Jose Abreu

My two cents if anyone's interested TL/DR: Kimbrel's fastball command is a (correctable) issue, but he has been more unlucky than bad since the trade

Right? There's no way they could be this dumb. Do they know something we don't about the 2022 season (lockout, shortened season, etc.)? The rationale from Katz makes it even worse -- it made sense before Kimbrel and Tepera, but not anymore. The idea that having Kopech unavailable for a few days puts the team at a competitive disadvantage just no longer applies, especially when Kopech only pitches once every 3-4 days in the first place.

Burger too, to some extent. I was sure both were gone

Maybe they're trying for something bigger (Story/Baez) and will end up settling for an Escobar, Harrison, or Cabrera type once it's clear that they won't convert on a bigger target. I know you could argue that Escobar is closer to the fist group than he is to the second one, but it's the only explanation I can think of for why they haven't already traded Lazaro Leal/[insert worthless minor leaguer here] for a Josh Harrison type's contract

It's a buyer's market, particularly at 2B. The idea that the Sox "don't have the prospects" to acquire 2 months of a dirt-cheap Josh Harrison or Asdrubal Cabrera is asinine. These types of rentals never go for real prospects

I think it's a mix of the Padres pieces being underrated and Frazier being much less valuable than people presumed

They attempted to trade for him prior to the season, whether they still like him is anyone's guess

Another difference, in addition to what some have pointed out, is that a struggling artist that waits tables is making a living through another endeavor. Minor league baseball players are still playing baseball, and no matter how much MLB owners try to cry poor by funneling profits into other books, they can absolutely afford to at least pay the players a living wage. The Twitter account @MiLBAdvocates has been really active this season and has done a good job of highlighting some of MiLB's issues, to the point where certain organizations have even changed practices in-season as a result of the backlash

I don't really see a way of him making the team in September either. We have 26 right now, none of which are particularly easy candidates to be sent down for Jimenez, Lamb, or Robert. Not to mention a hopeful acquisition at 2B. Burger or someone could be traded, but I'd imagine those extra spots would go to guys like Hamilton, Sheets, or Goodwin since Jimenez/Robert/Lamb will take their ABs

I would not be surprised if one of Crochet or Cease is traded this month (obviously for someone controlled, not a Story type)

Yeah sorry, I meant the Fry/Foster demotions. James was definitely first on Lopez, which he was aware of well before he tweeted it

He tweeted it before James, but I won't give him credit for it because anyone could have just checked the transactions page on the White Sox website and seen it yesterday

Sounds like Raisel Iglesias

Exactly. It's textbook availability bias. I can't take anyone seriously who claims to watch baseball games (especially this year) and thinks home plate umpires are better than a system that, even if flawed, is likely accurate close to 99% of the time

He's a top 3/4 hitter on the team against RHP this year. His overall numbers just look much worse because he starts against the majority of LHP that we face

Traded for Charlie Blackmon to make room for Jake Burger

And here's the list since 2019, where Moncada is exactly #10 overall ahead of names like Bellinger, Realmuto, Yelich, Arenado, Grandal, Machado, etc. He's not providing value in the most traditional way this year, but it's still so strange to me that basically every thread turns into people wanting to trade Moncada these days given how good he is

Not caught up on this thread yet but for what it's worth, Bob has also definitively reported Machado to the Yankees, Corbin to the Yankees, and Bauer to the Mets, and obviously was 0-for-3. His White Sox track record is better, of course, but this is not unfamiliar territory for him

I think he was confused because the first pitch was called a ball despite being right in the zone, but he assumed it was too obvious for the umpire to demonstratively call it a strike

Ketel Marte is a 7 fWAR player (in 2019) currently with a >.400 OBP on a bargain contract for another 3.5 years. I see him as a more positionally versatile Moncada with a bit more home run power, which probably makes him a top 6-10 position player in the game. Maybe I'm just crazy, but combining that with his contract, I can't see any trade for him that doesn't include two of Kopech, Vaughn, and Crochet, plus a bunch of the other guys you mentioned. He's a superstar

Of course that was you

Agreed. I think it's @ChiSox59 who has said it a few times, but I really can't think of a better fit for this lineup in all of baseball than Grandal. He complements the Abreu/Anderson types perfectly, and Vaughn will surely evolve into that too (just wish he was a lefty, but he'll mash regardless)

I think my favorite part about him is that while he's obviously streaky, even his "bad" streaks are pretty good. Much like Moncada, you can always count on him to at least get on base. When (historically) Abreu or (this season) Mercedes are in their own funks, they're pretty much useless until they snap out of it

Sorry for the pettiness in bumping this, but this thread was always ridiculous and it's nice to see Grandal finally getting his due from some of the naysayers: Grandal: .400 OBP, .833 OPS, 143 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR McCann: .291 OBP, .658 OPS, 88 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR

But Steve Stone said he doesn't care or try!