Chicago White Sox

Geuss which one is Cease and which one is Giolito?

This is a horrible analogy. There is nothing predictive about the handful of blunders that Madrigal made last year in the field and on the bases. You can overreact all you want to a tiny sample size, but the kid at a very minimum will be an average fielder and base-runner when it’s all said and done (and should be above average). Just to reiterate what I posted yesterday, but Steamer & Zips project him as a 2.6 to 2.2 fWAR player next year. These projection systems are normally incredibly conservative with young players and yet both see him being a league average or better 2B in his first full season despite regression with his BABIP. I agree with @Harold's Leg Lift & @fathom that he’s a limited player due to a complete lack of power, but the hit tool is going to translate to the majors and his defense & base-running will be much better over the course of a full season than we saw in 2020. Nick Madrigal should be a useful & dirt cheap player for the Sox over the next six years which is plenty valuable, but the lack of ceiling also makes him more expendable than other core players. If a team overvalues his skillset, he’s definitely a guy you move. If not, hopefully you enjoy a 2.5 to 3.0 win 2B for the next half decade, even if it’s driven by a bunch of slaps & singles.

Don’t know, but Coop made every guy get rid of his curveball for somereason.

It’s remarkable our previous pitching coach felt otherwise, at least on throwing your best pitches more.

I agree that Cease is his one real project. Would be nice salvage Lopez as a reliever, but if he can turn Cease into a #3 starter (or better) he’s done his job.

I’d wager Colome & Hand both get an $8M AAV, which is more than the $12.5M I’m guessing Hendriks will get.

I disagree, I feel I’ve become more pessimistic since Machado forced my family to relocate to this COVID-infested hellhole called Nashville. That being said, La Russa has gotten everything he’s wished for so far this offseason and it truly sounds like Hendriks is at the top of his list. Plus this is a space we know Jerry is willing to beat out the market in. He truly seems like he will be the big ticket item for us this offseason, which in all honesty is pretty disappointing when a guy like Bauer is there for the taking, but a decent consolation price at this point.

Agreed...for better or worse, I think they go down the trade path if they sign Hendriks.

I will add I also think the Sox add a starting pitcher pretty quickly assuming they land Hendriks. Seems pretty clear to me at this point that they can’t really move forward in that area until they know how much they have to work with after adding a closer.

Oh shit, I thought you asked to get hyped up ?

? ?

It’s in the bag IMO. I’m fully expecting a deal right around 4/$50M announced in the next week if not sooner.

Reinsdorf gave Robertson a 4/$46M deal six years ago, so I don’t think 4/$50M is going to be a problem for Jerry if we can fit his salary into our COVID impacted 2020 budget.

Sounds good to me! I know some don’t like spending big on relievers, but we literally just gave the corpse of Kelvin Herrera 2/$18M two years ago. I know four years is risky, but I just don’t think a $12.5M AAV is that much money for a guy who has been as good as Hendriks these last two seasons. This is a gamble worth taking IMO given how few holes we have left and Jerry’s general unwillingness to spend what it takes for legit stars.

Exactly, just makes too much sense all things considered.

Ossoff just under a 1,000 behind!

That also makes me feel good!

That makes me feel better!

I’m feeling good about our chances of landing him. If anyone is going to push Jerry to go a little beyond his comfort zone it’s La Russa and Tony has made it clear he wants that legit closer.

Sounds like 20k early votes in Dekalb which should give Ossoff a good 16k and greatly cut the gap, but damn this still seems very close.

Still not 100% convinced Ossoff pulls this off.

What am I missing with this?

130k vs 170k is troubling if true, especially for Ossoff

Agreed

I’m not sure I buy the Dodgers were this crazy threat for Hendriks, but Treinen signing is a good sign that the reliever market may start moving.