Along with this post, Tim Dierkes is holding a live White Sox-centric chat on Wednesday at 9am central time. Use this link to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
The White Sox made additions as expected at left field, second base, and in the rotation. GM Rick Hahn brought in a new manager and largely stayed out of the trade market, resulting in a team that needs to see increased production from incumbents.
Major League Signings
- Andrew Benintendi, LF: five years, $75MM
- Mike Clevinger, SP: one year, $12MM
- Elvis Andrus, 2B/SS: one year, $3MM
- Total spend: $90MM
Options Exercised
Trades and Claims
- Selected RP Nick Avila in Rule 5 draft
- Acquired RP Gregory Santos from Giants for RP Kade McClure
- Claimed P A.J. Alexy off waivers from Twins
- Acquired RP Franklin German from Red Sox for RP Theo Denlinger
Notable Minor League Signings
- Victor Reyes, Jake Marisnick, Bryan Shaw, Hanser Alberto, Billy Hamilton, Mike Morin, Erik Gonzalez, Keynan Middleton, Nate Fisher, Nate Mondou, Chris Shaw, Ricardo Sanchez
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Jose Abreu, Johnny Cueto, AJ Pollock, Josh Harrison, Vince Velasquez, Adam Engel, Danny Mendick, Bennett Sousa, Jason Bilous
The White Sox kicked off their offseason with the hire of Pedro Grifol as manager. The 52-year-old former Royals coach will hopefully serve as a breath of fresh air after Tony La Russa’s two-year tenure. Perhaps to compensate for Grifol’s lack of managing experience, Charlie Montoyo will serve as his bench coach. Jose Castro is the new hitting coach, also taking on this role for the first time. He’ll be assisted by another new addition, Chris Johnson.
After making fairly obvious calls to exercise Tim Anderson’s option and decline that of Josh Harrison, the club was given an extra $8MM to play with due to a surprising decision by AJ Pollock. Pollock chose a $5MM buyout over a $13MM player option, despite a disappointing season. He ended up signing with the Mariners for $7MM, sacrificing a million bucks in the process, but finding what he presumably feels is a better situation for playing time. That’s a bit odd, because the only sure thing in Chicago’s outfield at that point was the oft-injured Luis Robert. Pollock explained this month to The Athletic’s Corey Brock, “I just felt for me and for the team, in talking with them, there would be a better fit somewhere else.”
At November’s GM Meetings, Rick Hahn noted he expected to be more active this offseason in trades as opposed to free agency. Not long after that, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine noted that the Sox “[had] their eye on” Oakland catcher Sean Murphy. Murphy, of course, would wind up with the Braves in a December trade that also brought William Contreras to Milwaukee. James McCann was also traded this offseason, while free agency included catchers Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, Omar Narvaez, Tucker Barnhart, Mike Zunino, Austin Hedges, Curt Casali, and Luke Maile.
Given those catching options and their prices, Hahn chose to stand pat. The Sox will stick with incumbents Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala behind the dish. After a terrible 2022 season marred by October ’21 knee surgery, Grandal has spent this offseason training with Blackhawks strength and conditioning coach Paul Goodman, according to James Fegan of The Athletic.
It was clear the White Sox were going to add a starting pitcher this winter, and in late November they reached an agreement with Mike Clevinger. Clevinger, 32, had a middling post-Tommy John surgery season in ’22 for the Padres, particularly over his last 13 starts including the postseason. Unbeknownst to the White Sox at that time, Clevinger was under investigation by MLB following allegations of domestic violence. Earlier this week, MLB announced that they “will not be imposing discipline on Mr. Clevinger in connection with these allegations.”
