steveno89

How is Springer going to be affordable? He will hit free agency at age 31, and likely be ticketed for a lucrative 6 year deal. Cheaper than Betts? Sure, but still expect it to be at least 6/$150 million

Teheran or Nova are far from flashy, but might be exactly what this rotation needs as a #5 to go out and eat innings. That or a Homer Bailey, or Alex Wood?

Twins and White Sox are both in desperate need of pitching, with a limited supply remaining.

This entire rebuild only goes as far as Giolito/Kopech/Lopez/Cease/Dunning/Stiever will take us. Sure, we can and will add outside talent, but our farm is thin and pretty top heavy. Is trading Madrigal/Cease/Vaughn really in our best long term interest right now? Likely not.

No idea why the Sox would not entertain signing Taijuan Walker to a minor league deal? There is a pretty clear potential path towards getting a shot on the MLB club in a relief/swing role. Zero risk move, and I am not sure I see any team risking a MLB deal with him.

Castellanos ideal value would be at DH, and I do not think we are ready to commit that sort of money to a DH/platoon RF. His atrocious defense negates some of his bat's value.

Sox might be wise to grab Wood/Teheran/Bailey/Gio/Nova/etc soon something they do not seem desperate in a trade. At least they will have acquired one starting option, lessening the pressure a little bit?

I do not get the impression the Sox are interested in Ryu. I think he stays West.

Tick tock. Names keep being inked daily right now. Soon they will be left with only scraps.

5 years for Ryu is a disaster waiting to happen. Yuck.

I’m trying hard to be patient, but each day more names get snapped up as the Sox sit there. jeez I really hope they have a plan, because another offseason like 2019 and I will be leading the angry mob.

Another potential option bites the dust...

I could see Ryu settling for a two year deal with an option. The injury history is hard to ignore. I have not heard of one reported three year offer for Ryu.

Signing them to what though? Is rolling the dice on Ryu for two years a risk worth taking? Perhaps. Keuchel for three years? Perhaps. If Ryu wants three and Keuchel wants four I think we would be wise to look elsewhere for help. These guys could still be in play for the Sox.

You do not know what else goes on in these negotiations though. I always suspected it would be difficult to get Bumgarner to leave the NL, especially the West. Ryu and Keuchel remain unsigned, we cannot really talk what ifs until the ink is dried. What we do know if that Ryu has an extensive injury history and going multi year with him would be a massive risk. Keuchel remains a possibility, but the Sox will sit back and continue to monitor free agent markets. There are years and prices that make sense, and years and prices that do not. Going out and spending on players for the hell of it is not smart. There are very real red flags on these guys.

I am not saying this is necessarily what I want to happen, but it is looking more and more likely that this is what happens. Ryu is made of glass and is unlikely to leave the West Coast. Keuchel makes degrees of sense, but really depends on at what cost and how many years. There is not a clear answer following the miss on Wheeler. Unfortunate, but reality.

We all hope Vaughn is on a 2021 MLB trajectory, but hard to pencil him in until he mashes in 2020. McCann will likely be gone after 2020, and Abreu and Vaughn could trade off 1B/DH.

https://theathletic.com/1460540/2019/12/16/mailbag-where-do-the-white-sox-go-from-here-and-will-they-ever-sign-a-scott-boras-client/?source=shared-article James does a great job at answering questions and alluding to what the front office is likely dealing with. Missing on Wheeler was huge, because they projected him to still be a quality option in years two, three and four, whereas you really cannot do that with many of the remaining FA pitching options. It will not make people happy, and is far from sexy, but I am starting to expect two bargain bin starters on one year deals being added to the 2020 team. The Central is winnable, but James' point about going from low 70's wins to near 90 is not easy to do in a single offseason. Overpaying now for pitching we may not even want in twelve months is a difficult decision. I am not here to carry water or to say this is an acceptable approach, but long term it may be in our best interests. Our farm is top heavy and fairly thin on depth that we should not be stealing from at this stage to bandaid the MLB roster. Colome/Herrera come off the books after 2020, opening up nearly $18.8 million in payroll. Yes, we will need to address the bullpen, but that breathing room will be nice. We need internal options to develop and be MLB ready.

Is it? Have you seen him face live batters since September 2018? We have no idea how he will fare until Spring Training, and even then, exactly what ChiSox59 said

Kopech has zero basis to file a grievance

You get the lost season of control back for a player like Kopech. There's no reason to rush him back and toss him into a MLB rotation in early April. There's a strong chance you do not like what you see from him this spring anyway, and he will need that minor league time to work his way back.

Not saying it is. We could do worse than a player like Gonzalez as our fifth starter though. He should not cost too much and could be had on a one year deal. Far from sexy, but could be a reasonable bounce back to a 2+ WAR season kind of guy. I have higher hopes, but getting better is getting better.

Sox are certainly going to acquire two more starting pitchers prior to spring training, even if only for depth purposes. Covey and Fulmer will not be a part of the rotation, if they are then the offseason was an utter disaster.

Cease has faced hitters in 2019, Kopech has not. Sure, they will see how Kopech does in spring training, but he is still ticketed to start in AAA, where he will not be asked to immediately be throwing 5+ innings as a starter. You cannot pencil in a guy coming back from TJS surgery for anything until you see how it goes with him on the mound for awhile.

Kopech has 14 MLB innings to his name and has not earned a starting rotation spot in any sense. Kopech absolutely should be sent to AAA for at least a month to build up his arm and face hitters. Sox absolutely are going to get the lost year of service time back, but there's zero argument against having him be in AAA for 1-2 months.