Chicago White Sox

To me, this is very simple. Grandal is as good of a hitter as Castellanos, fits our lineup needs much better (lefty + elite OBP), and actually brings good defense at a positional of skill. Give me Yasmani any day of the week over Nicholas.

And what if we extend Abreu for two or three years? What’s your plan with Vaughn?

I think Mendick has done enough to get first crack at the reserve infielder job next year. Take the $4M or Yolmer will earn this year and use it elsewhere.

This isn’t an either or thing...the Sox can and will load up on pitching and add a few bats. Adding Grandal does NOT prevent them addressing the pitching staff in any way, shape, or form IMO. Let me ask you this, who is it you want to add at DH?

He worked with him over the offseason in AZ, but a lot of that may have been Moncada driven. Either way, our plate discipline has been horrendous and oftentimes it seems like our guys have no game-plan. Renteria made a crazy comment earlier this season that Todd was doing his job but some players were just zoning him out. To me, once the players stop listening to a coach, a change is most definitely needed.

I think Steverson is as good as gone. Margulas also seems to think the writing is on the wall based on Hahn’s commentary.

Hahn has already stated a need to upgrade both RF & DH.

No you’re really not.

This is a ridiculously stupid idea.

Good god man, that would be absolutely horrible and reflect a team with like an $80M payroll at best. There is nothing “real” about this scenario whatsoever.

Oh I fully agree, but Ricky should be fired for the reasons you stated, not because a bunch of shitty players sucked.

So my guess is they go one of two options here. 1) They clean house on the hitting side and replace Steverson & Sparks with guys from outside the organization. 2) They let go of McEwing and bring in a different bench. Either this would be an outside guy who is more analytical-oriented to cover Ricky’s weaknesses or they promote Vizquel in fear of losing him in the not too distant future. I went back and forth on this, but ultimately chose scenario one. The hitting outside of a select few guys has been atrocious and plate discipline has practically been non-existent. While I could make a similar argument against the pitching coaches (and truly believe it’s time for Cooper to go), they are far more likely to be protected than Todd & Greg who were outside hires IMO. Also, Hahn citing the need to improve our OBP throughout the lineup is the biggest sign that Steverson & Sparks are on the hot seat.

So during Hahn’s State of the White Sox update yesterday, he flat out said Renteria was their manager for 2020 but also implied there could be other coaching changes coming. I find this fascinating as I was fully expecting the whole group to be brought back. So here is the question: of the seven major league coaches who do you think will NOT be back in 2020? While feel free to state what you would if you were charge, please vote based on what you think the White Sox will do. Also, multiple options are allowed but please don’t spam this poll by voting for everyone as they aren’t going to gut this entire staff.

I don’t see how JDM fits with the Sox apparently wanting to keep Jose around for a while plus Vaughn a year out.

The other game is The Last of Remastered. That’s an insane PS+ month.

I haven’t seen much of Collins at 1B, but if he’s an upgrade I’m ok with him getting a lot of his playing time over there.

I’m saying no to that in a heartbeat. There’s a ton of starting pitching that will be available in free agency, zero reason to give up a guy who was a top 100 prospect just a year ago (plus Colome) for one season of Jose Quintana.

Collins may end up being a platoon DH, but with his power & eye he could still be plenty valuable. My plan this offseason would be to sign Grandal to serve as the primary catcher and to DH on off-days. Theoretically, Grandal would catch ~100 games and DH ~50 games. McCann would catch the other ~60 games, primarily against lefties and/or when Giolito is on the mound. That would leave ~110 games at DH for Zack, mostly against RHP. If he struggles, then either McCann picks up some additional playing time or you hope that Sheets quickly proves himself in AAA. Regardless, I think he’s shown enough to be in the DH mix next year.

Merkin did throw out Dickerson’s name for RF in a Q&A this week for whatever that’s worth.

Your “finished strong” is a hot five games. Get rid of Yolmer because he’s going to be overpriced and/or replaceable by Mendick, not because of a 22 year old who put up very ordinary numbers in the DSL.

It’s close to what I’d like to see done, assuming that bullpen warm is a closer or setup type. That being said, I think we’d need a 2nd starter with more upside than Nova, especially if Calhoun is the caliber of RF upgrade we’re targeting.

Was this really an awful year? Moncada, Timmy, & Giolito will combine for ~15 WAR. Eloy showed signed of becoming a dominant hitter. Bummer established himself a legit, left-handed setup man. Cease got 70+ major league innings. McCann looks like he can part of the catching mix going forward. Honestly, outside of all the injuries and Lopez regressing, there isn’t much to be that disappointed about this year. Who really cares if our record sucked because of a bunch of guys who won’t be back next year? The young core more or less took the necessary steps forward and that’s all that matters.

Yolbert barely hit in the DSL, we should be basing no decisions around him.

Feels like the Sox always win a bunch of meaningless games right at the end.