The White Sox have taken their next step toward emerging from a lengthy rebuilding process, announcing Monday that they’ve signed free-agent lefty Dallas Keuchel to a three-year deal worth a guaranteed $55.5MM. The Scott Boras client also has a fourth-year club/vesting option. Keuchel, the White Sox revealed, will earn $18MM annually, and the Sox hold a $1.5MM buyout on his 2023 option. His option will reportedly vest at $20MM if he pitches 160 innings in years two and three of the contract. Otherwise, it functions as a traditional club option.
Keuchel’s signing means there’s one less coveted gift to claim beneath the free agency tree for leaguewide GMs, but it should bring a good amount of cheer to South Side fans. The Sox have made a substantial investment in the soon-to-be-32-year-old, but he figures to slot in nicely as a steady, veteran presence in a rotation full of youthful upside.
Keuchel may never again regain the form that saw him capture a Cy Young Award back in 2015 with the Astros. That year saw him ride career-best strikeout and walk rates en route to a 2.48 ERA, but ensuing seasons have seen underlying indicators take a more bearish stance on his value. He hasn’t registered better than a 3.69 FIP since 2016, while his strikeout abilities have generally hovered around the 7.0 K/9 range during that same time frame. Never a hard thrower, Keuchel, a sinkerballer by trade, has seen his two-seamer lose almost two full ticks since registering an average speed of 90 mph back in ’15.
Of all the players to be impacted by last season’s free agency freeze, Keuchel may have been hit the hardest. Regardless of whether teams were scared off by early-offseason demands that may have been too optimistic, or simply wary of his age and declining metrics, it’s still fair to say that few foresaw a pitcher of Keuchel’s pedigree having to settle for a one-year, pro-rated June deal with the Braves that guaranteed him just $13MM. But, after a half-season in Atlanta that saw Keuchel perform to career averages with a 3.75 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, 7.3 K/9 output in 112 2/3 innings, Chicago has finally given the lefty the long-term stability he’s been seeking.
Plus, it’s about time the White Sox proved able to land a higher-end free-agent starter to form a battery with Yasmani Grandal. They were said to be engaged seriously with Zack Wheeler and Jordan Lyles before those pitchers signed deals elsewhere that exceeded most outside expectations. Now, Keuchel provides their righty-heavy young rotation with, at worst, an innings-eating lefty with ample experience playing under the game’s brightest lights. With a beard, big frame, and heavy sinker, fans of the next winning Southside team may be forgiven for confusing Keuchel with ghosts of Mark Buehrle past.
Keuchel and the newly signed Gio Gonzalez promise to provide valuable mentorship to young arms like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, and the mending Carlos Rodon. Giolito had something of a coming-out party in particular last season, but the truth is that every pitcher in that group may have only scratched the surface of their potential. Rodon’s impending return, in particular, should give the Chicago rotation an absolutely stolid look–it may not be the highest-priced rotation in the bigs, but it certainly is long on ace upside and bulldog mentality.
Speaking of prices: Keuchel’s deal makes him the second-highest-paid player (by average annual value) on the Chicago roster, after Grandal. MLBTR correctly predicted the lefty would land with the White Sox this offseason in our free agent predictions from November, but it seems the Boras Corporation was able to leverage interest in Keuchel well in excess of our expectations, as this deal lands safely above the three-year, $39MM contract we projected him to receive.
In addition to their previous deals with Grandal, Gonzalez, and Jose Abreu, this deal brings Chicago’s guarantees this offseason to $183.5MM in new money–before accounting for option years. Add in the projected $5.7MM award due to newly acquired Nomar Mazara and the Sox have come awfully close to supplementing their young core with $200MM in commitments.
It may not be the blockbuster-level deal Keuchel envisioned entering the 2018-19 offseason, nor is it in the same arena as the deals signed this offseason by Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg or Zack Wheeler. What it seems to be rather, is a good click above deals guaranteed to other “mid-rotation” arms like Kyle Gibson (3/$30MM), Tanner Roark (2/$24MM), or Julio Teheran (1/$9MM) this winter—perhaps fair value considering both Keuchel’s Cy Young past and steady, if unspectacular, recent track record.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the terms (Twitter link). Bob Nightengale of USA Today added details on the vestting option (Twitter link).
For the White Sox, I’ll guess 3/42. Think they had to slightly overpay.
It’s 5 year $100 million.
Yes, I’m sure it is.
Oh that much? What about Rue?
3/$55
With option to make it 4 year 74 million
Who? Only Rue I’ve heard of is Rue McClanahan & I think her value diminished greatly in 2010.
Though I hear her WAR in South Beach was excellent.
Would that be “Wins above Rose”? 🙂
@atlas her WAR was, dare I say, GOLDEN
Rue very rarely struck-out.
3/42 wouldn’t have been an over pay by any stretch of the imagination. I’d take that in a heartbeat. Especially knowing what he ultimately signed for now lol
Agreed. Totally overpaid.
Haha you losers need to look at what the cost of starting pitching is. This is a bargain
They are ready to compete for the Al Central. In case you forgot that gets you in the playoffs.
No, Gio is a bargain. Similar production, didn’t have to guarantee him additional 2/$50m.
LoL
Once Sox fans get half way into the season and realize they paid that much for a 4th or 5th starter this will be hilarious.
Felt better when Teheran started last year. Second time through lineups he got destroyed and had to be yanked early constantly.
All this veteran workhorse talk is NOT from anyone who watched him last year. He may not have a sub 4 era season left honestly.
Braves never even attempted resigning him for a reason.
I honestly feel bad for WS fans. This is the worst contract of the entire off-season.
4.76 fip.
Atlantas defense saved him so often.
I cant imagine the second highest bidder was anywhere near this high. Bet Boras got them to bid against themselves. WoW.
u r team got beat by a medicore cardinals team last year and are a 3rd baseman weaker going into this season.
In reality the sox did overpay for Kuechel, but IMO all these players are overpaid. The best player in baseball has a $400 million contract. Get real people. I love the game as much as the next guy but find this all so silly. But as a 40 year Sox fan, I like this signing. This guy will bring stability to the rotation that we sure needed in 2019. If they gave 10 bucks to Covey, Detwiler, Banuelos, Despaigne, Santana, Fulmer, that was overpaying. Hard to win games when your down 6 runs after two innings. We have more money to spend, so let’s spend it.
Atlanta signed a guy with a 4.09 fip for the same price instead. Not that much of an upgrade
Andy, for one year, A lot less risk
True. Based on production
Also a signing for clubhouse leadership and to mentor the young staff.
Same with Hamels
When a franchise has a 2 billion dollar valuation and a single employee has a contract of 25% of the total value….that smells of bubble. It smells of revenue assumption.
Red, a couple of things. I assume you’re talking about Trout/Angels. In 2018 Angels had ~$350mil in revenues. Their team payroll was around $165mil. That leaves $185mil for other expenses/profits.
There is no correlation between the value of a player’s salary and the valuation of the franchise. Plus you’re comparing a static number (valuation) to the total value of a player’s contract over 12 years. If the Angels don’t grow revenues at all they’ll bring in $4.2Billion over Trout’s contract. Assume revenues grow a bit, then they’re committing less than 10% of their revenues to that one player.
“I cant imagine the second highest bidder was anywhere near this high. Bet Boras got them to bid against themselves. WoW.”
Ok your post was one dumb comment after another but signing a pitcher for a three year commitment and acting like it was the result of some phantom bidding war is just ridiculous.
If they team still profits hundreds of millions of dollars due to the performance of the players on the field, are the players overpaid? Would the team have made that profit without the players? I understand seeing these salaries and thinking they are overpaid, but someone is paying their salaries and thinks they are worth it. If a movie studio pays Tom Cruise $30mil for a film, and the movie profits $100mil, was he overpaid? You can say that no one is “worth” $30mil to act in a movie, but the studio has a balance sheet that says otherwise.
CalcetinesBlancos:
If this were a “phantom bidding war” it wouldn’t be the first time Scott Boras did such a thing with one of his own clients. He did it with Alex Rodriguez during his first free agent contract with Texas. At that time it was a race between the Rangers and the Braves to get A-Rod. Boras knows it is against collusion rules for teams to discuss free agent contracts amongst each other. Bora’s kept telling the Rangers that the Braves were repeatedly raising their offer to get A-Rod until the Rangers agreed to give him $252 million. It came out later that the Braves never offered more than $150 million. That is the definition of a phantom bidding war. Boras also did it with CC Sabathia when the Yankees had to raise their $140 million offer to $161 million. Nobody had even come close to the original $140 million offer but Boras lied to the Yankees and sail they had just so the Yankees would bid against themselves. If the Yankees and Rangers want to pay that kind of money then more power to the players that get it. It becomes a phantom bidding war when Boras starts lying and saying other teams are offering more than they actually are. That is completely immoral. Bora’s has been well documented as doing this multiple times so the idea that he did it again with Keuchel is not far fetched. Especially when 90% of people believe Keuchel is not worth what his paychecks imply. A guy that lies during contract negotiations over and over again cannot be considered beyond reproach when it comes to lying during future contract negotiations.
