1 minute ago, Rounding_Third said:

From December;

‘‘If Andrew had had daily competition outside of what we were able to do in Schaumburg, it would have been evident to everyone that he was ready for next year, if not sooner,’’ Hahn said after the season. ‘‘That was just sort of a mild casualty of the pandemic. But the skills are there; the tools continue to grow. He’s a remarkable hitter, real solid makeup and a guy we envision being part of this thing in the not-too-distant future.

‘‘The only hesitation is that he didn’t get a chance to play 120 games last year against outside competition".

 

Sounds to me like they're not quite comfortable bringing him up just yet.

 

That is also a great way of saying we want to control him for a 7th year that won't get you taken in front of an arbitrator for service time manipulation.

15 minutes ago, chitown87 said:

Reads to me like they're planning a May or June call up for him

Charlotte played 139 games in 2019. 120 games player games is pretty much a full season in the minors with days off.  In 2019, Madrigal hit .311 in 120 games and Robert hit ;328 in 122 games and neither saw the show.  Both progressed A to AAA so that may account for missed games, as well.  You would think that Vaughn would start in AAA.

23 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

That is also a great way of saying we want to control him for a 7th year that won't get you taken in front of an arbitrator for service time manipulation.

Yep, not uncommon among all teams.     

Say the Sox are/were in on Castillo from Cincinnati.

Any chance they'd be willing to take on Mike Moustakas' contract to drive down the prospect price? That way we'd get our controllable starter and a lefty DH in one move. Not sure where he'd play once Vaughn is ready, though. 

Edited January 12, 20215 yr by coco1997

2 minutes ago, coco1997 said:

Say the Sox are/were in on Castillo from Cincinnati.

Any chance they'd be willing to take on Mike Moustakas' contract to drive down the prospect price? That way we'd get our controllable starter and a lefty DH in one move. Not sure where he'd play once Vaughn is ready, though. 

The problem is that Moustakas' contract is terrible.  It was ridiculously backloaded and goes 14-16-18-20 for the next 4 years, starting with this upcoming season.  So, I assume the Reds would still have to kick in quite a bit of money to make that palatable.  

6 minutes ago, turnin' two said:

The problem is that Moustakas' contract is terrible.  It was ridiculously backloaded and goes 14-16-18-20 for the next 4 years, starting with this upcoming season.  So, I assume the Reds would still have to kick in quite a bit of money to make that palatable.  

He has that much left?! ewww... I was hoping just two years or so

15 minutes ago, turnin' two said:

The problem is that Moustakas' contract is terrible.  It was ridiculously backloaded and goes 14-16-18-20 for the next 4 years, starting with this upcoming season.  So, I assume the Reds would still have to kick in quite a bit of money to make that palatable.  

 

8 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

He has that much left?! ewww... I was hoping just two years or so

Just a couple corrections, but he has 3 years left, plus an option ($4 mill buyout for 2024). The deal he signed was a 4 year deal, plus option. Everything else is correct though on his salary.

Edit: looking at his numbers, I thought he did worse than he actually did.

Edited January 12, 20215 yr by manbearpuig

Imo the sox shouldn't sign a DH only that then clogs the roster like EE did last year. 

Getting a lefty bat is fine but only if he also can play somewhere else because the sox already have vaughn and also eloy can use some DH days when he is banged up again.

 

26 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

Imo the sox shouldn't sign a DH only that then clogs the roster like EE did last year. 

Getting a lefty bat is fine but only if he also can play somewhere else because the sox already have vaughn and also eloy can use some DH days when he is banged up again.

 

This 100%. There is absolutely no reason to sign a DH when we have Eloy currently in the OF and Also have Vaughn looking to come up. 

We need capable outfielders with at minimum league average defense... and some reliability. 

4 hours ago, fathom said:

Personally I thought LaStella was the toughest out in A’s lineup when Sox faced them last year.  He is easily someone you can envision being the Sox best hitter against Indians pitching.

He's basically a left handed Nick Madrigal with more power, worse speed, and worse defense. 

Hector Gomez burned us last year with the Marcell Ozuna to the White Sox stuff he was backing from a source, so keep that in mind, but he also did nail the terms of our offer for Machado and maybe the Moncada extension too? 

 

Anyway.....

