The Chicago White Sox '21-'22 offseason

[Lake Shore Drive]

You guys make Jerry and Co. proud pulling the "It can work with Keuchel" card. I commend you all for trying to make mental lemonade out of our typical Free Agent/offseason lemonade and look forward to falling on the knife with you when/if he doesn't return to form.

I detect a tad of sarcasm here Jidster. But just a tad.

 

[Jiddy]

I detect a tad of sarcasm here Jidster. But just a tad.

 

[Mingo]

You guys make Jerry and Co. proud pulling the "It can work with Keuchel" card. I commend you all for trying to make mental lemonade out of our typical Free Agent/offseason lemonade and look forward to falling on the knife with you when/if he doesn't return to form.

Yes - we may all have to commit Harry Carey.

BTW - the Bears can have any coach the Broncos don't want.

 

[Jiddy]

Yes - we may all have to commit Harry Carey.

BTW - the Bears can have any coach the Broncos don't want.

Fangio coming home....as DC.

 

[Mingo]

Fangio coming home....as DC.

I really liked him, but DC and leave him alone - and you'll have a championship defense.

 

[richig07]

Fangio coming home....as DC.

Would be awesome. Likely a pipe dream, though. Whoever we hire will bring their own staff. I don't see any finalists for HC (or GM) with a connection to him.

 

[Mingo]

There are some bets here that sound pretty good to me:

Notable White Sox Futures Bets Worth Considering | Sox On 35th

As we get closer to April, for you bettors out there: who are some good players to place some futures bets on for the White Sox?

www.soxon35th.com

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

There are some bets here that sound pretty good to me:

Notable White Sox Futures Bets Worth Considering | Sox On 35th

As we get closer to April, for you bettors out there: who are some good players to place some futures bets on for the White Sox?

www.soxon35th.com

Good stuff. I think my three faves would be Jimenez for the HR title, Cease for the SO title, and Anderson for the Runs title.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Mets Not Done Upgrading Rotation

When roster transactions once again fall within the purview of professional baseball teams, the Mets will be on the lookout …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

The article itself is discussing potential Mets additions by trading with the A's, but since two of the three names involved are ex-Good Guys, I thought it was somewhat pertinent to post it in here. Besides, I believe we have previously discussed a possible Bassitt trade.

Not sure if the A's are truly looking at a teardown & rebuild, but even if so, do we have the goods to trade for one of these? Technically, we're set with a 5 man rotation already, but for the most part I think we agree that an upgrade could be called for here. For instance, a trade involving Keuchel and X number of prospects for one of these guys. Now since the A's are looking at a salary dump, the only way I could see them accepting such a trade is for us to eat a huge portion of Keuchel's remaining salary. The advantage for the A's here is they receive a veteran starter at a low financial cost to help transition their rebuild, along of course with some quality prospects. But we have to remember too that the A's have smoked us big time in past trades over the last couple of decades, so I'm sure they would at least give Hahn a buzz to see if there's a way they can fleece us again. Lucky for us Hahn isn't Kenny Williams, who was the bozo making those dumb trades back then.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Nicky Delmonico Is Back In The White Sox Organization

A White Sox fan favorite is back in the organization. On Wednesday Nicky Delmonico was named the hitting coach for their Class-A affiliate.

www.sportsmockery.com

We lose Nicky Two Strikes, but get back Nicky Three Strikes!!!

 

[richig07]

Good stuff. I think my three faves would be Jimenez for the HR title, Cease for the SO title, and Anderson for the Runs title.

Jiminez would be a lock for 50+ HR's if we just f'n DH'd him and stopped letting him make a clown of himself in LF. Every time he has to chase down a ball my heart is in my throat.

 

[richig07]

Nicky Delmonico Is Back In The White Sox Organization

A White Sox fan favorite is back in the organization. On Wednesday Nicky Delmonico was named the hitting coach for their Class-A affiliate.

www.sportsmockery.com

We lose Nicky Two Strikes, but get back Nicky Three Strikes!!!

