Chicago White Sox

Big Red Dog or bust!

What’s wrong with O’Hearn? If you can get him for under 2/$30M, you should just go ahead and do it. I’d also go out and sign Bleday to be part of the OF mix if we are able to trade Robert for an actual return. In a perfect world, I’d also cut bait on Benintendi or at least move his ass to bench and see if Sosa can handle some LF. Lineup: Meidroth, 2B Teel, CA* O’Hearn, 1B* Vargas, 3B Montgomery, SS* Benintendi, LF* Quero, DH# Bleday, RF* Baldwin, CF# Bench: BC: Lee IF: Mead OF: Pereira UT: Sosa I could easily live with the above for a year and hopefully Braden and Antonacci eventually push for spots as the season progresses. I still don’t love the catcher situation and believe Quero should be cashed in for another position of need (preferably in the OF) but maybe we are better off letting the bat develop for a year and then make a move when his value is up.

I’d definitely add a veteran OF if we end up moving Robert. I love me some Brooks Baldwin and want to see him get everyday at-bats whether in one spot or moved across the field. He put up a 119 wRC+ after July 1st and should be given a chance to improve his defense in the OF. Pereira is an interesting low stakes gamble, but I would not just hand him a job. Pencil him in as a platoon partner for someone (Baldwin for now) and make him force his way into more playing time. If Robert goes, see if you can find another Tauchman like guy on the cheap.

I’d certainly give Brooks the job but concerned Getz would feel differently due to defense concerns. Can Pereira handle CF? I wouldn’t actually hate a platoon of those two if so during a lost season.

Some of us pointed out a bad CF market this offseason could make him more valuable now then back in July. I guess we will see what happens. Only thing that sucks is we don’t really have a viable CF option to replace him and the thought of Derek starting 70% of games makes me want to puke.

Taylor I get to some extent, but Vasil has averaged ~120 innings pitched the last three years. He should be able to handle a starter’s workload. Maybe they prefer him as a reliever, but it’s not his K popped up moving to the bullpen. Just curious on the why more than anything as I’d personally rather see him the rotation vs. Cannon or Davitt.

That’s everyone attending? Looks way lighter than last year.

Perfectly fine gamble given the size of the contract. Still hope we add a legit corner bat and a reliever who can serve as the primary closer.

Why did he do that?

Merkin has a Winter Meetings preview out now that says Getz is looking for a LH bat for a corner spot. I’d wager that player could easily blow this deal out of the water, even if I don’t believe they will go three years or above $30M on anyone.

Bummer on Ponce…would have been an interesting signing. I think 3/$30M is about the max I would have gone on him and no way was he choosing us over the Blue Jays if the money was the same. That being said, it’s probably unlikely Getz was going to make a three year commitment to a SP this offseason. Still hope they add someone with some actual upside even if they come with risk. I get you can never have enough guys who provide bulk innings, but Cannon, Davitt, and some minor league free agents can help there. Swing for the fucking fence and hope you can luck into a meaningful trade piece come the deadline.

So what’s the plan for the rotation for next year? To me, it feels like Shane Smith, Sean Burke, & Davis Martin should all get spots heading into the season. Each of them are coming off 130+ innings pitched and each flashed enough at times (with Smith obviously doing so the most) to warrant rotation spots for a few months. From there, things get a bit more gray. Right now, Roster Resource has the last two spots being filled by Jonathan Cannon and Duncan Davitt. Candidly speaking, neither guy should be in the Opening Day rotation (short of injuries) and should instead be depth pieces and/or swingman that still serve an important role on the 40 man roster. So who does that leave within the org today? The big wild card is the status of the three SPs who went down with TJS early last year. I believe Ky Bush was in Feb, Drew Thorpe was in Mar, & Mason Adams was in April. I’m unclear where they stand in their rehab processes, but the rule of thumb is 12 to 14 months. OD is very unlikely, but being part of the 1H mix seems possible. Of the three, I’m most optimistic of Drew Thorpe being able to handle a starter’s workload at some point next year given his past build-up. Hopefully by May or June he’s pushing for a spot. Assuming those other three are out of the mix for OD, then I believe Mike Vasil should slot into the #4 spot. He pitched 100+ innings last year and flashed way more than Cannon ever did. Honestly, I kind of like him more than Martin if I’m being honest, but also think you got to invest in Davis in hopes of building a trade chip. Regardless, there is currently room for Vasil and he should be next in line. That leaves one spot and I think it should go to a veteran free agent. While I don’t expect a big name addition here, I would like us to swing for the fences a bit. A guy like Cody Ponce is somewhat fascinating to me, but might require a deal that goes above anything Jerry will be interested in pre labor negotiations. If not him, I’d look for a high risk, high reward guy on a pillow contract like say Dustin May. Given where the payroll stands, we shouldn’t just scrape the bottom of the barrel and go with a low upside innings eater.

