Chicago White Sox

For our free agent signings? 100% no. Maybe when you’re talking about the Machado’s and Harper’s of the world, but even then we pursued the far less marketable guy.

If you think anyone in the fucking world outside yourself and hankchifan would buy more tickets because the Sox signed Jorge Soler then you’ve lost all touch with reality. And if we ever sign someone because of the “former Cubs angle” Hahn should be fired on the spot.

Hahn literally acquired a Cy Young finalist for Dane Dunning last offseason after trying at the previous deadline and then was able to extend him at a reasonable cost. He also went out and get Liam Hendriks who was their top free agent target, not to mention Grandal the offseason before and what should have been Wheeler if not for his wife. Not all of his moves have worked, but I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say he hasn’t had a plan.

I’m including minor league starts as well for all three guys. Rodriguez has consistently been healthy and trying to use a COVID related illness to say otherwise is absurd. As for Thor, he missed the 2017 season with a torn lat. The only other major period of missed time was due to TJS. His health issues are not nearly as concerning as Rodon’s long-term and he’s been the far more effective pitcher over the course of his career. If you suddenly want to base all your go-forward projections for Carlos based on his 2021 season, but I’m going to look at the guy with historical command issues and wonder if he can maintain a 2.44 BB/9 and 0.88 HR/9. If he his shoulder issues persist and his command slips a little, he will quickly become a much different pitcher. I just think it’s a little naive to assume he will automatically come close to replicating his 2021 numbers next year.

Alright, I will go first here. My plan is pretty straight-forward with three primary objectives: Replace Carlos Rodon with the best long-term starting pitching free agent we can afford Add much needed balance to the lineup while enhancing the defense where possible Improve the right side of our bullpen while also ensuring we have some starting depth As you'll see below, free agency would center around two free agents. First, I'd sign Kevin Gausman to replace Rodon. Total contract here is 5/$138M, which feels low to me but is the figure MLBTradeRumors is predicting. Second, I'd sign Michael Conforto to a 4/$64M deal to solve RF and add much needed left-handed power to the middle of our lineup. Almost all of our funds would go to these two moves, but I feel like they address our two biggest needs right off the bat. After that, we need to address 2B. This may not be popular, but we have too much redundancy at 1B/DH/LF and I'm going to trade Andrew Vaughn to the Dodgers for Gavin Lux. I know he's been a disappointment so far, but he's a former 70 grade prospect with excellent tools and grades very well at 2B. This gives us another left-handed bat, improves our athleticism, and enhances the defense. Finally on the positional side, I'm going to trade Micker Adolfo and a PTBNL to the Rockies for Elias Diaz to add a defensive minded backup catcher. This allows us to DH Grandal a bit more, hopefully keeping him healthier and letting Sheets sit against LHP. Last on the agenda is the bullpen and pitching depth. The first order of business is freeing up some funds by dumping Dallas Keuchel on the Giants. To be conservative, I'm assuming we'd have to eat $8M of the $18M he's owed and basically get a C prospect back. I would then take those savings and sign Collin McHugh to a 2/$11M deal to serve as our second swingman alongside Lopez. Next on the list is trading Craig Kimbrel to the Phillies for Seranthony Dominguez, who has the chance to be a highly valuable setup and comes with three years of control. To cap off the major league bullpen, I'm trading Jake Burger for Cole Susler. While I'd love to keep Jake, I just feel like we need a legit setup man who is cheap and controllable and Susler fits the bill with four years of control left and a 2022 salary around $600k. I'd also look to sign someone Julio Teheran to a minor league deal to ensure we have plenty of options to eat innings as injuries occur. Total payroll comes in just shy of $180M and that includes $8M of dead money. To me, none of these moves feel unrealistic and I think we've improved all our areas of weakness. Honestly, I think you could argue this roster would immediately be the best in the AL and every major move would hopefully provide value well beyond the 2022 season.

