Chicago White Sox

Yup, and it’s my ultimate nightmare.

I’ll fucking riot if they sign Peralta. At least Gallo you can dream on a bit.

I mean, he’s wrong if we don’t have a new LF come Friday night

I’m sad to say I threw $25 at it. Might be setting money on fire, but worth the risk in the small chance this is real.

Yup, that’s the plan!

Yup, these insane contracts prove that the Sox can’t afford to be major players in free agency while Jerry owns the team. While I expect this crazy spending to eventually revert back to more sane levels when one or two of these deals totally blow up, that won’t be during these last couple years of our window. As such, the Sox should strongly consider selling off some short term pieces in Anderson, Hendriks, & Giolito. I don’t think there is any chance Jerry would ok that given the Central is very winnable with a couple mid tier moves, but it would allow us to capitalize off this crazy seller’s market and add some legit controllable talent. And for the record, I think there is zero chance Tim is traded. All signs point to Hendricks being moved to open up space to sign a B/C tier OF free agent.

I’d pair a theoretical Lowe trade with an OF signing (Conforto ideally) and fund it financially by moving Hendriks for prospects (let’s say Pepiot+). Despite the downgrade at closer, I’d prefer that option vs. going with someone like Peralta in the OF, Sosa/Romy at 2B, and Martin as our only SP depth. I just don’t think you roll back the same crew and think you’re a serious World Series contender next year. We have to fill the same couple of holes that have plagued us for multiple seasons, especially with Jose gone and Grandal likely not the same guy we saw in 2021.

I just went back and reread that thread. Holy s%*# but I used to be an optimist before last off-season broke me. One of the worst five month stretches in GM history IMO. Just so many mind-boggling moves and even worse when you view the off-season in totality. $40M+ spent on a bunch of role players instead adding a single impact talent. Rick Hahn is epically bad at this GM’ing thing.

???????

Perhaps they are worried about his back and/or his ability to be passable at 2B moving forward with the shift changes. Or maybe they view this as a way to get a potential plus 3B, a #3 caliber starter, and a solid regular 2B for a guy whose value has peaked. Perhaps I’m totally wrong here and this doesn’t move the needle for the Rays, but my point is Hahn has some chips to work with. And if the teams that can solve his needs aren’t interested in his prospects or players, then he needs to think outside of the box on how to get this done. Can’t keep going into every season with the same couple holes in the OF & 2B.

What if that package could get you Brandon Lowe?

Honestly, hadn’t been on Soxtalk most of the day and saw this thread getting too close to the 2nd page for comfort.

I really wonder what the f*** Hahn’s plan is right now. I know people blame Jerry and rightfully so, but Rick has shown time & time again that he lacks any real creativity and that’s what is needed right now assuming we’re capped out. This farm is still bottom 10, but it’s made significant progress over the past 12 months. IMO, Montgomery & Colas need to be off-limits, but there are other pieces in our system that should be able to get you a LH hitting 2B or OF. Ramos is a legit 50 FV prospect right now IMO with some serious helium and I’m guessing multiple organizations would have him as a top 100 guy. He can be a centerpiece for the right player. And we finally have enough interesting secondary pieces to round out a trade. Vera & Mena are both probably 45+ FV guys right now who have a shot to skyrocket up prospect lists next year if they can prove successful at AA. And then you have Popeye & Sosa as versatile, near major league ready infield prospects who passed the AA test and have a legit chance at being major league regulars. Ultimately, my point is there is ammo there to make a trade without having to move Montgomery. Some team would be excited about a Ramos, Vera/Mena, & Popeye/Sosa package even if it won’t get you Bryan Reynolds. And if money is the problem, then the market is affording you a chance to move Liam for more prospect currency or a major league ready piece while freeing up payroll space. There is legit zero excuse for not improving the team. The levers are there to get better, even if it takes a one step back to take two steps forward type move to enable it. But unfortunately for us, Hahn lacks the creativity and vision to pull off a complicated series of moves that results in a stronger overall roster next year without completely gutting the farm. As such, he’ll continue to play the middle and go the easy route instead of trying something bold that could help us win a Championship in 2023.

Bump

Which is the exact reason we should trade Hendriks. We aren’t a closer away from winning the World Series and should take advantage of this market.

It’s very clear that the A’s have a vastly different valuation on Ruiz than how the prospect sites view him currently. Sounds like he made significant strides with his plate discipline last year and when combined with athleticism/ speed makes him a very interesting prospect. Still seems very light for a young catcher with tons of control like Contreras, even if you think he has to move to DH eventually.

True, but Hahn should have known better. Diekman alone wasn’t making us a playoff team last year and he made the move anyways despite the fact it would eat away at the little money we’d have to play with.

Glad Hahn felt compelled to do nothing but acquire Diekman at the deadline left year. Definitely $4M well spent…FML.

And some people think this is good for baseball. What a fucking joke.

Yup, may the baseball gods take mercy on our souls

If true, it’s embarrassing AF and we should be selling off everything because we can’t compete in the modern MLB environment with how the roster is currently constructed

So is it safe to say that Herb was wrong on this?

I do think that stat may be skewed a bit given that most players above 270 pounds were probably just fat guys (see Cecil Fielder) and not freak athletes.