OD 26 Man Roster Projection

[Chicago White Sox]

SoxMachine recently posted an article with Jim Margulus’ current projection of the opening day 26 man roster.  Fangraphs’ Roster Resource page also has its own projection.  As such, I thought it would be interesting to share both of these and see where people disagree and where we think future moves may take place.

Lineup:

• 1B: Murakami (L)
• 2B: Meidroth (R)
• SS: C. Montgomery (L)
• 3B: Vargas (R)
• LF: Benintendi (L)
• CF: Robert (R)
• RF: Baldwin (S)
• DH: Quero (S)
• CA: Teel (L)

Bench:

• BC: Lee (R)
• IF: Sosa (R)
• OF: Hill (R)
• IF: Mead (R) - SM | OF: Pereira (R) - FG

Rotation:

1. Shane Smith (R)
2. Davis Martin (R)
3. Anthony Kay (L)
4. Sean Burke (R)
5. Sean Newcomb (L)

Bullpen:

• CL: Leasure (R)
• SU: Taylor (R)
• SU: Vasil (R)
• MR: Eisert (L)
• MR: Gilbert (L)
• MR: Gonzalez (R)
• MR: Hudson (L) - SM | Alberto (R) - FG
• LR: Jedixson Paez (R)

DFA or Returned:

• OF: Pereira (R) - SM
• IF: Mead (R) - FG
• IF: Ramos (R) - SM & FG
• RP: Alberto (R) - SM
• RP: Hudson (L) - FG

Edited 5 hours ago by Chicago White Sox

[T R U]

Just based off yours, and going by what players currently are..

The IF looks nice, less Vargas (still don't believe in that guy)

The OF is awful.

Quero as DH is less than ideal, he doesn't have enough power.

The pitching is also pretty bad. Shane Smith and a bunch of ?'s in the rotation and a bullpen with just as many questions and no nails guy for late game. 

Still looks like a roster that will be losing 90+ games next season as of today.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Be nice if Murakami, Robert, Sosa and Montgomery can combine for 110+ hrs. Might have something cooking then. 

[Chicago White Sox]

Couple of immediate takeaways on the positional side:

1. I don’t love having three catchers on the roster.  I get the conceptual reason, but I don’t think it’s all that beneficial in reality.  If Teel or Quero were to get injured mid game while catching and we had to sacrifice the DH for one game then so be it.  As such, I do think there is a real chance one of the catchers is moved before OD.  Lee is out of options and I think he’s the most likely one to be moved, but we also know that the Sox have been listening on Quero.
2. I don’t see how this roster can justify keeping both Sosa & Mead as they are highly redundant players.  Sosa obviously is further along with the bat, has shown an ability to hit both LH & RH pitching, and technically played SS in the minors (and theoretically could play there in a pinch).  Neither has options and Sosa clearly has zero chance of making it through waivers.  My guess is Mead ends up getting traded or DFAed ahead of OD, but if you believe in his talent the more prudent move would be to cash in on Sosa and hope Mead can develop into a similar player next season.
3. I really think we need to add another outfielder and ideally a LH one.  I don’t believe that Benintendi should be the primary LF due to his terrible defense, but right now there is no one on the roster capable of dethroning him.  There aren’t a ton of options in free agency, but Tauchman would make a ton of sense for us at the right price.  Have him and Baldwin in the corners with Pereira as a weak-side platoon for Brooks and I can see a passable OF start to form until Braden is ready for a shot.  This shifts Benintendi to a reserve role and part time DH and forces Hill to Charlotte.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

Pereira, Mead, Lee, and Hill are all out of options. If Sosa and Robert stick around, one of those 4 is going to get cut. I'd imagine Pereira is the safest bet to stick around considering they gave up MLB assists to get him. Really makes carrying 3 catchers pointless, but like everyone knows, Tell and Q really need to be playing as much as possible. Makes a lot of sense they'd be open to moving one because it really does limit the roster construction. I would think Mead is the odd man out with the current roster as it stands.

[Bob Sacamano]

30 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Pereira, Mead, Lee, and Hill are all out of options. If Sosa and Robert stick around, one of those 4 is going to get cut. I'd imagine Pereira is the safest bet to stick around considering they gave up MLB assists to get him. Really makes carrying 3 catchers pointless, but like everyone knows, Tell and Q really need to be playing as much as possible. Makes a lot of sense they'd be open to moving one because it really does limit the roster construction. I would think Mead is the odd man out with the current roster as it stands.

