Considering we’d recently discussed how Guaranteed Rate Field was the American League’s friendliest park for left-handed power hitters in 2022, it didn’t surprise me that Andrew Benintendi’s profile automatically stood to benefit from a move from Kauffman Stadium.
The size of the boost did surprise me. Statcast said Benintendi’s home run total from the last two years nearly would have doubled if he played all of his games at 35th and Shields.
That’s huge difference, especially in the 2021 column. Sure, 2022 is a 100-percent jump, but Andrew Vaughn provides a fresh example of the difference between 29 and 17, given that he led the 2022 White Sox with the latter number last year. Imagine how easier it’d be to move on from José Abreu if he’d hit the former.
But is this number reliable? In terms of projected distance, you can see what Statcast is getting at. Here’s the chart of Benintendi’s fly balls that traveled at least 330 feet displayed over Kauffman Stadium’s dimensions…
… and here’s what it looks like when you shift the overlay to Guaranteed Rate Field.
But I wanted to see what it looks like in practice by finding similar contact — launch angles, exit velocities and and directions — to understand where that batted ball might end up in Chicago.
Perhaps it’s because the White Sox haven’t boasted the kind of left-handed power that takes advantage of their surroundings, but it’s surprisingly hard to find comps within a couple of degrees and miles per hour, at least over the last two years. It doesn’t make sense to look back beyond that, because Benintendi barely played in 2020, and the baseball is was too different in 2019.
Still, I came up with a few that show that Benintendi should get a boost, at least in one direction.
Pull field
Here’s a fly ball from Andrew Benintendi off Liam Hendriks at Kauffman Stadium on July 27, 2021. It leaves the bat at 96.9 mph at a launch angle of 30 degrees with a projected hit distance of 374, and it dies in Brian Goodwin’s glove on the warning track, a step short of the fence.
Here’s a fly ball hit by Baltimore’s DJ Stewart two months earlier on May 30, 2021. It’s hit at 97.3 mph at a launch angle of 31 degrees. Except this one is hit at Guaranteed Rate Field, where it bounces off the top of the right field fence and over for a solo shot.
These are basically one on top of each other.
Sometimes you don’t need to see an exactly identical fly ball to get an idea of where would end up, like this one off Minnesota’s Joe Ryan back on April 21, 2022.
That one at Guaranteed Rate Field ends up threatening the former Goose Island, like a few similarly hit homers did over the last few years.
Straightaway center
The long out to center on Benintendi’s spray chart came at Coors Field, which is an environment unto itself. The double came at the K, a 104.1-mph sizzler with a launch angle of 29 degrees back on June 4, 2021. Despite a projected distance of 416 feet, it piffed off the top of the center-field wall.
Ryan O’Hearn, Benintendi’s teammate in Kansas City, hit the most similar ball over the last two years at Guaranteed Rate Field — a launch angle of 30 degrees, an exit velocity of 104 mph, and a projected distance of 411 feet. It cleared the center field wall by enough margin to limit Goodwin to only an illusory chance at robbery.
There were three other balls hit with a similar velocity and launch angle to center, and all cleared the wall.
Opposite field
Here’s a fly ball by Benintendi off Lucas Giolito on July 28, 2021, that is flagged down … by … (checks notes) … I’m told this is Andrew Vaughn making a running catch against the fence. It’s hit with a 97.2 mph exit velocity at 27 degrees, traveling a projected distance of 363 feet.
Meanwhile, here’s Seth Brown going the same way at 97.9 mph and 30 degrees, and while it travels just 359 feet, it sneaks into the White Sox bullpen a month later.
However, while I can pull that one example, I’d caution against saying that Benintendi can make White Sox relievers be on alert for souvenirs with ease. Most of the near-misses/close calls on Benintendi’s charts registered similar velocities, and when you search all the opposite-field fly balls that have left the bats of left-handed hitters at Guaranteed Rate Field with exit velocities between 96 and 99 mph, Brown’s is the only one to actually clear the fence.
If opposite-field homers remain as hard to come by as they were in 2022, then Benintendi’s lesser brand of all-fields power might result in a familiar amount of tantalizing warning-track flies. On the other hand, if the baseball changes even the slightest amount in favor of the hitter, he could benefit as much as anybody from the seven feet they lost on barrels going the other way.
