Chicago White Sox

Pitching depth is incredibly strong. Catching is a position of strength. Lots of 3B / 2B types now in the system. The OF group is very much lacking. SS & CF are both major weaknesses.

Mods - I thought trolling wasn’t allowed here

I will say this, if you can trade Robert to the Reds for a solid prospect package, you’re down to about $50M in payroll. That allows you to do some creative stuff via trade or free agency. I’d go use those saving and sign Jeff Hoffman. FG has him getting 3/$30M while MLBTR projects 4/$44M. I would split the difference and offer 3/$39M with an opt-out after year 2. However, the goal here would be to convert him back to a SP and hopefully turn him into a high-end trade asset. If that experience were to fail, then I’d put him into the closer role ahead of the deadline and still hope to cash in. It would be a small gamble, but I think one worth taking.

Robert does make a ton of sense for them. Plus for small market clubs like the Reds, you can’t really go out and buy potential stars. I could see a match here that works for both sides.

Coupe of interesting quotes from the Reds board: ”I’d be fine giving up one of Collier/Arroyo/Petty and one of Lewis/Stafura if that’s what it takes.” ”White Sox got an absolute haul for Crochet, I'm glad we didn't do anything at that price. Fortunately they didn't get a premier SS or SP, so the Arroyo/Petty offer should still be enticing for them.” ”After seeing the Crochet deal, I think the Reds would have to part with two of their top 10 prospects to get Roberts, Jr.” ”Id take Burns and Duno off the table. Pick any 2 prospects you want and I'll include Marte as a 3rd piece.” “Arroyo and Petty is a fair offer for Robert Jr IMO. One top 100 guy and another who will be there with a good start to 2025. Both are still really young at 21 and would fit the White Sox window when they are MLB ready in a year or two. If they expect more than that(like Lowder and Collier) they are going to be disappointed.”

Reds fans seem interested in Robert which is nice to see. Most opposing fans see a player coming off a bad year and assume they’re done forever.

Oh s%*# really? I’ll have to be on the lookout.

I fully expect Davis Martin traded if he has a strong first half.

I feel like his value will go up quite a bit with a strong 2024. He’s certainly a SP I’d consider moving at some point if it allows us to add to our positional core, but I think that’s a probably year out.

Robert and who? Not sure we have any other tradable assets.

I’m glad they are going after Sasaki because every team should be throwing their name in the hat. Landing him should be near impossible, but one thing Getz appears to be good at is selling his vision to people. And I think there are selling points to be made for the Sox if you can ignore the historically bad team that’s multiple years away from competing. However, if he wants to enjoy the benefits of living in a major market without the pressures of playing for a real large market club he will be hard pressed to find something better.

You 100% trade him. And you can use the $20M on a different free agent when the time is right while also landing some valuable prospects.

I watched a lot of Meidroth videos last night. His swing is short and quick and I think he hits the ball a bit harder than he’s probably given credit for. Don’t get me wrong, he has below average power but his hard hit rate and average EV in AAA was middle of the pack. The biggest issue for him is that his launch angle is very low and he chops a bunch of balls into the ground. If he can find a way to turn more of those into line drives, I think he can eventually be a much more impactful hitter than you’re thinking. And for the record, Steamer 600 is projecting a slash line of .242/.356/.701, so they agree with you on the BABIP regression coming to the majors. But given the high OBP, that slash is still worth a 107 wRC+ despite a very low ISO. And that’s for him as a 23 year old rookie. If he can be close to an average defender at 2B, then that’s probably a 2 win player. That is the part I’m most uncertain about, but he looked pretty solid out there in the videos I saw even though his range will certainly be limited but probably fine for 2B.

That video above said he had a game in which he had six plate appearance plate and took 45 fucking pitches. That’s 7.5 pitches on average. Again, I’m not kidding when I say this kid is a unicorn. He’s going to be a very untraditional leadoff hitter who will do his damage by working up pitch counts like crazy, constantly getting on base, and putting stress on the opposing pitcher.

I mean, look at this dude. Just a pure American athlete whose mix of elite plate discipline and bat to ball skills make him a legit unicorn. If he can replicate that +.400 OBP in the majors, it would put him in a small of group mega-stars of just Aaron Judge & Juan Soto. And while he doesn’t have the power that those two do, he makes up for it with heart and drive that few others actually possess.

He is an exciting prospect no doubt, but he’s no Meidroth though.

Meidroth’s Steamer 600 projection is 3.1 fWAR, 71st highest amongst all position players.

I think would trade Crochet for Meidroth straight up.

You need at least one 50 FV or higher positional prospect to even consider moving Robert right now and that would be selling low if you have any faith he will return to his 2023 form. I could see someone offering that too, just not sure if Getz will bite on that or not. I think if that player were a SS or CF with some actual ceiling (which is probably more a 55 FV type) then it would be harder for Getz to say no to, but that could be hard to come by. Like I wouldn’t turn Justin Crawford straight up for Robert right now but unlikely Dombrowski would offer that right now even though Luis is exactly what they need.

Chase Meidroth is going to be a fan favorite on the South Side. Just such a weird, unique player. I can’t honestly come up with one comp for him. But if he can get on base at an elite clip, he’s 100% an everyday guy you can slot at the top of your lineup and just create nightmares for the opposing team. He doesn’t have a ton of raw power, but I do like his compact swing and I can see him impacting the ball just enough to be an everyday 2B. I don’t even want to highlight his Steamer 600 projection because it’s pretty insane.

The Sox are going to sign some more free agents, so some of these guys will be cast aside anyways.

I kind of feel like Robert will get dealt. Getz said interest really picked up during the winter meetings and while he has an obvious incentive to lie it did feel legit. I guess we will find out in the coming weeks.

It was a much weaker return from the start, but Iriarte was a borderline top 100 prospect for some publications and Zavala was a consensus top 10 org guy with upside. And I don’t think the “Yankees prospect boost” when he was traded for Juan Soto.

You’re literally ripping people for saying we lost the trade because it’s too early and then saying we won the trade. Don’t think you can have it both ways.

I think this is all fair, but in this environment to get legit top 25/30 and top 60/70 positional prospects plus two interesting 45 FV guys is solid. And to be fair, Teel is an up the middle talent, just not an obvious spot of need for us. There is plenty of time to work through the roster construction, but I agree, where our next SS (if it’s not Colson) & CF comes from will be interesting.