43 minutes ago, mac9001 said:

My issue with the Sox is they just love to waste value on replacement level players.

Fletcher put up 0.7 bWAR in 102 PAs. He is not replacement level. 

Not to mention, the team just got a better version of Mena, in Prelander Berroa. I think we'll be just fine.

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Let’s hope he doesn’t have an offensive collapse at age 27 like his brother.

Collapse from what?  He never had a bat to begin with.  ?

The Diamondbacks chose to stick with McCarthy and feel that they can fix Menas fastball. Seems like a nice opportunistic buy for the Sox.  

These trades are exactly what I wanted the Sox to do. They should be taking shots on the 25-26 year old players that are boxed out of big league ABs on other teams. 
 

The goal for the 2024 Sox should be to have as many ABs as possible from guys on the 2026 Sox.

As for pitching, that’s another problem for another day. If you don’t think Mena is a guy don’t keep him just because you have a weakness in pitching. I think this might increase the likelihood that the Sox focus on a starter as the building block for the Cease trade 

9 minutes ago, Capn12 said:

Mena has struggled at EVERY SINGLE STOP not named Kannapolis. I'm not losing sleep over moving a kid with his repertoire in favor of a kid who is ready to play the OF for a team that sorely lacks MLB ready OFers.

I mean…. Hasn’t he played like 3 years younger at every level?

4 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

It’s more a concern to me because he acquired some really bad players via free agency, which is an indictment on what he apparently values in a player.  I’d give his trades an A and his free agent acquisitions an F.

I'd agree if these were the type of moves made for a 2021/2022 team. These are the type of moves when you have nearly 20 holes on your 26 man roster and cutting payroll by 1/3. Hahn signed a bunch of over the hill players with an extra zero in their salary.

3 minutes ago, Capn12 said:

Mena has struggled at EVERY SINGLE STOP not named Kannapolis. I'm not losing sleep over moving a kid with his repertoire in favor of a kid who is ready to play the OF for a team that sorely lacks MLB ready OFers.

Mena has been multiple years below league average his entire career and was the single youngest arm to pitch in AAA last year.  His stats should be taken with a ton of context.

I trust Josh Barfield on this one and like the move. No more Gavin Sheets or Oscar Colas. 
 

Also I’m probably in the minority here but I think Benintendi is gonna have a really good year this year and gonna shut some people up. 

2 minutes ago, Rey21 said:

I trust Josh Barfield on this one and like the move. No more Gavin Sheets or Oscar Colas. 
 

Also I’m probably in the minority here but I think Benintendi is gonna have a really good year this year and gonna shut some people up. 

I agree on Benintendi, he had a bad wrist last year, batting second I’d pencil him in for close to a .300 BA with 10-15 homers and 60 ribbies, .770+ OPS.

I really like both trades. Santos had a short track record, and Mena, while exciting to look forward, hopefully, I saw him as a project. Nastrini was always going to be first up. 

I'm still hoping for a waiver claim of Canaan Smith-Njigba, and now they have some OF prospect depth. 

Sometimes your stuff and makeup are........your stuff and makeup, regardless of your age. I'm just saying, I'm not bothered by moving on from Mena, in the slightest.

11 minutes ago, Capn12 said:

Sometimes your stuff and makeup are........your stuff and makeup, regardless of your age. I'm just saying, I'm not bothered by moving on from Mena, in the slightest.

Like Stiever, although Mena more potential clearly.

2 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Fletcher is a fine player and this likely means no more Gavin Sheets so it's a fantastic trade.  

I'm gonna miss our Herman Munster in the outfield.

The White Sox just cannot exist without some short grindy overachiever on the roster. 

37 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Mena has been multiple years below league average his entire career and was the single youngest arm to pitch in AAA last year.  His stats should be taken with a ton of context.

