ChiSox59

Makes plenty of sense to me. He's been terrible. Let him work on getting his confidence and stuff back in AAA. If it works, and he remains a useful starter, you just bought a year of control. If it doesn't work, it certainly wasn't going to work against big league hitters. Sox absolutely have to work on the fringes with player control, until they don't. And that isn't happening until JR is out of the way.

I highly doubt Sosa is the one on the way out.

I don't think Vientos really would be of much use to the Sox once Murakami was in the fold. I'd rather play Vargas at 3B, Murakami at 1B. I suppose Vientos could DH against LHP, but we certainly want to keep that open for our catchers too. Meh, this doesn't really bother me. Sox could probably grab Vientos from the waiver wire in a week or two anyway, out of options and has 5 PA so far this year. Clearly the Mets don't really care for him.

I do not. Comcast. Verizon is my phone provider, and haven't been able to get on there until today either.

Is it just me, or has no one been able to get on here for weeks? There was one day just before Opening Day I could get on for a single day, and then nothing since.

They could have done that without releasing Benintendi and would have had zero complaints from me. But Mead would have almost certainly been in the "Sox could do worse category". But I'd have been fine with trying it.

Welp, just gotta flush that one, eh.

I still don't get the need to release Benintendi. The Sox literally have no OFs of interest close to the majors. If you want to make the argument he isn't an OF and is a DH (fair argument, btw), and that there is no room for him there either, I think the Teel injury quickly showed that wasn't really the case. If we get to a point where Beni is blocking Teel or Quero ABs and is sucking up the joint, the calculus changes. But for now, that is not the case. Beni is not good, but the Sox could do far worse. If they had interesting AAAA guys or fringe prospects to try out there, sure. But they don't. I see no reason to pay him to play elsewhere, and it wouldn't be that surprising to see him deliver a 100-105 wRC+ season. Which for this team, could easily be a top 3-5 bat on the squad. He has had entended mid-season stretches where he has looked very playable; they've just been pre or proceeded by stretches of futility, largely due to playing injured.

To be fair, Merkin is a clown. Guy also asked Venable on Monday if Lee will be sent to the minors. He is legitimately horrible at this job.

I am not defending the move, because it seems pretty simple to me to keep Lee over signing McGuire. But if they just don't like Lee, I can at least understand why the didn't go Quero / Romo. They were able to successful sneak Romo through waivers - if they actually like Romo as a depth piece for later in the season, calling him up for 2 weeks, and then exposing him to waivers again (and even if he clears, will be able to reject outright 2nd time), then he's no longer a depth piece after 3-4 April appearances. So I can at least understand that part of it. Holding him on the 40 all winter actually worked out well for the Sox, because now he is non-roster depth.

Thanks for sharing! Shortly before the 10 minute mark, Getz called Acuna a switch hitter. From everything I see, he only hits right handed. Wonder if it's something he's working on or if Getz just misspoke.

Meh...Certainly not exciting, but if it's cheap (it will be), I don't mind it at all. Guy was quite good for the Sox. May as well try again.

Maybe they'll actually get something

The tweet announcing the deal from official ChiSox Twitter says we receive 2 PTBNL

I think they'll both play plenty. Would like to see Sox at least toy with letting these guys play somewhere other than C and DH a time or two a week. The reality is the Sox are an injury or two away from none of this "crunch" mattering at all. Those guys will get plenty of at bats.

Why? He's a league average hitter on the the team with the worst OF in the league. Sure he'll DH plenty, and yah, he's not very good anymore, but Sox don't really have anyone else to play. As long as he's not blocking Teel / Quero getting regular at bats (he won't, imo), Sox are better off keeping Beni than paying him to be a league average bat elsewhere.

Interesting move. Not really sure what to think of it. Sox now need to clear three 40 man spots.

I mean, I get that. I'm in the camp that this is better than buying out Robert. Getz clearly made a fine decision there. But the return is basically nothing. Neither of these guys are going to contribute to the next good Sox team. Acuna would highly likely have been DFA by NYM before opening day and Pauley is more or less just a guy and it would be amazing development if he ever even reached a 40 man roster. I don't expect the Sox to be good next season, but they are considerably worse without Robert. I, for one, was looking forward to him having a smudge of protection and a watchable offense if he played well.

How is it insane? They'd be in the exact same position they're in anyway if he got hurt. Unless you're concerns about saving ownership $20M on the already lowest payroll in the game.

This sucks. I feel like the Sox were shaping up to be a relatively interesting offensive team. Robert had a smidge of protection for the first time in forever. I think this outcome is better than simply declining the option and paying Robert $2M to go away, but I would have just held Robert. If he had a good season, the Sox could have been watchable and interesting-ish. If he didn't, we don't have Acuna - who was likely to be DFA or dumped for nothing in 2 months anyway as he is out of options. There is not a single player available for $20M that has the upside of Luis Robert, or could make the White Sox a better team instead of Robert. All this did was make the Sox worse, and lower the already brutally low payroll. I am pissed. Not at the return. Not that the Sox didn't time the market perfectly and trade him post-2023. But because it just feels like the Sox are a considerably worse team today than yesterday. And FFS, I am so ready to watch watchable baseball.

Fully expect a 3-4 WAR season from Robert. Or he plays 30 games. Itll be one of those.

Well because acquiring two players is better than paying $2M for him to go away???? Not saying this is a good move, but it's >>>> than not picking up the option.

I'd be fine with it if cheap. Traditionally has got on base. Should fit well in the park offensively. He may be toast, but Sox aren't exactly strong in the corners. Don't see the issue if they take a flier.

Teel DHs against RHP. They split the catching duty otherwise. Sprinkle Quero in at DH a time or two a week instead of Beni, and/or experiment with Quero at 1B or Teel in LF occasionally. I understand the concern, but Sox aren't deep enough for this to be a real concern. Injuries will quickly mean none of these guys will have issues getting plenty of at bats when healthy. Not saying I wouldn't move Beni - I would - but I'm def not just cutting bait, eating $ and DFAing like some want. Makes zero sense.

Posted elsewhere before I saw this thread where it's much more relevant: I don't really see the need to just dump Benintendi. Sox could certainly do worse than a league average bat at DH, as we've proven plenty over the past decade. When healthy, Benintendi is fine, and all things considered, his salary is high for the Sox, but not among his peers. Could the Sox do better? Yah, of course. Will they do better if they dump him for a shitty overpaid pitcher? Almost certainly not.