With the holiday season in full swing, this has been a fairly quiet week around Major League Baseball. If you’re a White Sox fan who happens to read MLBTR, though, we’ve had plenty of items relating to your favorite team over the past couple days. There has been Chicago’s one-year, $12MM agreement with first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, its reported interest (or lack thereof) in free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig and Mark Polishuk’s piece on the extension candidacy of stud center field prospect Luis Robert.
Even before the White Sox committed to Encarnacion, the majority of voters MLBTR polled Tuesday declared they were having the best offseason of all AL teams that finished below .500 in 2019. The White Sox defeated the Angels, Blue Jays and Rangers – teams that are also enjoying impressive offseasons – for that honor. Before Encarnacion jumped aboard, the White Sox added catcher Yasmani Grandal and left-handers Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez in free agency, re-signed 1B/DH/franchise favorite Jose Abreu and acquired outfielder Nomar Mazara in a trade with the Rangers.
Now, with the bulk of the White Sox’s winter work likely done, it’s worth asking how good this team looks on paper. Undoubtedly, Chicago had a high hill to climb coming into the offseason. The club was then fresh off a 72-victory campaign, its 11th in a row without a playoff berth and the seventh straight season in which it lost more games than it won. Maybe the White Sox aren’t quite playoff-caliber now, but considering the moves general manager Rick Hahn & Co. have made in the past month and a half, they should at least push the .500 mark next year.
With Encarnacion, Grandal, Abreu, Mazara, third baseman Yoan Moncada, shortstop/reigning AL batting champion Tim Anderson and left fielder Eloy Jimenez comprising the majority of their offense, the White Sox should be a bear to deal with for opposing pitchers. That’s without considering the forthcoming promotions of Robert and second base prospect Nick Madrigal, who could emerge as regulars in the early going next season.
Likewise, there’s no shortage of promise in Chicago’s rotation. If all goes according to plan, Keuchel and Gonzalez will act as sturdy veterans, Lucas Giolito will continue blossoming into one of the game’s premier starters, Reynaldo Lopez, Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease will quickly realize their vast promise, and Carlos Rodon will return to form after Tommy John surgery. Odds are that everything won’t go right, but that’s still a lot of talent crammed into one starting staff.
If there’s one area Chicago hasn’t really addressed this winter, it’s the team’s bullpen. The White Sox did claim flamethrowing righty Tayron Guerrero off waivers from the Marlins, but they’re otherwise in line to return a familiar cast of characters at the end of games. That isn’t quite cause for panic, though, as their Aaron Bummer-led relief corps largely earned middle-of-the-pack marks last season.
Although we still have several weeks before pitchers and catchers report, this already looks like a much-improved White Sox roster. In an AL Central division with multiple teams in full rebuilds (the Royals and Tigers) and two quality clubs that could take steps back (the Twins and Indians), perhaps Chicago can break through as one of the majors’ surprise playoff contenders in 2020. What do you think?
(Poll link for app users)
I got them winning the division
I got them playing for Cuba in the world baseball classic
That’s racist. THIS ACCOUNT SHOULD BE BANNED FOR RACISM!
Players always play for their country. Doesn’t make it racist.
The problem with society today is exactly this thread… I disagree with things yogineely has said in the past, but to claim racism because the pretext is ethnicity, is not racism.
Suppose yogineely added one sentence, such as: I got them playing for Cuba in the WBC. Cuban players are simply the best product on the field. The predominant issue is still the ethnicity of the players, yet because the latter makes you feel better, you likely wouldn’t consider it racist.
If he stated he hated all Cuban players with no substantive reason, I’d agree with your assessment that he has some improper ethnic bias. But to throw out the race card for a joke like that……… c’mon. Especially when it has been a prevalent issue that clubs lose some of their best players when playing for their own country in the WBC.
Nomar Mazara is Dominican.
Dallas Keuchel is American.
Gio Gonzalez is American.
He’s racist. As a matter of fact, YOU’RE RACIST AND YOUR ACCOUNT SHOULD BE BANNED TOO!
The problem with society today is that people like you can’t take a joke.
But now that I think about it… YOU’RE RACIST TOO!
He never named anyone specifically…. you did though, and the fact that you named American and Dominican people makes your point moot. You’re alleging I’m racist, when you don’t even know my race or that of my family, because I said a comment was not racist? Lololol.
You…. it……. but…… lolololol
Ramonskee, you made an argument that he’s dumb, that’s all.
I never said anything about signings, I actually think it’s cool they could possibly have 4 starters that would play for the Cuban national team if roberts got called up. That’s all
That’s not racist. It’s true. We’re probably have the most Cubans on a single 26 man roster at once.
TheMick7: I concur.
Btw: yogineely didn’t need to add one sentence, such as: I got them playing for Cuba in the WBC. He said exactly that in his only sentence.
Relax there ramonskee, pointing out that the Sox have a lot of Cuban players compared to the rest of the league is not racist.
THIS ACCOUNT SHOULD BE BANNED FOR STUPIDITY!
I believe your intent had racist undertones to it.
Weirdos. All of you.
Any mention of ethnicity is racism? If you want to see racism that bad you’ll find it anywhere.
I wasn’t using my glasses and read Cuba as Cubs. That would be funny.
Maybe but what about the overtones?
Ramonskee, do I detect irony here or just stupidity? I’m thinking…., I’m thinking…..; yep, stupidity.
And no one here cares what race you are.
Ramonskee got dropped on his head as a
Baby
Typical millennial, citing racism where is doesn’t exist, I have Sox also!!
Calm down Ramon
I may get banned as well but I thought it was funny.
