The White Sox have signed veteran righty Johnny Cueto, according to Mike Rodriguez of Univision. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Cueto signed a minor league deal and will earn a prorated $4.2MM in the Majors. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Cueto has a May 15 opt-out. Cueto is represented by Bryce Dixon.
Cueto, 36, provides rotation depth for a White Sox club that recently saw Lance Lynn go under the knife for a slightly torn right knee tendon. Lynn is expected to be out for nearly two months. The club also recently took a couple of hits in the bullpen – a voluntary one with the trade of Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers, and an unfortunate injury with Garrett Crochet needing Tommy John surgery.
The White Sox will still slot Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, and Dallas Keuchel into their first four rotation spots. The newly-added Cueto will look to ramp up and join a fifth starter mix that already includes Reynaldo Lopez and Vince Velasquez. Cueto has familiarity with White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz, who worked for the Giants from 2019-20, and he’s been training in recent offseasons with Lopez.
After Cueto posted a solid age-24 season back in 2010, then-Reds GM Walt Jocketty had the foresight to lock him up on a four-year, $27MM deal with a club option. That gave Cincinnati two extra years of control, a period during which Cueto blossomed into a Cy Young contender. When free agency did approach, Jocketty shipped Cueto the Royals for their World Series run. The righty capped his brief Royals career with a complete game victory in Game 2 of that World Series.
About a month after the parade, Cueto signed a six-year, $130MM free agent deal with the Giants under Brian Sabean’s regime. Cueto was excellent in his first season for the Giants, but the investment failed to pan out for San Francisco. Cueto’s contract included an opt-out after the second year, which he might have utilized if not for a flexor strain in ’17.
Cueto then developed an elbow sprain in May of 2018, which led to Tommy John surgery in August of that year. He returned to pitch in September of 2019, a surprisingly brief 13-month recovery. Cueto served as the Giants’ Opening Day starter in 2020, taking all of his turns in the shortened season.
In ’21, Cueto missed nearly a month with a lat strain, and then more time late in the season with flexor and elbow strains. His final appearance for the Giants was a September 30th relief outing – the first of his storied 14-year career. Given his limitations, Cueto wasn’t able to crack the Giants’ NLDS roster, and the club made the unavoidable choice to buy out his $22MM club option for $5MM. Still, Cueto tallied 114 2/3 innings for the Giants in 2021, the first time he’d exceeded 63 1/3 in a season since 2017.
Since 2020, Cueto has a 4.55 ERA, 20.1 K%, 7.3 BB%, and 39.1% groundball rate in 178 innings. Even in his heyday, Cueto wasn’t a big strikeout pitcher, and he threw harder in 2021 than he did in his last strong season, back in 2016. Though it’s surprising Cueto wasn’t able to secure a Major League contract, his salary in the bigs will be hefty compared to the typical minor league deal. A couple of other AL Central teams, the Twins and Tigers, at least considered Cueto after the lockout. There’s a good chance the control artist will find himself in Chicago before long as the team attempts to weather Lynn’s injury.
With Opening Day two days away, the free agent market for starting pitching is down to Brett Anderson, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Cahill, Mike Foltynewicz, J.A. Happ, and Matt Harvey.
Lol what. Dude couldn’t get a big league deal? As are DESPERATE for pitching. I’m thinking he just didnt want to take a deal with a losing team and wanted to be on a contender. Well enjoy the minors for 3 months !
3 months in the minors?! How many pseudo-serviceable starting pitchers do you think the White Sox have?
Article says May 15th.
Cueto is a solid pick up after losing Lance Lynn for 2 months. I totally disagree. I knew he’d fine a job out there. The ChiSox got the AL central in 2022.
White Sox picked up a winner. He’s not the Cueto of old, but he can still pitch. And, boy, is he fun to watch.
I’m guessing the minor league deal is solely for the purpose of getting him stretched out since he hasn’t been in spring games. He will be up soon.
That’s exactly right. He needs to be stretched out and get some innings under his belt before he can be recalled. Definitely worth a shot.
He needs a little time to get ready. I’m sure there’s a opt out date pretty early in the season in which the Sox either have to select his contract or let him go free agent if he wants.
Right. And alternatively, if he had signed a big league deal and then consented to being optioned, he would have no control over when they call him back up.
Taco shells
He had to sign a minor league deal or he would have no place to get ready. Spring training is over and he can’t be on a rehab assignment when he’s not injured. If they sign him to a ML deal, they would have to waive him to send him down. It would be pretty funny if another team with an injury immediately claimed him.