PERTINENT: Drop in opposite-field homers forces White Sox to consider new directions
Ideally, the White Sox wouldn’t have to wait around until mid-May to understand if they signed another guy who can’t count on his usual delivery of dirt-cheap oppo tacos. There’s plenty to be gained simply from pulling the ball with moderate authority at Guaranteed Rate Field, if that’s something he can do with more regularity.
It does seem like Benintendi would be incentivized to pull the ball in a way that has never rewarded him at Fenway Park or Kauffman. He told The Athletic during his first-ever All-Star Game that he tailored his approach for his environs …
My approach right now is realizing I’m not going to hit 35 homers. It’s getting on base, be a tough out, see pitches, use the whole field. This year, it’s finally come together. Playing in Kauffman Stadium, too, it’s not easy to hit a ball out of there. Just spraying the ball all over the field. It was more just approach, trying to go straight right field, and then you’re susceptible to an off-speed pitch. I’m trying to go straight up the middle and if you’re early, you’re early. If you’re late, you’ve still got the left field line.
… and that could very well be true. It could also be something that’s said when one just doesn’t want to feel like talking about a really disappointing home run total while everything else is more or less terrific.
Here’s where we should note that three members of the White Sox coaching staff — Pedro Grifol, field coordinator Mike Tosar and third base coach Eddie Rodríguez — all overlapped with Benintendi during his KC days, and Benintendi cited input from the coaching staff to make this approach work.
Last year, not using the leg kick helped me use my lower half better. Now that I can put them both together, it’s helping me see the ball better and stay on pitches together. I worked a lot last year with John Mabry and Terry Bradshaw in Kansas City and a little bit more into this year. It’s just a constant going back and forth.
If they know how Benintendi became an all-fields guy, perhaps they have a key for unlocking successful emphasis on the pull fields. It’s not safe to count on it, but I wouldn’t count it out. Combine the newness of Benintendi and the novelty of a White Sox staff overhaul, then add in the uncertainty of what Rawlings brings to the table each year. Benintendi projects as the sixth-best hitter in the White Sox lineup, but all of these elements might make him the most fascinating one to follow.
Nice work, Jim. I’ll say it: I’m excited about Benintendi. I know he’s not Aaron Judge or whatever, but he makes the Sox better. And not only because of his profile but also because of how he fits on the roster. The Sox are a couple of relatively minor moves away from—somehow—getting me excited about 2023.
Agree with this. I know some of the reaction to Benintendi has been tepid, but I can say I’m genuinely happy with him. If the Sox go one step farther and get a legitimate RF or 2B, I might even be able to blow the dust off my Sox hat and wear it out in public again for the first time in a while.
You last sentence is the key point. If they continue is always the thing you worry about with them.
Agree here too, and I have no expectation they’ll actually make another worthwhile acquisition (unless it’s a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul situation). But at least they’re in a position to do so now and have it be meaningful. My curiosity and attention has been raised a notch.
Similarly excited. This single addition makes the team makes more watchable, and as a fan that’s where I set the bar.
I didn’t agree with Keith Law’s column about the White Sox counting on Benintendi to improve to a level he has never played at before. Even putting team need and fit aside, if he delivers close to his career OPS of .782 he will be a plus in the lineup.
And with defense where previously there has been none.
In the penultimate clip, I’m getting Benintendi hitting a long fly out to left against the Rays instead of the promised clip of a running catch by Andrew Vaughn.
Perhaps the Sox Machine deepfake staff has run into trouble making a video of Vaughn making a running catch that looks real.
Fixed. Unless I’m still the only one who sees it. That’d be a terrible way to go insane.
It’s fixed for me. Kudos to the deepfake staff. Better late than never.
My own journey to insanity today was based on watching 15-second ads for Sports Clips before each Benintendi video.
More pomp, less dour.
I’ve seen too many disappointing performances of this script to get excited by it again.
The new hitting staff keeps me from giving into nihilism. I’d say I’m at shrug emoji.
I’m not pencilling him for an All Star appearance or a 3 WAR season but I’m ready to believe he’ll easily eclipse Pollock’s performance and provides a buffer to ever seeing Vaughn/Sheets/Eloy in LF ever again so that’s enough for me at this exact point in time. We’ll see how that changes come spring training.
