Hahn expects aggressive offseason

[Chicago White Sox]

4 hours ago, Sarava said:

My worry is that Reinsdorf has seen his profits soar during the rebuild, and won't want to go back to a healthy payroll like they've had in the past. I mean, the Nate Jones salary dump trade doesn't exactly embolden me with confidence that they are ready to spend on this team.

Yes I still am butt hurt over the Machado fiasco - and honestly, we all should be. You've commented before about how they were arrogantly swinging their dick all around last winter and then did nothing. They essentially lied to us throughout the last off-season.

All I take out of his comments from Wednesday are that he's starting to swing it around again. You know the old saying, fool me once....

But why would an 83 year old Reinsdorf do this?  He’s never been willing to go into the red, but he has a track record of more or less putting most money back into the team.  Now, as he approaches the end of his life he’s going to suddenly milk his MLB franchise for profits when he’s already sitting on a $1B+ he can’t spend.  You can’t really believe this right?  Furthermore, the #1 source of revenue for MLB franchises are local TV deals and us sucking directly impacts the value of any future agreements, both as owner of the Sox & Bulls.  There is simply no logic whatsoever to think the Sox will suddenly go cheap, when there is decades of proof we will at least be a middle of the pack payroll team.

Regarding your second point, I have zero confidence that this organization will be able to land a whale.  The way they failed in their pursuits of Machado was a true disaster.  They were cocky as hell throughout the process, swinging their dicks around town and claiming they had “unprecedented economic flexibility” & “economic might”, when in reality they had a hard cap on years (creating way too much optimism within the fanbase).  They went out and added two of his friends for a combined ~$13M in salary, when they weren’t prepared to even go to $300M in guaranteed money (which defeated the entire tie-breaker purpose of said strategy).  And maybe worse of all they negotiated through the media, constantly informing the market of how ridiculously low their offer was for and inviting other entrants into the process (one who ultimately won).  I will never defend their failures with Machado and will remain highly skeptical of their ability to land a whale until it actually happens.

That being said, I will also be objective and say confidently we should able to sign the vast majority of free agents this offseason.  There are probably three guys who get over $100M deals in Cole, Strasburg, & Rendon and I’m not counting on us landing any of them.  However, after those three, everyone should be fair game and I feel confident we’ll add multiple pieces in that next tier.  Would an offseason centered around Grandal, Wheeler or Bumgarner, Wood, Gennett (to play RF), & Betances be bad?  If they rock a ~$125M payroll (which would be league average) that scenario would be very much possible and such an offseason would put us in a great spot to contend next year.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Chicago White Sox

[2Deep]

I totally respect and understand those of you who are very skeptical of Hahn's comments about being aggressive and your feeling about FO and JR.

However, let's take a step back and look at some facts and some opinions. 

1. This is year 3 of a major rebuild/tear down. No matter what anyone thinks or says we were not going to compete this year.

2. Injuries to key pieces have even slowed down the rebuild more then the FO and we as fans expected. 

3. Even with the above we have begun to see some key pieces, Giolittio, Moncada, Anderson, Bummer, and ReyLo (of late) start to become good baseball players with potential to be very good to great.

4. There are others who most of us agree will also take that next step soon in Cease, Jimenez, Kopech, Robert......

5. With the players mentioned above we have begun to build a foundation.

6. The FO did not trade away players at deadline like Bummer or Colome who can help us start to turn things around next year. I was upset as many of you with the lack of moves BUT I took a step back thought this through.........we are now getting to a point where we are done trading good MLB players for A or AA prospects (next step of rebuild). We need to start adding on......

7. Even though the Manny M ordeal from the summer left a bad taste in our mouths and fans......the Sox have a lot of capital to spend and add to the players I mentioned above. The FO has said all along this process that when time comes they will spend the money. The time will start in this upcoming free agency.  We need to let that play out. IF they do nothing this winter, then we have every right to boycott, bash, not show up at the ball park.

