February has arrived.
Excitement is still going to be a while.
Optimism is around — some people have said they’ve seen it, anyway — but it’s not because of anything the White Sox did. Strangely, hope springs oozes from what the White Sox undid (hiring Tony La Russa), and what they didn’t do (basically stay healthy).
If you don’t allow the White Sox to sandbag their handicap for more favorable scoring, there isn’t much to grade. This shows in the result of The Athletic’s leaguewide offseason grades, as the White Sox were the only team to get an “F.” And it’s not because they farmed out the overview to somebody who hadn’t been paying enough attention.
There was a litany of supplementary ways the White Sox could improve the roster, but their primary needs were left fielder, second base and filling the last spot of their rotation. Currently, they’re lined up to rely on internal options for second base, and the starting pitcher they signed is the subject of a league investigation into stomach-turning domestic violence and child abuse allegations, bringing disgrace upon a franchise that has had too many stories of personal misconduct in recent years. They probably can’t expect him to cover many innings either, given where things currently stand. The Andrew Benintendi signing is good. — James Fegan
Were Mike Clevinger still a typical let’s-see-what-he’s-got-left case along the lines of a Johnny Cueto or Miguel/Gio González, then I could see the grade being a D, shading up a half-grade because the White Sox overhauled their approach to hitting coaches. I could still see the grade being a D yet again if Elvis Andrus tumbles back into their laps, because he’d address second base and serve as real shortstop insurance in case Tim Anderson misses 40-plus games again. (Of course, Andrus hasn’t found a home because the upside is fleeting, and there’s a real weight to the idea that the White Sox might’ve squandered the best ball he had left.)
Unless or until they do something else, the White Sox’s offseason is simple, painful math: They only made two important moves, and they can’t even talk about one of them. Granted, there isn’t much anybody can say about Clevinger, except when the only defense of a guy is “In America, we believe somebody’s innocent until proven guilty,” it’s typically not going well.
But hey, Rick Hahn has acknowledged that “winning the winter” has preceded a thoroughly losing season, so maybe he thinks losing the winter is the thing to try.
February is about as long as it is wide important dates
*Feb. 13: Report date for pitchers participating in the World Baseball Classic.
*Feb. 15: White Sox pitchers and catchers report
*Feb. 16: Report date for position players participating in the WBC.
*Feb. 20: Full squad reports.
*Feb. 25: Cactus League play opens.
Simply dreadful offseason. Even though they made 3 very good moves: getting rid of Tony, overhauling the coaching staff and signing Benintendi, they did absolutely nothing to address RF/2B (though I think Colas deserves the first shot at RF, but they have no legitimate fall back plan), signed a pitcher very early who had several red flags attached to him, and have done nothing to replace their all-star closer. Yes the lineup will be more balanced if Colas earns the RF job, but the pitching staff, which was a strength at the end of last offseason, has lost two of their better members, and they have replaced neither. Instead they just continue to load up on AAA guys, the latest being the utility IF from Oakland. This season has a chance to be even worse than last year. Kopech. Lynn, Giolito, TA, Yoan, Robert, Eloy and Grandal all must be better/more available than last year. That’s 3/5 of the rotation and more than half of the starting lineup. And they don’t have Abreu, Cueto and Hendriks. The more I type, the worse this sounds. I better stop now.
they’re f’d regardless of RF/2B/SP if the core isn’t better and more available than last year; the core produced like half as much fWAR (28 -> 14) in ‘22 compared to ‘21. which matches neatly with 93 -> 81 wins. not that they’re giving themselves any margin for error, bc they’re still bums.
I agree. If the core is the same as last year, they won’t win 80 games.
“Getting rid of Tony” sounded more like Tony electing to not return. Perhaps the Sox whispered that in his ear; perhaps not. So I’m not sure how much credit the Sox deserve for that fortuitous move. Along those lines, though, was the fact that they had a real search process for a replacement. That was definitely a positive development. And I think Grifol is going to do a good job, further highlighting how ill-advised the Tony hiring was.
