2023 MLB offseason signings and rumors thread

[Bob Sacamano]

Just now, Tnetennba said:

Who exactly is saying give LaStella a shot?  All I’ve seen is people saying he’s awful now. 

Yeah and anyone who suggested him said “minor league deal” at best.

[Bob Sacamano]

Just looked at the Marlins projected lineup now. More right-handed than our lineup.

[Tnetennba]

3 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah and anyone who suggested him said “minor league deal” at best.

Exactly  

I fear Hahn doing something stupid here, but no one is actually advocating bringing him in. 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tnetennba

[maxjusttyped]

3 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Just looked at the Marlins projected lineup now. More right-handed than our lineup.

It's shocking how old that group of positions players is aside from Jazz. Nearly the entire lineup is dudes in their 30s.

[maxjusttyped]

Maybe the Sox could get Joey Wendle from Miami. Him in the strong side of a platoon with Sosa or Romy would be tolerable.

[TheBooneLoganEra]

1 hour ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Marlins sign Segura, 2 years/$17M

That is perfectly reasonable agreement if they were at all serious about winning, or "rebuilding trust." If romy/sosa is how they walk into the season at 2nd base any good feeling I got from the benintendi deal will be greatly diminished. Different year same garbage.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

 

Here's one guy who will be part of the "competition."

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

44 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said:

Yaz could play next season without knees and I think he'll be better/more valuable than Romy + Sosa.

Well Grandal is project by FGDC for 2.4 WAR in 354 PA ,115wRC+ next season while Romy is .9 w/294 PA and 91 wRC+ and Sosa 1.2 w/ 287 PA and 100wRC+. Colas is 1.6 w/ 400 PA , 116 wRC+. TIFWIW.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

28 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

To be fair no one has said he needs to “earn” anything. It’s all about the correct call of getting that extra cash ear of control baby.

I've seen the word "earn"  in regards to Colas here and some people, maybe more than your "correct" call ,think it's the incorrect call. But it certainly would be the "save face" call since they didn't call him up last year.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

27 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Who exactly is saying give LaStella a shot?  All I’ve seen is people saying he’s awful now. 

Are we reading the same thread ? NRI/Minor league deal, that's a shot to make the opening day 26 isn't it ?

[Bob Sacamano]

2 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Are we reading the same thread ? NRI/Minor league deal, that's a shot to make the opening day 26 isn't it ?

It’s not guaranteeing anything though. Chances are he wouldn’t make it.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Bob Sacamano

[Chick Mercedes]

3 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Are we reading the same thread ? NRI/Minor league deal, that's a shot to make the opening day 26 isn't it ?

[Bob Sacamano]

He definitely won’t get the chance the great Nick Williams got.

[SoCalChiSox]

28 minutes ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

That is perfectly reasonable agreement if they were at all serious about winning, or "rebuilding trust." If romy/sosa is how they walk into the season at 2nd base any good feeling I got from the benintendi deal will be greatly diminished. Different year same garbage.

Adding yet ANOTHER RHH does nothing to rebuild trust.

 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

39 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said:

Maybe the Sox could get Joey Wendle from Miami. Him in the strong side of a platoon with Sosa or Romy would be tolerable.

Wendel would be a very good grt

[Balta1701]

 

[bmags]

6 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

The same guy was a +1 OAA player in a much larger season in 2021, and there was no change in his sprint speed from year to year. I have no knowledge of what his injury was, but clearly 2022 was vastly different than previous seasons. 

Hmm what’s the outlier here

[Tnetennba]

10 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Are we reading the same thread ? NRI/Minor league deal, that's a shot to make the opening day 26 isn't it ?

I don’t know what thread you are reading but you have to squint real hard to read NRI/minor league deal and think that means people are actively wanting to guarantee him a roster spot. 

[he gone.]

The Segura one hurts in so many ways. 

 

a) There's no doubt Hahn wanted Segura. I'd venture a complete guess that 75/25 he went to JR to present the price/ask and was turned down. If we don't have 2/17mm in the chamber, then our offseason is done.

b) If he did want Segura, and JR said no, then Hahn likely went to the trade market for feelers on guys like Leury + ___, Kelly, etc. and didn't find anything. If he had motivation to clear space for Segura and couldn't, then it's likely we've seen the last of trades for the Sox

c) Segura made so much sense in terms of a double play team, his ability to fill in at SS for Anderson if/when he hits IL or needs an off day. Could also play 3B. He grades out so well at 2B defense, and was a very affordable piece on a very clear need for the Sox. 