He’s being plugged in for Lance Lynn until he comes back from injury.
Wow
Lil Jon is back!
WHAT!
At the airport. WHAT?
Dumpster Diving Ricky!
The White Sox take a lot of flak, but this makes sense. I hope he throws 150 innings of 3.50 ball.
Much as I’d like to see it, he hasn’t thrown that many innings since 2016, and his ERA has been that low only once since then, in 2018 when he threw a third that many. He’s a plug until Lynn returns, and then additional insurance for Keuchel, hopefully so ReyLo can return to the pen and bolster it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favor of the signing, but I’d be satisfied with a repeat of last year’s numbers (114IP, 4.08ERA).
Are you kidding? If he gives the Sox those numbers, Hahn will be doing cartwheels!
i would be thrilled with 80 innings of 4.00 ball
Hopefully he’s healthy and has something left. Not sure how all these latest moves will work out but they’re certainly being creative and trying to win.
GO SOX!
this guy hasnt been good since 2016… white sux missed their opportunity to win a world series any time soon by getting whooped by the stros last year
81-81 this year and then 10+ losing seasons after that
Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go. Hey Chicago what do you know? More than the poster child Cub fan.
“Hey Chicago what do you say? Cubs be stuck with ol’ J-Hey.”
glad you mentioned the Cubs, speaking of 2016…
at least one Chicago team has won a World Series in the last 15 years 🙂
White sux. I see what you did there. Replaced the vowel “o” with a “u” to create a funny. Did you go to school for that?
You seem triggered.
He has his stretches of vintage cueto. But then he’ll follow it up by giving up like 5 homers in the first 3 innings of a start and then you realize he’s not the old Cueto.
You must be like 12.
Kenny always gets his man! Madbum, Bartolo Colon and the Alomars on tap next.
I’d take MadBum in a HEARTBEAT right now if that means Keuchel doesn’t start anymore for the Sox. Plus I like his postseason stats/experience. And…he could pitch hit if needed (19 career HR’s, not bad for a pitcher!).
All kidding aside Kenny is what we all Aspire to be, letting the inner 12 yr old govern our life decisions. Probably has a wicked bobblehead / McFarland figurine display in glass cases and has all his acquisitions sign them. Explains a lot of things: midlife crisis sports cars, the resurgence of baseball card conventions, the enduring popularity of classic rock arena tours.
A midlife crisis with sports cars seems better than a midlife crisis without sports cars.
Bumgarner hasn’t pitched in the playoffs in 6 years…
You obviously didn’t watch Bumgarner play last season. I would argue he was more detrimental to the Dbacks than Keuchel was to the White Sox.
stupid post
Their window officially closes this year. Over before it started with these nonsensical trades and free agents acquisitions.
Their division will continue to improve around them, but I think that’s a little dramatic. Unless everyone has career ending injuries they can certainly still compete.
I don’t think it’s over, but like you, I sometimes think of what could have been had JR really gone after an FA or two that would have put them over the top. Semien would have been perfect. They could have gone hard after Ray. Even though Tatis is injury-prone, he’s worth a heck of a lot more than Shields ever was. The fact that it was a stupid trade at the time because the Sox were fading fast and Shields was already a shell of his former self only makes it worse. Last year, they could have gone after Springer or Brantley in RF. And then there’s the Kimbrel trade.
Hahn is just much better at gathering young talent during a rebuild than he is at rounding out a contender. I don’t know how much of the fault there is his and how much is Reinsdorf’s, but this team, despite its record payroll, just seems adamantly opposed to making that one all-in move for a superstar that many contenders make at some point on their journey to the World Series..
Wow you’re picking and choosing in your examples of FA signings here. And Brantley is already showing signs of decline. Do you want another Jason Heyward type commitment? What about all the FA pitcher signings that don’t work, while neglecting the forward thinking signings of Sale and Quintana which reaped prospect capital, or the shrewd pickup of Lance Lynn? The Sox can be rightly criticized for being in middle market purgatory for their years of poor drafting and development and their neglect of Latin scouting which was outed in the academy scandal. Contrast that with the stellar job of Marco Paddy and the indomitable Cuban pipeline. Selective memory like a lot of South Side fans.
Trading Sale and Quintana brought back the talent to kickstart the rebuild, which I already credited him for. I do have to admit Lynn was a shrewd pickup, but even he wasn’t an over-the-top move.