The coaching staff was overhauled, but not as much as most of us would have liked.
The Benintendi signing was a very good move.
They have this uniquely awful ability to stumble even when presented with the most blatant opportunities to make franchise-aiding, necessary and ostensibly simple decisions (“peace out, Tony, this hasn’t worked out to date and still isn’t working out”).
Ventura parting was extremely similar. Another department wherein “Jerry’s gonna Jerry” applies
It’s hilarious to me that the entire off-season has been shitting on Hahn for constantly adding relief pitchers to the detriment of the rest of the roster and now that Hendriks is out, Hahn isn’t adding enough relief pitchers.
You make it sound like
1) vast majority of ppl bash Hahn for the bullpen spending and not for the chronic non-addressing/poor addressing of RF/2B et al.
2) everyone has been bitching and moaning non-stop about the lack of relief spending since Liam’s diagnosis
Roke started the entire post by giving credit where he saw due to Hahn. Then he mentioned RF/2B. Then he mentioned that the pitching, a projected strength of the team, has received 2 enormous blows this off-season (one of which they’re partially culpable for receiving since they signed an utter jerk in NOV) that to date haven’t been addressed. If you wanna go after a Hahn Basher I would say find a more appropriate target
Interesting list of players, everyone of them spent time on the injured list. What will happen this year?
James has opened his annual White Sox fan survey if you’d like to compare your offseason evaluation to his. Open through Saturday.
Love the idea of a fan survey, hate the idea of a fan survey behind a paywall
The F grade was obviously assigned without giving consideration to the new 500-level bars.
With the bars, is the grade W (for Withdraw for the semester)?
Yeah, they’d have tried to find a lower grade otherwise.
I’m intrigued by Nate Mondou’s minor league numbers (good walk percentage) the last two years and that he’s a lefty hitting second baseman. He’s 27 and was able to be signed with a minor league deal, so I’m not super excited or anything, but anybody else have more info about him? The fact that I’m intrigued at all is very related to how poorly their offseason went.
he’s from Tacoma, at FG he was Cistulli’s A’s pick to click back in 2018, and is apparently spending his offseason as a guest infield instructor at UW. Not much else!
Las Vegas is the best home run park in the PCL (and second in Triple-A to Charlotte), but he only topped out at 8 there.
We’ve seen a lot of guys coming out of the Red Sox and A’s orgs with good OBPs only to watch them get it crushed by the White Sox indifference.
Thanks everybody – good info. That’ll do to properly level my hopes and dreams back to reality.
Mondou at the very least doesn’t have a long history of being unable to hit at the MLB level, unlike some of our other minor league signings that are trying to address 2B. If Mondou could play decent defense and just get on base, he’d be light years better than Hanser Alberto or Erik González, plus unlike those two he is on the good side of 30. And as you mentioned, he’s bats left, which is huge. But as you know we root for the White Sox, so even though this guy is intriguing he’ll never see the field for us.
I wish they would just DFA Leury. I would much rather see Romy and Mondou cover 2B, and have Romy be the new Leury all over the diamond. I literally don’t see what there is to lose. If we have to watch the same boring baseball, at least give us some fresh faces.
A contact-oriented 2B with the initials NM?
That creepy feeling when your ex starts dating someone who looks exactly like you…
Here’s a scary thought related to their offseason. Between Benintendi and Clevinger, which of the two was the “luxury” signing enabled by Pollock opting out of his deal? They are both making $8m in 2023, which was the amount saved by Pollock opting out. They jumped on Clevinger first, but they still may have prioritized Benintendi if they had $8m less to spend. It’s scary to think that their offseason could have been even worse if Pollock made a different decision.
They definitely would not have signed Benintendi if Pollock hadn’t opted out. So yeah, not even remotely part of the plan going in.
Not only did the Sox piss away this off season’s chance to make the team better but they did so while Cleveland, and their 14 game lead, will be as good if not better.