8. Rebuilds suck and as a major market team we should not be in this situation....BUT we are. We have to let this play out.  I truly believe if the FO does what they said they would we are going to start turning the corner to becoming a good team next year. While I am impatient, i am willing to give the FO an opportunity to hold true to their word.

If in year 4 we are looking like we are now and the FO has not lived up to their word then I will suffer as a fan and keep my money by not showing up to the ball park.  

Just my humble thoughts as I wait impatiently, like all of you, for this offseason and for this organization to start turning things around. I am getting frustrated with losing and having to root for all NL teams that play the Cubs. Not how I enjoy watching baseball. But I am sticking to the process of the rebuild and hoping the FO lives up to their words.......

Go White Sox!!

[Moan4Yoan]

So basically, Hahn has tons of money to spend this offseason but don’t expect them to sign better than second and third tier free agents. 

[Chicago White Sox]

29 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

So basically, Hahn has tons of money to spend this offseason but don’t expect them to sign better than second and third tier free agents. 

This post is ridiculous but par for the course. Grandal is a consistent 5 win player.  Wheeler is a 4 win guy when healthy.  Wood & Gennett are probably 3 win guys.  Betances is a nasty backend bullpen piece.  Adding those five guys would radically improve our team...just look at the production we’ve gotten out of those spots.  Would I prefer Cole or Rendon?  Sure I would, but the path to contention doesn’t require them.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

But why would an 83 year old Reinsdorf do this?  He’s never been willing to go into the red, but he has a track record of more or less putting most money back into the team.  Now, as he approaches the end of his life he’s going to suddenly milk his MLB franchise for profits when he’s already sitting on a $1B+ he can’t spend.  You can’t really believe this right?  Furthermore, the #1 source of revenue for MLB franchises are local TV deals and us sucking directly impacts the value of any future agreements, both as owner of the Sox & Bulls.  There is simply no logic whatsoever to think the Sox will suddenly go cheap, when there is decades of proof we will at least be a middle of the pack payroll team.

Regarding your second point, I have zero confidence that this organization will be able to land a whale.  The way they failed in their pursuits of Machado was a true disaster.  They were cocky as hell throughout the process, swinging their dicks around town and claiming they had “unprecedented economic flexibility” & “economic might”, when in reality they had a hard cap on years (creating way too much optimism within the fanbase).  They went out and added two of his friends for a combined ~$13M in salary, when they weren’t prepared to even go to $300M in guaranteed money (which defeated the entire tie-breaker purpose of said strategy).  And maybe worse of all they negotiated through the media, constantly informing the market of how ridiculously low their offer was for and inviting other entrants into the process (one who ultimately won).  I will never defend their failures with Machado and will remain highly skeptical of their ability to land a whale until it actually happens.

That being said, I will also be objective and say confidently we should able to sign the vast majority of free agents this offseason.  There are probably three guys who get over $100M deals in Cole, Strasburg, & Rendon and I’m not counting on us landing any of them.  However, after those three, everyone should be fair game and I feel confident we’ll add multiple pieces in that next tier.  Would an offseason centered around Grandal, Wheeler or Bumgarner, Wood, Gennett (to play RF), & Betances be bad?  If they rock a ~$125M payroll (which would be league average) that scenario would be very much possible and such an offseason would put us in a great spot to contend next year.

Basically, then, we are the AL version of the Brewers (or a copy of this recent Twins’ offseason)...aiming for a $120-125 million payroll while not having to worry about the Cubs and Cardinals outspending us.  

Of course, we’re obviously missing two key elements in Yelich and Josh Hader to carry the team, so it’s up to Moncada or Robert to be that superstar, right?

The group of “reasonable” players you listed as bringing in are a pretty fair approximation of Cain, Moustakas, Shaw, Schoop, etc.  Recently, their biggest add in an “all-in” year was Jordan Lyles.

 

1) Can you sustain sufficient offseason motivation writing this same basic post over and over again?

