ChiSox59

Ehh. My estimations are irrelevant. They played really good and inspired baseball the 2nd half. They have a player much better than anyone we have and rock solid pitching. The rest of the position player core outside of Gimenez is pretty meh. I'd wager a guess they don't win over 85 games in 2023.

Depends on what you can get for those guys. I would punt 2023 if it meant we could turn the aforementioned guys into a nice group of players to contribute in 2024 and on, and also help get the team to be a bit more cost controlled. I don't think this team as currently constructed is good enough to do any damage in the playoffs short of perhaps lucking into a WC series win with HFA from winning the division. If they decided to acquire Nimmo, a legit SP and something better than Romy/Yolbert/Sosa for 2B, and get bouncebacks from the guys they need to bounceback, they could be very good. So again, I'd rather see them actually attempt to win. But if they have a hard budget of $180M, that's going to be very hard to do, and in that scenario, I would explore trading the guys with value that aren't controlled beyond 2023/24. I also don't think very highly of the Twins or Guardians.

Also fair. But if the Sox keep all these guys and add on the fringes up to $180M payroll, they're going to be, at worst, in the thick of the ALC race. They aren't trading those guys in July if they're winning the division or within a reasonable distance. That's the thing - this team without any major additions is still plenty good enough to win this division, but they aren't good enough to be anything but a playoff underdog story.

I’d kinda hate to use the TA bullet on Albies. I’d much rather see the Sox actually sign some legit FAs and try to win, but if that’s not in the cards, I am leaning more and more towards selling our expiring assets and doing a reset. It’s so tough to swallow that pill because the division is so winnable the next couple years but Sox could do really really well selling TA, Giolito, Lynn, Hendriks, Graveman, Bummer. Of course it’s punting 2023, but could get some really interesting guys to pair with the remainder of the core in 2024. I feel really dirty having typed that, but if the payroll is maxed at $180M that’s probably the best play.

$22M? Woof.

Man, was I excited when that happened. Little did I think that would be the largest FA signing they’d make during this window.

Nor do we even know if Outman is available. Bellinger is. Outman could also be a AAAA player for all we know. He’s not even a top 100 prospect. You’d think the dude was the next coming of Bryce Harper based on Cali mentioning him every post.

Seems unlikely with Tovar and Johnson both on the staff.

Of course he did.

Ehhh. I’d prefer Boston be gone but he’s a 1B coach. It’s not exactly an earth shattering position.

They’re really nothing alike. At least Bellinger has legitimate value in the field and base paths. Dunn had none.

Yeah I mean, I guess I just need to see it to believe it. If I were Rick I’d underpromise as well. He’s gone the over promise route and he gets skewered for it daily. I don’t really give two shits about what Twitter blowhards like Josh Nelson, Eloy v Wall, NBB and the foodies have to say on the budget. But yeah, if for some reason $180M is the number, may as well trade everyone not named Luis Robert, hope he has a monster season, then trade him too. Because you can’t build a competitive roster with $10M when you have 1 OF and 4 SP, and all the main offensive issues from 22 are still present, less perhaps the best hitter on the team. and fwiw, I don’t really think projecting the same payroll as 2022 should be labeled optimism. I think it’s just the baseline projection until it’s not, despite the meaningless early offseason chatter.

I’d acquire one of the left handed hitting OFs and a SP and go to battle. Might be tough to do with $15M. I will assume Sox will operate with $190-200M payroll until they don’t. Which means they have more like $25-30M to spend. If Sox can only spend $15M this offseason, not only are they their biggest impediment, but they should just trade everyone of value because they aren’t going to win jackshit.

I don’t think 2/$20m is that different from 1/$10m with a $15M team option. I’d take the over on both honestly. I think the team option deal is great because the team gets to reap the rewards for a year or two if he figures it out. Not sure how Aquino and Bellinger are remotely similar. Sox need LH OF bad; Aquino is just a guy that had a really good month on a bad tram. Bellinger may be broken, but he’s over a year younger that Aquino and has an MVP. If Sox could get Belly on @GREEDYproposed deal, I’d jump on it. He slides in third on my OF wish list after Nimmo, and then a large drop to down Conforto.

A little surprised on Mendick, but called this as a possibility right when he got hurt. Shame for Danny.

My thoughts as well, especially Luis. Hate to see it.

Kopech has the upside of one of the best SP in the game. He has only 3 years of control left because Sox horribly mishandled him. You gotta keep him as as a SP for now. Hard pass on moving him to the pen and creating another gaping hole in the rotation.

I’m surprised by the CF numbers. I thought he looked adequate out there, surprisingly. But perhaps that’s just because I had very low expectations.

He played very little RF after the first month or so. And it was rough. He was serviceable in LF and CF.

Still was a bit of a square peg in a round hole. But it was the best he was gonna do with Kimbrel.

.800 OPS switch hitting 3B with a well above average glove aren’t that plentiful. That’s a very valuable player.

I literally think he’d fit right in with the crew. Perhaps a slight upgrade on the 1B, but he’s really bad. He looks like a flimsy green bean with a hat on wiggling around out there. It’s bad. Not a fit defensively at all, which we all know should be a focus. The bat would work tho. There’s worse moves that could be made.

Yoan is definitely a guy I could see being a very productive major leaguer until he’s in has late with 30s with just a priority shift. He’s got all the talent in the world. He’s probably already locked himself into being a let down in a White Sox jersey, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the light bulb go on once he realizes the well is going to run dry in a couple years. It’s in there. Hope it starts in 23.

If Winker wasn’t a complete butcher in LF, his offensive profile would be a solid fit. But we don’t need more DHs.

It makes no sense. Sox will trade him pennies on the dollar and Gio will be a 4 WAR SP in 2023 because the dude wants to get paid.