And that’s not exactly a clever comeback on Jason Heyward. A. He was never a superstar and B. He fell off a cliff when he joined the Cubs. But your argument seems to be that because that’s possible, no FA’s should be signed.
Neither point negates my point that the Sox have gotten close to having a true contender, then filled holes they didn’t need (at least, at the time) and let perfect fits sign with other teams. They haven’t gone all-in, and I don’t think they truly will.
Well really what as Eloy or Cease done so far that says that is a good trade? As for Lynn, Lance Lynn was a pickup that was lucky, and now we are seeing what happens with aging pitchers as he is out this season for the first month…. and had to give up Dunning for him (who the jury is still out on admittedly but still has a decent ceiling on him). At least with free agents, money is just that… money…The Cubs overspent for a guy like Heyward from the beginning, they well overpaid him for a guy that was never a superstar and was known to have holes in his swing that you could drive a mack truck through BUT then again by all accounts he is also the one that rallied the troops during the rain delay to help win it all for the Cubbies….. The Sox could have had some good players signed this off season without the need to trade potentially good young players, but past on it. If a guy is good on paper and you pay, and he fails then that is on him, but if you aim for middle of the road, ‘could be good if this or that happens’ then you get what the Sox do and that falls solely on Mgmt. Teams who want to win it all, TRY to and make a splash to get a proven commodity (especially if it does not cost you your young players). Not get middling players and trying to ‘out think’ the rest of the league by striking it ‘lucky’ with some of these players. Ill give credit to Hahn in the Kimbrel for Pollack trade (and lets be fair, that should not have had to happen if Hahn didn’t commit the two trades boners he has last season with Hernandez and Kimbrel, especially when it cost Madrigal and Heuer for the later) but that’s it for this year, and a LOT more should have been done to fill the holes in RF and 2nd and for the rotation that got its butt handed to it in the playoffs for the past two seasons..
How do the “nonsensical trades and free agent acquisitions ” impact their window when they haven’t touched their core? Unlike the years when they ran in place and added the likes of the Toddfather, Jimmy Rollins and Brett Lawrie to a 75 win team with no there there, these moves are adding complementary pieces to a core that’s locked up for the next 3 to 5 years.
They don’t. I have no idea what these posters are taking about. The Sox are set up for a long run and have the core locked up.
Keep making excuses and drinking the kool aid, JR and mgmt needs your ticket sale to go get another awesome player.. well awesome when he was in his prime 10 years ago….
Being the situation is what it is, I like this move. Worth the flyer. Their depth is suspect to say the least at Starting Pitcher. Kuechel is entirely undependable, let alone his option vests if he reaches 160 innings pitched for a King’s ransom. Kopech has never even remotely approached the required workload of a Major League starter. The front office has already said they’d be monitoring his innings anyhow. Cease is still pretty early into his career. He should be coming into his prime theoretically, but regression can’t be counted out either. Lopez, and Velasquez are both unreliable options as well to say the least. Ultimately this was a necessary flyer to add at least the illusion of depth. I’m hoping they surprise me. But I don’t get the impression of a World Series contender that I’ve heard many others claim.
Sadly, I agree. A little better health would go a long, long way, but the Sox aren’t off to a great start in that department this year, either. And I’m flummoxed by their intense focus on the bullpen while ignoring their glaring hole at 2B. With the Crochet injury, the Kelly move looks better in retrospect, but at the time, it felt completely unnecessary, much like the trade for Kimbrel last year. The Pollock move was nice, but even then, he’s not exactly a superstar or even reliably healthy.
What is more decisive to a teams success? The bullpen? Or what you call a “glaring hole” at the least important position on the field in probably the #9 spot in the lineup? I’ll hang up and listen.
I won’t argue that a good bullpen is more important than a good 2B, but there’s levels of upgrades. Going from a top 10 bullpen to a top 5 bullpen is less important than going from a bottom 5 2B to a top 5 2B. Sox had the opportunity to do that and just decided not to.
And are you really telling me that having Semien for next year would have made less difference than Graveman and Kelly? The Crochet injury makes it seem wiser now than it really was at the time, but an MVP candidate is worth more than 2 bullpen pieces, no matter how good.
The bullpen is nothing but a luxury, especially in the playoffs. If you can’t produce runs, or keeps runs off the board for opposing teams, it doesn’t matter who’s pitching for you by the 8th/9th inning.