@Jesse Berkowitz:
I see your point from a philosophical perspective. You are basically saying that since the owners pull a profit, no player on that team can possibly overpaid. It’s not a totally wrong argument but it is deeply flawed. It doesn’t matter whether it is MLB owners of blockbuster Hollywood film producers. The goal of every investor is t make as much money as possible and perform to the highest caliber. Even if a film producer makes $100 million off of one film, it is still very possible that Tom Cruise is overpaid at $30 million. The first reason is that it is still possible that Tom Cruise doesn’t carry $30 million worth of value in and of himself into the movie. Even if the movie makes less overall money, it could still be beneficial for Cruise to be replaced by a cheaper actor which would then allow every producer to make more individual money over the film. Overall revenue is not nearly as important as actual profit margin. Reason #2 is that Cruise could be replaced by another less expensive actor that is still really good and would have actually done a better job overall than Cruise. If the producers had the ability to hire someone like Daniel Day Lewis for $20 million, and had Lewis done a better job than Cruise (which is very likely even though his name isn’t as big as Tom Cruise) then the owners overpaid Cruise by at least $10 million. If you can get a better player for $10 million less than the player you currently sign, you are overpaying for the player you sign. I couldn’t care less how much the players or owners make. I would be fine with players making a billion dollars a year. What is important is the fact that teams only have a finite amount of $ to spend every year and nobody wants to have a player that eats up more salary percentage than a player of his productive caliber should. If the White Sox could have moved the needle more by spending some or all of Keuchel’s salary, then they overpaid for Keuchel. When you are shopping for a car, you don’t buy a used Yugo when you can get a brand new Rolls Royce for the same price. Yes, the goal of a car is to get you from point A to point B and a Yugo will do that for you but why settle when you don’t have to? Keuchel isn’t a terrible pitcher but he isn’t even good enough to be a #3 pitcher. The problem is the White Sox just paid him like they expect him to be one of the best #2 pitchers in all of baseball. From a ChiSox fans perspective, that money could have been better spent elsewhere which makes Keuchel overpaid. If the White Sox were so profitable that they had an inifinte amount of $ to spend every offseason and remain profitable you would be right. Unfortunately, that is not the case and every dollar a team spends prevents them from spending a dollar on another player. If the White Sox could finish the next season or 3 (or 4 with the vesting option) with more total wins by spending that Keuchel money on a different player during one of the next 3 off seasons then they overpaid for Keuchel by spending the money on him as opposed to a more productive player. Just pulling a profit alone does not mean every player on the roster is not overpaid. If a team can get something better for the same or less money than any player on their team, that team overpaid for the player they have. If no player is ever overpaid, then why would profitable teams want to trade away any contracts just to avoid paying? If be financial default, every single player is producing so much income for their teams that the teams profit off of every player individually, no player would EVER get released or traded in a salary dump. That is not the case at all. Plenty of players are overpaid even though they are on profitable teams. Many people believe Dallas Keuchel is quickly developing into one of those players. There is no way to prove either way right now because we can’t accurately predict the future. However, if people want to state their opinion that Keuchel will end up being worth significantly less than what the white Sox have guaranteed to pay him based on his productive value and the potential productive value of players the White Sox could have acquired instead of him, that is okay. As long as other players are available and willing to play for money, there is no way to philosophicalls, theoretically, economically or literally prove that any player is not overpaid. Basically, if you could a bought something better for the same price, you OVERPAID. No matter how you try to look at it, that is a fact.
Not really an overpay if you’re playing for smart contracts.
Why is everyone so obsessed with saying OVERPAY??? Is it YOUR money? No. Will this deal hamstring the franchise? No. Will it help them improve in an area of weakness? YES. Keuchel isn’t going to move the needle a whole lot, but at least the White Sox are trying to improve their club, which is more than can be said for the Indians and Twins. Last year, CLE didn’t bother to improve a glaring weakness in the OF, and they let the Twins catch up in the AL Central. Now, it seems like CLE and MIN are both content to keep money in their pockets instead of investing it in the team. I applaud the White Sox for what they are doing.
Amen to that. He isnt a number 1 but he will be better than Covey or whoever else would’ve rounded out the rotation. Plus with not breaking the bank on someone big this off season leaves them room to spend more next off season.
Lmao Cleveland didn’t address their OF?
Pretty sure they traded Bauer for 2 OF, but I must live in a different dimension
He meant before knee jerk reactions to realizing they (Cleveland) weren’t going to walk away with the division without contest as previously. Cleveland tried to be cheap, and self assured and it basically lost them the division. Perhaps if they’d been more aggressive in the offseason, and actually addressed their glaring weaknesses, they wouldn’t have been watching the playoffs.
Well said raltongo. And no compensation
Why? You should know the reason to this…it’s because people envision themselves as computer screen GMs. Just a fact.
Didnt want to sign Ryu a top 10 pitcher last yr for the exact same contrqct huh
Nice, the Sox are spending real money this winter, good for them and their fan base.
They not only bought the original Gio Gonzalez, they just bought Gio Gonzalez II – another #3 LH control pitching starter at best.
They’d best hope that Gio II doesn’t give out as quickly as Gio I did. Sure surprised the Nationals when it happened.
Yes and it’s not only an omen, it’s another deal that will insure more deals. A choice between the Sox (a team that is progressing) and the Cubs, (a team making no effort at all) who was the other interested team.
It’s now trade Bryant, sign Castellanos and a top lead off man and keep the rest of the core or it will be a below 500 team this year and Epstein will be gone next season.
perhaps we should lobby for that, Manfred being eliminated and the Rickets family selling the Cubs after all. Right now it looks like baseball will progress itself out of true fans and the cubs with their new network and the highest ticket prices in baseball will settle for a full stadium and a losing team.
Congratulations White Sox.
You’re not smart. That is all.
And your reply is a brilliant as you name spelled backwards. Mr. Castro
This is a massive overpay. This guy barely throws 90 mph these days and will be lucky to get 7K’s per 9 innings.
$18M/yr for a soft tossing innings eater. Way to go Chisox.
The funny part is you don’t even realize you just described the Cubs best pitcher…
Over the luxury tax with a fourth place team. Way to go Scrubs!!
The ChiSox just spent a ton of money on a #3. Who knows if they’ll spend more going forward. At this point they’ve guaranteed a lot of money to supporting pieces and not the entree. Grandal is the closest thing to a star they’ve signed. Abreu is okay but that deal bears a lot of risk. Same w Keuchel.
Moncada, Eloy, Anderson, Robert, Madrigal, Vaughn, Giolito, Kopech, Cease, Lopez – those are the entree. If even a few of those guys develop the way they are expected to, all they should need are supporting pieces. They certainly have the talent.
Dogbone
Sure. Velocity is all that matters. There’s never been effective pitchers who dont throw mid to high 90’s. Been waiting for your “hot takes” to come up. Strikeouts are all that’s important to pitching. Biggest White Sox troll award! If the White Sox are so meaningless, why does it seem as if they’re all that give you meaning?
Cub fan and #1 White Sox troll Dogbone has been so traumatized by his own team’s lack of action this offseason that he forgot his description of Dallas Keuchel pretty much describes the northsiders best starting pitcher, Kyle Hendricks.
They’ve still paid a lot of money for a supporting cast. That’s my point. If the aforementioned players don’t work out you have a bunch of expensive secondary pieces. It’s not like they got any bargains here. Besides Gio.
I understand your point. And my point is that none of it will matter if their elite talent doesn’t turn into great players.
Yeah it’s good for baseball as the crosstown Cubs are tightening their belts.
Seems like a very calculated move, ie, money allocated with a real purpose. I’d spend my $ differently but I get it.
And our guy Brodie Van Wagenen is probably out on a golf course in the Bahamas (or someplace ) !
The White Sox desperately needed to counter the Tigers’ latest big moves in order to avoid slipping to fourth in the Central.
All jokes aside though, the Central suddenly looks more potent than the East and still a bit weaker than the West. Kuechel will be better than expected and make the Sox a legit WC threat.
Based on…what?
The white Sox?? Damn I guess Kuechel doesn’t like winning
White Sox are putting together a great roster. wouldn’t be surprised if they win the central
Still getting third.
It’s easily the worst division in baseball, they could finish above CLE, but no… not Minny and there is ZERO chance a WC comes out of the AL Central.
@Padres458 give them back Tatis and it gets interesting for them. Still not better than Minnesota interesting, but still.
It did two years ago. When there are 2 or 3 really bad teams it pads the win totals.
Twins haven’t done jack this offseason. They’re worse than last year
No team has improved more than the White Sox this offseason. The Indians and Twins are both worse than they were at the end of 2019. The White Sox will be competing for the AL Central in 2020 pending further moves. The following projections are from Steamer.
Grandal is projected for 4.8 WAR next season, he replaces Welington Castilo who produced -1.0 fWAR in 2019.
Mazara is projected for 1.4 WAR next season. White Sox RF’s were 2nd worst in MLB hitting, 249/.296/.340, 71 wRC+ and -1.3 fWAR in 2019.
Keuchel is projected for 2.6 WAR and Gio for 1.2 WAR next season. Detwiler, Covey, Banuelos and Ervin Santana combined for 35 starts and -1.2 fWAR in 2019.
Mazara has a 1.8 WAR in his four year career, but he’s projected for a 1.4 WAR next season? Sounds like a really bad projection. Swing and a miss!
Grandal replaces McCann not Castillo. And McCann had a great, clutch year for the CWS. Grandal will have to have a very good year, to contribute as much as McCann did, last season.
If Grandal replaces McCann, then McCann replaces Castillo. Still a massive win for the team.
