As the Winter Meetings came to a close, Chris Getz said the White Sox's focus is "very much on the free agent front, more so than trade," but that statement has not yet been supported with an additional signing to accompany Anthony Kay.
In the very specific case of Munetaka Murakami's free agency, the White Sox don't have to worry about any expectations with regards to a timetable. The posting process for NPB players takes care of that for them, as he must sign with an MLB team by 4 p.m. CT Monday. It might go down to the wire, and according to two MLB.com reporters, the White Sox are still involved. Sox Machine can confirm the team's pursuit, even if that still only means they won't find out how close they came to the mark until Monday.
That the White Sox are worth mentioning this late in the process can't possibly reflect well on Murakami's market, because if teams are concerned that he can only play first base and will strike out 40 percent of the time, the White Sox are one of a few teams that could sign him and still be no worse for the wear, because even a whiff on a short-term deal would make the Sox more interesting, and they need all the help they can get in getting people to think about them.
Lest a more sensible suitor render Feinsand's tweet a dead end in less than 48 hours, we're instead going to tackle P.O. Sox questions questions sent to us from Sox Machine supporters who subscribe to the 10 WAR tier, with the answers being available to everybody who subscribes. If the White Sox somehow land Murakami, we'll have all the time in the world to examine it.
As always, thanks for your support.
Given the wide range of responsibilities Carlos Rodriguez had with the Rays, he's got valuable perspective for current employees as diverse as David Keller and Geoff Head. What might we expect from his first year with the Sox, and how might his background help modernize baseball operations?
Asinwreck
James: Predicting the future is hard, but the White Sox are pretty upbeat about what David Keller, Louis Silverio and Adrian Puig are doing with the international department, with a slew of 2029 and 2030 commits that they’re really excited about. Rodriguez has experience in that realm and it was intimated that he’ll have insight to provide as they build out their new academy in the Dominican Republic (probably up and running by 2027, but possibly late-2026), so that could provide some overlap with international scouting, but this isn’t a hire directed at putting him at the top of one department. As it was put to me, the fact that Rodriguez has worn a lot of different hats was a central part of his appeal. The Rays are so transactional because of how proactive they are at avoiding 40-man roster crunches, and the Sox are expecting Rodriguez to help in that area. He oversaw the installation of nutrition programs and other department-wide player development initiatives with the Rays, and certainly could be part of reviewing all their processes in that realm. Player evaluation, player acquisition, are all areas he’s expected to weigh in on.
To avoid a longer, more rambling answer, this current White Sox group wants to operate as efficiently and opportunistically as the Rays have, because they see themselves in a similar payroll position. Now they’ve brought in someone used to helping run an organization in exactly that fashion.
Jim: Rick Hahn used to point to the Rays as an example that money wasn't everything, but he either didn't process the ways the Rays succeeded around their budgetary limitations, or he considered the White Sox monied enough to not have to stoop to some of those methods. It's more depressing that Getz sees the Rays as a team they have to emulate, but there's probably value in such honesty.
Just finished binge watching It Welcome to Derry. Did you notice the Minnie Minoso sighting?
The Rich Santos character is of Cuban descent and has a poster of Minnie in his locker. It’s set in 1962 (the season he played with the Cardinals).
Not as big as the Pope is a Sox fan, but still nice to see.
Bud Black Metal
Jim: Nope, but since it's horror and on HBO, I'm twice removed from the target audience. If nothing else, looking back to at the trade that sent him to St. Louis reminded me of this matter-of-fact line from The Sporting News: “Immediately after he learned of the trade, Minoso gave up a job selling season tickets for the White Sox.”
James: The only time I’m traveling to Derry is to see The Girls.
Do you think the success of the team in the first half affects who they draft? Could a (relatively)strong start influence a pick who needs less seasoning in the minors?
Andrew S.
Josh: Short answer to this question, Andrew, is “No.”
