In a world where trades and FA didn’t exist, Sox would be mired in mediocrity (14th)

[caulfield12]

But certainly not close to 30th…notice the pitch vs. hit ranking even with Semien/Tatis, Jr.  No Daniel Hudson/Wendelken there, either.  Catching would be abysmal…Oscar Colas would be a starter, even though they still won’t start him on baseball’s worst team.  Collapses of Tim Anderson and Madrigal sting, Fulmer still hanging on somehow.  Romy over Sheets haha.  Bullpen another trouble spot.

14. Chicago White Sox

What-if wins: 80.6 (+20.9 better than actual)
Playoff odds: 32.5% | Title odds: 0.8%
Hit rank: 25 | Pitch rank: 4

Regulars: Andrew Vaughn (1B), Marcus Semien (2B), Colson Montgomery (SS), Jake Burger (3B), Seby Zavala (C), Oscar Colas (LF), Luis Robert Jr. (CF), Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Romy Gonzalez (DH)

Rotation: Chris Sale, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Rodon, Garrett Crochet, Jonathan Cannon

Bullpen: Ian Hamilton, Aaron Bummer, Tanner Banks

The strength of that core rotation keeps the White Sox in the middle. Getting Sale, Crochet and Rodon together is tempting. And what White Sox fan wouldn't want to undo the trades that sent away Semien and Tatis? Still, it adds up to a hole-filled, middle-of-the-road roster short on bats with no depth. The current plan to beef up the minor league system is a good one.

 

https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/43399642/mlb-offseason-2024-25-ranking-30-mlb-teams-trades-free-agency-exist

Edited 10 hours ago by caulfield12

[FloydBannister1983]

That’s a wild assumption that Semien and Tatis would be as productive if they stayed in the White Sox organization.

[wegner]

Mired in mediocrity sounds wonderful compared to whatever we have now.

[WestEddy]

4 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

But certainly not close to 30th…notice the pitch vs. hit ranking even with Semien/Tatis, Jr.  No Daniel Hudson/Wendelken there, either.  Catching would be abysmal…Oscar Colas would be a starter, even though they still won’t start him on baseball’s worst team.  Collapses of Tim Anderson and Madrigal sting, Fulmer still hanging on somehow.  Romy over Sheets haha.  Bullpen another trouble spot.

14. Chicago White Sox

What-if wins: 80.6 (+20.9 better than actual)
Playoff odds: 32.5% | Title odds: 0.8%
Hit rank: 25 | Pitch rank: 4

Regulars: Andrew Vaughn (1B), Marcus Semien (2B), Colson Montgomery (SS), Jake Burger (3B), Seby Zavala (C), Oscar Colas (LF), Luis Robert Jr. (CF), Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Romy Gonzalez (DH)

Rotation: Chris Sale, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Rodon, Garrett Crochet, Jonathan Cannon

Bullpen: Ian Hamilton, Aaron Bummer, Tanner Banks

The strength of that core rotation keeps the White Sox in the middle. Getting Sale, Crochet and Rodon together is tempting. And what White Sox fan wouldn't want to undo the trades that sent away Semien and Tatis? Still, it adds up to a hole-filled, middle-of-the-road roster short on bats with no depth. The current plan to beef up the minor league system is a good one.

 

https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/43399642/mlb-offseason-2024-25-ranking-30-mlb-teams-trades-free-agency-exist

Wendelken was drafted by the Red Sox. Came over in the Peavy 3-way with Detroit. 

[caulfield12]

https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/43323854/mlb-ranking-worst-signing-trade-mistakes-all-30-teams-2020-ohtani-strasburg-betts#chw

Worst franchise "recent" moves....#9-13 all with White Sox ties-ins.

LaRussa managing makes it as worst decision since 2020 here...beats out Cease deal and Burger for Eder trade.

The Oakland A's fire sale seems NOT that far off from what the White Sox have done the past 24 months, though.

Grifol/Getz might actually be listed at #2, at least so far.

[bmags]

wow that's funny. I started putting this together too and ended up kinda bored because I was struggling to find team WAR totals. Maybe I did post it?

But my conclusion was largely that we would still be a pretty dogshit team that maybe never made teh playoffs. Our pitching would have been too weak in early 20s, and Sale wasn't enough to save us last year.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

wow that's funny. I started putting this together too and ended up kinda bored because I was struggling to find team WAR totals. Maybe I did post it?

But my conclusion was largely that we would still be a pretty dogshit team that maybe never made teh playoffs. Our pitching would have been too weak in early 20s, and Sale wasn't enough to save us last year.

Other than Fulmer, and Kopech…we’ve mostly been successful with hyped pitching prospects.

Of course Rodon and Lopez have excelled moreso after leaving the team, and 2nd/3rd round has been a minefield, but it's harder to find niche success other than Padres’ relievers with other teams, perhaps, or Orioles’ position prospects.

[Quin]

This is balderdash.

Everyone knows Madrigal would start at second, TA at catcher. 

[caulfield12]

8 minutes ago, Quin said:

This is balderdash.

Everyone knows Madrigal would start at second, TA at catcher. 

Note DeLoach a DH for Seattle lol.

No Julks starting for Houston...

[bmags]

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Other than Fulmer, and Kopech…we’ve mostly been successful with hyped pitching prospects.

Of course Rodon and Lopez have excelled moreso after leaving the team, and 2nd/3rd round has been a minefield, but it's harder to find niche success other than Padres’ relievers with other teams, perhaps, or Orioles’ position prospects.

Oh I didn’t include giolito/lopez because I counted them as a trade acquisition?

I thought this year could have ruled because crochet/sale/rodon but it was still pretty borderline even with keeping semien/tatis

[caulfield12]

2 hours ago, bmags said:

Oh I didn’t include giolito/lopez because I counted them as a trade acquisition?

I thought this year could have ruled because crochet/sale/rodon but it was still pretty borderline even with keeping semien/tatis

Daniel Hudson come on down...