Didn’t see a thread about this but felt it was worthy of its own for discussion purposes.

He's an interesting prospect. He's only 5'8 but has elite extension with a low arm angle, which makes his mid to high 90s fastball play faster. He was a reliever a year ago, so if starting doesn't work out, you could use him as a high leverage reliever.

I like they're interested, but I'm not really sure how I'd feel about it. He gives me some durability concerns and potential reliever risk, and I'm not sure how that plays if both him and Taylor are in the rotation for next year. Nice to see them attached to a big(ger) name FA.

Daddy like

IMO you add him AND another starter like King or Peralta. Then if after seeing the league and results, if his stuff could play better as elite closer type, you resolve all your needs and get to evaluate the massive amount of what ifs (hagen, shultz, sandlin, etc). Grant is only gonna be able to provide around 140 innings at best, so 2 starters HAS to happen.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by EloyJenkins

Although 5'8 isn't ideal for a pitcher, you can still get some run out of him. Marcus Stroman was 5'7 and had a very solid career as a starter. Multiple 170+ innings pitched.

9 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

IMO you add him AND another starter like King or Peralta. Then if after seeing the league and results, if his stuff could play better as elite closer type, you resolve all your needs and get to evaluate the massive amount of what ifs (hagen, shultz, sandlin, etc). Grant is only gonna be able to provide around 140 innings at best, so 2 starters HAS to happen.

Fully agree on needing to add one of King or Peralta. We need someone who can push everyone down a peg. From there, adding a second arm a tier down would be nice, even if they come with some warts. To me, Taira and May both fit in this category. If you want to win next year, go with something like this:

Rotation:

1. <King>

2. Burke

3. Taylor

4. <Taira>

5. Martin/Castillo

Bullpen:

• CL: Hicks

• SU: H. Smith*

• SU: <Trade>

• MR: Hudson*

• MR: Brazoban

• MR: Kay*

• LR: Schultz*

• LR: Castillo/Martin

AAA:

1. Sandlin

2. Thorpe

3. McDougal

4. S. Smith

5. Vasil

35 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Fully agree on needing to add one of King or Peralta. We need someone who can push everyone down a peg. From there, adding a second arm a tier down would be nice, even if they come with some warts. To me, Taira and May both fit in this category. If you want to win next year, go with something like this:

Rotation:

1. <King>

2. Burke

3. Taylor

4. <Taira>

5. Martin/Castillo

Bullpen:

• CL: Hicks

• SU: H. Smith*

• SU: <Trade>

• MR: Hudson*

• MR: Brazoban

• MR: Kay*

• LR: Schultz*

• LR: Castillo/Martin

AAA:

1. Sandlin

2. Thorpe

3. McDougal

4. S. Smith

5. Vasil

Go get one of the non-QO Closers like Iglesias too

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Fully agree on needing to add one of King or Peralta. We need someone who can push everyone down a peg. From there, adding a second arm a tier down would be nice, even if they come with some warts. To me, Taira and May both fit in this category. If you want to win next year, go with something like this:

Rotation:

1. <King>

2. Burke

3. Taylor

4. <Taira>

5. Martin/Castillo

Bullpen:

• CL: Hicks

• SU: H. Smith*

• SU: <Trade>

• MR: Hudson*

• MR: Brazoban

• MR: Kay*

• LR: Schultz*

• LR: Castillo/Martin

AAA:

1. Sandlin

2. Thorpe

3. McDougal

4. S. Smith

5. Vasil

I don’t think they’ll be putting Vasil in AAA other than to get ramped up for MLB.

36 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

I don’t think they’ll be putting Vasil in AAA other than to get ramped up for MLB.

It's pretty unlikely that he will be ready for Opening Day (granted. Opening Day could be later in year, in which case he would still have to ramp up in the minors somewhere when Lockout ends)

39 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

I don’t think they’ll be putting Vasil in AAA other than to get ramped up for MLB.

Our last wave of Tommy John guys almost all lost two full seasons. I know Vasil is throwing, but would be shocked if he’s ready for an opening day role with the Sox. Think they ramp him up a bit in AAA before he gets a call up.

3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Fully agree on needing to add one of King or Peralta. We need someone who can push everyone down a peg. From there, adding a second arm a tier down would be nice, even if they come with some warts. To me, Taira and May both fit in this category. If you want to win next year, go with something like this:

Rotation:

1. <King>

2. Burke

3. Taylor

4. <Taira>

5. Martin/Castillo

Bullpen:

• CL: Hicks

• SU: H. Smith*

• SU: <Trade>

• MR: Hudson*

• MR: Brazoban

• MR: Kay*

• LR: Schultz*

• LR: Castillo/Martin

AAA:

1. Sandlin

2. Thorpe

3. McDougal

4. S. Smith

5. Vasil

That is a damn god pitching staff right there. I think Hicks warrants a shot at closer.

3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Fully agree on needing to add one of King or Peralta. We need someone who can push everyone down a peg. From there, adding a second arm a tier down would be nice, even if they come with some warts. To me, Taira and May both fit in this category. If you want to win next year, go with something like this:

Rotation:

1. <King>

2. Burke

3. Taylor

4. <Taira>

5. Martin/Castillo

Bullpen:

• CL: Hicks

• SU: H. Smith*

• SU: <Trade>

• MR: Hudson*

• MR: Brazoban

• MR: Kay*

• LR: Schultz*

• LR: Castillo/Martin

AAA:

1. Sandlin

2. Thorpe

3. McDougal

4. S. Smith

5. Vasil

Love it when you put out your projections

9 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

That is a damn god pitching staff right there. I think Hicks warrants a shot at closer.

Sign Iglesias instead of a trade for a late inning reliever and bump everyone down

2 hours ago, Colome's Hat said:

That is a damn god pitching staff right there. I think Hicks warrants a shot at closer.

Another high leverage arm would be helpful but feel like there is a way to get one, even if we are mostly tapped out financially after adding the two SPs.

1 hour ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Sign Iglesias instead of a trade for a late inning reliever and bump everyone down

Works for me!!

5 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

Good news. Unfortunately, the Cubs typically have much better luck with Boras clients than the Sox.