MLBTR Offseason Outlook on White Sox

[Bob Sacamano]

50 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

 

48 minutes ago, Quin 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)

 

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Plus his name sound positively AI.

He also kind of looks like the kid from that Wednesday show

[WestEddy]

4 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

 

 

He also kind of looks like the kid from that Wednesday show

UDFA out of Northeastern. (The massachusetts one.)

Michael Gemma College & Amateur Leagues Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

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.

Because right now this is a very limited role and theoretically you’re cashing in on Sosa and replacing him with a guy who might offer similar production (eventually) who you will otherwise lose for nothing.  Also, you’re ignoring the fact that Sosa has an additional season of development and was just as bad as Mead was before this past season.  If 500 PA’s is some sort of death sentence for a young player, it should have been for Sosa as well.

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Because right now this is a very limited role and theoretically you’re cashing in on Sosa and replacing him with a guy who might offer similar production (eventually) who you will otherwise lose for nothing.  Also, you’re ignoring the fact that Sosa has an additional season of development and was just as bad as Mead was before this past season.  If 500 PA’s is some sort of death sentence for a young player, it should have been for Sosa as well.

Sosa also showed a lot more power in the minors.  I am not sure why everyone else's dumpster is so much more attractive than the dumpster we already know, but sure.

[Chicago White Sox]

12 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Sosa also showed a lot more power in the minors.  I am not sure why everyone else's dumpster is so much more attractive than the dumpster we already know, but sure.

Sosa showed a lot more power in the minors?  Based on what metric?

• Age 20 season:  Mead = .212 ISO | N/A - Covid
• Age 21 season:  Mead = .208 ISO | Sosa = .131 ISO
• Age 22 season:  Mead = .215 ISO | Sosa = .197 ISO
• Age 23 season:  Mead = .192 ISO | Sosa = .236 ISO

And thanks for ignoring the “cashing in on Sosa” and “limited role for 2026” points that are pretty important to the hypothetical.

[southsider2k5]

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Sosa showed a lot more power in the minors?  Based on what metric?

• Age 20 season:  Mead = .212 ISO | N/A - Covid
• Age 21 season:  Mead = .208 ISO | Sosa = .131 ISO
• Age 22 season:  Mead = .215 ISO | Sosa = .197 ISO
• Age 23 season:  Mead = .192 ISO | Sosa = .236 ISO

And thanks for ignoring the “cashing in on Sosa” and “limited role for 2026” points that are pretty important to the hypothetical.

The fact he has a history of actually hitting homers.  

[Chicago White Sox]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The fact he has a history of actually hitting homers.  

So the guy who has been healthier and has hit more HR’s due to more PA’s has somehow demonstrated more power than the guy with higher ISO.  Got it.

[southsider2k5]

8 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

So the guy who has been healthier and has hit more HR’s due to more PA’s has somehow demonstrated more power than the guy with higher ISO.  Got it.

I don't know what the hang up on Mead is here, but have at it.

I honestly can't wait until we are actually good again so that other people's garbage quits looking so damned attractive.

[WhiteSox2023]

I can see both sides of the argument.

If you can get a decent return for Sosa, perhaps it may be worth it to deal him and give Mead more playing time since he can play all the same positions as Sosa and has had success hitting in the minors.

However, Sosa actually hit in the majors last year while Mead has yet to do so.  If you trade Sosa and go with Mead, you may not get much out of it.  Sosa may not bring much back and Mead could continue to flounder.  Also, Mead only has one more year of control than Sosa.

I guess it would all depend on the potential return for Sosa to assess whether the above risk is worth taking.

Edited 1 hour ago by WhiteSox2023

[Chicago White Sox]

8 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I don't know what the hang up on Mead is here, but have at it.

I honestly can't wait until we are actually good again so that other people's garbage quits looking so damned attractive.

There is no hangup.  You suggested that Sosa showed vastly better power in the minors, which is simply not true.  You also suggested that Mead (who is a former top 35 BA prospect) is dead in the water because of 500 bad plate appearances in the majors despite the guy you’re comparing him to also sucking in his first 500 PA’s and then somehow getting better.

[southsider2k5]

28 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I can see both sides of the argument.

If you can get a decent return for Sosa, perhaps it worth it to deal him and give Mead more playing time since he can play all the same positions as Sosa and has had success hitting in the minors.

However, Sosa actually hit in the majors last year while Mead has yet to do so.  If you trade Sosa and go with Mead, you may not get much out of it.  Sosa may not bring much back and Mead could continue to flounder.  Also, Mead only has one more year of control than Sosa.

I guess it would all depend on the potential return for Sosa to assess whether the above risk is worth taking.

I honestly don't think Sosa has any real trade value either.  All bat, no D guys only have a market if they are HUGE hitters, and definitely more lefty than righty.

[southsider2k5]

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

There is no hangup.  You suggested that Sosa showed vastly better power in the minors, which is simply not true.  You also suggested that Mead (who is a former top 35 BA prospect) is dead in the water because of 500 bad plate appearances in the majors despite the guy you’re comparing him to also sucking in his first 500 PA’s and then somehow getting better.

All for a dude who you hope to be as good as Lenyn?  Cool.  That's all you and Chris.  

[WhiteSox2023]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

I honestly don't think Sosa has any real trade value either.  All bad, no D guys only have a market if they are HUGE hitters, and definitely more lefty than righty.