This is our team, this is our future. It's the Sox being stuck in the middle. Mired in mediocrity. Keeping Hendriks & Giolito, getting nothing in return at YE, and also not going for it this year in any way, even when presented with clear, reasonable options like Segura. 

 

Hey, at least we'll maybe be able to go after him in the trade market come July if/when Romy/Sosa fail. Though, Marlins already structured his contract where it's backloaded to the team they're going to trade him to. 6.5/8.5 with a 10mm option and a 2mm buyout. So whatever team they ultimately trade him to will pick up basically 1.5 years at 13.5mm. Marlins and White Sox, same franchise. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

11 hours ago, Bob Sacamano said:

It’s not guaranteeing anything though. Chances are he wouldn’t make it.

Wow thanks for that .I had no idea. I thought it was a guarantee Captain Obvious 🙄. I was asked who is saying to give him a shot and my response was people said minor league deal or NRI which was true, which is a shot . You telling me chances are he wouldn't make he is meaningless to that exchange.

[Bob Sacamano]

15 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Wow thanks for that .I had no idea. I thought it was a guarantee Captain Obvious 🙄. I was asked who is saying to give him a shot and my response was people said minor league deal or NRI which was true, which is a shot . You telling me chances are he wouldn't make he is meaningless to that exchange.

There's only like 2 people saying to give him a minor league deal to be fair. Like I said, he won't get as much a shot as your golden boy Nick Williams did 😉

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, Tnetennba said:

I don’t know what thread you are reading but you have to squint real hard to read NRI/minor league deal and think that means people are actively wanting to guarantee him a roster spot. 

Nah I didn't have to squint. I read it play as day from a couple of posters. The question you asked was who is saying give him a shot ? NRI or minor league contract is a shot .  It was about you not seeing those who said give him a shot.

I don't care if he get's a shot. No idea where this guarantees him a roster spot came from. I never made a connection in my post to you about a guarantee.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

There's only like 2 people saying to give him a minor league deal to be fair. Like I said, he won't get as much a shot as your golden boy Nick Williams did 😉

That's 2 people that apparently @Tnetennba didn't see.

[Snopek]

1 hour ago, he gone. said:

Marlins and White Sox, same franchise. 

Hey now. One of these franchises is completely aimless, the other aims for second place 🥳

Also, one of them has two World Series titles in the past 100 years.

[Chicago White Sox]

I’m all for adding a quality 2B or a LH bench piece who can split time, but I do think some people are underestimating Lenyn Sosa because a bad initial stint with the Sox.  Time & time again he’s proven that he needs an adjustment period before being productive at a given level.

               Stint | PA | BB % | K % | ISO | BABIP | OPS | wRC+

• A+ (1/2):   101 | 2.0% | 33.7% | .112 | .306 | .557 | 47
• A+ (2/2):   236 | 4.8% | 17.1% | .169 | .364 | .849 | 126
• AA (1/2):   121 | 1.7% | 23.1% | .068 | .273 | .522 | 44
• AA (2/2):   289 | 7.3% | 13.8% | .218 | .340 | .933 | 141
• AAA (1/2):   86 | 3.5% | 23.3% | .074 | .323 | .600 | 58
• AAA (2/2): 161 | 9.3% | 14.3% | .228 | .336 | .943 | 149
• Majors:       36 | 2.8% | 33.3% | .114 | .136 | .367 | -4

As you can see above, it’s taken 80 to 120 plate appearances on average for Sosa to adjust to a level and when he does he sees massive improvement in his BB, K, & ISO rates.  Yes, Sosa sucked horribly in his 36 PA’s with the Sox last year, but that should not have been overly surprising to any of us based on his track record.  And I get it, he wasn’t just bad, he was god awful, but we’re talking about an incredibly SSS in which he pounded the ball into the ground 14 to 15 points above his recent minor league rate (~40%) and was super unlucky in terms of batted ball luck (.161 wOBA vs. .243 xwOBA).

Steamer projects him to be a league average hitter next year who also provides solid defense at 2B.  And honestly, I think that’s a fairly reasonable outcome if we can give him a month or so to make adjustments without expecting him to be all that productive.  Obviously there’s no guarantee with young players, but it’s very possible he can be a 1.5 to 2.0 win player as soon as next year.  Again, that doesn’t mean you don’t look at upgrades or complementary pieces, but I would hate to sign a low ceiling, RH hitting veteran like Big Energy and make it harder to get the PA’s he needs.  With a very interesting but higher variance prospect in Romy Gonzalez also in the mix, either go big (Brandon Lowe?), go with a LH role player (Leury for Brad Miller?), or stick with what you got.