Um, nope. The AL East is both the most overrated and the worst division in baseball. Especially after the latest moves from Detroit.
ALE is the worst division in baseball? That’s just a very bad take. The Jays are better than the Royals and Tigers. We’ll say the Red Sox are a push with the white Sox for 2020. That leaves the Yankees and Rays which are both superior clubs to the Twins and Indians. If you want to flip the Rays and one of the Twins or Indians, fine. But there’s really no way to say that the ALE is weaker than that division. There’s no guarantee KC or Detroit isn’t worse than Baltimore either.
I’ll say it again, I love when people underrate the Cleveland Indians, and I’m ecstatic when teams think it’s time for them to go “all in” and that means spending wildly on mediocrities. If you don’ t think a deal like Keuchel’s can’t have an effect on future payrolls, guess again.
Keep spending, my friends, or as the immortal Ken Harrelson would say, “Don’t stop now, boys!”
This is a Carolina reaper hot take, Ejemp
Not yet, but adding Ryu, Betances and Will Harris (how is he still unsigned?) will get everyone’s attention.
I don’t see any path to winning the Central when the Twins and Indians have more talent than the WS, who are getting there, just not this year…unless Ryu, Betances and Harris come on board, and Robert joins the team early in the year and dominates, which might happen?
The Indians don’t have more talent than the WS.
The 20’s are the White Sox decade. Just you watch.
You’re both probably right, minus the division in 2020 but wild card for sure; division if things break right. As a twins fan I would love a return of the Twinkie/south side rivalry
They have a better shot at the division
Your wish has been granted
I agree. The Sox/Twins rivalry in the early to mid 2000’s was good for the Central. Being a Sox fan, I always liked the respectable rivalry that these two teams shared.
Yeah the Ozzie piranhas comment was mad props to the Twins way. Your Twinkies got the upper hand usually, esp at the old Metrodome, but the Sox got even with the big Blsckout win in 2008. A shame Morneau was a shell of himself by the time he got to Chicago. Hoping for a rivalry rejoined
In terms of what? Because they won’t get past the Yankees unless they make significant moves in the next few off-seasons. But they’ll be playing meaningful September baseball for sure for a good part of the decade
Just about any team can get past the Yankees lately. Even with Cole, Yankees can be eliminated as fast as they made October ball.
@Shannon Wolfe
You say that as if it has happened. Last I checked the Yanks made it to the ALCS two years in a row. knocked out by the Astros, the guys that repped the AL in the WS? That’s not “just about any team can get past the Yanks lately”. Put some ‘spec on the Yankee name.
You checked wrong, the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALDS in 2018
Lol the Yankees have the same amount of World Series as white Sox ( one of most dominant World Series teams ever ) this decade and the Yankees payroll is always over 200 mill
While the Sox just gave out there biggest contract ever 70 mill
Let that sink in for a min
A whole lot of A’s-White Sox ALCS’s incoming shortly…
You’re why everybody hates Cardinal fans.
Kuechel has a Cy-Young and a Ring, time to get paid.
Kuechel has a cy-young and a ring. Money is all that’s left
Remember when Jason Heyward left your team cause they were too old and the Cubs would win a Title before the Cards? He wasn’t wrong…
What a classless comment STLCards33. If it wasn’t for your name, I would have assumed you to be a Cub troll. How else does a team go about getting to a competitive state!? Sure, the White Sox have been far from the upper echelon of MLB, especially of late. Doesn’t mean they can’t improve. That’s how it goes. Looking every bit as good as the Cardinals about now. It remains to be seen if it all comes to fruition. But they’re finally trying! That’s all they can do. If it falls into place, they’ll be doing plenty of winning.
Should look beyond the dollars and the projected individual WAR values. The effect of having someone like Keuchel around the young pitchers is difficult to quantify. Good signing, he is gonna be another Mark Buehrle in Chicago. Hope the infield defense tightens up a bit though.
Cubs trolls have way more class than Cardinal trolls. I thought everyone knew that..
This comment isn’t going to age well.
Guys like you are why so many people hate Cardinal fans.
@STLCards33 The White Sox are building a nice team I think you might just be salty because the Cards have added nothing they just re-signed an aging fossil in Wainwright. 2011 is getting further and further away my man and that team doesn’t exactly look like a winner this year either.
Hey hey hey Cards fan here that likes the White Sox. I thought Sox and Cards fans all get along as we both can’t stand that other team in Chicago. Anyway I’m pulling for you guys and I like the moves they’ve made this winter. Should be a very exciting team. I apologize for that other guy. I always enjoy conversing with intelligent Sox fans that actually understand the game of baseball unlike the other fan base up there.
Likewise. Right back at ya. The Cubs running in place puts everything in perspective
Please don’t like the Sox. We don’t need you.
Dallas Kuechel is a welcome addition to one of the hottest and upcoming teams in baseball. St. Louis has good players, but nothing like what we have (period).
Plus, St. Louis is boring.
That should ruffle up some feathers.
I did the whole St. Louis arch thing when I was a kid, and then went down there for some fast women in my twenties. That’s about all they got.
They got the highest murder rate per capita in the country too.
You have plenty of time to focus on the White Sox because your Cardinals aren’t doing much. Makes the winter long without heat in the trailer, doesn’t it hillbilly?
Attaboy Rick Hahn! Big 2020 upcoming
Agree. Not huge but good bridge of Dallas and Gio as the young core develops Now pick up Encarncion for 1 year contract
I’m not counting out Castellanos/Ozuna.
Yuk. No thanks to Encarnacion… The only thing I’d really like now is to do everything they can to lock up Robert and/or Madrigal prior to the season so we don’t have to wait until mid- to late- April for them to be up. In fact, with all the moves I wonder if the Sox will be tempted to just give up that 7th year and play them from day 1.
You might want to look at EEs numbers. They are pretty good for a DH
i believe one of them will be signed before they break spring training – my guess Robert if he has a good spring – sox need a centerfielder.
We have 3 or 4 dh/1b types on the roster and another couple in the minors. No more needed.
Big Hurt, we had no production at all from a DH the last couple yrs why complain about an E.E. signing? in a division as weak as ours CWS may be able to mash their way to a division title like the Twins did last yr.. You got your wish Robert locked up for 6 yrs & i can’t wait opening day. Don’t stop now Hahn ! If Dallas can be a good #3 i’d be shocked & thrilled. Ryu injury risk & sticker price just to scary for Jerry, i suppose
Let’s Goooooo!!!! (From a Sox fan)
What a joke
🙂
ur a joke
Quit posting in front of your mirror.
Let’s goooooooo!!! : (most annoying over-used 2 words since “your mom”)
Let’s goooo! To your mom’s house. That’s what she (your mom) said!
Oh no you deehint!
He deehid he deehid
Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, GOOD BYE!
Very elegantly written.
As a Braves fan, glad he’s not back.
Except you still have no reliable 5th starter.
I mean we’re not exactly trying to spend darn near 20mil a year on a fifth starter either though
Well yeah, but to talk smack about a decent #3 SP when your rotation isn’t filled out is just kinda goofy.
Any of our vast pitching depth will do what Keuchel can for league minimum. Thanks for the laugh.
Fair enough. I believe the plan right now is to give Newc another shot, which I’m completely fine with.
Don’t consider me one of the trash talkers here though.. I’ve learned to stay humble about these things lol
Guarantee whoever our 5th starter is will have a better year than Keuchel
Yeah Keuchel’s best years are clearly behind him, but it can’t hurt to get a vet 3rd/4th starter with that young rotation. It obviously doesn’t make them contenders by any stretch and I don’t think real White Sox fans thinks it does, but at least JR allowed Hahn to spend legit money, albeit a big overpay.
Huh, must be why they relied on that dude all the way down the stretch last year. Guess they didn’t have all that depth then ….
Ewww. If you were a real Braves fan you would know Keuchel was hot garbage for us, down the stretch or not. We dont have room for a 4.76 fip in our rotation taking away a spot for the younger guys to develop.. Braves defense covered him getting rocked every inning. This signing is hilarious from a Braves fan perspective who knows the difference in his reputation and his ability.
Teheran at 9 mil will even have a better season or equal season.
I feel so bad for people who haven’t watched him pitch in years, and think they just got a #3 for only around 20$ mil a season.
Any of their rookies in AAA will suffice for a 5th starter, and if given ample time could possibly even outpitch Keuchel.
Can’t just hand them that job though. It’s possible they all end up being bullpen caliber arms except Ian Anderson, who will be a star, but isn’t ready.
That’s what was being said about Fried last year. Never can know when they put it all together.
Ian Anderson, who will be a star.
If i had a nickel for every time ive heard a prospect will be a star, id have a lot of nickels.
Has tremendous stuff for sure, but if the kid cant cut his walks down, he’ll get crushed pitching in the NL East
Don’t need to pay those prices for a #5.
Young starters can be broken in as #5’s. Braves have a lot of talented arms. They’ll find at least one additional quality starter as the season goes on. Almost every MLB team does every season.
All their remaining prospect arms are overrated except for Ian Anderson and he isn’t ready.
You seem butthurt. What team are you afan of?
He’s thick as a brick.
Wilson and Touki I will agree are probably nothing but bullpen arms, but if Wright ever figures it out he’ll be better than a number 5. Besides, they have a couple of under the radar guys on their 40 man in Weigel and Davidson that could start easily. and yes, you can just hand them the job.
