Quite a bit to discuss on the latest Sox Machine Podcast. Josh and Jim tackle the following topics (Time Code).
1:00: Minnesota Twins re-sign Nelson Cruz and add Alex Colome to their bullpen. If handicapping the AL Central division, who should be the favorite?
15:05: The Chicago White Sox did make a move by bringing back Carlos Rodon. What is the thinking behind signing Rodon for 2021, and what are his expectations?
26:43: Chris Getz gets a new job title, but he spoke about two key White Sox players, Andrew Vaughn and Garrett Crochet. What are the chances Vaughn is the Opening Day DH?
39:55: The White Sox plan on using Crochet as a multi-inning reliever in 2021. Is that the right plan?
53:15: MLB tried for postseason expansion in 2021, but the MLBPA rejected the offer. Could we see postseason expansion in future seasons, and what would that look like?
62:55: The Colorado Rockies traded Nolan Arenado to St. Louis. If the Rockies are having a fire sale, which players are worth Rick Hahn to call about in a possible trade?
A couple of things on the Rockies coverage:
– Didn’t Bridich say the Rox weren’t selling? I could be wrong. I thought he denied—in fairly strong terms—that the Arenado trade meant tear down rebuild. Specifically, he said Story would be with them on opening day. It sounds to me as if there was some bad blood in the Arenado situation and the Monfort wanted him off the books, but also that the Rox were still going to try—albeit in their own weird way.
– If the Rox were selling and Blackmon is available, his player option shouldn’t be a deterrent. He’s been “meh” for a few years now, the projections aren’t exactly rosy, and he’s about to be on the wrong side of 35. If anything, the player options should be a deterrent in the other direction: they mean his contract will likely stick around.
Unless Blackmon has a monster year, he’s not declining that option for 2022. He would not get $21M on the open market next year. His 2023 option is for $13M. So he still has 3 years, $55M left on his contract. Even if the Rockies chip in a healthy amount, Jerry is not taking on that contract.
If the Rockies don’t sell after moving Nolan Arenado, I have no idea what they are doing.
Actually, I don’t think the Rockies know what they are doing, either. Perhaps the fire sale will come when Monfort finally comes to his senses and fires Bridich.
I agree. Assuming Bridich wasn’t lying about selling and they do hold until opening day, I’d expect the fire sale to come mid-season and into next offseason.
The Rockies’ 2019-present is evidence that Charlie Monfort has not maintained his sobriety and he has driven his brother to the bottle. That would explain Dick Monfort’s public statements over the past couple of years (including in the last week).
Several times Joe Sheehan has made the point about what a good core the Rockies developed in recent years only to piss it away with absolutely atrocious free-agent signings and silly extensions.
I know the Ian Desmond signing was bad, but the one thing of value he might still have been able to bring to the team was defense and they just stuck him at first base while his bat regressed to oblivion.
The Rockies played Desmond more in the OF than 1B in 2017 (566 innings to 190) and 2019 (941 to 0). He was used more at 1B only in 2018 (1158 to 138) when Blackmon, Carlos Gonzales, and Parra were doing the heavy lifting in the outfield.
And when Desmond was predominantly playing 1B, the Rockies did the best of any year he played for them, finishing 2nd in their division and making the playoffs.
If I was in charge I would want Crochet as a starter opening up in AA, in theory give me 10-15 starts of about 5 innings (50-75) then maybe 5 starts in AAA ( another 25 innings) then get him to chicago as a pen addition in September where thru Sept and the postseason say he throws another (15-25) innings. That puts his inning totals in the 90-125 inning range which should work just fine. Gives the sox pen a big boost during the stretch drive and hopefully post season.
I agree with the podcast the Sale thing didnt work with Fulmer or Rodon so the sox credit for their creative approach may have just been lucky. The Miller and Hader roles dont make a lot of sense to me either, hader was a HS draft pick and started in the minors almost 90 times I believe, Miller was a high end college starter for a 2 time runner up national title team and other then his quick appearance in the post season for detroit went back to the minors and was a starter for a while as well.
I like this. Also saves a year of service time, for those who are counting – especially a year as a reliever, when there is some thought he could be a dominating starter.
A few posts ago, I suggested moving him to SP and keeping him there. SP is the greater area of need. If he looks good over 15 ish starts in AA & AAA, why not give him a shot in Chicago’s rotation this year? Maybe the combo of Kopech, Lopez, Cease, Rodón hold down the 4th & 5th spots for the season, but I’m skeptical. I suppose the compromise is start him in the minors then see what you need most in August.
White Sox podcasts with background sounds of Chief or Frankie are my new fav podcasts.
Sorry off-topic.
We seriously couldn’t afford to bring back Colome at that price? With the present playoff format there is pretty much no amount of Bullpen depth that isn’t desirable, if anything you probably want 11-12 openclosers and only 3-4 starters.