Spotty defense up the middle of the field will send you home quick in the playoffs. So will poor run production (slugging). The Sox consistently fail to address these issues every offseason.
Mostly Agree with assessments on all those guys, which is why I really like this pickup. Giolito is our Ace. Lynn is our bulldog and will hopefully come back strong in late May. Various Question marks on everyone else but that’s typical of most rotations and I hope we can at minimum count on a floor of 22’ Cease as an innings eating mid rotation guy. Cease also has ceiling as Cy Young candidate ace potential so we’ll see. I expect we will flashes of both. I also might be the only one that is cautiously optimistic Keuchel will have at least a little bit of a bounce back in this contract year for him. Our defense should be improved for all his ground balls and if he can just eat innings closer to a 4 ERA that would be a huge improvement over last year. As it is with every baseball season, we shall hope for best and see how it goes. Go Sox
Giolito an Ace.. Hah good one…. Lynn a bulldog (with a bum knee ) man you are on fire with these jokes.. on wait you are serious? Lynn got destroyed in the playoffs last season, same with the ‘ace’ Giolito, but no, they are world beaters…. against bad teams. My issue with the Sox are they folded hard against top talent all last season and all people did was make excuses, then wonder how they got destroyed by the Astros in the playoffs, no heart, and no will to beat a good club (kinda like another team that JR owns)…. Those paying close attn and did not buy into the excuse parade from the team and media (The classic one I love was “The Sox have a bad record against teams over .500, but y’know that was on the road’ like playoff games are never away from home) and saw what was likely to happen and the Sox did not disappoint. The only silver lining was Sheets, Anderson, and Robert looking like top notch talent in the playoffs getting consistent hits, only to see guys like Moncada, Eloy, Hernandez and Abreu fail miserably in key situations. Now, after all of this, what did the Sox do? Pollack is a welcome addition (and really the best one), if he can stay healthy, but if you have to rely on a battery of Garcia and Harrison at second I’m not sure you are going to see improvements on ground balls this season. The fact that the Sox, and some of their fans, are hinging on Keuchel having a pedestrian season should tell you what kind of trouble this team could be in for.. Could they prove me wrong? Sure, but if history tells me anything, I think the Sox once again failed to do enough to get win a playoff series, let alone winning it all
Cueto is good for 5 innings and sometimes longer. That’s not so bad. I think the White Sox will be happy with the pitcher they’re getting. He’s really a pleasure to watch pitch (fast, shimmys, entertains and still gets batters out). And he’s fearless.
5 innings more than enough for the best bullpen in baseball to close out the W for the World Series-bound White Sox.
Don’t kid yourself, Barry. This is no longer the best BP in baseball. I’m not sure it ever was, as good as the Braves’ BP is. But missing Crochet knocks them down a few pegs. I still think they’re somewhere between #5-7, but they’re not the top unit in baseball.
Hyrax. You must be fun at parties.
This pen didn’t rely on Crochet. It’s still deep and talented.
You’re always free to mute me if you don’t like what I have to say.
We added Kendall Graverman and Joe Kelly while making a Massive addition by subtraction by trading Craig Kimbrel. Best bullpen in baseball!
Graveman is a nice pickup, but then they lost Crochet. That almost nets out. I’m still a little confused why they went after Kelly when Tepera was still available and, apparently, for less money. It’s a strength still, but we disagree on it being the best in all of baseball. The regular season will prove which of us is right.
Good point. Tepera was only good deadline move Sox made, and it was better than good. Guess they must have viewed Teperas 2021 as an outlier, right or wrong.
Kelly was great, five years ago, and the Sox picked him up because he is on the mend from an injury from last season (which is why Hahn picked him up) another one of Hahn’s signature ‘if everything goes right’ moves. Graverman? What? cause he pants the Sox in the playoffs? Kimbrel was misused by the Sox more than anything else as he is not a setup guy. That is the other Sox mgmt ‘signature’ move ‘ I know he is the square peg, but if we get a hammer we think we can fit him into the round hole’. This pen was used A LOT last season (which means teams have gotte really good looks of all the bullpen pieces), and not much change, other than Kopech going to be a starter, which further reduces this BP as a strength..Hey, I hope I’m wrong, but there is more ‘boy I hope these guys have a great season’ than being able to expect it.
Fast, shimmys, entertains, still gets batters put. Now you’re talking! That’s White Sox legend territory. Old #56, who’ll be getting his statue erected soon. Plus Lil Jon. WHAT?
