White Sox Trade

[Jake]

I really hope Burger has figured something out and you gotta find ways to keep getting him looks until he falls back to Earth. But let's not forget he had a nice run last season only to proceed to put up some very mediocre minor league numbers afterwards. Let's try to avoid having another Yermin Mercedes situation as far as overhyping a hot hitter is concerned.

[Jake]

Jake Burger's healthy season last year as chronicled through Rotowire and Rotoworld updates:

White Sox placed INF Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his right hand.

It doesn't sound like an overly serious injury, but Burger might remain sidelined through the All-Star break given where this transaction falls on the baseball calendar. The 26-year-old has slashed .250/.302/.458 with eight home runs and 26 RBI across 51 games played this season for Chicago.

Jul 6, 2022, 11:59 AM ET

 

Jake Burger's (hand) rehab assignment has been put on hold due to illness.

Burger had been slated to play his first rehab game with Triple-A Charlotte on Friday. Assuming he makes a quick recovery, he still could be ready for activation immediately after the All-Star break.

Source: Daryl Van Schouwen on Twitter

Jul 15, 2022, 2:56 PM ET

 

White Sox activated INF Jake Burger from the 10-day injured list; optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte.

Burger is recovered from a bone bruise in his right hand, but the White Sox don't have a spot for him on their major league roster at this moment. The 26-year-old is sure to get another look down the stretch.

Aug 2, 2022, 7:03 PM ET

 

White Sox's Jake Burger: Dealing with fractured wrist

Rotowire Aug 27, 2022

Burger is expected to miss several weeks due to a non-displaced left wrist fracture, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Burger dealt with a hand issue earlier this season and sustained his most recent injury when he was hit by a pitch Aug. 20. The 26-year-old was placed on the 7-day injured list this week but will likely need to spend more than the minimum amount of time on the shelf prior to returning to action at Triple-A Charlotte.

White Sox's Jake Burger: Makes late return at Triple-A

Rotowire Oct 3, 2022

Burger (wrist) was reinstated from Triple-A Charlotte's 7-day injured list Sept. 23 and went 5-for-26 with a triple and three runs over the club's final six games of the season.

Burger suffered a non-displaced left wrist fracture in late August, but he was able to make his return to action after about a month-long absence. Unless the White Sox are in need of another position player over the final two days of the regular season, Burger will rest up at home before beginning offseason workouts. Over his 183 plate appearances with Chicago earlier this season, the 26-year-old hit .250 with eight home runs and 26 RBI.

[TheBooneLoganEra]

22 hours ago, ChiSoxTrojan said:

I know we've been through this before, but it would be really helpful if Moncada would consider taking some reps at 2B. I'm not talking about a full-time move, just a little cross-training to increase his versatility. Lots of "everyday players" split time between multiple positions these days.

Imagine it's the 6th inning, the Sox are down by a couple runs, but they've got a couple runners on base for Sosa or Andrus (whoever's at 2B). Wouldn't it be nice if Burger was able to pinch hit, and then Moncada could slide over to 2B so the Sox don't have to use up two bench players? And then you don't need Romy or Alberto to be taking those late ABs if you're still trailing in the 8th or 9th?

This should be a no brainer. Is Moncada better defensively? Absolutely. Is he reliable? Not at all. He is owed nothing and if him playing a bit at 2nd is better for the team and gets us a better lineup he should just do it.

Did Burger have some injuries last year? Yup. But breaking something is a lot different than the constant "sore back" "sore oblique" "long covid nonsense." Dude doesn't play when he feels tired or nearing a slump and you'll never convince me otherwise. If he plays instead of Alberto TA never gets hurt and things don't spiral. 

Let Burger play. For a fan base that begs for home runs its crazy everyone wants to remove the one guy regularly providing them. The ball is jumping off his bat. 

[Illinibat]

(1) Play Burger at 3B.

(2) Play Moncada at 2B if he ever gets healthy (and assuming he can even show the ability to hit better than Andrus/Romy/Sosa/Alberto, which is questionable).

