ChiSox59

It would if it was actually dead spending. I obviously am not privy to Correa's medical records, but I think the chances he comes dead money anytime soon is remote.

Who? There isn't a better alternative on the 40 man roster. They're paying Leury regardless. Cutting Leury and signing like Jonathan Villar - what does that accomplish other than spending more $? The constant Leury handwringing is so dumb. It was a terrible deal; we can all agree on that. But there really is no reason to cut him right now.

Twins getting Correa on a great deal due to this fiasco would be a terrible outcome.

But why not concern yourself with far fetched scenarios?

One game? I literally predicted he’d start 20 games in LF in this very thread.

I’m no Leury fan and didn’t and still don’t understand the extension beyond TLR wanting his guy. But the if we weren’t paying Leury we could have Duvall analysis is worthless because they are stuck paying Leury.

If Benintendi gets hurt, perhaps. Benintendi is the LF now and they aren’t playing Eloy there over him.

The whole Leury thing is so overplayed by Sox fans. First off, the Sox dumped more money just last year on Keuchel. So there is precedent. Secondly, Leury can be a useful bench player. Tony just criminally overused him and he got buried in his failure. I would not be surprised in the least to see Leury rebound to the .270/.325/.375 type player he was from 17-21. For $5M, that's earning your paycheck.

He literally just told him to be ready. I don't think the Sox plan to play Eloy in RF much, if at all. But does it really hurt for him to be prepared for it? He's obviously not playing much LF now with Benintendi in the fold. I think Eloy's 2023 will shake out as follows, assuming he's mostly healthy: DH: 125 GS LF: 15 GS RF: 5 GS

Sheets has a career 118 wRC+ against RHP. He's an awful defender anywhere you put him, but on a team with as many injury concerns as the Sox have and a clear lack of left handed thump, I find him to be quite useful to have around until he's out of options.

And all three actually probably play a role on the 2023 White Sox. Burger and Sheets roles could be significant, as we sit right now, Cespedes, Billy Hamilton and Victor Reyes are in competion for the 26th man. All would need to be added to the 40 man, but Cespedes would be the only optionable one. Which frankly might give him a leg up for OD if someone like Duvall isn't signed, because you basically know you'd be losing Hamilton/Reyes a couple weeks into the season via DFA once Colas arrives.

And they get roasted for not having SoxFest, for good reason. They talk, they get roasted. They don't talk, they get roasted. Now, there is plenty to roast them about. But I am not sure what exactly Hahn is supposed to say when he's asked about a 2B? "Romy and Sosa simply are not ML-caliber players - we must acquire a 2B"? Not only is that bad mouthing your own, but its also theoretically impacting leverage. There is plenty to roast RH and the FO about. But this really isn't one of them. Also, ST doesn't start for like 6 weeks. Plenty of time left to finish off the roster.

Its literally his job. You suggest he just stop doing his required media sessions? Lol.

Yep. I think the part about whoever they acquire being able to cover multiple positions/the OF is very important. Whoever you bring in, you need to hope that Sosa or even Romy still either wins that job outright, or takes it from them early in the season. Therefore being able to cover another position, and/or adding to the RF mix until Colas arrives / future Colas insurance is very important. If they go the cheap bargain bin FA route, I am hopeful that the new coaching staff won't repeat the Harrison situation of continuing to run that guy out there most of the season if it isn't working.

Huh?

Why? Sox definitely have some interesting prospects they could acquire a 2B with that aren't named Montgomery or Colas. If this acquired 2B has control, Sosa and JRod would both be trade candidates as they're then effectively blocked.

I'd love for the White Sox to have signed Nimmo, Benintendi, Correa, and Rodon, yes. That'd be very cool.

I have the straight payroll as of right now at ~$180M. That includes Clevinger's 2024 buyout and Benintendi's signing bonus as 2023 obligations. It does not include Pollock or Harrison's buyouts that were paid in 2022. Of course we'll never know exactly how the Sox account for these things things internally, but they should still have around $10M to spend before getting to last year's final total. If that is a hard and fast limit (doubt it is), that of course means there would be no room for mid-season additions if it were spent on say Duvall ($7M) and Kemp ($3M) in the coming weeks, to use @Chicago White Sox latest projection.

