Chicago White Sox

There is zero chance Ishbia is going to try to move the team. Harold is referring to some sort of stadium news in Chicago.

My point was the Sox would be stupid if they changed their evaluation of Vargas that quickly, especially when they knew he didn’t have options. If they were willing to admit they missed that bad that fast, then they should fire Gene Watson immediately for being an incompetent boob.

Oh gotcha…I read it as you were saying it wasn’t stupid to cut bait on Vargas.

That’s fair. To be honest, a half season in AAA is probably reason timeframe for him anyways.

I fully agree with what you’re saying in regard to your last point. Telling people they can’t complain is annoying…I just don’t think Autumn intended it like that.

We know Fletcher can hit HR’s in Arizona…the problem is him hitting them everywhere else.

I just think a three or four game sample to open spring training is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. To be honest, we should all be worried about next year because we know this team is bad, not because they are starting off slow. And I get it’s natural to overreact to things in a game thread, I do it all the time myself, but spring is just a different beast in general.

Oh 100% agree. I’m definitely worried myself.

He’s not shitting on fans for being angry, but the takes are fucking wild in these threads. The overreactions to every single plate appearance is hilarious. Same for the worries on velocity of guys still ramping up. And then debating whether spring training W-L records are predictive of regular season success…I don’t care if we win every game from here on out, our team is going to be terrible this year. We don’t need to a three game sample to confirm that for us. I will never tell fans not to be pissed off because everyone should be, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with a poster asking us to be a little bit smarter on what we complain about. And don’t get me wrong, I can be a total meatball at times and am not trying to suggest I’m better than anyone here, but Autumn is a really good poster who is just trying to bring better conversation to the board.

To be honest, there is nothing more ridiculous than a spring training game thread. Small sample sizes, uneven matchups, guys ramping up and working through stuff, weather effects, etc..all ignored for the hottest of takes.

You are and he definitely deserves a OD role. He’s one of a handful of guys that I think beats expectations this year.

With the upcoming labor battle, we’d be incredibly smart not to unnecessarily burn service time on guys that don’t need to be on the OD roster. Wait three weeks and get the extra year of control for any prospect of note.

Getting 2 wins out of RF next year would be a 4 win improvement vs. 2024. I am all for playing young guys where possible, but you can’t force the issue by inserting a guy you don’t believe in into the lineup. Just being “young” is not justification to be given playing time.

So you think the centerpiece of a Fedde/Kopech trade just seven months ago should be cut bait because of two bad months with the Sox?

Colas & Fletcher are irrelevant here because they aren’t making the OD roster (short of injury) and have minor league options. Additionally, Getz wasn’t going to cut Tauchman, Slater, or Taylor this early into camp. I think it’s totally fair to prefer a younger option to those guys, but the reality is he isn’t going to cut them before they even get a shot. Hell, we just signed Taylor like a week ago. Also, I would just point out that the odds of Canario making the Mets’ OD roster are slim and they will likely try to sneak him through waivers. There is always a chance for us claim him at that point. But honestly, I’m guessing we just don’t believe in the contact profile and would prefer not creating another massive hole that could lead to another 120 loss season.

I’d 100% take Vargas over Canario. Fletcher would be a different debate, but the lack of options do matter.

Those other prospects don’t require 26 man roster spots. If you don’t believe in Canario, then you don’t trade for him and create more roster problems.

I’m sure some of this is being taken out of context.

Getz has literally gone out and added three veteran OFs to block Fletcher. It’s clear where he stands in the org…not trading for a prospect with huge contact issues and no options remaining in Canario doesn’t change that. And as we just saw, not a single club was willing to give up more than cash for Canario. Writing off Vargas right now would be the definition of insanity. Right or wrong, our scouts liked him just a half year ago and he performed incredibly well in the minors last season. At 25 years of age and with his strength issues hopefully behind him, he’s still got a chance to turn it around. And unlike with Fletcher, Vargas has elite plate discipline and a supposedly plus hit tool. We didn’t really see the latter last year, but it’s what drove top 40 prospect ranking. I can get being concerned about him playing 3B (or 2B & OF for that matter) as defense has always been a concern with him, but not giving him three or four months to prove himself with the bat would be just be dumb.

What?

I think this ends up being just like the Cease situation with someone coming in with a just compelling enough offer at the last second to get a deal done. Obviously that’s pure speculation on my part, but I think at least one GM will become a bit desperate as we approach OD and make a play for Robert assuming he’s healthy and looks good.

For now, I’m going to assume an end of Spring Training trade. I just get a bad feeling that Getz is going to sell before the season starts if he gets any halfway decent offer. And unfortunately, I think someone will when it’s all said & done.

Would be great to see Iriarte pitch well today. He’s got as high of a ceiling as any SP prospect after the big three (Schultz, Smith, & Taylor) and would love to see him force himself into the 2025 rotation equation.

The main changes are Vargas moving from DH to 3B, Rojas moving from 3B to 2B, and Sosa moving from 2B to DH (ultimately just a primary position shift as all guys were on the roster previously). Additionally, have added Clevinger to the bullpen (again, not what I would do).

Updated 26 man roster projection: Lineup: 1B: Vaughn 2B: Rojas* SS: Baldwin# 3B: Vargas LF: Benintendi* CF: Taylor RF: Tauchman* DH: Sosa CA: Lee Bench: BC: Thaiss* IF: Amaya OF: Slater UT: Drury Rotation: Perez* Martin Cannon Burke Wilson Bullpen: CL: Anderson SU: Varland SU: Berroa MR: Clevinger (🤮) MR: Booser* MR: Murfee MR: Gilbert* LR: Smith