14 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

The other Calhoun...

I was gonna say, I think he means Willie Calhoun.

21 minutes ago, Tony said:

It really is perplexing. The guy has posted an .OPS above .800 once, and that was in 2013 in 222 PA's. He seems incredibly average, especially entering his age 32 season as you brought up. 

The better Calhoun... Willie Calhoun.. OF/DH for the Rangers.

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

FWIW, "Jon Jay will provide OBP and is an upgrade defensively" was a thing that was said repeatedly last offseason. I just shuddered at hearing it about someone else. 

Not by me. I repeatedly said he was slow as molasses to anyone who speculated him in CF by using his sprint speed numbers.

48 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Top $ for a career year.  

Pass.  Hard.

Sox have no business trading any pitching anyway.

 

 

You can't even call it a career year . He did great for only 297 plate appearances, He had a career 1/2 year. And yea no thanks. Those are the kind of numbers we hope Collins can get. And Gallo had 2 years with high K around 200 per season , high walks and less than .210 batting average but high OPS due to the 40 and 41 HR;s he provided. One guy like that I could possibly stomach like Collins but 2 you 're relying on walks too much without a hit tool. Too typically all or nothing or the BB, K ,HR outcome.

Also the Ranger more than likely will move both Choo and Mazara. Choo as a semi salary dump and possible eating some of that contract.

Choo would be an interesting DH candidate if they really wanted to scrounge (rather than paying $$$ for JDM)

Edited October 2, 20196 yr by daggins

1 hour ago, daggins said:

Choo would be an interesting DH candidate if they really wanted to scrounge (rather than paying $$$ for JDM)

This is the first person I thought of too. At 37, I really hope the Sox don't go down this road though.

Willie Calhoun has a interesting bat but another player with a bad glove.  Choo has a terrible glove.  The short term answer while our prospects develop is Gardner.

3 hours ago, BamaDoc said:

Willie Calhoun has a interesting bat but another player with a bad glove.  Choo has a terrible glove.  The short term answer while our prospects develop is Gardner.

I think Gardner is a good choice and would come cheap but I think he will stay in NY to finish his career. 

The Sox have at least a dozen different options for RF and they are all flawed in their own way. Most of them in multiple ways.

Whether it's handedness, lack of RF arm, salary, injury history, lack of OBP, lack of overall defense, high acquisition cost,  contract, etc. there is something to knock on just about all the guys out there. As opposed to last year when Harper fit what this team needed exactly (and still does). The free agent options aren't good fits for the team and no one is exactly excited to trade any of the prospects because of reasonable concerns over the depth of the system.  With all that in mind, I am still not all that concerned about right field.

There is no doubt that right field is a black hole that needs to be addressed but I am much more concerned on the quality of the targets the Sox convert on at SP and at the C/DH/WE positions.  1. Yasmani Grandal 2. Josh Donaldson 3. Anthony Rendon 4. JD Martinez 5. Gerrit Cole 6. Stephen Strasburg. These are the players they need to pursue (in no particular order) and actually sign.  Given the volume of RF's that will be on the market there should be a solid deal or two to fall into. The Sox need a headliner though. They need to show they're serious and take advantage of the payroll situation they created for this exact purpose. If they do that, everything else may actually fall into place. 

17 hours ago, SCCWS said:

I think Gardner is a good choice and would come cheap but I think he will stay in NY to finish his career. 

He wants to stay but I am hoping he is odd man out.  They have big money committed to Stanton, Hicks and Judge is not going anywhere.  They wouldn't trade Frazier (young OF) at deadline and found some cheap productive players.  They have been up at the tax levels and they seem to want to stay below or around the max.  They have to add pitching which will be expensive thus I hope he simply is odd man out.  Hell they hit him #3 last night so they do like him.

21 hours ago, raBBit said:

The Sox have at least a dozen different options for RF and they are all flawed in their own way. Most of them in multiple ways.

Whether it's handedness, lack of RF arm, salary, injury history, lack of OBP, lack of overall defense, high acquisition cost,  contract, etc. there is something to knock on just about all the guys out there. As opposed to last year when Harper fit what this team needed exactly (and still does). The free agent options aren't good fits for the team and no one is exactly excited to trade any of the prospects because of reasonable concerns over the depth of the system.  With all that in mind, I am still not all that concerned about right field.

There is no doubt that right field is a black hole that needs to be addressed but I am much more concerned on the quality of the targets the Sox convert on at SP and at the C/DH/WE positions.  1. Yasmani Grandal 2. Josh Donaldson 3. Anthony Rendon 4. JD Martinez 5. Gerrit Cole 6. Stephen Strasburg. These are the players they need to pursue (in no particular order) and actually sign.  Given the volume of RF's that will be on the market there should be a solid deal or two to fall into. The Sox need a headliner though. They need to show they're serious and take advantage of the payroll situation they created for this exact purpose. If they do that, everything else may actually fall into place. 

