Have fun finding a 2026 FA outfielder

[caulfield12]

Left Fielders

*Miguel Andujar (31)
Michael Conforto (33) too expensive
Tyler O’Neill (31) – can opt out...too expensive
Rob Refsnyder..too old
Chris Taylor (35) – $12MM club option with a $4MM buyout...too old

Center Fielders

Trent Grisham (29) thoroughly inconsistent on offense and not cheap
*Cedric Mullins (31)  best of bad options
Luis Robert Jr. (28) – $20MM club option with a $2MM buyout

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Right Fielders

Cody Bellinger (30) – $25MM player option with a $5MM buyout  too expensive
Mitch Haniger (35) too old
*Max Kepler (33) maybe   but decline coming
Starling Marte (37) too old
Tyler O’Neill (31) – can opt out
Hunter Renfroe (34) old and slow
Austin Slater (33) White Sox special
*Lane Thomas (30)
Kyle Tucker (29) too expensive
Mike Yastrzemski (35) too old but Hawk would be elated/psyched for this

Edited yesterday at 10:51 AM by caulfield12

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

Welp, I guess they better keep Robert after all and I’m sure Braden Montgomery will be rushed up so he can fill the RF black hole in 2026. It’s the White Sox way. 

[Chicago White Sox]

7 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Welp, I guess they better keep Robert after all and I’m sure Braden Montgomery will be rushed up so he can fill the RF black hole in 2026. It’s the White Sox way. 

Nope, this sounds like the @JUSTgottaBELIEVE way of trying maximize wins during the early years of a rebuild instead of making good long-term decisions.

[PaleAleSox]

I'm sure one of the infield prospects they have will find themselves out there. Which worries me a lot less than sticking a first baseman into RF.

[Kyyle23]

Ok

[caulfield12]

5 minutes ago, PaleAleSox said:

I'm sure one of the infield prospects they have will find themselves out there. Which worries me a lot less than sticking a first baseman into RF.

Baldwin and/or Ramos will be the first two to go...Vargas could move to left as well, but not sure how eager Benintendi is to DH full time.

[caulfield12]

5 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

Ok

It's about as exciting as Mike McCarthy as the new Bears HC.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

8 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Nope, this sounds like the @JUSTgottaBELIEVE way of trying maximize wins during the early years of a rebuild instead of making good long-term decisions.

Wanna bet they rush Montgomery to fill RF for at least a good portion of the 2026 season?

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

11 minutes ago, PaleAleSox said:

I'm sure one of the infield prospects they have will find themselves out there. Which worries me a lot less than sticking a first baseman into RF.

Another cherished white sox tradition. Putting guys in defensive positions they haven’t played in college or the minors but thinking they can capably handle the assignment for the first time in mlb. Gotta love it.

[wegner]

Could bring TA back to play CF since the Sox have already foolishly stocked up on Catchers 

[Chicago White Sox]

But if we’re being realistic about 2026 & 2027:

• Trade Robert for a near ready CF prospect at this year’s deadline
• Use Baldwin as your primary RF until Montgomery is ready by 2027
• Benintendi is probably your LF for one last half season in 2026
• Start giving some LF reps to some of your IF guys to add versatility
• Add reinforcements in the offseason ahead of the 2027 season

[Chicago White Sox]

Also, trades are very much possible.  If all goes well, we should have some SP to trade.  Had we chosen McCarthy over Fletcher, we’d already have spot solved for.  Just need to get it right the next time.

[caulfield12]

45 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

But if we’re being realistic about 2026 & 2027:

• Trade Robert for a near ready CF prospect at this year’s deadline
• Use Baldwin as your primary RF until Montgomery is ready by 2027
• Benintendi is probably your LF for one last half season in 2026
• Start giving some LF reps to some of your IF guys to add versatility
• Add reinforcements in the offseason ahead of the 2027 season

Does Baldwin have the arm for right...let alone the power?  Seems more like a CF or LF.

"Baldwin faired as good as a rookie could fare coming up for the first time. Baldwin had 24 hits, 6 doubles, 8 RBI, 2 HRs, 4 stolen bases, for a slash line of .211/.250/.316 with and OPS of .566."

Hopefully they're joking about a 566 ops being an indicator of success.

https://www.chicitysports.com/the-chicago-white-sox-have-position-battles

Edited 23 hours ago by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

4 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Also, trades are very much possible.  If all goes well, we should have some SP to trade.  Had we chosen McCarthy over Fletcher, we’d already have spot solved for.  Just need to get it right the next time.

Based on McCarthy's entire career history...he still looks more like a 4th outfielder than an everyday starter.

[Chicago White Sox]

20 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Another cherished white sox tradition. Putting guys in defensive positions they haven’t played in college or the minors but thinking they can capably handle the assignment for the first time in mlb. Gotta love it.

Baldwin played RF in college.  And some of the others can get some test run in LF next year given it will be a lost season.  But given the amount of stipulations you have in place on what moves are allowed, I see why Santander is your only option to solve our OF needs.

