Pete Fairbanks?

[caulfield12]

The White Sox bullpen had the fifth-worst SIERA and the third-worst xFIP last season. The closer role was a moving target, with nine different relievers recording a save. Jordan Leasure led the way with seven saves and would likely be Chicago’s closer if the season started today, though he would likely be supplanted by Fairbanks or any other notable free agent acquisition. No White Sox reliever has recorded double-digit saves since 2022 (Liam Hendriks with 37).

Chicago shelled out $24MM for Kendall Graveman and $17MM for Joe Kellyahead of the 2022 season. Since then, the club has been hesitant to spend on relievers (or any other position). The most expensive bullpen addition over the past three seasons was John Brebbia on a one-year, $5.5MM deal in 2024. The White Sox’s only reliever signing last offseason was Bryse Wilson, who got a one-year, $1.05MM pact.

mlbtraderumors.com

No mention of Grant Taylor…

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I have seen that in a few spots over the past six months, but the most recent was in the BA Top Prospect rankings list where they project Grant Taylor to be our eventual #2 SP and Bill Mitchell (who does the rankings) said in the chat that he was told by White Sox sources that the plan is still to eventually move him back into the rotation.  I don’t disagree with your notion it’s weird plan and one I’m skeptical of working, but for now I do believe this is some crazy Bannister idea that he believes is possible.

The math just doesn't math much for me.

He'll be lucky to touch 90 innings this year (and that would be a lot!) as a reliever. No relievers throw that many innings these days without spot starts in there.

Meaning at most if he moved to starter next year he's a 140 guy (have big doubts he would move next year). So he wouldn't be able to be a full-time starter until year 4 of his 6 years of control at the earliest and that's with everything going right and them suddenly moving him.

They also claimed that his release and arm action were preventing him from being a starter today, and from what I saw at end of last year his release and angle of attack hasn't changed at all from when he came up so if he wasn't ready when he came up, how is he ready now? Maybe we'll see some change this year, but again I'm pretty skeptical.

The Sox also don't exactly have a surplus of starters either, so  him not being capable of even being a part-time guy this year doesn't bode well for his future in the space. This feels more like the Sox saying one thing for value purposes, but their actions show they've pigeon holed him as a reliever. 

The Crochet comparison is actually a terrible one too, IMO. Crochet was a reliever because the team needed one and they were competitive. The Second they became terrible, he was moved to a starter. Taylor is a reliever when him being one adds no value to the team. They should have stretched him out and kept him on starter schedule in the minor leagues.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The math just doesn't math much for me.

He'll be lucky to touch 90 innings this year (and that would be a lot!) as a reliever. No relievers throw that many innings these days without spot starts in there.

Meaning at most if he moved to starter next year he's a 140 guy (have big doubts he would move next year). So he wouldn't be able to be a full-time starter until year 4 of his 6 years of control at the earliest and that's with everything going right and them suddenly moving him.

They also claimed that his release and arm action were preventing him from being a starter today, and from what I saw at end of last year his release and angle of attack hasn't changed at all from when he came up so if he wasn't ready when he came up, how is he ready now? Maybe we'll see some change this year, but again I'm pretty skeptical.

The Sox also don't exactly have a surplus of starters either, so  him not being capable of even being a part-time guy this year doesn't bode well for his future in the space. This feels more like the Sox saying one thing for value purposes, but their actions show they've pigeon holed him as a reliever. 

The Crochet comparison is actually a terrible one too, IMO. Crochet was a reliever because the team needed one and they were competitive. The Second they became terrible, he was moved to a starter. Taylor is a reliever when him being one adds no value to the team. They should have stretched him out and kept him on starter schedule in the minor leagues.

Yes.  This.  It almost seems like they are trying to placate people, whether that is Taylor and his camp, or the fans, but if they really wanted to make Taylor a starter, they could have just kept him in the minors as a starter, you know, to build those innings.

[Chicago White Sox]

9 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The math just doesn't math much for me.

He'll be lucky to touch 90 innings this year (and that would be a lot!) as a reliever. No relievers throw that many innings these days without spot starts in there.

Meaning at most if he moved to starter next year he's a 140 guy (have big doubts he would move next year). So he wouldn't be able to be a full-time starter until year 4 of his 6 years of control at the earliest and that's with everything going right and them suddenly moving him.