He needs 2-3 weeks in the minors to get his arm ready and then Chicago will call him up at first to fill in for Lynn and then as a 6th man / replacement for Keuchel should Keuchel falter again as a starter. Either Cueto or Keuchel will eventually end up as a long man in the bullpen and a spot starter. Cueto was certainly the best FA pitcher left on the market and to get him for under $5M is a job well done by Hahn.
Agree, we could’ve absorbed the time of Lynn’s injury and things would be fine anyway, but signing a veteran the AL has little experience with is a great supporting move. Let’s hope this works out and Cueto has some fun games.
Love me some Johnny. #DiaDeCueto #ForeverGiant
The #Forever Giants roster is getting crowded. Next I expect to see Aaron Altherr #Forever Giant.
Gordon Beckham #ForeverGiant.
Snagging Cueto will turn out to be a very wise move for the WSox, especially on a minor league deal. You watch him pitch in the high minors for a month or two and then you must make a decision on adding him to the Major League roster, in essence giving you a chance to sample the goods before you make your buying decision.
Hope we see him in weeks, not months.
I’m thinking 36-year old Johnny Cueto will offer more value to the White Sox in 2022 than what 39-year old Orlando Hernández gave them in 2005. Hopefully ‘El Jucho’ will also earn another World Series ring (#2) in 2022 like ‘El Duque’ won (#4) in 2005.
I only hope he can be as clutch as El Duque. You seem to forget his ALDS appearance coming in with the bases loaded no outs in a one run game then retiring 6 in a row. Including striking out Ortiz followed by Manny grounding out. He cut out Bostons heart in that series. He was worth every dime for those two innings
Was at that game in Fenway. Witnessed the Red Sox fans recoil in dread when he entered the game, recalling his days as a Red Sox slayer. Recall sage Red Sox fans turning to us after the bases loaded escape and wishing the White Sox well. “Last year was our year. This year is your year. Beat the Yankees”
I would rather have him out there and see what he has got than have Dallas.. we know what he brings. I can’t believe he made the 5. He is no longer a big league player he should be throwing bp
I’m still hoping the Sox agree to eat 2/3 of Keuchel’s salary to ship him out. He is at least an innings-eater and that has value to non-contenders. The problem there is his vesting option if he gets enough innings, so I doubt it’ll happen. Sox would have to throw in an additional sweetener or agree to also pay part of next year’s salary should that option be triggered to make it work.
Another Power Move by the White Sox! Nice add to the rotation. Cueto will be in the rotation and Keuchel out of the rotation by the 2nd week in May.
It disgusts me how long his career has lasted. I’ve had no respect for him since he was with the reds and chose to use his cleat to kick Jason LaRue in the face during a bench clearing, thereby ending his career.
Yadi started it.
Brandon Phillips mouth started it.
A possibility he’s never activated. It’ll take him a month to get game ready in the minors. This will allow the White Sox to monitor Lynn’s recovery. If it appears he won’t be back by June, they activate Cueto some point in early May. If they’re leading their division and Lynn’s on track, they let Cueto opt out and avoid paying several million. It’s cheap but it’s JR.
There’s also cheap insurance on Kopech/Velasquez and Cueto in the rotation allows ReyLo to bolster the pen. Obviously, Cueto is no Lynn, but he’s better than their previous options.
Well they almost had to do this, they don’t have a lot better options. I like this move better than an overpay for Montas, if that would have included Vaughn. It is a shame they could not land Manaea, it did not seem like the Padres gave up much at all, and that the Sox could have beaten their offer without offering their best prospects.
Their first few weeks until Cueto gets going are going to be brutal. Kopech isn’t going to pitch many innings, and Lopez/Velasquez/Keuchel all pretty much blow. So their bullpen is going to see a lot of action early in the season, and they are going to need to score a lot of runs.
VV and Keuchel are batting practice pitchers agreed. Lopez was decent last season. Tony knows how to get the best out of certain players. He’s probably in the rotation and Cueto will be up after a few terrible Keuchel starts.
