The '20-'21 White Sox offseason

[Lake Shore Drive]

Colome is a good player. I would mourn his loss but we improved on paper. Gotta see what Hendriks does in a Sox uniform first to anoint him though...as with every player.

I think if the Sox weren't hot after Hendriks or better still, really wanted Colome to return, they would have at least made him an offer, and it wouldn't surprise me if it would have been better than what the Twins gave him. Not sure what to make of it all. The man finished with a miniscule 0.81 ERA along with nailing down a dozen saves. But for whatever reasons, a lot of teams weren't all that impressed. The Twins signing is proof. Doesn't make those other teams right, it's just what the market dictated.

 

[Jiddy]

I think if the Sox weren't hot after Hendriks or better still, really wanted Colome to return, they would have at least made him an offer, and it wouldn't surprise me if it would have been better than what the Twins gave him. Not sure what to make of it all. The man finished with a miniscule 0.81 ERA along with nailing down a dozen saves. But for whatever reasons, a lot of teams weren't all that impressed. The Twins signing is proof. Doesn't make those other teams right, it's just what the market dictated.

They probably read all you guys on this message board that wanted to trade him a couple years ago.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

They probably read all you guys on this message board that wanted to trade him a couple years ago.

I've felt for some time now that my posts have had a tremendous impact on how the White Sox go about their business.

 

[idseer]

Analytics. Don't ask me to expand on that, I still go by old fashioned ERA, BA, HR, RBI, etc. But they've been saying on the MLB channel and other sports sites for much of the offseason that Colome is due for regression, and the market reacted accordingly.

And I think we all agree with Mingo's point. As dependable as Colome was during his two year stint with the Sox, he did induce a number of cringeworthy moments as we sweated out a number of his final outs.

he'll be 32. he had one of his best seasons this past year. given NO indication of slowing down. gave up his fewest hits/9 ever. gave up NO hr's. had less than half the era as hendriks. was 4th in saves (with fewer chances). is not injury prone.
yes he seemed to scare us at times but after all is said and done his numbers are monstrous. what 'experts' suggest he's due for regression? what is the indicator?

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Sooooooooo, in the spirit of Mingo's other post where he linked an article about where the Sox like to eat while in AZ and then so callously opined that it was intended for bored fans like me (like I said, the man knows me all too well)............. because I am bored, why not devote an updated post as to our primary offseason transactions and how we've fared or even graded out to date - on paper of course.

Biggest gain: Lance Lynn. No brainer trade, even tho it cost us a young rotational starter with an upside. But Lynn is a solid, durable veteran, a winner, and perhaps most importantly, an innings eater, which is crucial in keeping our pen as rested as possible for the long season ahead. Last year proved that a playoff team cannot survive without at a minimum a trio of dependable starters.

Biggest loss: James McCann. This may sound like sour grapes, but I'm not yet convinced Jimmy can put together a full productive season with solid numbers. Remember in '19, his lone AS season, his back half stats were almost brutal. And of course '20 was equal to less than half a season. Still, he made for the best 2nd string catcher in the bigs last year and his presence will be missed no matter what. Right now our backup catcher situation is pretty grim.

The offset biggest gain: Liam Hendriks. Sox sign the fiercest, most sought after closer in free agency, who is expected to put in workhorse appearances and results. In this day and age, a lights out closer might be second only to a team's rotational ace in terms of pitching importance.

The offset biggest loss: Alex Colome. You kinda wince every time he's given the ball at closing time, but the man came thru like a champ way more often than not. Analytics say he's heading in the wrong direction. Time will tell as to how correct or wrong those are.

The "Hey, who knows?" impact: Adam Eaton. The Eaton who played for the Sox and the '19 Eaton who helped the Nats win the WS would be a very pleasant plus for the Sox. The '17, '18, or '20 Eaton would tell us Hahn fucked up big time in signing him. I'm banking on the former.

The Reinsdorf Award signing: Carlos Rodon. Nothing brings more tears of joy to Jerry's face than inking a starting FA pitcher to a $3m contract. Perhaps the one positive from this is it will give Kopech time in the minors to build up his stamina and perhaps be ready to join the rotation this year once Rodon tanks, which is all but a given.

Overall, I'd grade the above transactions with a solid B. But we're still light on the backup catcher situation, another veteran starter not called Rodon would have been more helpful, and maybe even an additional pen arm might have helped, altho that's being picky.

