JUSTgottaBELIEVE

That’s all they need if the other four are healthy. A temporary band aid in the fifth spot until they get to October.

I’d be content if this rebuild produced a title. If it produces two, that would be amazing.

So basically the Sox would be the Cardinals if they played in the NL Central! Continually building a team to dominate the NL lol.

Last year was the first time I really saw them move quickly when something wasn’t working. In prior years, they would have let a guy like Eaton ride out the entire season with the team because they paid him good money. They didn’t even wait until the ASB to DFA him. With this in mind, if Keuchel is still underperforming, he’s gone in July or perhaps even sooner. Sox should have enough arms available by then with the returns of Giolito and Lynn as well as Cueto being ready. As for other moves of significance, like last season, I don’t see that happening until July at the trade deadline. I think they’ll wait to see what weaknesses present themselves and make a move like they did when they acquired the top reliever at last year’s trade deadline in attempt to address an awful bullpen.

The doomsdayers are loving this! Relax

Not a chance

Core is still intact for next season. Why would it shut after this season?

Did you expect a World Series in year 1 of the window? The process playing out is seeing if they can win a title before the window closes.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen the organization truly commit to a rebuild. In the past it was always patching together random parts in an attempt to compete. This was different. I’m willing to let the process play out.

EXACTLY. The Braves did it different than the Dodgers who did it different than the Nationals who did it different than the Red Sox etc. The White Sox are doing it different too. Can’t we give them a chance to see if it works first considering we’re only a couple years into the contention window?

Lol

Who was this big time pitcher on the Braves World Series team that you speak of?

Sox have a core of Eloy, Robert, Moncada, Cease, Kopech, Vaughn, TA locked up for years. They shouldn’t need major reinforcements unless those guys fail to produce. They’ll definitely need to invest in starting pitching again in the near future if they don’t extend Giolito though. And hopefully guys like Colas and Cespedes become solid contributors as guys like Pollock and Abreu move on.

Yes, I will give you Cole. That was their Lynn trade for sure.

Point is, everyone complaining about the offseason hasn’t paid attention to what teams like the Astros do every offseason in the midst of their contention window. Which isn’t much.

And I wouldn’t consider Michael Brantley any more of a significant FA signing than someone like Grandal.

Huh? Weren’t Verlander and Greinke midseason trades? We’re talking about the offseason.

How have they not invested in starting pitching!?? They traded for 4/5 of the rotation (Gio, Lynn, Cease, Kopech) and then went free agency to sign the 5th (Keuchel). I think they’ve invested a lot of resources in starting pitching over the course of this rebuild. Just because your starting staff isn’t super expensive doesn’t mean you haven’t invested in it.

Sure. But let me ask this..how often have the Astros improved on paper in the offseason during their contention window? Typically they’re losing guys like Springer, Correa, etc. to FA and not replacing them with splashy signings or trades. Or am I missing something?

Just simply throwing money at starting pitching in free agency isn’t a wise decision. Most of these guys will bust. Heck, the highest paid pitcher on the Sox signed a couple years ago in free agency is a guy that might be DFA’d this season. FA pitcher signings have a history of being very risky. Outside of the elite, most of their best seasons are prior to their free agency years.

Yes, I’m saying the Sox are a lock for the playoffs this season barring catastrophic injuries in which case not even Rodon would have made a difference.

Guys from 2021 playoff roster no longer on the team: Rodon, Tepera, Cesar, Kimbrel, Hamilton, Collins new guys this year: Gravemen, Kelly, Harrison, Velasquez, Cueto, Pollock, McGuire Gravemen/Kelly replace Kimbrel/Tepera, Harrison replaces Cesar, Velasquez/Cueto replace Rodon, McGuire replaces Collins, Pollock replaces Hamilton (?) overall, a wash to me. Bottom line, need the core players that were already here to produce. Also, don’t discount the possibility of trade deadline deals. Tepera was a great pickup last year, Cesar and Kimbrel not so much. Hopefully they do better on those deals this July.

Yikes. Wonder if he holds up into this fall putting in that type of workload (if it continues). We’ll see!

Or put another way, Gravemen and Kelly are almost equal to one Rodon both in annual salary and total salary. A little cheaper for those two per season than Rodon so maybe you add Velazquez to this season as well. Kopech replaced Rodon in the rotation so they had a void in the bullpen since Kopech vacated his spot to join the rotation. Graveman fills that Kopech bullpen role. Only need 4 starters in the playoffs. Are the Sox better off with Lynn, Gio, Cease, Rodon in the rotation and Kopech and ? in the pen like last season come playoff time? Or Lynn, Gio, Cease, Kopech in the rotation and Gravemen and Kelly in the pen? I’m not sure but I’d probably take the latter personally.

For this season, pretty much what Balta said. For next season, who knows. Kelly eats up about $8.5M of the ~$20M it would cost for Rodon next year.