2 hours ago, nrockway said:

Sports is still fun. Maybe watching it on TV gets old after 70 years or whatever the average age of this board is. Or posting about it on the internet since the day of newsgroups. But its a timeless thing that has been fun and socially relevant since, I dunno, they started recording history.

Bless you for your optimism and enthusiasm. For me losing 120 games is not fun. It's horrific. Trades for players not yet ready for the big leagues for me is annoying. You love it, which is fine. I just think the more the Sox lose the worse it is for the already small fanbase.

35 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

If we get the combination of Soler/Javier Baez career-wise, we're going to be QUITE fortunate.

How would he by like either of them, let alone both? I could imagine a middling outcome for Braden of a low average hitter with power maybe too many strikeouts, but good defense and an elite throwing arm. Santander with better D? Solar is huge power with no D. Baez was great D with good power and then suddenly he couldn’t hit at all. 

36 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

How would he by like either of them, let alone both? I could imagine a middling outcome for Braden of a low average hitter with power maybe too many strikeouts, but good defense and an elite throwing arm. Santander with better D? Solar is huge power with no D. Baez was great D with good power and then suddenly he couldn’t hit at all. 

Baez arm and Soler numbers hitting-wise, but I still think he would be hard pressed to come anywhere near Javy's first 5-6 years with the Cubs...

So I've changed to a more athletic Hunter Renfroe but certainly not a burner out there.

4 hours ago, TaylorStSox said:

That kid's super likable, isn't he? 

Seems like it

8 hours ago, TaylorStSox said:

That kid's super likable, isn't he? 

Definitely. I wonder if the Sox will start him off in Kanny. Hoping he gets off to a great start.

10 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Thanks for sharing.  He’s a man now but he barely looks older than my 16 year old son.  🤣

Dude needs to lift a bit.  Build up those biceps.  💪 

  Hands, wrists and forearm are a lot more important to hitting . My baseball coach used to tie a weight to a long string connected to a bar and we'd have to hold our arms out holding the bar and roll it up. Old school weight training for hands ,wrists and forearms. He'd have various weights so you could also increase the amount.

He's already pretty solid at 6'2" 220.

Edited December 13, 20241 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

10 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Tatis, Elly de la Cruz, Ohtani, Rodriguez and ONeil Cruz are all taller, dynamic fast-twitch athletes.

But they are pretty much unicorns.

There's plenty of tallish outfielders who can hit and run.Robert is 6'3 but BMont who is 6'2" and a solid 220 is ideally suited to RF not CF like someone like Justin Crawford who I've seen listed at 6'3" and 6'2" 188 and is still very much a slap hitter and his batting average driven OBP is driven by a high ground all rate.

If the Phillies really did offer Aidan Miller and Crawford at the TDL for Crochet and Getz asked for Painter too it's because Miller was barely 20 and Crawford about 20.5 so they were still A ball guys although highly rated. He wanted to mitigate some of the risk associated with guys that young. I just think Getz preferred AA success over A ball success and the switch hitting and more powerful,great arm ,high walk of the slightly older Montgomery.

Teel should slot in behind Schultz as the Sox number 2 prospect and BMont 5th.

 

I am getting a picture of the starting pitching, but does anyone want to take a stab at who will be in the bullpen and also the closer?

 

10 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

 

I am getting a picture of the starting pitching, but does anyone want to take a stab at who will be in the bullpen and also the closer?

 

That will sort itself out.  Likely some of the starting pitching prospects that fail as starters.

9 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

That will sort itself out.  Likely some of the starting pitching prospects that fail as starters.

Eder as a shutdown closer would make everyone on the board feel vindicated to some degree about the Burger trade and full of I-told-you-so's, so I want that.

19 minutes ago, Quin said:

Eder as a shutdown closer would make everyone on the board feel vindicated to some degree about the Burger trade and full of I-told-you-so's, so I want that.

Better happen soon.  Dude ain’t getting any younger.

30 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

That will sort itself out.  Likely some of the starting pitching prospects that fail as starters.

Think the poster is referencing this year, not long-term.

I will go ahead and guess the closer isn't in the organization yet.

5 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Think the poster is referencing this year, not long-term.

I will go ahead and guess the closer isn't in the organization yet.

Ah okay, I didn’t even think about a closer for this year.  Bad teams don’t need to worry too much about closers.  I guess Kopech was our closer last year?  He led the team with 9 saves.

Leasure was the name everyone was pointing at going into last spring and he barely survived the season.