Wilson is a starter. He had NEVER been given consistent IP as a starter in ATL, when comfort level is so important for young starters. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go somewhere else and put up steady numbers.
Soroka and Fried are so overrated right? Wait, sorry that was last offseasons meme, those guys are allstars now. Damn
Anderson, Muller, Toussaint, Wright, Davidson, Weigel are so overrated bro.
Never heard anything out of those Acuna and Albies guys either right.
God this meme gets old when you hear it every year, and its proven wrong every year, but the morons repeating it never remember and keep saying it. Its crazy to think starting pitchers sometime need more than one season to reach their potential, but if you think hard you can grasp the concept Im sure.
Literally nobody knows if they’re overrated or not until given some sizable innings.
Nobody.
And that’s not just with the Braves, that’s with every team.
Ian Anderson definitely has the best outlook, yeah, but we don’t know. If guys like Wright or even Toussaint learned to control their tremendous stuff you never know what could wind up with… Control is pretty much the lagging skill for all of Atlantas prospects.. it’s also usually the last skill to develop for a pitcher and there’s no way to predict when or if that’s gonna happen.
sure you are
Braves are a team full of prima donna. Congrats!
Well this guy said it so it must be true y’all
Good for the White Sox
Good for the Chisox opponents.
Angels lol
Hold up
Out of the NLE ! Nice
Keuchel–out
Rendon–out
Donaldson–(hopefully) out
Wheeler–still in, but now on the good side 🙂
Oh yeah!!! Sox all in !!!
Yikes. Don’t say that, bad use of words. The last time Rick Hahn and Kenny said that, they traded Tatis Jr for James F’n Sheilds then proceeded to lose more games than teams ACTIVELY tanking.
I’m sorry, who did the Cubs trade Lou Brock for? Bad trades happen.
For Q I believe
Boy them Scrubs fan are getting thirsty. I love it. You guys know the “dynasty” is done. Window shut. Terrible Theo signings as per his usual MO. Bryzzo and Dogbone are lovers
I think he’ll be better pitching for a full year in a new environment, bye felicia.
Sweet. The twins can tee off of him a few times next year!
The Sox are ready to compete
For what? The tallest midget? They are in easily the worst team in baseball. Even so, a LOT would have to go wrong w/ Minny for them to get caught by the White Sox.
Somebody’s upset the Cubs are done.
The last I checked you can only win the division you are in. But thanks for contributing nothing yet again.
I think a lot of people will be quite surprised with White Sox offensive production and decent, high upside young pitching. This move for Dallas is going to be interesting because he’s in the dugout with so many young guys breaking in to claim the star status they were born to be.
No reason the Sox can’t compete in the Central. This is a nice sign for them.
Enjoy fourth place once the cubs trade bryant
Hottest t-shirt in Chicago right now is: Cubs – One and Done, with a big “L” on it.
Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, Miami all thank you for your error.
But Bryzzo is a superfan big on baseball wisdom. Just check out the screen name, emblazoned on a pink cap he picked up in Sept 16. Still has the price tag on.
Guess they miss Mark Buerhle and wanted him 2.0
Are you seriously saying that like it’s a bad thing? Buerhle threw 2 no hitters (including a perfect game), won over 200 games and threw over 200 innings for 14 straight years?
The fact that this was your first thought and that you’re so upset about an innocent comment shows how insecure you are about your beloved sox.
Defending a valid argument is a sign of insecurity? Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they’re “upset”.
Yes! Business has just picked up!
They’re probably gonna move Reynaldo Lopez to the bullpen now because they have 6 starting pitchers
If your wondering who the six are it’s:
Giolito
Cease
Lopez
Keuchel
Gonzalez
Kopech
Rodon(but he won’t be back for opening day though)
That’s 7
He was implying that we can count out Rodon.
I meant 6 for opening day and plus about halfway through the season they will give less innings to kopech and more to rodon because of both of their injuries
Kopech won’t be on the opening day roster, Cease will have to be lights out in spring training to be considered for the rotation. Reynaldo is a lot like giolito, he has nasty stuff, just hasn’t found himself yet.
Cease will 100% be in the rotation to start next year.
The odd man out is going to be Kopech (and Rodon, obviously). If you’re relying on him to be back to “normal” this year, you’re going to be disappointed. He’s going to be on an innings limit and just working on getting back the feel of pitching to live hitters.
As for Rodon, it’ll depend on where the team is when he returns. If they’re competing, I would expect him to come back in the bullpen. If they’re out of it already, I’m sure they’ll work him in as a starter because there would be no reason not to.
Only problem is nothing about that rotation scares me. Plus with minus D if the OF. Not impressed
Nothing scares you, yet. We’ll see how Cease, Lopez, Kopech develop. They all have elite arm talent.
Yeah he can’t hold a candle to Quintana.
Is CubsFan73 worried about outfield D for the Sox with Schwarber racking up the gold gloves???
^*LMFAO
Not impressed. Then again, you ARE a Cubs Fan. AL Central to the Sox this year; and 4-0 against the Cubs
You need 8 starters in today’s game to win. Finally the Sox got their man. This gives them the base to move forward to become contenders. depending on the development of their young players.
Kopech and Cease will most likely have innings limits. So there will be ample opportunities.
And that’s not counting Dylan Covey!
If there’s going to be a swing man this year it’s probably Kopech, aka Sale 2.0
Chris Sale was never a ‘swing-man’ for the White Sox. He became a late-inning lefty in the White Sox bullpen in 2010 the same summer he was drafted out of college because he had excellent command of two pitches and the team was desperate for relief help as a contender down the stretch having lost setup man J.J. Putz in August and closer Bobby Jenks in September due to injury. Sale was so effective he wound up sharing the closer role with southpaw Matt Thornton when Jenks was lost for the season. Sale continued as a late inning reliever in 2011 while honing his other pitches under the tutelage of pitching coach Don Cooper before becoming a mainstay in the White Sox rotation in 2012.
Michael Kopech has Sale like stuff but his path to MLB has been much slower as a high school draft choice. He also had to deal with some injuries and serious command issues as a professional. A much better comp with Kopech would be Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard. I fully expect Kopech to be utilized exclusively as a starting pitcher by the White Sox until he proves he can’t, as in years and not transitioning from a reliever to a starter like Sale.
I foresee Kopech becoming the White Sox’s closer after this season. This all depends if Kopech can develop a change up, however, he does have the same stuff to become the next Chapman.
This is the kind of deal that persuades me the Sox finally intend to compete.
Yikes. If their young core takes another step this year they could definitely win the central.
Cubs looking like the 2nd best team in Chicago…
In what world? What facet of the game are the Sox better going into 2020?
Hey bud, if the cubs trot out the same sad lineup in 2020 that they did in 19, it’s gonna be a .500 season….at best….
Better pitching rotation, better bullpen, likely a better hitting lineup once Robert and Madrigal get the call.
Cubs lost a lot of local respect when their championship was a total security, drunk fest, costing the city millions for protecting just common decent folks who paid huge money for those tickets.
Then throw in the domestic violence cases, the racial remarks by the management who are still taking multicultural classes in response to it. It’s just not a place where most Chicago-ans want to take their kids to see a game.
Is this William Legue?
The only place Cub fans are going is The Golden Nugget.
White Sox, let’s go!
Has he been contacting with Chi Sox?
I didn’t know that
HELL YES
Poor Halo clowns…. Your gonna have to toughen up that thin skin and all bark you have with no bite. Your looking more and more like a solid 3rd place team.
If it took 18.5M a year to get Dallas Keuchel, it’s best to avoid him.
Give Ryu 20 million a year for 4 years, and the Angels won’t need Dallas.
Cause look what Dallas cost especially if the option gets picked up.
with Ryu’s injury history? Ohtani will make more starts than Ryu in a 4 year span…
Because Ohtani has never been injured.
That’s the joke
Nah, now he’s just paid to be a badass
They’re not even in the stratosphere as the A’s, let alone the Astros. The Angels and Rangers really blew this offseason. There’s not many moves left that either team can make to finish higher than 3rd this season, unless they pull off trades no one saw coming.
What do the A’s have? And what have they done to improve?
And the Astros have lost Cole, and no longer get to cheat.
At least the Rangers and Angels have made moves to bridge the gap, if not overcome it.
I think that at least making themselves more competitive was the right call. Yeah the Astros have two really strong years left with the guys on this roster, but that doesn’t mean the Rangers and Angels should just tank. A WC is still a postseason spot and that’s all you need to get a chance at the title.
While Keuchel isn’t an ace, he is still a decent pitcher. The White Sox look like they are going to be more serious about competing in 2020.
He was pretty good for the Braves. He can still pitch, he’s just not likely to go deep into a game anymore. I don’t know much about the Sox pen, but if they can tandem him, or cover him with a good long reliever, it’s not a bad signing.
If by pretty good you mean “mediocre”, “ok”, or “decent” ill take that.
His playoff appearances were God awful and why it’s good riddance from Braves fans.
Soroka easily should have pitched again, you don’t make it to the NLCS by being conservative in the NLDS..
I wouldn’t say mediocre. I’d say more decent, with mostly dependable results. I’m a Braves fan, and I didn’t see his playoff starts as bad. I’m not sitting here and saying they were exceptional, either. They were about what he is at this point though, which is a 5-6 inning pitcher, who’ll probably give up around 4 runs. The Braves mistake was pitching him twice in that series, which is on the manager.
