CaliSoxFanViaSWside

I emailed the Sox fan feedback yesterday and put attention Rick Hahn so I'll let you know. Wasn't sure where to find a reliable email address for him so I just looked under " other" and I gotta. Email address for fan feedback from a page listing all current Sox executives.

I don't think so. Sure, I guess ,if the only OF you want to get are guys you can't afford. 1. To be a playoff team again the Sox need more health, better defense, more speed and power and to trade money to spend money. You say reset but you're talking another rebuild in the time we were supposed to be competing for championships for 10 years . While the position players core has sucked , the pitching hasn't. Lynn was good until he got hurt. Giolito got Cy Young votes for 3 years, Cease 2nd place finish this year. Rodon had one great 60- 70 % season and promptly dumped. Keuchel in the short season was worthy of Cy Young votes. Kopech still has promise. Cueto came in when Lynn got hurt. Problem is the Sox pitching goodness has too spread out and inconsistent. If the Sox can get some health luck and finally put players when they belong improvement on the fringes specially defense and speed can actually be a huge boost to the Sox and the only way to do that is identify fast young defensive MLB ready talent with offensive upside. I find it odd that you think it's spent money or rebuild yet when I suggest MLB ready talent in their mid 20s with speed , defense and big power that would help the Sox on the fringes and also be the types u look for in a rebuild you generally crap on the idea. Nothing great is going to happen with this team unless quite a few guys we already have step up. If they do ,I'd really like having, mid 20s MLB ready speed and defense in OF to help the pitching staff and energize the team and fans . I think Grifol is looking for the same thing .

I know my proposals for the OF haven't been well received but I am at least working under current perceived financial parameters and keeping needs in mind, namely, team speed, defense , power, LHness, youth,depth energy , SP and the future. The situation is what it is. More than one decent FA is a dream and it should be a SP.

I think they can trade one and that's Hendriks. He's a great guy and with his wife are very generous working with charities. Would be a big loss but it's just one hole every couple of games that Lopez could probably fill. Trickle down effect would weaken the pen but more appropriate spending on the BP pieces has to happen.

That's what I've been doing but no one seems to like taking on other teams rejects. I'd happily take speed, defense, power and the energy in the OF . No one can say the Sox don't need all those things badly.

Mediocre is being kind.

That's why I liked that you also were interested in Outman. Only I think a bigger infusion of fast , good defensive young hungry players would give them the energy infusion they need without an old, downside of his career, dickhead. The Sox lacked energy because TLR didn't provide any and they had slow outfielders incapable of making plays or throwing out guys on bases. Crisp defense always fires up teams and fans along with good base running by speedy players. Remember Billy Hamilton in 2021? The fans loved him and he brought energy because despite his lack of hitting talent he was dynamic in the OF and as a runner.

Colas and Outman are both LH OF so essentially you're agreeing with me and my post did also say Eloy to DH.

Seby and Sheets are part of the reason why Chris Johnson got promoted.

Why is letting talented kids play punting ? I've been recommending it a lot as you know. The position player core has been a disaster. JR disaster, Hahn disaster, TLR disaster, defense disaster, power disaster, team speed and base running disaster. You can't fix everything wrong with this team this off-season unless the core all play where they are supposed to, stay healthy and rebound from poor seasons to get at least 2 WAR out of some of them and higher from others. Need some career years from guys who haven't had career years yet like Eloy, Robert. Vaughn , Kopech. Need bouncebacks from Moncada, Grandal , Giolito and Anderson. Kelly has to be way better. Lopez may have to be a closer in order to get some money. They need playoff quality depth at starting pitching. Why the heck do you think I've been recommending AAA OFers with high upside offensive but already good defensive skills and speed. Like it or not the Sox need to get better on the little things that mean a lot defense ,speed, youth. Maybe you've enjoyed Hahn repeatedly doing the high mileage high cost veteran flop every trade he makes while letting young guys go. That's worked wonders hasn't it ? Put in a old manager hired by the old owner, get old players and play guys out of position and you get a team that looks old and slow with the health of old folks. Now all we hear are names like Gallo , Bellringer and others who best years are behind them. Wake up !! The team needs some youthful energy. Energy has been a key word when Grifol talks about how they played last year.

