Austin Slater Signed to MLB Deal

[SoxBlanco]

18 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

But on the flip side, if the Sox lose out on signing Austin Slater, does it really matter at all?

The only moves that truly matter for this team are the trades of Crochet and Robert and their young players producing.  32-year old Slater will have little to no impact to the Sox next season.

I don’t disagree. There’s no need to celebrate this move, and there’s no need to complain about it. 

[Bob Sacamano]

Yeah, if they want to open space on the 40-man right before the Rule 5 draft, it really won’t be that hard. Just look at the roster. No one will be upset if they DFA and lose Justin Anderson, or Gus Varland, or Pen Murfee.

Edited 2 hours ago by Bob Sacamano

[fathom]

13 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah, if they want to open space on the 40-man right before the Rule 5 draft, it really won’t be that hard. Just look at the roster. No one will be upset if they DFA and lose Justin Anderson, or Gus Varland, or Pen Murfee.

I like all three of those arms over some of the others 

[nrockway]

19 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

That’s about 40% of the starting pitching market, for players notable enough to be listed on ESPNs FA tracker. I say about because I’m not sure if Ohtani counts.

out of that list, I'd call Fedde the 'steal' of it. it's too bad it turned into Vargas (jury's still out on him I guess), but you gotta give the front office credit for seeing something there though, that evidently only 'wunderkind' Stearns also saw.

I suppose the discussion is about something different, but I don't know what Fedde's deal has to do with anything. He was probably in discussion with teams well before he eventually signed with the Sox...but the market was dry for him. Had to think he was expecting a bigger payday. Do we think the Reds would've rather paid Nick Martinez $21mil for 4.0 bWAR or Erick Fedde $7.5mil for 5.6 WAR? Easy to say in hindsight.

I guess this is to say, glass half full perspective, it's probably a good thing that the Sox were able to identify Fedde as a useful player when other teams didn't. There was no point in signing Martinez, Gibson, Maeda, re-treading Lance, etc. I tend to think there's reason to be optimistic that the organization is at least competent on the pitching side of things. My hope going into next season is that some of these new hires can help out on the other side of the ball. Jury's out on Getz.

[caulfield12]

23 minutes ago, nrockway said:

out of that list, I'd call Fedde the 'steal' of it. it's too bad it turned into Vargas (jury's still out on him I guess), but you gotta give the front office credit for seeing something there though, that evidently only 'wunderkind' Stearns also saw.

I suppose the discussion is about something different, but I don't know what Fedde's deal has to do with anything. He was probably in discussion with teams well before he eventually signed with the Sox...but the market was dry for him. Had to think he was expecting a bigger payday. Do we think the Reds would've rather paid Nick Martinez $21mil for 4.0 bWAR or Erick Fedde $7.5mil for 5.6 WAR? Easy to say in hindsight.

I guess this is to say, glass half full perspective, it's probably a good thing that the Sox were able to identify Fedde as a useful player when other teams didn't. There was no point in signing Martinez, Gibson, Maeda, re-treading Lance, etc. I tend to think there's reason to be optimistic that the organization is at least competent on the pitching side of things. My hope going into next season is that some of these new hires can help out on the other side of the ball. Jury's out on Getz.

To be fair, Martinez was coming off a 1.4 fWAR season in SD, but was given $26 million for TWO years by Cincy, so $13 million per year based on 16 GS in the majors or $7.5 and the KBO.

Martinez was worth less than Fedde in 2023, but getting 3.5-4.0 fWAR/bWAR for $13 million would still be considered a very good FA signing, all things considered.

Not a steal exactly had Martinez actually signed with the Sox, you'd have the third best signing overall after Fedde and DeJong...and you'd even have the trend of the Sox taking pitchers out of Korea and having success with them as something to hang your hat on.

 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, SoxBlanco said:

I don’t disagree. There’s no need to celebrate this move, and there’s no need to complain about it. 

Yup, we need to see the price tag before complaining.

[caulfield12]

Zaidi said Tuesday the team’s decisions to cut Nick Ahmed and trade away Austin Slater were about giving younger players more opportunities. He specifically mentioned Fitzgerald and outfielder Luis Matos, another 22-year-old. The Giants have already seen that pay off this year with 24-year-old outfielder Heliot Ramos, who didn’t get his first MLB game this season until May 8 but was just named to the All-Star team.

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-casting-aside-longtime-top-prospect-19565620.php

Of course, Zaidi got fired, so what does he know, lol?

Slater, fwiw, was their longest-tenured player after Brandon Belt left for TOR.

 

So essentially that spot could theoretically have gone to Elko instead...who will be 36 on Opening Day.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by caulfield12

[greg775]

This is identical to acquiring Tommy Pham. Frankly after looking hitterish in the playoffs, I'd rather get Pham back than Slater. Slater is a typical Sox acquisition. He's a guy. But so is Pham and we already like Pham a bit so bring him back and dump Slater please.