Chicago White Sox

We need infield depth though. Adding Escobar isn’t just about 2B, but his ability to cover SS or 3B if need be. I’d try to hold onto Mendick so have multiple options.

Lance Lynn’s spin rate on his 4 seamer by year: 2015: 2,418 2017: 2,375 (98.2%) 2018: 2,385 (98.6%) 2019: 2,482 (102.6%) 2020: 2,492 (103.1%) 2021: 2,425 (100.2%) Spin rate dropped slightly alongside his velocity while returning from TJS and then increased slightly alongside a velocity increase once healthy. I believe he also lost some weight and made some mechanical adjustments after joining the Yankees. Not sure I see enough there to claim a “gotcha” like Balta is trying to do, especially when the reason for massive improvement is primarily driven by arsenal changes / addition of a cutter.

Slumps do happen and that’s part of it no doubt. But we are asking Tim, Yoan, Jose, & Grandal to carry a massive load right now with so many fringe guys in the lineup. I mean, Jose has had guy with a .400 OPS batting behind him for the last month. The talent level right now is a serious problem and one that will need to be addressed before the trade deadline.

Yeah, perhaps I should have described it as informed speculation. I’m sure there is a reason he tweeted that, especially given he put a timeframe on it.

Nothing from Not Cishek so it must be a false alarm!

?...if anyone would be willing to sell early it’s the D-Backs, especially with their B tier players.

Grandal has been 24% above league average as a hitter.

Beckham would require a 40 man roster spot and would also have to serve a suspension. I think Burger is coming up and soon. Scot Gregor tweeted today that he thinks Jake will be up in the next two weeks. I’m sure that’s mostly speculation, but it seems like we’re nearing the end of the Yermin experiment (for now) and Burger & Sheets are the only two options to fill the spot.

Pretty rough day for our minor leaguers

Lamb should be playing most days against RHP, but if the other corner OF spot comes down to Leury or Vaughn then I’ll easily roll the dice on Andrew. Leury has been a 73 wRC+ hitter against RHP since 2018. He is a known commodity and not of the good kind. Vaughn struggling against sliders isn’t all that surprising and he’s not going to get better without being exposed to them on a regular basis. Personally I don’t think that 38 wRC+ has any predictive merit and I’m willing to invest in him now with the hopes that he can become a league average or better hitter against RHP before years end. His ceiling is worth gambling on IMO since it’s highly unlikely we’ll be adding three bats at the deadline.

He certainly would address multiple problems.

You’re crazy bro.

They should do something different.

Getting swept is never a good thing, but I think this series will be a much needed wake up call for the organization. As awesome as our W-L record & run differential is, we’ve been fortunate to beat up some bad teams. The rotation is the real deal, but the offense without Eloy, Robert, & Madrigal is simply not that good and bullpen is going to need some help. This is still one of the best teams in baseball when healthy, but we can’t afford to be overly cocky in our current form and need to find a way to add some reinforcements come July. Hopefully they kick things in motion by optioning Yermin to AAA after the game. Feels like we’ve got to be close to that happening.

Great start Dallas!

The problem is who are you replacing Vaughn with? Do you think starting Leury against RHP everyday is much better? If we had other options, I’d love to give Andrew some development time in Charlotte and to claw back an extra year of team control, but I think we need to find a way to get him going or the offense is going to have too many holes to fill.

You think two months of Marte will cost the same as a year of Lynn?

Just embarrassing

JFC

He should be in AAA. Crazy how good he was in April and how bad he’s been since. At least Tony bumped him down to 8th today, but he’s 100% killing us.

LAMB!

My only beef with trading some of the Kanny guys is I think you’re selling low on them. I think a year from now you could see Rodriguez & Ramos emerge as low end top 100 prospects if they do well in High A, but right now the lack of track record would be used against them. Kelley, Thompson, & Dalquist all have talented arms, but they lack development time and it shows in their performance this year. That’s not to say I wouldn’t move them in the right deal, but I’d try to avoid it if at all possible.

It should be clear to pretty anyone that the offense is starting to show its cracks as we start to face better teams. Over our last nine games against legit playoff contending teams (Blue Jays, Rays, & Astros), we have averaged a measly 3.56 runs per game. If you exclude the Blue Jays series when we still had Madrigal, our runs per game drops to 3.17. Either way, our recent offensive production has been bottom of baseball bad. Obviously the hope is Eloy & Robert come back and solve two of our major holes. The problem is there are a lot of games to be played between now and August and we’re only 3.5 games up on the Tribe. Trades will likely happen, but even there it could be four or five weeks before we see any real action. In the interim, the Sox would be smart to make some internal changes and try to optimize the offense as best as they can with what they have. Here are my handful of ideas: Option Yermin to Charlotte. Since May 18th (the day after the infamous 3-0 homer), Mercedes has put up a .144/.215/.186/.401 slash line or 17 wRC+. To say he’s been bad would be an understatement, but yet he continues to bat 5th most nights. His bat is killing tons of opportunities for us with most of our best hitters batting in front of him and he’s been providing zero protection for Jose, who has fallen off during this time-frame (128 wRC+ before May 18th( a 95 since then). For now, Yermin can’t be a part of this offense and he needs to find himself in AAA. Start Collins regularly against RHP. I don’t care if it’s at catcher or DH, but he & Grandal need to be in the lineup every time a righty on the mound. Zack now has a 109 wRC+ against RHP and has looked much better at the plate as of late. For a lineup in desperate need of power from the left-side, we can no longer afford to have Zack be limited to a backup catcher role. Him & Grandal both need to be in the lineup against RHP, even if that means we risk losing the DH for a game in the event of injury. Call up Jake Burger to DH against LHP. Overall we still remain one of the best teams against lefties, but it’s very clear we’re trending in the wrong direction in that department. Just in the last two weeks we’ve had Valdez hold us to two earned runs over 7, McClanahan hold us to two over 5, Skubal hold us to three over 6, Ryu hold us to three over 6, & Ray hold us to one over 6.1. I get that some of these guys are pretty good pitchers, but we haven’t a big offensive game against a lefty in some time. That’s where Jake can help. As pointed out by @fathom, Burger has a ridiculous 1.362 OPS against lefties this year. I get he’d be an untested rookie, but I think he’d be a big upgrade over what we’re currently getting against LHP and would add some much needed power to the lineup. Plus he can fill at 3B when Yoan needs a breather here or there. Play Vaughn Everyday in LF. This one is going to be a bit counter-intuitive, but we need see what we got in the kid and figure out if he can work through his challenges against RHP. He has been far & away our worst hitter against righties, posting a .487 OPS and 38 wRC+ on the season. Right-handed pitchers are pummeling him down & away with sliders and he has yet to make the necessary adjustments. This is not uncommon for young hitters, as we saw Eloy & Robert also chase too many sliders when they first came up, but Andrew will likely need consistent at-bats to figure his shit out. Bat him near the bottom of the lineup against RHP for now and see how he responds. He’s way too talented & smart of a hitter to force into a quasi platoon role and we definitely need him to take a big step forward in order to avoid having a third major hole in the lineup heading into the trade deadline. What do you guys think of these ideas? What would you differently?