Meh. April and May are all about 11 to 7 wins over the likes of the Royals and Twinkies. Exploration of a team’s starting pitching quality and depth in head to head combat doesn’t begin in earnest until game 2 of the ALDS. All the more time to see if Kopech is established as a top 4 guy and time for Lynn to get back to full health. Likes of Keuchel, Cueto and Velasquez will hardly matter, if they’re even on the postseason roster. Look at Johnny’s pickup similar to the way the Sox deployed Billy Hamilton and Goodwin at spots when injuries sapped team depth, contributing to wins along the way. Like the second guy to take the baton in a relay race: maintain the lead, don’t drop the baton.
exactly right, as usual, augusto. the padres always outbid or outsmart our white sox. witness tatis jr, machado and now manaea.
Even without all the injuries, I like the move.
Hey, that’s a twins move…
Cueto and LaRussa interesting combination. Could see some friction there. Time will tell.
Cueto shimmies, he pauses, he shimmies again, here comes the pitch, no wait, now!
Then a quick pitch. Nobody else has his game.
Kinda like watching Luis Tiante and Dean Chance.
Solid move for a team that is in the picture to compete for a World Series. You can’t have enough pitching depth.
The White Sox pitching is pretty good, but looking less and less deep by the day. They better hope the injuries don’t continue, because they have very little help on the way in the minors any time soon.
Abreu and company better start hitting in the early cold weather, because WSox will need quite a few double digit tallies to stay afloat. Cleveland still has the pitching and no surprise if at least one of the teams exiting rebuild (KC/Detroit) has a youthfully inspired strong start.
All the CWS need is for the back of the rotation 4-5 slots to pitch .500 ball and eat some innings.. Both Keuchel nnd Cueto can do that be low velocity spot pitchers. This is an incentive laden deal..if he breaks down so be it
Just like the Goodwin and Billy Hamilton pickups last year. Just keep the lights on till Papa Smurf Lynn is back.
Great move. Surprised Cueto had to wait this long to sign.
This is unfair. Hahn is just flexing now. Sox & Dodgers are just…The money will be spent is an understatement. Folty is still out there for when Kopech or Giolito go down.
Luis Tiant after his barber retired.
Bottom feeding again. The front office should have been replaced two years ago. They have no idea how to take this team to the next level.
I wonder if there is an unspoken agreement that he will definitely be added to the roster once he is ready to go, and the deal is being structured this way to give them some flexibility with the 40 man roster.
Otherwise, with a salary that (relatively) significant attached, that creates a bit of a no man’s land where the team might want have a need for a starter, and he has looked mediocre but ok enough to give him a look in the majors, but you don’t want to end up guaranteeing him that much money unnecessarily.
He could always be traded away when the White Sox get Lynn back healthy.
At this point, Cueto is just flipping up bp….
He tossed 114 innings of 4.08 ERA last year. That’s not amazing, but it’s definitely serviceable. With the White Sox’ offense, that gives them a decent shot to win, which is more than I can say for Keuchel starts.
I’m betting he signed with deep dish pizza as the motivating factor, beings he’s now a full-figured guy.
I like it. I’d rather see him than Dallas
I would say I’m surprised at fellow Sox fans who aren’t critical of these aging journeymen being acquired to fill huge holes in the roster. The Sox are known for these types of moves (low risk, low reward). I guess I shouldn’t be (surprised), however, considering the (palpable) desperation on the part of Chicago fanbases in general for household names of any sort.
Sadly, ownership has relegated these franchises to picking from the bottom of the barrel, and not the top where winners do.
@Chisox I hear you in general. They certainly have done so little since signing Grandal in the FA market that it is fair to call their whole approach pitiful, being completely unwilling to take on the multi-year deals it would take to get top FA’s. This winter I think like 15 of the top 20 FA’s all got deals of greater total dollar value than any in Sox history. Liam is the only FA the past two offseasons who the Sox are paying as much as 10M per season. Someone summed it up really well on another site: “how do you go from being in on Machado and Wheeler to this bullsh**?”
But in this case, at this stage in the offseason, there isn’t anybody left to sign. Cueto was the best they could do. I’m disappointed they didn’t try for Manaea, the Pads didn’t give up much for him. Montas having two years left would certainly cost more. I’d rather have Cueto while giving up nothing than trade Vaughn for 2 years of Montas. Cueto isn’t huge upside but was decent enough with the Giants last year that I’ll take it. He’s more likely to give them 5 good innings than Lopez/Keuchel/Velasquez, but of course that isn’t saying much. Add Pollack and McGuire, and they are much better than they were a week ago, even if their offseason has been disappointing.
