What should the Sox do with James McCann?

[Perfect Vision]

While Vaughn's bat is arguably MLB ready right now, he still hasn't played an official game above A ball.  Isn't it possible that he spends all of 2021 in the minors, split amongst A+, AA, and AAA?  That way McCann could get full playing time next year, splitting C/DH duties with Grandal, and you only have a real logjam in 2022.  That's the last year of Abreu's contract, with Vaughn presumably taking over full time at 1B in 2023.

[EloyJenkins]

9 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

James best offer will probably be 3yrs 27 million. 

totally agree he gets no more than 9-10 mil a year. I was thinking 2 year would be 2/18 with a buyout and 3 year would be 3/24 with no buyout on the open market (Covid contracts are going to be smaller this offseason). Would he take less to stay with the Sox? 3/22 should absolutely fit into the Sox budget going forward. 

[EloyJenkins]

5 minutes ago, Perfect Vision said:

While Vaughn's bat is arguably MLB ready right now, he still hasn't played an official game above A ball.  Isn't it possible that he spends all of 2021 in the minors, split amongst A+, AA, and AAA?  That way McCann could get full playing time next year, splitting C/DH duties with Grandal, and you only have a real logjam in 2022.  That's the last year of Abreu's contract, with Vaughn presumably taking over full time at 1B in 2023.

I like this thought process. But if it's me as GM...I am trading Vaughn for an elite starter and trying to win this season thru 2022 while they have everyone still under contract. 2023 is way too late for a polished college bat to be held back and having him start in 2022 at some point (after service time manipulation) would be at the very height of their championship run and probably not the best way to get him league comfortable. 

[jamesdiego]

No way in hell do I want to trade Vaughn.  I’m salivating adding his bat to this already formidable offense.  
 

Someone else already asked, but can he possibly play right field?   I didn’t see him but a little bit at third base.   Seemed decently athletic.  How strong is his arm?  

[ChiSoxJon]

At this point, retaining McCann is a must

No, that doesn't mean Vaughn is getting dealt...He's the 1B of the future with Abreu at DH and hopefully an improved Eloy in LF and EE long gone

3/30 would be perfect, having a duo of Grandal and McCann would be amazing

I took heat for not being that thrilled with the Grandal deal, but my questions really aren't that wild now

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

I think you entertain trading him.. You do not have room for two large C contracts.. And IDK if you can trade Grandal since we JUST signed him.. That would look horrible for future potential FA signings.

[hi8is]

17 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

I think you entertain trading him.

Um... no.

[steveno89]

2 hours ago, Perfect Vision said:

While Vaughn's bat is arguably MLB ready right now, he still hasn't played an official game above A ball.  Isn't it possible that he spends all of 2021 in the minors, split amongst A+, AA, and AAA?  That way McCann could get full playing time next year, splitting C/DH duties with Grandal, and you only have a real logjam in 2022.  That's the last year of Abreu's contract, with Vaughn presumably taking over full time at 1B in 2023.

I love McCann, but I think he will get a multi year offer for starting catcher money this offseason from another club. How much money can the Sox sink into the catcher position as well? 

As for Vaughn, you absolutely do not trade him at this stage. Encarnacion is gone after this season, and replacing him in house with Vaughn would free up roughly $11 million in payroll. Vaughn is viewed as the long term answer at 1B for the Sox and should be MLB ready early 2021. 

[Perfect Vision]

15 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

I think you entertain trading him.. You do not have room for two large C contracts.. And IDK if you can trade Grandal since we JUST signed him.. That would look horrible for future potential FA signings.

I think there's actually a lot to like about extending McCann and keeping Grandal if they're both ok with it.  Both guys will get their share of starts at catcher, their share at DH (so full time at bats for both), and potentially you're extending the longevity of both as catchers.  If one gets injured, the other steps in and you don't miss a beat as a team.  But this only works if both can continue to hit at a level of a regular DH.

[steveno89]

59 minutes ago, ChiSoxJon said:

At this point, retaining McCann is a must

No, that doesn't mean Vaughn is getting dealt...He's the 1B of the future with Abreu at DH and hopefully an improved Eloy in LF and EE long gone

3/30 would be perfect, having a duo of Grandal and McCann would be amazing

I took heat for not being that thrilled with the Grandal deal, but my questions really aren't that wild now

Sox are not sinking over $28 million annually into the catcher position, it just is not happening^

 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

1 minute ago, Perfect Vision said:

I think there's actually a lot to like about extending McCann and keeping Grandal if they're both ok with it.  Both guys will get their share of starts at catcher, their share at DH (so full time at bats for both), and potentially you're extending the longevity of both as catchers.  If one gets injured, the other steps in and you don't miss a beat as a team.  But this only works if both can continue to hit at a level of a regular DH.

But they won't get full time at bats at DH next year.  Abreu and Vaughn will be at DH and 1B.

[Perfect Vision]

11 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

But they won't get full time at bats at DH next year.  Abreu and Vaughn will be at DH and 1B.

I don't think it's a sure thing that Vaughn will be up next year.  Dude has only played 50 professional games, none above A ball, and the Sox are going to make him their regular DH in April?  I know this season has been weird and he's getting time in Schaumburg, but seeing him in MLB before he's played a bunch of AA games is a stretch.

[Perfect Vision]

15 minutes ago, steveno89 said:

Sox are not sinking over $28 million annually into the catcher position, it just is not happening^

 

Better to look at it as $28 mil split among catcher and DH.  Vaughn may not be the answer next year.  Sox may want him to play a full season in the minors.  In that case, there will be a hole at DH.  I think most, myself included, would prefer a Grandal and McCann combo then the Sox picking up EE's option.