Additionally, the Twins have clearly improved. Both of these franchises are loaded with depth and the contrast to the White Sox, in that way, has never been more noticeable.
All it will take is some inconsistency/ down time with Kopech, Gio or Lynn to make this team look closer to Kansas City than Cleveland.
I still dont think Cleveland will be THAT good again. They were having just as trudging of a rock fight season as the Sox and Twins were before finishing the year hot as hell with a 24-6 mark over the last month of the season. And the Twins have a similar problem with the Sox in that their biggest impact guys tend to spend as much time on the IL as on the field.
Dont get me wrong the Sox still pissed away this off-season, but the AL Central will still probably be the worst division in the league this year.
Sox were in 1st all of 5 games last year and never after April 20th.
Twins were leading or tied all but 1 day from April 24th to Aug 9th
Guardians took over 1st on Aug 10th and won it going away.
Not sure where the Sox have any room to shit talk the other two.
Gaping holes in the major league roster overshadowed by a total lack of depth.
-White Sox ’23
I am exceedingly down on this whole franchise, but I could not have guessed the off-season would go this poorly.
I’m 100% prepared for Grifol to go full Bevington.
Also, perhaps the most ridiculous detail is that Hahn specifically said he was focused on trades… and hasn’t made a single one! Feels like something out of Catch-22.
It’s like last year’s trade deadline–he really wanted to make a trade, but there were none available. It’s a shame and he’s really disappointed.
All jokes aside, if there was a chance the front office could be replaced after season, I’d say it’s good he’s not making trades because I wouldn’t trust Hahn trading the team’s prospects. Since there’s not much of a chance of that, it’s just bleak.
If we have any indicator of Jerry’s patience, he gave Gar Forman 11 seasons as Bulls GM. This will be Hahn’s 11th season .
Yeah, but the Pax in GarPax fired themselves.
I think we can all appreciate that Hahn at least got us a seat at the trade table, even if no “good” trades were available.
MLBTR doesn’t report all the Tatis-for-Shields deals that he says no to. Fans have to remember that before we cast judgment.
So I now have to give him credit for the trades he doesn’t make too? He truly can do no wrong.
Considering the quality of some of his trades…yes, I would give him credit for not making them.
Actually, I rather Hahn doesn’t do anything. The White Sox are better off.
Kidding, but brace yourself for such condescension at Hahn’s next press conference.
“Hey, back in 2017 the Yankees wanted Robertson, Kahnle, and Frazier for Rutherford and Clippard. I looked them dead in the eyes and said ‘you better throw in Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, and a few extra pairs of Rec Specs for Clippard or we’re done here.’ The rest, as they say, is history.”
Yah, but the only item on the menu is a shit sandwich.
Just remember he’s just as disappointed as you are, maybe more so. Gosh darn it!
Lack of trades likely a result of when Sox learned about Hendriks’ illness. Bullpen arms were their area of strength from which to trade, but not now.
But why haven’t they replaced Hendriks? And I don’t mean find an all-star closer, but a good relief pitcher that will replace Graveman in one of the setup roles. Andrew Chafin and Matt Moore are still available and they have done nothing. Since the first of the year they have lost 2 pitchers they were counting on (Hendriks and Clevinger) and they have done nothing to replace them. That’s either utter incompetence or cheapness, but probably a combination of the two.
My personal take is obstinence. Hahn is so intent on proving everything was TLR’s fault and he was a victim and all his plans were sabotaged that he plans to roll with “His Team” even though it no longer is.
I don’t think we should feel bad about the team’s stable of late inning, high leverage guys (Lopez, Graveman, Kelly, Bummer). I’m pulling for Keynan Middleton to break camp, who has late inning stuff if he can put it together. There are also enough playable/interesting guys with options to fill spots throughout the season: Lambert, Alexy, Banks, Foster, Crochet, Santos, Padilla. And then there’s Jake Diekman — no comment.
