wrathofhahn

This is the stupidity of our GM. We trade Cease after a down year for pennies on the dollar we could have moved Robert earlier for a much better return held onto him and now shopping him when his value is at his lowest. I wanted to move Robert. In the f'n offseason. I wanted to keep Cease and see if he could rebound. Why can't the Whitesox ever do anything right. Other teams know how to sell high. They don't wait until their assets are at the lowest point and then say golly gee now is the time to move them. Are we doomed to forever have an incompetent FO?

Like these people are delusional we lost 14 in a row. Whatever he thought about the team before the season and the reasoning for acquiring older prospects doesn't matter. The reality is what it is. This is the worst team in baseball maybe in all of professional sports. We are not 1-2 years away from competing. Period. We do not have the base talent level and the prospects coming up behind them to win. Like I don't even know where this is coming from? Are people watching a different team.

The spin is pointing to a player who didn't sign as evidence of anything. Half the s%*# you hear during the FA period is lies anyways put out by agents about teams they think have money to spend.

Why? This team isn't wining anything anytime soon. You want to burn through a players service time with this roster. Once again why? Furthermore, the Padres are in win now mode Salas may be someone they would actually be willing to move.

The end of an era.

We sound like a Browns fans rooting for the perfect season

I dont want them to lose because they need some players playing well they can move for prospects

Prior to last year he was a 3.5 bb ish, 3.5 era ish, 10k ish pitcher who started around half his games. He has had a bad stretch but that is part of the adjustment of being a reliever you give up a couple of runs as a starter that is no big deal. You do that as a reliever you spend weeks trying to get your ERA back down. I don't think we are going to find five high upside arms to fill out the rotation and I doubt he brings much back in current state throwing relief. I know posters want to keep the dudes pitching well but that is exactly who we should be moving because with rentals and players with limited control those are the type of players you get a good return for. It's back to pump and dump time.

That is why I am interested to know if he has regained his velocity because if he is still throwing 91-92 or 92-93 he projects probably to a more backend type at best

Yes. His velocity had massively decreased post TJ, according to the scouting report I read awhile back. I can't find it but here is an old scouting report from MLB 93-96 mph He maintained the velocity on his four-seam fastball, sitting at 93-96 mph and touching 98, and the quality of his low-80s slider, giving him a second plus pitch. Eder - Marlins Top Prospects | MLB.com Fangraphs Eder was drafted out of Vanderbilt in the fourth round of the truncated 2020 draft and his stuff exploded in pro ball. Eder made 15 starts in 2021, racking up a mid-30s strikeout rate and a 0.98 WHIP while sitting 94-97 and bending in a plus-plus slider, but he blew out and needed Tommy John surgery. His rehab was interrupted by an ill-timed foot fracture, which kept him off the mound until midway through the 2023 season, after which old co-workers Kenny Williams and Kim Ng swapped Jake Burger for Eder at the trade deadline. When he returned, it was with a lower arm slot, and Eder struggled to recapture the arm strength from before his injury, as his fastball sat in the 92-94 mph neighborhood during the 2023 regular season and again in the Arizona Fall League.

Considering Kopech's lack of trade value, I would be inclined to give him a short extension. We will see if he can bounce back next year when we get him back into the rotation; if not, he is signed for a modest return, and given his skill set, there is a good chance he will have a good season eventually. He is still a strong candidate to bounce back and prove something, even if he chooses not to sign the extension. As a rental, he is the kind of player I would be looking to buy low and sell high, so it makes no sense to trade him for scraps right now and then replace him with garbage that will never be worth anything next year. Accept the risk of a injury and let the cards fall where they may next year. Garrett Crochet I'd trade for a good return. It is less about the 11 starts and more about where the team stands talent-wise. He simply lacks the control to keep him around. Sure, if he is open to a very team-friendly contract, but he is only 24 years old and will likely become a free agent in the 26–27 age range. He'll want to explore FA and we will have to pay a premium to keep him. Since we are not going to be good in the near future, I genuinely do not understand why we would take a chance on a large extension with his arm history and where this team currently stands. Take the prospects and let some other team make the gamble that is closer to contention so they feel they should take that kind of risk

It's all about his velocity. Last I read he was throwing 91-92. He used to throw 96-97 prior to TJS

You really think they knew. I have never seen a guy get this injured. It's usually right after he starts to hit well too. I honestly feel for the guy he must have done something terrible in his past life where he can't even play DH without suffering some sort of injury. It's funny because it reminds me that Bartolo Colon and David Wells spent pretty much the entire of their career healthy looking nothing like an actual athlete.