$14M is absurd too for the White Sox. The Sox need a starting pitcher more than anything. They have young infielders ready to step in at 2nd base. Now they need dynamic MLB ready OFs so Eloy can be a fixture at DH, Grandal can catch, Vaughn can play 1st. Sheets , Burger, Yolbert, Cespedes to name a few can be traded. I've been mentioning guys far more advanced as hitters than Yoelki and just as good defensively. If people here aren't even sure Colas is ready why would anyone entertain Cespedes . It was truly amazing what Colas did last year if you take into account how little competitive baseball he's played in the last 2 years and culture hopped from Cuba to Japan and then the States. Outman and Garrett both hit well to very well in their small MLB chances and what they both did at AAA would put Cespedes to shame and far behind both Garrett and Outman as well as Colas. If you throw Aquino in the mix he'd be behind him too. This is called depth defensively with all of them with just as much if not more pop than Sheets .

A lot of things have to go right to make the Sox capable of winning the division but my whole point of going after young OFers and playing Colas is mainly to improve OF defense and speed. Some strong 2+ WAR seasons can be built mainly on defense with speed and strong armed OFs . We all witnessed Eaton's high WAR year when he was piling up assists. Colas, Outman, Acquino all have rifles. Not sure about Garrett's arm. Outman and Garrett have good speed. Colas has enough speed to play CF fine as does Outman and Garrett. It would be an improvement on the fringes just to start with a long with depth and versatility. If one breaks out and gives you the power they all possess now you really have something . If 2 do well enough offensively it's huge. Now you have a good offensive and defensive OF with speed on the basepaths. The only area I'm subtracting from is Hendricks from the BP. We become a more attractive team to pitchers with better OF defense. We'll still be depending on the core for health and production but any scenario that has the Sox improving to 90+ wins is going to need that anyway. Last year was bad defense, poor health, bad base running, slow players,poor power, bad FO , bad manager and poor seasons and the Sox still played . 500. I know many dislike the idea of relying on acquiring unproven mid 20s OFs but they have the skills to help in areas that need fixing at the very least, speed, defense, depth, and OF versatility so Leury doesn't get shoved into a prominent role in the OF at any point and with a shot at some LH savagery. And they are all MLB ready. Trading Hendricks will free up some money to throw at the pitching staff. So I do agree that the rest of them aren't worth trading now. We've rode them this far out of position and unhealthy and just plain bad. Perhaps if they are surrounded by some youthful energy with guys thrilled to be given a shot it can rub off. It helps tremendously having players making plays . It brings a level of excitement to the team when you have athletic guys making great catches throwing out base runners and stealing bases. This is what the new rules are encouraging. Why not infuse the team with those types of OFers who also happen to have quick bats and power too. It would be a much different exciting team instead of the plodding defensive mess we've been seeing in the OF and on the bases.

see above.

From MLB Pipeline late season 2022 James Outman OF, Los Angeles Dodgers James Outman. AGE 25 BATS L DOB 05/14/1997 THROWS R HT 6' 3" DRAFTED 2018, 7th (224) - LAD WT 215 ETA 2022 Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 50 Though Outman batted just .249 in three seasons at Sacramento State, the Dodgers bought into his intriguing all-around tools and selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 Draft. He began to break out with 11 homers in the final month of the 2019 season in Low-A and took another step forward in the second half of 2021, batting .297/.392/.568 while advancing to Double-A. He built on that momentum in the Arizona Fall League and claimed a spot on the 40-man roster. Outman began to perform better at the plate as he gained a better understanding of his left-handed swing. He still aggressively looks to launch balls to his pull side, but slowing things down enabled him to chase fewer pitches out of the zone and access his plus raw power more consistently. He still strikes out too much to post high batting averages, though he compensates by drawing plenty of walks and hit by pitches. One of the best athletes in the system, Outman is a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder with plus speed and arm strength. He has aptitude for stealing bases and swiped 23 in 27 attempts last season. He has instincts to go with his quickness in center field and provides plus defense at any of the three outfield spots.

