Y2Jimmy0

I think you're just extremely cynical, yes.

When are those quotes from though? My guess is they were from before the free agency tour

Mike Elias is the new GM in Baltimore. He led the charge on drafting Carlos Correa when the industry wasn't really on him at #1. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go with Abrams or a different HS player here. That could leave Sox picking between Rutschman and Witt.

What funeral?

100%

Pulling athletes from Matteson and Country Club Hills is helpful as well.

The defense is better but he's purposely made the offense worse by taking it back to the stone ages. Stephen Noh has a scathing piece on The Athletic about it. Losing as many games as possible is the only thing that matters from here on out in my opinion. I'd be trying to deal Parker, Holiday and Lopez and I'd be willing to take on 2019 salary in order to add draft picks. Nobody is signing this offseason to play for this organization.

I don't really think he was a fit at all. He's basically a LF only now and that's where Eloy will be playing.

I had heard that he and his wife were staying in Chicago last night FWIW

Jerry is absolutely "loosening the pursestrings". I don't know what else exactly it is that people need to see or hear to believe it but it's true. Will either guy end up signing? No idea. It won't be because of money though.

You are not correct about this BTW.

No.

Here's some shameless self-promotion but this is what I think is happening: https://theloopsports.com/2018/12/15/white-sox-this-is-what-having-a-seat-at-the-table-looks-like/

The wives are very close

I expect Oakland SS Richie Martin to go #1 to the Orioles

Probably relievers. I'd say Art Warren, Riley Ferrell and Tyler Jay. I have no idea what they'll actually do. Merkin and Fegan both think they might pass or trade the pick. I think that's foolish when picking 3rd personally but we'll see. Whoever they take will probably have AFL experience though haha.

I agree with this. If the Sox do truly have the best offer out there, they'd like for others to think their current offers are good enough.

Thanks for the support. You can write the preview for us next year.

I'd even consider it to acquire Mallex Smith personally. 25 year old LH hitting CF with a 118 wRC+ last year.

I understand that. I don't think he was ever deemed part of the future though. He was a placeholder.

Imagine worshipping Avisail Garcia

I'm on record as not thinking the Sox needed to add a ton to the bullpen. I want to find out which of these young options will be here when the games matter. They disagree obviously. With that being said, this is a great trade. Alex Colome is really good. Narvaez hit well last year but all of his value as a hitter is dragged down by his negative value behind the plate. Narvaez wasn't going to be here when it matters so selling high makes sense. Colome also serves two masters in that he could be here to be on a better club the next couple of seasons but could also be flipped if necessary for something much more useful to the long-term future of the White Sox than Omar Narvaez was. This sets up for another veteran addition at catcher in my opinion with Zavala given the chance to compete with that guy for the backup job. I think it's definitely Collins/Zavala in 2020 though. Also, this bullpen (likely with another addition according to Hahn) could be pretty good. Colome, Jones, Hamilton, Minaya, Burr etc on the right side with Fry, Frare and Bummer on the left side with Burdi in the wings and guys like Johnson, Medeiros, Schryver not terribly far away. Good trade by the front office in my opinion.

I understand that part of it. I don't think he has anything left to prove in Birmingham though is my point.

Fair enough. Hostetler told me point blank at Soxfest that they don't care about his batting average. He was on base at a .382 clip. How many players in Birmingham were out more often than he was? I don't have the time to look. He struck out a ton. He'll always strike out a ton. He gets on base though. A lot.

.382 OBP and 130 wRC+ in AA with 15 homers. He'll turn 24 in February. I don't care what his batting average is. The White Sox don't care what his batting average is either so we probably shouldn't. I think it's time for a push here. Lets see what playing the majority of his games in Charlotte's home park does to his power numbers. I'm expecting a huge increase. They have enough roster spots to carry 3 catchers and DH one of them every day.