TheFutureIsNear

Again, aside from guys like Nimmo, Turner and Carlos…who would you have signed and or traded for? And isn’t saying that I “accept the White Sox way” just another way of saying that I accept reality? What do you think I/you can do about it? Do you go outside and b**** about the cold every single day, or have you accepted it and try to make the best of it? Personally I’m the latter, I’m not going to go into every thread bitching about how bad ownership is. We all know it.

I agree with most/all of this. We can all b**** and moan about more than a handful of things Hahn and the front office have done/not don’t in the past 2-3 years. But right now? Short of saying the Sox should have signed Nimmo, Turner or Carlos I struggle to point to many/any moves made that make me think “the Sox really missed out.” Especially in RF, again, short of signing Nimmo I’m not sure there was a move to be made that justifies blocking Colas. Even 2B, would Segura have been nice? Sure, but is the difference between Segura and seeing what we have in Romy/Sosa going to make or break this year? I highly doubt it. Not sure what other legit 2B we could get either. And not sure what was expected out of a 5th starter, but Clevinger was a perfectly logical fit with upside. Now there are definitely still moves to be made to round out this roster (viable 4th OF’er and SP depth at least) and if they aren’t made I totally understand and will participate in the bitching.

Does Jerry even know the luxury tax exists? Can’t imagine that’s a thought that has ever crossed his mind. Hopefully backloading the deal was the front office trying to squeeze 1 last addition into the budget.

With those who are in more in tune to the payroll…does the only $8M (11 with bonus) in ‘23 affect how things were projected? If what I’ve read is correct we were like $3-5M away from keeping the payroll the same as last year. Does this put us at more like $5-10M to spend(In theory)? I’m assuming people were factoring his payroll hit at $16M in those projections?

OF- already agreed that we need a quality 4th OF’er. Kiermaier is the only realistic viable option that signed. Duvall is the best option but Pillar or JBJ aren’t horrible options. Raimel Tapia still kinda intrigues me , but not sure if his D would cut it in CF. 2B- Seguar was the only viable realistic option that has signed. Would he have been nice? Sure, but is our season going to come down to the difference between Segura vs Sosa/Romy? I’ll take my chances on that. SP- This is a discussion I’ve had with a couple different people already…but what legit MLB starters you’d feel comfortable with are signing as the 6th starter for the Sox? The answer is none. Our SP depth is going to have to come from minor league signings. This is a lot more of a poor development problem than it is lack of moves right now. C- Yeah I can’t argue that Grandal is a huge risk. That 1 unfortunately kinda is what it is because of Grandal’s contract. And I’ll pose the question again- other than Kiermaier and Segura what realistic deals that have been signed are you lamenting the Sox for not doing?

I’m not arguing at all that there is a strong need for a 4th of’er that can play CF…but who are the guys that signed already you think we missed out on? Nimmo, Bellinger, and Kiermaier were the only 3 options I see and out of those the only real argument is Kiermaier in terms of being realistic. And personally I’m not too torn up about missing out on him for $9mil. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I have a ton of faith in Hahn, but I can’t blame him YET for the roster not being complete.

Should we sign insurance options/utility players as insurance? Yes absolutely. But what’s the point of having a minor league system and developing players if you aren’t going to actually play them? Colas is 24, a stud top 100 prospect by all accounts, and has proven himself in the upper minors. There’s no logical reason why the Sox should have signed an OF’er to a multi year deal to block him. Obviously Sosa isn’t the type of prospect Colas is, but he clearly has the tool set to be at least an average MLB starting 2B and also proved himself in the upper minors. 2B is also arguably the easiest position to get acceptable production from, especially since Sosa should grade out just fine with the glove. Like it or not the Sox are never going to compete with teams like the Mets, Dodgers, or Yankees in terms of payroll and acquiring players. We should be striving to be more like the Braves or Rays…which heavily involves getting production from home grown young players. Obviously having their front office instead of Hahn and crew would also really help…

So the 900+ PA’s before and after the pandemic don’t mean anything? And also the mediocre #’s at Miami that caused him to be an 18th round pick? Just trying to be honest here…every organization has a AAAA utility infielder, ours isn’t anything special.

Does anybody really think Romy has any chance of being a good regular? Just don’t see any standout skills and the only real sustained success he had in the minors was 344 AB’s as a 24 in AA. Obviously our options are limited, but I think you have to let Sosa absolutely fail before Romy sees any kind of regular AB’s.

When did I say the 2nd prospect would be a top 100 guy? I specifically said the 2nd prospect would be outside of their top 10 prospects. Someone like Knack, Nastrini or Grove. Fringe B level prospects with back end of the rotation upside…which sadly the Sox desperately need because outside of Martin we have no one in the minors that can come up and pitch if needed. Not to mention that Bard and Soto don’t even belong in the same conversation as Hendriks. No team with WS aspirations is trading for them and thinking they’re set at closer.