Forget about Cueto, he is mediocre and prone to injury. He is non-factor. The Sox should be filling put the roster with quality starters, as any serious contender should. The bullpen depth is just a smokescreen for all of these pathetic trades and free agent signings which have all exclusively been about avoiding longterm commitments and saving money for Jerry.
you’re basically right, slice. but you’re forgetting one thing, as are so many posters. it’s not only less expensive (which always suits the sox), but also smart to revisit the team’s needs before the trade deadline. there will be teams wanting to sell what we NEED, and what we need will be a lot clearer.
How many years of watching the same thing happen repeatedly do you need before you figure this put?
Fans who think the Sox are loaded snd ready to contend don’t seem to get that young players need TIME to develop. Improvement is NEVER LINEAR. Young guys regress or get hurt, and lose confidence as a result. That’s why you bring in an elite player who can give the team consistent performance and leadership. The Sox ALWAYS resist adding established star talent to the roster because Jerry doesn’t want BIG longterm contracts. And it is precisely why the Sox have only ONE (luck) championship during his 40+ years of ownership. Had he operated this team with even slightly less regard to thrift/frugality, the Sox would have 3 or 4 championships EASILY since 1981. This is why I’m sick of this formula of assembling a few young kids who can play, and then surrounding them with below average talent who have ZERO impact on the team. Jerry’s really good at PRETENDING to try and win, but whenever they’re a big bat or stud pitcher away from setting the world on fire with OBVIOUS options available, the Sox front office goes into hibernation mode. It’s like telling someone they’re about to have a FEAST, then giving them them Stalingrad diet (coffee and cigarettes) when you were expecting prime beef, or at the very least a Big Mac. I’m convinced he enjoys doing this to the fans of both of his underachieving franchises. It took a basketball GOD to come there and play out of his mind to win IN SPITE OF JERRY’S PATHETIC EFFORTS, not because of him.
Seems like a move the Mets should have made
Don’t know what to think about Sox. Pitching after Giolito and Cease and the closer. Will be better when Kelly is ready. Lynn may have problems when he comes back. Sox should have done what they had to do, get another starter like Montas! No doubt other teams in AL Central have rotation plans based on when they play Sox first. Sox weaknesses are now exposed, pitching and defense. It may be a tough April and May. Lots of outrageous scores.
The offense will continue to be a weakness for the Sox as well. They’re relying on the young kids (Eloy, Robert) way too much. Eloy will never hit 40 HRs as a starting OF. Robert still has a lot of growing to do at the plate. He can’t hit quality pitching because he has no plate discipline. And the bullpen was a non-factor the last two postseason series for the Sox, and it will continue this year.
Correct ! Eloy is a DH. Engel, Robert, Pollock’s defense helps a bruised pitching corps. Sox need defense to keep them in the game for a big inning or two !
Eloy’s liable to hit 40 by the end of August!
40 Errors too, if in the OF! Then again maybe not if he gets hurt again while clowning around in uniform while in the dugout.
Eloy was actually pretty good out there when he came back after surgery. He didn’t play poorly at all. And again, he’s a beast at the plate. The Sox will keep him! Lol.
The Sox defense will be just fine. The starting pitching is concerning…at least until Lynn gets back.
Go Johnny go!
Cueto is so much fun to watch pitch. He’s certainly not at his peak anymore but I wish him the best
Waltsneck, he’s a DH! He’s not even close defensively to the others. You can’t hit homers if you are injured. Why risk losing the homers to. poor defensive play. Huge risk, he got hurt sitting in the dugout in uniform last year.
Wow a lot of optimism in this crowd, Im sure the same people that were numbingly optimistic before last season as well. We long time fans have been down this road before:
‘If this guy does this and that guy does that…..’ If this guy has a breakout season.. if this guy does not breakdown… ‘if this older player can just do this’ if this guy finds the fountain of youth…..’ ‘ if this guy can do this for a full season’ if this guy can repeat the last season stats….’ yeah, same ol’ Sox, ‘All in’ but only at the bargain bin prices…
Im hoping Im wrong but again Im having a bit of deja vu here…. What will help make me a believer is if the Sox can actually stand up to the top tier talent teams and beat them convincingly or at least go toe to toe with them. Personally I think that if the Guardians staff can stay healthy they are likely one of the best rotations in baseball, the Sox better hope that ‘faith and hope’ fails them this season like it did last due to injuries.
But what does the ChiSox have to lose signing Johnny Cueto on a MiLB contract?
Cueto needs to eat a little less then he’ll be ok.