White Sox Sign RP Joe Kelly (2yrs with a club option; $17m)

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said:

I'm just gonna say this quietly and back away.... if the Sox make a meaningful addition in RF (Bryant, Conforto, Suzuki) I could deal with a guy like Greinke or Tyler Anderson as the 5th starter.

That at least pushes Kuechel and Lopez into depth roles and also reduces the number of starts we'd see from Lambert, Stiever etc this year.

Sox basically have no choice but to make an impactful trade . There's no way they make an impactful addition in RF via FA and then add a FA pitcher too. Move Kimbrel 1st and see how much of his salary we get rid of then see what's left out there and take a wild guess at how much we can add to stay under the CBT . That's the great unknown .

[FoxForce2]

Real good get on Kelly. Even with Kelly and Graverman in the mix, Tepera might just be a guy who tips the scales favorably. We all pretty much agree that the Sox SP isn't as strong as one would like and not likely to get much better until mid-season trades. A high end and deep bullpen can fix a lot of problems and teams that have them do well in late season and the playoffs. I think Hahn has the right idea with the 'pen moves.

[Chicago White Sox]

5 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

I’m betting I can find someone who thought the Phillies would take on his entire contract and give up a pre-arbitration reliever with a solid 2019 season for him.

You think potentially getting a pre-arb reliever who hasn’t been good since 2019 represents a ton of surplus value?

[Chicago White Sox]

5 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

As of right now, Spotrac has the white Sox with $21.9 million above the tax. As long as Conforto is at $20 million, they are healthier than average, and make no moves at the deadline, they can still fit him  under the tax.

They are trading Kimbrel which will open up more payroll space.

[Chicago White Sox]

5 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I know every spring you're optimistic because you're you and that's good. I just don't see why you expect the front office to make a Conforto signing while they continually express the thought that they think SP is more important unless you think that's a smokescreen while a Conforto signing would move the Sox into unprecedented payroll stratosphere even while dumping the Kimbrel contract and moreso if they can't dump the whole thing which is a distinct possibility.

If they can't dump the whole contract just add it to the how much has Kimbrel really cost the Sox ledger which now includes a cost controlled 2nd basemen in Madrigal, Heuer ( though now that doesnt look so bad), $7M for old man Harrison who isn't even left handed plus whatever salary the Sox end up having paid Kimbrel once he's traded. Just for fun throw in the possibility the whole Kimbrel mess could eventually lead Conforto not going to the Sox because we have no idea if the Sox can commit that kind of money to Conforto and still trade for a decent enough SP whose salary will have to also be paid.

For a guy who didn't like taking the gamble on Rodon you seem to be pretty calm that the team is filling up with old guys more prone to injury. But I will say one thing about you. I know you will be highly critical if 2 gun pete, Myself , thxfrthmmrs,Ray Ray and Balta end up correct and Conforto  goes somewhere else. That is looking more likely with every transaction the Sox make and the needs we still have.

I think it’s really simple.  Use cash to sign Conforto and use whatever trade assets you have to add a SP.  if they don’t get that done (or something similar) I will be super critical.  And if they can’t dump the whole Kimbrel contract (or get an important piece back).  I will be critical of them.  And I just ripped the Harrison signing and ripped the Leury signing earlier this offseason.  Right now we are weaker than last year and I’m not happy, but I’m going to wait and see what we do before making any declarations.

And in regard to the bullpen, we’d be in big trouble without Kelly & Graveman.  These guys aren’t luxury items like Leury is IMO, they’re absolute necessities.  Can’t go into a season with Hendriks, Bummer, Crochet, & four question marks.  Hell, I still think we’re reliever light.  If you want to rip Hahn, call him out for the lack of AAA arms that can gradually fill out the major league bullpen.  Us spending a greater percentage of payroll space on the bullpen than desired is the side effect of a minor league system that’s not contributing.

[Chicago White Sox]

5 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

He was terrible after he got traded to the Sox. 

So he must be bad forever given relievers never have bad two months stretches.

[Chicago White Sox]

4 hours ago, bmags said:

Very annoying how much draft capital and other assets sox spent in 2017-2019 for relief pitcher profiles, only to be using SO much of their position player savings on the bullpen.

Sox are pound wise and penny foolish and it drives me nuts. 

This is the problem.  The Sox have no choice but to spend on the bullpen, but they shouldn’t be in this spot after spending a 1st round pick on Burdi and investing in a bunch of other relief prospects.  This is a symptom of a failing minor league system.

[zisk]

11 hours ago, fathom said:

Kelly was pretty great last year

Buy high, sell low. Always add at least 1.50 to any ex dodgers ERA. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by zisk
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[southsider2k5]

8 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You crack me up.  How much of their total payroll is going to relievers if Kimbrel is dumped?  And how does that compare to the rest of the league?

The Sox have the core of their line up filled with young cost controlled players. Where others would have expensive LF/SS/3B/SP/CF, the Sox have cheaper stars. This allowed the Sox to use that money to spend other places.  He's quite literally discovered that the Sox did a successful rebuild and lockin of their young stars and is mad about it.

