidate.

Ramos is putting up a 124 wRC+ in Low A as a 19 year old and has posted a 162 wRC+ since Jun 1st (last 17 games / 75 PAs) with a 9.3% BB rate, 13.3% K rate, .354 ISO, & .240 BABIP. I really like Rodriguez, but I think scouts were higher on Ramos coming into the season despite much defensive upside and he’s more than delivered with the bat so far. In system as weak as ours, I think he’s one of the more attractive trade pieces we have, especially with many rebuilding clubs targeting younger, high upside assets. The Stiever hate is starting to get a bit ridiculous. He hasn’t performed that well in Charlotte so far, but he’s also skipping AA altogether. He was a guy with serious helium before the pandemic and I still think he’d be highly interesting to a lot of clubs. He can easily be the centerpiece for a rental or reliever, but probably not much beyond that until he shows a bit more at AAA. Cespedes is a bit of a wild card, but for now I’m sticking with the more recent, more optimistic scouting reports that suggest significant muscle gains alongside some swing changes intended to add more power. Again, this is an incredibly weak system and Cespedes has enough tools & pedigree to warrant a high spot for now.

With trade season quickly approaching, I thought it would be interesting to see who everyone here ranks as the top 10 prospects from a trade value perspective. Here is my top 10 list along with another dozen of guys with at least moderate value who could be nice secondary pieces. Top 10 List (Pipeline Rank | Level | Age) Jared Kelley, RHP (#1 | Low A | 19) Yoelqui Cespedes, OF (#2 | High A | 23) Bryan Ramos, 3B/2B (#12 | Low A | 19) Jose Rodriguez, SS (#14 | Low A | 20) Jonathan Stiever, RHP (#4 | AAA | 24) Matthew Thompson, RHP (#3 | Low A | 20) Andrew Dalquist, RHP (#5 | Low A | 20) Jake Burger, 3B (#11 | AAA | 25) Norge Vera, RHP (#7 | N/A | 21) Gavin Sheets 1B/OF (#9 | AAA | 25) Other Guys (Pipeline Rank | Level | Age) Jimmy Lambert, RHP (#15 | AAA | 26) Konnor Pilkington, LHP (NR | AA | 23) Jason Bilous, RHP (NR | AA | 23) Kade McClure, RHP (#24 | AA | 25) Bailey Horn, LHP (#23 | Low A | 23) Zack Burdi, RHP (NR | AAA | 26) Tyler Johnson, RHP (#18 | AAA | 25) Micker Adolfo, OF (#6 | AA | 24) Lenyn Sosa, SS (#22 | High A | 21) Chase Krogman, OF (#25 | Low A | 20) DJ Gladney, 3B (#17 | Low A | 19) Caberea Weaver, OF (NR | Low A | 21)

Sorry, I meant between now and the deadline. But I agree, we need to push to make some moves sooner rather than later.