Shortly after the Clevinger agreement in November, longtime White Sox star Jose Abreu agreed to a three-year, $58.5MM deal with the Astros. At the age of 36, we thought Abreu would be limited to two-year offers. The Guardians reportedly offered three years as well, though at an unknown average annual value. Abreu later commented through an interpreter that the White Sox made a “really good offer” of unknown value. But unlike the first time Abreu approached free agency, the White Sox did not seem likely to retain him. They’ve lost their best hitter from 2022, but did open up first base for Andrew Vaughn as expected. Vaughn logged 645 innings in the corner outfield spots for the Sox last year and struggled defensively.
With limited payroll space, it seemed in December that the White Sox were at least willing to discuss closer Liam Hendriks in trades. Such concerns took a backseat to the unfortunate news in January that Hendriks would undergo treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As Hahn put it in a statement, “Our thoughts and reactions at this time are for Liam the person, not Liam the baseball player. I know the entire Chicago White Sox organization, our staff, his teammates, and certainly White Sox fans, will rally in support of Liam and Kristi during the coming months.”
In my October offseason outlook for the White Sox, I suggested that Pollock and Adam Engel might continue to serve as the backup plan in center field, given Luis Robert’s injury history. Pollock chose free agency, and the club non-tendered Engel. Instead, the White Sox added Jake Marisnick, Billy Hamilton, and Victor Reyes on minor league deals. Leury Garcia has also played some center field, but in general, I expected the Sox to add a better safety net for Robert.
The White Sox did address their left field situation in a decisive way, signing Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75MM contract that ranks as the largest deal in franchise history. Coming off a season in which he hit five home runs in 521 plate appearances, we were surprised to see Benintendi land a five-year deal. But as MLBTR’s Steve Adams put it, the 28-year-old Benintendi is a high-floor player who has “settled in as a contact-oriented left fielder who draws walks, rarely strikes out, and provides quality defense.” It seems that the Sox at least explored trade options before signing Benintendi, as they were connected to the Arizona outfield surplus before the Diamondbacks traded Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays.
While the White Sox reportedly expressed interest in Royals infielder Nicky Lopez in late January, he has not been traded to date. The free agent market offered second base capable players such as Brandon Drury, Jean Segura, Aledmys Diaz, and Adam Frazier. Plenty of middle infielders were traded, such as Kevin Newman, Kyle Farmer, Kolten Wong, Miguel Rojas, Luis Arraez, and Adalberto Mondesi. The Sox instead opted to bring Elvis Andrus back on an affordable $3MM deal in February.
Andrus, 34, has yet to play second base in his 14-year MLB career, but he’ll do so for the White Sox. He’ll also be available as a capable backup for shortstop Tim Anderson, who has played in about 62% of Chicago’s games since 2021. Though a certain portion of the White Sox fanbase would like to move on from Anderson, the club conveyed to potential suitors that they would not be trading him, reported Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic during the Winter Meetings.
Anderson, 29, is under team control through 2024 via a club option. Speaking to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin in February, it sounds like Anderson would prefer some clarity on his future with the club. He said, “I’m on two option years, and we let it get here and it’s like, dang, I kind of want to know where my feet are going to be at the next whatever years it is and I want to know where I’m going to be at.” He also made quite clear he’d like to stay. Anderson’s heir apparent, former first-round pick Colson Montgomery, could be knocking on the door of the Majors when Anderson enters his contract year.
Turnover has been constant in right field for the White Sox in recent years. Grifol and the White Sox would like to see 24-year-old prospect Oscar Colas win the everyday job, with Gavin Sheets, Leury Garcia, and Marisnick considered other options. Eloy Jimenez is primarily expected to serve as designated hitter, but may play right field occasionally. Colas has only seven games at the Triple-A level, but has a chance to seize the job early this year.
Hahn’s other offseason moves were around the margins, grabbing Nick Avila in the Rule 5 draft and acquiring cheaply-available arms like Franklin German, Gregory Santos, and A.J. Alexy.