You've got Varland Ellard Wilson Iriarte Bush Nastrini Berroa Leasure again...and a whole lot less veteran depth.

13 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Ah okay, I didn’t even think about a closer for this year.  Bad teams don’t need to worry too much about closers.  I guess Kopech was our closer last year?  He led the team with 9 saves.

Still gotta have a decent one to possibly trade. Especially if you grab a cheap veteran from free agency and hope for a good half season.

46 minutes ago, Quin said:

Eder as a shutdown closer would make everyone on the board feel vindicated to some degree about the Burger trade and full of I-told-you-so's, so I want that.

Eder as any kind of a usable pitcher would be nice.

9 hours ago, greg775 said:

Bless you for your optimism and enthusiasm. For me losing 120 games is not fun. It's horrific. Trades for players not yet ready for the big leagues for me is annoying. You love it, which is fine. I just think the more the Sox lose the worse it is for the already small fanbase.

You're right in that the more the Sox lose over time, the worse it is. But it's nice to get excited about something new. And I don't think the fanbase is that small, it just doesn't go to games when the team's losing. For me, I had to emotionally detach myself the last 2 seasons. I still listened to Chuck and the SoxMachine guys on their podcasts and stayed connected here, but I didn't watch any games past May in 2023 and I stopped after probably 3 weeks this season. Gotta find joy in something else if the team you know and love just isn't doing it for you, especially if it's "horrific" as you say. You don't have to completely strip yourself of your fandom, but taking a break, even if for a few years, isn't a bad idea. Probably healthy actually. I'm looking forward to watching more games than normal in 2025 to see what these kids, and Venebal, can do.

12 hours ago, PaleAleSox said:

This city will love him. Like Kris Bryant but better and for longer. 

Kris Bryant was an elite prospect who absolutely destroyed the minor leagues upon arrival

I would temper expectations big time for Braden Montgomery coming off injury 

12 hours ago, PaleAleSox said:

This city will love him. Like Kris Bryant but better and for longer. 

If we get a Kris Byrant out of this deal, it was an all time great.

6 minutes ago, steveno89 said:

Kris Bryant was an elite prospect who absolutely destroyed the minor leagues upon arrival

I would temper expectations big time for Braden Montgomery coming off injury 

Nah. Full steam ahead. Bryant mixed with Ichiro.

7 minutes ago, steveno89 said:

Kris Bryant was an elite prospect who absolutely destroyed the minor leagues upon arrival

I would temper expectations big time for Braden Montgomery coming off injury 

You’re making a mountain out of a molehill with the injury, dude.

6 minutes ago, PaleAleSox said:

Nah. Full steam ahead. Bryant mixed with Ichiro.

Hits like Mays, runs like Hayes.

4 minutes ago, hi8is said:

You’re making a mountain out of a molehill with the injury, dude.

You are right, he is only 21 and likely bounces right back from mthe injury

Even still, a Kris Bryant comp is a big stretch for him, who was essentially a slam dunk prospect

I wonder how we'd feel about Braden Montgomery right now had we drafted him.

2 hours ago, Falstaff said:

 

I am getting a picture of the starting pitching, but does anyone want to take a stab at who will be in the bullpen and also the closer?

 

Shane Smith who they just got in the Rule 5 draft from the Brewers has to be on the Sox 26 . He's a starter and reliever so he should get innings as a swingman or longan to see if he was worth picking.

Steven Wilson has to bounce back from a subpar injury filled year.

Prelander Berroa has closer stuff. Has to throw more strikes which is a theme in the Sox bullpen.

It's why they took Smith who had around a 1.00 WHIP in 94 inning between AA and AAA. He's only had 157 total innings in the minors and only 6.2 in AAA but the Brewers left him unprotected because he had no pedigree as an undrafted FA from Wake Forest and wasn't in their top 30 prospects despite being a valuable pitcher in their system who rose fairly quickly and maintained his good stats. He played in the Southern League against the Barons so the Sox were familiar with him. He had over 10 K per 9.

Jordan Leasure is another guy who has to show he can stay healthy and throw strikes.

Among guys on the 40 you have Fraser Ellard,Justin Anderson, Jared Shuster, Chris Flexen ,Enyel De Los Santos, Jake Eder , Ron Marinaccio , Penn Murfee, Jesse Scholtens.

You have some promising relief arms not on the 40 like Trey McGough and Adisyn Coffey and others. Coffey could close as a rookie.

Plus some arms can still be picked up. A lot of those 40 man RP are just as likely to be released as they are to make the opening day roster.

Edited December 13, 20241 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside