39 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I’m starting to believe the Sox are good with their internal options UNLESS Conforto falls into their laps on a 3 year deal or 4 years, smaller AAV.

It’s stupid IMO that they won’t just pay for a perfect fit, but I’ve resigned myself that Conforto is not coming.  I can stomach Vaughn in RF as much as they need someone better in the field.  Just trade Kimbrel for a starter or prospects to acquire a starter and be done with it. 

7 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Agreed. His history with injuries is not good. That would be a disappointing acquisition. Probably better than what the current situation is but not dependable at all.

It’s 2 weeks past the end of the lockout, half way through training camp,2 weeks to the start of the season, 98 or 99% of offseason player movement is done, and the White Sox are stuck with an expensive guy on their roster they don’t want and who doesn’t want to be there. There are no non-disappointing acquisitions left.

A few months ago in a trade with Dodgers I was hoping to snag what I believed was reasonable in full kimbrel salary + James Outman and Jacob Amaya. Both are MLB ready position player depth pieces. 

Scouting Report: Outman is a physical, athletic specimen more usually seen playing football. He is a plus runner at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds with quick initial burst and elite acceleration in center field. He ticks up to nearly plus-plus speed underway and runs down long flies to both gaps and at the wall. The Dodgers refined Outman’s lefthanded swing to get his upper and lower halves more in sync. He still has a hand hitch and has to cheat to get to velocity, but he sees pitches well and crushes fastballs when he connects.

Outman bats left.

With how rest of offseason trends I'd maybe go after Gavin Stone.

But these were reasonable so hahn is probably holding out for some older, injury-ridden outfielder or pitcher who is a bigger name.

23 minutes ago, fathom said:

Yes, didn’t Murray say it was a complex two-parter

I don't know.  Didn't really follow along here last night.  Just saw some chatter about it this am.  Don't know what exactly Murray said. 

20 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

It’s 2 weeks past the end of the lockout, half way through training camp,2 weeks to the start of the season, 98 or 99% of offseason player movement is done, and the White Sox are stuck with an expensive guy on their roster they don’t want and who doesn’t want to be there. There are no non-disappointing acquisitions left.

At least you'll be able to say you were right tho! 

It's also not really that hard for any acquisition to be "non disappointing".  Literally anything that yields something better than $1M loss is a better result than buying him out.  People can kick and scream that the $15M cost the Sox carried during this 2 week span is why Hahn didn't make more meaningful offseason moves at 2B, and potentially RF (again, best fit still out there with seemingly very limited options), but we dont know that.  Pure speculation. 

Also, it seems to get lost here that Kimbrel is a really good reliever.  I don't like the guy and want him gone.  Hated the trade from day 1.  But the decision to pick up the option has been made.  Its over.  If all they will get is a salary dump to line JR's pockets, and I am pretty certain they can get that as Kimbrel is at least as good/effective as Kenley who just got paid the same amount.  Sox are probably better off just keeping him for now and seeing what surfaces during the season than simply just dumping to save $16M. 

Edited March 22, 20223 yr by ChiSox59

20 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

It’s 2 weeks past the end of the lockout, half way through training camp,2 weeks to the start of the season, 98 or 99% of offseason player movement is done, and the White Sox are stuck with an expensive guy on their roster they don’t want and who doesn’t want to be there. There are no non-disappointing acquisitions left.

A case of lowered expectations, at least insofar as Soxtalk hopes go. I'm still holding out for something like value from Kimbrel in getting prospects. But the third part of the 'wants' is - there is a question of whether anyone else wants the expensive closer.

Edited March 22, 20223 yr by FoxForce2

18 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

It’s 2 weeks past the end of the lockout, half way through training camp,2 weeks to the start of the season, 98 or 99% of offseason player movement is done, and the White Sox are stuck with an expensive guy on their roster they don’t want and who doesn’t want to be there. There are no non-disappointing acquisitions left.