They did get a couple of other arms with Mead in the Houser deal so that trade wouldn’t be a total waste if they do cut or trade him.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

1 minute ago, Bob Sacamano said:

They did get a couple of other arms with Mead in the Houser deal so that trade wouldn’t be a total waste if they do cut or trade him.

Yep, and Davitt getting protected clearly shows they see value in him. Mead got a lot of playing time down the stretch. I'd imagine they've seen enough there to make a determination on him.

[Bob Sacamano]

1 minute ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Yep, and Davitt getting protected clearly shows they see value in him. Mead got a lot of playing time down the stretch. I'd imagine they've seen enough there to make a determination on him.

Yeah maybe you can move Mead to a team looking for a cheap platoon Corner infielder for a PTBNL or something.

[southsider2k5]

39 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Pereira, Mead, Lee, and Hill are all out of options. If Sosa and Robert stick around, one of those 4 is going to get cut. I'd imagine Pereira is the safest bet to stick around considering they gave up MLB assists to get him. Really makes carrying 3 catchers pointless, but like everyone knows, Tell and Q really need to be playing as much as possible. Makes a lot of sense they'd be open to moving one because it really does limit the roster construction. I would think Mead is the odd man out with the current roster as it stands.

These things will sort themselves out in Spring Training.  I am sure the majority will continue to be bad.

[Chicago White Sox]

On the pitching side, I have three major takeaways:

1. We could certainly use one more starter that has at least mid rotation upside more than just an innings eater.  Last year we were dead last in innings from our SP group and it’s easy to over index on that, but Smith, Martin, & Burke all pitched around 146 innings last year (including AAA) and should be able to push towards 180 in 2026.  Kay is coming off 155 in the NPB and should be able to do the same.  Behind them you’ll have Cannon & Devitt as true inning eater types with options.  We will also have several bulk-inning relievers in Vasil (101 IP last year), Newcomb (92.2 IP), & Paez (assuming he makes it) on top of Taylor and even Gonzalez depending on usage.  Point is that Getz has done a decent job building a group that can absorb innings.  For that last rotation spot, we should pursue some ceiling even if it comes with risk.
2. I still think we’re short one high leverage arm.  Right now, the only guys I have confidence in are Taylor and Leasure.  Berroa might help at some point and maybe Gonzalez with time, but one arm that could knock everyone down a spot would be fantastic.  Not sure what free agents are left, but I feel like this is a need that can’t be ignored and one that Getz will ultimately address.
3. The LH reliever group is highly questionable outside of Newcomb and I don’t think he would profile well for high leverage use.  One of Gilbert or Eisert is probably fine for a middle relief role, but I think having a high leverage arm from the left side would help the broader bullpen massively.  Ky Bush never had big strikeout numbers, but I do wonder if his stuff would play up some in shorter stints.  With a ton of other SP options, his quickest path the majors is likely a bullpen role and I could see him helping us at some point this year.

[46DidIt]

Mead was the Rays' number three prospect only two years ago and has like three hundred something career ABs. Not sure he's a guy you want to just dump. Maybe during the season if he hasn't shown anything

[Chicago White Sox]

27 minutes ago, 46DidIt said:

Mead was the Rays' number three prospect only two years ago and has like three hundred something career ABs. Not sure he's a guy you want to just dump. Maybe during the season if he hasn't shown anything

I don’t think you can roster both him and Sosa.  And if you did, I struggle to see a path to playing time for Mead.  IMO, if you believe in Mead, you should seriously look into trading Sosa for some other need.

[WestEddy]

3 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I don’t think you can roster both him and Sosa.  And if you did, I struggle to see a path to playing time for Mead.  IMO, if you believe in Mead, you should seriously look into trading Sosa for some other need.

I think Tanner Murray makes Mead and Ramos superfluous. Dude has options and plays all 3 positions well. 

[Chicago White Sox]

9 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I think Tanner Murray makes Mead and Ramos superfluous. Dude has options and plays all 3 positions well. 

Ramos is almost certainly getting DFAed or traded before OD.  He may be able to sneak through waivers though.  Mead I think would get claimed because he is major ready.  I view Murray morning as more of a “next man up” type who starts the year in AAA and gets a call up in the event of injury.