Not many people got hit by the home run more than Keuchel. Hes a sinker ball pitcher who cant keep it down.
He lasted 3.1 and 4.2 and gave up 3 hrs in one start and had 3 BB’s in the other, took 2 losses.
They were horrendous even compared to his half regular season when you expected him to go 7.
Yes, snit did make a huge mistake and I remember people thinking it was fine to save soroka for game 1 in the NLCS, uh no sorry you gotta get there first. Right on cue, folty decided to show his jekyll and hide self as well and is why he’s a 4 or 5 himself.
Every Braves starter besides Soroka was trash in the postseason…
Max Fried threw fine thank you.
Folty did have a gem, but yes he fooled snit and shouldnt have been out there again. That’s not how you end the season relying on Mr unreliable..
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=2ahUKEwi_kL6CmcjmAhUXLs0KHVzqDikQFjAGegQIBBAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fmlb%2Fplayer%2Fstats%2F_%2Fid%2F32685%2Fmax-fried&usg=AOvVaw0T4Ki409ExjyWrv9uywxSt
Folty and Fried combined to give up 10 earned runs in 2 innings in the most important game of the year. You sure you want to call out Keuchel?
I dont think snit got fooled by anyone. I believe he ignores a lot of facts for his misplaced gut feelings.
Folty pitched a gem and snit thought maybe he could do it again against that same lineup while thinking he could save soroka to start the first game of the NLCS=fooled. From potential manager of the year to that idiotic decision over night should haunt him at night.
Oh, so you want to just pretend it never happened. Got it. Folty was great in the postseason. My bad.
That game should never had been played if they sealed there chances and took them instead they got thumped. Badly. That was Folty problem from the get go. I wont count relief appearances against Max. That’s a different situation than what hes used to. Need a new manager that can actually manage.
Every year it’s the same problem. I’m so tired when people say ohhhh well we can get him to give Freeman days off, Donaldson days off, Markakis days off. Since Markakis is on there he will be an everyday player. Snit doesn’t understand what a platoon is or how to implement it. Donaldson was supposed to get breathers, Freeman supposed to get breathers, Albies to get some. And what happened. Same as every year. Get to the post season they are out of gas and the power fizzles. Its every year.
We are going to see and hear the same info that snit will ignore. Really hope that they promote Walt Weiss or Ron Washington to take over. He shouldn’t be running a big league club, at least not the personnel decisions.
He is saying folty pitched a gem in his first game, not game 5.
LOL ur team choked miserably to a medicore Cardinals team!
How did you screw up the word mediocre?
I’m aware of what he’s saying. I’m also aware that game 5 happened. Folty gave up 6 earned runs in 7.1 innings. Unless you want to completely ignore game 5, you can’t say he had a good postseason.
Oh no. I havent said he had a good postseason.
he didn’t take a loss in either game. The bullpen blew late leads in both games lmao.
He didn’t take the loss in game 5 because he couldn’t make it to the pitcher on record. But giving up 6 runs like that, yeah you lost the game.
Agreed. It’s a difficult sell to say guys like Folty are so special when they got wrecked in the middle of their playoff run. I say he’s talented, but does he have what it takes to be a great, can’t really say.
They didn’t run out of gas, they just faced better pitching in a playoff atmosphere and didn’t get it done. They didn’t live up to the moment in clutch situations whatsoever and blew their opportunities.
Giving breathers can come back to haunt you and can easily get guys’ timing off at the plate. The nats squad got it done even having to play a play-in game so Ive never bought the “I need a break” stuff.
You had to hit me with a bat to get me to even think of sitting a game out. Remember getting hit square in the back with the flu, hitting my swollen up toe in the batters box with an ingrown toenail (came out that one and to the Dr I went), playing through a bad quad all year, torn hip Labrum for 7 games, some don’t like to sit is all im sayin and I know for a fact freddie and most Braves are the same way. Rest is for Mondays, Thursdays, and the offseason to these guys.
Folty is anything but special, look up jekyll and hide in the dictionary and his face is there. Mr unreliable I call him.
Season officially over for the Padres. Maybe next year
dude no way Padres would pay that. Not worth it.
Paddack
Lamet
Richards
Lucchessi
Davies
Quantrill> Kuechel
lmao that’s not even remotely true.
Keuchel > Paddack come at me bro
The Padres don’t need Keuchel, but to say Quantrill is better is asinine. Keuchel is severely underrated.
Sure.. Because if it’s one thing SD knows it’s cost efficient contracts. Hosmer and Myers, real pragmatic. And Machado’s is paying dividends by the day
Believing Keuchel makes or breaks the Padres season couldn’t be further from the truth.
angels in shambles
hahahah 3x55m, glad the Angel’s didnt pay that.
Eppler better do something or he’s gone in 10 months
Much better to give $10M each to Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill right?
BOOM
Goes the dynamite
Oh yeah a low year low money deal, yeah really wish the Angels didn’t add a guy whos better than everyone they currently have in their rotation….imagine thinking this.
It’s also not your money, so you shouldn’t care one iota on that aspect.
My gosh I hate that old trope. No one’s upset about overspending because they’re acting like it’s their money. They’re upset because they know the reality is that’s less money that will go into wins elsewhere on their team’s roster. Like it or not, that’s just reality. Owners aren’t going to throw away tens of millions of dollars on a tax. Overspending too much negates the winning revenue boon altogether.
2 WAR in an abbreviated season. Angels chances at the WC are practically gone now.
Reinsdorf finally spending money.I’m shocked,still feel sorry Sox fans have to deal with this cheapskate!
It’s a good deal, and a smart deal.
Cheap as in breaking the bank to go into the penalty on Robert and signing Abreu, savvy moves at the time? And thinking long term to sign the likes of Sale, Q and Eaton on win/win team friendly deals, each of which reaped colossal dividends with the rebuild? Theres spending money wisely, and then theres Theos track record of bad contracts. The Reindsorf cheapskate trope is laughably out of date. You’re mixing up Bill Veeck
eppler? eppler?
Thought it was a good deal until I saw the AAV. Yikes.
The rest of the team makes peanuts for the next 3 years.
Now go get Ryu.
Preferred Ryu, but I’m certainly not upset.
I believe he wants to stay on the west coast
Why? You think Gio Gonzalez is better. This is clearly an overpay from your perspective.
1) Never said that Gio is better. I said a healthy Gio Gonzalez is just as good at this point in their careers. Both are nothing more than good middle-to-backend options. I stand by that.
2) Yes, it’s an overpay. Does that mean I have to be upset about it? It’s not my money, so I’ll go with no.
3) The only clearly better option available is the guy I said I prefer…
4) I don’t care that it’s an overpay because this means I shouldn’t have to watch Ervin Santana, Dylan Covey, Manny Banuelos, Ross Detweiler, Odrisamer Despaigne, and Carson Fulmer make starts on a weekly basis. That’s a massive victory.
5) I’m not relying on Dallas Keuchel or Gio Gonzalez to carry this team to the promise land. If they’re anything more than the 4th or 5th best starters on this team, the Sox aren’t going to win anything. Again, I don’t care about the money and if they’re overpaid for their performance. The most important pieces on the team are still going to be cheap until after these short-term deals are up.
6) People don’t have to be upset about EVERY SINGLE THING they disagree with. Take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy some White Sox baseball instead of complaining about everything you don’t like.
I also find it funny that people are complaining about the Sox overpaying him. These are the same people that rip the Sox for being cheap and laughed when Wheeler took less money elsewhere – the same people that said the Sox need to overpay if they want to sign anybody. I don’t know how you can make comments like those and then complain when they overpay to get a guy they want. You can’t have it both ways.
I’ve wanted Keuchel since day one, and I’m pleased with the signing. Also like Gio Gonzalez.
That’s good. I’m happy you like them. Hopefully they perform well and the young guys keep developing. Should be a fun season.
Yes! A groundball lefty pitcher. Just what the sox needed!
13 wins and a 3.85 – solid #3.
That’s a good deal for Chicago
How? That’s a massive AAV for a #3 pitcher.
Is it though?
It’s quite steep.
I could see it being a little steep, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as steep as you think.
No, it really isnt.
That AAV is quite steep for #3 starter (a #4 or #5 on a legit contender) He’s clearly on the decline. That said, I think he has more value for a team like the White Sox that isn’t typically a hotbed for prime FAs. Also, his value is increased on such a young, unproven staff that could use a vet innings eater. The White Sox tried to give their money to Wheeler, allegedly in on MadBum and even Cole and got denied. They have to spend the money somewhere, better than JR just sitting on it. So, all those things considered, I don’t fault them for overpaying.
On what planet is it massive for a #3??? Its below market value for a #3.!!!
no such thing as a#3. he’s a bottom of the rotation and overpayed
What planet are you on, exactly? Because on this one, 18.3 million makes him the 20th highest paid pitcher in 2020
And that means that yes, considering it is Ace/High-2 money, it is an overlay for a #3
@darkstar61 it’s not gonna be a fair debate if you use actual facts against thirsty, meatball homers. You’re not playing fair. LOL
I would agree Darkstar if every team in the MLB was trying. There’s plenty of 2s and 3s that would be “Aces” elsewhere. Kuechel would be an ace on a quarter of the teams in the league. Does that mean 18.5 make him a bargain? No. Stats can be twisted anyway you please.