Don’t make that bet in las vwgas. You’ll lose by 15 games.
white Sox are still trash though
Answer: Not Very
90 wins at least in that division… they’ll make SP move at the deadline. Book it
Won’t need to add a SP at the deadline if everything goes well.
Giolito
Kopech
Cease
Rodón
Stiever
Lopez
Keuchel
Dunning
Gonzales
That’s a lot of starting pitching depth. That’s 7 guys that could slot in at 3 or higher and two guys to fill in lower down.
The top four are all playoff quality starters on their good days.
You vastly overrate the existing competence of the rotation.
Kopech is coming off of TJ, so is Rodon, and Cease is erratic.
Any jump will require a return of Ace-like Giolito, no regression from Gio and Keuchel, and at lest two other guys making the next step.
That is a lot of projection. Rarely does everything work out like that, especially with young players.
Kopech was in a game a couple of months ago in Arizona. He threw 30 pitches and touched 100 more than once. Yes, there is a lot of projection but most of these pitchers are/were highly regarded prospects in the last year or two. You say he is overrating the rotation and you are grossly underestimating it. Giolito was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2019 and there is nothing suggesting he should regress. Of course some of them will fail, which iis why they have quantity and quality.
Keuchel and Gio are there for stability and innings, a couple steps up from what they had in 2019 in Nova and Ervin Santana.
Cease last month was very encouraging. 3-1 with a 3.00 era.
Rodon is not until he can prove himself once he is back from TJ
Looks good on paper but I don’t see this rotation locking down the central division by any means. The the twins have a few good bats as well and they already proven how good they are good they are I don’t see the white Sox out hitting the twins this season but I guess we will see
You have them improving by 18 games? Seems *really* optimistic.
They were knocking on the door of 500 near the end of the first half. Then Anderson got injured and it fell apart for a few weeks.
Yes and no. They had the worst RF production in the majors last year. Even though Mazara isn’t the answer, he’s a near-avg hitter and should improve them by a game or so. CF should also see a couple game improvement going to Luis Robert, as should 2b with Madrigal. EE boosts their production from DH by probably 3 wins. Keuchel and Gio, while not stars, are probably each 2-games better than the likes of Covey and Despaigne. They got a couple wins better at C, so that’s 14. Factor in growth from Eloy, Cease, and Kopech and 18 games is plausible.
Hee hee….turd cutter
platoon mazara with gatcia; garcia average for last 2 years is over.300 against lhp
I don’t think an 18 game improvement is unrealistic. They won 10 more games in 2019 than they did in 2018 on the breakouts of Giolito, Moncada, Anderson, and McCann, and having the 2nd worst RF production in MLB and the worst DH production in the AL. They also lost their best projected pitcher (Rodon) a few starts into the season and one of the best prospects in baseball shortly after his debut, Kopech. The White Sox are not really losing any positive contributors heading into 2019 unless you consider Yolmer Sanchez and Ivan Nova positive. However, they are shedding most of the failures. McCann, Leury and Engel are now pushed to reserve roles instead of being relied on as everyday players.
The following players from 2019 are essentially being replaced by Grandal, Mazara and Encarnacion.
Yonder Alonso, .178/.275/.301, -1.3 fWAR
Daniel Palka .107/.194/.179, -1.3 fWAR
Wellington Castillo .209/.267/.417 -1.0 fWAR
Jon Jay .267/.311/..315, -0.9 fWAR
AJ Reed .136/.204/.205, -0.5 fWAR
Matt Skole .208/.275/..236, -0.5 fWAR
The following pitchers from 2019 are being replaced by Keuchel, Gio, Kopech and Rodon (mid season or so)
Manny Banuelos 8.05 ERA, 7.40 FIP, -0.4 fWAR, 8 starts
Ervin Santana 9.45 ERA, 9.66 FIP, -0.4 fWAR, 3 starts
Ross Detwiler 5.84 ERA, 6.62 FIP, -0.3 fWAR, 12 starts
Odrisamer Despaigne 9.45 ERA, 6.89 FIP, -0.1 fWAR, 3 starts
Dylan Covey 8.45 ERA, 6.19 FIP, -0.1 fWAR, 12 starts
Ivan Nova 4.72 ERA, 4.98 FIP, 2.0 fWAR, 34 starts
@rct
Minny improved by 23 this year and improved by 26 from ’16 to ’17, so there is a precedent, twice in the last few years, in the same division as the Sox.
Not saying it will happen with the Sox, but playing in by far the worst division in MLB, it’s not an impossibility.
B
Two Options?
Who came up with this crap?
How Bout
A. 60-70 Wins
B. 70-80 Wins
C. 80-90 Wins
D. 90-100 Wins
You know I don’t typically trash MLBTR but this poll is extremely stupid. The difference between being 82-80 or 79-83 means absolutely nothing. People could vote they go over .500 and it doesn’t mean a thing… It should be set up like you proposed.
Yes, that is better except wins in descending order. So, 95 wins is A, 88-94 B, 81-87 C, 74-80 D, 73 and below F.
C
C
Hi-C
I say mid to hi C. Last years success was not going to come in the form of wins and losses obviously but the progress made by Giolito and Moncada. Both had some hiccups but exceeded most expectations. I know Hahn and co. are gearing to be serious about winning right now but I still think the true victory will be if Robert stays healthy for the season and adapts well to big league pitching and Madrigal stays the course of what he does when he comes up. Kopech and Rodon return healthy and build on their lofty projections and Collins Vaughn and one or two the OF’s in MILB stand out. That would be my hope
B — Due in part to diminished competition within their own division.
Padnastikator: good job, man. I was thinking something similar when I read this article. I think it is well established that the ChiSox will be above .500. So, maybe a poll by wins as you suggested, or how about whether they finish first in their division, if the author wants a binary poll?
