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Sox acquire Nomar Mazara for Steele Walker


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Just now, soxfan2014 said:

Doesn't have to be a straight platoon behind the plate. But I agree that he isn't really a fit.

Oh, it definitely won't be straight platoon.  But McCann is going to get most of his starts against LHP, which he hits well.  Which means there are only 2 open spots for Abreu, Grandal and EE.  Abreu and EE murder LHP, and I am not sitting Grandal on the bench every time McCann catches.

I would think EE is the guy that ends up on the bench alot, and then you're wasting his best attribute.  I am also guessing that his representation is bright enough to see this as well.  I still think EE goes to the Rays.  

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Rick tried to cite Eloy's team friendly extension as further proof that the money is being spent.

I guess every move the White Sox make over the next 5 year will somehow have to do with the 250 they offered Manny and wouldn't have happened had Manny accepted the contract. So apparently, the White Sox wouldn't have extended Eloy to a good deal, or resigned Abreu, had they gotten Manny; so it was either Manny or everyone else. That's what Rick Hahn really wants us to believe.

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Just now, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Rick tried to cite Eloy's team friendly extension as further proof that the money is being spent.

I guess every move the White Sox make over the next 5 year will somehow have to do with the 250 they offered Manny and wouldn't have happened had Manny accepted the contract. So apparently, the White Sox wouldn't have extended Eloy to a good deal, or resigned Abreu, had they gotten Manny; so it was either Manny or everyone else. That's what Rick Hahn really wants us to believe.

The whole idea is pretty ridiculous.  Sometimes Hahn should just keep his trap shut.

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2 minutes ago, fathom said:

Also no guarantee Grandal does well against LHP. He’s been bad against them in the past.

Sure, but he's still has a career .776 OPS against LHP. I suspect Grandal will get his days off against LHP, but you're going to have to mix him in at DH/1B on a good number of the days McCann is catching.  

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1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Rick tried to cite Eloy's team friendly extension as further proof that the money is being spent.

I guess every move the White Sox make over the next 5 year will somehow have to do with the 250 they offered Manny and wouldn't have happened had Manny accepted the contract. So apparently, the White Sox wouldn't have extended Eloy to a good deal, or resigned Abreu, had they gotten Manny; so it was either Manny or everyone else. That's what Rick Hahn really wants us to believe.

I hated the comment too, but I mean, the guy gets asked about it constantly, with a mic in his face and without prepared comments.  I think he was just trying to say the Sox have spent some money, and more money will be spent. But I agree that mentioning Eloy and Abreu in that context was super gross, but I also think when quoted in text it looks worse than what he was really trying to say.

But Hahn deserves little benefit of the doubt, so I can't fault anyone for roasting him those comments.   

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4 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Oh, it definitely won't be straight platoon.  But McCann is going to get most of his starts against LHP, which he hits well.  Which means there are only 2 open spots for Abreu, Grandal and EE.  Abreu and EE murder LHP, and I am not sitting Grandal on the bench every time McCann catches.

I would think EE is the guy that ends up on the bench alot, and then you're wasting his best attribute.  I am also guessing that his representation is bright enough to see this as well.  I still think EE goes to the Rays.  

Yeah, and this makes the catcher position really lethal; I'll give them that.

Let's say McCann maintains his level of play vs lefties which is likely possible. The White Sox had 50ish starts vs lefties last year. Lets say McCann starts those games at catcher. That's a wRC+ of 132 at the position and he maintains his defense at the same level he's worth 1.8 WAR (roughly) in those 50 games. Then take Grandal in the remaining 112 games vs righties and we'll assume his wRC+ is around 120 against righties (Yasmani really doesn't have crazy splits vs L/R, he's pretty much the same in his career vs both - 114 vs 119). That's worth 3.9 WAR. So the White Sox would be getting 5.7 WAR just out of the catchers position - Grandal also adds additional WAR value when he DH's. That makes them the best catching combination in baseball and matches the production of the best catcher in baseball (Realmuto). 

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5 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Sure, but he's still has a career .776 OPS against LHP. I suspect Grandal will get his days off against LHP, but you're going to have to mix him in at DH/1B on a good number of the days McCann is catching.  

Grandal really has no split issues - as I noted above, his career wRC+ vs righties is 119 and lefties is 114. 

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4 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I hated the comment too, but I mean, the guy gets asked about it constantly, with a mic in his face and without prepared comments.  I think he was just trying to say the Sox have spent some money, and more money will be spent. But I agree that mentioning Eloy and Abreu in that context was super gross, but I also think when quoted in text it looks worse than what he was really trying to say.

But Hahn deserves little benefit of the doubt, so I can't fault anyone for roasting him those comments.   

I am not a Hahn hater to the degree that many here are - I think most would agree with that. I try to call it like I see it, and Rick should STFU talking about shit like that. Obviously the White Sox extend Eloy regardless of whether they signed Manny or not. 