While Hahn likely entertained more trades than the ones that reached the rumor mill, ultimately his offseason was a predictable one. The chances of the 2023 White Sox mostly rest on players that were already in-house. Specifically, it will boil down to seven players who disappointed due to some combination of injury and underperformance in 2022. Anderson, Robert, and Jimenez have been unable to stay healthy the past two years. Lucas Giolito, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, and Lance Lynn combined for 15.9 WAR in 2021 and 4.2 in ’22, a difference of nearly 12 wins.
Though the club can’t count on big offense from Andrus or Colas, the other seven members of the team’s likely starting lineup all project as above average hitters. The team’s rotation is fronted by Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease, while Lynn and Giolito should be solid if not aces. Even without Hendriks, a bullpen fronted by Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, Joe Kelly, and Reynaldo Lopez could be formidable.
The 2023 White Sox are a team that is surprisingly easy to dream on, but also a team light on depth in certain spots. If Grandal struggles again, Seby Zavala isn’t likely to provide much offense from the catcher spot. There are some backup plans for Anderson and Moncada, but the outfield looks thin if Robert goes on the IL or Colas doesn’t hit the ground running. Similarly, the rotation has question marks in the fourth and fifth spots with Michael Kopech and Clevinger and has little room to sustain injuries.
While the 2022 season left a bad taste in fans’ mouths, FanGraphs suggests the AL Central is mostly a toss-up among the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox. It’ll be interesting to see what this post-hype team can do if key players stay healthy.
Solid 78 win team
You obviously meant 88!
Hey Kaner
No, more like 68 if they are lucky!
They should be better than my Red Sox
They get the owner! That’s so unfair, but good for White Sox fans
A lot of people owe Clevinger an apology.
Why? I mean sure MLB found no reason for disciplinary action but that doesn’t mean much. To find the truth you listen to both sides and the truth is somewhere in the middle. While I get this is likely an ‘ex’ of his, Im sure he was not Husband/BF/daddy of the year, regardless of how well he may, or may not pitch. What Im more upset about is that the Sox sign this guy with no knowledge of what was going on.
“To find the truth you listen to both sides and the truth is somewhere in the middle”
If person A says the earth is round and person B says it’s flat, is the truth “somewhere in the middle”?
My guess is that she has had “issues” in the past and everyone involved (baseball wise) knew that this outcome was just a matter of time.
Well I think it was obvious I was speaking in terms of this situation, but Im sure Clevinger is no choir boy either.
White Sox had way too much hype in 2020-21. Rebuilt for years just to be nowhere close to a World Series contender. They had a solid foundation that could win with an owner who actually cares. But when Benintendi is the largest signing in team history, you have no chance. Twins and Guardians are easily better.
They had a great farm they just screwed up by not building well around it.
They had a great start for a team and then just stopped adding. Dumb
Reinsdorf likes to use the pipeline from Cubs. It’s cheaper.
Even with their injuries, Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer are a lot “cheaper” than what Craig Kimbrel turned out to be. Those two former White Sox have many more years of team control and still have a chance to productive Cubs or trade chips. Kimbrel is just a painful memory that also resulted in more negative fallout with his subsequent trade for AJ Pollock and the front office failure to QO Carlos Rodon because of payroll issues related to the former closer’s acquisition.
The White Sox had top notch prospects who made impressive MLB debuts under a manager who knew how to communicate and help develop them in Rick Renteria. Too many injuries and a poor decision to fire Renteria and then replace him with manager Tony La Russa led to the disaster that was the 2022 season.
New White Sox manager Pedro Griffol has a lot more in common with Renteria than he does with La Russa. Hopefully his input, a revised coaching staff and better luck in the health department will put the White Sox back on a positive track toward the promised land that most White Sox fans envisioned for their beloved coming out of the rebuild. The front office also needs to do a much better job of supplementing their still fairly young core before it’s too late.
Hahn is a victim of Reinsdorf indifference to his team and refused to let Hahn spend any money. No way they compete with the Guards or the Twins.