They also claimed that his release and arm action were preventing him from being a starter today, and from what I saw at end of last year his release and angle of attack hasn't changed at all from when he came up so if he wasn't ready when he came up, how is he ready now? Maybe we'll see some change this year, but again I'm pretty skeptical.

The Sox also don't exactly have a surplus of starters either, so  him not being capable of even being a part-time guy this year doesn't bode well for his future in the space. This feels more like the Sox saying one thing for value purposes, but their actions show they've pigeon holed him as a reliever. 

The Crochet comparison is actually a terrible one too, IMO. Crochet was a reliever because the team needed one and they were competitive. The Second they became terrible, he was moved to a starter. Taylor is a reliever when him being one adds no value to the team. They should have stretched him out and kept him on starter schedule in the minor leagues.

I don’t disagree with any of your main points, but I assume they plan to treat him like they did Vasil last year and he was able to throw 101 innings and only had 7 appearances beyond 3 innings.  Again, the only hope I can cling to is the fact they don’t want to make him closer right now and want to build him up a a multi inning reliever instead.

[southsider2k5]

Just now, Chicago White Sox said:

I don’t disagree with any of your main points, but I assume they plan to treat him like they did Vasil last year and he was able to throw 101 innings and only had 7 appearances beyond 3 innings.  Again, the only hope I can cling to is the fact they don’t want to make him closer right now and want to build him up a a multi inning reliever instead.

And Vasil they aren't going to start either.

[Chicago White Sox]

11 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

And Vasil they aren't going to start either.

Which I find bizarre, but the point is Taylor isn’t going to go much beyond 100 innings this upcoming season and there is a way to do that in a primarily bullpen role.

[southsider2k5]

13 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Which I find bizarre, but the point is Taylor isn’t going to go much beyond 100 innings this upcoming season and there is a way to do that in a primarily bullpen role.

I think it goes to the way the Sox are messaging under Getz.  There isn't a lot of consistency and clarity.  Hahn kind of did the leagueese thing where he talked, but didn't really say anything.  Getz will make a declarative statement, and then the next month is spent walking it back, or watering it down. Take the  payroll talks this year.  You can find just about anything you want to believe in their statements over the last month or so.

[fathom]

Suarez going to Braves makes it even less likely the Sox can get Fairbanks. I really hope they’re open to dealing Taylor.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

3 hours ago, fathom said:

Suarez going to Braves makes it even less likely the Sox can get Fairbanks. I really hope they’re open to dealing Taylor.

Yeah, I would have traded him yesterday if the plan going perfect was for it to take 4 years of service time (without injury!) for him to be a reliable starter every 5th day.

[southsider2k5]

2 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Yeah, I would have traded him yesterday if the plan going perfect was for it to take 4 years of service time (without injury!) for him to be a reliable starter every 5th day.

If there really is a plan for Grant Taylor to eventually be a starter, calling him up to be a reliever this soon was so incredibly stupid.  It just makes way more sense that we are being lied to about this in some for, whether it is to appease Taylor, or the fan base.

[caulfield12]

Fairbanks’ asking price is unclear, but closers of similar caliber have been landing $10-15 million a season on the open market. In a competitive market with contending teams involved, the White Sox are unlikely to be the team to overpay to sign the player and may even have to add extra to convince Fairbanks to come to a rebuilding team. Instead, look for the White Sox to ultimately pivot to a cheaper option, albeit a less-reliable one, and use the money elsewhere. 
 

southsideshowdown.com

[Y2Jimmy0]

18 hours ago, fathom said:

Suarez going to Braves makes it even less likely the Sox can get Fairbanks. I really hope they’re open to dealing Taylor.

Fairbanks was available to whole league for 1/11 and nobody was interested. 

8 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Fairbanks’ asking price is unclear, but closers of similar caliber have been landing $10-15 million a season on the open market. In a competitive market with contending teams involved, the White Sox are unlikely to be the team to overpay to sign the player and may even have to add extra to convince Fairbanks to come to a rebuilding team. Instead, look for the White Sox to ultimately pivot to a cheaper option, albeit a less-reliable one, and use the money elsewhere. 
 

southsideshowdown.com

Southside Showdown? 

[caulfield12]

6 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Fairbanks was available to whole league for 1/11 and nobody was interested. 

