Rumor: White Sox made offer for Max Kepler

[Balta1701]

24 minutes ago, pcq said:

Had a solid zero war season so he would fit right in. 

B-R was doing something very weird where it isn’t reporting his numbers in their normal columns and I don’t know why. Check his full stats, I don’t know why it is showing zero. Fangraphs shows him at 2 and I think that is more reasonable.

[Chick Mercedes]

6 hours ago, SoCalChiSox said:

That's steep.

Law thinks Ramos could be a monster, I wouldn't give him away for Kepler.

Just sign Conforto for 1 yr deal. Spend some money for once and stop robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm sick of this s%*#.

This team needs to stop giving away young  prospects if all they are getting is questionable mediocrity in return. f*** it. Lets stop doing these same things and expecting different results.

*shouts at clouds *

[Sleepy Harold]

12 hours ago, Pal said:

Happy Thanksgiving. There is a rumor of signing or close to a signing with a SP.

Incoming Big Pelf reunion!! 

[Eminor3rd]

If they’re going to give up some okay prospects for a hitter, this would make a lot more sense than Kolten Wong, to me. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Eminor3rd

[Dick Allen]

Mediocre player. Peeked in 2019. White Sox seem attracted to players who have peeked, and we are back to the 2009-2017 model of hoping to get numbers out of guys that are probably not possible. Kepler isn’t projected to hit, so I’m sure the White Sox history of mediocre coaching will solve that. Mediocre, players, mediocre coaches, mediocre front office. Max Kepler is a move that would show why they Sox are usually mired in mediocrity.

[bmags]

24 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Mediocre player. Peeked in 2019. White Sox seem attracted to players who have peeked, and we are back to the 2009-2017 model of hoping to get numbers out of guys that are probably not possible. Kepler isn’t projected to hit, so I’m sure the White Sox history of mediocre coaching will solve that. Mediocre, players, mediocre coaches, mediocre front office. Max Kepler is a move that would show why they Sox are usually mired in mediocrity.

Remember when we used to target underrated, blocked players in other orgs on the way up rather than players on their way down 

[SoxAce]

4 minutes ago, bmags said:

Remember when we used to target underrated, blocked players in other orgs on the way up rather than players on their way down 

I miss those "Carlos Quentin like" days. 

[joejoesox]

39 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Mediocre player. Peeked in 2019. White Sox seem attracted to players who have peeked, and we are back to the 2009-2017 model of hoping to get numbers out of guys that are probably not possible. Kepler isn’t projected to hit, so I’m sure the White Sox history of mediocre coaching will solve that. Mediocre, players, mediocre coaches, mediocre front office. Max Kepler is a move that would show why they Sox are usually mired in mediocrity.

It's absolutely a coaching/development issue. Guys like Wong and Kepler could go to Houston or NYY and perform well because those organizations understand all that goes into getting the most from just about every player on their 26m roster.

This is what worries me about the Sox. I'm glad they shook up their coaching but idk if they picked the right people. I know that the ones who were here before absolutely sucked at their jobs and had no respect from the players. 

[bmags]

34 minutes ago, SoxAce said:

I miss those "Carlos Quentin like" days. 

Danks was such a ballsy and brilliant move too. Uribe…
 

D’Angelo Jimenez…less so

[Chicago White Sox]

I may be in the minority, but I wouldn’t hate a Kepler trade at the right price if Jerry is in fact cutting payroll.  The guy is a premium defender with plus plate discipline and above average raw power.  His main issue is a abnormally low BABIP.  I’m a strong believer that you can’t teach plate discipline this late into someone’s career, but adjusting someone’s plate approach to create a better quality of contact is still theoretically possible.  Am I confident the Sox are the team to help him figure it out?  Definitely not, but I may be willing to roll the dice with a new hitting coach coming in and a change in shift rules that should benefit Kepler more than most players.

Again, it all depends on the price and whether I can simply buy a similar player in free agency for just cash.  I’d rather sign any of Conforto, Bellinger, or Gallo to a pillow contract than trade assets for Kepler.  But if we’re too cash strapped, Max’s $8.5M salary would make some sense.  However, the price would need to be reasonable (i.e. a prospect in the 10 to 20 range) and I just don’t see the Twins going for something like that.  I think they’d want something far more valuable to trade him to a direct competitor (say Ramos) and that should be an immediate non-negotiable.  As such, I just don’t see this having much of a chance of coming fruition.