[fathom]

5 minutes ago, Perfect Vision said:

Better to look at it as $28 mil split among catcher and DH.  Vaughn may not be the answer next year.  Sox may want him to play a full season in the minors.  In that case, there will be a hole at DH.  I think most, myself included, would prefer a Grandal and McCann combo then the Sox picking up EE's option.

I can say with significant confidence Vaughn will be up in 2021 for most, if not all, of the season

[steveno89]

4 minutes ago, Perfect Vision said:

Better to look at it as $28 mil split among catcher and DH.  Vaughn may not be the answer next year.  Sox may want him to play a full season in the minors.  In that case, there will be a hole at DH.  I think most, myself included, would prefer a Grandal and McCann combo then the Sox picking up EE's option.

Vaughn was the best hitter in college baseball in 2019, and absolutely will be MLB ready in 2021. I think you are underestimating how good of a hitter he is. 

Sox are rumored to be considering even calling him up in 2020 if Encarnacion did not show improvement. 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

12 minutes ago, Perfect Vision said:

Better to look at it as $28 mil split among catcher and DH.  Vaughn may not be the answer next year.  Sox may want him to play a full season in the minors.  In that case, there will be a hole at DH.  I think most, myself included, would prefer a Grandal and McCann combo then the Sox picking up EE's option.

In this scenario (not likely) we will only need a stop gap for 1 year... Then we have Grandal and McCann for 2-3 more.. there just isn't room for that kind of money with our roster construction

[Perfect Vision]

Vaughn is great.  I think he's a huge part of the future.  But you think the Sox are going to have Vaughn skip AA and AAA entirely next year??  That's a huge stretch and would potentially set him up to struggle in MLB and be sent down.

[joejoesox]

its crazy that the sox went from having the biggest hole at catcher of arguably any MLB team, to having the most depth and best tandem in baseball lol 

catcher has been such a hole for this organization, hence all the catchers we've drafted recently 

[hi8is]

1 hour ago, Perfect Vision said:

Vaughn is great.  I think he's a huge part of the future.  But you think the Sox are going to have Vaughn skip AA and AAA entirely next year??  That's a huge stretch and would potentially set him up to struggle in MLB and be sent down.

You haven’t seen him hit yet, have you?

[thxfrthmmrs]

Would resigning McCann also help with a Gio extension? I know McCann’s new deal won’t go past Gio’s rookie deal, but it’s the White Sox’s way of showing faith and investing in Gio’s success by locking his personal catcher, a #2 on the depth chart, to big dollars.

Even we won’t get much discount on a Gio extension, locking him up for two more years at a reasonable rate would be awesome, and if resigning McCann helps getting it done then sign me up.

[Chicago White Sox]

6 hours ago, EloyJenkins said:

That is the catch 22 here. You resign McCann...Vaughn is getting traded people. Simple as that. Eloy is moving to DH by 2023 at the very latest, and with Grandal, Abreu, McCann and Eloy all vying for 2 future positions, that just doesn't leave space for Vaughn. EE is gone after this season no matter what. 

I seriously doubt Vaughn gets traded.  Dude could easily become our best hitter and is dirt cheap.  Eloy isn’t getting moved to DH until 2023 at the earliest.

[chitownsportsfan]

2 hours ago, Perfect Vision said:

Vaughn is great.  I think he's a huge part of the future.  But you think the Sox are going to have Vaughn skip AA and AAA entirely next year??  That's a huge stretch and would potentially set him up to struggle in MLB and be sent down.

I dunno are they having the AFL this year?  How about Dominican league?  Really just depends.  He's getting reps at Shaumburg but if he can get 200+ more PA in real games this fall and winter he's not going to need many more in the high minors before he's ready.  He certainly looked ready this spring before COVID hit.  He's got one of those swings that just plays against all levels of competition.  He's as direct to the ball as any Sox hitter in recent memory: there's no wasted movement in his giddy up.

[hi8is]

9 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I dunno are they having the AFL this year?  How about Dominican league?  Really just depends.  He's getting reps at Shaumburg but if he can get 200+ more PA in real games this fall and winter he's not going to need many more in the high minors before he's ready.  He certainly looked ready this spring before COVID hit.  He's got one of those swings that just plays against all levels of competition.  He's as direct to the ball as any Sox hitter in recent memory: there's no wasted movement in his giddy up.

Very possible Vaughn turns out to be the best hitter from the 2019 draft class and it’s also possible he’s the most polished hitter right now in our organization.

He is just flat out naturally gifted as a pure hitter.

[southsider2k5]

13 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I seriously doubt Vaughn gets traded.  Dude could easily become our best hitter and is dirt cheap.  Eloy isn’t getting moved to DH until 2023 at the earliest.

Our best hitter? With a batting champion,  multiple time silver slugger, plus Eloy and Robert that is a big ask.

[thxfrthmmrs]

I think if we resign McCann, we could roll with Abreu/Grandal/McCann/Collins rotation between 1B/C/DH for the first two months or so next year. The thought is McCann catches 30% of the time and splits time with Collins at DH. If Collins is playing great, or Vaughn struggles in minors then we delay Vaughn’s callup. Once he’s up, we trade Collins for whatever return we could get.

And once Vaughn is up, I expect the next 2 years going forward we could plug him 1B and backup LF (honestly he couldn’t be worse than Eloy) and we would be able to keep everyone fresh:

Abreu DH/1B 140 games

Grandal C/DH/1B :130 games

Vaughn 1B/LF/DH: 140 games

Eloy LF/DH:145 games

McCann C/DH : 90 games

McCann gets 90 games easily, and that’s assuming no one gets hurt. Having quality depth is great.

Edited August 26, 2020 by thxfrthmmrs