Vulture Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 41 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: Julio Franco is still a free agent, lol. He actually could be one of those rarities like Minoso that could hit in 5 or 6 decades and not be a complete travesty. Who was the last hitter at age 39 or 40 who came close to those numbers in the last couple of decades....just Bonds? Looked it up... 10 players who hit the most home runs after turning 40. (USA TODAY Network) ... Barry Bonds — 79. (Phil Carter-USA TODAY Sports) ... Carlton Fisk — 72. (Bob Rosato-USA TODAY Sports) ... Darrell Evans — 60. (USA Today Sports) ... Dave Winfield — 59. (USA TODAY Sports) ... Carl Yastrzemski — 49. ... Stan Musial — 46. ... Ted Williams — 44. Hank Aaron/Raul Ibanez--42 Craig Nettles Also, are we 100% sure it's not something about Oscar Colas and the next IFA signing period? Harold Baines put up a .919 ops at age 40. Followed up with a .754 at 41 and .345 at 42. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominikk85 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 At some Point cruz will come down but people already said that in 2017, 2018,2019 and 2020, I think at a 1 yr deal it would be worth a gamble. That being said I would prefer a left handed bat who can also play another position. The sox have vaughn coming up and eloy needing some days at DH, thus I think they could use a bit of flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: If the Sox were to sign him, I think it may suggest there is more to play with that we all think. One day you're starting a thread facetiously thanking Reinsdorf for being Reinsdorfian and the next day you're trusting Hector Gomez thinking the Sox are going to spring for Nelson Cruz because there is more to play with than we think ? You are on a world class roller coaster my friend. Trust your instincts not Hector. Your heart is in the right place but not your mind. One vague Tweet about Sox fans being very happy and you lose it. Is it fun to think about ? Oh hell yes but it's not bloody likely. As a matter of fact it's so much fun to think about I want this post to age very very very poorly. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) Good news for Sox fans would also be if Cruz was out of the division. So I don't think, if it is about Cruz, that he is a White Sox. Plus they have Vaughn. You want to shorten the White Sox window to as small as possible, spend your money on 40 year old free agents and trade away the prospects you were able to get for sucking for several years. Makes no sense. You are going to need these guys and their low cost moving forward if you hope for any sustained success. Edited January 18, 2021 by Dick Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 3 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: One day you're starting a thread facetiously thanking Reinsdorf for being Reinsdorfian and the next day you're trusting Hector Gomez thinking the Sox are going to spring for Nelson Cruz because there is more to play with than we think ? You are on a world class roller coaster my friend. Trust your instincts not Hector. Your heart is in the right place but not your mind. One vague Tweet about Sox fans being very happy and you lose it. Is it fun to think about ? Oh hell yes but it's not bloody likely. As a matter of fact it's so much fun to think about I want this post to age very very very poorly. All good points, but in all honesty I’m skeptical this is true. But if it were true, I’d be shocked if they had ~$15M of budget left and they spent the bulk of it on an actual DH and basically ignored the rotation. We definitely need another starter and I’m confident they will add that, so signing Cruz would imply there has to be more money available. I’m not suggesting that means we’re suddenly approach the luxury tax, but perhaps we end up in the $145M to $150M range. Again, I’m doubtful any of that happens and fully expect a Richards or Quintana +’La Stella type to end this offseason. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 41 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said: All good points, but in all honesty I’m skeptical this is true. But if it were true, I’d be shocked if they had ~$15M of budget left and they spent the bulk of it on an actual DH and basically ignored the rotation. We definitely need another starter and I’m confident they will add that, so signing Cruz would imply there has to be more money available. I’m not suggesting that means we’re suddenly approach the luxury tax, but perhaps we end up in the $145M to $150M range. Again, I’m doubtful any of that happens and fully expect a Richards or Quintana +’La Stella type to end this offseason. I don't think this cruz stuff is true, but the sox blowing the budget on the top DH and top closer would be hilarious because it would both subvert and reinforce longstanding opinions on how sox operate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentralChamps21 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 12 hours ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said: Am I the only one that doesn't really want Cruz on this team? Yes, he's been ridiculous and very good (especially against the Sox), but he's 40 years old. At some point he's not going to be able to keep this up, right? It would be so White Sox to bring him him only to see him completely fall off a cliff in production. I wouldn't HATE if they got him for the DH, and on paper this looks great in the lineup, but man, this feels so EE all over again. Signing a 40 year old right handed DH, albeit one who was really good at age 39, only makes sense if the Sox sign Bauer or make a deal for another 1/2 type starter to be all in for this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 I don’t recall seeing this mentioned, but Hector has tweeted about Yadi a few times during the offseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 minute ago, fathom said: I don’t recall seeing this mentioned, but Hector has tweeted about Yadi a few times during the offseason. If he feels a 68 year old catcher would make the Sox fans very happy then I think he needs to reevaluate what makes Sox fans very happy 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentralChamps21 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 minute ago, fathom said: I don’t recall seeing this mentioned, but Hector has tweeted about Yadi a few times during the offseason. Hector promised really good news, not lukewarm news that gets mentioned on the news after the discussion about the Hawks being so bad. