MLBTR Offseason Outlook on White Sox

[Chicago White Sox]

2 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

A nicer guy would have taken the W and allowed him to continue posting.  🤣

There must be accountability or else the integrity of ban bets will be in question.

[WestEddy]

Yea! The White Sox make Jeff Passan's "Winning the Offseason" list. Those banners hang forever!!

Quote

Having Munetaka Murakami fall into their laps makes the winter a win for the Sox regardless of what else they do. Not just because the outlandish projections for a Murakami deal were not met but because if any of the concerns about his play (most of them having to do with swing-and-miss tendencies) are unfounded, he will be worth far, far more than the $34 million Chicago is paying for two of his prime seasons.

Tack on getting one of the best left-handed relievers on the market in Sean Newcomb and hoping to again strike gold on a two-year deal bringing a pitcher back from Asia (last time it was Erick Fedde, this time Anthony Kay) and the White Sox have turned a little more than $50 million into a high-ceiling endeavor with a reasonable floor. Even if the White Sox still have plenty of deficiencies, it's very good team-building work by GM Chris Getz.

MLB free agency: Offseason winners, teams in need of a move - ESPN

[Sox and a Prayer]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Looking at this roster, I still think the Sox end up trading both Sosa & Lee before Opening Day.  Mead certainly sucked last year, but offers a similar hitting profile to Sosa, is a better defender, and has more years of control.  Given that Mead is out of options and Sosa should theoretically have some trade value after last season, I could Getz cashing in and giving the limited bench role to Mead instead.

The Lee situation is pretty obvious.  If you keep both Teel & Quero, there is simply not enough playing time for him and he becomes nothing but an insurance policy against in-game injury (which is a poor use of a bench spot).  He won’t return a ton, but there is zero chance he slips through waivers and must be traded if you don’t plan on putting him on the OD roster.  I fully expect a trade to happen at some point, although it’s possible the Sox hold into spring to hedge against injury.

I agree.  I might be in the minority here, but I think Lee might bring back more value in a trade than Sosa. I realize that Lee has no options left but his position is a premium and he's solid at it. Add to that he comes with 4 years of control. There are definitely teams in need of catching- Phillies, Padres, Giants and I'm sure there's others. Lee might be able to start for a couple of those teams too. You might command a solid leverage reliever in return or a flyer on a low A ball high ceiling prospect - pitching or OFs.  

Maybe I'm overvaluing him 🤷 but its obvious the Sox are going to do something.  They picked up Romo to replace Lee.  

 

[Chicago White Sox]

5 minutes ago, Sox and a Prayer said:

I agree.  I might be in the minority here, but I think Lee might bring back more value in a trade than Sosa. I realize that Lee has no options left but his position is a premium and he's solid at it. Add to that he comes with 4 years of control. There are definitely teams in need of catching- Phillies, Padres, Giants and I'm sure there's others. Lee might be able to start for a couple of those teams too. You might command a solid leverage reliever in return or a flyer on a low A ball high ceiling prospect - pitching or OFs.  

Maybe I'm overvaluing him 🤷 but its obvious the Sox are going to do something.  They picked up Romo to replace Lee.  

 

Romo definitely feels like the replacement for Lee.  Will be interesting to see what he returns if traded.

[Bob Sacamano]

16 minutes ago, Sox and a Prayer said:

I agree.  I might be in the minority here, but I think Lee might bring back more value in a trade than Sosa. I realize that Lee has no options left but his position is a premium and he's solid at it. Add to that he comes with 4 years of control. There are definitely teams in need of catching- Phillies, Padres, Giants and I'm sure there's others. Lee might be able to start for a couple of those teams too. You might command a solid leverage reliever in return or a flyer on a low A ball high ceiling prospect - pitching or OFs.  

Maybe I'm overvaluing him 🤷 but its obvious the Sox are going to do something.  They picked up Romo to replace Lee.  

 

Yeah I don’t agree at all. Lee isn’t really going to bring back anything of value, if he is even traded.

[WestEddy]

4 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah I don’t agree at all. Lee isn’t really going to bring back anything of value, if he is even traded.

Matt Thaiss was traded for Dru Baker, purely a depth OF, and Thaiss is a legitimate backup who could start for stretches. Seby Zavala was a throw-in for the Eugenio Suarez trade. If Robert and $10M gets you LuisAngel Acuña and a TJS pitching prospect, maybe Robert, Lee and $9.5M gets you the same package. 

[Sox and a Prayer]

8 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah I don’t agree at all. Lee isn’t really going to bring back anything of value, if he is even traded.

Maybe. I guess that depends on the team they might be talking to, their need, and how they evaluate Lee. 

[southsider2k5]

27 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah I don’t agree at all. Lee isn’t really going to bring back anything of value, if he is even traded.

