CWSpalehoseCWS

It's very impactful, but you need to get the ball to him first. They really need a SP first and foremost to have any chance at a deep playoff run. We all remember how disastrous 2020 was in Oakland. Burke + SP + Martin is at least a playoff rotation you can feel somewhat comfortable/confident against the AL.

The pitchers hate throwing to him, and we've seen that experiment fail multiple times already. People complain about Quero sucking, but at least he had a very nice run in the majors last year. Lee is atrocious, and makes Quero look like Johnny Bench when you put their career stats next to each other.

I know this will be unpopular, but I wouldn't waste trade capital on a catcher, especially for a rental. I'd prefer they burry Quero in the 8/9 spot and hope the lineup gives him enough protection that we see a resurgent 2025 version of him. Losing Teel will suck, but it's not like they had him all that long this season to begin with. Just focus on pitching and bullpen help, IMO.

And yet the argument a lot of people are making is to take him and move him off catcher. That screams getting too cute with the draft if they did that. You can't pull that kind of stuff with the 1-1 pick. This is a really great draft to have the 1st pick. You take the best possible player and don't overthink it. To me that's Roch at 1A, with Emerson a close 1B. Lackey is very talented, but he doesn't enter the conversation for me at 1-1. It should be down to the debate if they feel they can develop Emerson to hit his ceiling potential over maximizing Rochs current skillset. I'm not super confident they can do that yet. But, this organization has started showing the ability to maximize the toolset players have to be very successful at the MLB level. We've even heard about it in the minors with Boston Smith and how they've focused on maximizing his skillset. Give me the guy comp'd to Bregman/Tulowitski. Even if he ends up only being a Swanson-type player (a 3.7 avg bWAR player), that is extremely valuable to the organization.

Well, I get that, but I highly doubt a catcher would ever beat out two top tier SS options for athleticism. There's a reason good organizations focus on SS profiles - they can literally be moved anywhere. Drafting a C to simply move him to the OF feels like poor scouting or drafting for need. If you take Lackey at 1.1 he better damn well stay at C or his value plummets IMO because you're banking on the bat to carry him. I'd rather take a chance on Emerson's potential if they aren't taking Roch.

I can't see the Sox passing on both Roch and Emerson to grab a catcher. Lackey is talented, but drafting him would be absolutely overthinking the entire process.

Devil's advocate: this could be the highest value Smith has if it's proven later this year he can't go deep in games and is a RP, and/or can't throw strikes at the MLB level. If the right deal is there for a cost-controlled MLB level pitcher, I would definitely consider moving Smith if the player coming back is good enough.

The video does exist. It was quite telling. Link: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteSox/videos/tim-anderson-named-al-all-star-starter/1989677341228017/

I've never been happier to be wrong about a player. Good for him, he deserves it.

I want Roch, but I think they will take Emerson.

If games are not played or cancelled, they'll likely do what they did during Covid - carry over your deposit until games are played you can attend. I had my entire 2021 tickets paid off after no fans in 2020.

It is odd, but I'll trust the Sox judgment on moving on. Peoples had a glaring problem of walking too many batters. Perhaps he refused to make the changes necessary to get called up? I'm not even going to get upset about this - they still have a lot of talent arms down there just as deserving or working their way back from injury. Wikelman Gonzalez and a resurgent Jairo Iriarte are way more exciting options to me than Peoples ever was.

I wouldn't hate the Sox going after Seth Halvorsen. He fits Bannisters M.O. of maximum extension and he throws absolute heat. He's very controllable, but I don't think he'd cost all that much either because he has had his struggles this season. Would easily give the Sox another potential late arm if they can figure out the control issues. I know everyone wants a big time add, but if the Sox aren't willing to move top prospects it might be very hard for them to make a big splash. This feels more like the type of deal Getz has pursued in the past.

Charlotte needs some OF bats. His advanced metrics in AAA actually aren't all that bad either.

I'd temper some expectations with Gonzalez. We all know how Truist Field plays, and his home/road splits are quite drastic... Home: .356/.468/.856/1.324 Away: .253/.349/.407/.756 I hope he really has figured some stuff out (I hated when they drafted him), and it would be nice to have another success story - but I do think the vast majority of his performance is more along the lines of a MiLB park factor than anything else.