Chicago White Sox

I can’t believe people are ok bringing back a 33 year old starter who averaged 5.5 K’s per 9 last year. Dude is going to fall off a cliff in the near future and I pray it’s with someone else.

Happ has a vesting option for 2021 based on games started (27) or innings pitched (165). While you could probably manage around it, I’m not overly interested given the year he just had and the fact he’s 37.

100% agree. The Shields trade was a failure to begin with simply because James was completely useless.

Yup

The Phillies keep adding, the Sox keep waiting...

I will happily take either on a short term deal.

I love Betances, but after the Herrera debacle it might be better to go with someone with a clean bill of health.

The logic in extending Eloy was to buy out a free agent year and allow him to start the 2019 season on the south side. I was all for that move (even if I think it’s the worst of Hahn’s pre-arb extensions), but it should have zero impact on our ability to go add talent via free agency to supplement the core. If this becomes an either or thing, the rebuild is likely doomed for failure.

Not to be a dick, but those three have no clue what the Sox will or won’t do. That being said, the more this drags on without signing a starter the more I feel we end up trading for Price. Just seems like such a White Sox move IMO. Still not sure why we haven’t signed our #5 type yet unless we are waiting for best deal possible, which would be a shitty way to approach but who the fuck knows at this point.

How does locking up our talent help us over the next four years when we already have control of these guys? Don’t get me wrong, I want to keep these guys around for as long as possible, but I also want to take advantage of the current window where our core is still cheap. Worrying about the way distant future in expense of the now (like we claimed with Machado) is a poor way to run any organization.

Supposed to be ready by OD.

They will add two starters. Just a bit scary to think who they will be at this point.

I think it’s pretty unfair to overreact to Dallas’ 2019 season given his situation. Also, the fact Miley could only land 2/$15M while Keuchel will certainly get $3/50M+ should tell you how major league GMs value these two guys.

I think you won the internet today bud!!

Let me lay out both sides of the issue here. From all accounts, the Sox were enamored with Wheeler and had some concerns with MadBum, Ryu, & Keuchel. They believed that Wheeler would have provided value deep into his contract, whereas they considered Ryu & Keuchel to be more near-term plays (I think MadBum was never considered a fit). Their ultimate fear is signing someone like Ryu or Keuchel a year early and then they end up sucking right when the rest of the team is ready to win. I think that’s a completely fair point of view, but one that should have required two courses of action. Either a win at all costs bid of Wheeler (which theoretically would have meant offering the Corbin deal) or more reasonably having some sort of backup plan in place to acquire a stopgap without dealing too deeply from your prospect capital. I really don’t have much of a issue with how they approached Wheeler, but I think they completed failed if they did not have solid backup plans in place, which at the moment is seems they did not. I know we all have different expectations for next year, but at a very minimum the Sox need to have a roster that can challenge for a playoff if enough young guys proceed with their development. And that means adding two starters, one at least of the mid rotation variety. Wheeler can not be used as an excuse for failing to get this done. I’ve given Hahn the benefit of the doubt plenty of times in the past, but to me failing to add the starters he’s talked up for months now would be one of his biggest fuckups as GM and I would lose all confidence in his ability to lead this organization going forward.

What’s going to happen in 2021 though when Vaughn is up? I was much more in favor of the rotating DH idea prior to the Abreu extension.

That’s why I was suggesting trading McCann for prospect depth. I agree if you add EE you pretty much need to move one of McCann or Collins as there simply won’t be enough playing time to go around.

Why would he end up on the bench against LHP?

Maybin may be overkill (still concerned about Engel in CF for a month), but Holt fills the same exact need at Gennett or Dietrich but arguably better IMO. As for EE, part of me thinks now that we added such a high variability RF that we need more stability at DH. I still have hope for Collins, but with Vaughn right around the corner this rotating DH spot will likely be a one year event. If so, I’d rather just get a proven stopgap and see if Collins can factor into the catching mix long-term. Otherwise, I don’t see how he factors into the 25 man roster.

Who are all these “red flag” pitchers getting paid?

No way they’re getting anything of value selling Price at 3/$72M. Kluber, a guy who put up 30 WAR over the five years preceding a bad 2019 returned a high end relief prospect plus an Adam Engle type. His contract situation is so much more team friendly than the Price deal you’re proposing and he offers way more upside. Honestly, I think Price would be lucky to get 3/$50M even in this market, which means your $22M too high.

For eating how much money?

Do you really expect everyone to have the same values at you? I can respect that you don’t care that much about winning & losing and simply enjoy the sport, but for many of us the White Sox winning is what gives us joy. And if ownership is not committed to winning, then I’m going to limit my financial support of the organization because our values are not aligned. Not sure why that’s so hard to understand.

Wait what? You think the Red Sox could get a valuable piece back for Price? Even if they ate $32M of his contract, I don’t think they’d get anything of value back.

Passing to what though? What are the alternatives? If Bumgarner only got 5/$85M with sizable deferrals, I can’t imagine Keuchel would anything that ridiculous. Hell, even at 3/$52M he’d likely be movable after the 2020 season if something better came along. I get there’s a non-zero chance he falls off a cliff, but we’ve got to be prepared to take small, calculated risks or we’ll likely throw away the 2020 season.