Reinsdorf spent plenty last yr. and again this yr. This is on Hahn an KW aside from the mgr, they had which was Reinsdorf’s fault.
Hahn and Williams know their budget. They just ignore it until they have nothing left to spend. Then they act like its so hard to fill the remaining parts of the team. Yeah, running a team IS hard. Good thing they work for an owner that doesn’t realize that they aren’t up to the task.
they look like a decent third place team. if your pitching, defense, hitting, and positional depth are all lacking, you really need a magical baseball season to make this kind of a climb out of the ‘three-team’ rut that is the fight for the ALC(guardians should be looked at as clear favorites). they wont have too much to deal from at the trade deadline, leaving them in a position where theyll need to do good this year, or look at a retool and focus again on bringing in young talent to develop, which could begin at this deadline if things break the wrong way
Is there a better starting rotation in baseball????
Dylan Cease (Cy Young favorite)
Lucas Giolito
Michael Kopech
Lance Lynn
Mike Clevinger
See:
Atlanta
Mets
Seattle
Dominican Republic
Japan
Yankees
Tampa Bay
Houston
Gimme a minute……….
Phi Mia Mil LA NY Sea SD Tex
They could be the best but the 2022 version of 3 starters better not show up. Chances are none of them reach their peak years every again.
I knew I was forgetting some, But Dodgers and Padres were obvious omissions by me. Bad Uncle Mike :-0 Especially not knowing which versions of Giolito and Clevinger you get. Plus Lynn isn’t getting any younger. And they have no money or anybody to step in if they get hurt.
Giolito needs to go back to the sticky stuff. He lost 200 RPMs right after the ban and another 100 RPMs since. If the umps or the other bench are watching him closely he can simply go the Eddie Harris route and ‘just wipe his nose.” Lynn is an enigma. He has been underrated since he first hit free agency. He has had a rough season here and there but always seems to figure it out. He should be fine. Clevinger is the wild card of the bunch. Imho he has a meh first half and taxes his arm as little as possible. In the second half he cranks it up a notch and becomes the White Sox version of Brandon McCarthy going to the Yankees in 2014 looking for a decent contract. Kopech is Kopech. Eating innings while keeping them in games is all you can hope for. On paper a very solid rotation In reality, well, honestly its debatable if they are even the best in the division. The Mets, Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Mariners, Braves, and Guardians all come to mind as having better rotations.
You did fine. I named a couple you already had so at least you can read. The mix of team names and cities was too much for me to handle apparently. I think of Chicago more like Toronto Angels Rangers. They could be the best if a lot goes right.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kopech described as an innings eater. He averaged less than 5 IP per start and he’s injury prone.
It would seem the White Sox are depending heavily on better defense and injury luck. They’re going to need both. The bullpen looks weak and the rotation depth past Martin is non-existent. The phrase feast or famine describes the roster construction perfectly.
Sportswood- Yeah Kopech is a lot of things, But inning eater he’s not. At least not yet.
Agree but I do like their bullpen, I think Kelly will come around, he seems to be a every other yr. guy and this is contract yr.
I also don’t think “Eating innings while keeping them in games is all you can hope for” is correct. He has incredible stuff, and was ranked top 20 prospect at one point, so if his ceiling is 44 year-old Jamie Moyer then he has fallen dramatically. There is no question that he’s been injury prone, but he’s entering his age 27 season, and in his career so far he has thrown 203 innings, given up 159 hits and struck out 223 with a 3.64 ERA.
He still has the potential be a legitimate 2 or 3, and with Cease the Sox don’t need a 1.
Is that even the best rotation in the division????
I was gonna say Guardians, Because they usually do have better starters, But a lot of their guys are coming to the end of Arb years and everybody is talking trades. But that’s the smart play and hopefully the Cubs are learning from the Rays. I also listed the Rays because I don’t know who’s a starter, Who’s an opener, Or whatever but they usually have a pretty good grasp of what they’re doing. if the Sox top five starters don’t all make 30 starts, It’s gonna be a long year.