Benintendi should serve as the cherry on top of the cake
The problem for me is our cake is missing a layer and some of the frosting is a bit crusty.
In essence this move would feel better on a roster that is more complete than this one currently is at present.
It’s a move that aligns with the expectation that regression is going to occur with this roster. Whether it’s realistic to expect Moncada and Tim to return to 4 WAR players and all 3 of Giolito/Lynn/Cease to be Cy Young contenders at the same time is a different question but there are theoretically stud players all over this roster that Benintendi serving as a “glue guy” makes a ton of sense.
Yeah. I don’t think some fans appreciate how modest the expectations can be to imagine that this to a ~90-win team. We’re not talking about best-case scenarios.
For example, here are 4 things:
(1) Eloy & Robert play 110+ healthy games;
(2) Giolito gets the ERA to around 4.00;
(3) TA gets the OPS to around .800 in 120ish games;
(4) Moncada or Grandal get the OPS over .700.
All 4 of these things aren’t even sniffing best-case scenarios. In fact, all four would’ve been considered disappointments before 2022. But they seem like reasonable—if even underwhelming—goals for 2023. And it’s not as if the Sox need all 4 to happen, either. If even 2 or 3 of these hit, that’s an enormous boost to the 2022 roster already.
I agree with the sentiment that they are capable of winning 85-90 ballgames. I mean they won 81 last year with LaRussa and the injury bug biting the team hard. The issue is whether the championship level team that the organization promised has been delivered. As currently constructed, I think they would make an early exit into the playoffs if they made it in.
Given Hahn said the goal was to win multiple championships that is the standard they should be held to. I’m not content with a punchers chance.
Fair enough. That’s one (of many) valid criticisms of this Sox FO regime.
Though, to be fair, since the start of this rebuild the Sox have pretty consistently acted like a team trying to build a long-term, sustainable winner instead of maximizing a smaller contention window. They’ve done so by extending their young talent, not handing out long FA deals, and not emptying the farm system.
That’s the route I wanted them to go from the beginning: aim for 10+ years of a good team rather than 3-5 years of an excellent one. The latter option now seems unattainable, but the former option still attainable. Again – they’ve made plenty of mistakes, whichever option you prefer. But I think this is worth considering, still.
As long as other things don’t go wrong like:
I know, pessimistic and dour but why is the alternative always everybody improves?
I’m not sure what the point of this is. Are you just saying that everything could go wrong? If so…. okay?
The point of my post was that the Sox don’t need everything to go right to be very good. On the whole, it’s very unlikely that the group of guys here in 2022 will be as bad as in 2023. Anything could happen, of course. But the question is: what should we expect? I don’t think I’m being a homer or an optimist in saying that I expect that they—the group here in both ’22 and ’23—will be better in ’23 than in ’22.
To answer your question, I’m not saying players will only improve and no one will get worse. I’m saying to expect the roster to replicate 2022 is a mistake. No doubt: some players will improve, some players will get worse. But, on the whole, this roster vastly underperformed in 2022. That doesn’t mean we just pretend 2022 didn’t happen. Expectations must be adjusted based on a bad year. But neither should our new expectation be that players (like TA, Giolito, Moncada, or Grandal) are now as bad as they were in 2022.
But, to be fair, there are good reasons to expect, in a vacuum, more improvements than not. The core contributors to this roster are, on the whole, quite young. Grandal, Lynn, and Hendriks are some of the few key contributors that we should, in a vacuum, expect to get worse because of their age. Other than Cease, none of the many young talents on this team exceeded their expectations in 2022—and Cy Young form hasn’t been out of the question, even for Cease.
But Jose Ramirez could decide to retire early to chase his dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. Didn’t think of that did you?
And miss The entire White Sox Team HoF season? I don’t think so.
If Benintendi was the 8th best bat in the lineup you’d have a much stronger case. Regression is to the mean, not the peak, after all.
Timely illustration
That paints a pretty bleak picture. Certainly adds credence to my point that Benintendi is layered on top of a hole.
The upshot here is the Sox still play in a terrible division.
But they play them less often this year with the new schedule.
Why do some people act as if when you make a list and attach numbers to it, credibility is established? Who the fuck cares what “codifybaseball” says? It adds credence to absolutely nothing.
