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Grade Offseason Acquisitions at ASB


JUSTgottaBELIEVE
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1 hour ago, Chimpton said:

Can't agree with those giving McGuire a B or C grading, he was brought in as back up to Grandal but is now back up to Zavala who was back up to the back up . McGuire is ok but just that ok and you wouldn't want him behind the plate regularly.

The key to Hahns success with the cheerleader contingent is to set the bar so low that when the player isn’t an absolute failure it feels like success.

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55 minutes ago, bmags said:

The key to Hahns success with the cheerleader contingent is to set the bar so low that when the player isn’t an absolute failure it feels like success.

Who did you want him to sign last offseason that would have made that much of a difference?

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1 hour ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Who did you want him to sign last offseason that would have made that much of a difference?

How about not picking up the Kimbrel option (meaning they wouldn’t have to spend the 11.5 on Pollock) not signing Vince Velazquez or Joe Kelly, offering and/or brining back Rodon, and still signing Cueto? 

Finding a RF that actually knows how to play RF and is somewhat productive? Not giving Leury a 3 year deal when there wasn’t a market for him? Signing FA’s isn’t the only way to acquire talent. 
 

The team won 93 games last season. They are on pace for 79 wins this year. Sorry you’re surprised your thread praising Rick for his offseason isn’t being met with bouquets of roses. 

 

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6 minutes ago, Tony said:

How about not picking up the Kimbrel option (meaning they wouldn’t have to spend the 11.5 on Pollock) not signing Vince Velazquez or Joe Kelly, offering and/or brining back Rodon, and still signing Cueto? 

Finding a RF that actually knows how to play RF and is somewhat productive? Not giving Leury a 3 year deal when there wasn’t a market for him? Signing FA’s isn’t the only way to acquire talent. 
 

The team won 93 games last season. They are on pace for 79 wins this year. Sorry you’re surprised your thread praising Rick for his offseason isn’t being met with bouquets of roses. 

 

Letting Kimbrel go, retaining Rodon, still adding Cueto as insurance, not giving Leury 3 years, no VV, no Kelly, signing any glove first 2B, and hell giving Micker at shot at RF instead of banking on Sheets to be anything more than Daniel Palka 2.0 and you’re already in a better position than you are locked into multiple years of old, or injured, or garbage. 

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2 hours ago, Tony said:

How about not picking up the Kimbrel option (meaning they wouldn’t have to spend the 11.5 on Pollock) not signing Vince Velazquez or Joe Kelly, offering and/or brining back Rodon, and still signing Cueto? 

Finding a RF that actually knows how to play RF and is somewhat productive? Not giving Leury a 3 year deal when there wasn’t a market for him? Signing FA’s isn’t the only way to acquire talent. 
 

The team won 93 games last season. They are on pace for 79 wins this year. Sorry you’re surprised your thread praising Rick for his offseason isn’t being met with bouquets of roses. 

 

How is an overall grade of B- praising him? And you don’t hit on every free agent signing, no one does. You can’t rip him for signing Kelly but not give credit for signing Graveman. Or rip him for signing Velasquez but not give credit for signing Cueto. 

Even teams with huge free agent budgets last offseason like the Jays and Rangers have seen mixed results this season.

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31 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

How is an overall grade of B- praising him? And you don’t hit on every free agent signing, no one does. You can’t rip him for signing Kelly but not give credit for signing Graveman. Or rip him for signing Velasquez but not give credit for signing Cueto. 

Even teams with huge free agent budgets last offseason like the Jays and Rangers have seen mixed results this season.

You want us to give Hahn credit for paying top of the market prices for two relievers and one of them actually working out?  You want us to give Hahn credit for signing Cueto when few other options existed at the time and despite the fact he prioritized VV over him as their only pitching depth to begin with?

Under no circumstance does the dude deserve a B- for this his work.  His best move this off-season (if you even include it) was one made out of desperation because he failed to address a critical need.  And while you blame the core for our struggles, many here called out the need to continue adding to it rather than just supplementing around the margins.  Rick Hahn failed us this off-season.  I’d give him a C- coming into the season and a legit F with the benefit of hindsight.

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31 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You want us to give Hahn credit for paying top of the market prices for two relievers and one of them actually working out?  You want us to give Hahn credit for signing Cueto when few other options existed at the time and despite the fact he prioritized VV over him as their only pitching depth to begin with?

Under no circumstance does the dude deserve a B- for this his work.  His best move this off-season (if you even include it) was one made out of desperation because he failed to address a critical need.  And while you blame the core for our struggles, many here called out the need to continue adding to it rather than just supplementing around the margins.  Rick Hahn failed us this off-season.  I’d give him a C- coming into the season and a legit F with the benefit of hindsight.

You have your opinion and I have mine. I still believe the first half struggles have far more to do with players already on the roster than ones that weren’t. And no one can convince me that adding Schwarber and Gausman (and no one else) gives this team more than a few more wins than where they stand today.

Edited by JUSTgottaBELIEVE
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2 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

You have your opinion and I have mine. I still believe the first half struggles have far more to do with players already on the roster than ones that weren’t. And no one can convince me that adding Schwarber and Gausman (and no one else) gives this team more than a few more wins than where they stand today.

Let me ask you this, what were our needs coming into the off-season?

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28 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Let me ask you this, what were our needs coming into the off-season?

I saw RF as the biggest need by far. I liked the Pollock trade. The outfield free agent market was very weak imo and I didn’t see any of the available options as significant upgrades from what they already had.