Do you have a link? Edit: found what I was looking for ??

This x1000. The Sox are clearly an imperfect organization. No one is forcing us to be fans. I've said multiple times even in this very conversation that I am not pleased with the Sox offseason, and I wish they'd have done more. But until JR sells the team, it is what it is. And it could be much worse - the Sox will have the highest or 2nd highest payroll in franchise history and will have somewhere between the 5-8th highest payroll in the game. We all agree that money could have been spent wiser, but here we are. I just fail to understand what continuously bitching about it will do. You can point to the "contend for multiple championships" lingo, but things have clearly changed since that was stated and the one thing that matters most - JR - has not.

Like I said, light those pitchforks. Certainly will make all the difference in the world.

It doesn’t take much to be an average mlb catcher statistically. The position is a waste land. I said I wasn’t sure if it’s sustainable with Seby but I think you can do much worse than having him be part of the solution. I also truly believe the level of instruction he is going to receive will be considerably better than what he’s had recently. I admit I have higher hopes for Grandal being useful than most. I was encouraged by the Grandal interview when the injuries were discussed; not discouraged. But you simply cannot cut bait on Grandal without trying to resurrect value from that control. Hence the situation the Sox find themselves in….

That's fair and I get all that. No argument from me - a bit different than the post I quoted. And the $250M reference was from Tony's post. I agree there is no reason the Sox shouldn't be operating right below the luxury tax. But they're going to be right around $195M_$200M - just like I said all offseason - after everyone was convinced it'd be cut back into the $175M range. I do think Rick still has a trade or two in him to improve the club. He went on and on about trades in the early offseason and hasn't made one. I suspect he's just waiting for something closer to his ask as opposed to forcing things, and I am OK with that.

Grandal has said he's healthy right now. People can recover from back injuries. They just need him to be like 60% of his 2019-2021 self to be useful in a platoon. If he simply can't do it, they have Zavala who is already at least an average MLB catcher - 1.9 fWAR in 2022 was good for 7th in the AL, and 13th in the game. His fWAR per game played ranked 7th in the game in 2022. Now is that sustainable for Seby? Probably not. But he's at least a league averagish catcher by measure of fWAR. If Seby had options, I'd be all for brining in another catcher. But let's not act like the FA market was flush with good options for what they needed. It just is what it is with Grandal. Hope he's healthy and can produce in a part time role. If not, you cut bait in May or June and Seby and Perez duke it out. Sox also signed that Rivero kid from KC who Grifol loves and at least you have a guy who can excel defensively back there in the event he is needed. I also think Grifol's influence on Seby behind the plate shouldn't be downplayed.

I guess I don't really follow. Be mad, gnash your teeth and light your pitchforks if you wish. There is good reason to be fed up - the Sox were awful in 2022, and have mostly botched every decision of note since losing to Oakland in October 2020. But you cannot possibly be suggesting the Chicago White Sox were going to operate with a $250M payroll in 2023. Its just not reality. You can carry 2 MLB catchers on the roster. One of them is getting paid $18.25M and is going nowhere because of that. He has also been the 2nd or 3rd best catcher in the game over the past half decade +, and if he can get healthy, its reasonable to expect a better 2023. Seby Zavala by measure of fWAR was the 6th most valuable catcher in the AL last season. He is also out of options. Again, there is no room to add another catcher to the roster. Clevinger was a perfectly acceptable backend SP add with upside. I see no reason to be upset about that move. Yes, the lack of any move at 2B is frustrating. I agree. But again they weren't going to blow by $200M payroll, and its reasonable to expect that Sosa/Romy/JRod can give you close to what Harrison did for 15% of the cost. It was pretty obvious that the Sox were going to move on from Tony, add around the edges with a focus on getting more left handed and better defensively, and run it back in 2023. And that is what they've done to date. I struggle to see why anyone would be surprised by this.