Why are people looking to move on from Tim Anderson? I’ve not heard a growing group of discontented fans as alluded to in this article.
A.combination of things, his attitude and public statements, his injury time, and his mediocre fielding.
One good reason to want to move on from TA is that he will be gone in 2 years, like 1/2 the roster. By the end of next year they will lose TA, Liam, Graveman, Moncada, after losing Giolito, Lynn, Grandal, Kelly this year. Best to get something in return for any of them rather than let them all leave and get nothing.
With Lux out for the Dodgers, they might make a great mid season trade partner. They could use TA, maybe throw in Giolito or Lynn if they are doing OK and Dodgers want a rotation depth piece, or Graveman as a solid reliever. Dodgers have a good farm system while the Sox are near the bottom, time to restock the farm system and do a re-tool, if not all out rebuild. They will lose Cease and Kopech after 2025 as well. I mean the Sox could have added guys like Springer/Semien if they wanted to compete, but they gave up instead. Next year’s free agent class is garbage, Ohtani is the only top tier player really. So there is nothing left for them to do but blow the whole thing up again. Maybe keep Robert, Vaughn, Eloy, Colas, and Cease/Kopech for a couple years… trade everybody else.
Couple of reasons. Injuries-Might not be his fault, I think the Sox trainers and Dr’s might be the worst in baseball. He seems to love to ruffle feathers and insert himself into some controversy. Their best prospect is a SS who’s not far away, At least he’s listed as a SS, Not sure what they’re thinking. He’s at the point where to keep him you’re going to have to pony up big money, Or trade him for prospects. Since the Sox don’t seem to want to play in the International players pool, They’re gonna need some. Their farm is depleted and that’s how you save money nowadays. Keep the line moving.
I’m basing that sentiment on the White Sox chat I ran last October. At that time, many of the questions involved wanting to trade TA.
Don’t remember that particular chat but a lot of Sox fans have issues with him for some reason or another. The whole team was injured. Injuries and controversy being the 2 most popular. Not sure why people single him out other than his reasonable contract days are about to expire. It’s time to pay him or trade him where the team that gets him gets a little service time. The more time the better prospects you get back. I’d be willing to bet Hahn would vote sign him and Reinsdorf would put the brakes on that. LOL Thanks Tim
Here it is:
jotcast.com/chat/white-sox-offseason-chat-14225.ht…
Cannot hit in key situations (i.e runners in scoring position), actually regressed in fielding (2 3 error games at short last season.. yessh), Was mostly hitting singles last season, constantly hurt, spouting off about how the Sox were the best team in the AL last preseason.. etc etc..The bigger issues are the preventable injuries that players should be training against, but yet constantly hurt.. If he would move to the OF maybe he would be OK, except apparently his bloated ego won’t let him do that. I was one of his biggest advocates, but after the dumpster fire last season, you have to start thinking with your head instead of heart. Hey, he could turn it around, but again he is spouting off about how they should have a chip on their shoulder.. not sure why, the Sox put it there. with their major under performance last season..Lets see him walk the walk….
Because he’s a substandard shortstop, an unlikable narcissist, and often injured.
If you actually been following the White Sox the past two seasons then you would know injuries have been keeping this team’s offense live up to its potential. Players like Moncada, Jimenez, Robert, Grandal and Anderson have been injured where they hardly were in the same line up together. All I know if the White Sox’s offense can stay healthy this season then it could live up to the hype. One thing I heard is that Grifol asked guys like Moncada and Robert to lay off the weights and stick to flexibility.
Correct. Which goes back to my point above about Anderson. That many guys don’t get hurt at the same time if they have proper instruction from trainers about how to stretch, And keep themselves in playing shape. And when they do get hurt which is often, The Doctors are horrible they are out forever. Must have Lonzo Ball’s DR. The days of Hermie are gone and aren’t coming back soon. And LaRussa was a horrible mistake. Hermie was the best trainer in the game for a long time. The Sox get more pulled muscles than a 90 Man NFL squad in August.