I don’t think so either — at least enough value to make it worth trading him.

[Chicago White Sox]

27 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I can see both sides of the argument.

If you can get a decent return for Sosa, perhaps it worth it to deal him and give Mead more playing time since he can play all the same positions as Sosa and has had success hitting in the minors.

However, Sosa actually hit in the majors last year while Mead has yet to do so.  If you trade Sosa and go with Mead, you may not get much out of it.  Sosa may not bring much back and Mead could continue to flounder.  Also, Mead only has one more year of control than Sosa.

I guess it would all depend on the potential return for Sosa to assess whether the above risk is worth taking.

100% it only makes sense if there is both a return you like for Sosa and you think there are some ways to fix Mead.  But right now, Sosa is not going to get a ton of playing time (baring injury) and unlikely to maintain his value unless you find a way to get him more at-bats (and all for the OF idea, but not convinced yet the Sox are considering it).

[Chicago White Sox]

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

All for a dude who you hope to be as good as Lenyn?  Cool.  That's all you and Chris.  

It’s wild you can’t admit you were wrong on this one point and continue to deflect and move the goalposts.

[WhiteSox2023]

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

100% it only makes sense if there is both a return you like for Sosa and you think there are some ways to fix Mead.  But right now, Sosa is not going to get a ton of playing time (baring injury) and unlikely to maintain his value unless you find a way to get him more at-bats (and all for the OF idea, but not convinced yet the Sox are considering it).

Benintendi is always the problem, haha.  Maybe you could get playing time for both Sosa and Mead at LF and DH if Benintendi was not here.  But then again, Benintendi could also outperform both guys.  Quite the conundrum.  So maybe a trade makes sense even more due to the roster crunch, even with the risk involved.  Benintendi isn’t going anywhere.

[southsider2k5]

8 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

It’s wild you can’t admit you were wrong on this one point and continue to deflect and move the goalposts.

Because you are using a rate instead of actual production?  It is an argument over back of the roster players with zero value.  If you need to win on Mead, have at it.

I will be here hopefully for actual decent players.

[GreenSox]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Because right now this is a very limited role and theoretically you’re cashing in on Sosa and replacing him with a guy who might offer similar production (eventually) who you will otherwise lose for nothing.  Also, you’re ignoring the fact that Sosa has an additional season of development and was just as bad as Mead was before this past season.  If 500 PA’s is some sort of death sentence for a young player, it should have been for Sosa as well.

If there was one substantive aspect at which Mead was decent, much less excelled, I could see it.  But Mead has no power, Ks too much, doesn't walk; and while he's probably a better defender than Sosa, he's still a below par defender.  In the minors, his batting average kept him afloat. He just doesn't make enough contact for that to carry to the majors though.
Sosa hit 22 homers last season; nothing in Mead's background suggests he can come close to that.
If someone wants to give us a nice return for Sosa, then fine; but expecting Mead to do anything is a real prayer.   As of now, I like the "have Sosa shag balls in left" idea.

[Chicago White Sox]

6 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

If there was one substantive aspect at which Mead was decent, much less excelled, I could see it.  But Mead has no power, Ks too much, doesn't walk; and while he's probably a better defender than Sosa, he's still a below par defender.  In the minors, his batting average kept him afloat. He just doesn't make enough contact for that to carry to the majors though.
Sosa hit 22 homers last season; nothing in Mead's background suggests he can come close to that.
If someone wants to give us a nice return for Sosa, then fine; but expecting Mead to do anything is a real prayer.   As of now, I like the "have Sosa shag balls in left" idea.

I’m not sure what stats you are looking at, but Mead has been a +.200 ISO guy for almost the entirety of his minor league career despite being well below league average in terms of age.  He is a two time Baseball America top 100 prospect who has always been considered to have above average raw power.  As a 21 year old in AA & AAA he was on pace for ~20 HRs if he would have had 500 PA’s.  These takes on Mead are just flat out wrong.

Yes, he has sucked in ~500 major league PA’s across parts of three seasons with a 77 wRC+ to date, but guess what?   Young players can get better with reps & time.  Imagine having this same conversation a year ago about Sosa when he had a 66 wRC+ in 578 PA’s across three seasons.  And Sosa was never half the prospect that Mead was.  I’m not guaranteeing a turnaround here by any means, but these are the types of guys you buy low and sell high on and if you like Mead (whom the Sox went out and acquired) there is some logic to the set of moves in question.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

I’m talking myself into Nick Castellanos if the Phillies eat most or all of his contract.

[Chicago White Sox]

20 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

I’m talking myself into Nick Castellanos if the Phillies eat most or all of his contract.

For what purpose?

[ChiSoxFanMike]

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

For what purpose?

Placeholder in RF until Montgomery is ready 

[Bob Sacamano]

26 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

I’m talking myself into Nick Castellanos if the Phillies eat most or all of his contract.

Why

[Bob Sacamano]

1 minute ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

Placeholder in RF until Montgomery is ready 

I’d rather play Kelenic and Baldwin for those few weeks/month

[WhiteSox2023]

30 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

I’m talking myself into Nick Castellanos if the Phillies eat most or all of his contract.

Ewww.  He can’t play defense and his hitting is getting just as bad.