October 22, 2025Oct 22 35 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: But why? Nothing about Adams screams a guy you have to lock down a roster spot for a year for, especially with injury. In regards to the Sox, if they were trying to contend and had limited 40-man space to work with, leaving him off would make more sense given the injury. They aren't trying to contend and have plenty of 40 man spots to play with, so losing a young valuable arm for nothing would just be negligence IMO. Admittedly I'm a fan of his and would hate to see him go elsewhere.
October 22, 2025Oct 22 1 hour ago, Sleepy Harold said: In regards to the Sox, if they were trying to contend and had limited 40-man space to work with, leaving him off would make more sense given the injury. They aren't trying to contend and have plenty of 40 man spots to play with, so losing a young valuable arm for nothing would just be negligence IMO. Admittedly I'm a fan of his and would hate to see him go elsewhere. He isn't going anywhere.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 14 hours ago, southsider2k5 said: He isn't going anywhere. I wonder of the Brewers said the same thing about Shane Smith a year ago.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 1 hour ago, oldsox said: I wonder of the Brewers said the same thing about Shane Smith a year ago. We do this exercise every year. There is always at least one guy that people latch onto as someone we can't afford to lose, and they never get picked. The White Sox have no kind of a roster crunch. If they feel that they can't lose Adams and/or that he will be picked, he will be protected. If he isn't protected, the Sox aren't worried. Also, Shane Smith was definitely a guy expected to get picked. Besides not being on the shelf from TJS, Smith had a much higher K rate, velocity rate, and H/9 was also significantly better than Adams was last year.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 Mason Adams 100% gets taken in the R5 if Sox don’t protect him. He needs to be added to the 40-man.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 2 hours ago, oldsox said: I wonder of the Brewers said the same thing about Shane Smith a year ago. Shane Smith didn’t have TJ surgery the April before.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 The Blue Jays took Angel Bastardo from the Red Sox and stowed him on the IL all of 2025, and the Rays took Nate Lavender from the Mets' system and stowed him all season. Both were recovering from TJS, albeit both had more compelling strikeout stuff, Adams had good command and control and was going to get a shot at the Sox' rotation in 2025.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 25 minutes ago, WestEddy said: The Blue Jays took Angel Bastardo from the Red Sox and stowed him on the IL all of 2025, and the Rays took Nate Lavender from the Mets' system and stowed him all season. Both were recovering from TJS, albeit both had more compelling strikeout stuff, Adams had good command and control and was going to get a shot at the Sox' rotation in 2025. But someone pointed out that there is a rule that they have to be active for at least 90 days otherwise they are eligible to be taken in the R5 the next season. So doing that doesn't really do anything it seems. Unless I read or understand that wrong.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 2 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said: But someone pointed out that there is a rule that they have to be active for at least 90 days otherwise they are eligible to be taken in the R5 the next season. So doing that doesn't really do anything it seems. Unless I read or understand that wrong. If a player doesn't remain active on a team's 26-man roster for at least 90 days, their Rule 5 status rolls into the next year, and the same rules apply - they can rehab on the IL, but must be on the active 26-man for 90 days of the 2026 season. I don't know if this rolls over for years and years, though, or if a team would even entertain more than two seasons of the restriction. I don't know about being "eligible" for the next season. If they remain on the selecting team's 40-man roster for the next off-season, they're protected from the next year's Rule 5 draft. During the off-season, there is no 26-man active roster for a player to be on. Everything is about the 40-man. So, the Rays selected Lavender. He sat on the 60-day IL all season. At the end of the World Series (I think), the 60-day IL disappears, and players are put back on their team's 40-man roster. The White Sox will have this crunch with Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Prelander Berroa. If the Rays keep Lavender, because he didn't spend 90 days on the Rays' 26-man roster, they will have the same restrictions for him. He needs to be on their 2026 26-man roster at least 90 days. They can't option him to the minors without putting him through waivers, then if he clears, offering him back to his original team for $50k (i think). If the original team refuses, Rule 5 restrictions go away, and he belongs to the Rays.