Grandal is a terrible idea.  Average defensive catcher on the wrong side of 30 who has had two lucky offensive seasons and is more likely to hit .220 than .250.  Hard Pass.  Ozuna or bust this offseason.  

 

On 10/2/2019 at 12:25 PM, Balta1701 said:

Even though he missed a portion of the season with an injury, the Rangers can value him like a 5-6 WAR player under control for 3 years based on him raking this year. Kopech, Cease, or Robert as the headliner, Madrigal or Vaughn as the 2nd piece, then a couple more guys to go along with them?

If the Sox did that, the front office should be absolutely crucified.  That's the worst trade I've ever seen.  

12 minutes ago, ChiSox1917 said:

Grandal is a terrible idea.  Average defensive catcher on the wrong side of 30 who has had two lucky offensive seasons and is more likely to hit .220 than .250.  Hard Pass.  Ozuna or bust this offseason.  

 

If the Sox did that, the front office should be absolutely crucified.  That's the worst trade I've ever seen.  

Are you actually using batting average as the sole metric when evaluating Grandal’s offensive contributions?  Does a career 14% BB rate and 20+ HRs for four straight seasons not do anything for you?

12 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Are you actually using batting average as the sole metric when evaluating Grandal’s offensive contributions?  Does a career 14% BB rate and 20+ HRs for four straight seasons not do anything for you?

No, not when he's on the wrong side of 30.  I expect major regression in his numbers the next few years.  

1 minute ago, ChiSox1917 said:

No, not when he's on the wrong side of 30.  I expect major regression in his numbers the next few years.  

He’s shown zero signs of slowing down though.

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

He’s shown zero signs of slowing down though.

He's also been an extremely lucky hitter.  A lot of guys begin to trend downward after 30, especially catchers.  Add the general trend to the fact his numbers are inflated due to luck, and he's the prime candidate of all the FA's this offseason to get a massive overpay.  

6 minutes ago, ChiSox1917 said:

He's also been an extremely lucky hitter.  A lot of guys begin to trend downward after 30, especially catchers.  Add the general trend to the fact his numbers are inflated due to luck, and he's the prime candidate of all the FA's this offseason to get a massive overpay.  

His wOBA and xwOBA were basically equally this year, so not sure what luck are you referring to?  Just his batting average again?

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

His wOBA and xwOBA were basically equally this year, so not sure what luck are you referring to?  Just his batting average again?

Yes

He's basically Todd Frazier.  

On 10/2/2019 at 1:19 PM, Sleepy Harold said:

I think Choo could be a very attainable (and cheap to acquire), albeit unsexy pickup that could help the team out a lot. He can play RF, bats LH, good OBP guy, only signed for 1 more season. Theoretically buys the OFers on the farm another year to develop/someone step up. 

The Rangers are one of the teams generally listed as a possible suitor for JD Martinez if he becomes a free agent, but would probably be out on him if Choo remains on their roster (who DHs about half the time).

On 10/4/2019 at 3:33 PM, SCCWS said:

I think Gardner is a good choice and would come cheap but I think he will stay in NY to finish his career. 

Gardner, Peterson or Calhoun all would be solid upgrades to the position without breaking the bank.  Spend the money saved on pitching.

 

1 minute ago, aeichhor said:

 

I like the idea of Mazara as a 4th OF if he is cheap enough.  Not as our everyday RF.

21 minutes ago, BackDoorBreach said:

I like the idea of Mazara as a 4th OF if he is cheap enough.  Not as our everyday RF.

What?

The White Sox need to just avoid the Rangers in discussions. They aren't going to trade Gallo as he is their star heading into the new ballpark. He's the only player on that roster that is worth going after. Therefore, just stay away from them. Mazara isn't a good baseball player. He's a LH version of Avi Garcia who they just got away from. They can do better than Mazara. Yuck. 

23 minutes ago, BackDoorBreach said:

I like the idea of Mazara as a 4th OF if he is cheap enough.  Not as our everyday RF.

This makes no sense. Your 4th OF especially with Eloy in LF should be a defensive guy. Mazara is a bad defender. 

It all really depends how the rest of the roster shakes out on if Mazara makes any sense or not.  

Sox could do worse than Mazara on a 1 year ~$4.5M deal if the price to acquire him was minimal.  If he sucks, you non-tender him after 2020.  There is still a lot of upside there, and its not like you're taking on a big commitment.  I prefer him to say - Kole Calhoun.  But Mazara definitely isn't in my top 5 choices for RF acquisitions.  Its a shame he isn't a better defender.