D
C
C
D
B
93 wins
D
Just cause the AL central looks like the weakest division in baseball.
E
Ha! I would add A+ for 100+ and D- for 70-73. Below that encroaches on the Tigers’, Orioles’, Marlins’ and Royals’ territory.
C
They’re not winning any division just yet but they’re getting better
90 wins exactly, but D if I have to choose.
D
I’ve got them winning 88-89 games and the division. Shouldn’t take more than that.
They had multiple moments last year where they started to put it together individually. The offense dying up at the break is a large reason they finished as poorly as they did. They were 1 game below 500 at the ASB. If Lopez displays consistancy and Cease avoids the bad inning more often than not, that is good for an extra 7-8 wins alone
C
C
C
Sox should win the AL Central but you never know. EE should put up his normal numbers unless he battles injuries. The Sox like any other team will need to have their starters have collectively good seasons. It’s how the Cubs won it all. The 2020 Sox won’t be that good but should be good enough to contend for a division title
The White Sox are a terrible defensive team and their solution this offseason was to go out and sign two pitchers who do not miss bats…. genius.
Wow goodbye MLBTR thanks for the memories
You’re so plain, bro.
It’s not a bad plain tho
I agree with Panda Snickers: two options is lame. They will definitely finish over .500, but where at exactly? Remember the Phillies went HAM lSt season to and ended up being very mediocre. Only time will tell.
Don’t know where this team is going but 1 things for sure, every Sox fan should be excited. It’s been a long time since we realistically were in the discussion of winning the division.
Cheers, brother.
I have a poll for you guys:
Worst MLBTR fan base commenters:
Yankees Fans
Chicago White Sox Fans
Padres Fans
The Field
Step right up and place your bets.
Your mom.
Juvenile Joke from a Sox fan. That will be a vote heading over to the White Sox. Thank you for the comment. Who is next?
….. your mom heads over to the White Sox.
South Side!
Go back to the MLBtraderumors page and listen to the crickets. You trolls are all here. Hahaha.
I’m sorry that the Cubs are headed towards another rebuild and that you are disgruntled and lashing out.
Your omission of Red Sox fans and Braves fans is galling. Practically every article about any team has Braves fans complaining about their FO.
Speaking of the Braves… can you believe their front office?
Don’t forget Cub fans and anything themed posts
Why don’t you go and troll your own team’s fans? White Sox fans have suffered with their losing team for a long time and deserve some excitement and optimism. The team is undoubtedly better and the Twins are due for some regression after career years from a lot of their players. One need look no further than the 2014/2015 Cubs and 2015/2016 Bosox for examples of turnarounds that are possible. Let us enjoy the moment.
They will win the Division, Indians .500 and the Twins a close 2nd
So let me get this straight…Tribe wins 93 games with massive injuries to its starting rotation, under-performance from its main two stars (Lindor and Ramirez), and will be getting full seasons from Franmil Reyes and Oscar Mercado, a significantly upgraded second base situation and potential for a truly dynamic back-end of the bullpen and. they will lose a dozen games in the standings?
What the heck are you smoking?
If White Sox fans are banking on the Twins and Indians dropping in order for the Sox to contend, you’re being delusional.
You got that crooked, Ahory. You’ve been up all day hating on the Sox. This nightmare won’t end for you – these kids can and WILL play. Go to sleep.
That’s right, that’s what kids do: play.
Real men work at their professions .
Time will tell if the kids learn to do that. And that’s what will keep the Sox around .500…for 2020 at least. And that will be a nice improvement, in case you haven’t noticed.
Your mom plays.
Ramonskee: you’ve made several ill-intended comments regarding women, specifically mothers, in these threads. YOU’RE SEXIST, ANTI-GAY, AND MISOGYNISTIC!!! THIS ACCOUNT SHOULD BE BANNED!
Now shut up.
That’s what she said
I agree with this woman.
Avory, Cleveland won all but 1 game against the Tigers last year. That kind of record is just not repeatable.
Throw in some more lost games against the new and improved Sox, and yeah, y’all could easily drop back down another 10 games.
Clevinger & Lindor are both on the trade block potentially headed to the Dogers, and without them Cleveland is third in the division.
If Clevinger and Lindor go I would agree. But as of right now they’re with the team and as long as that is so… I would have them as favorites. Maybe not prohibitive favorites as in recent years, I think the division will be a lot more competitive. But the Indians will be good barring a run of bad fortune.
The Twins I have no faith in repeating, they lost a lot to free agency and their group of players was mostly old to begin with, meaning there isn’t the potential for internal growth as with the White Sox. And the Twins got very lucky last year in terms of 1 year contracts paying off and suffering few injuries compared to the Indians/Yankees.
What are you smoking? Cleveland didn’t have an OF last season and have not addressed it heading into 2020, Adding Deshields and a light hitting CF in Mercado does not change much. Puig was one of their best hitters down the stretch. Carlos Santana had a career year at the age of 33. Kluber and Bauer are gone and they are going to rely on 2 fly ball pitchers, Civale and Plesac that do not strike anyone out. Projections suggest their .250 and .255 BAPIPs are going to regress to the norm.
The Twins look even worse. They have lost Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez who combined for 58 starts and replaced them with who? They re-signed Pineda who is going to be serving the remainder of his suspension until mid May. Nelson Cruz, who turns 40 in July had a BAPIP more than 40 points higher than his career average. They lost Jason Castro, Schoop and Cron that combined for over 1200 PA’s and over 60 HR’s and replaced them with Alex Avila and?
hahahahahaha…you just proved you know nothing about the Cleveland Indians. Nothing.
Puig hit 2 homers in 220 plate appearances hitting clean-up while with the Tribe. He added NOTHING.
