Chicago White Sox

Also, the rotation is a lot more fun with Smith as the #5 starter vs. Wilson or Gilbert. I honestly thought they would keep in a relief role to start, but feels like he has a legimate shot to snag a rotation shot.

So Meidroth vs. Baldwin as the starting SS now? Even if Amaya makes the roster, I feel like it would be as a temporary backup IF.

Nasty Nick also optioned…no other surprises.

Oh wow, Merkin with a big miss in his roster projection. But honestly, it’s the smart call. Zero reason to rush him.

This team can easily be good by 2027 if they hit on the SP prospects and Ishbia comes in and spend some real money. A rotation of Schultz, Smith, & Taylor has the chance to be elite and there should be plenty of other arms to fill out a quality pitching staff. But a lot is riding on those big three arms at the moment.

If they’re going to put Rojas at 2B, then Sosa should get first crack at DH. I’d have Ramos go down to AAA and practice with an OF glove some.

Fully agree. And we still have almost all our 2025 draft capital. A OT in the 1st is still a possibility (whether at 1.10 or via a trade down) and we can now draft a OG prospect in the middle rounds and let him develop on the bench for a year or two now. Plenty of ways to inject youth into the line while giving Caleb the protection he needs in a critical year 2. That’s the benefit of a QB on a rookie contract.

Which free agents guards would you have preferred signing?

Do we have any money left? Seems like three signings would mostly wipe us out. Obviously there will be some cuts coming that add more space.

D-Line is a bigger need, especially at EDGE, but I’d argue that WR is the next biggest need on the roaster. Just completely devoid of talent after Moore & Odunze. I feel like a cheaper free agent like Reynolds and a 3rd round pick would be a good way to address the position.

We desperately need WR talent. At minimum a #3 WR and a developmental player.

We’re live! Let’s see how fast teams can negotiate massive deals and leak to the press!

Aren’t they signing the Dolphins TE?

Twitter is down everywhere and my buddy texted me this, but looks like he got that from a Sporting News predictions article more than an actual source. I’d ignore for now.

Amari Cooper to Bears?

Yes, it’s been sucking for me quite a bit.

Need to have C and EDGE solved by noon today. If we can do that, the amount of flexibility in this draft would be stunning. I still think you need to come out of this draft with legit prospects at most of OT, OG, EDGE, DT, RB, & WR, but you wouldn’t need to force the issue at any of those spots. I still think trading down at 1.10 or one of our 2nd round picks could make sense if an impact talent isn’t there at a position of need.

Mack back with the Chargers.

We should be much better at drawing walks this year. Vargas & Meidroth are both elite in this area. Tauchman, Slater, & Thaiss are all very good. Quero, Teel, & Colson will eventually help as well.

To be honest, the dream is Ishbia coming in, building a beautiful new park at the 78, and having a couple mega free agents to supplement young core. I love going to the Rate but it’s time for a new, better fan experience in an area that will drive better attendance and lead to higher, more sustainable payrolls.

I think the state might be willing to contribute towards a stadium for the Sox, but ownership needs to contribute significantly more than what Jerry originally signaled. Hopefully Ishbia eventually helps on that front. I am generally against public funding for stadiums, but I do think a major investment in the 78 would warrant some public money.

Honestly, the guy I talked to didn’t say much we didn’t already know other than reaffirming that there is a bigger deal in the works and it will be agreed to prior to Jerry’s death which many of us were already speculating. Nonetheless, as someone who’s desperate to escape Jerry’s reign of terror I will happily take any little tidbit that suggests Ishbia will be in control sooner rather than later as a positive.

I’m speculating here, but I really think this comes down to Jerry realizing he doesn’t have a lot of time left and doesn’t want to lose out on a super rich potential buyer with Chicago ties. Ishbia bought a single mid digit amount of shares back in 2021 and it sounds like he had been pushing to outright buy the team for some time. I think he eventually got tired of waiting and decided to take advantage of the Twins opportunity because Jerry wasn’t budging. Regardless, we do know that the threat of Ishbia buying the Twins led to Jerry proposing something to Ishbia and created this first initial domino to make him the biggest shareholder of the Sox. A transfer of control will be happening at some point before Jerry dies based on my conversation yesterday and I don’t think it will be multiple years from now. I fully expect some sort of deal to take place similar to what happened with the Orioles. Just not sure if that’s later this year, next season, etc.

Lost in the Smith & Taylor hype was Nastrini. He threw 27 sliders yesterday out of 51 pitches total and generated 15 swings and 12 whiffs on it (80%). I didn’t catch any of the game, but that’s an insane whiff rate on paper. Did anyone see him pitch yesterday? If so, how did the slider and the rest of his stuff look? Wondering if he’s made some tweaks with the pitch.

Just talked to a dude who is friends with Justin Ishbia. Was told that Ishbia was negotiating with Jerry for the past year to do a deal and that “it’s happening” now after Jerry reached out to him with some sort of proposal. Sounds like it will happening in the not too distant future. Nothing we don’t know other than than the timing.