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I prefer Grandal to Martinez for a few reasons. 1. Sox really need lefty bats. I also worry that the Sox would overplay Martinez in the OF. 2. 1B/DH gets super crowded with Martinez and Abreu. I suspect JDM would get at minimum a 3 year deal, likely more, and with the Sox apparently planning to keep Abreu around for at least a few more seasons, it gets difficult to find Vaughn at bats . I do think Vaughn will be ready by 2021 at the latest, so I am not exactly in a hurry to block him. 3. I suspect the McCann we saw in the 2nd half is the McCann we'll get in 2020. He's still a solid major leaguer, but we need to not overexpose him. A three-headed catcher DH combo of Grandal/Collins/McCann makes a ton of sense. Grandal can also play 1B and put Abreu at DH at times. 4. I don't think the Sox are going to relegate Collins to a backup catcher at this point in his career. They're going to want to DH him at least a couple times a week against RHP, and that is tough to do regularly without a third catcher on the roster. All that said, I wouldn't be against JDM + Grandal instead of Abreu + Grandal, but I doubt we see that happen.

Maybe I'm old school, but I still follow the lineup construction that was the norm when I was a kid in the 1990s. Leadoff: Your speedster. If he has power, that's a bonus, but if he has tons of power, bat him somewhere else. This guy gets on base and steals more. Scott Podsednik of 2005, Luis Castillo and Juan Pierre, but probably best of all, Ray Durham. .360+ OBP from 1998-2000 = perfect. Some people like this Acuna/Robert idea. Why would you guarantee that an incredible power hitter comes up with nobody on as many as 162 times in a season? Bat them lower. 2-hole: Best OBP guy. Probably hits left handed, can bunt, pull off hit-and-runs, perhaps some speed but not absolutely necessary. Ideal would be 2000 Jason Kendall or Yoan Moncada. Between this guy and your leadoff guy, the point is to have your three-hole up with RISP as often as possible. 3-hole: This is your best overall hitter. Frank Thomas of the 1990s. Ken Griffey. Ted Williams. Roid-raging Barry Bonds. This "3rd worst hitter" idea is nuts. You want your best hitters to get on base and then let them be driven in by...Yolmer Sanchez? 4-hole: Your best raw power hitter. Adam Dunn, pre-White Sox. Prince Fielder, or better yet, his dad. Average might not be great, but he'll hit a ton of bombs. 5-hole: Your second best raw power hitter. 6-9: Everybody else, in order of decreasing ability. Ninth batter can be your second best leadoff hitter. So if you have Scotty Pods and Ray Durham, let Ray lead off and Pods hit ninth. On shitty teams like ours, this section IS indeed a free inning because we have so much garbage. On a good team like the Astros, it's not because you've still got hitters like Gurriel, Chirinos, and Reddick coming to bat. Ideally, I think our 2021 lineup looks like this: Madrigal Moncada Robert Jimenez Vaughn Abreu Anderson Collins Walker

Fans of Luis Alexander Basabe were hoping to see him potentially play on the south side in 2019 after what could have been a major leap in development. However, Basabe dealt with several injuries that split up his season. His overall numbers don't look great, but after a little digging, our Ken Sawilchik found some fascinating discoveries. Read the interview and feature Ken did on Basabe HERE.

Because there isn’t anyone else who is better than Wheeler and Grandal who is realistically available other than Cole. One of Renson and Stras will resign, if not both, I don’t consider Bum a better signing than a wheeler and Grandal is a better fit than JDM, I don’t mind either for the record. Anyone who is disappointed by the signing of those two needs to readjust their expectations.

I said it's not sustainable or did you not read that part before going on your usual passive aggressive posting? He had a great career year but if you quoted me to argue about semantics than you are wasting your time. He's a career .276 hitter.

OD Lineup: Garcia CF, Moncada 3B, Abreu 1B, Eloy LF, Grandal DH, Anderson SS, Gardner/Dickerson RF, McCann C, Yolmer/Mendick 2B BN: Yolmer/Mendick, Collins, Engel Rotation: Gioltio, Wheeler, Cease, Lopez and Hill/Wood Lineup by mid April: Robert CF, Moncada 3B, Abreu 1B, Eloy LF, Grandal DH, Anderson SS, Gardner/Dickerson RF, Madrigal 2B, McCann C BN: Leury, Yolmer/Mendick, Collins and Engel Rotation: Giolito, Wheeler, Kopech, Cease, Lopez/Hill/Wood NOT TOO SHABBY!

It really isn't a disappointing offseason by any means. Like I said in the other thread, Nats will likely retain one of Rendon/Stras, if not both. That leaves Cole and JDM as the biggest names to change teams. Wheeler and Grandal are in the top 5-8 range FA rankings go. I would actually argue that's a strong off season.

Wheeler + Grandal + Abreu + Gardner/Dickerson + Hill/Wood would be pretty fantastic offseason - albeit perhaps slightly disappointing nobody super premium - but I think it should be pretty realistic and takes nothing away from the farm. Add a solid veteran reliever as well and go to battle. Payroll would be around $125M for 2020, and leaves RF open for the OF prospects to develop for 2021, or for a FA splash in 2021 that better fits what the Sox need.

Arguing about lineup construction remains the most annoying part about baseball analysis.

Yes, I’m miserable because I prefer winning baseball over non-winning baseball. I’ll probably burn in hell for harboring such ideals. You’re not exactly a bed of rose petals yourself with all of your angry retorts to posters who don’t share your exact point of view on all matters White Sox.

That’s what everyone said about Hosmer.

i am sure he will opt out and sign a record setting deal with the White Sox. It's pretty much guaranteed.

I couldn’t agree more. Robert fits the profile of the new lead off man perfectly. His speed and power combo is something I’d like to see at the top of the lineup. 9. Madrigal 1. Robert 2. Moncada

There is no reason for you to be so confident as to put others on blast. His pessimistic plan still has them signing $40 mills worth of players and some higher level in odorizzi and McHugh. It’s not that outlandish.

Or how about you stop being a whiny b**** and monitoring others posts? ive posted several off seasons with the Sox having big splash signings. This 1 I chose to do based on recent evidence of Sox free agent signings. Sorry if that triggered you

Ricky: "Frank, I need you to improve our bunting" Frank: "OK guys, when you get the bunt sign, just don't"

1st round picks are off limits for compensation now. The White Sox pick 11th and won't have as large of a bonus pool. That's the only "issue" though. The 11th pick should carry a bonus pool of around $4.6 million. The White Sox total should be in the $8.5 million range for their entire class. They spent over $12 million on last year's draft. The 2nd round selection should be in the 54-56 range and carries a slot of like $1.2-$1.4 million. If they sign a QO free agent, they'll forfeit that selection and the bonus pool amount that comes with it.