Hahn’s 2022 Offseason (So Far)

[South Side Hit Men]

2 minutes ago, JoeC said:

So what's your alternative in RF?

Today? Platoon Engel and Sheets. Would still try to trade Eloy for at least one good player who can contribute now, and also acquire a RF and or 2B at the deadline.

Wanted the team to go younger the past few years, but they have went the other direction.

 

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, JoeC said:

So what's your alternative in RF?

If they added Suzuki and Rodon I would have been elated.  Obviously Suzuki has cooled but still over an 800 ops and Cubs offense has been better recently granted they get to beat up on the Reds and Pirates.

Still think you can win with young stars in the postseason if you have enough.

Honestly would have thought about dumping Hendriks while adding Graveman and Tempera salaries (no Kelly ... got a 2B out of that.

[thedoctor]

it’s an abject failure to this point. still can turn around, obviously. 
 

just don’t understand why he’d basically repeat last offseason. overspend on relievers and try to fill important gaps with washed up vets. 

[JoeC]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

Middle of the pack teams last year had 30 players hit the injured list at various times during the year, for a total of over 1600 man-days. That latter number the equivalent of 25% of your 40 man roster spending the entire year on the IL. 

 The Padres had nearly twice that much IL usage. 

The White Sox are in the top 10 for IL usage this year, but that should be totally unsurprising - they have an old roster overall, they had several guys come into the season with injuries, and they had several guys with injury records. You absolutely can't sit here and tell me it's surprising that Lance Lynn is missing time with a knee injury and no one could have foreseen that in the offseason when he missed time with a knee injury last september! You can't tell me no one could possibly have foreseen Eloy or Robert or Pollock having muscle injuries - all 3 of them had those last year! 

Eloy, Robert, Pollock, Moncada, Vaughn (briefly)

5/9 of your opening day lineup (including 100% of your infield) injured 6 weeks into the season.

Eloy's injury was deemed a "freak" thing last year (torn pectoral on an ill-advised OF leap). He hasn't had leg muscle injuries before this year.

[bighurt574]

14 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Castellanos is just more of what this team already has.  He was and is a bad fit.  Not using the benefit of hindsight, I don't mind acquiring 1 year of Pollock over 4 years $100M of a guy that really just exacerbates our issues in Nick C.  Of course if you told me beforehand Pollock would forget to hit, that'd be different.  

 

If it were me, I would have signed him a few years ago and gladly paid what CIN paid.  But even his latest deal (5 years $100M) isn't terrible.  

JD Martinez is another one.

We've had years and years to find a long-term solution in RF.  Heck, I wasn't a huge fan of the Harper pursuit at the time, but given all our whiffs since, Harper would have been huge.  More than Machado even (who I personally preferred back then).  

[A-Train to 35th]

1 hour ago, Saufley said:

Agree! But this all starts at the top with Reinsdorf! Again, I say that Hahn should have resigned when he was forced to sign La Russa, but I guess the GM title was too important to him.  I'm getting close to the point where I just don't care anymore!!

Agree "it starts at the top with Reinsdorf"

Agree "Hahn should have resigned when he was forced to hire Tony"

Agree "the GM title was too important to him"

Agree "I'm getting to the point where I don't care anymore"

Agree with The Grinder "Kind of like Hotel California. You can check out but never leave"

[Balta1701]

2 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Eloy, Robert, Pollock, Moncada, Vaughn (briefly)

5/9 of your opening day lineup (including 100% of your infield) injured 6 weeks into the season.

Eloy's injury was deemed a "freak" thing last year (torn pectoral on an ill-advised OF leap). He hasn't had leg muscle injuries before this year.

Twins: Correa, Trevor Larnach, Sonny Gray, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Dylan Bundy, Miguel Sano. 

They've been healthier than the White Sox, and 4/5 of their starting rotation, their starting DH, and their star SS have all hit the IL, in addition to relievers and backups. 

[southsider2k5]

And for the record, as soon as the free agent compensation deadline passes, my first call would still be to Conforto.  Check in and see if a longer term deal could be worked out and kick him a few bucks this season to grease the wheels of getting a contract done.

[Balta1701]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

And for the record, as soon as the free agent compensation deadline passes, my first call would still be to Conforto.  Check in and see if a longer term deal could be worked out and kick him a few bucks this season to grease the wheels of getting a contract done.

i believe his shoulder is bad enough he's unlikely to play this year as of the last report.

[southsider2k5]

Just now, Balta1701 said:

i believe his shoulder is bad enough he's unlikely to play this year as of the last report.

I know.

[mmmmmbeeer]

Think back to when Hahn first came onboard.  He made some big trades, targeted higher profile players, and was considered one of the best GMs in the league.  Granted, not all of those trades and signings worked out, but this piecemeal roster construction is relatively new.

You know who else used to make these piecemeal moves, won a WS as a result, and is still in this organization?  Hmmmm.....

[bmags]

One of the reasons injuries may hurt us more is they decide to have players like danny mendick up here when there are like 5 more talented infielders in AAA

 

[A-Train to 35th]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I know.

