Chicago White Sox

Unfortunately that’s the hot new claim amongst Grandal haters. He apparently calls a ton of 0-2 fastballs because he’s aware he can’t catch the breaking stuff.

We literally just gave up Madrigal & Heuer for 1 1/3 years of Kimbrel. This idea that classic closers are somehow much less valuable than they were two years ago simply isn’t true.

Man, had the Sox signed Wheeler the same offseason they got Grandal I would have been the happiest person in the world. So damn close to the perfect offseason for White Sox standards.

Andrew Miller in 2019 got a 2/$25M deal as 34 year old free agent coming off a -0.4 fWAR / 5.19 FIP season. I’m assuming a 33 year old Kimbrel coming off a 2.2 fWAR / 2.43 FIP season would get quite a bit more. You continue to ignore he was the best reliever in baseball before we acquired him and there are many reasons that could explain why he sucked with us (35 inning YoY increase, changing teams mid-season, dealing with a sick child, uncomfortable with new role, etc). Major league GMs aren’t as pessimistic as you and base everything on the last two months.

This is a terrible prediction. Even if they pick up the option, he will not be on the team next year. GMs actually watch baseball games and witnessed a guy who was the best reliever in baseball leading up to the trade deadline. Someone will prefer him than signing one of the few elite guys to a huge multi-year deal. All relievers are risky, ones that only require one year commitments far less.

Why is Kimbrel on a 1/$16M deal stupid? His salary doesn’t work for us, especially when we already have an expensive closer, but there are other big market teams that are probably excited about the possibility of getting him for 50 cents on the dollar.

That’s definitely the nightmare scenario!

For shits & giggles, but if Hahn were to leave does KW take over as the main day-to-day guy in the front office this offseason? If so, do things actually change with him taking on a more hands-on role? KW was incredibly aggressive as a GM, so just kind of fun to think how things might be different if he’s the one manning the phones.

What does “evaluating the team” mean in this context and why does it take so long?

The Sox will be able to trade Kimbrel. We won’t get back what we invested in him, but I could see a controllable reliever with upside as a potential return. I think the Phillies make a ton of sense as a potential trade partner and I’d happily take someone like Seranthony Dominguez as the main piece.

Fully agree

That’s the big question though and would still require dumping a big chunk of Keuchel’s salary.

I will add if there’s a way to somehow retain Rodon & sign Conforto, that would be beyond amazing and I’d totally be ok with dumpster diving at 2B and the final spot or two in the bullpen.

Those are probably five of the biggest questions, although getting some sense of payroll expectations for next year would be the big one. The difference between say a $190M payroll and a $170M would be massive. I still think we’ll be closer to the latter and that realistically means Kimbrel is gone (which we already know) and that we can only afford one larger contract. As such, that means either Rodon returns on a QO or we sign a high end RF / 2B (with Conforto being far more realistic than the premium infielders). I think we ultimately fill the rest of our holes with cheaper internal options and C tier free agents.

Unfortunately for us, former 70 FV prospects don’t get traded for that type of package.

Agree. Plus at some point Jose will retire / be let go, which would open up 1B for Vaughn and an OF spot for Cespedes / Colas. And honestly, zero problem with those guys being depth for a couple of years and having to earn spots. Would be an excellent problem to have.

I can’t of wondered the same thing. Could Hahn be considering an exit? Seems super unlikely, but perhaps losing control to La Russa pushed him towards other opportunities. Just seems odd the end of season presser wouldn’t have been this week.

He’s about as perfect of a fit as we’re going to find for RF and I hope the Sox prioritize him accordingly this offseason. I just pray that KW & Hahn don’t somehow use Cespedes & Colas as reason to go with a stopgap. For years many of us thought one of the Adolfo, Rutherford, Gonzalez, & Basabe group would grab ahold of the RF job and we may be a few months away from all them being out of the organization. Point is we can’t bank on non-blue chip prospects becoming everyday guys, even if you have multiple of them. Go get Conforto and worry about finding space for the prospects later if need be.

He’d be an interesting addition, but if we only have $25M or so to work with, he’d take up the bulk of our money.

Thanks! Should be interesting to follow him this offseason whether the White Sox have interest or not.

@Eminor3rd - How much we thinking this kid might get?

Exactly. Romy hit fairly well against RHP at Birmingham, but no way do I hand him an everyday job right now. He should be the new utility guy who can cover a variety of positions and provide valuable depth. At some point an opportunity will present itself and make him take advantage of that before giving him an everyday role.

I’m just stating what Harold has said here and Bob Nightengale also seemed to imply it IIRC. Obviously if true that turned out to be a bad move in hindsight.

Yeah, I really wanted Escobar, but never in a million years expected Cesar to fall off a cliff like he did despite obviously flukey power numbers. And yes, I think Pilkington becomes a major league pitcher for Cleveland.

I actually was thinking about a Moustakas for Keuchel type deal earlier today, but my god was Moose terrible last year. I know he dealt with some foot injuries, but I’d probably rather gamble on a rebound from Keuchel at this point.