It isn’t from codify baseball it is a model from fangraphs that codify is citing
Thanks. I have to adjust my comment as a result. It adds credence to a modest amount more than nothing.
Nothing is knowable. Baseball is meaningless. Eat Arby’s.
What this list tells me is there are a LOT of not very good teams in baseball.
The Sox are either at the top of a list of mediocre to bad teams, or at the bottom of a list of good to average teams. They are in the middle, between slightly above average and slightly below. This looking to the 4th season into their rebuild. What an accomplishment.
It all depends on the bouncebacks, if they occur. If Grandal and Moncada can recover some of their 2021 form, I’d expect Benintendi to be around 6th or 7th on the roster by wRC+. It is not outlandish to think that Eloy, Vaughn, Robert, Grandal, Tim, and Moncada can put up 110+ wRC+ which is not beating Benintendi’s 2022 season but is higher than his career mark. Is it likely? Hell if I know, but I don’t think its unrealistic which is kind of the point.
James Fegan wrote about what Benintendi is doing to try to help himself.
https://theathletic.com/4019183/2022/12/20/white-sox-andrew-benintendi-home-runs/
It’s too bad that Sox Machine doesn’t have any Nashville-based staff who could follow up on Benintendi working out at M3 in Nashville over the winter.
Nashville? That’s in Antioch!
The Athletic regrets the Nashville-area geography-based error.
Google maps says it is a 20-minute 14.3-mile drive from M3 Baseball in Antioch to Tee Line Nashville (where the curling club meets). I completely understand why this amount of travel might seem overwhelming.
Yeah that sucks, too bad about that it sure would have been nice.
It’s a solid addition. Even if he gets White Sox free agent disease, its still a solid move for a dumbass FO. If they can get Jurickson Profar on a reasonable deal ($10mil per?, 1-2 yrs), I think they are set for camp. Profar takes the pressure off Colas, and provides another option at 2nd if all the in-house guys turn into Micah Johnson. More would be better, but I’m for not selling any prospects.
Wow, what can’t Terry Bradshaw do?
Saw a Boston fan in the comments of the Fangraphs story on the signing say he’s lost his burst. Checked his Baseball Savant page and sure enough. Went from 87th percentile rookie year to 54, 43, 63, 53 the last 4 years.
That’s a weird complaint (aimed at the fangraphs commenter). If he was 87th percentile in 2021 and then dropped to 43rd in 2022, I’d be concerned. Is his burst the last 4 years great? Not really, but it’s not like its something new that came out of nowhere.
Well yeah, if he hadn’t lost it the Sox wouldn’t be able to afford him.
Well there’s your problem, taking hitting advice from a Fox NFL commentator/quarterbacking legend
Terry: “My advise is don’t get hit by Mean Joe Greene”.
Has anyone ever seen Cooky the Clown and Terry Bradshaw in the same room?
What’s going on with the international singing period for the White Sox? I’m reading very disappointing news. White are not in for any of the top 40 prospects.
What is Marco Paddy doing with the $5 million plus the team has?
International singing is hard, have you ever tried to sing Jingle bells in Japanese?
He invested it all in crypto.
Considering they have like 2 international scouts, vs. most orgs who have departments of 10+, it’s not too surprising.
But if you listen to the Sox Podcast from this morning, you’d know that the Sox aren’t always front line, big dollar/splash, signers…ala Christian Mena. That’s what Marco’s magic is, finding the younger, cheaper, signee and getting more upside value.
But he’s not particularly good at that. Almost all of his good signings are big $$$ Cubans. Does some of the blame for that go to an org that doesn’t value prospects/farm system? Absolutely, but at 12 yrs he’s not new to this and like Hahn with long term FA contracts you have to adapt to your environment and learn how to thrive under the restrictions or in other words, finding the younger, cheaper, signee and getting more upside value.
Thanks!
I guess I’m guilty of reading the press releases while drinking the kool-aid.
We Sox fans are a cultish group, how many years did we declare “Coop will fix him”? I don’t know Marco Paddy so I can only go by his results and well what did he contribute to the rebuild? Robert? Wasn’t that more about JR willing to write a $52 mil check for someone who never played an inning of baseball in the states than it was to crack scouting in the international ranks. I don’t want to dog the guy but results do matter.