Or utter indifference to and contempt of fan base? Team is just an investment for JR and his family. Forget “sell the team” signs — not gonna happen. “Fire Someone” may be a better message.
There are a million ways to make a trade. If this is the reason, it only further damns them for lack of creativity.
Agreed on that – and you don’t need to look beyond the Twins to see how creative you can get to try to improve your roster. I really liked the “outside the box” suggestion some had made that the Sox could’ve tried sending Vaughn to a team that held his bat in high regard and had 1B/DH reps to offer, and then triaging 1B with a Sheets/Burger platoon. It might not have been the cleanest fix but it’s possible that it could yield better results overall than holding Vaughn, Burger, and Sheets while maintaining our existing holes.
I think we also tend to overstate the value of the players we have. Vaughn has almost no defensive utility, his bat hasn’t broken out, and he’s used up two years of control time and is likely to be a Super-Two. People similarly overstate Crochet’s trade value, a pitcher coming off TJS who almost every other team probably believes (rightly so, IMO) is a reliever.
I’m still willing to take a “cautiously pessimistic” approach to the lack of trades. I do think a significant trade is less likely than not at this point (thus, pessimistic). But I say “cautiously” because I haven’t written a trade off yet. Last offseason, there were a loottttt of hot takes here heading into ST, with folks convinced Kimbrel was sticking around. Trades do happen during ST, and the trade market as a whole seems to be at a standstill. I think the closer we get to the season, the more we’ll see it loosen up, as some of the high asking prices should lower.
Man, I hope so.
I’m losing faith though.
Yes, Yossarian, they’ll only make a trade when they need a better player at some position. But if they need a better player at some position, other teams will demand too much for him, knowing that the Sox need him. And if other teams don’t demand too much, then he’s definitely a guy they can’t use.
You see?
There’s no trades SIMPLY because the Sox have nothing to trade that teams want and/or will bring back a significant return.
They’re not going to trade Montgomery because he will be a cheap replacement for Moncada or Anderson in a couple of years. Can’t trade Colas because he’s the new RFer.
They have a few decent prospects after them but they won’t bring back significant MLB help right now. There’s no depth at the ML level to trade from. What will Sheets and Burger bring back? I don’t expect it to be much.
I’d assume the plan was to try to offload Pollock via trade if he had opted in (not sure how you’d have traded that contract for anything useful without some sweetener) and to trade Hendriks to fill a gap or two. With his diagnosis, the Sox don’t really have any area of strength to trade from…unless “slightly useful 1B/DH types” has much value on the trade market….
Because Hahn repeatedly deludes himself into believing that other teams see the same player value in the organization that he does.
Need to figure out how Bevington’s “Bugs Bunny” fair/foul argument can be replicated by Grifol with replay existing now. He can still call for a pitching change with no one warming though.
Fangraphs depth charts are out, which blend Steamer and ZiPS with a playing time estimation. If I did the math correctly, they have the White Sox at ~88.5 wins (I’d take the under), Cleveland at ~92.5 wins, and the Twins at ~92 wins. The pitching staffs all have similar 14-15 WAR projections and the difference between the White Sox and the other two teams is the group of position players.
The projection systems seem to really like Carlos Perez, thinking he’d be league average if playing full time. Which, you know, whatever. I hope so.
The depth charts seem to assume that negative WAR players will not get a lot of playing time, which hasn’t been historically true for the White Sox.
I mean, I’ll take the over on our pitching WAR total. MLB.com posted a list of each teams best projected player which for us was Robert, in part because Cease was projected for like 2.5 WAR. I get projections are median outcomes but I call bullshit on our best pitcher not breaking 3 WAR.
The page I’m looking at has Cease at 3.4 fWAR. (Lynn 2.8, Giolito 2.5)
It also has the possibly soon to be suspended #5 starter throwing 143 innings, as their 4th best pitcher at 1.2 fWAR, Crochet pitching 48 innings and Liam throwing 38.
Am I looking at the wrong thing?