[Chicago White Sox]

26 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Wanna bet they rush Montgomery to fill RF for at least a good portion of the 2026 season?

I don’t think so, but what are you trying to argue here?

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

12 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

But if we’re being realistic about 2026 & 2027:

• Trade Robert for a near ready CF prospect at this year’s deadline
• Use Baldwin as your primary RF until Montgomery is ready by 2027
• Benintendi is probably your LF for one last half season in 2026
• Start giving some LF reps to some of your IF guys to add versatility
• Add reinforcements in the offseason ahead of the 2027 season

Because it’s the White Sox, here’s the more likely scenario.

-Robert gets hurt this season and his last couple years with the Sox end similarly to Moncada’s. Sox get nothing in return for him before he walks.

-Montgomery is rushed to the majors in 2026 and he struggles mightily because the development process was incomplete.

-Benintendi is stuck with the Sox until  August 2027 before they finally cut bait and DFA him the last two months of the season.

-Sox give outfield reps to Vargas and Ramos before realizing they’re better off just leaving those reps to Fletcher and Deloach.

-Sox sign 31 yo Cedric Mullins because it’s all they can afford and he falls off precipitously because the bulk of his value lies in his speed and defense that doesn’t age well in his 30s.

[Chicago White Sox]

9 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Does Baldwin have the arm for right...let alone the power?  Seems more like a CF or LF.

@Timmy U - How is Brooks’ arm?  Baseball America called it plus coming out of college, but it didn’t register that well on Statcast this year.

[Bob Sacamano]

29 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Based on McCarthy's entire career history...he still looks more like a 4th outfielder than an everyday starter.

What does that say about Fletcher then?

[Chicago White Sox]

22 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Because it’s the White Sox, here’s the more likely scenario.

-Robert gets hurt this season and his last couple years with the Sox end similarly to Moncada’s. Sox get nothing in return for him before he walks.

-Montgomery is rushed to the majors in 2026 and he struggles mightily because the development process was incomplete.

-Benintendi is stuck with the Sox until  August 2027 before they finally cut bait and DFA him the last two months of the season.

-Sox give outfield reps to Vargas and Ramos before realizing they’re better off just leaving those reps to Fletcher and Deloach.

-Sox sign 31 yo Cedric Mullins because it’s all they can afford and he falls off precipitously because the bulk of his value lies in his speed and defense that doesn’t age well in his 30s.

You need to take a breather from White Sox baseball my friend.  Like nothing wrong with being pessimistic given how shitty things have gotten, but we also need to avoid going full Parkman and assume Murphy’s Law at all turns.

Robert could get hurt and we end up with nothing, but the rest of these are all absurd.  There is no reason to believe Montgomery will be rushed at this time, but it’s very possible he moves pretty fast is ready for a shot by the 2H of the 2026 season.  If that changes, then by all means call them out.

My guess is that Jerry would be willing to eat 1.5 years of Benintendi’s contract, which would be sometime in the 2H of 2026.  I think there’s almost zero chance he is here by 2027.

Fletcher & DeLoach don’t project as major league players right now, so I’m not sure what there is to gain giving them more reps in the corners to them over other young players (although I can see an argument against Vargas FWIW).

The Sox will have an insane amount of financial flexibility ahead of the 2027 season if they don’t blow their load this offseason on Santander & the gang and there will multiple quality free agent OFs available that offseason in our price range.

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

What does that say about Fletcher then?

Not much good…

[PaleAleSox]

55 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Another cherished white sox tradition. Putting guys in defensive positions they haven’t played in college or the minors but thinking they can capably handle the assignment for the first time in mlb. Gotta love it.

Other teams do it just fine. The White Sox f*** up because they try it with their most unathletic people.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

6 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You need to take a breather from White Sox baseball my friend.  Like nothing wrong with being pessimistic given how shitty things have gotten, but we also need to avoid going full Parkman and assume Murphy’s Law at all turns.

Robert could get hurt and we end up with nothing, but the rest of these are all absurd.  There is no reason to believe Montgomery will be rushed at this time, but it’s very possible he moves pretty fast is ready for a shot by the 2H of the 2026 season.  If that changes, then by all means call them out.

My guess is that Jerry would be willing to eat 1.5 years of Benintendi’s contract, which would be sometime in the 2H of 2026.  I think there’s almost zero chance he is here by 2027.

Fletcher & DeLoach don’t project as major league players right now, so I’m not sure what there is to gain giving them more reps in the corners to them over other young players (although I can see an argument against Vargas FWIW).

The Sox will have an insane amount of financial flexibility ahead of the 2027 season if they don’t blow their load this offseason on Santander & the gang and there will multiple quality free agent OFs available that offseason in our price range.

There is nothing absurd about what I outlined. These things have already happened to this organization in recent years (just swap the current names with past names) so there’s no reason they can’t/won’t happen again.

[Chicago White Sox]

5 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

There is nothing absurd about what I outlined. These things have already happened to this organization in recent years (just swap the current names with past names) so there’s no reason they can’t/won’t happen again.

Ok buddy…

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

11 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Ok buddy…

Am I wrong?