Podcast: White Sox add veterans Martin Perez and Josh Rojas
Rundown
- [Intro] At this pace, Chris Getz could churn out half the 26-man roster we saw late in 2024. Is this amount of roster churn a good thing?
- [6:00] Hello, Martin Perez. What the White Sox are hoping to get out of Perez, how long he figures to stay, and why Josh likes this signing
- [17:36] Hello, Josh Rojas. Why does this signing feel like Nicky Lopez 2.0? Is Rojas the clubhouse leader to be the starting third baseman in 2025?
- [29:41] Hello, Tyler Gilbert. Why are the White Sox trading young relievers for older relievers?
- [39:24] Hello, Bobby Dalbec. What’s the hope by signing Dalbec to a minor league contract? Is Dalbec a better backup option to Andrew Vaughn than Tim Elko?
- [45:50] What’s next for the White Sox this offseason? Could finding a cheap shortstop be Getz’s next signing?
- [52:14] Josh’s projected 26-man roster payroll presently is below $65 million
Author
roster churn is can be good and bad…. im not sure why a 121 loss team is trying so hard to build a roster with a better floor but actually less upside then last years team had…
as bad as last years team was entering the season you would probably take the hope and pray for a big season out of player X …. moncada, eloy, fedde, dejong, etc
over the better floor and health status of say this years team that will have perez, tauchman, slater, rojas, and a couple 30 year old lefty releivers…
the odds of a good deadline flip acquisition seem low at this point, so most of their eggs seem to be in all our prospects need to hit basket and that just usually never works out
the sox are going to be a very boring team until some of the younger high end prospects come up
They’ll be boring in the sense that they’ll be pretty bad. But there’ll be more interesting young players (who could be part of the next good Sox team) on this year’s opening day roster than last year’s.
Last year, who fit that bill? Korey Lee and Dominic Fletcher? Jordan Leasure?
This year, you still have those guys, but decent chance you’ll see a young guy/prospect starting 4 out of 5 days. Plus Meidroth, Baldwin, and Ramos (and Vargas?). On top of that, I’m intrigued to see what Veneble is like.
Yes, things will get more interesting when the likes of Montgomery, Teel, and Quero are around, but I’m a lot more interested in watching this year’s OD roster than last year’s (which, to be fair, isn’t saying much).
I mean they are new, which is kind of exciting to see, but I think you are talking about guys you hope can give you 1 or 2 war type seasons… those guys dont excite once they are no longer new.
My initial roster projection (what I think the sox will do not what I would do)
C Lee,
1b Vaughn
2nd Meidroth
SS Baldwin
3rd Rojas
LF Benintendi
CF Robert Jr
RF Tauchman
DH Vargas
C Thaiss
OF Slater
OF Fletcher
INF Sosa
1 Perez
2 Cannon
3 Thorpe
4 Martin
5 Burke
Berroa, Booser, Ellard, Varland, Gilbert, S. Smith, B. Wilson, S. Wilson
I feel like I am missing a couple guys….
The team will be a lot more fun when Noah Schultz, Hagan Smith, Edgar Querro, Kyle Teel, and Colson Montgomery are up. And we could probably see all those guys by the end of the year.
I hear you, but that’s something this team has sorely needed. The depth has been atrocious, even when they were good in ’20 and ’21. If two of Meidroth, Baldwin, and Ramos are 2 win players, seeing the next good White Sox team becomes a lot easier.
But I think this undersells the pitchers a bit. There’s some real upside here. No aces, but a few guys whose 80% outcome is like a #2/3 guy.
You’re definitely right that the best prospects aren’t here yet and it’ll be more exciting when they are. But there’s still more young talent than we’ve seen the last couple of years. So if they’re going to be bad, at least we’ll get to see how these guys are developing in real time.
I am intrigued by their starters you can make a case for probably all of them (outside perez) as maybe as high as a # 2 starter but in that same vein you could argue they all just as easily could be 5th starter types…
That’s why it’ll be so exciting to watch!
I agree almost completely with your roster. I think Ramos could replace Vargas, Teel or Quero could replace Lee if they have a great spring. And some of the bullpen pieces could be different (Leasure?, Coffey?, McGough?), The biggest difference from last year will be the manager. We will now have a manger that the players will respect, and who will hold them accountable. That will be a big positive.
I think we will have a manager that the GM respects and supports which is equally important.
its a tough numbers game given rule 5 protection, minor league options, 40 man spot allocation…etc etc its January 9th my guess is a chunk of this initial estimate changes by opening day
You are missing closer by default Justin Anderson.
Justin Anderson (who was pretty good in 2024) instead of Ellard. I only want two LH in the bullpen. For the bench it seems it may come down to whether Meidroth starts out in AAA, and they keep Ramos instead. In that case Vargas and Ramos play most of 3B and Rojas plays a lot of 2B
1.5 WHIP with BB/9 over 5 is pretty good?
Yes, it is all relative to what else the White Sox had to offer in 2024. He performed well enough to be considered likely to earn a roster spot unless the young guys really come through. He was also able to stay healthy in 2024 to be counted on, so that also contributes to him being considered pretty good relative to the rest of the 2024 bullpen.
I don’t like the idea of Montgomery starting the season with the Sox. He needs to prove he can hit AAA pitching first. I’m good with either Ramos at 3B with Rojas as super-sub or Rojas at 3B with Ramos taking some time at DH. My argument for Ramos is he’s more likely to be part of this team’s long-term plans, so I’d like to get him time there. Ideally, Vargas comes back and actually looks like a major leaguer, then earns time at DH or maybe in the field somewhere. Now that they’ve released Amaya, I’d put Baldwin at SS, or move Rojas (even though SS is his worst position defensively) and play Ramos at 3B. I’m ok with letting Sosa go.
Ramos hasn’t proven that he can hit AAA pitching either – a .755 OPS at Charlotte isn’t impressive. Neither him or Montgomery should be on the opening day roster.
I’m curious to find out today what the arb ask/offer numbers are for Vaughn. I think the oft quoted $6.4 mil number is at least a million off of reality. I would head shake if Anderson and Wilson didn’t settle today. Them not settling would be an indicator on how big a prick JR really is.
So they settle with Vaughn by splitting the difference between the expected $6.4 mil and my expected million less by signing him to $5.85 mil per James
Also, Wilson signs at $950k. No word on Anderson yet.
900k
Josh- if you cut Lenyn Sosa you are literally dropping 2019 batting champion Tim Anderson.
Can we just cut Sosa and sign Anderson instead…
This can’t be real, can it?
100% real.
I did omit one important difference… but I’m sure prime TA’s ability to BABIP .400 had nothing to do with his elite sprint speed.
Lenyn may want to start praying to the BABIP Gods in hopes of sticking around
Sosa is hitting well in Venezuela right now. OPS over 1.200. Lots of hitters struggle in the cold Aprils; guys used to Caribbean and phoenix weather suddenly playing in temperatures 45 degrees colder are going to have a shock to the system. Maybe it’s not a surprise that the three Amigos seemed to get hurt every April.
Sosa hasn’t played in over a month because he’s hurt. He hit .174/.193/.186 in August which the last time I checked was fairly warm. If he can’t play in April he can’t play in Chicago.
I for one would welcome 67-year-old Jesse Orosco to the White Sox bullpen.
Sox agreed to terms with all their arbitration eligibles, all below projections. Jerry is sending Getz a box of stogies for his fine fiscal management.
I was expecting Justin Anderson to be DFA’d to make room for Perez but he agreed to terms. I assume there is a trade being discussed to make room otherwise I don’t see the delay in announcing the Perez deal (unless they are waiting on a physical which I doubt).