Seems like there’s a very fine line between that being a positive thing for Mena and just organizational mismanagement. Being promoted to AAA at 20 without any kind of sustained success in the minors is definitely an interesting development path to say the least.
It would be 1 thing if Mena had dominant stuff and just needed to hone it, but the fact is that if he doesn’t add at least a couple of MPH’s to his average fastball velocity he’s going to have a real uphill battle. His fastball was killed in AA/AAA last year. My fear for him is that his + curveball worked well vs young minor league talent, but won’t get as many chases as he advances in levels and the rest of his arsenal being average will get exposed. But of course he’s still very young so he could prove me wrong. 

 

At the end of the day Mena is the Sox 9th/10 best prospect…meaning he is the 17/18th best prospect in most respectable organizations. The typical “lotto ticket” arm we’ve all been asking for as the 4th piece in a Cease trade. The fact that we traded that for a 26 year old that has a decent shot at being an above average MLB regular really shouldn’t elicit any overly negative reactions. 

Mena for a Adam Eaton 2.0 (The younger version ) sounds good to me.

If I am remembering right I liked what I saw from him when seeing the diamondbacks last year.

1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Collapse from what?  He never had a bat to begin with.  ?

He was basically a league average hitter through 2020 and parlayed that into an extension.  He’s been a 70 wRC+ hitter since then.

15 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

He was basically a league average hitter through 2020 and parlayed that into an extension.  He’s been a 70 wRC+ hitter since then.

I just see a guy that had one good half season in 2020.  He was a weaker hitter than Madrigal in the minors.  That slappy crap doesn’t work in the majors.

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Mena has been multiple years below league average his entire career and was the single youngest arm to pitch in AAA last year.  His stats should be taken with a ton of context.

I agree with you that Christian Mena was a very interesting prospect. I could certainly see him being a strong #3. Fletcher looks like a MLB ready hitter. If this guy can OPS you 750, and with the defense he plays, he's Adam Eaton. 

I don't see the problem. He's not a masher. He may only last 3-4 years before he starts breaking down. But you now have a real option in RF.

 

Sox have a lot of pitching prospects, such as they are, and would have preferred not to trade the 20 year old guy.  But the Sox needed some young OF; really don't have any until today (Colas obviously in the doghouse). 
And the Sox should know what they're getting here.

Edited February 4, 20242 yr by GreenSox

10 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I agree with you that Christian Mena was a very interesting prospect. I could certainly see him being a strong #3. Fletcher looks like a MLB ready hitter. If this guy can OPS you 750, and with the defense he plays, he's Adam Eaton. 

I don't see the problem. He's not a masher. He may only last 3-4 years before he starts breaking down. But you now have a real option in RF.

 

Eaton 10x the prospect coming up in AZ with Pollock and Peralta.

Check out his fWAR the season before he was traded.

5 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Check out his fWAR the season before he was traded.

Are you talking about Adam Eaton's 6.8 fWAR in 2016? He still only OPSed .790. Or his last year in Arizona? They didn't like his defense, then. 

I'm now expecting 14.4 fWAR out of this Fletcher character in his first 3 years. I'm stoked. 

Just now, WestEddy said:

Are you talking about Adam Eaton's 6.8 fWAR in 2016? He still only OPSed .790. Or his last year in Arizona? They didn't like his defense, then. 

I'm now expecting 14.4 fWAR out of this Fletcher character in his first 3 years. I'm stoked. 

Look at his assist total that year.

His arm always much stronger and more accurate in RF.

CF slightly above average.

28 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I agree with you that Christian Mena was a very interesting prospect. I could certainly see him being a strong #3. Fletcher looks like a MLB ready hitter. If this guy can OPS you 750, and with the defense he plays, he's Adam Eaton. 

I don't see the problem. He's not a masher. He may only last 3-4 years before he starts breaking down. But you now have a real option in RF.

 

Not only was Eaton putting up a .790 OPS in his best years with the Sox, but it was an OBP heavy .790. This guy put up a walk rate in his 2nd year at AAA that was comparable to Eaton in the big leagues; for that comparison you’re counting on him being super patient in the big leagues, matching his AAA repeat numbers.