I see the Mets are interested in Hendriks. What else would it take to get McNeil? If not McNeil, then how about a straight Hendriks for Eduardo Escobar trade? The Sox could probably get someone else in addition to Escobar for Liam.
Based on this offseason, I’m going to say there’s a 0.00000001% chance that any trade of Hendriks to the Mets is going to involve a player off their major league roster. Now if they are offering Baty, I’m definitely listening but from what I’ve heard from random Mets fans on the internet, they seem to think it would be Mauricio which is also kind of exciting but the plate discipline numbers worry me.
Agreed. With all the money the Mets have spent this winter, none of it has been on the infield. Hard to imagine them thinning that group at this point.
Then I guess they don’t get Hendriks.
Indeed.
Well, I guess the Mets have now upgraded their infield. Two options:
Holy F’k, the Mets just got Correa?!! I guess McNeil is available, let’s get him.
For what it’s worth, I traded Hendriks, Thompson, and Kelley for McNeil in my OPP. But, I pitched it as a way for the Mets to save some money: trade for Hendriks instead of re-sign Diaz. That reasoning is certainly out the window.
Escobar+ isn’t a bad starting point for Hendriks, but one of the appeals of trading Hendriks is you free up more money to allocate elsewhere. This would only save them a few million. I think I’d rather they just sign Segura, depending on what the “+” is.
They need to try and pry McNeil from the Mets. What an upgrade that would be.
The advantage of having Hendriks available is there is no one out there the Mets can buy that is nearly as good as Hendriks. He is by far the best relief pitcher “available”, either by trade or free agency. If Hahn plays it right, he can get a haul for him. With the Mets and the Dodgers both in play for him, if Hahn is smart he uses both of them to drive the price up. Unfortunately for us, Hahn is not smart.
IF the Mets are making anyone available from their ML roster, it’s Escobar.
But Hahn is a position of strength. He can hold out for McNeil or Michael Busch from the Dodgers. Play one against the other. There is no one else anywhere near Hendriks’ value as a reliever who is out there.
I think you are right that this is Hahn’s strongest position to make a trade and he should be actively shopping to get the deal he wants to make. A couple weeks from now he could be back to tepid responses
I mean I wish he could get McNeil or Busch, but that just seems hard to imagine. Hope you are right though, but I’ll believe the Sox make a good trade when I see it.
This is the one time that Hahn holds the cards. Hendriks is by far the best reliever available. His salary is very reasonable compared to what’s been given out this winter. If he plays it right, I think he could get Busch straight up for Liam, and maybe get McNeil if they add Sosa or another of their higher prospects.
I really hope you’re right, but really doubt the Mets would part with a 5+ WAR 2b for a 35 year old closer. I don’t see Cohen viewing Liam as more valuable than McNeil. I don’t think it’s even close.
Busch would be much more expendable for the Dodgers, no doubt. I think much more realistic.
The question for the Mets is what is better, McNeil at 2nd, or adding Hendriks and platooning Guillorme and Escobar at 2nd. Having Hendriks and Diaz at the back end of the bullpen would be devastating.
McNeil coming off a batting title and huge season… I don’t see either NY team giving up high level all star caliber 2b for Liam. We’ll see, I think a pipe dream though, personally. I mean I really think chances of McNeil getting dealt would have to be close to zero from Mets perspective.
To get that deal done they would have had to act before McNeil’s season last year. Too late now.
Here’s what the Mets have to decide. Which is better, to have Ottavino in the 8th with McNeil at 2nd, or Liam in the 8th and a platoon of Guillorme/Escobar at 2nd (or adding Segura). Which has a greater drop-off, going from Liam to Ottavino, or going from McNeil to his replacements? I don’t think it’s a slam dunk that they wouldn’t consider that. Having two of the best relievers in baseball in the same bullpen would be really tough to beat. And with Nimmo, Lindor, Correa and Alonso, their lineup is already loaded.
We had 2 of the best relievers in baseball – Hendriks and Kimbrel. We weren’t that tough to beat. Just sayin’.
But Kimbrel fell off a cliff when he got to the Sox. I wouldn’t expect Hendriks to do that.