Corey Kluber was AWOL the entire year. Trevor Bauer turned into a pumpkin and was dealt.
Jose Ramirez had one good half and the other he was one of the worst players in MLB.
Lindor played the whole season on a gimpy ankle and it showed.
Mike Clevinger was out for months. Brad Hand disappeared in the second half.
Roberto Perez played the entire season with painful spurs in his foot. He could hardly walk, much less run.
Mercado was not light hitting, but rather fantastic, but he only played half a year. Likewise Franmil Reyes.
And yet, despite it all, this team won 93 games.
Don’t tell me this team isn’t still WAY better than the Chicago White Sox.
You are completely delusional if you think the Sox are ready and able to contend in 2020. We’ll see you near the top in 2021, IF the Sox actually do progress off their 90 loss season of last year.
If that is true, then the AL central is not the weakest division.
Haters Ball 2020 starting early!
Fangraphs has them projected at 80-87 wins right now.
I think they’ll be lucky to break 85 with the unproven prospects and a questionable bullpen.
No one cares.
A Cubs fan hating on a Sox fan? Where have I seen that before? Oh, I know. When I saw Sox fans hating on Cubs fans for no reason as well! Why can’t you fellas split a deep dish pizza and a Chicago dog and get along??
You’ll all die fat and sad when the Indians play the Brewers in the World Series this Fall!
Fat shaming? BAN THIS ACCOUNT!
So you’re more of an Italian Beef guy?
Thin crust new York pizza >>>deep dish pizza
Haha Johnny. Well played sir!
Square-cut thin crust FTW
New Haven pies > NY pizza > deep dish is not pizza. It’s a casserole.. Pies > Casseroles.
Nah Chicago deep dish beats the floppy “only good when you fold it in half and eat it while you drunkenly walk around Times Square” stuff 8 days a week.
No difference between the crust of NY thin pizza and the grease soaked cardboard it sits on in the box.
Food in the east coast is do overrated, especially the pizza—bland pizza crust topped with bland pizza sauce and bland toppings. Tastes like crap cold out of the fridge; reheating it is a disgusting experience. You might as well throw it away. The Chinese food out here is horrible, too. Man I miss all the great food back in Chicago.
It’s going to be more fun being a Sox fan this summer than Cubs fan. Cub’s owners interested ONLY in profits. No money for player acquisition after buying all the real estate around Wrigley Field they could get their hands on.. Also, what did building a hotel across the street have to do with Stadium renovation? Buying a nearby Taco Bell and tearing it down? Opening a failing restaurant near the ballpark? Now they say they’re broke.
Screwed their own fans.
167 game season?
The post said 80-87 WINS, not a record of 80-87.
I agree 100 percent with pplama.
Projections don’t mean crap. Now as a twins fan My educated guess is that it is a 3 way battle for the title in the central provided all 3 clubs stay healthy.. because Luck and timing are a major part of winning and I would think there is no way they Twins can repeat their luck and the circumstances have changed.. i have the White sox as division winners all things being equal.. and if their young pitching staff pitches near their considerable ability..
How can “all things be equal” when you’re projecting a massive improvement by the Sox? That’s not all things being equal. All things being equal means players playing to the back of their baseball cards, and it says here that means the Twins and the Tribe will be in a spirited battle with the Sox comfortably behind.
THAT’S all things being equal. What the Sox need is all things going to hell above them. Not bloody likely.
all things being equal.. everybody plays their game and luck and timing don’t matter… and while you may look at numbers to ” figure ” it out .. they aren’t telling you there is a difference between these teams.. Cleveland and White sox should have better pitching …Twins better offense than Indians, but not the sox… Lest we forget that the twins will not repeat 307 Home runs.. nor will they have the same luck.. after the 2018 season NO ONE was picking the Twins for 103 wins.. maybe 85-90 after a 78-84 record..
Good lord, if you think the Sox offense is as good as the Twins, much less the Indians, you need to re-review your players from last year, because it’s going to be more of the same..
Sox way too strikeout prone, don’t walk enough. Poor plate approaches, lousy baserunning, no speed at all….offense should be better to some degree, but good enough to contend? Forget about it.
If you’re basing this all on last season, that’s your issue. Half the lineup has changed for the better.
Grandal, Encarnacion are way better than C/DH we’ve had before.
Mazara, although not remarkable, will produce more than the RF last, especially if they get another bat to take on the lefties. Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal are going to take over CF and 2B and both have the skills to make an impact immediately.
The returning players killed it last year. Moncada, Anderson (although he will regress a bit), Abreu, Eloy were all great and the young ones have another year of experience.
No speed at all? Moncada, Anderson, Robert, and Madrigal are all blazing fast so idk what you’re talking about.
So yes. I do believe the Sox offense will be as good as the twins. Especially considering there is no way the twins are hitting 300+ HR again.
The Sox need to lay off the outside slider and take more walks. If the new hitting coach can get that done, I see 90+ wins.
See, the problem with all you delusional White Sox fans in this thread is that you take “both have the skills to make an impact immediately” to = “100% WILL have an impact immediately”, which is a 100 kinds of wrong.
I have NO IDEA why White Sox fans think that because they got a few guys and improved, that automatically equals contention. You have wayyy too many guys coming back from TJ and too much relies on Robert. Madrigal could easily flop too – I mean how good is Willians Astudillo at the plate? Madrigal might be ok off defense alone, but he might also produce exactly like Yolmer Sanchez at the plate too. We do not know, yet you White Sox fans seem to act like these things are set in stone facts, which is delusion.
The White Sox lineup is just as good as the Twins and Indians, if not better right now. Not sure what you are looking at.