Always liked Delmonico as a dude. Seemed like a good guy. I wish him the best in his new career.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Looks like La Pantera played a sizable role in getting Colás to ink with the Good Guys:

Luis Robert Helped Recruit Oscar Colás To The White Sox

Luis Robert played a role in helping recruit Oscar Colas to the Chicago White Sox, after the time the two spent together in Cuba.

www.sportsmockery.com

Pretty cool read here.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

So here's an article from MLB Trade Rumors listing the 14 likeliest candidates for trade once this stupid strike is over:

The 14 Likeliest Trade Candidates After The Lockout

Which MLB players will be on the move after the lockout ends?

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Note Kimbrel is one of them. But I'm more focused on possibly landing one or two of these who we might end up trading for, which could possibly include Kimbrel in a package deal. After all, as the story regarding BA's trashing of our farm system goes, it's not as if we have a plethora of trade capital coming from our minors. Regardless, of this batch, three are of particular interest to me.

*Chris Bassitt, SP A's
*Sean Manaea, SP A's
*Jeff McNeil, INF/OF Mets

Both Bassitt and Manaea are rentals, being they both become FAs at the conclusion of the '22 season. So I'd hate like hell to give up any top of the line talent from our farm. But it's hard to imagine not having to surrender one, maybe even two of our top 10 - even for a rental. Of course, this is assuming Hahn & Co are considering adding to the rotation. They might already be set on going with our current five as it stands. Maybe a July trade deadline scenario would play out if the need arises (which I'm guessing it just might).

You can take a look at McNeil's stats from last year and ask where is there any improvement over Leury Garcia, at least from a stats standpoint. In fact, Leury arguably had the better season. But in checking out McNeil's three prior seasons you see some good numbers, especially in '19. And like Garcia, the dude can play a number of positions, altho we'd obviously be targeting him to primarily man 2b. Another plus is McNeil is under team control for three more years. So what are some of the downsides? Well, to start, are the Mets really interested in trading him? They do have somewhat of a bottleneck based on their current roster, especially when they inked Eduardo Escobar, but there appears to be adequate room for both if that's the team's plan. And what would it take to obtain McNeil's services and his 3 years of team control? It'd be nice if we could dangle Kimbrel, but the Mets already have a solid closer in Edwin Diaz. And since both of these pitchers are in their walk year, there's no real advantage that Hahn could offer the Mets brass. So it's more likely that we'd have to surrender some quality names from the farm. If such was the case would it be worth it?

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Well well well..........

MLB agrees to universal designated hitter and elimination of draft-pick compensation for free agents

No more pitchers on the bases wearing jackets. No more surprise dingers. No more epic bunts. No more awkward batting stances and related injury scares. It’s the end of an era, but at least we’ll always have Bartolo Colon’s legendary home run. Major League Baseball has agreed to the universal...

sports.yahoo.com

Guess in 20/20 hindsight it's a good thing that we didn't offer Rodon a QO, at least not from a draft compensation standpoint. Maybe Hahn knew this all along. And I'm glad both leagues will finally perform on the same playing field. Of course this is subject to union approval as part of a newly signed CBA. But these were two points the union has been for all along anyway, so each change is as good as done upon post ratification.

 

[Mingo]

Today's negotiating session has to get the sides closer to an agreement if MLB wants to keep its full training schedule.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Today's negotiating session has to get the sides closer to an agreement if MLB wants to keep its full training schedule.

From the sounds of it, the players were non-plussed with the latest offer from the owners. Can't say 100% that this was the nail in the coffin for the season to resume as normal, but it's not looking good.

 

[Jiddy]

From the sounds of it, the players were non-plussed with the latest offer from the owners. Can't say 100% that this was the nail in the coffin for the season to resume as normal, but it's not looking good.

Sad panda.

 

[Mingo]

There's a reason why deals happen at the last minute - because that's when both parties are the most incentivized.

The owners don't mind shortening training camp, but I doubt they want to get into scheduled games. My prediction -- Training camps start March 1.

 

[Jiddy]

There's a reason why deals happen at the last minute - because that's when both parties are the most incentivized.

The owners don't mind shortening training camp, but I doubt they want to get into scheduled games. My prediction -- Training camps start March 1.

Never underestimate the ego of rich assholes. And basically every party involved is one...