2)  Will reasonable but clearly second and third tier moves be enough to reinvigorate the fanbase?

3)  Gennett has played 9 games in LF, one game in RF...in his entire major and minor league career.  Does he even have enough arm to play out there, or the desire to do so when he will be in demand by a number of playoff-contending teams at age 29?  Also, should the White Sox overpay by 10-15% to get him to do something he might not even be comfortable doing?

Edited August 1, 2019 by caulfield12

[chetkincaid]

5 hours ago, Sarava said:

My worry is that Reinsdorf has seen his profits soar during the rebuild, and won't want to go back to a healthy payroll like they've had in the past. I mean, the Nate Jones salary dump trade doesn't exactly embolden me with confidence that they are ready to spend on this team.

Yes I still am butt hurt over the Machado fiasco - and honestly, we all should be. You've commented before about how they were arrogantly swinging their dick all around last winter and then did nothing. They essentially lied to us throughout the last off-season.

All I take out of his comments from Wednesday are that he's starting to swing it around again. You know the old saying, fool me once....

This has been my worry all alone. People always blamed KW for always going for it but I believed it was Reinsdorf demanding that the White Sox looked like they competed every year to keep people coming to the park. Now that he sees that we’re stupid enough to keep going to games with young cheap talent,  he’ll be less inclined to spend. 

[Moan4Yoan]

12 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

This post is ridiculous but par for the course. Grandal is a consistent 5 win player.  Wheeler is a 4 win guy when healthy.  Wood & Gennett are probably 3 win guys.  Betances is a nasty backend bullpen piece.  Adding those five guys would radically improve our team...just look at the production we’ve gotten out of those spots.  Would I prefer Cole or Rendon?  Sure I would, but the path to contention doesn’t require them.

My post is ridiculous?  You went from talking Cole and Ozuna, to Bumgarner and Puig, and on and on.  Your expectations appear to be dropping the closer we get to the offseason.

I don’t see Grandal as a second tier option.  Hopefully it happens but I see the Sox rolling with McCann and Collins.  Wheeler and Wood are two starters I would be happy to sign but I expect one good starter and one lesser name and much cheaper option, perhaps acquired by trade.

I see the Sox signing 2 to 3 bigger name free agents at most — RF and perhaps two pitchers.  They will also sign some bullpen arms but not a big name like Betances.  The other positions will be filled internally or with minor signings.  They aren’t going to sign any big name guys to fill 2B or CF for the three week period that they have to wait to call up Madrigal and Robert.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Moan4Yoan

[Chicago White Sox]

9 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Basically, then, we are the AL version of the Brewers (or a copy of this recent Twins’ offseason)...aiming for a $120-125 million payroll while not having to worry about the Cubs and Cardinals outspending us.  

Of course, we’re obviously missing two key elements in Yelich and Josh Hader to carry the team, so it’s up to Moncada or Robert to be that superstar, right?

The list of players you listed as bringing in are a pretty fair approximation of Cain, Moustakas, Shaw, Schoop, etc.  Recently, their biggest add in an “all-in” year was Jordan Lyles.

 

1) Can you sustain sufficient offseason motivation writing this same basic post over and over again?

2)  Will reasonable but clearly second and third tier moves be enough to reinvigorate the fanbase?

3)  Gennett has played 9 games in LF, one game in RF...in his entire major and minor league career.  Does he even have enough arm to play out there, or the desire to do so when he will be in demand by a number of playoff-contending teams at age 29?  Also, should the White Sox overpay by 10-15% to get him to do something he might not even be comfortable doing?

Lol...I’m definitely going to lose the motivation at some point.  

In terms of reinvigorating the fanbase, winning is ultimately what matters.  We have a ton of exciting young star caliber talents, but don’t have the depth to plug the holes around them.  I think people underestimate how much going from 0 to 3+ WAR across multiple spots would help our team next year.  It may not be as sexy as adding Cole to headline our young staff, but it can still be effective.