Southside Showdown? 

https://southsideshowdown.com/white-sox-might-be-priced-out-of-closer-market-after-latest-bullpen-signings

[caulfield12]

https://www.si.com/mlb/rays/onsi/news/mlb-insider-reveals-why-rays-never-traded-pete-fairbanks-in-recent-years
 

Something has obviously changed one month later when the supply of experienced closers has dwindled down to one.

The Rays didn’t want to take the risk on Nov. 12 that he might get hurt or not perform and that they might be stuck like the Sox were with Robert for the full season…representing a good chunk of the season’s payroll.

That said, they just inked Steven Matz for about the same amount of money and we don’t know if anyone else valued him that highly, either. Matz isn’t even a closer, he’s a LH swingman the Cardinals didn’t want to keep.

 

[The Mighty Mite]

9 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Fairbanks’ asking price is unclear, but closers of similar caliber have been landing $10-15 million a season on the open market. In a competitive market with contending teams involved, the White Sox are unlikely to be the team to overpay to sign the player and may even have to add extra to convince Fairbanks to come to a rebuilding team. Instead, look for the White Sox to ultimately pivot to a cheaper option, albeit a less-reliable one, and use the money elsewhere. 
 

southsideshowdown.com

Of course they will but with Fairbanks won’t bother me if they take a pass on him.

[WhiteSox2023]

42 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Fairbanks was available to whole league for 1/11 and nobody was interested. 

Southside Showdown? 

You don’t trust the source?  I’ve heard that Noah Phallus is second only to Ken Rosenthal in reliability and stature.

[Chicago White Sox]

33 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.si.com/mlb/rays/onsi/news/mlb-insider-reveals-why-rays-never-traded-pete-fairbanks-in-recent-years
 

Something has obviously changed one month later when the supply of experienced closers has dwindled down to one.

The Rays didn’t want to take the risk on Nov. 12 that he might get hurt or not perform and that they might be stuck like the Sox were with Robert for the full season…representing a good chunk of the season’s payroll.

That said, they just inked Steven Matz for about the same amount of money and we don’t know if anyone else valued him that highly, either. Matz isn’t even a closer, he’s a LH swingman the Cardinals didn’t want to keep.

 

It’s wild you linked to an article that provides very little info and then pull almost nothing from it and instead just throw out your own random thoughts.  The only key takeaway from that article is that per Ken Rosenthal no teams had interest in Fairbanks at 1/$11M at the time of the non-tender.  The Rays were not worried he “might get hurt or not perform” next year because they had no interest in retaining him and wanted to use the money on other needs.  They could have theoretically picked up the option in hopes of his market improving later, but that was a risk they did not feel like taking given the lack of interest in him at the time.  I’m still not sure what Matz has to do with anything here…seems pretty clear they chose to use their limited dollars on a LH swingman instead of Fairbanks based on need priority.

[caulfield12]

44 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

It’s wild you linked to an article that provides very little info and then pull almost nothing from it and instead just throw out your own random thoughts.  The only key takeaway from that article is that per Ken Rosenthal no teams had interest in Fairbanks at 1/$11M at the time of the non-tender.  The Rays were not worried he “might get hurt or not perform” next year because they had no interest in retaining him and wanted to use the money on other needs.  They could have theoretically picked up the option in hopes of his market improving later, but that was a risk they did not feel like taking given the lack of interest in him at the time.  I’m still not sure what Matz has to do with anything here…seems pretty clear they chose to use their limited dollars on a LH swingman instead of Fairbanks based on need priority.

So why is he now going to receive $20+ million and two years?

Angel Pagan received two years and $20 million at a more advanced age and with much less closing experience.

Whereas Fairbanks has 75 saves across the last three years...

And Brandon Finnegan just got $19 million for two years with a very spotty record as a closer...

 

It's a different version of the Robert conundrum.

Is he actually worth the $20 million salary and sending xyz prospect back in return?

Where's anything written about free agency that is exhaustively and objectively informative and yet doesn't provide any interpretation or subjective opinion???

Then why even have a discussion board?

If you want to keep arguing that you're right definitively...then all there is to do is WAIT for the signing to be announced and then you can simply apply your own spin/interpretation at that point.

 

"according to Ken Rosenthal no teams had interest in Fairbanks at 1/$11M at the time of the non-tender."

