steveno89

Gallo has enormous power, which helps offset the swing and miss. I do not hate Collins, I just struggle to understand how any fan could reasonable pencil him in to regular at bats in 2020? He cannot be our main option at DH, because if he flops we would be screwed, with no viable in house alternatives.

Cease was solid down the stretch in September, posting a 3.00 ERA in 21 innings with solid peripherals. The stuff is there, he just needed to adjust to the majors. I'm fine with penciling him in as our 5th starter in 2020, and hopefully he proves to be rotation worthy onward. Collins simply plays well below average defense, and a wRC+ of 77 across 27 games does not inspire much confidence yet. I am not writing him off, but Cease has earned a lenthy look in 2020, Collins has not. Where do pro-Collins fans want him to play in 2020? Backup catcher? Generally you want that to be a glove first player in case your starter gets injured. 1B/DH would be enormous pressure on his bat, which has not been there. I would park Collins in AAA for the time being.

Collins could figure the hitting out, but I do not think he will or should get long of a leash at the MLB level. A 38 K% even in 27 games is alarming.

1) Collins is a below average defensive catcher, no way to argue otherwise right now. 2) Collins, albeit in a limited sample size, has not hit well at the MLB level at all. No way we can rely on him to be anything beyond a backup catcher in 2020.

Not giving up on Collins, but as we shift towards trying to contend I am not sure we can afford to roll the dice on giving him MLB at bats. We need a legitimate DH and starting catcher, and I think Collins is best suited for AAA regular at bats

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/11/phillies-discussing-extension-with-j-t-realmuto.html For anyone saying "just sign Realmuto next offseason" I think Wheeler and Grandal should be top priorities for the Sox to ink. You never know which players will reach free agency down the line, and Grandal has no compensation attached. McCann is not the long term starting answer, best to correct that now with a high quality veteran.

Betts to the Sox is not going to happen agreed, at least not until next offseason potentially. We are far from being one player away from contention.

That is exactly the issue with Peralta, we cannot be sure about him staying healthy.

Why not just sign Edwin Encarnacion for just money to DH?

I felt this information was out right afetr the trade. Hahn asked for Moncada, Kopech and Devers initially, Boston balked at that price obviously and settled on Moncada/Kopech/Basabe/Diaz.

Betts is awesome, but I'm not sure I can see teams parting with significant assets for one season of control at $28 million.

Pomeranz is likely to get paid a lucrative multi year deal because of his dominant stint with the Brewers. Expect him to have a ton of suitors as well for a 2+ year deal.

I've thought about changing it, but said screw it haha. Hope springs eternal.

Wheeler might have the most competitive market of any free agent this offseason because every contender could use pitching and he's going to be far more affordable than Cole/Stras. I wonder if he can parlay this into a nice 5-6 year deal?

I could certainly see Fegan moving up the food chain, but really appreciate the work he is doing on White Sox coverage

Sadly, it's 99% that Cole will not be pitching for the Sox next year. Wheeler remains a possibility, but I do not love our chances.

Hence me warming to the idea of inking Calhoun for 1/8-10 million. He'll get the job done in RF and hit some dingers.

What would one year of Gray be worth trading? Interesting to see

Zero reason to give a third guaranteed year. I'm ok with a two year deal at a reasonable sum, and a club option w/buyout for year three

The Sox can sit back and wait. If he rejects the QO then the club will move on to other free agents and circle back to Abreu later. I doubt any team would offer substantially more money and years, as well as sacrifice pool money/draft pick to sign Abreu.

I'm not handing Abreu a three year guaranty, absolute max of two years and on club terms. He should take the qualifying offer, he is unlikely to be happy if he declines it

Abreu would be wise to take the QO today. He will not get the multi year deal he is seeking from another club with draft compensation attached. Sox are smart to not pay anywhere close to retail for an aging 1B

Would not hate Miley on a one year deal at all to be our 5th starter

That would be awesome. No way Ryu is getting four guaranteed years though considering the durability questions.

Partially does depend on at what price, but for the current Sox Wheeler/Castellanos