Yeah, and that is the convenient excuse.. constantly hurt, but still there in the lineup, still thought of as ‘reliable’..These guys were often injured with silly injuries that they should never have had if they would take care of themselves.. then again Im sure they had no problem sprinting for their checks on payday.
* Tony LaRussa is no longer making decisions in the dugout
* Team is just about healthy with was a major problem last year. Offense has a chance to be potent at times now that healthy. Real power with Eloy and Luis healthy.
* Oscar Colas!
* Defense is much improved. Pitching will be improved by default.
* One we add Liam and Crochet back into the bullpen …… Parade???
How is the defense better when you have the same guys basically as last year. Pollock-Benintiendi= Same guy. Same price even just more years. Vaughn-Abreu= same guy defensively. Colas can’t be worse because they basically had 2 1B playing RF= I give you that one. Grandal is old and I don’t think the old Grandal is coming back= I’d love to be wrong. You still have Jimenez playing LF=terrible idea. I don’t know if Andrus is better at 2B but he can’t be worse can he= ?
I’d love to have your optimism, But I just can’t get there. Everybody healthy-OK. Can they stay that way= I have no idea. What do you take to get that happy? Can you get it over the counter? Rock on Barry, Your world is one happy place.
Benintendi is playing LF. Pollock primarily played RF. Moving Ely to fulltime DH and having Andrus at 2B, are big improvements. Colas is supposed to be above average defensively and Robert should be healthy. Grandal is the weak link… Zavala may become the starter by Memorial Day.
Zavala has basically been the starting catcher for the last year or so.
Zavala was catching since Grandal has been recovering from his knee injury in 2021. Grandal should get more time as a catcher. Still little upset the White Sox gave up on Collins a little too soon.
Zack Collins had to hit for him to be a useful catcher. Every aspect of his defense was lacking. Collins did come out of college with a hitting profile which had to appeal to the White Sox, namely lefty power with high OBP numbers. He did live up to those offensive projections in the minors but has never achieved any consistency at the MLB level with the White Sox, Blue Jays or Pirates. His poor defense has restricted his playing time and his offensive tools aren’t good enough to warrant regular PA’s at 1B or DH.
This team has not hit right handed pitchers since and including 2020. That was a big part of why they had a 2-5 record in playoff games. Abreu was one of their best hitters vs RHP, so replacing him with Benintendi does not help this issue just b/c Beni is left handed. Unless Colas is the bomb and kills it right away, they have no chance to be a consistently good offense, b/c they can so easily get shut down by decent right handed starters. Both the Twins and Guardians have all right handed starters by the way. The Sox weakness is not lost on them and they built their rotations to exploit it, while the Sox have done nothing to address it in 3 years.
Parade, are you kidding me? This team is projected by like 6 different predictor sites to win between 74 and 82 games. They are a 3rd place team in the weakest division in baseball. They had 5 guys who played 100 games or less last year (Grandal, Moncada, TA, Robert, Eloy). Robert, Eloy, and Grandal did not play 100 the prior year either. Tim has averaged 108 games his last 3 full seasons, he is not exactly durable either. They have no depth whatsoever. What are the chances that those guys are all miraculously healthy simultaneously? They’ll be lucky if either Robert or Eloy plays 125 games, much less both. It would be the first time either has ever achieved that daunting feat. Tim hasn’t played 125 in a season since 2018. They are a joke.
How many of those “predictor” sites had the Phillies in the World Series last year????
The Phillies had Harper and Schwarber, two left handed hitters better than any on the Sox. Which is why they didn’t have a crippling inability to hit right handed pitching like the Sox have had since and including 2020.
That and the Phillies caught lightening in a bottle. Typically, that isn’t a successful strategy.
