JUSTgottaBELIEVE

I don’t see a need for innings eater types or stopgap position players starting next year. Assuming health, the rotation should consist of Giolito, Lopez, Cease, Kopech, FA or trade (hopefully this is a middle or top rotation SP rather than back end). The bullpen is actually in pretty good shape as is and with forthcoming AA/AAA reinforcements assuming they hold on to Colome and Herrera. Position player wise, 2b and RF are probably the two most glaring holes. Past teams didn’t have guys like Tilson, Cordell, etc to fill the fringey roles but those guys are sufficient for utility roles and/or starter roles in a pinch. CF should be filled by Robert by mid April if not sooner.

If they brought back the same team next season (including Rodon and Abreu) but replaced Nova, Alonso, Castillo, and Sanchez with some combination of Cease, Palka, Collins, and Mendick (or other AA/AAA players on league min salary), their team payroll will be just a tick over $60M. So again, unless they are planning to run out the lowest payroll in baseball next year, they have ~$30M to play with just to hit their already sub $100M payroll, 25th ranked payroll of this season. If they want to get really crazy and spend in line with league median payroll ($127M), they have ~$65M to play with. You can buy a lot of talent for $65M a year...

The Sox have only committed ~$15M to their 2020 payroll thus far. Who do we think they are going to sign to even get back to ~$91M, their opening day payroll this year? 4 of their highest 6 paid players this season are free agents and one of the other two (Herrera/Colome) is likely to be traded in July.

Rendon is unlikely but, the fact is, he’s as good or an even better fit imo for this team than Manny Machado and will be cheaper in total $$$. I’m guessing he’ll get somewhere around $250M/9 years, basically what the Sox offered Machado but a bit less AAV.

OT but sign Rendon and problem solved. Madrigal becomes the super utility guy, White Sox version of Brock Holt if you will.

Do you think Moose is a better defender than Rendon? Moose currently rates as a plus defender this year at 2b and had zero innings played at 2b in MLB prior to this year (most laughed when they heard the Brewers were moving him there). What makes you think Rendon can’t do at least that for the next several years? Either way, it would be great to have interchangeable pieces as flexible as Rendon and Moncada in the same infield. I don’t see this as a concern, only a benefit.

Are you implying he can no longer play it? How much 2b did Mike Moustakas play before this season?

You have the people that complain about guys that start slow but heat up after Memorial Day when the “games don’t matter” because the Sox are “out of the race” (Abreu). Now we have people that complain about a guy that does pretty much the opposite, at least so far in his very short career. People always find reasons to complain and that’s why we don’t deserve nice things.

Gerrit Cole would be my first choice. Anthony Rendon would be fantastic, too, since he’s been an even more productive player than both Machado and Harper in recent years and will cost less in total $$$ based on his age. The other great thing about Rendon is that he’s also a plus defender at 2b. With his bat he’s a 6+ WAR second basemen with just average defense.

He was 7-1 with a 2.38 ERA coming into the game. He and the Astros are making it look easy to beat everyone, not just the Sox.

Mendick a Non-prospect? I think the guy is widely underrated. He may be a late bloomer at age 25 already but he definitely has potential to serve as a solid utility player on a playoff caliber team. That’s more than Rondon and Sanchez are providing at the moment. Plus, next year Sanchez gets awfully expensive for a utility type player while Mendick will be playing on league minimum.

Both have been big disappointments is the point and neither is currently (or for the foreseeable future) a factor at the big league level for their respective teams.

I’m certainly ready to give Collins and Mendick a shot since there’s really no one blocking them. This is the year for them to take their lumps and determine if they are part of the future.

Yep. Happ is on the Fulmer path of wasted draft pick. 223 BA, 84 wRC+ and 25.8 K% in AAA this year with that ball is brutal. Danny Mendick appears to be a better option at this point and he’s already in the organization. If the Sox are going to trade Colome, they better be looking for young arms, not marginal position player talent.

Exactly. And 192 PAs is not a small sample in the context of this discussion, which makes the 26.8% number so exciting.

That’s why they need to extend him now before he too becomes a $300M man

Personally, I’d rather they use it to extend Moncada and Robert than be tied up to 31/32 year old Machado and Harper for another 5-8 years.

I wanted the Sox to sign Harper but he also appears to be fading. Can’t imagine what his and Machado’s contracts will look like in another 5 years...

5-2 and back to .500 by the end of the trip ?

We’ll see? I’m not convinced they’re taking Abrams at this point but we will find out in 15 days.

Time for an update now that we are just over a quarter of the way into the season. 1. Madrigal - 103 wRC+ in A+ 2. Moncada - 131 wRC+ in MLB 3. Martinez - 141 wRC+ in MLB 4. Jimenez - 83 wRC+ in MLB 5. Robert - 297 wRC+ in A+, 162 wRC+ in AA 6. Vaughn - 1.242 OPS in college 7. Collins - 130 wRC+ in AAA 8. Anderson - 133 wRC+ in MLB 9. Cordell - 130 wRC+ in AAA, 103 wRC+ in MLB

It’s funny looking at the Charlotte lineup and mostly everyone has eye popping numbers but then there’s Engel with a 188 BA and 476 OPS even after collecting two hits tonight. ?

No reason? Do you think another team will guarantee him $11M if he’s non-tendered this winter? And a $10M option isn’t anything to scoff at for the added security that comes with $11M guaranteed.

I’d offer something similar to the Cubs’ Smyly contract. 2 years, $10M guaranteed but with a third year being a $10M team option and $1M buy out if team declines the option. WS on the hook for $11M worse case scenario but if he recovers well they have him at an affordable rate through the 2022 season.

Isn’t this basically what the Cubs did with Drew Smyly? I realize circumstances were different because he was already non-tendered by Seattle but they paid him a few million for a season in which they knew he wouldn’t pitch as he was rehabbing.