Chicago White Sox

Agree. Andrew Vaughn made Gavin Sheets look like Andruw Jones out there.

Sure, but then you’re trotting out Sheets or Eloy in RF everyday. Neither set of options is ideal IMO.

I don’t want him playing the OF either, but I think there is a path to quite a bit of playing time at 1B / DH. As for Haseley, if the swing change works out then that might change things, but otherwise he doesn’t complement this roster all that well at the moment. Let him prove himself in AAA first. I’m not a huge fan of Marisnick and would rather rely on Romy to fill that role on the roster in all honesty.

Those guys are massive downgrades and not legit 4th OFs. If we have to play either in CF for a 30 game stretch, we are in big trouble. We should have signed someone like Adam Duvall, but tired of beating that dead horse.

The biggest early indicator of success is how our batted ball profile and power output shakes out. Obviously the ball doesn’t carry as far in the cold April weather so can’t rely entirely on HRs to make this call, but seeing more lift, more pull, and less chasing will have me super excited.

No doubt, but guys can’t play 140 or 150 games if the manager constantly rotates the bench into the lineup regardless of matchups. This is baseball, most guys don’t need a ton of days off beyond what’s already in the schedule. If their bodies break down so be it, but put them out there until that actually happens unless there is a matchup benefit to exploit. Bench guys are bench guys because they are typically flawed / imperfect players. No need to overplay in the sake of keeping them “fresh”. That logic has driven me nuts for years and I’m so glad it appears it will be changing.

And building off the above, here’s what that means in an optimal state for the bench: Sheets: 44 starts at 1B / DH against RHP Alberto: 22 starts against LHP at 3B; 24 starts at 2B (handedness mix TBD) Romy: 22 starts against LHP in RF; 12 starts in LF against LHP The biggest gap from a platoon standpoint is at 2B, which is a bit unfortunate but a reflection of having a four man bench. Otherwise, I think this arrangement works well in an optimal state. And having Sheets & Alberto gives you a quality pinch hitter from both sides of the plate while Romy provides the flexibility to replace said pinch hitter pretty much regardless of position. There is a logic to this all unlike last year where it was “play Leury regardless of the situation”. And to be clear, there will obviously be injuries and these guys will be asked to play a lot more than they should. For example, the OF situation could get real messy with even a single significant injury. Having to play Sheets or Eloy in a corner on a regular basis is terrifying and being forced to play Colas in CF on a regular basis would not be ideal in the event of a Robert injury. That remains the biggest weakness with the bench construction as having a legit 4th OF who can play on a regular basis if needed would have been optimal.

So elaborating on this a bit, but the Braves had two players play 162 games last year (Swanson & Olsen) and one play 159 (Riley). Harris played pretty much every single day once he was called up and Acuna played most days once his season actually started (he did receive more rest than others which makes sense). Point is their stars started almost every single game if they were healthy. I’m not convinced that Grifol will go that extreme, but I truly believe he shoots for ~150 starts for our legit stars and the guys where there isn’t some obvious platoon advantage to take advantage of. Guys like Anderson, Robert, Andrus, & Benintendi should be playing pretty much everyday. I get that the former two haven’t been able to stay healthy over the course of a full season as of late, but giving them more than an extra off-day once every two weeks really isn’t going to change things. Unless they are actually hurt, put them on the field. Moncada, Eloy, & Vaughn fall into the next tier for me because of their history of nagging injuries. To me, I think Grifol shoots for ~140 starts out of them. For Moncada, proactively giving him ~22 off-days against LHP throughout the season makes some sense with a guy like Alberto on the roster. Similar logic applies to Eloy & Vaughn against tough RHP with Sheets on the roster. That only leaves Colas of the non-catching starters. And with him, it’s really hard to say how they treat him against LHP. My guess is they won’t do a strict platoon in the long-run, but they may slowly introduce him to major league lefties to start the season. Gun to head, I’m guessing he will also get ~22 days off against LHP this year, which would put him around 140 starts if healthy. As outlined above, this is very different from how Tony managed things. Yes, this hasn’t been the most healthy crew as of late, but Abreu was the only guy who was out there pretty much everyday. I’m super happy this will change significantly under Grifol as not utilizing your best players as much as possible is an incredibly stupid way of managing a team. Put them out there unless their bodies clearly say no, which will obviously quite a bit with this group, but zero reason to baby them.

I was very skeptical of this hire at first, but I think today proves that Grifol is going to help modernize the f*** out of this organization. It’s incredibly early, but his hire looks like it could end up being a game changer for us.

Looks like this will end up being on the money. And honestly, I’m much happier with this bench arrangement than a lot of different outcomes. Burger playing 3B everyday in Charlotte makes all the sense in the world. He will be needed at some point this year.

?…something tells me Romy is making the roster

I’ve been expecting as much, so hopefully this is true:

Colas has officially made the Opening Day roster.

I know Leury is better than what he was last year, but I always felt he was overvalued by the front office and is a really dumb baseball player. More importantly, he’s just not a great fit for this roster. Glad we are moving on.

This has been the most boring spring training in recent memory and the fact we’re all excited to see how the bench shakes out only reinforces that point.

Also, let’s not act like Eloy & Vaughn are beacons of health. Hanging someone like Sheets around will be useful. And yes, I get he can technically still provide depth from AAA, but not quite when it comes to the day to day stuff these two often deal with. Again, to me Gavin is a no-brainer for this roster.

I think in a bench role he’s fine. This team ranked 23rd in baseball last year in wRC+ against RHP. Hopefully Colas Benintendi & Colas help, but it can’t hurt to have a LH bat who can fill in at 1B / DH occasionally and PH if needed late in a game. I’m a bit of an optimist when it comes to Gavin, but I think he might be able to get you close to a 120 wRC+ against righties. That’s plenty valuable for a role player. I just don’t want see him get a ton of ton of time in the OF. I also don’t know of many guys he is blocking for bench spots. A quality 4th OF who bats from the right side like Adam Duvall would have been great, but we don’t really have anyone like that he’d blocking. Burger is a very similar player but with an even narrower skillet. Sounds Grifol is looking for specialists rather than well-rounded but underwhelming players who will be overplayed. If that’s the case, then Gavin should be on the roster.

Alberto if he’s on the roster

Who would you keep over Sheets?

Sheets in the lineup today…he’s making the roster IMO.

Wow, I would not like this:

That all seems to make sense. With Alberto & Andrus in place, you don’t need a bench option that can cover SS. That could allow you to go with someone like Billy in a more specialized role (pinch-runner, late inning OF defense). My big beef with Billy is he’s a negative value player on days that he starts. For better or worse, it seems Hahn is committed to using Eloy & Gavin in the OF corners, which might allow for a guy like Billy.

?

I’m not a huge Alberto guy, but I do think he’d go elsewhere, whether it’s a major league or minor league opportunity.

I can’t see it happening, but this is a Rick Hahn designed team and the dude loves playing his 1B / DH types out of position.