32 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Probably but the Twins are going to take a major step back.  

When 60% of your rotation the first 25% of the season is Lewis Thorpe, Randy Dobnak and Devin Smeltzer, you're going to lose a lot of games.  

Best case scenario for the Sox is that the Twins are forced to trade away major future talent in Royce Lewis and/or Kirilloff for SP because they've left themselves no other options.  Or maybe its just filling in their rotation with guys like Nova and Smyly.  Either way, their rotation is pretty gross.    

I said I don't think the odds are MIN wins the division again

do you think the central division will be a three team race between the sox,twins and Cleveland?

2 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

I said I don't think the odds are MIN wins the division again

Indians still look solid (Kluber didn't contribute last year) until they deal off Lindor (but that also depends on what they bring back).

Just now, timbo8 said:

do you think the central division will be a three team race between the sox,twins and Cleveland?

Yeah. I don't think they're trading Lindor this year. 

i think the Twins will pick up a starter or two that overperform. Nova definitely being a prime candidate for that. Or maybe Alex Wood. They just have a knack for getting way too much out of mediocre players. BUT...they will not win more than 92 games at the very most this season, and probably are more in the 87-90 range. 

I'd prefer someone with defensive ability and not a plodding 1B type. Puig would make sense but he's a reverse splits guy. 

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'd prefer someone with defensive ability and not a plodding 1B type. Puig would make sense but he's a reverse splits guy. 

Yep, hits righties better than lefties so he doesn’t make much sense.

5 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

i think the Twins will pick up a starter or two that overperform. Nova definitely being a prime candidate for that. Or maybe Alex Wood. They just have a knack for getting way too much out of mediocre players. BUT...they will not win more than 92 games at the very most this season, and probably are more in the 87-90 range. 

That knack worked in 2019 but in 2018 it was a disaster for them.

6 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

Yep, hits righties better than lefties so he doesn’t make much sense.

Who's still out there besides Puig/Dickerson in the OF and Gennett at 2B? Sousa? 

Edited December 23, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

3 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Who's still out there besides Puig/Dickerson in the OF and Gennett at 2B? Sousa? 

Sousa would not be a terrible option, but I don’t know if he would be interested in a weak sided platoon. I’m sure he wants to rebuild his value after missing all of last season.

4 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Who's still out there besides Puig/Dickerson in the OF and Gennett at 2B? Sousa? 

Pence

I really want Puig... his 'attitude' is vastly overstated IMO. He'd make an excellent outfielder at a very reasonable cost. 

 

10 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

That knack worked in 2019 but in 2018 it was a disaster for them.

yeah. the make-up of the rest of the club is definitely a winning formula. So weird that they really cheapened out after 101 wins. Shocking actually. 

9 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Who's still out there besides Puig/Dickerson in the OF and Gennett at 2B? Sousa? 

6 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Who's still out there besides Puig/Dickerson in the OF and Gennett at 2B? Sousa? 

I've been talking up Hunter Pence but if you want good D not sure he's a good choice. But if you want offense his splits were outstanding last year against lefties. It's just a matter of if you can really believe at his age he's good for another excellent year for around 300 AB's. Also hit righties fairly well. I'd be happier spending EE money on the BP orw hoever else the Sox deem as a contributor in the infield or OF.

4 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I've been talking up Hunter Pence but if you want good D not sure he's a good choice. But if you want offense his splits were outstanding last year against lefties. It's just a matter of if you can really believe at his age he's good for another excellent year for around 300 AB's. Also hit righties fairly well. I'd be happier spending EE money on the BP orw hoever else the Sox deem as a contributor in the infield or OF.

Pence as a platoon bat (if they have Collins at DH, he can pick up some at bats there too) with Mazara would be fine with me.

9 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said:

I really want Puig... his 'attitude' is vastly overstated IMO. He'd make an excellent outfielder at a very reasonable cost. 

 

No it's not vastly overstated I think it was sports illustrated that quoted him as saying he never took getting in shape seriously until he had to play for a new contract. There were also a lot of Dodgers who were sick of his me only attitude , ignoring coaches on defensive positioning, not hitting cut off men . If anything it's not stated often enough.