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 44 minutes ago, WestEddy said: If a player doesn't remain active on a team's 26-man roster for at least 90 days, their Rule 5 status rolls into the next year, and the same rules apply - they can rehab on the IL, but must be on the active 26-man for 90 days of the 2026 season. I don't know if this rolls over for years and years, though, or if a team would even entertain more than two seasons of the restriction. I don't know about being "eligible" for the next season. If they remain on the selecting team's 40-man roster for the next off-season, they're protected from the next year's Rule 5 draft. During the off-season, there is no 26-man active roster for a player to be on. Everything is about the 40-man. So, the Rays selected Lavender. He sat on the 60-day IL all season. At the end of the World Series (I think), the 60-day IL disappears, and players are put back on their team's 40-man roster. The White Sox will have this crunch with Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Prelander Berroa. If the Rays keep Lavender, because he didn't spend 90 days on the Rays' 26-man roster, they will have the same restrictions for him. He needs to be on their 2026 26-man roster at least 90 days. They can't option him to the minors without putting him through waivers, then if he clears, offering him back to his original team for $50k (i think). If the original team refuses, Rule 5 restrictions go away, and he belongs to the Rays. Thank god there is still plenty to cut.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 28 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said: Thank god there is still plenty to cut. The Sox can protect anyone they want to protect.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 6 hours ago, oldsox said: I wonder of the Brewers said the same thing about Shane Smith a year ago. They are contending so may not have room for an arm on the mend. The Sox have plenty of room. Lots.
October 23, 2025Oct 23 1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said: The Sox can protect anyone they want to protect. Yes
October 23, 2025Oct 23 I think the Sox protect McDougal, Pallette, and Adams. Shane Murphy is a toss-up. The White Sox had about 3-4 guys like him at A and AA. Crafty lefty who could just get hammered in the bigs if he isn't perfect. Pallette has special stuff. None of Coffey, Dalquist, Schoenle, Plymell or Kelly has forced the issue, and every team has arms like them. They would just run with their own fastball dudes who can't throw strikes instead of tying up a 40-man spot all year. McDougal is our Shane Smith. If we don't protect him, somebody takes him. Adams was getting reps as a starter in ST this last year when his elbow blew up. He would be in somebody's rotation to start 2027. It would be a mistake to start the clock on somebody like Aldrin Batista or Samuel Zavala.
October 25, 2025Oct 25 On 10/24/2025 at 4:30 AM, WestEddy said: I think the Sox protect McDougal, Pallette, and Adams. Shane Murphy is a toss-up. The White Sox had about 3-4 guys like him at A and AA. Crafty lefty who could just get hammered in the bigs if he isn't perfect. Pallette has special stuff. None of Coffey, Dalquist, Schoenle, Plymell or Kelly has forced the issue, and every team has arms like them. They would just run with their own fastball dudes who can't throw strikes instead of tying up a 40-man spot all year. McDougal is our Shane Smith. If we don't protect him, somebody takes him. Adams was getting reps as a starter in ST this last year when his elbow blew up. He would be in somebody's rotation to start 2027. It would be a mistake to start the clock on somebody like Aldrin Batista or Samuel Zavala. Nobody will take Adams coming off his TJ...opportunity cost doesn't add up, unless he had close to elite stuff like S.Smith or Misiorowski.
October 25, 2025Oct 25 On 10/22/2025 at 3:34 PM, southsider2k5 said: But why? Nothing about Adams screams a guy you have to lock down a roster spot for a year for, especially with injury. Many things about Mason Adams scream that. A pitcher getting injured is irrelevant. As everyone else has said, the dude is simply quite good and many teams would want him. It's not even a Shane Smith scenario, Mason is an actual prospect.