As for Gennett, the arm is a legit question, but he’s already expressed a willingness to play OF (at least for the Reds prior to being traded).  I highly doubt he’ll be garnering much of a premium to play the OF, more likely he goes to whoever offers the most money period.

[caulfield12]

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

This post is ridiculous but par for the course. Grandal is a consistent 5 win player.  Wheeler is a 4 win guy when healthy.  Wood & Gennett are probably 3 win guys.  Betances is a nasty backend bullpen piece.  Adding those five guys would radically improve our team...just look at the production we’ve gotten out of those spots.  Would I prefer Cole or Rendon?  Sure I would, but the path to contention doesn’t require them.

Bumgarner (mentioned in possibilities) hasn’t been a “great” pitcher since 2016.  And you’re exactly right about Grandal, except both these guys will be entering their age 31 seasons where a drop off might reasonably be expected, especially from a catcher.  Dunn, for example, was also the same age.

It now feels like deja vu, like we’re right back to 2014-2016 except with a younger/deeper and theoretically more promising core of six players...once again adding the likes of “five veterans who will not be named.”

The weird thing to me is why nobody was willing to give Grandal a long-term deal if you examine his 4-5 year track record more closely...it couldn’t have simply been the questions around the industry coming out of the playoffs last year?  Hard to understand.

Finally, does anyone have faith at this point in Don Cooper working with another “project” in Wheeler (let’s compare him to Eeovaldi for argument’s sake) or Wood coming off a major injury?

 

I guess we just have to take those risks and hope it turns out ultimately more like 2004-05 or 2008 than the last decade of free agent moves with the Sox.

[caulfield12]

16 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Lol...I’m definitely going to lose the motivation at some point.  

In terms of reinvigorating the fanbase, winning is ultimately what matters.  We have a ton of exciting young star caliber talents, but don’t have the depth to plug the holes around them.  I think people underestimate how much going from 0 to 3+ WAR across multiple spots would help our team next year.  It may not be as sexy as adding Cole to headline our young staff, but it can still be effective.

As for Gennett, the arm is a legit question, but he’s already expressed a willingness to play OF (at least for the Reds prior to being traded).  I highly doubt he’ll be garnering much of a premium to play the OF, more likely he goes to whoever offers the most money period.

It’s really quite simple...just like in 2004-05.  Non-headlining additions, but still quality players across those board who coalesced into something great for 1 1/2 seasons (parallel with the Brewers and Twins again.)

The problem at this point is most aren’t confident in Hahn pulling it off.

Everything you described is perfectly, 100%, logical and reasonable and rational.

Affordable, doesn’t blow the budget into the stratosphere, risk-mitigation (except those pitchers), heck...we were spending well over $120-125 million over a decade ago when we routinely ran Top Ten payrolls out there after the World Series.

Just not sure it’s enough to inspire...once upon a time, it was going to be at least a five year window and I can squint back and recall a couple of weeks where Balta had us dominating/eviscerating the entire AL as a dynastic type of team (which is even quickly slipping away through the fingers of the Cubs with almost twice that level of payroll of what we’re aspiring to run out there.)

 

PS:  I had a nightmare your Scooter Gennett turns into Derek Dietrich and we’re still adding 1-1.5 fWAR pieces to supplement the core for the next decade.  PTSD.  

Edited August 1, 2019 by caulfield12

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Aggressive failure.  Can't wait.

[poppysox]

46 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

This post is ridiculous but par for the course. Grandal is a consistent 5 win player.  Wheeler is a 4 win guy when healthy.  Wood & Gennett are probably 3 win guys.  Betances is a nasty backend bullpen piece.  Adding those five guys would radically improve our team...just look at the production we’ve gotten out of those spots.  Would I prefer Cole or Rendon?  Sure I would, but the path to contention doesn’t require them.

