Grandal

[Lake Shore Drive]

Right now, I would say that McCann is our DH against LHP and Collins vs RHP. McCann catches on most of Grandal's off days (where I still hope Grandal DH's some of those days). Collins maybe gets worked in with a start behind the plate once in a blue moon. Both play a little first base. I don't know how it all flushes out. It should look something like that, though.

What's interesting is that Collins has a relationship with Grandal going back to when he was 15 years old. Maybe they like the idea of having him around to mentor Collins? If one is a trade chip. I feel like it may be McCann on his one year deal. But I get the feeling both are here. Don't quote me on this aspect of it, of course.

Also, you bring up Zavala/Mercedes. We promoted Mercedes to the 40 man roster to protect him from Rule 5. So, yeah... we have a lot. It's pretty incredible how weak this position was and now it's the strongest that even an old White Sox fan should be able to recall for quite some time. Potentially, ever. We'll see.

Yeah, I suppose I left out one option and that's having all three catchers on the parent roster. One thing this could theoretically accomplish is it would reduce the need for a bonafide DH signing. Maybe the Sox will take the DH-by-committee approach this year. But I'll stick with Collins being a candidate for inclusion if the Sox decide to make a big name trade.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

BTW, the one casualty of the Grandal signing was Daniel Palka, who was designated for assignment by the Sox in order to free up a roster spot. Too bad, I always liked him - I could go as far as saying he was my second favorite player on the '18 club. But he really fell to earth fast this past season. Wish him well.

 

[richig07]

BTW, the one casualty of the Grandal signing was Daniel Palka, who was designated for assignment by the Sox in order to free up a roster spot. Too bad, I always liked him - I could go as far as saying he was my second favorite player on the '18 club. But he really fell to earth fast this past season. Wish him well.

Palka would be the greatest beer league softball player of all-time. Major league baseball? He falls a bit short of being able to hang around. He doesn't have a defensive position and his offense isn't good enough to warrant one of the 15 DH jobs.

 

[richig07]

You're killing me. 18.25 would be the 50th highest salary in the mlb last year....So it is "spending"...but it isn't like we dropped a bucketload of money on a player. Do you think we'll sign somebody else for higher than we just spent on this guy? I'd venture to say no. But you never know, Jerry isn't as cheap as some make him out to be, if he thinks we have a winner...Granted, I wouldn't expect THAT kind of signing until we actually hit .500...so if the Sox did go out and get Cole/Strasburg this offseason, there's not enough adjectives in the English language to quantify what would be my surprise.

Soup to nuts: The best part of this signing is that he was the probably the cream of the crop of the most realistic players we would go after...so yay for that.


As for plan B: Who is playing DH for us next year? We're just gonna play McCann for 30 games-ish? That's what I meant by plan B, as a I assume the 2 of them will platoon C/DH for about 90% of the plate appearances...unless there's something else in the pipeline? But if so, who?

It is ridiculous that a person can earn 73 million playing baseball when he can't put the ball on the ground or out of the stands 25% of the time he makes contact. That is not all going to change any time soon. I would be littering this forum with angered posts and losing my sh*t right now if we paid 300-400 million for Harper/Machado and they went .256/.260 for us while we hovered at .500 or under. At least this Grandal guy isn't anywhere near that...so it is 100 times better as there's less fear that we dipped so hard there's no turning back if it doesn't pan out. If we sign a guy for 9 figures, he HAS to produce at an elite level as we're not rich enough as a team to overcome it a la Yankees/Red Sox/Dodgers/Cubs/etc. I think our management understands this...Cross your fingers that we make the right moves.

Whatever you're getting on about with saving face...yeah...that's a big whatever burger. Knock your socks off I guess. We're a better team today. In the end, that's all that matters.

You're killing me. 18.25 would be the 50th highest salary in the mlb last year....So it is "spending"...
but it isn't like we dropped a bucketload of money on a player.

A few weeks ago, you were implying that Calhoun and Dickerson were our spending ceilings. Stop dude. lol

Do you think we'll sign somebody else for higher than we just spent on this guy? I'd venture to say no.

So, investing 150ish mil into one player would = spending during the off-season

But 150ish mil into two or three would = not spending?


It is ridiculous that a person can earn 73 million playing baseball when he can't put the ball on the ground or out of the stands 25% of the time he makes contact.

This doesn't even make sense. You want a guy to homer 25% of the time he makes contact? Or you want him to put it on the ground 25% of the time? What?

If you're bitching about his average again. It's already been gone over to death in this thread that the guy was a .380 OBP hitter last year and has constantly been a high OBP guy. lol. Last time I checked, a walk gets you on first just like a single. AND... it makes the pitcher work more. Is it 1975 on this forum? What did I miss?

Also, you're willfully neglecting how good he is on defense again. At the most important defensive position on the diamond. Where guys get paid for defense more than ANY other position. Why?

It seems like these points have been covered already.


Whatever you're getting on about with saving face...yeah...that's a big whatever burger. Knock your socks off I guess. We're a better team today. In the end, that's all that matters

Yeah, I'm sure your constant reassurance and confidence that wouldn't spend a dime. That Dickerson/Calhoun were our ceiling. etc... That has nothing to do with you trying to diminish what was spent and how valuable Grandal is.

Right.

 

[msgkings322]

Just read it myself. Wow, that's a major coup and it's proving to me that the Sox, at least with this signing, are not just talking the talk this offseason.