Many were focused on the starting rotation as a big need. I didn’t and still don’t think that’s a need. Giolito/Lynn simply have to pitch better.

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13 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

I saw RF as the biggest need by far. I liked the Pollock trade. The outfield free agent market was very weak imo and I didn’t see any of the available options as significant upgrades from what they already had.

Many were focused on the starting rotation as a big need. I didn’t and still don’t think that’s a need. Giolito/Lynn simply have to pitch better.

It took literally one game for Pollock to prove he can’t play RF.  Just an unbelievable fail by the scouting department.  Everyone knew this team needed more lefties to hit tough RHP.  Instead the dumbasses in charge thought Sheets and Leury were good enough to help with that.  It’s arguably one of the worst offseasons I have ever seen from a contending team.

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13 minutes ago, fathom said:

It took literally one game for Pollock to prove he can’t play RF.  Just an unbelievable fail by the scouting department.  Everyone knew this team needed more lefties to hit tough RHP.  Instead the dumbasses in charge thought Sheets and Leury were good enough to help with that.  It’s arguably one of the worst offseasons I have ever seen from a contending team.

I never said Pollock is a perfect fit for RF. But I see him as a better fit for RF than someone like Schwarber. I think a combination of Vaughn/Engel/Pollack is fine for the corners. Sheets is a DH/1b and should only be playing outfield in a pinch. Colas should be up next year. Hopefully his defense is good enough to man RF full time.

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Going to take 42 wins, including 5 vs the Twins. 
Sox and Twins play each other 6 of the final 9 games of the season. 

Also remember, if the Sox and Twins tie but have a lower win total than the 6-seed, there is no tie breaker game. The team that wins the season series wins the division. The other team is eliminated. Sox would have to go 6-3 the final 9 vs the Twins. 

I’m keeping the Guardians out of this for now.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/16/2022 at 8:21 AM, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Time to take a look at the offseason acquisitions as we approach the All Star Break. Despite popular belief, they haven’t been bad and overall I’d give Hahn a B- on these acquisitions.

Joe Kelly (-0.8 bWAR): F

No way to sugarcoat it. He’s been either hurt or bad for most of the season. The stuff is there but the control isn’t. Hopefully he finds his control in the second half.

AJ Pollock (0.0 bWAR) C-

He’s been surprisingly healthy but the power is lacking this season. Hard to grade much lower considering they were able to dump Kimbrel in this deal.

Vince Velasquez (0.0 bWAR): C

He was a cheap signing and been about what you’d expect. Ate some valuable innings early in the season when it was desperately needed.

Josh Harrison (1.1 bWAR): B-

Started the season slow at the plate but coming on of late. Has been great defensively all season and provided much needed versatility when everyone was hurt. Has solidified 2b position for this team.

Reese McGuire (0.6 bWAR): B

Has been the perfect backup catcher. Plays solid defense and calls a good game behind the plate. An ideal postseason catcher due to his plus D.

Kendall Graveman (1.0 bWAR) A-

Has been exactly what the Sox needed from a setup guy. He’s even closed games in a pinch. Basically, he’s been everything that Kimbrel should have been.

Johnny Cueto (2.3 bWAR): A+

Most fans here disliked this signing at the time but he’s been terrific. Perhaps the best signing of ANY team last offseason. He’s filled in for Rodon’s starting slot at a fraction of the cost. The guy is an absolute bulldog and winner.
 

 

 

I don’t have time for commentary at the moment but my updated grades are as follows:

Kelly: F-

Pollock: C+

Velazquez: D-

Harrison: B

McGuire: B- / Diekman: D

Graveman: A

Cueto: A+++
 

Bonus- Elvis Andrus: A+

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On 7/17/2022 at 12:18 AM, Tony said:

This is sad.

Who fucking cares? The Sox are supposed to be in the middle of their World Series window and they’ve struggled to stay at .500 and we are nearing the end of July. Why are we grading Rick Hahn for his offseason? How about we grade him on the team he’s build in 2022? What grade do you give that? 

D- for the 2022 team he built. D- for all his offseason acquisitions.

Although this is not part of the post, a big F for Hahn's debacle of the rebuild! We are now in year 6 of the rebuild and all we have to show for it is two playoff appearances being one and done and struggling this year to win the worst division in baseball.

Another big F because he has done nothing to continue drafting and developing a strong farm system which is now ranked 26th. 

At this point we were promised and assumed that we would be a World Series championship contender and actually win one. The sad reality is this team is nothing close to a championship contender like the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, Mets and Braves are.

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28 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Where is Leury and what’s below an F-?

I didn’t include Leury because he was already on the team last season. Just like I didn’t list guys where the Sox picked up their arbitration year rather than declining it - Giolito, Lopez, Engel, etc. Only listed guys that were new to the roster this season.

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On 7/17/2022 at 5:39 AM, Chimpton said:

Can't agree with those giving McGuire a B or C grading, he was brought in as back up to Grandal but is now back up to Zavala who was back up to the back up . McGuire is ok but just that ok and you wouldn't want him behind the plate regularly.

Grandal has been god awful this season and the Sox are still #12 in MLB for fWAR out of the catching position. Remarkable really when you consider Grandal’s performance.

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1 hour ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

I didn’t include Leury because he was already on the team last season. Just like I didn’t list guys where the Sox picked up their arbitration year rather than declining it - Giolito, Lopez, Engel, etc. Only listed guys that were new to the roster this season.

Leury was a free agent and signed a ridiculous three year contract with us.  He should certainly count towards any off-season ratings.

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