I think you are the delusional one. As it stands today, the Twins and Indians have less talent and depth. The White Sox are the most improved team in MLB right now. As far as TJ. Kopech was already in a game in Arizona a couple of months ago. He threw 30 pitches. touching 100 more than once. Robert and Madrigal are both plus defenders and plus runners, so they can contribute even if they do not hit up to expectations. The additions of Keuchel, Gio, Grandal, Encarnacion and Mazara is to take pressure off of the young players and provide depth and production if they do not meet expectations.. McCann, Leury and Engel who all have their positives are pushed to reserve roles.
What would I know: I’ve been a lowly Twins fan for over 50 years. I am a baseball fan who understands the ebb and flow of games=, that Luck and timing are critical to seasons.. and that Buxton may never be the same coming of major shoulder surgery, that the Twins don’t have a single 1st base man on their 40 man, that Sano is and has been hit or miss.. he is hot or cold and K’s 35+% of the time.. and No one expects Cruz to have an OPS over 1000, that Garver had a career year and catching primary means probably mor dates behind the dish.. unless the twins make him the 1st base man 1/2 time.. Last Year most of the players in the 1st 1/2 had Career halves.. They will not repeat last year..
Willians Astudillo is a twin .. the best guy they have at the Plate in terms of successful appearances will be Arraez…
With Aubrey, Grandal, and Encarcion it sounds like a double play, slow footed season blueprint.
Aubrey Huff?
This made my day already.
74-88
80-82
77-85
81-81
White Sox have one of the above records. Or with 15 games for wins|loses give or take
I think adding the +/- 15 is beneficial for these W & L records. I’d put them at 88-93 wins this year, conservatively. I’m really impressed with what they’ve done this offseason.
I think they can win about 85 games right now. Depends on:
1) How well the prospects turn out.
2) Players mainting health. They’ve had a lot of injuries especially to prospects.
3) What the Indians do with tradable players.
4) Can the Twins despite not upgrading staff win ove 95 games again?
5) Trade deadline
Obviously a lot can go right or wrong. So far they’ve filled needs this offseason without shelling out 100 million. Still could use another reliever and a bat.
Go Sox!
Yeah, agree with 85 as a solid over/under. All the more reason to like the approach- 3 yr deals instead of 7-10 yr deals and to date, no draft picks. Think the Sox in hindsight dodged a bullet last year in not finishing atop the Manny-Bryce sweepstakes
Who would you rather have at this point – Castellanos or Puig? Previous article said they’re in discussions with both. That may be a poll too.
And good call in reference to Manny and Bryce. Many teams including the Yankees fortunately dodged those….
Castellanos. Puig may be a better defender and somewhat cheaper but i like Castellanos bat amd how he responded being traded to a potential contender in the Cubs. That team fell apart but he stayed hot. But i also don’t want them to sign him over 3-4 years.
Attention Spreadsheet Boys: signing Castellanos is not a respectable, gentlemen move to Detroit. White Sox don’t do things like that.
Puig- You can get him for prolly 1 or 2 years only compared to Cast with 4, Sox Of looks good down the road and DH will be clogged so no need to clog the OF-
Puig will be cheaper
Puig adds speed on bases and def something this team is short on; Cast would make them actually worse (somehow)-
Puig with a 2 yr team option for the second with small buyout and it can probably be done tommorow, who knows that second year might be a gift as well next year
Agree. Between Basabe, Adolfo, Rutherford one of them should step up and be decent. Sign a stop gap and evaluate that group at the end of 2020.
Castellanos makes no sense anymore. He won’t be able to DH, and he doesn’t help them as a defender in RF.
Puig at least gives them a competent defender, and he will come with more upside based on his projected contract. I’d offer a year with an option at about 12 mil total with a 300 buyout.
MLB regulars dont have buyouts that low, its usually $1M at minimum.
Agree with that. Those long-term deals are killers. Eric Hosmer? OMG. Talk about dodging a bullet, those Royals!
Nice summation Connor. Yeah the flurry of recent threads has nearly transformed MLB trade rumors into the hotel bar at the Hyatt Regency on Saturday night during Soxfest!
No offense but this is a VERY stupid poll. I mean a lot of people will be FIRED if they finish below .500 with the way they’ve spent this offseason.
They aren’t spending for 2020, they’re trying to win in ’21 though?
Only guy they got to flip was Encarnacion, who they probably will trade to the Rays at the deadline for a decent prospect.
Spending money literally NEVER means winning more games. You are wrong from the jump
So they’re spending money not to win more games? What are you talking about?!? Don’t be a fool.
I’m guessing 90+ wins. I also think as of now, the Indians and Twins are still right there competing at the top as the offseason hasn’t finished yet. I could easily see the HR happy Twins regress significantly with the ball changing next year, like what we saw in the playoffs. The Indians are a major trade from 3rd place. Hard to predict when the offseason isn’t over.
I think they could be the baseball equivalent to the Cleveland Browns this year, lots of offseason hype but disappointing in the regular season. Not in love with their pitching outside of Giolito. That being said, they are at least trying to improve, while the Indians and Twins have basically stood pat or moved backwards.
The Twins went from 78 wins in 2018 to 100+ in 2019 with marginal pitching and shoddy fielding. The Sox tanked last year and lost several starters to injury, yet still managed to win 72 games. The Sox have initiated a significant turnover of the roster since then, with key players back from injuries, promotions of top prospects, free agent signings and trades.
Why is it so hard to see this team winning significant more games in 2020 similar to how the Twins did in ‘19, as well as other teams who’ve actually improved (the Twins did nothing to their roster). I’ll tell you why. Most people have no vision. They can’t see beyond the obvious (what has already occurred). They don’t follow this team or roster, and don’t appreciate how much the roster has improved since 2018. Myopia is contagious to lazy fans and media, who’d sooner jump on board the status quo train, rather than actually process new information and change parameters.
