Chicago White Sox

Good point on Cespedes...he’s clearly going to be stateside given he’s in camp.

This is fucking horrible news. Does the same apply to Cespedes? If so, that takes a ton of the excitement out of that particular signing.

Nice!

Hahn is arguing that the money already has been spent though. And he’s calling out fans on the internet who feel underwhelmed by that.

Lol...Harper/Machado all over again? What in the fuck are you talking about? This subject is being discussed because Hahn literally just brought up “the money has been spent” two days ago. But please let us know what subjects are allowed by month so we can avoid invading your safe space in the future.

Great post and fully agree!

But so can Lopez & Rodon. Kopech could make 20 four inning starts if called up June 1st. We can someone to fill in the missing 20 innings.

Honestly, my big concern with Kopech is if he’s so constrained innings wise this year that he’ll likely also be constrained next year. He can be a piece of the equation, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he’ll be fully unleashed until 2023. And if that is the case, having that extra year of control at the tail-end of our window would be incredibly valuable. IMO, having Michael pitch out of the bullpen for two months at Charlotte makes way more sense, especially if we’re committed to Crochet being in the major league bullpen. The bullpen should already be a strength and we can survive with one of these youngsters in AAA to start the season.

What a strange take. Are you actually suggesting White Sox fans should be content with the amount of money spent since Hahn uttered those famous words? I’m not looking to cancel the dude over his comments, but he can’t whine his way out of what was actually said in the past. Calling out the org for not spending what was signaled a few years ago is not a “hot take” and fans have a right to be frustrated. Maybe Hahn should focus on the team and not what people say about him on the internet.

Perhaps, but we’re losing a potential additional year of team control with Kopech and are not yet committing to Crochet as a starter. Those guys are both critical to extending the window beyond the three years that we have Giolito for. I worry these moves are being made with the single goal of giving La Russa as many weapons for the 2021 season.

And the window has officially been shortened! Better win a series in the next three years under La Russa!

Rick Hahn has no one to blame for the ridicule he gets on the internet other than himself. Acting like the Yasmani Grandal deal was this massive investment is simply carrying water for Jerry. I get the need to toe the company line, but he has no right to rip into the fans for calling bullshit on him.

No way that is their attitude. They simply don’t want to give up a franchise QB unless they have to and right now they are hoping he’s bluffing. At some point either Watson caves or this threat becomes very real and they reluctantly move him.

Cease is definitely the fulcrum of the 2021 season. Obviously there are more important or impactful players, but Dylan can totally change the complexion of the rotation if he takes a major step forward.

Is Newman really going in the 2nd?

Wasn’t sure about those two. How close was Sosa to making it? Based on reports of Yolbert reporting to instructs in poor condition, I could see an argument for Sosa over him. Either way, the middle infield depth in the depth is very weak.

I’m shocked that Sosa didn’t make the top 30. Looks like the top 30 should be this in some order: RHP (10): Kopech, Kelley, Stiever, Thompson, Dalquist, Burdi, Johnson, Lambert, McClure, Freeman LHP (3): Crochet, Flores, Horn MI (3): Madrigal, Rodriguez, Sanchez CI (5): Vaughn, Sheets, Burger, Ramos, Gladney OF (8): Cespedes, Adolfo, Gonzalez, Rutherford, Bush, Bailey, Beard, Krogman CA (1): Collins

What is there not to hate about Mather though?

What’s the beef with Olberman?

Cease is going more than 120 innings if he’s healthy. He pitched 140 in 2019 and I fully expect that many if he makes 30+ starts.

How many innings are you expecting out of Giolito, Lynn, Keuchel, & Cease next year?

We’re one of only five clubs to never have signed a $100M contract. Do you realize how ridiculous that is for a baseball team in Chicago with one of the sweetest stadium deals in all of sports? I’m glad your optimistic, but Jerry deserves doesn’t deserve a free pass here. Adding Lance Lynn was a huge move for 2021, but cost us a promising young arm in Dunning (who could have helped us for the next six years) all because Jerry’s need to cut payroll limited our options. Liam Hendriks was also a fantastic addition, but his signing forced us to gamble in RF once again, go cheap with starting pitching depth, and not add a left-handed bench piece. All this after Reinsdorf pocketed millions during the rebuild. So no, my frustration is not centered around missing out on Machado’s $300M contract, but rather that even just another $10M or so this year could have gone a long way to improving our playoff chances. I hope in the end our lack of depth doesn’t really matter, but it’s totally fair to be a little pissed that Reinsdorf is kicking off the first real year of our competitive window with a YoY payroll decrease, COVID or no COVID.

Let’s not act as if every pitcher is going to pitch half as many innings as they did in 2019. Yes, we need to be careful and manage workloads, but the reality is there are +1,400 innings to fill and all guys will be taking on massive YoY increases to fill them. Pitchers are creatures of habit and pitching on six days of rest will likely lead to poor results IMO. There are more creative ways to fill innings that would hopefully be more effective. Like I said previously, there are seven off-days across our first 44 games plus the likelihood of a few rainouts. Go five man rotation and give each starter five or six innings a start max (less where game situation permits). Let Lopez & Crochet go three innings every five days or so. The other six relievers should be able to pick up two or three innings a week. If need be, ride someone like Jimmy Cordero hard for a month or so until Fry & Kopech are ready. There are creative ways to fill all these innings without killing guys or going with an actual six man rotation.

Then have multiple guys who can go multiple innings in the pen. Use a sixth starter here and there to give guys an extra day of rest. But I really don’t want our starters pitching on six days rest in April & May as their normal routine.

Six man rotations just don’t seem feasible to me, especially not early in the season with so many off days. Just limit guys to five or six innings max in April & May. We have a deep enough bullpen to cover three or four innings a night.