Chicago White Sox

Zips has Giolito as the better pitcher next year and he was better than Cole in 2020. I’m very high on Lucas heading into 2021 with Katz now in the fold who I think will push Lucas to maximize his arsenal. I don’t expect many will agree with me putting him even with Cole and I can totally respect that viewpoint. As for Lynn vs. Severino, one is healthy and the other is not. I absolutely love Lynn and think his true talent level is in the 4.5 to 5 win range. That might represent a lower ceiling than Severino’s, but Luis will be coming back from TJS and may not be 100% next year. There is an argument to give Lynn the edge for that very reason, but figured I’d just call it a toss-up.

We’re taken quite a few of HS kids the last few drafts, it’s the LatAm kids that’s the problem.

Yeah, that’s going to be a problem for us.

Nothing special in that package from what I can tell, would have seen if they would taken some pieces like Adolfo and Sheets instead.

Their SP depth is way better than ours at the moment, no idea what Hahn is waiting for. If they’re banking on Katz performing miracles we’re in big trouble.

It all depends on which players you get. Torres just turned 24 years old and already has a 38 HR season under his belt. I expect him to be better and improve on his 2019 season. With Anderson is just comes down to defense and him being consistent over a full season. If he can do that, then I could that ++ edge you’re referring to.

That’s what I’m worried about. Typically minor league seasons start a little bit after the majors (Charlotte started a week after the Sox in 2019), so that helps to some extent, although probably more on the service side of things if Kopech ends up being the Knights’ #1 starter. Let’s assume we keep him down until June 1st to regain that extra year of service time, that means he’d likely make ~10 starts for Charlotte and then ~20 starts for the Sox. His career high in innings is 140 in 2018, but that seems aggressive for a guy who hasn’t pitched in two years. Can he potentially do 120 next year? If so, you’re looking at roughly 4 IP per start across both the minors & majors. To me, you have to find a way to start him off real slow at Charlotte so that when he comes up he can go 5 IP per start with the Sox. That’s going to be a challenge, but the more time he spends down in the Charlotte the easier it will be to pull off.

How many innings do you think we can expect out of him next year?

I’m one of Lynn’s biggest fans on this board, but Severino was a 5+ win starter in 2018 & 2019. I expect Lynn to end up in the 4.5 to 5 win range next year, which puts him close to Severino in terms of potential impact.

It shows the need to add another arm and some sort of bat, whether that be Cruz or a guy with some versatility like La Stella. While I’d love to see another impactful starting pitching, it’s adding depth that’s most critical at the moment. Our season could derial pretty quickly with the wrong set of injuries and/or under-performance.

Funny you point out LF. I originally had Eloy as being ++ better, but ultimately dropped it down to just +. I think Eloy is going to have a massive 2021 season with the bat, but Frazier had a really nice 2020 season and if his defense is for real it cuts into the gap. I’m hoping his 2020 season is a bit of a mirage but given his prospect pedigree, I erred on the side of conservatism here.

Abreu & Anderson were both better last year no doubt about it, but I’m expecting some negative regression from both and I do expect Torres to be much better in 2021. Right now I have both spots as being pretty close and didn’t want to call it either way.

I tried to be conservative there. When healthy, he’s still a high-end hitter and while I’m bullish on Vaughn, asking him to be our primary DH with his limited amount of minor league development time is somewhat unprecedented.