The White Sox, Reds, A’s and Blue Jays will all be better next year due to acquisitions, and or growth and development. The Indians, Twins, Cubs, Astros and Red Sox will be worse to varying degrees due to loss of players, and/or lack of growth and development, or lack of significant upgrades to their respective rosters. People will keep picking these aforementioned teams to win divisions, despite the obvious reasons I mentioned simply because they’ve won recently. It’s a lazy, ill-informed view point, but that’s what you get from lazy, low-information people.
At least one of those teams is not like the others. You do the same thing regarding the recently winning ball clubs as you accuse others of doing with the sox.
If you realistically think the red sox, as constructed today, if is worse than 2019 you are delusional or very ill informed. They only won 84 last year and they will do better in 2020.
So, about that starting pitching…
The Red Sox are trying to shed payroll, and could possibly ditch they’re best player for peanuts. They’re going to suck and you know it. You just fired your GM, which confirms the suckitude. Don’t make me come outta the boooooootha!
Difference between the Red and White Sox of recent memory is that when we suck, it’s usually because of paying the price for win-now moves that mostly resulted in rings. The White Sox suck because it’s just what they do.
It is a tale of two teams:
The White Sox are on the verge of contending after a three year rebuild.
The Red Sox suck because of an aging, overpriced pitching staff, and their best player’s leaving for a mega contract in free agency next year.
I can actually see the White Sox giving Betts a $30MM AAV contract to complete the roster. That would put their payroll right around $150MMish, right where they should be.
Lol, they haven’t won 90 or more games since 2006 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2008. Coming off a “three year rebuild,” what would you say they were doing for the other eight?
Great comparison! I feel the same way
People saying this team will now win the division aren’t really looking at what they added.
Other than Grandal, the players they have signed are only average to above average. They will help, but the team will only take the next step with better player development.
That is why I remain skeptical. All of this hinges on Kopech, Cease, Lopez, Jimenez, Robert and Madrigal taking big steps forward, and the latter two may not even be on the opening day roster.
The team also barely addressed their inability to get on base. Grandal will help, and EE might if he can avoid regression. Mazara won’t.
The defense is also a concern, especially in the outfield. They have two beer leaguers in the corners.
I would say the guys they added plus some modest progression should get them to about 80-83 win, but they are still a long shot to win the division without major steps in player development.
2021 is where I expect them to potentially be a threat.
“Better player development”? Really? LOLOLOL What a ridiculous post. First of all, they have DEVELOPED PLAYERS. They developed the AL Batting Champion last year. They developed Moncada. They developed Giolito. This year Robert is a can’t miss and so is Madrigal. Again, developed. Kopech was already throwing over 100mph in the Fall. Cease was minor league pitcher of the year 2 years ago. DEVELOPED. Lopez is only 25 and is going into his 5th season and is 1 year removed from a 3.50 ERA in the AL. Bummer was one of the best relievers in baseball last year. DEVELOPED. All this team has done is develop players. Your post is ridiculous. Now they added MLB’s #3 prospect that’s been playing in the bigs since he was 20. They added a guaranteed 30 HRs at DH. They added 2 lefthanded starters that work down in the zone and will have 3 RH starters that like to work up in the zone. I haven’t even mentioned yet that they have TWO All Star catchers. This team is absolutely LOADED and will run away with the AL Central. The Twins have no pitching. The Tribe has no hitting.
Half the player you mentioned haven’t proven anything in the majors, and you included another who regressed last season.
You don’t know what “absolutely loaded” means if you think the White Sox are that, lol clown post bro, White Sox aren’t even a top 8 team in the AL right now.
However I do think Robert can become Trout-esque and get them into contention, but he’s got to do it first.
All you White Sox fans in this thread need to calm tf down. 2021 you look good, waayyyyyyy too many questions in 2020. TJ is tricky and sometimes takes a player a year to fully come back. To act like Kopech and Rodon are going to be factors in 2020 is pure delusion.
Your time is coming, but its not now. Relax.
The White Sox are going to compete for the AL Central. I don’t know how you could look at the current rosters of the Twins, Indians and White Sox and not come to that conclusion. I know people are pretty lazy but this is ridiculous.
Kopech was pitching in an Arizona game a couple of months ago. He threw 30 pitches touching 100 more than once.
Should be much improved, but they still did not land a stud this offseason. I see them in the 85 win range, staying in the WC race until the middle of September.
They’ll win the division. The twins are worse than last year. Right now they only have half a rotation, and they’ve lost 3-4 WAR in depth by losing schoop and Cron. They lost castro and added Avila which is a lateral move at best. They lost Cave, and Buxton likes running into the wall too much to stay healthy. Their offense was a juggernaut last year because of its depth and ability to overcome injuries. They just won’t have that in 2020, and their pitching is weak. I bet twins only win about 84-87 next year
A tale of two TWINS
2018 TWINS HR(top12)
GARVER – 7
MAUER – 6
POLANCO – 6
ESCOBAR – 15
ROSARIO – 24
KEPLER – 20
GROSSMAN – 5
MORRISON -15
SANO – 13
AUSTIN – 9
CAVE – 13
DOZIER – 16
total – 149hr
finished 78-84
2019 TWINS HR(top12)
GARVER – 31
CRON – 25
SCHOOP – 23
POLANCO – 22
SANO – 34
ROSARIO – 32
BUXTON – 10
KEPLER – 36
CRUZ – 41
MARWIN – 15
CASTRO – 13
CAVE – 8
total – 290hr
finished 101-61
As a White Sox fan I must admit this team looks good right now and probably for the next three to five years. The most important thing is for the players to stay healthy and stay on the field. Last year proved how three to five players getting hurt can display how bad a team can be with hitting and pitching.