I’d say you are way off on Liam’s value. 1 25 year top 50 prospect that hasn’t seen the majors yet isn’t crazy at all. But we can agree to disagree… And I don’t see how anyone could make any kind of argument that Liam is anything worse than the 4th best closer in baseball. Who are these teams you think could swoop in with a better offer if the Dodgers are indeed looking for a closer?

Anybody else a little surprised that there hasn’t been any traction at all on another Dodgers trade for a Sox closer? Dodgers definitely need a closer and also have a surplus to trade from. For 3B/2B/LF they have Muncy, Taylor, Outman, Vargas, and Busch to choose from(with a few others not far away in the minors). Busch is 25 now and if they don’t project him to start at 1 of those spots could be a trade candidate…and fits very nicely for the Sox. Not sure exactly how the value pans out with Busch being a top 50 prospect, but would have to imagine we could get at least another young SP outside of their top 10 along with Busch.

Isn’t it public knowledge that he had to have a pace maker put in? Not pretending to be a doctor, but I have a really hard time believing Tony would have been cleared to fly on a weekly basis and endure the stress of being a MLB manager. Obviously we’ll probably never know the real answer, but I think it’s well within reason to believe that Tony’s (sort of) departure was purely medical and we just got lucky.

It’s stuff like this why we can’t have nice things. You can’t run a sports franchise like it’s a country club, tell your old drunk buddies to go home Jerry.. Also tells me there was probably 0% Tony was getting fired or leaving if not for his health issue.

Because switching and/or abandoning your favorite sports team is unconstitutional and punishable by death…or at least it should be

If Moncada bounces back to at least a .270/.350/.420 hitter If Giolito can bounce back to 180+ innings if sub 4 ERA pitcher If TA, Robert, and Eloy can all play at least 135+ games If Vaughn and Kopech take the next development step forward If Grandal can catch 85+ games and be a useful hitter IF those things happen…sure we are a World Series contender *(Didn’t mention the uncertainties of Lynn, Clevinger and whoever our 2B is)

I also agree…but fangrpahs somehow doesn’t. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/chicago-white-sox-top-26-prospects-2023/

Not sure if it’s more sad or funny that fangraphs just released our top prospects and Santos is at #9.

Yeah clearly I was very wrong on Varsho’s value, I honestly wasn’t aware of how good his D is when I typed that. But I’ll still wait and see on how smart of a trade this actually is. If Varsho continues to improve with the bat it will be a good trade, but even if he takes a small step back we’re talking about a glove 1st CF’er with a 100 WRC+. Obviously still plenty of value in that player, but for a potential high end catcher and a starting level OF’er? Good luck Blue Jays…

Regardless of whether you think Sheets can play OF or not, he sure can’t play CF, and he hits from the same side as the 2 current projected corner OF’ers. We need another OF’er, preferably RH. We’re another Robert injury away from having Luery/Hamilton/Reyes in CF for an extended period of time …that can’t happen.

Well that has to signal that Jansen is off the table. Jays still have Kirk, but they can get those 2 more than enough AB’s between C and DH

Who I was thinking of. Someone like Sanchez, Roberto Perez, or Jason Castro platooned with Seby/Carlos Perez could potentially keep us afloat if the rest of the lineup is good. Obviously could also blow up and be a complete black hole…but then again if/when Grandal gets hurt we are in the same boat. The reports coming out seem to be pointing in the positive direction for Grandal, but we’ve also all seen players with positive reports in the off-season fall flat. Unfortunately with Grandal we are at the mercy of our front office making a smart informed decision on his health and ability to bounce back and be a useful catcher for at least 80+ games. Not sure how he’s useful to us if he can’t do that.

Looking at his #’s I’m assuming not, but any chance Aaron Hicks could still be a decent 4th OF’er? Was thinking something like this: Liam and Grandal for Gleyber, Hicks, $12M (makes the Hicks commitment same as $18M for Grandal), and a Yankees SP prospect like Clayton Beeter, Will Warren or Randy Vasquez. Obviously would leave us needing to find decent C, but the $ would be there to do so

He’s 21, hit 26 HR’s in his 1st full AA season, and most scouting reports give him a pretty good shot of staying at SS, at worst 3B. And also just won winter league MVP. What about his star do you think has “faded quite a bit”? Not saying I love Mauricio or that he’s close to equal value to Liam, but I sure wouldn’t mind getting him back in a trade. Liam and Leury for McCann, Escobar, Mauricio and another Mets prospect not named Baty, Alvarez, or Parada makes a lot of sense in my opinion.

It’s the Mets and they will clearly do anything to win a WS so very possible they would trade Baty…but I wouldn’t call him “blocked” either. He has already played some LF and pretty much every scouting report thinks he has enough athleticism to be fine there. Mets LF is Canha who’s on the last year of his deal so it makes sense for Baty to get more time in LF at AAA this year. Plus the Mets have Vogelbach at DH who could easily have another bad season.