(3) Live with a few more errors on defense throughout the year.

This is the way.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Illinibat

[Bob Sacamano]

2 minutes ago, Illinibat said:

(1) Play Burger at 3B.

(2) Play Moncada at 2B if he ever gets healthy (and assuming he can even show the ability to hit better than Andrus/Romy/Sosa, which is questionable).

(3) Live with a few more errors on defense throughout the year.

This is the way.

They already play sloppy baseball so might as well score more runs out of it.

[ChiSox59]

30 minutes ago, Illinibat said:

(1) Play Burger at 3B.

(2) Play Moncada at 2B if he ever gets healthy (and assuming he can even show the ability to hit better than Andrus/Romy/Sosa/Alberto, which is questionable).

(3) Live with a few more errors on defense throughout the year.

This is the way.

Rather than downgrading two positions defensively, may as well just put Burger at 2B and only downgrade 1.  I think, most likely, 1 of 2 scenarios will occur before too long: 1) Burger cools off big time, sort of eliminating the need to to play him everyday; and/or 2) once Yoan does return in a week or two, between Eloy, AV and Yoan, it won't be long until Burger has everyday reps again anyway due to the next ouchie.  

I am not as staunchly against moving Moncada around as I've been in the past.  If Burger is still raking, you do need to find him PAs.  At this point, we may as well try to find whatever value we can from Moncada while we have him through 2024.  But....Yoan is a really, really good 3B.  Its hard for me to fathom too many scenarios that if he's healthy enough to play, that putting him anywhere but 3B gives this team the best opportunity to win the game that day.  Jake at 3B and Yoan at 2B doesn't make a ton of sense to me. 

[TheBooneLoganEra]

1 hour ago, ChiSox59 said:

 Jake at 3B and Yoan at 2B doesn't make a ton of sense to me. 

A lineup with Jake and yoan is better than a lineup with yoan and elvis. I see your point defensively but there is more of a chance that Jake improves defensively if he's playing everyday. 

[ChiSox59]

20 minutes ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

A lineup with Jake and yoan is better than a lineup with yoan and elvis. I see your point defensively but there is more of a chance that Jake improves defensively if he's playing everyday. 

Sure.  But the Sox are not a good team with Jake Burger playing 3B.  He's really bad at it.  Its fine I guess in short spurts as an injury fill-in when he's hitting like he is right now, but he effectively cost the Sox a game there the other day, and was absolutely brutal there in a decent-sized 40 game sample in 2022.  

Burger has been playing 3B his whole life.  Its not a new position for him.  He's just not that athletic or mobile; he's not going to vastly improve.   Expecting him to play there routinely isn't really a long term option.

Edited April 20, 2023 by ChiSox59

[greg775]

Look, Moncada needs to play 2B and Burger third. Case closed. Then release or trade Elvis. 3B ... yes it's nice to have a great defender over there like Robin, but it's one of the easiest positions to be adequate. Burger will be a D over there, not an F. Yes a D reeks but with Moncada at 2B that's the best we can do now. If Moncada won't play 2B, fine him or suspend him or whatever. Keeping Sox players happy doesn't matter anymore with a non contending joke of a team.

So what do you think? The Sox backups in the infield are worst options than Leury was so keep Elvis as the new Leury if u don't trade him. An infield of Burger, Tim, Moncada and a sieve at first (Vaughn, Sheets) would be a C to C minus no worse than a D-plus. Who else is demanding Burger 3B and Moncada 2B?

Edited April 20, 2023 by greg775

[Snopek]

1 minute ago, ChiSox59 said:

Sure.  But the Sox are not a good team with Jake Burger playing 3B.  He's really bad at it.  Its fine I guess in short spurts as an injury fill-in when he's hitting like he is right now, but he effectively cost the Sox a game there the other day, and was absolutely brutal there in a decent-sized 40 game sample in 2022.  

Burger has been playing 3B his whole life.  Its not a new position for him.  He's just not that athletic or mobile; he's not going to vastly improve.   Expecting him to play there routinely isn't really a long term option.

