Chicago White Sox

Good god man, there’s this thing called context and I was 100% not speaking about this year’s team. Fans should be out in full force supporting this team (pandemic withstanding) because this should be a quality young team. And when I refer to a “shit product”, I’m simply talking about the “can’t spend a buck when you only have 50 cents” narrative this org used to spin. Most companies want to motivate their potential consumers into buying their product, while the Sox have historically done the opposite, needing guaranteed attendance in place before investing heavily in the team. And IMO, it sucks that us Sox fans have to buy into the product before the billionaire owner so he can avoid taking on any financial risk.

Lol...never once have I called the 2021 team a shit product. I love this group of players and think we are a legit World Series threat, but am also scared shitless of a complete lack of depth. And the frustrating part is our lack of depth is an unnecessary risk that could easily be overcome with a tiny amount of spending. Unfortunately, the owner you’re defending from being called cheap appears to be rocking a YoY decrease in payroll. How the fuck can anyone argue that is acceptable? And I was a fan of both the Lynn & Hendriks signings, so which ones am I hating on? The Eaton signing which I admittedly didn’t like? What else have we done? I actually was one of the more positive posters in the Rodon thread now that it’s clear we’re tapped out financially and dumpster diving would be our only option for the 5th spot. As for Joc, you’re right on that and I was wrong to blast the front office without more information. Happy to own up to that. And yes, the roster appears to be more or less set now, so does that change your opinion of things?

I think they want to give Collins a shot. If so, just a veteran catcher on a minor league deal and have them compete with Zack.

Very nice post

There’s a massive difference between top 5 picks and a late 1st rounder. People keep ignoring this when it comes to the Stafford trade, but these will likely be late 1sts and both are a year or two out. The Jets & Dolphins can offer top 3 picks in this draft + other assets and that’s what Houston will be looking for. The Dolphins in particular have what is takes to land Watson as Tua + 1.03 + 1.18 is a great starting point.

Nomar Mazara is Dominican, although not sure most would qualify that as “good news”

Definitely a nice little bonus if it works out!

I’ll post it in here as well, but Folty would come with two years of club control if signed.

Which has to mean Crochet to the minors right?

So basically as we all thought, they’re planning on Katz being the savior

Not sure but Statcast’s framing numbers didn’t look too hot

Portillo’s claims Mathis is being considered.

I’ve been a huge proponent of having him just throw a fuckton of sliders and seeing if he can be a weapon in the pen. That’s the benefit of this move is once Kopech is ready, there is still some real potential with him coming out of the pen.

I’d love Stafford if we’re determined to go for it!

I know this isn’t the Folty thread, but one nice thing about him is he’d be controllable for a second season (just like McCann was) if he signed and ended up working out.

Yup and I’m not trying to be a negative douche, but the only positives that came out of Dylan’s 2020 season was elite velocity and the fact he made every start. I truly think Cooper fucked up the majority of our young arms, so there is plenty reason for optimism but he’s got to make some serious changes or it’s going to be an ugly 2021 for him as well.

He was horrible by every important metric including K rate, BB rate, HR rate & hard hit rate. His expected ERA per Statcast was 6.65, which considers the quality of contact against him. It’s cool his ERA wasn’t horrible, but that has nothing to do with the primary things he controls and everything to do with him being lucky. I watched almost every single one of his starts and it’s amazing he didn’t get lit up each time he took the mound. Everything was bad last year except for the velocity.

Interesting comment in Merkin’s article. Would be fantastic if they started Crochet down in AA and worked him as a starter.

Pure speculation, but I feel pretty confident Mazara end up happening.

So now you’re just moving the goalposts? I want him in the rotation because I believe in the talent and hope that Katz find a way to unleash it, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t bad last year. And it wasn’t just his command (which was horrible), he also has a very low active spin rate which makes it harder for his 4 seamer to miss bats. Hopefully he finds a way to fix his mechanics to improve command and reduce the cut on his fastball, but until he’s a complete wild card coming off a really bad year.

He was 100% lucky and if you actually watched his starts or look at any of his stats other than ERA you would know this. He was horrendous last year and his luck would have almost certainly run out over a full 32 start season.

?

So with the addition of Rodon we’re looking at the following staff: Gioltio Lynn Keuchel* Cease Rodon* / Lopez 9th: Hendriks 8th: Bummer* 8th: Heuer 7th: Crochet* 7th: Marshall 6th: Fry* 6th: Foster 5th: Lopez / Rodon* Then at Charlotte you should have Kopech, Stiever, Flores, & Vargas in the rotation, with McClure likely in AA. The Knights’ bullpen would have Cordero, Burdi, Johnson, & Lambert. Our bullpen depth looks real solid to me, just need to hope Katz can work his magic with the young starters.

I just can’t see them adding another pitcher on a guaranteed contract. Folty on a minor league seems to make the most sense to me.

If you’re using ERA to somehow justify that Cease was good last year then you must not have watched him pitch at all. He was horrendous last year being both unable to command his pitches and generate any strikeouts. I’m a huge Cease fan and am hopeful that he take a big leap forward this year, but that doesn’t change the realities of how ugly his 2020 season was.