I believe in growing your own or trading to get your stars and using free agency to solidify your weak spots.  Grandal, Wheeler, Wood & Gennett would be outstanding gets.  When you add guys like this to Robert & Madrigal plus adding back Kopech, Rodon & Dunning...that club contends.  A guy like Cole would be nice but not a necessity to contend.  I have never been a fan of putting to much resource into one player.  You only have so much payroll even if you are the Yankees.  If the FO is expanding the payroll by let say 100 million...I would rather get a package of players like you suggest.

[Cashman]

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

But why would an 83 year old Reinsdorf do this?  He’s never been willing to go into the red, but he has a track record of more or less putting most money back into the team.  Now, as he approaches the end of his life he’s going to suddenly milk his MLB franchise for profits when he’s already sitting on a $1B+ he can’t spend.  You can’t really believe this right?  Furthermore, the #1 source of revenue for MLB franchises are local TV deals and us sucking directly impacts the value of any future agreements, both as owner of the Sox & Bulls.  There is simply no logic whatsoever to think the Sox will suddenly go cheap, when there is decades of proof we will at least be a middle of the pack payroll team.

 

Why did they let Belle walk? Why did they put a diminished skills clause in Thomas' contract? Why did they let Ventura leave as a player? Why did Dye/Pierzynski take less money in 05 to come to the Sox? Why did they trade Lee before the 05 season? Why did they go to Paulie and AJ when trying to get Dunn and have them delay their salary to sign him? Why do they seem to trade for guys with 2-3yrs left on their contract rather than singing a guy for 5-6yrs in FA? Why did you just dump money with the Nate Jones trade? What happened in this past offseason? Jon Jay was your biggest FA acquisition... Let that sink in. We met with Bryce at the beginning of FA, had the United Center photo leaked and never another word. The amount of Jersey sales/ticket sales would of paid at least half his salary and that is not counting the endorsement money from being on the cover of games. And the Machado thing... He literally said he wanted $300M and the Sox literally had no competition all offseason until it was leaked their offer was under $200M. And what did he do? Signed for $300M like her said.

 

They saw early on backlash from the fans, and then they had better play from Moncada/Giolitto and the rest of the team. And people got excited and went to games. And they are trying to sell us the same garbage as last offseason. And people are gonna buy it. And we are gonna go into next season with the same results, but this time Robert and Madrigal are going to be on the team doing what Eloy/Moncada/Giolito did this year. And it is just a big circle jerk. This teams problem is pitching, and they REFUSE to pay more than 3yrs to a pitcher.

 

So you are not being "objective" by thinking this is gonna change. People DO NOT CHANGE, they just don't. Jerry cares about money. There is a reason FAs do not sign with the Bulls, and it is not because they have to live up to MJ. It is because he is cheap and puts dumb clauses in contracts.

 

Why? Because Jerry is cheap!

[southsideirish71]

Grandal + Cole or Wheeler would be a great offseason.   

Robert will be in CF.  Madrigal probably will be up at 2nd base.  That leaves RF as a hole.   We fill that space and I feel pretty good about the direction of where we are going.  We just need to start developing the next wave of depth in the minors for two reasons.  Just in case some of these first line guys fail and two as trading chits for an influx of talent we cant develop here.  

 

 

[The Grinder]

Aggressive  as in what? Pursuing 37 yr old has beens? 

[caulfield12]

22 minutes ago, Cashman said:

Why did they let Belle walk? Why did they put a diminished skills clause in Thomas' contract? Why did they let Ventura leave as a player? Why did Dye/Pierzynski take less money in 05 to come to the Sox? Why did they trade Lee before the 05 season? Why did they go to Paulie and AJ when trying to get Dunn and have them delay their salary to sign him? Why do they seem to trade for guys with 2-3yrs left on their contract rather than singing a guy for 5-6yrs in FA? Why did you just dump money with the Nate Jones trade? What happened in this past offseason? Jon Jay was your biggest FA acquisition... Let that sink in. We met with Bryce at the beginning of FA, had the United Center photo leaked and never another word. The amount of Jersey sales/ticket sales would of paid at least half his salary and that is not counting the endorsement money from being on the cover of games. And the Machado thing... He literally said he wanted $300M and the Sox literally had no competition all offseason until it was leaked their offer was under $200M. And what did he do? Signed for $300M like her said.

