Chicago White Sox

I fully expect a polished college arm in the 1st who can either help us in a few years or quickly used as trade bait. It really is nice having our 2nd round pick and I hope they snag another prep guy in next year’s draft.

You really don’t seem to understand the impact that the juiced ball had on the International League this past year. I mean, Ryan Goins had a .937 OPS in 300+ at-bats for the Knights if that gives you a sense of how ridiculous the offensive environment. I’m not saying Collins had a bad year, but it wasn’t the elite offensive season you are thinking it was. That being said, he did do better after the swing changes so there is reason for optimism.

The difference is Encarnacion is actually still a damn good hitter and those other guys suck.

Now that we’ve signed Keuchel very little chance they trade Vaughn. More likely it will be some combo of our 2020 1st rounder, Dunning, Stiever, Dalquist, & Thompson that will help us shore up any needs come next offseason.

They will add an infielder to be the interim starter. Mendick will be the reserve infielder to start the season and then likely AAA depth once Madrigal is called up.

What in the fuck? Encarnacion posted an .875 OPS / 129 wRC+ last year which helped him put up 2.5 fWAR in just 109 games. We was a better hitter than Jose last year and we just give him $50M. EE would be an astute signing as his market is very limited and we should be able to get him on a reasonable one year deal.

Agreed. EE for DH is a no brainer. And if we aren’t in the thick of things come July, he gets moved for whatever and we can give Collins more playing time at DH assuming he’s still around. I actually like Collins but using him as a depth piece would be smart to start the season. And if he forces more playing time great, but he’s not a guy who should automatically be handed a starting role.

Just a gut feeling, but I really think this happens and before Christmas. The Sox saw the impact that Nelson Cruz had on the Twins last year and knows what happened when we had to run trash through the DH spot.

You should not be grouping EE with Ozuna & Castellanos. EE is a one year bridge to Vaughn, those other guys are serious multi-year commitments that either block Vaughn or lock up RF for the near-term. By going with Mazara in RF, they need more stability at DH if they’re serious about competing next year. If that means putting Collins in a backup catcher / DH insurance policy role then so be it and I say that as someone who likes Collins. I was all for a rotating DH spot amongst Grandal, McCann, & Collins, but resigning Abreu to a three year deal makes that experiment somewhat pointless with Vaughn right around the corner.

They aren’t signing EE to be a weak-side platoon DH. He’d be the primary DH. Short of injury, Collins would looking at around 40 starts at catcher (assuming they trade McCann) and probably another 20 or so starts at 1B / DH.

Vaughn will be our 1B in 2021 and Abreu our DH. Collins has no spot long term unless he proves he handle the backup catcher role. Signing EE to a one year deal doesn’t change any of that.

I mean you trade him for value, whether that be a reliever or minor league depth. A lot of teams could use catching help right about now.

100% agree. Add EE to be the primary DH and give Collins his shot as the backup catcher. Grandal should still be able to get some time at DH & 1B against tough RHP.

Sure, but the dude averaged nearly 70 appearances from 2015 to 2018. If he returns back to form or is even the guy we saw in September, Ricky will be using him a ton.

How do you fit JDM in with Abreu & Vaughn locking up 1B & DH for 2021 & 2022? This is why EE makes so much sense because he’ll only be a one year commitment.

I’d wager that Herrera’s 2021 option becomes guaranteed. He just needs 55 appearances next for that to happen (for reference he had 57 last year despite battling injuries).

Yup

Outside of bullpen additions, I think the plan next offseason will be to add a legit RF in the event Mazara doesn’t make major progress next year and trade for a stud SP if Cease or Kopech doesn’t show clears signs toward TOR development.

I was pushing for Ryu, but in hindsight I do agree. I’m not the biggest Keuchel fan in the world, but we desperately needed a reliable veteran starter that can eat innings and stabilize a young rotation. He does just that with a much different look than our young arms. His elite pitchability gives me hope he can remain productive over the life of the contract. If not, the size of the contract won’t be a huge burden to overcome. The challenge now is building a top of a rotation that can go to war in the playoffs. Giolito has already taken that next step, but this moves puts a ton of pressure on Kopech & Cease to both ascend to #2 / #3 levels. I believe in both guys, but you just never know with young pitching. That being said, a year from now we may have the chips to add a stud starting pitcher via trade that we don’t have at the moment (2020 1st rounder plus ascending value for guys like Dunning, Stiever, Dalquist, & Thompson). Hopefully it doesn’t come to that but we should have options.

Makes too much sense.

Dietrich is an absolute butcher in the OF though. Holt seems like a way better fit than him. Gennett would be interesting obviously if he returned to form.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I’m not even suggesting you don’t have a point, but the way you have framed this is absolutely disingenuous. You’ve ignored that fact that Cole’s contract 2.5x of that Grandal & Keuchel and all the long-term risk that comes with it. And let’s be honest, Grandal’s four year deal did not prevent us from signing Cole. Right or wrong, it’s paying him $36M/season in years 5 through 8 that scared us off from even pursuing him. Also, suggesting Grandal wasn’t a slam dunk signing is one of the most bizarre takes I have ever seen from someone who is incredibly stats oriented. You feel adding one of the best catchers in baseball history is bad because of Zach fucking Collins? With a future core of Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Vaughn, Jimenez, & Robert that left three total spots to add to in RF, DH, & C. Passing on Grandal because of Collins and one year of McCann would have been the definition of insanity. He was a perfect addition for an organization in desperate need of OBP, left-handing hitting, & framing.

Yup, I think Merkin has floated similar predictions.

We need depth and a guy who can start at 2B for 4 to 5 weeks. Are you willing to bank on Mendick in the starting lineup for a sizable stretch? If not, we should be adding a guy who can start 2B until Nick is ready and then move to a reserve role.

I actually think Mendick will be on the OD roster, he’ll just get sent down once they promote Madrigal.