 

 

Edited January 13, 20215 yr by ChiliIrishHammock24

6 hours ago, SoxAce said:

Let me just say that I, 1000% agree that the money the Sox have left should definitely be on a SP. No questions asked. But let's not try and "Mark Kotsay" the DH problem either as far as rotation. I mean Leury Garcia? c'mon. I

Lol...fully agree.  This notion we have so much offense that we can punt the DH position makes me sick to my stomach.

9 hours ago, Rounding_Third said:

From December;

‘‘If Andrew had had daily competition outside of what we were able to do in Schaumburg, it would have been evident to everyone that he was ready for next year, if not sooner,’’ Hahn said after the season. ‘‘That was just sort of a mild casualty of the pandemic. But the skills are there; the tools continue to grow. He’s a remarkable hitter, real solid makeup and a guy we envision being part of this thing in the not-too-distant future.

‘‘The only hesitation is that he didn’t get a chance to play 120 games last year against outside competition".

 

Sounds to me like they're not quite comfortable bringing him up just yet.

 

“It would have been evident to everyone that he would be ready next year, if not sooner.” Sounds like Hahn is saying he is ready to me.

3 hours ago, Vulture said:

“It would have been evident to everyone that he would be ready next year, if not sooner.” Sounds like Hahn is saying he is ready to me.

Yeah He Just needs to work on his defense for 12 games, then he is ready:)

8 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Lol...fully agree.  This notion we have so much offense that we can punt the DH position makes me sick to my stomach.

I wouldn't call vaughn punting the position, after all vaughn is the top 1b prospect in baseball and a consensus top 30 prospect.

Obviously even a high floor, advanced prospect can take some time to adjust to the majors (even some all stars have been bad their 1 or 2 first seasons) but I think with vaughn's advanced and safe profile you can bank On him at least producing a 100-105 wrc+ with a chance for more. That wouldn't be fantastic at DH but also not a huge loss since few teams have an ortiz or cruz these days.

Imo the chance that vaughn totally struggles and produces an 80 wrc+ like EE last year is rather slim, so I take the decent floor with upside to be a top3-4 DH in the AL right away.

Edited January 13, 20215 yr by Dominikk85

My top option is La Stella. He can DH and rotate positions including shifting Jose to DH at times. 

Grandal can get some DH or 1st... again shifting Jose to DH.

Imo La Stella gives you a LH bat, plays multiple positions to spell people and in case of injury. He also doesn't block Vaughn if he's good enough to come up in May. 

 

If we sign him we can rotate DH between: 

Him

Jose

Collins

Grandal

Then see what happens with Vaughn. 

 

He just makes a ton of sense for us. 

Hey won't be too expensive. Just sign the guy or let the guys mentioned above handle DH.

19 hours ago, mac9001 said:

I wouldn't spend a dollar on a DH. Spend it on starting pitching and fill DHs ABs internally. I'm content with Leury at DH if we can get a solid vet SP. Between Eloy, Yermin, Vaughn, Collins and Abreu we can fill DH ABs.

Unfortunately you mention 2 guys who may never get a chance with the Sox , Yermin and Collins. LaRussa probably wants a defense 1st backup catcher and 25 man spots are too precious right now to go to guys who can't play defense. If you see one of them moved in a trade I'd expect someone not on the roster now to be acquired and we may see that regardless.

7 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Unfortunately you mention 2 guys who may never get a chance with the Sox , Yermin and Collins. LaRussa probably wants a defense 1st backup catcher and 25 man spots are too precious right now to go to guys who can't play defense. If you see one of them moved in a trade I'd expect someone not on the roster now to be acquired and we may see that regardless.

MLB is staying with 26 man rosters right?

3 hours ago, Dominikk85 said:

I wouldn't call vaughn punting the position, after all vaughn is the top 1b prospect in baseball and a consensus top 30 prospect.

Obviously even a high floor, advanced prospect can take some time to adjust to the majors (even some all stars have been bad their 1 or 2 first seasons) but I think with vaughn's advanced and safe profile you can bank On him at least producing a 100-105 wrc+ with a chance for more. That wouldn't be fantastic at DH but also not a huge loss since few teams have an ortiz or cruz these days.

Imo the chance that vaughn totally struggles and produces an 80 wrc+ like EE last year is rather slim, so I take the decent floor with upside to be a top3-4 DH in the AL right away.