Christmas came early for the White Sox!
No, it came early for Keuchel.
It also came early for ALL our young pitchers, as Keuchel will be a terrific support to their careers as they step into greatness.
Finally, a fan who understands an important factor with this signing!
:-)))))))
White Sox v Reds 2020 World Series.
Put down the bong and step away…
Neither team is ready for that. Reds need more offense. Sox still have too many question marks. 2021-22 is more realistic.
That White Sox line up can be lethal if Moncada, Jiminez and Anderson can stay healthy next season. Don’t forget these three guys missed some time where the White Sox had to put some scrubs out there for two months.
The addition of Grandal is huge. Let’s not forget that Robert and Madigral are coming up later on in 2020. This team can make noise in the MLB.
Why? He has a great thing in Atlanta. He’ll be traded by July. Good strategy for a rebuild team
This may be one the dumbest comments I ever saw on here.
That’s a sour grapes response if I ever heard one.
Enjoy, Chicago!
You happy now chisoxcity? This is legit
Not enough to significantly improve their chance to contend. Keuchel gives them a little depth. Gonzalez is there to eat innings. Mazara will suck in RF. It all still falls on Cease and Kopech to help Giolito get this team to the next level. Rebuild over? Maybe, but I doubt it. They might have to trade for another stud ace. The Yankees, Rays, Twins, Astros and A’s aren’t going anywhere. You think the Sox are ready to run through those teams? Nope.
Hell no they aren’t. But the division is realistic and after that anything can happen. What this does is opens the door now to get better. Legit free agents have signed there and they still have money and a few more moves to make
3/55 with vesting option seems high, but good for Keuchel.
GREAT for Keuchel. He already got his ring, he just needed a nice payday and now he’s getting severely overpaid. Can’t fault him for that.
The rotation of Giolito, Keuchel, Gonzalez, Cease and Lopez looks like a legit contender. Kopech is coming out the bullpen with Bummer and Fry.
Lopez is the one who needs to move to the pen. He has one 1/2 pitches.
Yikes, Keuchel is not a #2 on a team anywhere near contention and Gio struggled to even get a ML contract last season (then proceeded to show why) You need at least TWO of Cease, Lopez, Kopech to realize their potential to be anywhere near contention. The numbers don’t lie, Kuechel is a 3 or 4 and has been declining.
Signing Kuechel was a much better move for pitching than giving up Cease and Eloy for Quintana though.
LOL
SCrubs lucky to finish 3rd in their division this year!
Chatwood.
Good thing he’ll be a 3 once kopech is back up. Kid’s going to be special.
Kopech is going to be working out of the bullpen trying to develop his change up. If Kopech can not develop that change up there is a chance he can take over the role as the closer after Colome’s time is done in 2020. Kopech has that dominating stuff like Chapman.
Two old farts who throw 85 and two dudes with ERA/FIP over 5 last year. Meh.
And the Angels miss out on another pitcher lol
They’re gonna miss out on what 93.3% of pitchers. They did get a good rotation piece today especially in the AL west
I wouldn’t call Teheran a groundbreaking piece. Maybe a solid 4-5. Even so, the Angels have arguably the worst rotation in the AL West. Astros have the 1-2 punch with Verlander and Greinke, the Rangers may be lacking the fire power the Astros bring to the top of the rotation; but 1-5 they have the best rotation in the ALW now. Oakland has some very solid young talent.
And well… then theirs the M’s.
Good sign for the ChiSox, that guy is worth every penny.
If Lindor does get moved and Twins fail to sign another rotation arm I think this puts Whitesox in the early lead for the AL Central.
Queue Atkins presser saying they were in on him till he signed but they weren’t willing to offer that kind of term or money as it was more than free
Kudos to the White Sox for finally doing something on their pitching front. DK isn’t what he once was, but he’s still a good groundballer
Great move by the Sox, bringing in a veteran arm. Love it!
HATERS!!
Wow! What a massive overpay!
Yeah, it’s really not.
wow. pitchers making bank this offseason. this deal will be Arrieta 2.0
Thought he would have been a better fit for SD but then again they said they weren’t likely jumping into the deep end of the SP FA pool this offseason.
GB pitcher with anderson at SS. RIP keuchels ERA
Errors won’t hurt his ERA…
Angels about to counter with an Andrew Cashner signing
“Counter”
I have it on the BEST authority the Angels are “in on” James Shields……
Looks like it’s Ryu or bust for the twinkies
He’s a proven winner. CY young and WS. Will do wonders with this team loaded with young elite arms. LETS GO!!!!
Hilarious. Not sure if you’re trying to convince yourself or us.
If you like a soft-tossing lefty who’s past his prime, congrats. He was brutal for the Braves in the post season.
He gave up 1 run in 4.2 innings in his first start and 3 in 3.1 in his second start. He had one good game and one bad. In addition to being a tiny sample size, I wouldn’t call 4 runs in 8 innings “brutal.”
Not to mention Soroka was their only starter with a better ERA than him…
The Braves signed him to help them win in the playoffs. 2 postseason starts and only 8 innings is terrible for a guy who was supposed to lead the Braves rotation. Best of luck to the Chi Sox, they’re going to regret that contract.
He had no spring training let’s see how he does this year…
You’re talking about a guy that settled for a 1 year deal during the season. If you were relying on him to anchor your staff to a championship, your team was screwed from the beginning.
Braves will be lucky to finish 3rd in thier division behind Mets and Nats
lol is your name how high you can count?
This is a good sign for a young team looking to compete after a rebuild. He is a veteran with a history of success.
A HUGE MISTAKE.
I usually agree with you, but they needed to do something to firm the rotation.
I think he will be a Buerhle-type who will stabilize the rotation.
He doesn’t stabilize anything. Look at his home/road splits last year and imagine how far the ball will fly at the cell.With the increase in BB rate, it’s could get really ugly. His decline started 3 years ago, but the Sox don’t have the analutics dept to spot it.
I agree with you for once. That’s why I said Keuchel’s a #4 starter at this point. I’m looking for Cease and Lopez to pitch better, with Kopech possibly being an Ace caliber starter.
I trust him to age better than most pitchers, and I think last season needs to be taken with a grain of salt, since he had no camp.
Let’s be real. If he IS the No. 2, they are in trouble. Kopech and Giolito need to be the war horses. If he is just a No 4, I’m fine with that.
But they needed someone to stabilize the rotation.
Well, the Sox aren’t getting anybody like that. If the young pitchers don’t improve quickly, the Sox won’t contend any time soon. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Lopez pitch out his mind next year. He’s always had the potential, but this Jekyl and Hyde act needs to stop.
I’m a Cubs fan. I think it is a pretty good risk to take. Not 30+ million and not a huge amount of years. Regardless of what you think about the signing at least they are signing players with intention of contending. If I were a White Sox fan, I’d be happy with both pitchers they have signed.
I’m happy they signed both of them.
Massive, massive overpay. Seems he’s had the one good year where he won the cy young award. Other than that, he’s been average. Definitely not worth what he’s making on this deal.
ALL free agent signings are an overpay. Any other such brilliant insight such as: The sky is blue and water is wet?
Good move for all involved. Was hoping my Braves would have gotten him for a solid #4-5 in the rotation, but seeing what he signed for it makes sense we didn’t go after him hard. White Sox will benefit from his pitching and experience for sure. Good move for them
People calling him a #5, don’t like anything another team does. They might be jealous because they wanted their team to sign Dallas. I’m happy the White Sox now a new solid #2 #3.
Lol you can have him for that much. No one will compete with you.
It needed to happen.
He may never be more than a 3, but he will stabilize rotation, and with Gonzalez, they may have added two guys who will transform rotation and help them contend.
Solid move.
This was exactly what I was thinking the Angels will pull.
Great sign for the Sox.
Angels are content on the staff they have and fighting all year, to be 500.
Cause that’s what all Angels fan believe this team is. A mediocre 3rd place, if we’re lucky team.
It’s sooo sad to see where our pitching has gone.
I’ll admit there may be some upside with Keuchel given his stats from a few years ago, but I will take the Twins 2-year $20 million deal for Pineda over this signing in a heartbeat. And the Sox’s offense doesn’t really scare me. So I while I like the Sox’s moves so far, I’m hardly scared they’ll somehow overtake the Twins in 2020–or 2021 for that matter.
You’re in for a rude awakening. They may not be good enough to win the division yet, but the Sox should have a loaded lineup when Robert gets promoted.
Robert will have more Ks than Keuchel.
And?
Cue Billy Eppler saying Ohtani’s return is our big pitching addition.
If you’re going to spend on Rendon and bring in Madden, it sucks to stop now.
You know Arte isnt going to really increase payroll like that, no matter what he says. Plus the depth chart currently sits at about 9 starters after the latest addition. So both money and room say you should not expect another arm coming. What you see is seemingly the fixed rotation.
Its Maddon. Why do fans not get that. Especially fans of the team he manages
What a horrible signing. The ChiSox are going to lose 100 games next season.
Awe, that’s cute.
How big is the strap-on you take with awesome insight like that?
The braves without Donaldson will may finish 4th in thier division.