[Dick Allen]

6 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I may be in the minority, but I wouldn’t hate a Kepler trade at the right price if Jerry is in fact cutting payroll.  The guy is a premium defender with plus plate discipline and above average raw power.  His main issue is a abnormally low BABIP.  I’m a strong believer that you can’t teach plate discipline this late into someone’s career, but adjusting someone’s plate approach to create a better quality of contact is still theoretically possible.  Am I confident the Sox are the team to help him figure it out?  Definitely not, but I may be willing to roll the dice with a new hitting coach coming in and a change in shift rules that should benefit Kepler more than most players.

Again, it all depends on the price and whether I can simply buy a similar player in free agency for just cash.  I’d rather sign any of Conforto, Bellinger, or Gallo to a pillow contract than trade assets for Kepler.  But if we’re too cash strapped, Max’s $8.5M salary would make some sense.  However, the price would need to be reasonable (i.e. a prospect in the 10 to 20 range) and I just don’t see the Twins going for something like that.  I think they’d want something far more valuable to trade him to a direct competitor (say Ramos) and that should be an immediate non-negotiable.  As such, I just don’t see this having much of a chance of coming fruition.

The problem I have is his power is waning, and for a guy with such a plate discipline reputation .317 is a pretty low career OBP. Maybe the shift helps him, but it seems curious Minnesota would trade a guy they would possibly think can reach what they thought a few years ago and trade him to perhaps their biggest rivals while trying to compete. And they know him better than anyone.

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

The problem I have is his power is waning, and for a guy with such a plate discipline reputation .317 is a pretty low career OBP. Maybe the shift helps him, but it seems curious Minnesota would trade a guy they would possibly think can reach what they thought a few years ago and trade him to perhaps their biggest rivals while trying to compete. And they know him better than anyone.

I don’t disagree, but sometimes teams can’t through to guys and they need a change of scenery.  I could see Kepler being one of those guys, I’m just not convinced we’d be the ones able to tap into that potential.

Regardless, I think this rumor is 100% BS given the sources.  And even if our interest was real, I think the two sides aligning on fair compensation is very unlikely to happen.

[GreenSox]

2 hours ago, Eminor3rd said:

If they’re going to give up some okay prospects for a hitter, this would make a lot more sense than Kolten Wong, to me. 

I would prefer him to Wong, too, but you can't give up serious prospects for either of these two.  Trading serious prospects for mediocre older players is the Hahn way, but it's the losing way.

[Chicago White Sox]

2 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

I would prefer him to Wong, too, but you can't give up serious prospects for either of these two.  Trading serious prospects for mediocre older players is the Hahn way, but it's the losing way.

I don’t disagree with your core premise, but I wouldn’t categorize Kepler as old.

[GreenSox]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

Remember when we used to target underrated, blocked players in other orgs on the way up rather than players on their way down 

We did that on occasion, but always quickly reverted to the "proven veteran" comfort zone. In 2013 we trade Santiago and a Rule 5 guy for Eaton; in 2014, Hahn trades 4 young players for 1 year of that proven veteran top of the rotation starter Samardzija.
 

[ChiSoxFanMike]

47 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I may be in the minority, but I wouldn’t hate a Kepler trade at the right price if Jerry is in fact cutting payroll.  The guy is a premium defender with plus plate discipline and above average raw power.  His main issue is a abnormally low BABIP.  I’m a strong believer that you can’t teach plate discipline this late into someone’s career, but adjusting someone’s plate approach to create a better quality of contact is still theoretically possible.  Am I confident the Sox are the team to help him figure it out?  Definitely not, but I may be willing to roll the dice with a new hitting coach coming in and a change in shift rules that should benefit Kepler more than most players.

Again, it all depends on the price and whether I can simply buy a similar player in free agency for just cash.  I’d rather sign any of Conforto, Bellinger, or Gallo to a pillow contract than trade assets for Kepler.  But if we’re too cash strapped, Max’s $8.5M salary would make some sense.  However, the price would need to be reasonable (i.e. a prospect in the 10 to 20 range) and I just don’t see the Twins going for something like that.  I think they’d want something far more valuable to trade him to a direct competitor (say Ramos) and that should be an immediate non-negotiable.  As such, I just don’t see this having much of a chance of coming fruition.

Kepler hasn’t been good since 2019. He’s also owed $8.5 million next year. He would also be traded to a division rival if this happened. That alone tells you what the Twins think of him. He isn’t good. Pass.  

[ChiSox59]

3 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Kepler hasn’t been good since 2019. He’s also owed $8.5 million next year. He would also be traded to a division rival if this happened. That alone tells you what the Twins think of him. He isn’t good. Pass.  

Listen, Max Kepler isn’t a great player. But he’s averaged over 2 fWAR the last two seasons having averaged 118 games played. He’s a good defender in RF and can play CF. He bats left handed. He’d be the best Sox RF since early career Adam Eaton. 