I was just told a few pages back that Burger would never be a good fielding 3rd baseman and now you're getting "had" if you trade him for a DFA guy who can run, defense and hit for power who's about a 100 days older than Burger ? C'mon now, this is getting silly squabbling over a minor league depth transaction. Yes I said depth because I've said it other posts on the subject too. I did say Outman for Hendriks . But I told the guy who responded to that by telling him he was taking me too literally and then said Hendriks+/- for Outman +/- . I do have to assume you don't want to see , Sheets, Vaughn or Eloy in the OF again so where are our OF's going to come from with our money tied up in projects we already have ? Yeesh all this for wanting a couple of minor leaguers but MLB ready OFs who have nice skills. You would think I was actually saying something controversial like signing an even older player who's had 3 straight bad years for 2years $25M so it wasn't possible to upgrade the pitching very much. Like it or not we're pretty much stuck with hoping from better years from our unhealthy and backwards sliding projects and hoping a trade or 2 can free up a little money and get some starting pitching while actually looking for some youth to help like Cleveland did and like TB always does.Championship teams do seem to have a nice surplus of SP available usually. If the Sox sign any position player for $10M+ and multiple years I'd be shocked.

They're are just as good of ROY candidates as Colas might be. I don't know what odds I'd put on it. There are only so many ways to assess young talent without actually seeing them in person and that is stats from the minors and time in the majors. That's all I got sorry. And they did good at both . If they had sucked at one or the other I'd be hearing about that too. Actually I am hearing about it with K rates, walk %. I can rattle off how bad Bellinger has been too over and over. His start line was pretty similar to Billy Hamiltons in 2021 except Bellinger had way more AB's but BA, OBP, SLG ,OPS all quite similar. Still don't get what you guys have against youth. Everyone wanted a rebuild to get a lot of youth and the system sucks now and all that youth is either always injured or sucking getting paid more than they are worth. If I have to trade Romy or Burger to get Garrett whats the big deal ? If I have to trade Hendriks+/- to get Outman +/- so what. Might free up more money to get Bellinger or improve the starting pitching .

Not all are available? All we do off season is suggest trades and signing guys who aren't available. I would think that minor league guys and DFA candidates are a lot more attainable than Bellinger given the new restraints . I'm not thinking playoffs I'm thinking younger. Aren't you sick of watching guys who were all supposed to be better than ABreu by now get hurt and under perform all the time ? Now you want another one who will cost more than he's actually worth because he was once an MVP ? We had an MVP and he was still the best player on the team and we aren't keeping him. I have no idea what signing Bellinger actually accomplishes. When a guy has been so bad with a top organization known for finding guys and making them better, couldn't make Bellinger any better and the organization you want to sign him is known for not developing players and getting all kinds of injuries to their young core players so often that most of them have never had a good full season, that's bad money after bad. Plus you want to get into some kind of bidding war for him ? Where's the money coming from to make the pitching staff better ? We can point out flaws in every scenario for this year based on money supposedly available and cost to sign or trade guys. Again I don't see anything controversial about wanting young guys with good skills. Every player on the Sox has plenty of flaws too but what most of them don't have are defensive skills ,speed, power ,small contracts and 6 years of eligibility.

2007 Fields was pretty good for the Sox. Owens was a nothing hitter in the minors so I don't see any link to expectations there. Not sure what point you're making . Prospects hit and miss all the time but it helps when they have a specific toolset that MLB is encouraging in rules changes and also fits team needs. All this talk about trading or signing name players is folly. They don't have the system to make trades or the money to sign anyone. They have to free up money and the logical guy is Hendriks. Any money has to go to pitching. Get some youth with speed,power, defense potential is all I've been saying and the guys I like are OF's where the need is quite pressing. I don't see how that's controversial in any way.

Far be it for me to crush your dreams but I also think it's possible and my way of doing it is taking chances on young guys with speed power and defense and LHness in the OF while at the same time perhaps providing a much needed infusion of energy.it's just better for the future when there's very few MLB ready hitters in the minors outside of Colas. It's not like the Sox had anyone come up for a brief while last year and produce .5 War in a 4 game and 27 game sample size while at the same time tearing up AAA like Outman and Garrett did. If the Sox had a couple player do what Outman and Garrett did last year everyone would be thrilled with it. Instead we get people here saying Garrett was DFA'd, Outman's a 4th OF type according to BA and they K too much Well yea tha'ts why teams have to scout and make the hard choices. Garrett hit a couple of HR's of Cease and Rodon. The best hitters can hit those hangers for HR's . That's what power guys do and they are good fielders too. I want to surround Robert with other young players who have a chance to be good players. I know they might not end up that way but you have to get skilled players into your system. Our near MLB ready talent pipeline among position players with good potential is Colas and Sosa. The farm system is trashed at the upper level and isnt that much better between the DSL and AA.