They’ll be sellers by the trade deadline.
Win the division or wild card, depends on how the twins do. Dought they go far in the playoffs with Oakland, ny and Houston with more experience.
That poll is tricky, they’ll finish above .500, sure, however I have them missing the playoffs
They’ll have their first winning record since 2012, but I still see them finishing behind Minnesota and Cleveland, regardless of order.
Then you know nothing about baseball…
I’m going over. I think they are an 85-89 win roster but I agree with the publisher that they still need to address the bullpen. Their are some pretty uninspiring names down there but some young guns nonetheless. What they added this off-season, in addition to some of the younger players taking a step forward in their progression to legitimate big league stars, has certainly put them at .500 at least. However, let’s not forget when Preller “won” the off-season a few years back with big name free agent additions and notable trades that were supposed to make them a NL favorite, just to have them fall flat and blow up that roster just one year later. And of course the Phillies “won” the off-season last year and came out of the gates hot just to limp to the finish line for an 81 win season. Anything can happen but I’m pretty surprised how aggressive they were. In that division, anything is possible. The Twins overachieved last year and the Indians window seems to be closing.
Yeah…. I would bet $100 that 90% of the negative voters are Cubs fans.
Saltiest of them all.
Doesn’t matter that the 2 teams have won 2 Series in 183 years…
I am a Yankees fan and I can tell you this team is going nowhere this season. This team is probably at the very least two years away I’d say they win between 77 and 80 games this season then probably next season they win roughly 82-85 games it is 2022 if they make all the right moves in the next two off-season’s that they could possibly take the American League Central. Now I would change my opinion if next off-season they go out and sign a huge big-name or make an acquisition by trade who is a huge game but it seems like this team is not a very desirable spot for a big time free agents in fact most of them avoid this team like the plague.
So all of this talent added over last season, and you have them improving by 5 total games. Typical clueless Yankees fan.
The WSox are clear favorites to win the AL Central now. They will have surpassed Minnesota in offensive firepower (once Robert is called up). In addition, they have much better pitching and pitching depth than Minnesota. Odorizzi will likely be the pitcher he was in the 2nd half last year and other than Berrios, Minny is is really bad shape on the hill. Cleveland has the best starting pitching in the division (even with the loss of Kluber), but their offense is far behind both Minny and the WSox. The WSox have put together a nice rotation where they can not only alternate RHP/LHP but also they’ll alternate SP’s that work up in the zone and the next day they’ll be throwing a guy that likes to work down in the zone. Kopech will be a real difference maker by season’s end. He has the best stuff in the division other than Clevenger and he’s 18 months removed from TJS and already was hitting 100mph with his fastball at the end of the Fall. The WSox lineup will be a top 3 AL Lineup this year.
1. Robert CF (Minor League POY)
2. Anderson SS (AL Batting Champ)
3. Moncada 3B (Best offensive player on the team & Switch Hitter)
4. Abreu 1B (Reigning AL RBI Champ)
5. Eloy Jimenez LF (Guaranteed 30+ HRs)
6. Grandal C (Best hitting catcher in the AL & Switch Hitter)
7. Encarnacion DH (Guaranteed 30+ HR’s-has done it 8 years in a row)
8.Mazara/Engel RF platoon (Engel hit over .300 & had an OPS of .841 vs LHP/Mazara hit .288 w/OPS of .844 vs RHP last year & he hit .291 overall in the 2nd half last year after a swing adjustment at the all star break)
9. Madrigal (Once he’s called up-Mendick or Garcia until then)
Robert isn’t going to turn into a dependable ML player. I predict he will be injured 75% of the time.
thats a stupid prediction you made there
You should be pulling down 7 or 8 figures a year by selling your predictions (if accurate) to MLB GMs.
Sox will contend, but if you think they’re the clear favorite to win the division you should put that pipe down.
About half
.500 team or better that goes nowhere.
A lot of talk about how bad this division is and it certainly has been. Last year with the tigers, royals and sox losing so many games the talk makes sense.
As teams like the sox get better the division becomes better making it more difficult to win as many games.
For now though at least until we see what the indians do I have it like this.
Twins 95 wins
Indians 90 wins
Sox 81 wins
Royals who cares
Tigers who cares
Sox are better but will need another leap forward from young players that is hard to bet on.
The vets they brought in can only regress for they all have peaked.
Twins winning 95 games without a starting rotation is funny. The Indians winning 90 games without an OF and relying on 2 fly ball pitchers that do not strike anyone out (Plesac, Civale) is going to be tricky.
I think the Twins have some decent pitching prospects that may surprise in 2020. The Sox will be counting on their pitching prospects to improve, too.
Compared to the Detroit Tigers, they are worlds beyond. Detroit has the wisdom to have the worst seats in baseball and now the worst team. This keeps fans far away and fuels speculation of an imminent sale or bankruptcy.
I think they’ll win 90 games in 2021, but 2020? Nah….
How the Tribe proceeds will matter. If they hypothetically trade 2yrs of Lindor for Lux/May and a couple lottery tickets, while keeping/even extending Clevenger, they are still good.
Twins should come back down to Earth with an unjuiced ball, but they are too smart not to pull off a trade for a decent starter while #3 Pineda is serving out the early year suspension.
Respecting the 2 other clubs, see an exciting but not quite there squad until the young starters hit their groove. Great thing about that is all bets are off if Cease/Lopez discover command while Kopech eases back hopefully close to how good he looked in his first taste of MLB.