This whole rumor is likely BS. The Twins aren’t going to trade Kepler to the Sox, and if they did, there would definitely be a premium attached (as there should). 

That all said, the Sox could do much worse than Max Kepler with 2 years of control including a team option. He isn’t “not good”; he’s an above average player that has a solid floor and could see some benefit from the shift rules. 

[Chicago White Sox]

5 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Kepler hasn’t been good since 2019. He’s also owed $8.5 million next year. He would also be traded to a division rival if this happened. That alone tells you what the Twins think of him. He isn’t good. Pass.  

He was good in 2020.  And the Twins may want to move him because they two other young corner OFs that warrant playing time.  I agree on the divisional aspect making this very far fetched though.

[Balta1701]

56 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Again, it all depends on the price and whether I can simply buy a similar player in free agency for just cash.  I’d rather sign any of Conforto, Bellinger, or Gallo to a pillow contract than trade assets for Kepler.  But if we’re too cash strapped, Max’s $8.5M salary would make some sense.  However, the price would need to be reasonable (i.e. a prospect in the 10 to 20 range) and I just don’t see the Twins going for something like that.  I think they’d want something far more valuable to trade him to a direct competitor (say Ramos) and that should be an immediate non-negotiable.  As such, I just don’t see this having much of a chance of coming fruition.

So let’s play around with some names. On the Futuresox list, Jared Kelly, Wes Kath, and Yolbert Sanchez are all in the 15 to 20 range. That’s a pair of former second round picks and a high money Cuban signing. Would 2 of those three guys be a deal that would work for everyone? The Twins save some money and get back a couple guys with potential, the White Sox get a tolerable starting OF?

Didnt the Twins bring up a young OF or two from their system late in the season last year? Was that Celestino, I’m trying to figure this out from depth charts.

[bmags]

I’ve always found Kepler extremely handsome. Maybe that gives us some Scotty Pods like luck.

[ChiSox59]

10 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

So let’s play around with some names. On the Futuresox list, Jared Kelly, Wes Kath, and Yolbert Sanchez are all in the 15 to 20 range. That’s a pair of former second round picks and a high money Cuban signing. Would 2 of those three guys be a deal that would work for everyone? The Twins save some money and get back a couple guys with potential, the White Sox get a tolerable starting OF?

Didnt the Twins bring up a young OF or two from their system late in the season last year? Was that Celestino, I’m trying to figure this out from depth charts.

Buxton and Larnach need everyday spots. Celestino is more of a 4th OF. Twins love Garlick against LHP, which he mashes. Kirilloff will factor into the OF mix some as well, but he’s going to play a good bit of 1B with Aarrez shifting to DH. Also have Gordon who currently profiles more of an IF, but Twins like him as a super utility guy to play everywhere. He played more OF than IF last year. Their IF is likely to line up Miranda, FA, Polanco, Aarrez/Kirilloff from left to right. Lewis will also come back at some point to crowd things a bit, but this group as a whole has a lot of injury concerns. They definitely have space to keep Kepler around depending on what they do in FA. I do expect the Twins to sign one of the big SS, likely Swanson or Boaegarts if they can’t get correa what he wants. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by ChiSox59

[poppysox]

1 hour ago, GreenSox said:

I would prefer him to Wong, too, but you can't give up serious prospects for either of these two.  Trading serious prospects for mediocre older players is the Hahn way, but it's the losing way.

We have three areas of need in RF, 2nd base, and SP.  It is believed that we have minimal resources with which to fill those needs.  Players like Kepler and Wong upgrade two areas of need while leaving more money available for that SP.  These rumored deals don't bother me in the slightest.

[Chick Mercedes]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

I’ve always found Kepler extremely handsome. Maybe that gives us some Scotty Pods like luck.

[Balta1701]

22 minutes ago, poppysox said:

We have three areas of need in RF, 2nd base, and SP.  It is believed that we have minimal resources with which to fill those needs.  Players like Kepler and Wong upgrade two areas of need while leaving more money available for that SP.  These rumored deals don't bother me in the slightest.

If they only have $20 million to spend, those two together would leave the white Sox approximately $1.5 million available for that SP.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

4 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Mediocre player. Peeked in 2019. White Sox seem attracted to players who have peeked, and we are back to the 2009-2017 model of hoping to get numbers out of guys that are probably not possible. Kepler isn’t projected to hit, so I’m sure the White Sox history of mediocre coaching will solve that. Mediocre, players, mediocre coaches, mediocre front office. Max Kepler is a move that would show why they Sox are usually mired in mediocrity.

Mediocre is being kind.