So you think they are going to go after Bellinger ?

Right now the Sox according to Vegas are the 11th team in line picked to win the World Series. It might get worse during the off season. We need like 8 different key guys to rebound or show improvement health and statistics wise without the others falling off a cliff too.

I'm no expert either. But the Sox have needs. Among those needs are youth, speed. power and defense and LH hitters. This team is pretty far away from a miraculous run at a World Title. The new shift rules are designed to help LHH . The new bigger bases, pickoff attempt, and pitch clock rules are all designed for stealing bases. With all those things in mind plus the fact the Sox have practically no one in the minors to step into the opening day roster beside Colas and many don't think he's ready either. But I do. So I identify a skill set of guys ready to play in the Major Leagues who have most of those attributes. Please don't take me so literally about Hendriks for Outman. I think there's trade that can involve both of them to be made but I have no idea who else might be involved. The Sox need to rid themselves of salary and outside of Cease, Hendriks is the main guy . Make Lopez the closer and use the extra monet if any to get a decent starting pitcher and cheaper BP pieces. Nothing I can suggest nor getting Bellinger will turn this team into a contender. Maybe either way can get them into the playoffs again IF Moncada, Gilito, Grandal, Robert, ANderson and Eloy can all have relatively healthy seasons and Kopech can pitch a full season and Vaughn also takes a step up. Really too many ifs to actually think the Sox would make the playoffs but at least my idea is infusing the team with much needed speed, power and defense is to provide hope for adding to the core and designed to take advantage of the new rules.

We'll see you know me well enough to know I know what I'm talking about usually. I was 100 % right about what to do with Rodon against just about everyone here and @ptatc. I predicted the downfall of the rebuild probably 2.5 years ago. I nailed what Abreu would hit his rookie year. I was right about Vaughn's OF defense. To those who were crowing how Kopech was going to step right up and take Rodon's place I told them they were expecting way too much for a 1st year starting pitcher coming off an TJ surgery. In Billy Hamilton's 2021 year with the Sox in 127 AB's .220. 242 .378 .620 9 steals Cody Bellinger 2022 504 AB's .210 .265 .389 .654 14 steals Looks pretty similar to me but if you want to find out if he's still got an MVP inside him for $10M+ that's up to you rather than try to get a DFA guy , a not Top 100 ranked prospect who has showed promise and can take advantage of the new rules and have as good a chance than any Sox prospect not named Colas to contribute immediately for way less money and way more years that's fine. I'm not going to stop thinking my idea is way more plausible, realistic and ultimately more productive and way cheaper and much better for infusing the team with youth rather than retreads.

I'm not expecting anything. The team isn't going to win a World Series anyway next year. And they aren't going to pay for Bellinger. There is expect and there is hope. But I have more faith into adding younger, faster, better defensive, cheaper players who hit for power than I do in rolling out the same garbage in the OF because the new rules are pointing us in that direction and only a fool ignores those things. People act like it's a sin around here to mention other teams prospects who have skills. Just because I'm sticking my neck out doesn't mean I'm right or wrong. Our old pal Jimmy thought it would also be prudent to try to get Garrett. To me its all about the skill set of these guys. The fact that Outman isnt a top 100 prospect makes the chances of getting him better. Sue me if I want younger power hitters who can field and run and aren't ranked. I can't ignore the numbers they put up in AAA and their small but very good sample sizes in the majors.

ANd you'd think that the chances were much better for Moncada and Bellinger to become good again for as much as you mention them only the guys I'm talking about will cost next to nothing and your guys are going to cost whatever Moncada is still owed and whatever Bellinger would cost in some vain attempt to revive their careers and then send Bellinger somewhere else just like the Sox did with Rodon. The only thing separating Bellinger being Billy Hamilton is the HR every 28 AB's for the last 3 years.