I just don’t think any of our guys are 1B materiel. To me, Vargas is 3B or bust at this point even if he improves on his post April wRC+ of 108 and gets to say 115. Sosa at 2B with a 110 wRC+ is a useful player, but would be a fairly mediocre 1B IMO. To me, there is no obvious long-term solution in the org and I like the idea of a veteran bat who can help anchor the middle of the lineup and take some pressure off the kids. Obviously this is all conditional on being able to get O’Hearn on a two year deal at reasonable dollars.

I’d be all for that, but would the Yankees prefer Quero over Jones given they already have Wells at C?

Candidly, I’d try to trade Quero for a major league ready OF prospect of similar value and get Benintendi out of the OF (make him a platoon DH until Jerry is willing to release him). I’m very much open to adding a decent veteran OF to the mix, but not sure Garcia is the guy I’d target.

I haven’t given the offseason much thought yet, but I do like the idea of O’Hearn on a two year deal to anchor the middle of the lineup. Meidroth, 2B Teel, CA# O’Hearn, 1B* Robert, CF Montgomery, SS* Vargas, 3B Benintendi, LF* Quero, DH# Baldwin, RF# Not a terrible lineup if you keep everyone. Sosa would have to be on the bench and would need to rotate around, but I’d like to see him get a look in LF to see if he can get him more at-bats that way.

Coming off an extended break from the White Sox, can someone please fill me in on what our plan is for this offseason? Why did we just let Tauchman go despite him having some value as a rotational piece at minimum? Who the f*** is Derek Hill and why did we tender him instead? Are there any rumors out there on what else we plan to do? I’ve got to be honest, the little I have seen so far (I know it’s very early) hasn’t instilled much excitement and my expectations were pretty low to begin with. I get we are stuck with limited spending until Jerry is gone, but I would expect at least a couple of decent vets added on shorter term deals given the fact we have almost zero payroll commitments and the fact we can’t get a top 10 pick again.

An under-looked aspect here is Venable was a first time manager and wasn’t really able to bring a bunch of coaches with him from previous spots. If you look at other hires from last year, I believe many of them had a lot of carry-overs as well. I don’t it’s all that crazy to keep some guys around a year, evaluate them while also buying some time to identify other better options. Now, if this was about Jerry saving a buck, it wouldn’t be a totally different matter.

I did move for a job opportunity, but that Machado fuckup certainly pushed me over the edge in saying yes. I moved back to Chicago three years ago because I finally had the leverage to work remotely full time post COVID and of course the Sox to Nashville rumors pick up almost immediately the day we got back here.

Fuller > Bannister

Didn’t say 4 win player next year…Sox will find a way to get both Teel and Quero in the lineup more frequently. Benintendi & Tauchman are not long-term roadblocks.

Way too early to write off Meidroth as a future utility guy when he has two elite skills on top of being a strong or capable defender up the middle. Teel is flashing star catcher potential (his xwOBA is only .005 below Cal Raleigh). Montgomery has been very good this year (142 wRC+ across three levels) despite coming off injury. I still believe we end up with three everyday guys out of this group and I could see that being a +4 win Catcher, a +3 win RF, and a +2 win infielder. If that’s the case, it’s a huge win for the White Sox given the lack of positional talent at the time. In a perfect world you keep the true impact player and fill your holes in other ways, but unfortunately Rick Hahn made that a near impossibility with his incompetence.

I’ll take the under. If they can get Schultz & Smith fixed and if they actually start spending some money, I could see be us a playoff threat in two or three years.

It’s pathetic that Rick Hahn is responsible for the three best hitters in the lineup after being GM for the 11 years preceding two rebuilding ones? At these serious fucking posts?

To be fair, Rick Hahn had a lot more to do with that than Getz (not suggesting Getz is free from blame by any means)