Just what we need another injured player to worry about.

[Balta1701]

3 minutes ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

Think back to when Hahn first came onboard.  He made some big trades, targeted higher profile players, and was considered one of the best GMs in the league.  Granted, not all of those trades and signings worked out, but this piecemeal roster construction is relatively new.

You know who else used to make these piecemeal moves, won a WS as a result, and is still in this organization?  Hmmmm.....

That's...not true at all? His big addition his first offseason was Jeff Keppinger. That team collapsed and won 63 games, sufficient to earn their manager a contract extension...somehow?

[mmmmmbeeer]

Just now, Balta1701 said:

That's...not true at all? His big addition his first offseason was Jeff Keppinger. That team collapsed and won 63 games, sufficient to earn their manager a contract extension...somehow?

David Robertson.  Jeff Smardzia. Todd Frazier. Lance Lynn. 

[Balta1701]

Just now, mmmmmbeeer said:

David Robertson.  Jeff Smardzia. Todd Frazier. Lance Lynn. 

None of those were added when he first came on board? Lance Lynn was added in his 9th season? 

[ChiSox59]

25 minutes ago, bighurt574 said:

 

If it were me, I would have signed him a few years ago and gladly paid what CIN paid.  But even his latest deal (5 years $100M) isn't terrible.  

JD Martinez is another one.

We've had years and years to find a long-term solution in RF.  Heck, I wasn't a huge fan of the Harper pursuit at the time, but given all our whiffs since, Harper would have been huge.  More than Machado even (who I personally preferred back then).  

I agree its not terrible, but we don't need more right handed hitting DHs attempting to play the OF.  We have enough. 

[Snopek]

27 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Frankly,  right now, with Moncada back, Pollock back, Robert back - they're probably healthier than you should expect them to be the rest of the year. They only have 6 guys on the IL right now, the Reds and Cubs have 14, the Twins have 10.

Thank you.

The “once we’re finally healthy” comments are pretty baffling to me at this point.

[mmmmmbeeer]

Just now, Balta1701 said:

None of those were added when he first came on board? Lance Lynn was added in his 9th season? 

Considering we were in a rebuild for most of those 9 years, he wasn't exactly tasked with making moves for impact players.

My point was, whether you agree or not, this past offseason seems awfully reminiscent of a former GM who caught lightning in a bottle by signing a plethora of smaller pieces in a competitive window instead of going after impact players like Hahn did pre-rebuild.

[bighurt574]

2 minutes ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

Considering we were in a rebuild for most of those 9 years, he wasn't exactly tasked with making moves for impact players.

My point was, whether you agree or not, this past offseason seems awfully reminiscent of a former GM who caught lightning in a bottle by signing a plethora of smaller pieces in a competitive window instead of going after impact players like Hahn did pre-rebuild.

 

Hahn needs to find a Jermaine Dye.  

[southsider2k5]

I am also going to say this outloud.  The last two years have made me miss Kenny Williams.  Love him or hate him, he was not afraid to go get a guy he thought could put the team over the top.  If he had been running this ship the last two years, he WOULD have gotten a home run piece.  He might have paid too much, or might have given up the wrong players to get him, but he would have swung for the fences, instead of trying to poke it through the hole the other way like Hahn.

[caulfield12]

29 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Twins: Correa, Trevor Larnach, Sonny Gray, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Dylan Bundy, Miguel Sano. 

They've been healthier than the White Sox, and 4/5 of their starting rotation, their starting DH, and their star SS have all hit the IL, in addition to relievers and backups. 

Correa and Bundy coming off today.  Buxton has missed time and still not in the lineup every day…has been alternating days off and on.

Paddack likely done for the year.  Sano out for a similar time to Jimenez.

Sonny Gray starting this afternoon.

[caulfield12]

11 minutes ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

Considering we were in a rebuild for most of those 9 years, he wasn't exactly tasked with making moves for impact players.

My point was, whether you agree or not, this past offseason seems awfully reminiscent of a former GM who caught lightning in a bottle by signing a plethora of smaller pieces in a competitive window instead of going after impact players like Hahn did pre-rebuild.

The rebuild didn’t start until the second half of 2016 and that offseason.

Before that the old competing on the fly and retooling mode.

 

Dye Pods Iguchi F.Garcia AJ Jenks all a lot closer to prime around age 30 or under for Bobby in 2005 let’s just say compared to current situation with Abreu, Pollock, Lynn, Grandal, Kelly, Keuchel, Cueto, Harrison, etc.  

Contreras was still close enough to his prime to last until first half of 2006.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

37 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Twins: Correa, Trevor Larnach, Sonny Gray, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Dylan Bundy, Miguel Sano. 

They've been healthier than the White Sox, and 4/5 of their starting rotation, their starting DH, and their star SS have all hit the IL, in addition to relievers and backups. 

I'd say, based of these two lists, we've lost more impact guys than they have.

[caulfield12]

13 minutes ago, bighurt574 said:

 

Hahn needs to find a Jermaine Dye.  

Conforto is going to be the closest approximation.  Maybe not the price tag though.