Do you celebrate a good return for a bad signing? Or do you celebrate an ok return for a great signing? Just to be clear, my issue is not with the return; rather, it is with the signing itself. AHT was available last rule 5. To get him, we did not have to sign a lousy player. Me I want the club to target high-end prospects who have the potential to make a difference, and you only get that for rentals that are considered significant players at the deadline.

Yes, his track record is lacking and his FIP hurts him, so I am anticipating a return that might be comparable to a middle of the rotation starter. Since he has a reasonable two-year contract, we will receive a bit of a premium, but given his age, I doubt we will receive a large return. There is just too much risk of regression for whoever gains him.

Why should we celebrate a modest return for someone we should have never wasted a roster spot on to begin with? I want us to go after the kind of guys in the offseason that are good bounceback candidates and could bring back the kind of returns that will actually make a difference in our rebuild. Not just sign trash placeholders and celebrate when they are moved for something.

The only money we should be spending is on placeholders. Here is the problem with spending money on long-term guys: this team is straight trash, and we all know the way the MLB works all the value on FA contracts is on the front end. Why sign someone who is just going to be eating money by the time we are theoretically going to be good? I say theoretically because I have no confidence in this FO at all. The guys I wanted to go after in the offseason are the guys with decreased value you throw in a prospect not worth much buy a lottery ticket and hope they bounce back into something valuable to the club or something to be moved at the deadline. O'NEILL, VERDUGO, KELENIC We basically wasted this year and signed guys that are trash that had no upside to bounce back at all with the exception of pham who I have always liked. Grossman, Maldonado. DeJong. These guys had little to no upside. We wasted money and a ML roster spot on guys who were unlikely to bounce back and gain any sort of value. That is why I won't applaud the trade it was a bad signing and waste of an opportunity and we got trash for trash. What is there to like?

That was always the most likely outcome. Eder was a lottery ticket. He was a high upside arm coming off TJS who had frontline stuff before the injury. He appears to have not regained his velocity pre injury if he never does he projects probably to a more back end rotation type starter. Still the thought process of taking a chance on Eder is solid because if you hit the dream is you end up with another Spencer Strider (injured again) type but if you don't, you lose a marginal DH 1.5 ish war player. Its a chance I'd take every day.

I agreed with the initial strategy of asking for a ransom for Cease and waiting to the deadline if noone was going to offer a ton. Instead, we gave in. Cease is having a Cy Young caliber year which was always the concern. The return would have been there at the deadline even if Cease didn't bounce back, but he did, and we look like fools. So yes to me this was a firable offense because the strategy made no sense. Literally, the only thing that would have prevented the kind of return we got at the deadline would have been an arm injury. He was really our lone remaining asset.

He has a negative WAR. He'd fit right in with our current group.

Cease would be the top pitcher available if our idiot GM held onto him. He is a legit CY Young contender right now. Instead, we took at the time was a poo platter back. Using him as an example of how to conduct a trade is maddening. F chris Getz for selling low. At least Iriarte and Thorpe are off to hot starts, but neither guy would net us Cease at this point.

No spot for him to play and he is a marginal DH. We sold high on him. Let it go folks.

I am not really paying attention to this year. Terrible product and with Chris Getz in charge I have no hope for the future. I have never been more disillusioned as a fan.

Okay, I will admit that. Therefore, all you can do is hold onto him in the hopes that he will regain some value. He was under control for two more seasons, I don't know why this FO or fanbase felt pressured to finalize a trade.

Although I am aware that he was only recently hired, he has really underperformed in his scouting work under Hahn, and his work after being promoted to me has been extremely subpar. Though it might sound crazy, I have already completely lost faith in him as general manager. I do not think any of his offseason moves will pay off. This, in my opinion, is what occurs when you hire someone who performed poorly in their prior position and, for some reason, you give him a promotion.