And if we think the pitching is a bit suspect now, imagine what happens when they need to get all those extra outs with bad 3B defense on a regular basis. 

[greg775]

On 4/19/2023 at 1:02 PM, LittleHurtCG said:

Moncada does not have MVP candidate potential. It is not 2017 anymore. 

100 percent true. He may not be a bust completely but he's not a special player. His defense and offense both are above average though which makes him one of the better overall players on this team.

[ChiSox59]

Just now, Snopek said:

And if we think the pitching is a bit suspect now, imagine what happens when they need to get all those extra outs with bad 3B defense on a regular basis. 

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  The same people that wanted Eloy and AV out of the OF immediately are suddenly big Burger at 3B stans.  Sox need to play good defense to win baseball games.  Burger, while he's raking right now, isn't an MLB caliber 3B.  And his hitting also is not sustainable.  Certainly ride him while he's hot and Moncada is hurt, but 3B is Yoan's once he's back - I have no doubt about that.  

 

[Snopek]

2 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  The same people that wanted Eloy and AV out of the OF immediately are suddenly big Burger at 3B stans.  Sox need to play good defense to win baseball games.  Burger, while he's raking right now, isn't an MLB caliber 3B.  And his hitting also is not sustainable.  Certainly ride him while he's hot and Moncada is hurt, but 3B is Yoan's once he's back - I have no doubt about that.  

 

I think maybe the Eloy blooper reel kind of set the tone for what terrible outfield defense looks like, so people wanted no part of non outfielders in the outfield after that. Give Burger enough exposure at 3B and I imagine we’ll get the same “No more DH’s at 3B” reactions.

Also, I think Burger is a likable guy and easy to root for, so it might be easier for some to overlook his faults.

Also also, the opposite for Yoan. Seems like he’s not particularly well liked among the fan base, so his very good defense is taken for granted and we complain about him looking bored or whatever.

["The Kids Can Play"]

4 hours ago, Illinibat said:

(1) Play Burger at 3B.

(2) Play Moncada at 2B if he ever gets healthy (and assuming he can even show the ability to hit better than Andrus/Romy/Sosa/Alberto, which is questionable).

(3) Live with a few more errors on defense throughout the year.

This is the way.

I totally agree with you.

Everyone keeps hammering home the point that Burger shouldn't be playing 3rd because he isn't a good fielder. Let's give Jake a chance because in 8 games he has only one error. Moncada has played 9 games and also has one error. I know that's a small sample size, but let's be positive and hope he does well, instead all this blasting him and calling him a one tool player crap. The harsh fact right now is, there isn't one player with his home run power on this team. He brings excitement and energy to this boring and bad team.

Furthermore why can't Moncada play 2nd? Maybe he should lose some weight and get quicker like he was when he was first was traded for when he was the #1 prospect in MLB as a second baseman.

Btw, if Moncada is so good defensively as many people claim in here, then he should be able to play second base and make the adjustment and transition. That's what good team players and athletes do for their team. It's not like he would be learning a new position he never played before. 

When Moncada comes back, it makes no sense to sit Burger. He either plays third or starts at DH over Eloy.

 

 

[caulfield12]

3 hours ago, greg775 said:

Look, Moncada needs to play 2B and Burger third. Case closed. Then release or trade Elvis. 3B ... yes it's nice to have a great defender over there like Robin, but it's one of the easiest positions to be adequate. Burger will be a D over there, not an F. Yes a D reeks but with Moncada at 2B that's the best we can do now. If Moncada won't play 2B, fine him or suspend him or whatever. Keeping Sox players happy doesn't matter anymore with a non contending joke of a team.

So what do you think? The Sox backups in the infield are worst options than Leury was so keep Elvis as the new Leury if u don't trade him. An infield of Burger, Tim, Moncada and a sieve at first (Vaughn, Sheets) would be a C to C minus no worse than a D-plus. Who else is demanding Burger 3B and Moncada 2B?