Yeah, that’s my bad. I should’ve looked at the page instead of relying on memory. The point is, Cease/Lynn/Giolito are all more than capable of averaging 4 WAR by themselves. Kopech struggled with injuries and still put up 2 WAR. That doesn’t even count our 5th starter, whoever that is, and our relief corps. It’s not unreasonable that our top 4 starters all combine for 18 WAR by themselves even if it’s not the likeliest outcome.
Each of 2B and RF projected for only 1.6 WAR for the season. How can they have not made trades to address this? Are other teams demanding the moon just because they know how desperately the Sox need it? Are they not trying? Do they inexplicably think they’ll have a competitive team anytime soon if they just hoard their near-bottom-level farm system while their veterans leave in free agency?
I think when we discussed off season grades earlier on soxmachine I gave them a D… but that was before news of clevinger being a woman/child beater and him now likely being lost for the season so its easy to move the needle to F.
And no the sox get ZERO benefit of the doubt on anything so im not buying for a second they either didnt know Clevinger was in legal trouble or that they did a competent background check to find out.
I mean, didn’t the league office and Clevingers accuser both come out and say the White Sox weren’t told? If true, its not a benefit of the doubt thing. It’s just a fact.
Not being told is one thing. It’s another thing to not do a background check to find that this had happened. The Padres were well aware of it, so it isn’t like it was a complete secret.
the chances camp clevinger could of kept this quiet with a complaining ex gf witness is absolutely slim to none with a real back ground check… i am definitely not giving any benefit of the doubt to the clowns that run this team from the top down
The thing with Clevinger is that he’s had two other close calls in this area that any baseball fan with a Twitter account might’ve learned about without trying. Maybe this ends up being a third close call and the investigation clears him, but I still don’t know why you’d trust him the way the White Sox trusted him.
Yeah, I didn’t exactly do a deep dive into Clevinger’s past, and I had forgotten about the COVID thing, but jeez, there’s a pretty good history out there for anybody literally being paid to look for to fiind.
I was looking for a way that the White Sox could get rid of Clevinger without paying him. The CBA does not allow a team to take disciplinary action against a player being investigated for domestic abuse until the outcome of that investigation. But here, Clevinger’s alleged abuses (and, I think, the start of the investigation of them) occurred before the White Sox signed him. I was hoping that the standard player contract would contain some kind of warranty on the part of the player that he had not previously engaged in criminal or immoral conduct. No such luck. But what if the Sox asked him about whether he was under investigation for domestic abuse and he denied it. Then the Sox would have been fraudulently induced to enter the contract and might be able to repudiate it. We can all hope that Clevinger will be cleared to play, but it will irk me no end, if the Sox have to pay $12 million for a player suspended for domestic abuse committed when he was under contract to another team.
Do you read anything in to the length of the investigation? It seems this has been ongoing for over 6 months now. And i assume his ex-wife gave mlb the same pics she posted to instagram. Maybe that’s a false assumption but she’s clearly not hiding from him or mlb at this point. After that long it seems they would either suspend him greatly or have some decision. I’m feeling like maybe they want to suspend but know it won’t hold up.
If you look at that era Cleveland staff, you have to start from a position of pragmatic skepticism about character. There were just too many “incidents” with character/team guy issues.
What?
“I wasn’t told” is the lamest excuse I have heard. There is not excusing Hahn on this one. It’s like the guy breaking the law and planning his defense on unknowing the law premise: “I didn’t know I was breaking the Law Judge, so let me walk away” bullshit.
My belief in low expectations is in for a real test….
Cle-F-inger
And, appropriately, last season ended with Cleveland giving the White Sox the finger.
I missed it when it happened, but just noticed that the A’s traded away yet another one of their vaguely valuable assets:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/orioles-acquire-cole-irvin-from-as.html
I’m starting to think the Sox will be literally the only team in the league that fails to pick up anyone useful from the A’s.
I would have given an F+ if Daryl Boston had been fired in the coaching staff overhaul.