You pitching is a joke compared to the Mets, Nats and Phillies
That’s what they said last year. And the year before. What angry garbage you are lmao
Angry garbage? This person could save you or your loved one’s life someday
Mehh they’re still a 3rd place team. I actually don’t like Keuchel in Chi, he’s an extreme groundball pitcher and relies alot on sink and movement. Couple that with the temp in chicago and it sounds like a recipe for flat pitches, deep flyballs, and homeruns. I could definitely be wrong though.
The white Sox can sign as many guys as they want, I’ll promise you a mediocre season.
The Cubs can sign whoever they wa… oh wait. Never mind.
I need to know the reason your name is what it is..
Sincerely,
Diehard Vikings fan pre Gary Anderson
I think the White Sox got their consolation prize to Wheeler. Nice, experienced lefty to slot in behind Giglioto. As constructed, I think the White Sox are an 85-89 win team right now- considering guys like Eloy Jimenez and Moncada take steps forward in their development.
He has done more in the last 5 years than Wheeler has.
I would agree. Wheeler is being paid off potential only.
You guys need to look at Wheelers stats before making such ignorant comments like this. Wheeler’s strikeout and walk totals are far superior to Keuchel’s. And Wheeler has logged far more innings than Keuchel per season. They’re two completely different types of pitchers. Wheeler has the stuff and power to be a staff ace. Keuchel is a #3 or #4 starter.
What a loser Braves hater that apparently can’t count past 8 LMAO
Nice job! No QO or surrendering prospects to bolster rotation. Quiet the Boras stuff a little. They have the cash to overpay as expected on AAV.
Giolito, Keuchel, Lopez, Gonzalez, Cease should be watchable #1-5…….as Kopech eases back.
Young, dynamic offense should help win some occasional high scoring contests.
Should’ve been a Blue Jay.. Instead we get Roark.. solid signing White Sox. Pricey, but for 3 seasons it should be alright.
Ryu getting 100/5 easy now. So much leverage. I imagine Odorizzi regrets accepting the QO now. Pitcher’s market, particularly after that Rendon deal.
The Reds got just as good a pitcher for less than half that. Noice.
“Keuchel’s signing means there’s one less coveted gift to claim beneath the free agency tree for leaguewide GMs, but it should bring a good amount of cheer to Southside homes.”
This reads like a Boras quote lmao
Its a good building move for the Pale Hoes.
Good veteran that can help out the young blood
Any Sox fans who know both pictures well enough to compare Keuchel right now and over the next few years to any stretch of Mark Buehrle’s career?
Time for Sox fans to buy their season tickets to support the team.
Betts arrives next year.
White Sox will be the team of the decade!
PHew!! When I saw Chicago my heart sank and thought it was the Cubs who were that stupid!
It would’ve been 3yr/$90mil if it was the Cubs
How much money did Morrow, Chattwalk and Darvish get?
LMAO
don’t forget mr 26 M jason heyward — phew is what everyone else in baseball said when the cubs gave him $184 M – glad it wasn’t us!
How much did Cubs pay Edwin Jackson to NOT pitch for them at the end? That was a brutal contract.
$55.5mm? Cubs can’t afford the league minimum $550,000 because they’re broke! Haha
What did Q cost? He seems like a serviceable #4. Hopefully nothing more than say a utility player and AAA reliever
– depth pieces?
Of course not; the Cubs make much worse pitching moves lol. See Darvish, Yu.
You guys could have just asked for Quintana back for way less for the same stuff
Go Cubs Go
Wrong thread. Intelligence doesn’t usually accompany Cub fans though.
Must be a Brewers fan?
Another Cubbies Clown obsessed with the Sox
down the toliet
You can pit it on the board, yes!
Can of corn.
Stop
Keuchel’s probably a 4th starter on this team, if things pan out. Either way, it’s a meh move.
You should want him to be a 4 starter. The goal is that the rotation is led by Giolito, Kopech, and Cease.
Yeah, their are lots of goals here with the Sox. Are they realistic goals for 2020 given who they brought in? No.
What are the Angels doing???
The Sox were likely going to have to overpay for a starter with some pedigree after missing out on other FA starters, but it is by far better than trading two top level prospects for David Price. 18M is only money. Losing prospects would be the bigger issue if they had allowed that trade to occur. I’m content with this as the Sox (or the fan base, or the trolls for that matter) should never expect one pitcher to turn around the club into a contender, it will take Giolito to prove last year was not a fluke, that Kopech can return just as good as before the TJS, that Cease can turn a corner, and that Lopez can stop being Jekyll and Hyde. (and possible see what Dunning can do.. I have no faith in Rodon being back) . I think they all can achieve their promise and if Keuchel (and Gonzalez)can at least be a steadying influence in that clubhouse for the pitching staff, he will be worth every dollar he gets paid.
Agree 100%
Wouldn’t have to give up 2 top level prospects if the Sox took on most of the contract. Red Sox are just looking to shed salary
@nrd1138. Well said. It’s about adding a veteran starter with a history of success.
Who in their right mind would trade “two top level prospects” for David Price???
Well, maybe the Cubs.
Quintana was supposed to be decent and was not a huge overpay at that time. Cubs made a decent move there as he was the top guy on the market. They kept schwarber instead of Eloy. Both had similar war numbers with schwarber better. Quintana and Schwaber had a combined over 3 war in 2019, where cease and wloy had a .5 war. Simply looking at the numbers and it was not a bad deal.
nrd, Cease still a complete wildcard. Reynaldo too good of stufff to have the highest ERA in MLB. Rodon sits atop my must tradeblock if he has any value. Kkkkannot wait to watch Kkkkkkkkkkopech & Robert in 2020
This makes Bumgarners already team friendly contract look like an even better deal for Az.
2020 will be ok for the White Sox, 2021 you will start regretting these deals, 2022 they will be pairing off contracts with prospects to get rid of them. White Sox grabbed too much age this off season at multi year deals. That 3rd year is going to be rough.
Adding Roberts and Madrigal to an already young team. Age is exactly what this team needed so what in the world are you talking about????
Sad how far the White Sox have fallen since 2004! Truly sad they have to overpay severely for an over the hill pitcher! None of their heralded prospects coming up have developed, now they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel praying to get a little spark out of Keukel! He’s got his ring and Cy Young, now he’s going to take the money and run like all these other overpriced free agents do. Have fun with about 2 1/2 years out of 4 on the IL!
So much stupidity in one comment.
Moncada had nearly a 6 war season last year and giolito had cy young votes
Not to mention the World Series they won during the first year of their fall.
Haha. Exactly what I was thinking. He is truly a dumb @**
Uh, what about the careers of Giolito, Cease, and Kopech? They’re just beginning and I would say they’re prospect that are far from failures. I’d take them on the Yankees.
Is he really this stupid or just trolling?
Injuries hurt the White Sox from 2011 to 2016 when they started the rebuild. Pitchers like Danks, Floyd and Peavy could not stay healthy. Konerko hurt his back to get hitting in his wrist where his lower numbers declined and the offense lacked to put runs. At the time, the White Sox had one of the worse farm systems in the MLB where it was hard to replace certain players.
Hahn took over after the 2012 season, made a couple signings where they were looking to compete. By the end of 2016, Hahn knew the White Sox had to rebuild the farm system so he made unpopular trades to get great prospects to focusing on the international market. The White Sox went from the worse to one of the best farm systems in one off-season with three trades. Hahn’s focus was player development and said the window was around 2019/2020. It seems to be looking that way right now.
Damn, you know braves are gonna be signing a pitcher soon. They are depleted
Depleted without DK and JT, cmon man.. Hamels took keuchels spot already and theres no confidence lost with newk as the #5 compared to Teheran at all.
Another complement to soroka is needed for the playoffs though yes.
Good for him. Got the contract he should have gotten last year.
Definitely a Theo signing, you’ll regret it after a year , he’s definitely on the decline of his career
Settle in Sox fans we’re going to get on in the next 5 years. Remember the tears you had when Konerko caught that final out. The next one is going to be just as amazing.
Rich, you may have to wait a bit longer….. the Yankees have most of the next five pretty locked up!
Omg it finally happened. The White Sox did a deal with a Boras client.
🙂
I like it
Keuchel signing is a good move. It addresses the #1 area of need for the Sox, which is starting pitching. His experience should help the younger unproven staff members. It takes teamwork gentlemen and friendly competition.
I fear that Don “cutter” Cooper will encourage Dallas to throw the cutter even more and his results will suffer. I preferred Ryu, but I suspect he really wants to go back to LA. I would peg the White Sox at around 80 to 84 wins if ALL of the young position players progress. There will be injuries and setbacks.
Between grandal mazara gio and now keuchel Sox having a sneaky good offseason
What’s the big deal about Mazara? He stunk up the joint with Texas, now he’s going to save the Sox? Back to reality. And Keuchel’s not a star either.
He’ll have to shave the beard.
I’m not sure I’d say this “isn’t the blockbuster-level deal Keuchel envisioned…” I’m pretty sure this is more than he should’ve expected to get as a 32-year old FA who had to settle for a 1-year deal AFTER the draft last season. Could wind up being an ok signing if he continues to pitch to an ERA in the mid 3’s but seems like more $ than I would’ve expected him to get, at least at the start of the off-season. Since then it seems like everyone is getting “overpaid” so I guess that’s just the way the markets headed…
A lot of critics of this decision, but I think it is a good signing for a variety of reasons. Given the pitching market this year and the lack of starting pitching, I don’t see why this is so bad. He was a sub-4 ERA pitcher in his 19 games last year and also in his 33 in 2018. His ERA+ is 121 and his xFIP is right about 4. Anyway, I think this is a good signing for the Sox and I don’t see that the next two years will be that bad because he’s never relied on velocity and has a high ground ball rate, with his heavy sinker.