And all you need to know is that we just picked up a similar (or better if you believe the hype) off of waivers.

[Bob Sacamano]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

And all you need to know is that we just picked up a similar (or better if you believe the hype) off of waivers.

Bingo. A 24-year old switch hitter who’s also apparently good defensively with 2 options just went for nothing. Maybe Lee moves for fringe 40-man guy during Spring Training at best.

Edit: meant option, not years of control

Edited 3 hours ago by Bob Sacamano

[WhiteSox2023]

45 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

And all you need to know is that we just picked up a similar (or better if you believe the hype) off of waivers.

Yep, and Romo is younger than Lee, was a comparable hitter in the minors as Lee, and has 2 options remaining while Lee has none.  Lee does have much more major league experience than Romo, but I think he still has very little trade value.  I’d rather have Romo and he was just a waiver claim like you said.  It was a nice waiver claim by Getz.  If he can get a mediocre/fringe prospect or any sort of bum reliever arm with major league experience for Lee, that would be great.

Edited 3 hours ago by WhiteSox2023

[Bob Sacamano]

2 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Yep, and Romo is younger than Lee, was a comparable hitter in the minors as Lee, and has 2 options remaining while Lee has none.  Lee does have much more major league experience than Romo, but I think he still has very little trade value.  I’d rather have Romo and he was just a waiver claim like you said.

Jimmy also dropped that nugget the other day that pitchers don’t like throwing to Lee

[Chicago White Sox]

I think people are sleeping a bit on Lee.  His arm is legit special.  I don’t think he returns a ton, but I think he has more value than Romo and is tradable.

[Quin]

4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Looking at this roster, I still think the Sox end up trading both Sosa & Lee before Opening Day.  Mead certainly sucked last year, but offers a similar hitting profile to Sosa, is a better defender, and has more years of control.  Given that Mead is out of options and Sosa should theoretically have some trade value after last season, I could Getz cashing in and giving the limited bench role to Mead instead.

The Lee situation is pretty obvious.  If you keep both Teel & Quero, there is simply not enough playing time for him and he becomes nothing but an insurance policy against in-game injury (which is a poor use of a bench spot).  He won’t return a ton, but there is zero chance he slips through waivers and must be traded if you don’t plan on putting him on the OD roster.  I fully expect a trade to happen at some point, although it’s possible the Sox hold into spring to hedge against injury.

Does Mead have any in-game power whatsoever vs. Lenyn?

[Chicago White Sox]

43 minutes ago, Quin said:

Does Mead have any in-game power whatsoever vs. Lenyn?

Similar raw power / bat speed.  You’d be gambling on Mead improving his ability to square up more consistently with support from Fuller.  Based on his minor league profile, that seems theoretically feasible to me.  Obviously I have no idea what the Sox think, but my guess is they have some plan to right the ship with Mead.  But if I can’t get anything for Sosa, I’d certainly keep him over Curtis.

[Bob Sacamano]

I really wish they would just hand an OF mitt to Sosa and just play him in LF

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I really wish they would just hand an OF mitt to Sosa and just play him in LF

He’s a much easier hold in my mind if you’re willing to do that.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

4 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I really wish they would just hand an OF mitt to Sosa and just play him in LF

agreed

[southsider2k5]

7 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Similar raw power / bat speed.  You’d be gambling on Mead improving his ability to square up more consistently with support from Fuller.  Based on his minor league profile, that seems theoretically feasible to me.  Obviously I have no idea what the Sox think, but my guess is they have some plan to right the ship with Mead.  But if I can’t get anything for Sosa, I’d certainly keep him over Curtis.

He has 5 HRs in about a seasons worth of MLB ABs.  Lenyn just put up 22 in almost the same amount of PAs that it took Mead to hit 5.  The most he even hit an MiLB season was 15.

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I really wish they would just hand an OF mitt to Sosa and just play him in LF

Been on this train for a minute now.

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

He has 5 HRs in about a seasons worth of MLB ABs.  Lenyn just put up 22 in almost the same amount of PAs that it took Mead to hit 5.  The most he even hit an MiLB season was 15.

That‘s in game power.  Lenyn maximizes his slightly above average raw power about as good as anyone.  Mead has similar or maybe better raw power, but hasn’t been able to translate to in game.  Whether he can with more reps is a TBD.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

That‘s in game power.  Lenyn maximizes his slightly above average raw power about as good as anyone.  Mead has similar or maybe better raw power, but hasn’t been able to translate to in game.  Whether he can with more reps is a TBD.

Why though?  You already have a guy who HAS that, and instead would bet on a dude who has never had it?  Mead is 24 and with over 500 MLB PAs and over 1700 MiLB ones.  Lenyn is one year older.

[Sleepy Harold]

 

[Quin]

2 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

Love when the photo of the signee is of him in basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

(I have no idea who this guy is and for all I know he could turn out great)