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Can the Sox field a competitive team in 2025? Or is 2026 or beyond a better target?


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I’m struggling to see a scenario where we’re competitive only a year from now  in ‘25.  Even ‘26 is wishful thinking IMO.  We have some decent enough pieces in the minors but it’s not like we have a bunch of elite prospects in the pipeline.  This isn’t like the last rebuild where you could look at Eloy, Robert, Moncada, etc. and have a basis to think we’d be pretty good in a few years.  

Edited by bighurt574
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1 hour ago, bighurt574 said:

I’m struggling to see a scenario where we’re competitive only a year from now  in ‘25.  Even ‘26 is wishful thinking IMO.  We have some decent enough pieces in the minors but it’s not like we have a bunch of elite prospects in the pipeline.  This isn’t like the last rebuild where you could look at Eloy, Robert, Moncada, etc. and have a basis to think we’d be pretty good in a few years.  

The Sox will need several players to get accustomed to The MLB in 2025, successfully make adjustments, and then make the next step in 2026. Supplemented with a few solid FA signings the team could at least contend for the AL Central. They need to get to the point where that is the minimal expectation, and it might not happen under Jerry/Tony/Getz, but hoping we get another sudden change in a year or two like they did last August.

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11 hours ago, bighurt574 said:

I’m struggling to see a scenario where we’re competitive only a year from now  in ‘25.  Even ‘26 is wishful thinking IMO.  We have some decent enough pieces in the minors but it’s not like we have a bunch of elite prospects in the pipeline.  This isn’t like the last rebuild where you could look at Eloy, Robert, Moncada, etc. and have a basis to think we’d be pretty good in a few years.  

I think they can get to a competitive state (as in possibly win the division) in 2026. They'll have money to spend which we will hope Getz spends smarter than Hahn ever did. And they have a decent amount of pitching prospects that'd you'd hope a few of them will work out at least. 

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This year they will be bad.  I think 70 games give or take a few... so like 67-73ish?  The goal should be to find a handful of guys who are in their long term plans. 

2025 should be the fun "hey, this team isn't bad!" year.  

2026 they should be competing. 

In 2024-2025, the following players should be making debuts

Montgomery, Thorpe, Ramos, Quero, Zavala, Nastrini, Iriarte, Eder, Cannon, Fletcher, Leasure, Berroa, Bush.

They also have a ton of money coming off the books.  

There's no reason you need to be bad for 5 years in order to be good again.  Full rebuilds can work (Cubs, Astros) but that's not the only way to build a team.  

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3 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

Montgomery, Thorpe, Ramos, Quero, Zavala, Nastrini, Iriarte, Eder, Cannon, Fletcher, Leasure, Berroa, Bush.

While possible, an appearance in 2025 is very aggressive for Zavala. He is 19 currently and has 50 plate appearances in High A ball. A normal pace for him would be High-A for most of 2024, AA for most of 2025, some time at AAA in 2026, and a big league debut that year. He could be better than this, but rushing guys up based on the needs of the big league club rather than giving guys time to grow up is very much a Hahn thing.

Quero, as a catcher, is also a guy who could easily be a 2026 callup, giving him more time to be comfortable with catching. That would be repeating some levels for him, but with a catcher who you expect to be a good defender, that can be important.

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1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

While possible, an appearance in 2025 is very aggressive for Zavala. He is 19 currently and has 50 plate appearances in High A ball. A normal pace for him would be High-A for most of 2024, AA for most of 2025, some time at AAA in 2026, and a big league debut that year. He could be better than this, but rushing guys up based on the needs of the big league club rather than giving guys time to grow up is very much a Hahn thing.

Quero, as a catcher, is also a guy who could easily be a 2026 callup, giving him more time to be comfortable with catching. That would be repeating some levels for him, but with a catcher who you expect to be a good defender, that can be important.

I was just going off mlb pipeline's ETA.  You're probably right on those two... but still... there's an influx of guys coming and a lot of money available.  This doesn't have to be some prolonged rebuild.    

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If a lot of the young pitching works out and Jerry spends on multiple big pieces it is possible.  But I’m talking about scenario in which we add say Alonso + Torres to the lineup plus a quality veteran for the rotation.  I 100% think we could afford that in 2025, but Jerry is allergic to long-term money which means going after C tier free agents like Benintendi instead.

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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

If a lot of the young pitching works out and Jerry spends on multiple big pieces it is possible.  But I’m talking about scenario in which we add say Alonso + Torres to the lineup plus a quality veteran for the rotation.  I 100% think we could afford that in 2025, but Jerry is allergic to long-term money which means going after C tier free agents like Benintendi instead.

C now, but definitely B-ish coming off those numbers in KC and NY.

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3 hours ago, Nardiwashere said:

This year they will be bad.  I think 70 games give or take a few... so like 67-73ish?  The goal should be to find a handful of guys who are in their long term plans. 

2025 should be the fun "hey, this team isn't bad!" year.  

2026 they should be competing. 

In 2024-2025, the following players should be making debuts

Montgomery, Thorpe, Ramos, Quero, Zavala, Nastrini, Iriarte, Eder, Cannon, Fletcher, Leasure, Berroa, Bush.

They also have a ton of money coming off the books.  

There's no reason you need to be bad for 5 years in order to be good again.  Full rebuilds can work (Cubs, Astros) but that's not the only way to build a team.  

they need to be signing bounce back candidates they can flip, and also sniping development/scouting from teams like SD, TB, STL, BAL, etc

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