October 25, 2025Oct 25 On 10/23/2025 at 3:30 PM, WestEddy said: I think the Sox protect McDougal, Pallette, and Adams. Shane Murphy is a toss-up. The White Sox had about 3-4 guys like him at A and AA. Crafty lefty who could just get hammered in the bigs if he isn't perfect. Pallette has special stuff. None of Coffey, Dalquist, Schoenle, Plymell or Kelly has forced the issue, and every team has arms like them. They would just run with their own fastball dudes who can't throw strikes instead of tying up a 40-man spot all year. McDougal is our Shane Smith. If we don't protect him, somebody takes him. Adams was getting reps as a starter in ST this last year when his elbow blew up. He would be in somebody's rotation to start 2027. It would be a mistake to start the clock on somebody like Aldrin Batista or Samuel Zavala. I think he's added to the 40-man because he'll be in the starting rotation with the White Sox. I bet Schweitzer is on the MLB team too. The interesting one to me is Sammy. He's no where near ready for MLB so I bet a team wouldn't really want to have him on their MLB roster, but he is still semi-promising. It would be a shame to lose him for nothing. I probably wouldn't roster him. Shane Murphy, to me, is an easy choice, particularly with the team's dearth of left-handed pitchers. Schweitzer is a little more questionable but he looked genuinely very good after moving to a relief role. Projecting better than Ellard or Eisert or Booser. Hard to find useful lefties unless you wanna pay up. I wouldn't wanna pay up for relief pitchers. Just my opinion.
October 25, 2025Oct 25 8 minutes ago, nrockway said: I think he's added to the 40-man because he'll be in the starting rotation with the White Sox. I bet Schweitzer is on the MLB team too. The interesting one to me is Sammy. He's no where near ready for MLB so I bet a team wouldn't really want to have him on their MLB roster, but he is still semi-promising. It would be a shame to lose him for nothing. I probably wouldn't roster him. Shane Murphy, to me, is an easy choice, particularly with the team's dearth of left-handed pitchers. Schweitzer is a little more questionable but he looked genuinely very good after moving to a relief role. Projecting better than Ellard or Eisert or Booser. Hard to find useful lefties unless you wanna pay up. I wouldn't wanna pay up for relief pitchers. Just my opinion. Murphy does throw strikes. I wasn't paying attention to Schweitzer's handedness. Yeah, they probably select his contract. Murphy seems like the type of finesse lefty every team has a few of. We also have Jake Palisch and Grant Umberger. I think Preller head-faked a few GMs one year into protecting guys who were well away from the bigs. Preller took four guys in the 2015 Rule 5 draft and that spooked Hahn into protecting Micker Adolfo and LA Basabe years before they would sniff AAA, starting their clocks early, and forcing a situation where they had to be rushed.
November 6, 2025Nov 6 James Fox of FutureSox breaks down the Rule 5 options: https://www.futuresox.net/2025/11/06/chicago-white-sox-40-man-roster-decis-2/
November 12, 2025Nov 12 Every MLB Pipeline ranked prospect not on 40-man rosters and needing protection: https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/rule-5-draft-prospects-protected-on-40-man-rosters-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
November 15, 2025Nov 15 FanGraphs does an analysis of teams' 40-man crunches. With the White Sox 40-man at 35, they deduce the Sox really aren't in a crunch that needs to be broken down. The deadline to set rosters for the Rule 5 draft is this coming Tuesday, November 18. American League: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-american-league-40-man-roster-crunch-analysis/ National League: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-national-league-40-man-roster-crunch-analysis/
November 17, 2025Nov 17 New MLB.com article on the toughest 40-man decisions for each team: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/toughest-rule-5-draft-decisions-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
November 17, 2025Nov 17 Older SoxMachine article where they ponder the Rule 5 issues: https://soxmachine.com/2025/09/white-sox-40-man-roster-has-room-for-all-necessary-offseason-moves-and-then-some
November 17, 2025Nov 17 42 minutes ago, WestEddy said: Older SoxMachine article where they ponder the Rule 5 issues: https://soxmachine.com/2025/09/white-sox-40-man-roster-has-room-for-all-necessary-offseason-moves-and-then-some This is more of my line of thinking. I think the hype over a few of these guys is way overblown. While they have the tools to destroy the minors, the 2nd tier guys lack that extra something which major leaguers usually feature. The guys who seem to get picked in Rule 5 have more raw stuff with less refinement, versus tons of refinement without raw stuff.
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