Guest: Scott Merkin, MLB.com
The Rundown:
Guest: Scott Merkin, MLB.com
Chicago White Sox beat reporter, Scott Merkin, joins the show to share the latest from Arizona. What’s behind Eloy Jimenez’s struggles? Latest injury news and possible roster additions to set the 25-man roster.
Josh and Jim take a look at the White Sox probable 25-man roster and wonder who else will make it. Could we see Ryan Burr pitch well enough to earn a nod?
Of course, our listeners had plenty of questions on their minds which we address in P.O. Sox.
Is it unreasonable to expect the Sox to look at anybody else left in the FA market? Saw some people grumbling about the signing of Adam Jones, but I’d be more interested in the Gio, Keuchel, etc and even Carlos Gonzalez to fill areas of need this year and beyond.
— Weird Brag (@WeirdBrag) March 11, 2019
Do you feel like the White Sox have missed an opportunity to sign respectable above average players late in this offseason based on early weird signings or punting because they didn’t get Machado? Names like Adam Jones, Moustakas, Marwin Gonzalez, and Maldonado come to mind.
— Pete Chapman (@PeteCha56613119) March 11, 2019
Presented by SeatGeek.
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It’s only 21 spring training PA’s, but Avi’s OPS with TB is 1.151 right now. He is earning $3.5M on a one-year deal. Probably should have kept him around if they were never truly going for any big FA outfielder. It would have cost $8M to tender him, but while enjoying clear 20/20 hindsight, Sox could have easily non-tendered him and then resigned him for around $3.5M which I think we can agree, would make the outfield picture for 2019 look better than it does now.
Negative, sergeant!
Two hundred million reasons to actually be upset at the White Sox, and non-tendering Avi cuz he’s having a good spring training is what you go with?
I don’t care if he wins the goddamn MVP award this year. He had one good season in, what, six on this team? In that span he produced exactly zero bWAR, if I’m not mistaken. Whatever talent he may have, the White Sox have not been particularly adept at extracting it.
i knew my comment wouldn’t be well received. i was just pointing out one more thing to us disappointed Sox fans. I was completely in favor of nontendering him too. But when they go and get Jon Jay for practically the same price, I wish they just had Avi still instead of Jay. Then again, it’s only spring training.
Odds are pretty high that Jay is a full win or more better than Avi, so I’m fine with the switch. I’m mostly miffed they didn’t trade Avi for whatever they could get after 2017.
Thanks for the podcast:
Giolito is the reason James McCann was signed. So Hahn signed a shitty player, so we can keep trying a shitty pitcher. Isn’t that shittily?
I think Giolito’s problems to address are others rather than his inability to hold on runners, which are generally aplenty.
Yeah, if you want to help Lucas get a guy who might be able to turn a few of those low fastballs into strikes.
Yup… Martin Maldonado would have been more beneficial to Giolito. Maldonado can keep the running game down, plus can frame (One of the best in the game). Maldonado is also a better blocker, and a lot better hitter.
And they both cost the same: 2.5 million
This is just another reason why Hahn is just incredibly inept at his job. He just makes bad baseball decisions, and at 2.5 million, he cannot longer shield on the “Reinsdorf” budget is restrictive mantra.
All you would have to do is wait till March to sign Maldonado. Genius!
If only you were the GM.
One does not need to pretend to be a baseball GM to know that Hahn made a bad baseball decision when he signed McCann.
Hahn jumps ahead (McCann) with the wrong guys and waits up until is too late with the right guys (Machado).
you do know that when McCann was signed, Maldonado turned down 2 years for 12 million, right? It’s a one year deal for a back up catcher.
Although I agree that the Maldonaldo and McCann deals are apples to oranges, it, and the deal being cheap, for 1 year and only a back-up, doesn’t excuse signing McCann.
It reinforces longstanding concerns with the competence of their scouting and analytics depts.
Those are the very Departments who have followed him since High School.
Who thought he played too heavy last year. That saw his knowledge of our division as a plus.
That saw his ability to control the run game as a need.
That saw a chance to get a starting catcher for back up money.
For myself, I will not prejudge this signing, but rather watch the season play out.
The Tigers already prejudged the signing when they non-tendered him for what would have been almost the same amount of money.
Similar line of thinking I had for the Navarro move. But after I waited and saw… I just hope those same very department dont have the same decision makers.
You know that there was no reason that Hahn had to sign McCann at that time?
Maybe it’s possible that the market for a below-replacement-level catcher was developing so quickly that the FO couldn’t afford to wait, but I really doubt it
It’s clear they wanted him. So they signed him at a fair salary. Why wait?
I dropped this yesterday at SSS.
“My thought is they use McCann in team match ups.
against the Tigers because he knows them so well. Against the Twins and KC because they are so fast. Lastly, the Indians because as the main Detroit catcher he’s played them many times.”
By season’s end, I believe
Castillo, and McCann vs
2018 Smith and Narvaez.
More Home Runs
More caught stealing
More RBI’s
Fewer past balls.
And it won’t be even close.
And when all that happens, it will only strengthen the idea that the Sox are still using a 1980’s model of catcher evaluation.
So Home Runs, RBI’S, Caught stealing. Passed balls.
There unimportant? I guess I’m stuck in the 80’s.
Man, if only someone had come up with a way to measure the value that McCann provides by hitting home runs and controlling the run against the value that he loses by being awful at framing, blocking and hitting for average…
Blocking and passed balls. Kinda the same ball park. I never said hitting for average. As far as framing that goes up and down but as the back up, he plays less, therefore, fewer chances.
Yes, I’m quite aware you chose not to mention hitting for average when trying to talk up a player who’s *OBP* was .267 last year.
Blocking and pass balls are the same thing. And he’s below average at doing it.
Well, considering Castillo started a quarter of the games at catcher in 2018, comparing raw totals in this manner would probably not say much. If healthy, the Castillo/McCann pairing would probably have over 200 more PAs to work with than Narvaez/Smith did.
I’d like to know what was so offensive about this comment that compelled somebody to downvote it.
Because a fair salary for James McCann would involve McCann literally paying the White Sox for the privilege to play on their team.
Maybe you could work for Jerry. You give new meaning to the word cheap.
WSB 2019: isnt that shitty
Although I have a tough time with Merkin, great podcast, Gentlemen.
New food season.
Call me crazy, but three loaded baked potatoes as a side seems excessive even by Chicago standards.
I think “loaded baked potato” is just the descriptor for the pierogi. What I want to know is whether that’s a polish dog or an actual Kielbasa.
Looks good. Let’s guess price point on this.
A) Over $16
B) $13.50 to $15.99
C) $11.50 to $13.49
D) $10 to $11.49 or
E) Under $10
Maybe it’s out there already, but I haven’t looked. Take a guess. I’ll chime in with… C?
Have to keep selling Tim Anderson to the fan base. God knows we shouldn’t go after Boegaerts….
From what I understand, Scott Merkin went to Michigan.