October 31, 20232 yr Garfien had MLB Network broadcaster Dan Plesac on for his latest podcast. Plesac grew up in Chicago, grew up a Sox fan, always wanted to play for them. Garfien asked him about the season and what would it take to turn things around. Plesac said the Sox have to spend money and they have to hit on some of the young kids developing and contributing. Talked about scouting. So Garfien said the Sox have four areas that need to be fixed, right field, second base, catcher and starting pitching. He listed four or five names for each position, all free agents (he didn't want to get into trade possibilities) and asked Plesac who would you sign and why. Plesac's answers were: RF: Michael Conforto 2B: Whit Merrifield C : Austin Hedges SP: Lucas Giolito / Jack Flaherty Plesac said if the Sox signed all those guys he'd guarantee they'd be 15 games better this year, the play on the field would be better, the clubhouse situation would be better. Garfien then said if that were to happen they may be "in it" in the division at the trade deadline and perhaps the organization could convince JR to spend at the deadline. Edited October 31, 20232 yr by Lip Man 1
October 31, 20232 yr They had 20% of the list last year and he’s worse now than when he was with the Sox. Does Garfein think shortstop and third base don’t need fixing? Left field is solid? There are too many holes on this team. They are not getting filled.
November 1, 20232 yr 15 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said: Garfien had MLB Network broadcaster Dan Plesac on for his latest podcast. Plesac grew up in Chicago, grew up a Sox fan, always wanted to play for them. Garfien asked him about the season and what would it take to turn things around. Plesac said the Sox have to spend money and they have to hit on some of the young kids developing and contributing. Talked about scouting. So Garfien said the Sox have four areas that need to be fixed, right field, second base, catcher and starting pitching. He listed four or five names for each position, all free agents (he didn't want to get into trade possibilities) and asked Plesac who would you sign and why. Plesac's answers were: RF: Michael Conforto 2B: Whit Merrifield C : Austin Hedges SP: Lucas Giolito / Jack Flaherty Plesac said if the Sox signed all those guys he'd guarantee they'd be 15 games better this year, the play on the field would be better, the clubhouse situation would be better. Garfien then said if that were to happen they may be "in it" in the division at the trade deadline and perhaps the organization could convince JR to spend at the deadline. They improve 15 games, they win 76. That;s a good year for Rick Hahn, but really no one else.
November 1, 20232 yr If the White Sox signed all 5 of those players, they would be adding a whopping 1.1 bWAR to their 100 loss team. Aint no way they improve by 15 games with those guys, none.
November 1, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, T R U said: If the White Sox signed all 5 of those players, they would be adding a whopping 1.1 bWAR to their 100 loss team. Aint no way they improve by 15 games with those guys, none. It is really interesting. That offseason would have to be close to best case scenario from a dollars spent standpoint, and it adds... 1 win. The talking head that hand selected those players thinks it adds enough wins to still be woefully under .500. It really drives home how obvious selling Robert & Cease should be, but it appears the Sox aren't going to do that, nor does Sox internet even think they should.
November 1, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, T R U said: If the White Sox signed all 5 of those players, they would be adding a whopping 1.1 bWAR to their 100 loss team. Aint no way they improve by 15 games with those guys, none. Adding 1.1 bWAR, but subtracting how much negative bWAR?
November 1, 20232 yr 25 minutes ago, JoeC said: Adding 1.1 bWAR, but subtracting how much negative bWAR? I guess you'd be subtracting Clevinger's 3.3 WAR as well.
November 1, 20232 yr 21 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said: I guess you'd be subtracting Clevinger's 3.3 WAR as well. Likely yes.
November 1, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, T R U said: If the White Sox signed all 5 of those players, they would be adding a whopping 1.1 bWAR to their 100 loss team. Aint no way they improve by 15 games with those guys, none. obviously you would need bounce back years from like 4 or 5 guys minimum. if you're assuming this team wins 61 games in 2024, then being buyers this winter wouldn't be a wise decision. unless the front office thinks they can trick season ticket holders into re-upping because they spent money
November 1, 20232 yr RF: Michael Conforto 2B: Whit Merrifield C : Austin Hedges SP: Lucas Giolito / Jack Flaherty Sox weren’t interested in paying Conforto last time around, and last I checked he was still a Boras client. Whit sucks. Period. Stay Away. Hedges probably sucks. Why would the Sox pay Gio enough to put up with them again? Flaherty might be an interesting bounce back candidate, but any of these hardly moves the needle for a 101 loss team.
November 1, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, JoeC said: Adding 1.1 bWAR, but subtracting how much negative bWAR? RF: Michael Conforto (0.7) / Gavin Sheets (-1.4) + 2.1 2B: Whit Merrifield (0.8) / Elvis Andrus (0.6) + 0.2 C : Austin Hedges (-0.1) / Yasmani Grandal (-0.7) + 0.6 SP: Lucas Giolito (-1.2) / Lucas Giolito (2.8) - 1.6 SP: Jack Flaherty (-0.5) / Mike Clevinger (2.2) -1.7 So basically, we would be LOSING 0.4 WAR with these 5 signings depending on how you hash it out.
November 1, 20232 yr I’m actually ok with Hedges. This team is going to suck. Let him help the pitching and young catching. Just hope that whenever he bats, it’s in a situation he can lay down a sac bunt.
November 1, 20232 yr shame on anyone who spends money on this organization next year, this is insulting
November 1, 20232 yr I would rather spend the season seeing what you have in some of the young bucks rather than doing this lightning in a bottle nonsense again.
November 1, 20232 yr I see Garfien's podcast continues to be meatball central. None of these signings makes the team better, and you already have basically an entire team you have to see massive improvements from, so adding more "what if"s to the team does nothing except waste money.
November 1, 20232 yr 51 minutes ago, almagest said: I see Garfien's podcast continues to be meatball central. None of these signings makes the team better, and you already have basically an entire team you have to see massive improvements from, so adding more "what if"s to the team does nothing except waste money. They honestly just need filler, good or bad, especially in the rotation. No one is really that close to being ready where you would pencil them into the rotation day 1. Take chances on you guys can possibly flip.
November 1, 20232 yr 9 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said: They honestly just need filler, good or bad, especially in the rotation. No one is really that close to being ready where you would pencil them into the rotation day 1. Take chances on you guys can possibly flip. That's different than being competitive with those signings. That's admitting you're a bad team going nowhere and trying to fill your lower minors with a few lottery tickets by signing guys who you hope can rebound enough to be interesting to a competitive team at the trade deadline.
November 1, 20232 yr 17 minutes ago, almagest said: That's different than being competitive with those signings. That's admitting you're a bad team going nowhere and trying to fill your lower minors with a few lottery tickets by signing guys who you hope can rebound enough to be interesting to a competitive team at the trade deadline. Thats the White Sox way. Whats the saying "a lick and a promise"
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