[Bob Sacamano]

6 hours ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

Well, I had wanted a SP before all else; I'd wanted Rodon, or Kikuchi, but we really needed more RP depth.

Maybe Kwang Hyun Kim, if we tell RH/KW that he can pitch out of the Pen, and spot-start?

Yeah, Im afraid you're correct. As much as I'd hate it, it could be Soler.

I'll still wish on Suzuki, but I doubt that will happen.

He signed back in the KBO.

[Dick Allen]

The team is still stacked and should win the division , and if not win the division, make the playoffs pretty easily. I would just like then to go for the jugular once in a while, instead of always settling for the just good enough.They have such an advantage in their division. They are the only team that doesn’t qualify for revenue sharing dollars. They should dominate year in and year out. 

[Kyyle23]

12 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

if balta, myself and ray agree on something it's clearly a bad move for the Sox just saying.

No it means the eeyore gang is loud

[thxfrthmmrs]

59 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The Sox have the core of their line up filled with young cost controlled players. Where others would have expensive LF/SS/3B/SP/CF, the Sox have cheaper stars. This allowed the Sox to use that money to spend other places.  He's quite literally discovered that the Sox did a successful rebuild and lockin of their young stars and is mad about it.

Yet they had holes to fill at RF, 2B and needed another mid rotation SP. The savings at the aforementioned positions should be allocated at those spots instead of throwing big money at Kelly.

[caulfield12]

41 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The team is still stacked and should win the division , and if not win the division, make the playoffs pretty easily. I would just like then to go for the jugular once in a while, instead of always settling for the just good enough.They have such an advantage in their division. They are the only team that doesn’t qualify for revenue sharing dollars. They should dominate year in and year out. 

If we went back to 2016 and envisioned that Grandal, Hendriks and Lynn were going to be the biggest adds…not sure how many would have gone for that.

We lost out on Machado and the only thing that saved the Sox viability as a perennial WS-contender was basically Jose Abreu and Paddy recruiting Luis Robert away from the Cardinals.

[Chicago White Sox]

8 minutes ago, thxfrthmmrs said:

Yet they had holes to fill at RF, 2B and needed another mid rotation SP. The savings at the aforementioned positions should be allocated at those spots instead of throwing big money at Kelly.

Who is in your bullpen then?

[caulfield12]

7 minutes ago, thxfrthmmrs said:

Yet they had holes to fill at RF, 2B and needed another mid rotation SP. The savings at the aforementioned positions should be allocated at those spots instead of throwing big money at Kelly.

Sometimes I wish we had the same go for broke mentality as the Padres in the face of the Dodgers’ onslaught.  Sure, it backfired last year, but eventually the LA division dominance will come to an abrupt halt, especially carrying Bauer on the active roster.

Our modus operandi is more about finishing out in front of the AL Central rather than really going for the jugular.

We have a number of things that could go wrong for a supposed #2 ranked team in all of MLB.

[southsider2k5]

11 minutes ago, thxfrthmmrs said:

Yet they had holes to fill at RF, 2B and needed another mid rotation SP. The savings at the aforementioned positions should be allocated at those spots instead of throwing big money at Kelly.

Dude got something like 5 million a year. That hasn't been big money in a long time.

[SCCWS]

29 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Dude got something like 5 million a year. That hasn't been big money in a long time.

I like Joe Kelly. He is very entertaining but he can also go off the rails at times. I think he will be a fan favorite as long as he is consistent. Will always have his teammates backs.  

[thxfrthmmrs]

34 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Who is in your bullpen then?

I would look at whoever is left after my signings on offense and pitching and see how much I could spend. It’s much much easier to get good values from bargain hunting RP than RF or SP. But to answer your question I would have looked at buying low on someone like Kirby Yates who signed for 2/$8M or an under the radar guy like John Curtiss who’s still unsigned.

[thxfrthmmrs]

36 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Dude got something like 5 million a year. That hasn't been big money in a long time.

I haven’t seen that he’s only getting $5M in 2022. But more importantly what’s his luxury tax hit?

[Tnetennba]

Verlander stamp of approval ?. 

[Dick Allen]

8 minutes ago, thxfrthmmrs said:

I would look at whoever is left after my signings on offense and pitching and see how much I could spend. It’s much much easier to get good values from bargain hunting RP than RF or SP. But to answer your question I would have looked at buying low on someone like Kirby Yates who signed for 2/$8M or an under the radar guy like John Curtiss who’s still unsigned.

Yates will miss at least half, if not the entire season.

[Bob Sacamano]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

Yates will miss at least half, if not the entire season.

If you get him cheap, wouldn’t it be kinda nice to have another later in the year when guys are possibly hurt?

[Dick Allen]

1 minute ago, Bob Sacamano said:

If you get him cheap, wouldn’t it be kinda nice to have another later in the year when guys are possibly hurt?

I

Expecting guys just returning from TJS to be nails isn’t a winning formula.

[Bob Sacamano]

Just now, Dick Allen said:

I

Expecting guys just returning from TJS to be nails isn’t a winning formula.

I didn’t realize it was TJS but good call haha