 

They saw early on backlash from the fans, and then they had better play from Moncada/Giolitto and the rest of the team. And people got excited and went to games. And they are trying to sell us the same garbage as last offseason. And people are gonna buy it. And we are gonna go into next season with the same results, but this time Robert and Madrigal are going to be on the team doing what Eloy/Moncada/Giolito did this year. And it is just a big circle jerk. This teams problem is pitching, and they REFUSE to pay more than 3yrs to a pitcher.

 

So you are not being "objective" by thinking this is gonna change. People DO NOT CHANGE, they just don't. Jerry cares about money. There is a reason FAs do not sign with the Bulls, and it is not because they have to live up to MJ. It is because he is cheap and puts dumb clauses in contracts.

 

Why? Because Jerry is cheap!

Oh-uh...no energy to counter this in a positive way but there are about 5-6 inaccuracies or embellishments here.

Someone else can take you to task.

[Bob Sacamano]

32 minutes ago, southsideirish71 said:

Grandal + Cole or Wheeler would be a great offseason.   

Robert will be in CF.  Madrigal probably will be up at 2nd base.  That leaves RF as a hole.   We fill that space and I feel pretty good about the direction of where we are going.  We just need to start developing the next wave of depth in the minors for two reasons.  Just in case some of these first line guys fail and two as trading chits for an influx of talent we cant develop here.  

 

 

Grandal + Cole + Calhoun. He has a $14 million option that I can see the Angels decline in favor of a $1 million buyout since their payroll is so high and Brian Goodwin was doing fine for them as Upton's fill-in. He'd be a fine power hitting lefty, stop gap for RF hitting in say, the 7th spot.

Edited August 1, 2019 by soxfan2014

[raBBit]

It's disheartening how many fans just casually say "Just sign Cole." As if it's that easy.

What I am watching and hoping for is an opt-out from Stephen Strasburg. That would add one more stud to that top tier of FA SPs with Cole and Bumgarner if you value him as such. That would help our odds at landing one tremendously. If it's just Cole, someone will get stupid and give him $200M and JR aint going there.

[Cashman]

35 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Oh-uh...no energy to counter this in a positive way but there are about 5-6 inaccuracies or embellishments here.

Someone else can take you to task.

I would LOVE to hear them.

[Bob Sacamano]

5 minutes ago, raBBit said:

It's disheartening how many fans just casually say "Just sign Cole." As if it's that easy.

What I am watching and hoping for is an opt-out from Stephen Strasburg. That would add one more stud to that top tier of FA SPs with Cole and Bumgarner if you value him as such. That would help our odds at landing one tremendously. If it's just Cole, someone will get stupid and give him $200M and JR aint going there.

Sadly, it should be easy with such a low payroll. Offer the most.

Edited August 1, 2019 by soxfan2014

[Chicago White Sox]

6 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

My post is ridiculous?  You went from talking Cole and Ozuna, to Bumgarner and Puig, and on and on.  Your expectations appear to be dropping the closer we get to the offseason.

I don’t see Grandal as a second tier option.  Hopefully it happens but I see the Sox rolling with McCann and Collins.  Wheeler and Wood are two starters I would be happy to sign but I expect one good starter and one lesser name and much cheaper option, perhaps acquired by trade.

I see the Sox signing 2 to 3 bigger name free agents at most — RF and perhaps two pitchers.  They will also sign some bullpen arms but not a big name like Betances.  The other positions will be filled internally or with minor signings.  They aren’t going to sign any big name guys to fill 2B or CF for the three week period that they have to wait to call up Madrigal and Robert.