I’m not suggesting that Vaughn is punting the position, but rather being ok with Leury at DH for any set of time would be.  If the Sox don’t plan to call up Vaughn by May or lack any confidence in his ability to hit from the get-go, then bringing in another bat makes sense.  And honestly, signing a guy La Stella to serve as DH placeholder and then as IF depth makes sense to me regardless of how you feel about Vaughn.

I don't like the idea of going into the season with no one in place for DH or the dreaded "DH by committee" approach.  The Encarnacion signing backfired last year, but it was the right approach.  If Vaughn isn't going to be penciled in as the DH, I think they need to go pick someone up for the role.  I like La Stella because he gives the team a lot of flexibility and puts another good bat in the lineup.  Honestly, even if they plan on bringing up Vaughn in June and he's ready, I still like adding La Stella.

8 minutes ago, MackowiakYakYak said:

MLB is staying with 26 man rosters right?

 Many are assuming it will be 26 just like the DH in the NL. The problem is MLB hasn't announced either yet. If I am wrong someone please tell me so I can stop saying 25.

20 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I’m not suggesting that Vaughn is punting the position, but rather being ok with Leury at DH for any set of time would be.  If the Sox don’t plan to call up Vaughn by May or lack any confidence in his ability to hit from the get-go, then bringing in another bat makes sense.  And honestly, signing a guy La Stella to serve as DH placeholder and then as IF depth makes sense to me regardless of how you feel about Vaughn.

It depends on how long vaughn stays down. If it is just the two weeks for service time I'm fine with leury/Collins/yermin. If it is really two months or so that wouldn't be good of course (albeit I still think that Collins will be ok against LHP but maybe it is not the right time to try). But for two weeks, who cares?

I mean if we assume vaughn is a 2 war DH and leury a minus 2 war DH (about the worst you can be) then it is just a third of a win over 2 weeks.

But yeah, if you plan to keep vaughn down until super two deadline and not just the two weeks (like late may) then they should do something.

Edited January 13, 20215 yr by Dominikk85

1 minute ago, hogan873 said:

I don't like the idea of going into the season with no one in place for DH or the dreaded "DH by committee" approach.  The Encarnacion signing backfired last year, but it was the right approach.  If Vaughn isn't going to be penciled in as the DH, I think they need to go pick someone up for the role.  I like La Stella because he gives the team a lot of flexibility and puts another good bat in the lineup.  Honestly, even if they plan on bringing up Vaughn in June and he's ready, I still like adding La Stella.

Unlike you, I thought the Encarnacion decision last year was the wrong approach and I am on record as saying so before and after they brought him in. I understood the move to Encarnacion but I liked the 3 catcher approach which the Sox started with then abandoned because Collins wasn't getting AB's. But that's what I wanted to see last year.  If Collin's didn't hit I wanted Mercedes to get his shot. That was based on Encarnacion's age , the Sox contention window squeeking open and the need to see if either Collins or Mercedes bats could play .

This year is much different and if Collins and Mercedes didn't get a chance in the last 2 years , I can't reasonably expect to see them getting shots now with the window gaping open.

I don't see DH or backup catcher taking priority over another SP so I'm holding off on what happens there until then.

1 minute ago, Dominikk85 said:

It depends on how low vaughn stays down. If it is just the two weeks for service time I'm fine with leury/Collins/yermin. If it is really two months or so that wouldn't be good of course (albeit I still think that Collins will be ok against LHP but maybe it is not the right time to try). But for two weeks, who cares?

I mean if we assume vaughn is a 2 war DH and leury a minus 2 war DH then it is just a third of a win over 2 weeks.

But yeah, if you plan to keep vaughn down until super two deadline and not just the two weeks (like late may) then they should do something.

My goodness how bad are you thinking Leary will be at DH? Adam LaRoche in 2015 was -1.2 fWAR mostly at DH. You’re talking Adam Dunn in 2011 bad!

12 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I’m not suggesting that Vaughn is punting the position, but rather being ok with Leury at DH for any set of time would be.  If the Sox don’t plan to call up Vaughn by May or lack any confidence in his ability to hit from the get-go, then bringing in another bat makes sense.  And honestly, signing a guy La Stella to serve as DH placeholder and then as IF depth makes sense to me regardless of how you feel about Vaughn.

Yermin Mercedes would get my curiosity peaked.  When else are we going to see if he's worth a place on the 40 man roster?  We might turn Yermin into a tradable chip of some worth if we can't use him ourselves.