The one area I'll remain concerned is who is going to take over as the primary DH. But much to idseer's optimism in the kid, I too will now join him in pinning my hopes on a productive season from Mike Vaughn. The Sox have sure indicated that they intend for him to play a major role this season, so let's buckle up and hope he's the real deal - but just for THIS year, because in the long term, I don't have a shadow of a doubt that he will be one of our biggest bats for years to come.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

he'll be 32. he had one of his best seasons this past year. given NO indication of slowing down. gave up his fewest hits/9 ever. gave up NO hr's. had less than half the era as hendriks. was 4th in saves (with fewer chances). is not injury prone.
yes he seemed to scare us at times but after all is said and done his numbers are monstrous. what 'experts' suggest he's due for regression? what is the indicator?

Like I said, it's the analytics, of which I'm more than willing to concede at being a babe in the woods when it comes to understanding them. I know they discussed at times his decrease in the swing-n-miss rate and an increase in balls-in-play rate, with both considered negative directions. Feel free to take it from there.

 

[Jiddy]

Bauer to the Dodgers. 3 years 102 million.

So that's that...not that the Sox were ever in on it.

Losing to the Dodgers in the WS because of this guy better not be in our future...

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Bauer to the Dodgers. 3 years 102 million.

So that's that...not that the Sox were ever in on it.

Losing to the Dodgers in the WS because of this guy better not be in our future...

I'd be happy if we make it to the WS. Then bummed if we lost it.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Bauer to the Dodgers. 3 years 102 million.

So that's that...not that the Sox were ever in on it.

Losing to the Dodgers in the WS because of this guy better not be in our future...

I'd be happy if we make it to the WS. Then bummed if we lost it.

Oh, and one more thing. I've said from day one that if Bauer wasn't going to sign with us, at least hope he stays in the NL. In that case tho I would have preferred he signed with the Pirates, but you can't have everything.

 

[Jiddy]

I'd be happy if we make it to the WS. Then bummed if we lost it.

I mean...If the end goal is to win a World Series sometime in the next 3-5 years...This guy now probably stands in the way.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I mean...If the end goal is to win a World Series sometime in the next 3-5 years...This guy now probably stands in the way.

Hard to argue with that..........altho technically he can opt out in the next two years (as if).

 

[Jiddy]

Oh, and one more thing. I've said from day one that if Bauer wasn't going to sign with us, at least hope he stays in the NL. In that case tho I would have preferred he signed with the Pirates, but you can't have everything.

I think what we've learned from this is that our White Sox have a LOT of faith in Dylan Cease.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I think what we've learned from this is that our White Sox have a LOT of faith in Dylan Cease.

LOL.... a LOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

[Jiddy]

LOL.... a LOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I'm just sayin'...This isn't "Michael Kopech is the man" nonchalance. I think they're easily projecting that they thing Cease is a legit top 4 and won't fall off/leave us with a question mark. I mean, if it works out...Fine...but man...They should have grabbed this window by the balls. Then again, who's to say somebody of Bauer's quality isn't available next offseason if necessary via trade/free agency? I guess we'll see how it goes.

But it looks like we're filling all these remaining holes internally with Cease/Kopech/Vaughn/Cespedes.

We'll see.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I'm just sayin'...This isn't "Michael Kopech is the man" nonchalance. I think they're easily projecting that they thing Cease is a legit top 4 and won't fall off/leave us with a question mark. I mean, if it works out...Fine...but man...They should have grabbed this window by the balls. Then again, who's to say somebody of Bauer's quality isn't available next offseason if necessary via trade/free agency? I guess we'll see how it goes.

But it looks like we're filling all these remaining holes internally with Cease/Kopech/Vaughn/Cespedes.

We'll see.

You may or may not recall way back just about a couple of days after the Sox were knocked out that there were really only two definitive wishes on my offseason list: Bauer and Springer. Which was pretty much what every other White Sox fan on planet earth wanted as well. But even back then I knew Bauer would only be possible on a 1 year deal or at best a 1+1. It became quite evident early on that this wasn't going to be the case, so I quickly scratched off that wish. It didn't take long afterward once seeing the numbers Springer was seeking that he too was not going to be a South Sider - so buhbye to that wish. It was then I realized the Sox were once again going offseason shopping Walmart style. I have to say tho I thought it was at least a bit aggressive that they traded for Lynn - that was a good snatch. And I give lots of cred for taking the plunge on Hendriks. I think he's going to bring it big time. The rest? Meh.