14 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

yeah. the make-up of the rest of the club is definitely a winning formula. So weird that they really cheapened out after 101 wins. Shocking actually. 

Oh God the Twins are going to sign Jay and Alonso and get like 5 WAR from the pair of them aren’t they....

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

Oh God the Twins are going to sign Jay and Alonso and get like 5 WAR from the pair of them aren’t they....

Wouldn't be shocked if they signed Jay.  He seems like a Twin.

Pillar hits lefties ok (105 WRC+), provides good defense and would be dirt cheap on a one year deal. 

26 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said:

Pence as a platoon bat (if they have Collins at DH, he can pick up some at bats there too) with Mazara would be fine with me.

Pence looked done after 2018 with the Giants but then looked great with the Rangers in 2019 so who the heck knows what to expect from him in 2020, He only played 24 games in the field , 16 in LF and 8 in RF the other 46 he was DH. So again him on D is a risk . I'm actually much more concerned with adding to the bullpen.

Leury is probably fine as a platoon bat in RF as his splits against lefties were also pretty good and he brings much more as a fielder than Pence.

Edit : For more perspective on Pence here are a few links to see how he rebounded with the Rangers after giving a farewell speech to the Giants.

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/how-hunter-pence-bounced-back-difficult-end-giants-career

 this is a 22 minute documentary

Edited December 23, 20196 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside
Pence links

Too bad Sousa isn't good defensively, or he'd a nice platoon fit.  

1 hour ago, iWiN4PreP said:

I really want Puig... his 'attitude' is vastly overstated IMO. He'd make an excellent outfielder at a very reasonable cost. 

 

His attitude is not overstated whatsoever.  Seems like you care more about getting brand names than the White Sox sinning baseball games.

3 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I understand wanting EE.  Most are perfecrly willing to roll with Robert and Madrigal but not Collins. I understand both Robert and Madrigal can provide good play on both defense offense and the bases and Collins may be more of an offensive player. But if everyone is using the excuse of NEEDing to compete next year how is there much difference between rolling with 3 instead of 2 rookies in the lineup ? Are we also not going to use Kopech ?

Offensively Collins could add just as much as Robert. Both have big time power. Collins gets on base much better. What if Robert had come up and struggled as much as Collins ? After his disastrous 1st call up last year Collins went back down in July  and proceeded to absolutely destroy AAA .

About 150 AB's  .340 batting average . .700+ Slg and 1.200 OPS .  Just crazy good numbers .He then got called up again and did much better especially right near the end of the season;

I just don't think the argument for needing to attempt to win the division holds any water when guys like Kopech Robert and Madrigal will miss many games combined before they are brought up and will all certainly have struggles similar to what Collins had.

We keep hearing arguments from many learned Sox fans that the difference between Robert and Madrigal and Kopech missing games to get the extra years of control probably won't hurt the Sox in the quest for  the division. So why is Collins all of a sudden the odd man out ? Is the perceived difference between Collins and EE so great  or so different than the games Kopech, Robert and Madrigal will miss and the games where they will struggle ?

Let the young team grow together next year. Odds are you aren't winning the division with or without Collins . They can also win it with him and without EE. Everything still depends on performances of Kopech , Robert, Madrigal, Cease Collins as a whole.

I agree with this completely. I don't understand why so many fans want to just push Collins out when the team hasn't given him a real chance. He walks a ton, which is something missing from the Sox. He's a lefty, which the Sox need. 

2020 is going to be a testing year, with Robert, Madrigal, Kopech, Cease, Lopez, and Rodon all providing uncertain production. Adding Collins to that mix doesn't change much. And he might turn out to be a really good hitter. The Sox need to find out.

Plus, the Sox really need a 3rd catcher, or Renteria won't DH Grandal on his non-catching days. He refuses to DH his catcher without a backup on the bench. 

I'd much rather see the Sox continue to try to develop their young players than blow their limited funds on old DHs.

16 minutes ago, VAfan said:

Plus, the Sox really need a 3rd catcher, or Renteria won't DH Grandal on his non-catching days. He refuses to DH his catcher without a backup on the bench. 

Pretty sure Ricky doesn’t give a crap about playing both catchers at the same time. If I recall he did it quite a few times last season without Collins being called up.