I think the White Sox are this year’s team where, if everything that possibly could actually goes right, they could be a surprise division winner and make some noise in the playoffs. If everything goes wrong, the floor is probably yet another 70-75 win season. Safe money for me is to split the difference and assume they’ll be .500-ish and likely in the wild card hunt down to the end.
Things change if the Indians decide to have a fire sale, in that case then I think the White Sox actually become the favorites to win the Central. I have zero faith in the Twins, they project the appearance of being smart but I think they’re too cowardly to actually make a move to reel in the big fish they need for their rotation. Without the juiced balls next season I think they fall back to 85-90 wins themselves.
That bullpen is ten degrees of yikes.
They already weren’t that great in 2019 and many of their pieces are hardcore regression candidates (Fry, Bummer, Marshall).
Kinda a disrespectful question imo..I know the white sox haven’t been good for a while but in that division, with the additions they’ve made and Robert and Madrigal coming up, Kopech coming back, Rodon possibly coming back midseason, and Cease and Lopez with another offseason to get better, I think .500 is a no brainer barring key injuries to multiple players. The question should be more along the lines of, “Will the White Sox make the playoffs this year?” That’s just my opinion.
The Chisox have been under .500 for seven seasons in a row. It’s not a “no brainer” to ask if that’ll finally change this year.
Have you seen their roster last year compared to this one? That team won 72 games with horrible production out of multiple positions last year that were all significantly upgraded. Dylan covey also started a ton of games for them in which he got absolutely bombed every 5th day. Hes being replaced with keuchel. That alone probably puts them at.500. They also play the tigers and royals 38 times…
They need David Price asap
I’ve got the Sox at exactly .500 as I think defence will be an issue. But, good to see the Sox moving in the right direction.
85ish wins. The big question is how badly the Twins will regress and what Cleveland will look like.
I think you guys have made some great moves and feel it’s the right mix of veterans that should indeed help out that young core of talent. I think 85-92 wins is a given. I’m also hoping that Renteria is around to see this come to fruition. Not saying I wouldn’t have hired Maddon too (given the chance) but the way Rick went out was kinda of rough.
The white Sox won’t win their own division. It’s this every year with them. They made minimal signings, nothing that will get them past the Twins or the Tribe.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Your last sentence just about sums up the prevailing sentiment of the pseudo-baseball fans on this site. I would have some respect for your opinion if it was based on some semblance of logic or analysis. Anyone who watches baseball can clearly see the Twins and Indians are not very good. They’ve feasted on a bad division full of tanking, under-budgeted teams for a number of years. Both teams were exposed and utterly destroyed in the playoffs. Cleveland was a very good team in 2016. No so much now since they started selling off players to the highest bidder.
People who doubt the Chisox are “pseudo-baseball fans”… hmm. I’d like to watch a game of pseudo-baseball sometime and see what it’s like. Are the bases still 60 feet apart?
They made minimal signings,
——————————————-
Grandal, Keuchel & Gio areminimal signings?
White Sox fans have Robeet as the ROY, MVP candidate.
Cant wait for them to see the reality..
It’s not even January yet. I’ll wait to make my predictions until ST when teams are more or less finished assembling their team.
Everyone here is racists. That’s why they are probably Cubs fans. Everyone should now apologize to me for offending my sensitive nature. I will not stop reading these comments over and over again until everyone apologizes.
Hate to pour water on all the white Sox fans but this team is currently constructing at best is 77-85 and that’s being generous. If they are lucky they are the third best team in their own division and I think their fans really need to come down to planet earth and realize that. Are they better than Minnesota? No. Are they better than Cleveland? No. Entering September you will see Chicago will be fighting Detroit for third place. This team is probably two more years away at least.
White Sox won 4 of 7 vs. Yankees last year.
Dumbest comments come from Yankees fans are on these boards. It’s funny how ill-informed they are.
They won 72 games with replacement players last year. Most of those guys are gone or coning off the bench. Not that baseball knowledge or logic matters to a pseudo baseball fan or anything.
you are probably a racist also…idk maybe I am a racist for calling you a racist
White Sox have as good a chance in the central as the Twins or Indians. Should be a good race!
Ugh, ChiSoxCity, that one cut to the core, man.
this team is currently constructing at best is 77-85 and that’s being generous.
———————————————————————–
They won 72 last year. They are adding Grandal, EE, Gio, Keucehl, Roberts, Madrigal , and probably Kopech, and you think they are only adding 5 wins?
Care to explain your logic? I was inclined to vote < .500, but simple math suggested an easy 84+ wins.
are you a racist?
if not, why don’t you worship the White Sox?
Two years away … oh you must be joking
Grandal’s number is 24, not 12
Maybe a .500 team, but it’s borderline at best. They can throw lots of shiny new players at a roster, but the club lacks depth. Padres tried this move when Preller came onboard. Marlins tried it before them. You need a .500 foundation of depth to build on to put together a contender imo.
Bottom line the Sox have added some necessary pieces to the puzzle, but they have to win against the Twins & the Indians in the central, I think last year we got swept by the Orioles or just flat out lost the series to them, this year will be the test to see if they will win close games, beat teams they are supposed to beat in the American & National League, I think the Sox were below .500in inter league play also. There was no production in right field or at DH last year, no significant production at all, so with the new battery mates that are welcomed to the South Side lets see how this team gels, also we don’t have that silver slugger Yolmer Sanchez at 2nd for defensive purposes & TA7 has to improve on balls to short. This team should be very competitive & win about 84-89 games this year. The Sox took 4-3 games against the Yankees & Astros last year if I’m not mistaken. They are going to win 54 & loose 54 no questions about that, but if they can go 34-24 out of that questionable 54 games that’s 88 games the Sox should win, but defense will play a major key in the 2020 season.