 

[Mingo]

LOL.... a LOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Dylan Cease is NOT Lot's wife - but @idseer is old enough to make a personal identification.

 

[Mingo]

White Sox Add Jerry Narron As Major League Instructor - On Tap Sports Net

Turns out this is cheaper than getting a 2nd starting catcher...

 

[idseer]

Dylan Cease is NOT Lot's wife - but @idseer is old enough to make a personal identification.

HEY!

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

MLB has listed their top 10 remaining free agents:

Up for grabs: Top free agents still available

The top free agents are coming off the board left and right. Trevor Bauer, Marcell Ozuna and Nelson Cruz are in the latest wave of premier players to agree to deals, joining George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu and more who have already signed. So who's left? Don't worry, there's

www.mlb.com

A shame that #2, 4, & 5 from the above were on my wish list for signing an additional starter:

As has become the norm of late, we're not sure if the Sox are thru shopping this offseason. On this particular post, I'm concentrating on discussing whether we should be going after another pitcher still on the market whose name is not Bauer. Probably the four biggest names left are:

Masahiro Tanaka
Taijuan Walker
Jake Odorizzi
James Paxton

It can be argued as to whether those are the best four remaining, but whatever. First off, there is jack squat, rumor-wise, indicating that the Sox are in the market for another starter, so this is just me throwing shit out there for the sake of discussion. Tanaka has been my pick for a while as to going after a middle rotation signing, but reports are coming in that he's definitely heading back to the Empire of the Sun. This leaves Walker, age 28, Odorizzi, age 30, and Paxton, age 32.

Walker is the youngest and perhaps with the highest upside of the three, regardless of age. But he's pitched very little in the last 3 years.
Odorizzi missed much of last season, but in the prior 6 seasons he's been somewhat of a workhorse, making between 28 and 33 starts.
Paxton, the only lefty in this group, who has also battled injuries over the years, had a terrible '20 before having to call it a season by undergoing back surgery. In the immediate years before then, he was a dependable, winning starter.

If given a choice as armchair GM, I'd have the Sox take a flyer on Paxton.


But not to worry, we ended up signing Rodon, who will lead us to the Promised Land!!! Woot woot!!

 

[Mingo]

MLB has listed their top 10 remaining free agents:

Up for grabs: Top free agents still available

The top free agents are coming off the board left and right. Trevor Bauer, Marcell Ozuna and Nelson Cruz are in the latest wave of premier players to agree to deals, joining George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu and more who have already signed. So who's left? Don't worry, there's

www.mlb.com

A shame that #2, 4, & 5 from the above were on my wish list for signing an additional starter:

As has become the norm of late, we're not sure if the Sox are thru shopping this offseason. On this particular post, I'm concentrating on discussing whether we should be going after another pitcher still on the market whose name is not Bauer. Probably the four biggest names left are:

Masahiro Tanaka
Taijuan Walker
Jake Odorizzi
James Paxton

It can be argued as to whether those are the best four remaining, but whatever. First off, there is jack squat, rumor-wise, indicating that the Sox are in the market for another starter, so this is just me throwing shit out there for the sake of discussion. Tanaka has been my pick for a while as to going after a middle rotation signing, but reports are coming in that he's definitely heading back to the Empire of the Sun. This leaves Walker, age 28, Odorizzi, age 30, and Paxton, age 32.

Walker is the youngest and perhaps with the highest upside of the three, regardless of age. But he's pitched very little in the last 3 years.
Odorizzi missed much of last season, but in the prior 6 seasons he's been somewhat of a workhorse, making between 28 and 33 starts.
Paxton, the only lefty in this group, who has also battled injuries over the years, had a terrible '20 before having to call it a season by undergoing back surgery. In the immediate years before then, he was a dependable, winning starter.

If given a choice as armchair GM, I'd have the Sox take a flyer on Paxton.


But not to worry, we ended up signing Rodon, who will lead us to the Promised Land!!! Woot woot!!

I was kind of expecting the Sox to sign Yadier Molina as the 2nd catcher - since he played for LaRu and he's a decent, but old in age catcher still available (plus he has a "Y" first name - which the sox seem to collect).