I’ve never once said we would sign Cole or even said I was even optimistic about signing him.  I have simply said that we should sign him (as he would be the perfect addition for us) and that we have the financial resources to do so.

And there’s zero reason we can’t sign Ozuna if we so choose.  I’ll keep saying this but the Machado miss wasn’t due to money (i.e. AAV) but rather years and the corresponding risk that comes with them (in Jerry’s eyes at least).  We should be fair game for anyone commanding a five year or less deal and that will be pretty much everyone but Rendon & Cole.  I would have included Ozuna in my plan, but my feeling is the Sox want a left-handed bat in that spot.  It has nothing to do with reduced expectations.

[raBBit]

I am actually 100% okay with the quantity approach in free agency. We really need to turn over the 40 man roster and while I could argue otherwise, the team won't look at Rendon as a fit. Past Rendon, Cole is going to be highly desired and it is not reasonable to expect the Sox to sign a pitcher to a 6-9 year deal with an AAV north of a quarter mil.

1) Sign Grandal - 4 years, 64M

2) Sign Alex Wood - 1 year + player option. 11M + 8M

3) Sign Tony Cingrani - 2 years, 19M

4) Sign Brandon Kintzler - 2 years, 10M

5) Trade Fry and a prospect to the Dodgers for Ross Stripling

6) Trade a couple prospects for Brandon Nimmo.

Then I assume the Sox will keep Abreu for 1+1 at a cheap price.

By April 20th we're looking at: 

1) CF Robert 2) 3B Moncada 3) 1B Abreu 4) C Grandal 5) LF Eloy 6) RF Nimmo 7) SS Anderson 8') DH Collins 9) 2B Madrigal - Use the DH as rotating with Abreu getting starts there and Leury getting starts with regular starters getting a look at DH. Your bench is McCann, Leury and couple of others.

1) Giolito 2) Wood 3) Kopech 4) Cease 5) Lopez/Stripling - Stripling can move and back forth from the pen being the flex guy when injuries occur. Rodon returns late in year and Dunning would seemingly be ready midseason for added depth.

Pen: 1) Colome 2) Bummer 3) Kintzler 4) Cingrani 5) Stripling and whoever else they want to run with.

Is that a perfect team? No. Is it pretty good? I think so. And it won't cost that much. To me the big thing is just signing Grandal.

Edited August 1, 2019 by raBBit

[Bob Sacamano]

Anyone else feel like Ozuna is the type of guy who would just suck if the Sox signed him?

[ChiSox59]

We can talk about names until the cows come home, but its all speculation at this point.  The reality is 95% of the fanbase has no confidence in the organization or specifically the FO, so no one believes they'll make the right moves.  Hard to argue with that position - though I think its also fair to give the Sox some credit for the core they've built. 

That being said, the bottom line is the payroll committed to 2020 as of right now (assuming no Abreu and Yolmer is non-tendered) is around $45M.  I am confident the White Sox will at a bare minimum be over $100M.  You can do the math - that is $55M minimum that will be added to 2020 payroll.

That should give the Sox more than enough room to add a good SP, RF, a depth SP, a 1B/DH type, and a bullpen piece or two.  And frankly that is all they really need.  LF, CF, 3B, SS, 2B C, at least three rotation spots and most of the bullpen is already in place.  

SP #1: $20M

SP#2: $10M

2 Relievers: $15-20M

1b/DH type: $10M

That puts the Sox right around $100-105M.  I personally think they'll trade for a RF and not sign one of the FA market.  I've already stated who I think the best options are, so no need to repeat.  

Time will tell, but they aren't going to rock a $60M payroll next year, and they aren't going to spend their money on shitty stopgaps when the majority of the next core is in place.  

Edited August 1, 2019 by ChiSox59

[raBBit]

5 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said:

Anyone else feel like Ozuna is the type of guy who would just suck if the Sox signed him?

Ozuna can't play RF and bats right-handed. I dont see the fit but I agree with what you're saying though.