Couple key takeaways: The Yankees have the better offense, but we have more youth in ours and therefore could see higher variances work out in our favor. Moncada, Robert, & Eloy all have a chance to take a step forward and further separate from their Yankee peers. If Vaughn clicks right away then he could narrow the gap at DH, especially when you consider Stanton’s injury history, but that’s probably an unfair ask. Unfortunately, the gap at 2B likely is what it is as Madrigal simply doesn’t have the ceiling to move the needle much against a player as talented as LeMahieu. There aren’t many ways for us to catch-up with the Yankees on the position player front in terms of external additions. RF is without question the biggest gap and IMO we botched it by adding such a low ceiling player in Eaton. The only other spot that we could see an outside addition at is DH and Nelson Cruz is the only guy who I’d consider a massive upgrade over Vaughn. However, signing someone like La Stella would also be helpful from a depth perspective as we don’t have a Tauchman player on our bench. While the Yankees don’t have a Dodgers like bench, I’d put it ahead of ours at the moment. Rotation wise is where I see the biggest difference. While I feel like the top three of each rotation are relatively comparable (don’t hate me for ranking Giolito & Cole as even), it’s the back-end and depth where problems quickly reside. While Cease & Kopech have huge ceilings, both players must be discounted due to a high degree of uncertainty. We also lack other quality options beyond those two, with Lopez as the most major ready one but coming off a disastrous 2020 season and Stiever the only guy with any semblance of ceiling. The Yankees are simply deeper with more proven and/or interesting options and that makes a big difference in what should be a tough season for starting pitchers. Adding Taillon would only further the gap. Despite Fangraphs and others thinking the Yankees have the best bullpen in baseball, I’d actually give this one to the Sox. I think both clubs have great back-ends, but I’d definitely lean towards us, especially if Crochet can be Hader lite. Where I see the biggest difference in the middle relief area. Perhaps I’m just not familiar with these Yankees arms, but I liked what I saw Marshall, Foster, & Fry last year and based on primarily stats they seem to be superior to their Yankee counterparts. Ultimately this come down to depth & confidence and I feel better about our middle relief arms at the moment. The Yankees could cut the gap here though with a free agent addition and there are still plenty of arms out there.

Right now the Yankees look like the team to beat in the AL with a 50+ projected fWAR, so I figured it would be a fun exercise to do a position by position comparison to see how we stack up against them and where we must improve to narrow the gap. Note, this won’t be an OD roster comparison, but rather a potential end of season view to account for key call-ups or guys returning from injury. Lineup: 1B: Abreu vs. Voit | EVEN 2B: Madrigal vs. LeMahieu | NYY++ SS: Anderson vs. Torres | EVEN 3B: Moncada vs. Urshela | CWS+ LF: Jimenez vs. Frazier | CWS+ CF: Robert vs. Hicks | CWS+ RF: Eaton vs. Judge | NYY+++ DH: Vaugh vs. Stanton | NYY++ CA: Grandal vs. Sanchez | CWS++ Bench: IF: Mendick vs. Wade | EVEN OF: Engel vs. Tauchman | NYY+ UT: Garcia vs. Ford | EVEN BC: Collins vs. Higashioka | NYY+ Rotation: SP1: Giolito vs. Cole | EVEN SP2: Lynn vs. Severino | EVEN SP3: Keuchel vs. Kluber | CWS+ SP4: Cease vs. Taillon | NYY+ SP5: Kopech vs. Montgomery | NYY+ SP6: Lopez vs. German | NYY+ SP7: Stiever vs. Garcia | NYY+ Bullpen: CL: Hendriks vs. Chapman | EVEN SU: Bummer vs. Britton | CWS+ SU: Crochet vs. Green | EVEN SU: Heuer vs. Ottavino | EVEN MR: Marshall vs. Cessa | CWS+ MR: Foster vs. Loaisiga | CWS+ MR: Fry vs. Nelson| CWS+

An asset with controllable would have cost a lot more than Dane Dunnning.

Your arguing style is definitely a little rough around the edges...lol

So fucking true.

I agree and I’m not expecting anything crazy like Bauer, but going into next season with little to no depth and a league average payroll is ridiculous.

Red herring? What in the world are you talking about?

Perhaps...I’m quickly losing faith in Jerry, not that I had much to begin with.

This would be totally acceptable.

I’d be fine with Wainwright if that means Cruz at DH. I can live with it if it means we add La Stella to the mix. If this would be our final addition, it’s pretty pathetic in all honesty.

FIFY

Who?