Chicago White Sox

If you assume this means Collins is our primary DH against RHP, we can now add a right-handed bat in RF and maintain enough balance.

I was literally taking a shit at work when this leaked and I ran out screaming to a bunch of people in Nashville who could give two fucks about the Sox. I can’t undersell how pumped I am about this. Him & Wheeler have always been 1A & 1B for me and landing one of them before the calendar even hits December is fucking wild. To me, this is proof they aren’t fucking around and fully expect two more impact additions (SP & RF) before all is said & down this offseason.

Makes too much fucking sense. Get it done Hahn!!

Agree about Grandal getting some 1B time and Abreu DHing, but that would have made my summary way too complex. But honestly, getting Abreu off the field a little more is another benefit to this.

Zero chance they stop here. They are coming out guns blazing because their to do list is big and getting that first guy makes the Sox that much more exciting of an option to the next guys on their list.

Mind sharing them?

Don’t accept mediocrity just yet.

Just to be clear, Giolito was a top 10 starter in all of baseball last year. Kopech & Cease were amongst the top 10 RHP prospects in all of baseball in last year’s Pipeline rankings. Lopez is a 2 win starter with untapped upside. If you go out and sign Wheeler and a one-year stop-gap like Gio Gonzalez along with Rodon coming back healthy in the 2H, then the rotation will be loaded with talent & potential. And don’t underestimate how much Grandal’s framing will help guys like Giolito & Lopez. As good of a game caller McCann seems to be, framing is most definitely a weakness and our guys suffered as a result (obviously Castillo didn’t help either). This is going to be a legit game changer for our stuff.

100% agree. Getting a big signing early sends a message that we’re not fucking around and obviously fills massive needs (LH hitting / OBP / framing). If I’m Zach Wheeler and I now look at the Sox, I’m telling myself “fuck it, let’s win a World Series on the Southside next year” and taking a 5/$100M deal at the Winter Meetings. Honestly, this is just the start of what should be a fucking crazy offseason for us.

We really need to make the laugh emoji public so we can ridicule the person in this thread laughing at posts like this.

I think it’s pretty clear at this point they plan on adding several impactful additions instead of just one whale. While I would have loved Cole, Grandal plus Wheeler (if we can land him) may end up being a more effective use of resources.

Tony?

I think this move signals several things: Grandal is effectively our DH addition even though he’ll play 100+ games at catcher Collins will be the primary DH against RHP to open next year and will likely only get a little time at catcher McCann will be the primary backup catcher next year, primarily against LHP and when Giolito starts (Grandal will DH most of these days) Mercedes is the contingency plan at 3rd catcher / DH in the event Collins flops

This was quite a timely post!

For 2020?

So do they bump Jirschele up to AA after this? The only real complication I see is Zaleski is kind of paired up with him (which I like) and would they move actually Dotson somewhere else?

Man would it be nice for an early Grandal signing to really set the tone for this offseason.

I’m just thinking $100M is the magical number that gets him to sign early.

I say yes to all.

That may not be to February.

Just do 5/$100M so both he and our front office can brag about a nine figure contract.

100% agree, but there should a few other teams like the Twins trying to execute a similar strategy.

Either is a nightmare.

To me, it lends credence to the three headed DH/C monster with Grandal, McCann, & Collins. Mercedes can serve as a backup plan to Collins in AAA.

Sanchez is getting non-tendered. Palka goes as soon as we add an OF / DH. It’s very possible that they outright Zavala now if we were to able to land Grandal. Any other future spots will come from four the pitchers you named above. It’s pretty cut & dry to be honest.