13 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

Sweet

16 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

Fantastic news on both accounts.  I was confident that Iriarte would make it through waivers due to his stuff (and results) going backwards, but was uncertain if Romo would as well.  Glad we’ll have him in AAA and gives us more flexibility to make a Lee trade if we so choose now.

MLBTR takes an in depth look at the Jordan Hicks conundrum. While results were not good in Boston, his "stuff" was still there. Key quote:

Examining Jordan Hicks' Future With The White Sox - MLB Trade Rumors

Quote

There are several “ifs” and “coulds” in that scenario, but for his part, Hicks sounds ready to return to a prominent role. He told reporters that he hit 99.5 mph in a recent bullpen session. The reliever added that he wasn’t sore the next day after sitting in the upper 90s during the outing.

“That’s telling me that my body’s in a good place,” Hicks said.

Interesting read. 

On 2/2/2026 at 11:05 AM, WestEddy said:

The deal isn't quite finished yet. The Sox did get an upgrade from a guy who was already proving hum-drum in the lower levels to a guy with actual stuff. The PTBNLs probably aren't going to be "these two future garbagemen for this one future Kroger bagger". One of the FutureSox guys intimated that the guy we're sending was an org depth guy who had a foot out the door. The guys we're getting back may require roster juggling, so they'll wait til ST to play with the rosters. 

Some have even suggested the PTBNL track is a way to fully obtain Paez so we get access to his options this season. 

That would be interesting.  Also interesting would be the comp pick that the RedSox just picked up.  But until proven otherwise, I’ll expect the usual org guy.

Any update on the PTBNL’s in this trade? I believe we were supposed to get two of them. @Y2Jimmy0 - Have you heard anything on this?

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Any update on the PTBNL’s in this trade? I believe we were supposed to get two of them. @Y2Jimmy0 - Have you heard anything on this?

Maybe Curtis Mead is going to be one of them.

6 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Any update on the PTBNL’s in this trade? I believe we were supposed to get two of them. @Y2Jimmy0 - Have you heard anything on this?

They have to be settled this week (teams get six months from the trade, unless that's changed)

8 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

They have to be settled this week (teams get six months from the trade, unless that's changed)

Thanks for sharing…super interested to see what we get here.

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Thanks for sharing…super interested to see what we get here.

Jedixson Paez pitching in a swingman role in AA has a ~4 ERA, <1 WHIP, 10+ K/9, in case that idea was ever actually on the table.

4 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

Jedixson Paez pitching in a swingman role in AA has a ~4 ERA, <1 WHIP, 10+ K/9, in case that idea was ever actually on the table.

That would he a sweet outcome. My guess though is we are looking prospects who are closer to org guys. Hope I’m wrong and pleasantly surprised with a bit more than that.

15 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

That would he a sweet outcome. My guess though is we are looking prospects who are closer to org guys. Hope I’m wrong and pleasantly surprised with a bit more than that.

Paez requiring rule 5 protection again this offseason could be a factor too. Boston already chose not to protect him once, but our Sox have their own crunch coming.

Edited Sunday at 08:52 PM2 days by Autumn Dreamin

The team needs another starting pitcher. Why not put Jordan Hicks in the starting rotation and see how it works out. He has been very good in the bullpen. Put him in the starting rotation and lets see what happens.

23 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

The team needs another starting pitcher. Why not put Jordan Hicks in the starting rotation and see how it works out. He has been very good in the bullpen. Put him in the starting rotation and lets see what happens.

He's not stretched out and you can't ask a pitcher to 'suddenly' be able to throw five or six innings when he's only used to throwing two at the most.

And with respect they need two starting pitchers.

9 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

He's not stretched out and you can't ask a pitcher to 'suddenly' be able to throw five or six innings when he's only used to throwing two at the most.

And with respect they need two starting pitchers.

Hey, Lip, I have a hunch you are old enough to remember Jim Konstanty with the 1950 Phillies. Relief pitcher, best in Show, started Game 1 vs Yanks. Pitched his ass off and lost 1-0. 9 innings IIRC. Who stretched him out?

Can we stop pretending it is the good old days when it comes to pitching?

We know for a fact that pitcher throw harder than ever because hitters are more advanced than ever. We only have data back to 2002, and the average fastball then was 89.2 mph. So far in 2026 it is 94.7. Keep going backwards in time, and that number keeps dropping. It was notable in the old days when I guy threw 90, let alone 95. Today it is notable when they don't.

It was MUCH easier to go deeper into games then, because you weren't going at max effort on each pitch. Somehow in the discussion about how no one works deep into games, we seem to leave out the fact that instead of marathon runners on the mound, pitchers have turned into 100 meter sprinters, with a few 200 and 400 meter guys mixed in who can hold their stuff out to 100 pitches 30 times per year. It was easy to go 300 innings when you were topping out at 80 mph and were mixing in junk like a knuckleball because each pitch was at 75 to 80%. NO ONE does that today, which is why almost no one gets to 200, let alone 300 innings.

Again, think of it this way. World class 100 meter dash speeds the last couple of Olympics are in the 9.8 range. Projected out over 400 meters, that would be about a 39 second pace. The record is just over 43 seconds, meaning no one in the world has ever held a top 100 meter pace for 400 meters. If you ran 4 sets of 43 second 400's to get to a mile, your pace would be 2 minutes and 52 seconds, the world record just set was 3 minutes and 42 seconds. Drag that out to a marathon, and you would finish the world record in 1 hour and 37 minutes. The World record is just under 2 hours. Bonus, if you ran a 9.8 second 100 meter pace for a marathon, you would finish in just over an hour and eight minutes.

TLDR, you can throw a lot of pitches at a much lower rate, or you can throw the hardest pitches and throw many less of them. But you cannot physically do both. Stop wondering why.

11 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

He's not stretched out and you can't ask a pitcher to 'suddenly' be able to throw five or six innings when he's only used to throwing two at the most.

And with respect they need two starting pitchers.

I find it difficult to believe that Hicks couldn't pitch 4/5 innings as a starter.

21 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

I find it difficult to believe that Hicks couldn't pitch 4/5 innings as a starter.

How much less do you want him throw in terms of stuff?

40 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How much less do you want him throw in terms of stuff?

The Sox seem to have got Hicks back on track and his value is right where he is, throwing GAS in the pen. I am hoping they get Seranthony squared away so he could be used in non-blow out games.