SoCalChiSox

There's a lot of bullpen guys that had injury issues this year or slow recoveries (Burdi) or still need work (Hansen). I'm confident that by the end of the year at least a couple will be solid pieces for the pen. And Hahn did a good job getting options for 2021 on Cishek and Gonzalez where we can still use them next year if need be.

McCann?

That would be terrible. Assume 70+ million for one year of Betts?

Castellanos?

Perhaps I am reading this wrong but is wsd implying we are still interested in Joc Pederson? https://mobile.twitter.com/barstoolWSD/status/1212823039781552128?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet Wouldn't this be duplicative with Mazara? Pederson is certainly much better in RF and has more proven power. Unless against RHP, one guy would be RF and the other would DH...but it would be a waste to have EE only as a DH against LHP and nothing more. Just doesn't make sense at this point as much as I wanted to get him earlier. Maybe I'm reading it wrong but Dave is going out of his way to read something into a simple statement and he doesn't do that usually for no reason.

Since Fernandez seems to be very competent defensively, does this mean he would get those 40-50 starts to give Grandal a rest even when he is healthy? If so, would Collins start in AAA to work on defense until he gets to the point where they feel he wouldn't be a liability as the primary backup who catches two games a week? I agree that this signing seems to suggest a McCann trade is imminent. However that MLBExec guy said interest in him was not as strong due to framing so I wouldn't expect a great return.

MLBExecutiveBurner @HotStoveintel #WhiteSox James McCann is available, but not valued by league due to pitch framing issues. Internally, would love to extend Giolito. Hard to find right number. Still in on a couple relievers... 6:41 PM · Jan 3, 2020·Twitter Web App

The MLBExec guy said we like McHugh but aren't willing to commit multiple years yet.

Long term vs RHP... 1 Madrigal R 2 Moncada L 3 Robert R 4 Jimenez R 5 Grandal L 6 Anderson R 7-9 ???

I think those signings make it more likely he does sign there, unfortunately. They can put all their ammo into just him now.

There will be no floor because there's no incentive for the owners to agree to that. Analytics provides the possibility of being successful without spending so owners have a win-win scenario where there is winning plus mega profits. The union would have to offer a massive concession to get the votes it would need for a floor and even then the floor would have to still be relatively low. You have to provide them similar profit margins in a new system otherwise they won't vote for it.

Robert's OBP is gonna be around 310 at least to start. Speed or no speed, you can't justify leadoff with that. When he gets north of 350 then sure move him up there. Actually he should be 3 eventually, right in the heart of the order Long term this would be awesome too half of the lineup 1 Madrigal 2 Moncada 3 Robert 4 Jimenez 5 Grandal

I like Blake but with Mazara as the platoon lefty RF for the next two years, he seems to be blocked.

Domingo Santana looks like a good platoon option, at least offensively. Defense is pretty bad though.

I would hope not but they've gone out of their way to block any path that he could meaningfully contribute this year and I doubt that's a coincidence unless McCann is being moved. It seems like a stretch that someone would give up a decent reliever for one year of James McCann.

Please do not move Collins.

Thats a very good hypothesis...although now Puig has seemingly reduced the number of potential options in any event. If the Sox are truly interested they are now in a better position to squeeze him. He could very well end up in Japan if he insists on multiple years and or 10m or more.

Mid to upper 80s.

I wonder if we could get Brandon Marsh from the Angels for McCann as it was noted by the MLBExec guy that this was one of the teams that was interested in him. That would be a really good long term get for RF....left handed...plus arm/plus defense, high OBP.

Just give Pillar 1 year/4 million and invest in a good reliever.

He seems to be suggesting JDM but that doesn't make a ton of sense after EE was signed.

Would be a heck of a platoon with Mazara, although Puig is about equally as effective against RHP and LHP. Still, for one year 8m would be solid. MLBExecutiveBurner @HotStoveintel Per @JonHeyman report on Puig. Very weak market. Puig’s reps looking for “Pillow” contract to help restore his value. Entering Age 29 season. Teams w/ veteran Cuban Players (See White Sox) interested. Especially for a low risk gamble. 1 Yr $8-$10M probably gets Deal Done. 5:40 PM · Dec 25, 2019·

It all depends on McCann. I hope we keep Collins and sell high on McCann. We need LH high OBP power hitters. He can learn from Grandal and when the computerized strike zone comes in a few years he will be very valuable. He can be the backup C this year and catch two games a week. I'm a big fan of all things Univ. of Miami so I'm admittedly biased but I really want to keep Zack.

Pillar would be ideal for reasons already mentioned plus he would come dirt cheap...prolly like 1 yr. 4 million. I also like the above average defense. This is a very strong lineup with EE and a Mazara/Pillar platoon.

His BABIP already recovered to like .312 by the end of the season due to a strong second half, so I don't see any further positive regression, it already came in the second half of the season (that article was from May). However, fangraphs projects him as a 105 wRC+ hitter in 2020. That presumes he is facing both LHP and RHP so I would assume his wRC+ would be well north of 105 if in fact they only start him against RHP (120?). Hopefully his thumb is ok. In retrospect, this was a good move by the FO. While unpopular at the time, it made much more sense than giving Ozuna something like 4/65. We get two cost controlled years, get a badly needed LHH that already is above average against righties and could be much better than that and he's passable in RF. I wish the OBP was higher but for the bottom third of the lineup it's ok. I'll gladly take the projected 25 HRs from someone batting 7th (although that would probably be lower if in fact he doesn't play full time).