Alright guys, I know @bmags may eventually provide a worksheet for this, but I figured it's time to have an official "2022 offseason plan" thread given that free agency has officially begun. The purpose of this thread is to post your own plan and not necessarily what you think our front office will do. The only rule I'm setting is you can not go past $185M for 2022 payroll, which is probably pushing the optimistic range to the fullest. Crazy trades and atypical free agent signings are fine as long as they fit into the total 2022 budget. Also, feel free to comment on and/or question other people's plan as the goal here is to drive conversation while we actually wait for some action. Also, below are three helpful links when it comes to payroll figures: Free agents: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/top-50-mlb-free-agent-rankings.html Arb estimates: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/projected-arbitration-salaries-for-2022.html MLB salaries: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/rankings/base/ (use "Base Salaries" for this exercise")

Syndergaard had TJS like a sizable portion of major league pitchers. Before that he had four seasons where he made 25+ starts including three with 30+. He’s accumulated 18.7 fWAR over 120 starts with a 2.93 FIP. Eduardo Rodriguez missed the 2020 season due myocarditis / COVID. Before that he had six straight seasons with 25+ starts including two with 30+ (which just so happen to be his last two). He’s accumulated 14.6 fWAR over 153 starts with a 3.83 FIP. Carlos has missed time for a multitude of reasons, including elbow, bicep, and shoulder ailments. He has four seasons with 24+ starts but none with 30+. He’s accumulated 11.9 fWAR over 116 starts (~41% coming from this past season) with a 3.94 FIP. So again, one has performed significantly better than Rodon over the course of his career, while the other has a much better track record of health unless you want to punish him for a random issue resulting from a bizarre global pandemic.

Let’s put this in the right spot. Out of all the fake foodie insiders, Portillo’s is definitely my favorite. RIP Orlando…I mean Al’s Cheesy Beef.

It has begun.

He’s certainly not Soler bad.

This is the way.

?

You are drawing a connection that doesn’t exist to support a “White Sox” are cheap narrative.

Verlander had Tommy John surgery, so kind of explainable why he only threw six innings the last two years. Regardless, he made 454 starts over his career and amassed 72 fWAR, including 13.0 over the 2018 & 2019 seasons. He is nothing like Carlos Rodon and more than deserving of a QO IMO.

I really don’t think they have any interest in bringing him unless it’s on the team friendliest of deals. They ran his arm into the ground this year and now are moving on to better and safer long-term options.

Also, Iglesias just got a QO for $18.4M based on a 2.83 FIP / 2.0 fWAR season, whereas Kimbrel is a “large overpay under any circumstance” despite a 2.43 FIP / 2.2 fWAR season. ?‍♂️

For the love of god we aren’t keeping Kimbrel. The decisions are not related whatsoever.

I think it’s abundantly clear after Hahn’s interview today that the Sox simply prefer other starters (with health / durability being a major consideration) and view this offseason as an opportunity to grab one of them on a semi reasonable multi-year deal given how deep this free agent class is.

All those guys have much better track records of health and/or performance than Carlos. Like this dude got non-tendered last offseason and came back to the Sox for $3M because that’s all the market would bear. I get how awesome he was last year, but if you QO him he was almost certain to accept it. If you don’t like the medical outlook of his shoulder and would rather investment that $18.4M into another pitcher then I don’t get why there is so much outrage over this. Again, we need to wait and see everything unfolds first. If they don’t replace him with a quality pitcher then I’ll be right there with you in assuming this was cheapness related.

Is Andrew Vaughn really that much more major league ready? He posted a 94 wRC+ vs. Lux’s 91 wRC+ last year. If you narrow the window, Vaughn put up a 134 wRC+ in July before slowing down, while Lux put up a 162 wRC+ in Sep/Oct. Honestly, I’d give Vaughn some edge, but I’m not sure I’d consider them massively different from a readiness standpoint as both are wild cards heading into the 2022 season.

Lux is a former 70 grade prospect who has only has one year of experience. I get he didn’t start the world on fire last season, but I guess I don’t get the reasoning for souring on him so quickly. If your scouts still believe in the talent, you may never be able to acquire this type of player for a guy like Vaughn. And say this as a huge Andrew Vaughn fan.

But have a bunch of LF/1B/DH depth is pointless if we have major holes elsewhere on our roster. Can’t expect to fill our needs in free agency, which means one or two of the corner guys will need to be moved.

Honestly, Vaughn for Gavin Lux makes a lot of sense for us if you go out and sign Conforto to be your RF. Then you go with a Sheets / Burger DH for 2022 with one of them being the heir apparent to 1B. No idea if the Dodgers would do that, but it’s an example of trading Vaughn to fill a need without forgoing the cost controlled benefit Andrew provides.

Thanks man! Not sure how anyone could consider this a worthless segment?! Seems like he revealed quite a bit and substantially more than I was anticipating.

What does that mean? Hints at what ceiling?