We are within seven months of the Chicago White Sox making a monumental decision with the first overall pick, so a lot can change between now and then. But let’s assume that Roch Cholowsky and Grady Emerson meet preseason expectations and are still the top two prospects in July’s draft. I think the greatest deciding factor in Chris Getz’s decision-making will be the money game that Mike Shirley lays out.
Paul Skenes still holds the signing bonus record for a first overall pick at $9.2 million back in 2023. At the time, the first overall pick bonus slot value was $9,721,000, so the Pittsburgh Pirates saved about $500,000. Last year, the first overall pick was worth $11,075,900. That’s quite the jump in just three years. As I wrote back in August, if we estimate a 4.7% increase in slot value, the White Sox first overall pick could be worth $11,605,350.
I don’t foresee any prospect blowing past Skenes’ signing bonus record by millions of dollars. Especially in light of Skenes putting together one of the best college pitching seasons ever, and watching that translate to Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. If I had to make an educated guess, I would bet that Shirley is aiming to draft and sign a prospect around $9 million at Pick 1.
That would give the White Sox amateur scouting department an additional $2.6 million to spend elsewhere in the next nine rounds. As we saw last year, when the Washington Nationals selected Eli Willits, the $2.8 million in slot savings allowed them to draft and sign players in the second to fifth rounds at $2 or $2.5 million bonuses. All five prospects were in my final Top 100 rankings.
The White Sox are not one player away from being a championship-caliber team. They need as much quality talent as they can draft and sign in July because they won’t be able to draft higher than 10th overall in the 2027 MLB Draft. There’s a heightened focus on not screwing this draft up because it’s their best opportunity to not only add a special talent first overall, but this could be the biggest draft bonus pool that Shirley and his staff have ever worked with.
On July 11, I believe the final three questions White Sox scouts and Getz will hash out before turning in their selection will be:
- Did this prospect perform to our expectations this spring?
- Are there any red flags regarding health or makeup?
- What’s their signing bonus ask?
James: Since Josh gave such a thoughtful and detailed answer, I’ll go with a pithy one. I think the most instructive quote I’ve gotten from a White Sox employee in the last five years was crosschecker J.J. Lally saying “if we’re not going to be able to sign Aaron Judge, we have to draft our own.” With where this team is at, with where their payrolls have been at, amateur drafts and international signing periods are their opportunities to acquire star players for cheap, because they can’t afford them on the open market. They will likely be shooting for the highest ceiling regardless of record.
Jim: At the Winter Meetings, when Josh was describing the Cholowsky vs. Emerson post as he was writing it up, it made me wonder whether the No. 2 pick would've come with far less pressure, because when there are two obvious candidates, nobody faults you for selecting the one left over. Sometimes that gets you Kevin Durant. On the other hand, sometimes that gets you Ryan Leaf.
Who will get a new stadium figured out first? The White Sox or Bears?
Alec S.
James: Hot take, but neither franchise’s current ownership group has made promising strides for securing public funding that they clearly will need to make something happen. And only one has a succession plan for a deeper-pocketed alternative already in place.
Jim: On the podcast, Josh has lamented that the White Sox lack a president of baseball operations, or anybody who is capable of articulating a grander vision of what the White Sox intend to me. Jerry Reinsdorf likes the “control” part of “controlling interest,” but ducks every opportunity to engage with the public, which is probably for the better. Chris Getz is probably too humbled by the White Sox's limitations to get out over his skis with rhetoric, but the on-field results during his tenure would take care of bluster regardless. It leaves the White Sox feeling rudderless, even if they truly have people who are putting their heads down and doing the necessary foundational work.
But then you look at the Bears, who hired Kevin Warren for that type of presidential job, and despite all of his maneuvering, he's been just as productive as Reinsdorf riding shotgun on Related Midwest's plans for The 78, letting Roger Bossard carve out a baseball field, and then going to Springfield and saying “Come onnnnnnnn.” We've seen the Bears make every leverage ploy with zero traction thus far, but we don't know what it will look like when the White Sox start really trying, which is more or less the entire sales pitch for the franchise until 2029, or whenever the transition finally occurs.