I understand what Rick is trying to do; he's trying to douse the flames by throwing fan favorites out there as pieces we have given money too in hopes of the fanbase says "he's right, I love Eloy and wouldn't want to lose him." 

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27 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I'm coming around to the idea that having a 0.5-1 WAR RF in Mazara may be fine, as long as that guy's floor basically is his ceiling. If we're getting 20 HR, 25 2b, .261/.328/.442/.770, so be it. With all of the production we are projected to get elsewhere, that should hopefully be fine.

But isn’t it a bit ironic that the Sox basically gave up on similar talent recently in Avisail García, only to acquire the lefty version of him?

If Avi wasn’t good enough for this team in the past, why is Mazara now?

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11 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

But isn’t it a bit ironic that the Sox basically gave up on similar talent recently in Avisail García, only to acquire the lefty version of him?

If Avi wasn’t good enough for this team in the past, why is Mazara now?

I was just joking with a friend about this. This guy is literally the same guy as Avi. The difference? 5 million saved a year and a half later.  We're such cheapskates.

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5 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I was just joking with a friend about this. This guy is literally the same guy as Avi. The difference? 5 million saved a year and a half later.  We're such cheapskates.

For whatever it is worth, Avi doesn't have nearly the prospect pedigree, and he's  4 years older. 

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2 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I was just joking with a friend about this. This guy is literally the same guy as Avi. The difference? 5 million saved a year and a half later.  We're such cheapskates.

Avi being 28 now instead of 24 might have something to do with it.

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3 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Agreed on the pedigree. Regarding the age, we non-tendered Avi when he was 27, and I think we can all agree that was because of the pricetag more than anything else.

I think non-tendering Avi had more to do with the fact they wanted to give Cordell and Palka a shot at RF in what was going to be a lost season.  Maybe you find a cheap controllable asset out of nowhere.  Avi was an impending FA, so even if he had a good year, he was gone.  Obviously Palka and Cordell and the other cast of characters (Delmonico, Tilson, Jay) all flopped, but I think trying to find a nice piece for the future out those guys the plan.  Which honestly I guess made a little sense based on Palka's 2018.  It didn't work, but I didn't hate the thought process at the time.    

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29 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

But isn’t it a bit ironic that the Sox basically gave up on similar talent recently in Avisail García, only to acquire the lefty version of him?

If Avi wasn’t good enough for this team in the past, why is Mazara now?

Well, being left handed probably is one of the items at the top of the list. Maybe they see something they feel they can use to unlock his full potential? I also don’t think they should use Avi as the sole reason to not go after players with similar skill sets. I just hope the Sox have more in store for whatever is going on with their off-season plan. They have to use some money to get pitching. I can live with Mazara if they do that and utilized him properly (and protect the hell out of him against LHP).

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Suggestion from Athletic that Mazara was not totally on board with coaching his approach to the game. We assume Menechino had some input? Avi might be a nice complement to Mazara if none of the big guns are brought in or is it bought in.

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1 minute ago, pcq said:

Suggestion from Athletic that Mazara was not totally on board with coaching his approach to the game. We assume Menechino had some input? Avi might be a nice complement to Mazara if none of the big guns are brought in or is it bought in.

This whole situation would make a lot more sense if someone in the Sox org had a strong view that they had some specific solution that would make him a much better player.

Remember like when Walt Hriniak was going to do wonders for Cory Snyder.

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5 minutes ago, Hatchetman said:

This whole situation would make a lot more sense if someone in the Sox org had a strong view that they had some specific solution that would make him a much better player.

Remember like when Walt Hriniak was going to do wonders for Cory Snyder.

Hahn said that they did.  Though frankly, I wouldn't expect him to state otherwise.  

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2 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I'm coming around to the idea that having a 0.5-1 WAR RF in Mazara may be fine, as long as that guy's floor basically is his ceiling. If we're getting 20 HR, 25 2b, .261/.328/.442/.770, so be it. With all of the production we are projected to get elsewhere, that should hopefully be fine.

We’re gonna run like an $80M payroll man. 

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8 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said:

We’re gonna run like an $80M payroll man. 

Reinsdorf got greedy.  He saw how much profit they made with a low payroll over the last few years and while I truly believe that he wants to win, he wants to win at his price and also cash in on a low payroll.

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7 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I'm coming around to the idea that having a 0.5-1 WAR RF in Mazara may be fine, as long as that guy's floor basically is his ceiling. If we're getting 20 HR, 25 2b, .261/.328/.442/.770, so be it. With all of the production we are projected to get elsewhere, that should hopefully be fine.

I watched MLB network a lot during the Winter Meetings. Mark DeRosa (ex MLB player) usually acts like the in house hitting coach and thinks Mazara is a little too busy with his hands. Of course everyone has an opinion on how to get more from him .

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