If only we had mid to late 90s Ventura back... 

[DirtySox]

33 minutes ago, "The Kids Can Play" said:

I totally agree with you.

Everyone keeps hammering home the point that Burger shouldn't be playing 3rd because he isn't a good fielder. Let's give Jake a chance because in 8 games he has only one error. Moncada has played 9 games and also has one error. I know that's a small sample size, but let's be positive and hope he does well, instead all this blasting him and calling him a one tool player crap. The harsh fact right now is, there isn't one player with his home run power on this team. He brings excitement and energy to this boring and bad team.

Furthermore why can't Moncada play 2nd? Maybe he should lose some weight and get quicker like he was when he was first was traded for when he was the #1 prospect in MLB as a second baseman.

Btw, if Moncada is so good defensively as many people claim in here, then he should be able to play second base and make the adjustment and transition. That's what good team players and athletes do for their team. It's not like he would be learning a new position he never played before. 

When Moncada comes back, it makes no sense to sit Burger. He either plays third or starts at DH over Eloy.

 

 

Errors eh?

[A-Train to 35th]

3 hours ago, greg775 said:

Look, Moncada needs to play 2B and Burger third. Case closed. Then release or trade Elvis. 3B ... yes it's nice to have a great defender over there like Robin, but it's one of the easiest positions to be adequate. Burger will be a D over there, not an F. Yes a D reeks but with Moncada at 2B that's the best we can do now. If Moncada won't play 2B, fine him or suspend him or whatever. Keeping Sox players happy doesn't matter anymore with a non contending joke of a team.

So what do you think? The Sox backups in the infield are worst options than Leury was so keep Elvis as the new Leury if u don't trade him. An infield of Burger, Tim, Moncada and a sieve at first (Vaughn, Sheets) would be a C to C minus no worse than a D-plus. Who else is demanding Burger 3B and Moncada 2B?

I'd switch that, and make Burger play 2B and keep Moncada at 3B.  If Mike Moustakas can play 2B Jake should be able to handle it.

Burger may only have 1 error this year at 3B but his range is nowhere near Moncada's who was off to a hot start with the bat before the back problems.

[tray]

Moncada at 3B, Burger/Sheets at 1B , Vaughn DH, trade Eloy for pitching. When that doesn't work, tear it down to the ground.

[caulfield12]

15 minutes ago, A-Train to 35th said:

I'd switch that, and make Burger play 2B and keep Moncada at 3B.  If Mike Moustakas can play 2B Jake should be able to handle it.

Burger may only have 1 error this year at 3B but his range is nowhere near Moncada's who was off to a hot start with the bat before the back problems.

Or Max Muncy in LA... 

[Chick Mercedes]

On 4/19/2023 at 7:01 AM, Kyyle23 said:

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Chick Mercedes

[Chick Mercedes]

7 hours ago, Illinibat said:

(1) Play Burger at 3B.

(2) Play Moncada at 2B if he ever gets healthy (and assuming he can even show the ability to hit better than Andrus/Romy/Sosa/Alberto, which is questionable).

(3) Live with a few more errors on defense throughout the year.

This is the way.

This is the way. 

[ron883]

1 minute ago, Chick Mercedes said:

This is the way. 

Is that your dog Yermín in your avatar?

[Chick Mercedes]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:06 AM, Quin said:

I also enjoy these threads because it's like

1. Moncada sucks
2. Trade Moncada to teams who will obviously give us something nice for Moncada

Along those lines, you don’t expect anything special. You take some A ball prospect (s), and the Sox free up his salary to use on the roster. Provided the opportunity. That’s the real issue. Opportunity cost of paying Moncada.

[Chick Mercedes]

14 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Is that your dog Yermín in your avatar?

Nice name, I like that. He is not a dog. He is  kind of an emperor god.

[ron883]

50 minutes ago, Chick Mercedes said:

Nice name, I like that. He is not a dog. He is  kind of an emperor god.

Sounds like a Yermín to me ?