I’d go as high as a D- if they add an Andy the Clown bobble head giveaway to a May home stand date.
What would the grade be without Benintendi signing?
Not arguing that this off-season is better than an F, but it could be mildly worse…
I guess that’s the difference in getting 55% on an exam vs. sleeping through it and getting a 0% – both Fs of different magnitudes.
With all that went wrong last season they were a .500 team. New manager, new hitting approach and the odds of a healthier stint from Eloy, Robert and TA and Vaughn solidifying his future at 1B has the arrow pointing up. Sox win 92 games and the division. Roast away…
I don’t think that’s a roast-worthy angle. It’s just an approach that invites the same things to go wrong again, and puts a lot of pressure on a first-time manager.
Hahn has effectively change the mindset of many fans by dangling empty what-ifs to buttress good planning direction for a sport’s team.
I think somewhat the same as Matt and its less of anything Hahn has done and more of me settled into a “Nothing will change till Jerry is gone so enjoy what i can”. Its basically the same mindset i had waiting for Bill Wirtz to kick the bucket and free the Blackhawks.
This isn’t a terrible take at all and it’s definitely what I”m hoping for. But this is the list of things needed to get to 92 wins:
1) Eloy, Robert, and TA stay healthy and play ~130 games each
2) Moncada stays healthy and bounces back to his 2021 offensive production
3) Vaughn provides at least league-average 1B production
4) Colas is a credible starting RF
5) Sosa is a credible starting 2B
6) If either Colas or Sosa doesn’t work out, Hahn finds someone from the scrap heap who provides Andrus-like production
7) Cease/Lynn/Giolito/Kopech combine for 110 starts
8) Lopez or Graveman steps up to replace Hendriks
9) Grandal starts 100 games at catcher with league-average offense
10) Grifol doesn’t cost the team any wins through inexperience
Some of those are more likely than others, but the chance of all of them (or even a majority) happening is pretty low.
I mean they don’t need all of those things to go right. You’re saying if they get all but, say, #2, they can’t get to 92 wins?
Frankly, I think it comes down to #1. There are a lot of factors, to be sure, and a lot will change from 2022 (some good, some bad). But if that trio is reasonably healthy and reasonably themselves, that may already be enough to get them to 90 wins. If that trio is healthy and good, this is a good team on paper. If that trio is injured, this team is… a lot like 2022. It’s not a great bet, which is why this offseason was so important—and now so disappointing.
I disagree somewhat because #1 can happen but if #7 doesn’t it’s going to be really really hard to get to 92.
I would put it this way,
Any one of those 10 could cost us 5 games.
2 of those fail and it’ll be hard to get over .500.
3 of those fail and we’ll be talking about 2024.
Keep in mind that in 2022 almost none of them happened and they won 81 games—and most of them weren’t even close to happening. They did have some things working in their favor that they won’t this year (Hendriks, Abreu, Cueto, Andrus)—but even 2 of these 10 would make up for those losses, I think. Especially when you factor in Benitendi.
Your SP point—fair enough. That’s probably right. Maybe they don’t need 110 starts, but at least 100 (unless they add to the rotation). But my point is that #1 alone is a huge boost. And with #1 I’m quite confident they could get to 90+ wins, even if #2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 (for example) don’t happen.
I think all of those things need to go right, or, if one of them goes wrong, another needs to go right to a higher degree.
That’s just wild to me. So if Robert, Eloy, and TA are all healthy and playing well, you still think 90+ wins is unattainable if Moncada and Grandal are bad?
#1 just says they’re healthy, not that they’re playing well. That would require a higher degree of going well, as I said.
I said healthy and “reasonably themselves.” That doesn’t imply that they are playing particularly well, just that they aren’t playing poorly (relative to their talent).
If they’re playing to their talent then it means they’re playing well.
I didn’t say “playing to their talent” (whatever that means). I said they need not play particularly well relative to their talent. “Playing well” is relative. One man’s “playing well” is another man’s “playing poorly.” Talented players don’t play well relative to their talent because they are talented.