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 minute ago, Kyyle23 said: If he feels a 68 year old catcher would make the Sox fans very happy then I think he needs to reevaluate what makes Sox fans very happy he can barely use twitterI don't know why this would be a surprise. But he's probably right in at least that if sox signed yadi, the old baseball guard like nightengale will faint from happiness. He'll barely be able to get his tweet out without crying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREEDY Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) Nelson Cruz hot taek: Hard to measure in dollars but if you are an Andrew Vaughn bull, it is definitely worth *something* to get his 29 year old season as opposed to his 23. Especially, when you currently have Abreu. It also gives Hahn another full year of negotiating if he is interested in working out one of his extensions. The guy has less than 200 milb plate appearances and he'd be blocked by the AL MVP and top DH in the league, so I don't think this would be controversial. And obviously, he is always in Charlotte in the event you need him. If one would redirect whatever that is *worth* to Cruz, you might think that could be enough to get him. Edited January 18, 2021 by GREEDY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCCWS Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 13 hours ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said: Think about it this way: even if Cruz was garbage on the Sox, at least he wouldn’t be playing for the Twins anymore. There is literally no downside to this. Unless his replacement w the Twins kills us next year and Cruz is garbage for us 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rounding_Third Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said: All good points, but in all honesty I’m skeptical this is true. But if it were true, I’d be shocked if they had ~$15M of budget left and they spent the bulk of it on an actual DH and basically ignored the rotation. We definitely need another starter and I’m confident they will add that, so signing Cruz would imply there has to be more money available. I’m not suggesting that means we’re suddenly approach the luxury tax, but perhaps we end up in the $145M to $150M range. Again, I’m doubtful any of that happens and fully expect a Richards or Quintana +’La Stella type to end this offseason. With ya, makes more sense to judiciously spend the remaining budget to get a SP & DH combo, which means a lesser DH than Cruz. And La Stella is 2 roles of the price of one. After SP is signed and if not enough for La Stella, a cheaper version is Astrubal Cabrera do be the same duel role guy; a solid SH with good LH power And, not as critical but still smart, I would like to see a backup C. At only ~$2m, an astute tactical move. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Parkman Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Dominikk85 said: At some Point cruz will come down but people already said that in 2017, 2018,2019 and 2020, I think at a 1 yr deal it would be worth a gamble. That being said I would prefer a left handed bat who can also play another position. The sox have vaughn coming up and eloy needing some days at DH, thus I think they could use a bit of flexibility. We already tried that with Encarnacion last year and it was a disaster. No more 35-40 year old DHs, please. Edited January 18, 2021 by Jack Parkman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vote4Pedro Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said: We already tried that with Encarnacion last year and it was a disaster. No more 35-40 year old DHs, please. You saw the decline in EE the year prior, not saying that it’s impossible for that to happen to Cruz but he does not look like he’s at the point of slowing down yet 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Parkman Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, HahnsKiddieTable said: You saw the decline in EE the year prior, not saying that it’s impossible for that to happen to Cruz but he does not look like he’s at the point of slowing down yet I was actually going to add that to my post, but it isn't just him. Also LaRoche, who was coming off of a good year and just lost it at 35. But, I guess you could sort of see the decline coming there too. Edited January 18, 2021 by Jack Parkman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Cruz's stats the past 5 years have been .286/.369/.932 and he just got an abbreviated season to provide more rest. Yes, he'll slow down eventually, but unless everyone expects a monumental drop off, it hasn't arrived yet. Vaughn is your insurance policy. Depending on price - what's the downside? 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxBlanco Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: All good points, but in all honesty I’m skeptical this is true. But if it were true, I’d be shocked if they had ~$15M of budget left and they spent the bulk of it on an actual DH and basically ignored the rotation. We definitely need another starter and I’m confident they will add that, so signing Cruz would imply there has to be more money available. I’m not suggesting that means we’re suddenly approach the luxury tax, but perhaps we end up in the $145M to $150M range. Again, I’m doubtful any of that happens and fully expect a Richards or Quintana +’La Stella type to end this offseason. I would love a Quintana/La Stella finish to the offseason. This is a pretty damn good roster: Lineup Anderson Moncada Abreu Eloy Grandal Robert Vaughn Eaton Madrigal Bench La Stella Leury Collins Engel Rotation Giolito Lynn Keuchel Quintana Cease Bullpen Hendriks Bummer Crochet Marshall Heuer Foster Lopez Fry Edited January 18, 2021 by SoxBlanco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iWiN4PreP Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Without bauer this team isn’t making it to the pkayoffs, starting pitching will be in shambles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaRoache Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 If you can sign Cruz and acquire another starter then you do it. If Cruz flames out you can give Vaughn a shot. If Cruz is anywhere near his previous production he can carry you to the playoffs and a title. If his OPS drops to say 850, which would be a huge drop, that would still be very good for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Gload Fan Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said: Without bauer this team isn’t making it to the pkayoffs, starting pitching will be in shambles Haaaaaaaaave you met my friend, the AL Central? 1 1 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaRoache Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said: Without bauer this team isn’t making it to the pkayoffs, starting pitching will be in shambles Yep indeed. But to be fair, I'd rather make the playoffs than the pkayoffs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 While they'd still be vulnerable to righties, Cruz put up a 1.450 OPS last year against lefties. Could that lineup go 162 without losing to a lefty? I'm half serious, left handed starters should just forfeit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppysox Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 5 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said: Without bauer this team isn’t making it to the pkayoffs, starting pitching will be in shambles Don't get me wrong...I want another pitcher (Bauer preferred) to make the road to the playoffs easier. Bauer would make us a good bet along with the Dodgers to win the WS. However, I have no doubt this team is making the playoffs even with the team as it currently stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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