I mean I’d love to see McNeil on the Sox. I just think you way overestimate Liam’s value. From a value standpoint, what should McNeil bring back for the Mets? I mean he just won a batting title and posted a WAR of almost 6. He is one of the best 2b’s in baseball. As good as Liam is, he isn’t Mariano Rivera, and is worth nowhere close to McNeil. Even if the Sox included Graveman, that still wouldn’t be enough.
I doubt McNeil’s name would even come up in trade talks, honestly. The Mets have every reason to love him, and I’m sure they do. This idea is all coming from Sox fans that want him, not what the Mets are thinking. As an objective fan who likes the Mets a little bit (I used to root for them when they were in the Cubs division as a Cub rival), I would never want the Mets to trade McNeil. Sox would have to include Liam and Kopech for me to like this deal for the Mets at all, and even then I’m not sure about it.
I’d love for you to be right, I just see a Dodgers trade for a player like Busch as way more likely. McNeil is just way too much for them to get in return. I’ll go on record as saying no chance – and would be happy to eat my words later.
You’re probably right. This is just us speculating. I’m just going on the fact that the Mets are interested in Hendriks to build a super bullpen. They already have a great offense and a top 4 of Nimmo, Lindor, Correa, Alonso. That’s pretty awesome. No reliever close to Hendriks’ ability is available. Maybe they would overpay from a position of strength to build a super bullpen.
McNeil is a FA after 2024, so Busch might wind up more of a long term piece for the Sox anyway. I’d love to see a deal with the Dodgers, personally. They just have so much in their minors that it seems a natural match.
Unfortunately, I think that’s right. But they should certainly consider making one of those guys available, especially if they are getting a big leaguer in return. Like the White Sox, it makes sense to trade out of a position of abundance to add elsewhere.
But I guess that assumes you have a position of weakness…
Then get Escobar AND Carrasco. Both are excess on the Mets roster right now.
I wouldn’t mind them going after Escobar and Carrasco, but I’m not sure I’d want to give up Hendriks to get them. There’s a reason why Hendriks is a hot commodity. And Escobar and Carrasco are both mid-30s and making ~$10m.
I wonder if Graveman plus a lottery ticket prospect gets them both? Or something in that realm.
The one thing that makes McNeil still a possibility is what the Royals did in 2015 with Davis, Holland and Herrera. I could see them developing the six inning game thirst and letting 7-8-9 go on cruise control, game over. If they aren’t thinking like that, no way. We’ll see.
Thus far this winter, whenever I see Hendriks mentioned in a rumor, I substitute Graveman’s name. Any such deal automatically becomes more palatable.
Counterintuitive but I think the Sox are better off trading Hendriks. If there’s one thing we know about Hahn, he can knock a deal out of the park when he’s selling on a talented major league player (Eaton, Quintana, Sale [disputably]), but he comes out on the losing end of nearly every trade on the periphery.
Rather than Escobar, I’d much prefer Guillorme: He hits RHP much better than LHP (opposite for Escobar), Steamer projects him for more WAR/game overall, he’s a more versatile infield defender, his salary would be low, and the Sox would have 4 years of control.
Not sure what else if anything the Sox could get back, but if they can even just use the extra payroll space for needs elsewhere, and it looks like the best they can do for Hendriks, I’d be happy with it.
Also, this feels like a White Sox leak to me: “Hey all you teams out there, you’d better start giving us your final and best offers, because we want to make this happen sooner rather than later.”
In contract dollars, the Cubs have spent like 40M more this offseason than the Sox have the last 3 combined.
Beni is fine, there is nothing wrong with him at all. But as basically the only improvement they’ve made since 2020, and for waiting this long, his signing is closer to a joke. It just pales in comparison to what other teams are doing, and what they could and should have done. Not enough reason to buy a ticket to support this ownership. I’ll donate to billboards before I pay a dime toward anything Sox.
Mets were like these Liam Hendrix rumors are boring how about we go steal carlos correa over night…. my gawd
Could you imagine if the Sox had done that? We’d be besides ourselves searching Mian calendars for world end dates.
Imagine being a Giants fan right now. Woof. Most of those poor folks are still asleep.
This kicks Escobar to the curb. I will say right now I don’t want him, unless they are giving him away. Even then I’d almost rather see what Sosa can do. I haven’t given up on him based on his very brief struggles. Segura is about the only 2b idea thrown around that I like.