In other words, as long as the trio are both (1) relatively healthy and (2) not playing disproportionately poorly, then it’s a huge boost.
I actually do think all of them need to happen because there’s a huge downside if any of them don’t happen. Let’s say 1/2/3 hit; the gain in WAR could be easily wiped out by some combination of 4/5/8/9 not working out. It’s a reflection of the team’s lack of depth.
Nah, I still think this is way off. A healthy Eloy, Robert, and TA is probably like +~8-9 wins (on the safe side). That’s not going to be “wiped out” by 4-5, 8-9. There’s a spectrum here of “not working out.” Like maybe Sosa isn’t a 2+ WAR player, but if he (or Romy or J Rod) are like a 1 WAR player that’s workable (and an upgrade from last season).
I grant that there’s a depth problem, but it’s too far to say the Sox need all 10 of these things to win 90+ games.
That is the take we are all hoping for. It certainly is possible. But this is the White Sox we are talking about. They haven’t even made it to spring training yet and are likely down 2 pitchers since the first of the year.
Like this hopeful outlook… one other intangible the squad has going for it is that the Sox never seem to do that well when there are lofty expectations: see also 1984, 2006, 2022…
If all goes very well—with healthy seasons and and least partial bounce backs, I think there is a chance they could win 87/88 games and that will be enough to win the weak AL Central.
But I think the lack of right fielder, a second baseman, a 5th starter, a durable starting catcher, and now a tested/proven closer makes a sub-80 win season more likely.
I’m also concerned that Kopech the 4th starter may not give us much more than 100 innings….
Time will tell: Sox fans should not be roasted for having hope… but that “F” grade from the Athletic also underscores that Sox fans who are exasperated with the front office are not bemoaning the petty missteps of a good faith leadership team.
I respect the optimism. I too hope for great things from those players.
My only gripe is that this team lacks the 2nd best starter, Closer and the best bat from that .500 team.
Kiley McDaniel’s Top 100 is up. Colson at #15(!) and Bryan Ramos at #48(!!)
FanGraphs is really in love with Ramos, and I don’t entirely understand it, but I hope their instincts are right about him.
Amazes me that the Sox are entering the spring training with the same questions as last year. The ownership has done nothing to compete with the Astros or anyone else. Maybe the fans not going to the ballpark would be the next move. Every year the Sox start at 0-0 , seems that is good enough to win at this level.
Personally, I’m glad Hahn isn’t making any trades. That’s how we wound up with a shitty half season of Yonder Alonso that we had zero need for four years ago instead of Alex Call as our sixth outfielder last year.
Yeah, but trading for Yonder Alonso allowed the Sox to sign Manny Machado.
At least we also got Jon Jay out of it.
Talk of a Cease extension:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/extension-candidate-dylan-cease.html
Would that pull this winter into a D range? Yeah maybe.
Lots of idle speculation in that article and Cease literally saying nothing’s been discussed. I think the White Sox are more interested in tearing down again than throwing more money around. Benintendi gives at least some indication that might not be the case, but my personal belief is that they see his contract as movable if things go south again.
It really, really seems like the Sox are gearing up to sell off players. Passing on Segura and Duvall in favor of Remy/Lenyn and Oscar seems like trying to jump start the next rebuild without telling anyone. None of those guys are really great enough prospects to worry about blocking them…Colas would not be top 10 for the Dodgers…there’s really no reason not to have signed a 2B and OF on short term contracts other than the Sox don’t want to spend money because they already know they probably won’t be a playoff contender.
Given the Clevinger fiasco, why haven’t they signed Wacha? I think they feel it would be waste of money.
Well, then I agree with them, because I, too, find the 2023 White Sox to be a waste of money and refuse to spend any on them.
Hahn/Jerry took the Simpsons lesson from winning the winter. You tried your hardest, and you failed miserably. The lesson: never try.