I'll wait to see if a trade happens before I make that conclusion. It doesn't look good but I'll wait until it happens.

I wouldn’t mind the Sox taking a flyer on Isan Diaz.

Just to play devils advocate, Kimbrel could be dealt at the deadline to an NL team for depth if he has decent numbers. I guess that’s a pretty big if, though. 

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

At this point, just keep him, throw him in the closers role and hopefully it fixes him.  Henricks already said he didn't care what inning he pitched.

5 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

Probably nothing, but if Pollack has a sore back, is in his mid 30s, and gets hurt a lot, that sounds like the type of player the White Sox front office has targeted this offseason.

5 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

At this point, just keep him, throw him in the closers role and hopefully it fixes him.  Henricks already said he didn't care what inning he pitched.

Maybe it would be the push they need to use Hendriks in the higher leverage situations. Pitch him when they need it and let Kimbrel have the 9th. If Hendriks truly has no issue with it. He may just be saying the right thing.

Just a couple of thoughts and then I will hang up and listen.  The fact that Kimbrel is still on this squad is frustrating to me.

Did Hahn accept the option because he thought he had to get something out of what ended up being a bad trade?  Pride is a dangerous thing.  Sometimes you just have to admit a mistake and move on.  That would have been paying the buyout.

Did Hahn think that he would get a valuable piece or pieces back without paying some of Kimbrel’s salary?  In that case it seems that he misjudged the market.

Did he actually intend to bring Kimbrel back to pitch on the South Side this season?  If you are trying to market him as a closer to try to trade him later in the season, then you almost need to have him close out games.  I would be disgusted to see maybe the best closer in baseball in Hendricks demoted for a guy who can’t get comfortable in a non-closing role.  On the other hand, if he is bringing Kimbrel back to set up again then that is a quarter I want in no White Sox jukebox I’m listening to.

Maybe Hahn will still trade him before the season.  Maybe Kimbrel with be a dominant reliever again this season.  I will be very happy if they want to prove me wrong.

19 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

I wouldn’t mind the Sox taking a flyer on Isan Diaz.

If you ever want to see how disastrous a tear down can go, compare the Sox tear down with the Marlins tear down. Trading Stanton, Yelich, Ozuna, Gordon, Realmuto should have hypothetically yielded more than the Sox tear down.

I still expect the Sox to move Kimbrel. 

49 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

I wouldn’t mind the Sox taking a flyer on Isan Diaz.

Thought the same thing when I saw that this am.  He does have 1 option left too. 

He's been terrible in the bigs, but wouldn't mind throwing him in Charlotte and see if anything clicks. 

38 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

Tons, he’s one of the best 

It's possible that some trades like Manea and Montas are being held up to see what they make in Arbitration today. Meadows, Nimmo also in that group.  This would provide more accurate salary info for teams close to the CBT like the Sox.

Giolito also in that group so have to figure his raise will also affect the bottom line. Expected raises may already be built into a CBT model for teams but exact numbers a little more helpful.

Edited March 22, 20223 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

47 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

I can't tell if this is a serious question? If so, then a lot. He's broken a lot.

did you guys see this

 

Dodgers just signed Pillar

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

did you guys see this

 

Maybe he thought he needed to go the bathroom?

23 minutes ago, fathom said:

Tons, he’s one of the best 

Thanks, don't follow that stuff too closely. That's good to hear!

edit: just saw him call it a false alarm lol.

Edited March 22, 20223 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

Dodgers just signed Pillar

Who'd a thunk outfield defense is important?  This just means Pollock to the Sox for sure, lol.

Oops.

Stuck with Kimbrel again. 

I remember a time many years ago when we ended up with one of the best LH relievers in baseball because they were going to be a spring training roster cut and would have been exposed...Damaso Marte.  Pretty sure Thornton was the other one.  Although one would doubt it's Micker Adolfo or a White Sox reliever having similar success if given an opportunity.

Edited March 22, 20223 yr by caulfield12