Hell no to EE as the centerpiece or significant part of a Liam trade.
You gotta wonder what was so wrong with Correa that the Giants backed out. Obviously they really wanted him but something changed their minds. Mets might have really taken a huge risk here beyond just the gawdy numbers.
When you have unlimited money, there are no risks. I really believe Cohen would have a $600M payroll if he got the players he wanted. He is the anti-Reinsdorf.
I agree about Escobar. I would demand McNeil. If they won’t, then they don’t get Liam.
Yeah what Cohen is doing is crazy, and terrible for the competitiveness of the sport. He’s the one owner who doesn’t care even a little bit if he loses a bunch of money, as long as he has fun building the team he wants. He’s gonna pay like over 100M luxury tax or something now, right?
Someone once said that Cohen was Jerry’s nightmare. I disagree – don’t the Sox get some of that luxury tax money simply by virtue of being under the threshold? I think Cohen is Jerry’s dream owner. Free money for Jerry, which him and his group will conveniently forget about and not spend.
Jerry voted against Cohen taking over the Mets, so he clearly doesn’t view Cohen as a dream.
I think a few million coming his way from Cohen will change his mind. Even Jerry probably didn’t anticipate this, or how much he would benefit.
I sincerely doubt Jerry is unhappy now.
I very much doubt he is happy. Cohen is driving up valuations for free agent talent and Jerry has spent his life’s work in the game trying to keep them down. Getting a few million passed around won’t make up the difference in higher free agent acquisition costs. It won’t be a net gain
Higher FA acquisition costs are not relevant to Jerry in the first place. He wasn’t signing free agents before Cohen, he won’t start now. It’s not like Jerry has any integrity beyond his own interests.
They absolutely are relevant to Jerry as free agent inflation trickles down to the tier 2 and tier 3 free agents he likes to acquire. We already had to pay 75 million for Benintendi because of free agent inflation. 15 million for basically a league average player is a lot of coin
How much do you think Jerry actually cares about this team? Honestly. They had not done a think since 2020 until Beni. Jerry barely cares enough about this team to sign one half way decent position player in 3 years. Too little too late relative to the goal of a WS.
I could give a crap what Jerry’s costs are, with how his cheap ass operates. F him.
It is impossible to know his emotions in regard to the team. He rarely speaks publicly.
What we know he has made a career of trying to keep players wages down. There are countless examples of him to trying to control wages with how he operated in 1994 being one of the most prominent examples.
Your last point is a non-sequitur, I never said you should care about Jerry’s wallet. I highlighted the cost of Benintendi’s contract to illustrate wage inflation in the league.
If you feel there is no hope until he is gone that is fine, but there is no point of you being on this site then. You might as well check out until a new owner comes on board.
We should work on Escobar or Guillorme and McCann from the Mets. Put McCann back with Giolito and get a better backup than Zavala. Escobar if you want the left handed power or Guillorme if you want left handed OBP. No way in hell I’m trading Hendricks for those guys but I think you could potentially get rid of Kelley’s salary.
That’s $22 mil in salary for 2 guys in their mid 30’s and includes an additional $12 mil for McCann in 2024. McCann had a .539 OPS last yr which is lower than Yasmani’s pitiful year. That’s awfully pricey.
I’m cautiously optimistic that Grandal’s new workout regimen will allow him to be a useful catcher this year. It really sounds like he’s doing great. If he can give us 90 effective games with OPS in the mid .700s, that would be huge. I don’t see any reason to bring McCann back at that salary.
I got you. I don’t want them for 22 million. But I’d take them for 15 and give back our crappy expensive guy and something else.
McCann has been awful with the Mets. There is no reason to bring him here.
On the most recent MLB Pipeline podcast, Indiana high schooler and possible future #1 draft pick a Max Clark credits Mike Shirley with perfecting his swing since he was 13 and with helping him on the mental aspects of the game. Maybe Mike should be working in player development.
It’s interesting to note that an analyst for the Sox, Wataru Ando got his big break in baseball by charting home run counts by players across ballparks. I guess this occurred in the pre Statcast era.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feat-chicago-white-sox-analyst-wataru-ando/id1524705761?i=1000520745452