Nonetheless, MadBum went 5/85 and his numbers are really quite comparable to Dallas’ in many categories. And, Dallas is 31, compared to MadBum’s 30.
I dont understand why people are so concerned about the money. ITS NOT YOURS… who cares. The sox needed pitching this fills a need. It not like the money is better served in JRs pocket. This much like when the cubs went and got Lester or Lackey. A vet on a young team that has 60 innings of postseason experience and WS ring. Just the ki d of guy you want around Lopez Kopech and Dunning. As a long time sox fan this is exciting. If it doesnt work out at least they took a shot.
Yes. What chopchop said (minus being a longtime Sox fan). It’s about a veteran presence to stabilize the rotation. Who cares how they disburse money. They don’t have much money in the entire rotation. By the time you have to pay the other younger assets he will be gone. GUI is a fill in guy that you can find every year.
Great, now maybe all those cry-baby White Sox fans can stop their sobbing and be more positive from here on out. Who knows, perhaps your ‘cheap’ owner and ‘brown-nosing’ front office will provide another additional ‘surprise’ or two before opening day.
Btw: This positive White Sox fan pretty much called the Dallas Keuchel deal with my prediction for a 3-year guaranteed contract with an additional vesting option or two. We’ll see if the official announcement backs up the reported one. I have also been an advocate of this signing since last offseason with all the comps I have made between Keuchel and White Sox fan favorite Mark Buehrle.
One more prediction: We will all be extremely happy with our Mark Buehrle ‘clone’ and new White Sox warrior Dallas Keuchel when all is said and done…happy as in more golden rings. Merry Christmas!
Again with the hubris from you. Quit acting like the Sox made a big splash in free agency. They added a catcher and a #3/#4 starting pitcher. Mazara in RF everyday doesn’t inspire confidence, either. The Sox are still a 3rd place team right now unless the young pitchers take a huge leap forward. Hahn obviously is expecting playoffs for 2020.
I miss Buehrle too. Guy was a living fossil on the mound. Hard to believe just 5 years ago a pitcher threw 198 innings (his lowest total since Y2K) with 91 strikeouts, 33 walks, and 4 complete games. With a 15-8 record and sub-4 ERA in the AL East.
It’d be cool to see Keuchel put up numbers like those.
With Robert coming up and Marzara in Right Sox only need is in the pen and dh now love what they have done so far remember they have young guys coming soon to finish out the starting pitching
Mazara is not a longterm option in RF. Nor is it a given that Cease or Kopech are ready to be that 1b complimentary ace to Giolito.
Mazara is 24 so how can you say for sure? Odds are in your favor but that jury is still out IMO.
ChiSoxCity
I love how you pooh-pooh most all of the White Sox moves, yet somehow Giolito is an ace!? If you’re going to crap on very solid moves to become contenders, but can’t fathom the fact that last year could be an outlier from Giolito, what are you speaking on!? Perhaps Kopech and company surpass Giolito? Perhaps Giolito regresses? Perhaps a million other alternatives? Face value, the White Sox have done an excellent job addressing concerns, they’re actually attempting to be competitive. Are they World Series contenders? Possibly? But most likely not there yet. Still need room for Robert, Madrigal, and any other breakout candidate. Not too mad at the front office right now. Constructing a winner isn’t easy work from the south side apparently. Yet, they’re doing their due diligence.
The Sox will have a bullpen with Bummer, Fry, Herrera, Kopech and Colome in 2020. Kopech will not be a starter until he develops a change up.
Why even waste a breath people? Really nothing to see here. No one will beat the Yankees, so this is just noise
People have said that about so-called unbeatable teams before. Yankees are the clear favorites, no doubt, but the Red Sox dreadfully underperformed last year with essentially the same roster that ran over everyone en route to the 2018 WS title. Let’s wait until the games are played before we call the winner.
ha call us when severino makes it to the 5th for the second time in post season career after getting their once in 8 starts —
Houston just lost with verlander, cole and greinke… and a line-up just as good as the yankees —
But sure swapping out verlander and greinke for paxton and mr. playoff BP is a lock title…
christ… have the last 20 years taught you nothing?
Uhhhmmmm…the White Sox are trying to take the step of competing in their division at the moment. Trying to compare them to the best of the best is a “nothing to see here” discussion
Ha! Ha! Ha! It’s amusing that they’ve got everything on lock, yet have accomplished nothing in recent memory! Didn’t know the Yankees played in Houston? Didn’t know the Yankees played in Boston!? When was the last pennant for the Yankees? Certainly hasn’t been recently. So go ahead and count your chickens before they’re hatched. Nothing is guaranteed.
I guess we should just cancel the 2020 season and give the title to the Yanks.
Enough with the overpay BS — its a non-salarly cap league.
Overpays in baseball are deals who cost you people you want to keep, but can’t cause you overpaid someone who’s deal prevents you from keeping both.
White Sox players who are under contract less than the three years of DK’s deal —
James McCann
Gio Gonzales
Colome
Herrera
Garcia
Rodon in 22
couple other pen guys —
Players under control of this deal
everyone else…. ie all the guys who matter…
Losing Betts cause you owe price 100 mil is an overpay… they wont be losing moncada or eloy or robert or any other prime asset cause of a 3/55 deal.
and it really wont keep them from signing anyone else in that time…. cause it’s 70 mil less than they offered wheeler…
I would have preferred Ryu for the upside, but Keuchel’s ground-ball ways means he won’t be affected too much by GRF’s cozy dimensions. I realize he’s no better than a #3 on most teams and I think he’s getting more than he should, but he’s also dependable and shouldn’t see his numbers fall off a cliff because he never depended on raw physical ability.
That said, the Sox are still behind Minnesota for now and probably behind Cleveland (until they trade Lindor and/or Clevinger), but they’ve improved their rotation and offense enough to win 85 or so games next year.
I don’t think they’re behind anyone in their division. Cleveland has been gradually regressing. Minnesota was an outlier last year. An anomaly. I don’t expect them to replicate their 2019 season. If there’s ever been an example of overachievment, the 2019 Twinkies are it. Cleveland doesn’t care to improve apparently. They’ve been resting on their laurels since last off-season minimally. The Twins are just as frightening as the White Sox. Especially now! Division is most likely a three team race, with the White Sox having a subtle edge in my opinion. Twins are still in the discussion. They need to improve somewhere to really cause a reaction. White Sox are the favorites if progression works out. Cleveland of everyone is neither here nor there. Twins if their last season wasn’t a fluke. Wouldn’t count on that from Minnesota since they’ve been as passive as possible in the offseason so far. Decent moves. Just under the radar. Expected more from them. There still plenty of time however.
James Shields Part II.
At least with Keuchel all the Sox give up are some Benjamins, not one of best young talents in all of baseball.
ChiSox are just glad that Tim Anderson is a stud. That trade is bad any way you look at it, but at least they have Tim.
Pouring some champagne for the Giolito coming-out party…think he’ll notice me?
It is solid move for the White Sox, but I think the comparison to Cubs signing Jon Lester a few years ago are a little out of whack. Lester was still in his prime and really set the direction for the Cubs going forward. He was and remains a bulldog as a pitcher despite his advancement in age and abilities. This move, and also the one for Grandal while it does improve the Sox for the now and allows them to have the feeling that they finally got two after missing out on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper last off-season, just really makes them more competitive in their own division. I wouldn’t say they are a playoff contender as they stand. They have some intriguing young players coming up but law of averages are some of those young guys are just not going to live up to the hype. This move really makes the Sox the third-best team in the division and moves them to the middle of the pack in the very loaded American League. The Sox have been active and that should make for some happy moments among their fan base for the holidays but I am still not convinced they have done anything to vault themselves to possible playoff contender.
Poor scouting report. They’re easily in the discussion for division champs. Twins were an anomaly. Cleveland has been regressing. Nothing is set in stone. They were never truly in on Harper. That was media garbage. They truly failed to land Machado. These moves make them as competitive as anyone else in the division. They’ve certainly something to prove. I would far from call them “3rd best” though. Robert and Madrigal should be up in short order. Although unproven, they seem like immediate contributors in a needed way to the team.
2015 Lester 31 yrs old
2020 DK 32 yrs old
Easy now hector villanueva don’t you know all cubs prospects will be crap but all white Sox will be hall of famers. They will be the eagles of Mlb. If win division get embarrassed in playoffs . They can sell 1,500 division champ shirts to the people who go to the games.
Wow Mikel. So irreverent!
Just the facts ma’am
Lol yep just like all the cubs signings are home runs
Heyward
Chatwood
Edwin Jackson
Morrow
Kimbrell
Darvish
Still need a leadoff hitter but traded DJ for Ian Stewart ….. hey he’s a free agent but we got Addison still no leadoff hitter
Another White Sox obsessed Cubbie Clown
Fair assessment. The signings are as much to take pressure off the kids and buy time than anything else. The true window starts 2021 when Nick and Lou Bob have a year under their belt and Kopech and Rodon are all the way back. Short commitments to EE, Gio and Dallas buy them a lot of flexibility- in contrast to say a Bryce or Manny commitment which would have saddled the club well into the new decade.