Chicago White Sox

I know your article mentioned we probably still have $2M+ to spend in the upcoming period, but any chance it’s closer to $3M? Seems like we’d have a much better chance of adding one of Colas or Cespedes + Pino if that were the case.

That would be fantastic. Pretty wild there has been no major movement on Cespedes. We are basically 80 days from the official signing period start date and there hasn’t been much noise at all. At least with Colas we know he’s got some contractual stuff to work out.

If they were to add this Pino kid, I would think that means they have a bigger plans for RF this offseason. Otherwise just sign a stop-gap so you have a cheap RF option potentially ready by 2022 in Colas or Cespedes.

Sure, but does that mean every young pitcher in the game is into analytics & biomechanics as much Bauer like Let Ray Ray just claimed?

And why did Stone tweet this about him if “any youngish pitcher is just like Bauer”? I can totally respect not wanting to overpay him if you think he overachieved this year, but discrediting his drive & willingness to learn is complete bullshit and makes me think you just don’t like the dude.

Bauer put up a 5.8 win season in 2018. Why does that season not count?

You should be paying free agents for what they are projected to do, not what they’ve done in the past. Obviously past results can be an indicator of future performance, but you can’t just fall back on career WAR and assume that’s who a guy is. Bauer is a student of the game and is constantly trying to make himself better. Over the last three years he is 6th overall in fWAR amongst starting pitchers despite a fairly ordinary 2019. Is he on Cole, deGrom, or Scherzer’s level? Probably not, but this year he was better than two of them and nearly as good as DeGrom. Without question Bauer is a #1 caliber starter and one who is capable of being amongst the best in the game when things are clicking. Given both his talent and durability I think he deserves a contract close to what Strasburg got last offseason. I think his personality and the pandemic will likely prevent that from happening, but the dude deserves to get paid this offseason and will likely clear $200M.

What’s the plan for Vaughn then?

Resigning McCann means there will be another hole on the roster that can’t be filled with a quality player. Unless we are going to rock a $180M payroll or McCann will take a backup caliber salary it’s a ooor use of resources.

Alright I feel like I’m having a little bit of Machado deja vu here, but who are the serious contenders for Bauer? AL Central: Outside of us, none of the other teams can probably afford him or would even want to sign him right now. The Twins would theoretically make some sense, but it sounds like their payroll is starting to balloon as is. Doubt they can fit a $35M salary into their budget for 2021. AL East: Maybe the Red Sox? They reset their luxury tax and will need to spend if they want to be competitive anytime soon. I really don’t see the Yankees adding another $200M+ pitching contract, especially for a guy that Cole doesn’t like. And while I expect the Blue Jays to add more pitching, they’re probably looking at a tier below Bauer. AL West: The Angels could be a threat for obvious reasons. None of the other teams seem like real options. NL Central: The Reds can’t afford him and none of the other teams make sense based on needs or financial resources available. NL East: The Mets may have the financial means to add Bauer now that they’re owned by Cohen, which makes them a legit threat. Not sure about the Braves, but he’d make a ton of sense there. From what I can tell, the Phillies won’t be adding a $35M contract this offseason. Not worried about the Nationals or Marlins. NL West: The Dodgers can theoretically afford anyone, but signing Bauer to a massive long-term deal sort of goes against Friedman’s management style. I doubt any of the other teams would be interested in him right now or could afford him. So basically there are four or five teams that seem like they could be serious contenders for Bauer in Boston, Anaheim, the Mets, Atlanta, and possibly the Dodgers. I will never get my hopes up on the Sox signing a starting pitcher to a 6+ year deal, but I am starting to think the market won’t be as robust for Bauer’s services as it normally would be for the top starter on the market. COVID-19 is the ultimate wild card and the Sox really should take advantage of this unique situation if Bauer’s price gets pushed down closer to $200M than the $245M Strasberg got last offseason.

Random article that lists us as one of the top five destinations for Bauer. Obviously this means nothing, but it’s better than arguing against a delusional Mazara fanboy. https://www.radio.com/sports/mlb/gallery/trevor-bauers-top-5-potential-landing-spots-in-free-agency#chicago-white-sox-ckgmga8570061u4pc0d1ngpfm

Meatball status confirmed - I think we can all move on here and refocus our thoughts on Bauer again.

And if they were, who in the word actually thinks a .265 BA with 20 HRs to be that good?

sin city is a blatant troll who for some reason is able to continually troll on a regular basis with no repercussions.

If Quintana is our big rotation upgrade then I think we’re in big trouble next year and I say that even if that means we get Springer. I do like the McHugh idea depending on what else we do, but not sure the front office would sign him after he called them out for service time manipulation. Also, there is zero chance they are moving Grandal in some crazy attempt to bring back McCann. I’m generally curious why you think this, although I’m guessing it’s due to Stone’s comments on Twitter.

They are 100% giving a spot to Dane Dunning next year and I think we should all have pretty high confidence in him being a solid back of the rotation starter at minimum. And at some point, Kopech should force his way into the mix, which means we’ll be developing two young starters next year. Therefore, the key is getting best starting pitcher possible to plug into one of the #1 to #3 spots. If we want to add another back-end guy that’s fine, but there is no way the Sox plan to only develop one young guy next year.

If we add Springer, I think our pitching upgrades are going to leave a lot to be desired. Would you be ok with that?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/mlb-sources-could-land-free-130019190.html This article speculates he gets something similar to Strasburg’s 7/$245M deal ($35M AAV). I think that might be a year too rich given his personality and the current economic environment. But if he was willing to take a 6/$210M deal I would be all over that. It would greatly limit what else we could do, but he’d basically be the finishing piece to the rebuild.

What’s your hope for RF fathom?

Well said!

Nomar Mazara from 2016 to 2019 is a slightly above replacement level player. 20 HRs with poor OBP and below average defense is simply not that valuable for a RF. And I have no idea why you think he’d start for 2/3 of teams based on those completely ordinary numbers. If he was as good as you make him out to be he would have gone for a lot more than Steele Walker.

And yet he posted a 94 wRC+ which means he was a below average hitter. I don’t know what to tell you other than Mazara has never been good.

Probably, but my point is even with 20 HRs he has been a below average hitter in his career so who cares?

Why are you evaluating a guy on one metric and ignoring every other data point? Also, the Rangers’ stadium was a pretty favorable hitters parks which obviously aided those numbers.

I think I want to punch Nick Swisher in the face