So the Rays contacted every team in baseball and offered him in trade for $11 million?  Of course not.  The Rays would lose leverage in that case....until a team decided they actually needed him when supply/demand forces kicked in, making it more immediate/pressing. 

Why not just wait until he cost just FA money instead of $11 million AND additional prospects???

By this argument, Luis Robert has very little chance of going anywhere because no teams feel confident he's still a 3+ fWAR player after 2024 and 2025.

Unless the White Sox first kick in additional talent or a cash subsidy.  JR needs to dump his salary more desperately than other teams want to take the risk of adding him and assuming that full $20 million contract.

Edited Friday at 01:52 PM by caulfield12

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, caulfield12 said:

So why is he now going to receive $20+ million and two years?

Angel Pagan received two years and $20 million at a more advanced age and with much less closing experience.

Whereas Fairbanks has 75 saves across the last three years...

And Brandon Finnegan just got $19 million for two years with a very spotty record as a closer...

 

It's a different version of the Robert conundrum.

Is he actually worth the $20 million salary and sending xyz prospect back in return?

Where's anything written about free agency that is exhaustively and objectively informative and yet doesn't provide any interpretation or subjective opinion???

Then why even have a discussion board?

If you want to keep arguing that you're right definitively...then all there is to do is WAIT for the signing to be announced and then you can simply apply your own spin/interpretation at that point.

Kyle Finnegan got his deal because he was dominant down the stretch with the Tigers when he ramped up the usage of his splitter.  Clearly the Tigers believe he can continue doing that and he will be worth the contract.  Whether that happens remains to be seen.

How do we know Fairbanks is getting 2/$20M+?

[caulfield12]

7 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Kyle Finnegan got his deal because he was dominant down the stretch with the Tigers when he ramped up the usage of his splitter.  Clearly the Tigers believe he can continue doing that and he will be worth the contract.  Whether that happens remains to be seen.

How do we know Fairbanks is getting 2/$20M+?

Because he is the only closer left on the market and approximately six to ten teams still need a closer with Robert Suarez off the board and Luke Weaver the next viable choice.

The Tigers are going to run a payroll more than twice where TB is at when all is said and done.

At any rate, supply and demand, market forces, etc.  The invisible hand or animal spirits.  Call it whatever you want.

 

So we can add a third aspect to the ongoing bet/s.

Luis Robert is going nowhere before OD without money or prospect/s going along with him to mitigate acquiring team's risk.

Edited Friday at 01:59 PM by caulfield12

[Chicago White Sox]

3 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Because he is the only closer left on the market and six to ten teams still need a closer with Suarez off the board and Luke Weaver the next viable choice.

Supply and demand, market forces, etc.

 

So we can add a third aspect to the ongoing bet/s.

Luis Robert is going nowhere before OD without money or prospect/s going along with him to mitigate acquiring team's risk.

I think Luis Robert will require us eating some money to get a quality prospect in return, but this shitty OF market (Lane Thomas getting $5M, few CF’s worth a damn) will likely limit how much that is.  Don’t see us lining up on a bet here.

[WhiteSox2023]

24 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I think Luis Robert will require us eating some money to get a quality prospect in return, but this shitty OF market (Lane Thomas getting $5M, few CF’s worth a damn) will likely limit how much that is.  Don’t see us lining up on a bet here.

Yeah, I noted that signing in the Winter Meetings thread.  $5.25 million including up to $1 million in performance-based incentives.  Crazy.  The guy has done jack the last two seasons.  His agent did some great work with that deal.

Edited Friday at 02:25 PM by WhiteSox2023

[Chicago White Sox]

17 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Yeah, I noted that signing in the Winter Meetings thread.  $5.25 million including up to $1 million in performance-based incentives.  Crazy.  The guy has done jack the last two seasons.  His agent did some great work with that deal.

Helps the Robert market some but could make it hard to land a useful corner OF (not that there are many in free agency to begin with).

[mac9001]

I don't see why you couldn't make Taylor a 3 inning opener. If he makes all 33 starts you're at 99 innings with a plan to get him to 150+ the following year.

[77 Hitmen]

On 12/8/2025 at 7:36 PM, PaleAleSox said:

The adrenaline of pitching in front of sold out crowds at the Rate will offset all of that. 

Bring back those cardboard cutouts of fans from the Covid season!