This was always the year they were going to go for it. This has been the plan since the new GM took over. Playoffs for sure this year, window is the next 3 years.

Need a horse veteran starter still, and to shore up the pen. Their hitting is set.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

This was always the year they were going to go for it. This has been the plan since the new GM took over. Playoffs for sure this year, window is the next 3 years.

Need a horse veteran starter still, and to shore up the pen. Their hitting is set.

I remember you saying that before, I sure hope you're right. I think with a couple more key signings we can legitimately shot for the playoffs.

 

[GNG]

Grandal only batted 246 last season but did hit 28 home runs.

 

[navamind]

Grandal only batted 246 last season but did hit 28 home runs.

More importantly, he had a .380 OBP.

 

[GNG]

More importantly, he had a .380 OBP.

He won't have Christian Yelich batting behind him this season.

 

[navamind]

He won't have Christian Yelich batting behind him this season.

he has a career walk rate of 13.9%. he'll draw plenty of walks without Yelich.

 

[GNG]

he has a career walk rate of 13.9%. he'll draw plenty of walks without Yelich.

Maybe yes but I have my doubts.

 

[navamind]

Maybe yes but I have my doubts.

he may not post a .380 OBP, but he still has a career .348 OBP. that's still good, especially by catcher standards. combine that with his power and he's easily one of the best hitting catchers in the league.

 

[GNG]

he may not post a .380 OBP, but he still has a career .348 OBP. that's still good, especially by catcher standards. combine that with his power and he's easily one of the best hitting catchers in the league.

He can hit the long ball.

 

[idseer]

............. It's pretty incredible how weak this position was and now it's the strongest that even an old White Sox fan should be able to recall for quite some time. Potentially, ever. We'll see.

Well, let’s see … in ’59 the sox had sherm lollar, john romano and earl battey.

‘81 to ‘93 they had fisk and it didn’t matter who else.

’13 to ’23 they had ray shalk and it didn’t matter who else.

So maybe 4th best … at best!

 

[Trudem]

He won't have Christian Yelich batting behind him this season.

This doesnt make sense. If he was hitting in front of Yelich then they would pitch to Grandal to avoid getting to Yelich. He walked alot in spite of them attacking him

 

[idseer]

i see nothing great about this signing. he's on the down-side (especially for a catcher), isn't a hitter, and had the worst dwar (-0.4) in baseball last season for catchers. doubt very much he'll be worth what the sox gave up for him.

and those walks? first time he's come close to the figure he had last year. that's not his average! his obp? highest since his first year. that's not his average! you guys .... always looking at the best possible scenario. this signing does nothing toward making this team a contender imo.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

i see nothing great about this signing. he's on the down-side (especially for a catcher), isn't a hitter, and had the worst dwar (-0.4) in baseball last season for catchers. doubt very much he'll be worth what the sox gave up for him.

and those walks? first time he's come close to the figure he had last year. that's not his average! his obp? highest since his first year. that's not his average! you guys .... always looking at the best possible scenario. this signing does nothing toward making this team a contender imo.

You're cherry picking to make an argument against signing him. For instance, you point out that his high walk rate last year was something of an anomaly, and to a point you are correct. His next highest number of walks was 72 the year before. But even when we omit those 109 BBs from this past season, the previous 5 years as a starter he's averaged 60 walks per season. You have more fingers on one hand than the total number of White Sox players who drew more walks in ANY of the past 5 seasons.

Then you cite his -0.4 dWAR for '19 to bolster your argument, but without stating that he's been in positive territory the previous 4 years. Plus you carefully omit his reputation as a pitch framer and his Runs Extra Strikes rating of +13, second highest in Baseball.

Guess my point is you obviously don't have to like the signing. But if you're going to use only stats that can boost your argument, then don't be shocked when we counter with stats to support his signing.

 

[GNG]

i see nothing great about this signing. he's on the down-side (especially for a catcher), isn't a hitter, and had the worst dwar (-0.4) in baseball last season for catchers. doubt very much he'll be worth what the sox gave up for him.

and those walks? first time he's come close to the figure he had last year. that's not his average! his obp? highest since his first year. that's not his average! you guys .... always looking at the best possible scenario. this signing does nothing toward making this team a contender imo.

Thanks for laying out the facts.

 

[packerzrule]

You're cherry picking to make an argument against signing him. For instance, you point out that his high walk rate last year was something of an anomaly, and to a point you are correct. His next highest number of walks was 72 the year before. But even when we omit those 109 BBs from this past season, the previous 5 years as a starter he's averaged 60 walks per season. You have more fingers on one hand than the total number of White Sox players who drew more walks in ANY of the past 5 seasons.

Then you cite his -0.4 dWAR for '19 to bolster your argument, but without stating that he's been in positive territory the previous 4 years. Plus you carefully omit his reputation as a pitch framer and his Runs Extra Strikes rating of +13, second highest in Baseball.

Guess my point is you obviously don't have to like the signing. But if you're going to use only stats that can boost your argument, then don't be shocked when we counter with stats to support his signing.

You guys are going to like having Yaz in the lineup - trust me.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

You guys are going to like having Yaz in the lineup - trust me.

Thanks bud, and I can tell by the number of Brewer fans such as you who have been congratulating us for signing him, not to mention the number of analysts on sports websites and on TV who have been lauding this signing. But there are always a few who tend to see the glass as half empty. As a lifelong Sox fan, I'm quite use to seeing that.