Also, it’s not sound reasoning if all the other outlying teams, like the Cubs, Orioles and Diamondbacks, can make the same argument.
“Team is just about healthy” – season hasn’t even started and they lost Hendriks. And I think you’re overly optimistic that he returns this season.
This team doesn’t have any depth. They can’t afford to lose anyone to injury for the whole thing to fall apart.
The pitching isn’t just better by default. You may think Giolito is just magically better, and he may be, but while some guys get better, others get worse.
This is a very real scenario and much more likely – Robert only plays 75 games. Giolito and Clevinger pitch the same as ’22. Colas is sent to AAA. Moncada repeats ’22. Grandol continues to regress.
Chicago’s season is dependent upon a lot of players who have long track records of not staying healthy being able to stay off the IL and producing.
Just about everything else is merely details.
Start of the season is especially crucial this year. If they struggle out of the gate, attendance will plummet big time as fan indifference is already growing…..so will TV/radio/etc ratings.
One thing that would get loyal JR to launch KW/Hahn is having a decent size payroll still (and 7th of 30 teams in ’22) and the masses tune them out.
This is a 3rd place team at best. The Guardians and Twins were more active in the off season and have better farms systems. Plus those teams know how to develop talent, unlike the Sox.
The Sox are a .500 team at best,
@mjc71 “White Sox don’t know how to develop talent”??? Are you kidding me??? The White Sox are among the best in baseball at developing pitching talent.
Here are a few names from the Sox farm system …. Carlos Rodon, Dylan Cease, Chris Sale, Mark Buehrle, Jose Quintana, Michael Kopech …. I can keep going ….
Buehrle’s first season was over 20 years ago, not sure how he is in anyway relevant to them currently producing talent. Rodon had 1 good season with them but by and large underachieved. Quintana had a handful of ok seasons but again more often under achieved. Kopech has barely cracked 200 IP in 3 seasons and was primarily developed in BOS system. Cease was developed primarily in Cubs system….
I can keep going as well 😉
Nobody is talking about the potential impact that Ethan Katz will have on mike Clevinger. Clevinger got better last year as the season went on. Typical when coming back from a major injury. Could be a guy ready to be an “impact” guy again. This is our #5 starter guys.
By better are you referring to his 2 QS’s after Aug 1st? Or the 3.13 ERA on Aug 1st that ballooned to 4.33 by the end of the season? You know we live in an “information age” right???
I didn’t put much weight on those numbers for Clevinger. I am also not worried about the “Information Age” anymore. That is so yesterday. I consider myself to be in the “video” age as it pertains to sports. I went back and watched all Clevinger’s starts after the Sox signed him. Nothing like the “eye test” when evaluating players. Numbers can be deceptive. He got better! The #5 starter. Wow. Just wow!
@Very, well u put weight into when u made a false assumption that his numbers got better throughout the season when they actually got worse. My mentioning it being an information age was in regards to fact checking false statements easily such as the one you made. And yes you clearly don’t ut much regard into this being an information age, since you apparently give assumptions as fact without investing a whole minute to look it up first.
The bigger impact you are missing is that Clevinger lost 2 mph across the board on his pitches. His underlying numbers also got worse as he pitched more.
He’s more likely to pitch like Keuchel than Cueto.
Few White Sox fans are talking about the “impact” that pitching coach Ethan Katz had on his long time prize pupil Lucas Giolito last season. Just saying…
He got worse as the season went on though.
I can just as easily pose a scenario when Dylan Cease (Cy Young), Luis Robert (MVP) and Oscar Colas (Rookie of Year).
And that scenario is as widely optimistic as the rest of your comments.
After this offseason, a several things come to mind::
-Sounds like the Sox have to grind it out with Grandal as backstop, but how sad is it that Grandal had to go to the Blackhawks org for advice on strength and conditioning.. That’s a bit telling about how players apparently feel about this conditioning staff. Hope it helps, but that, combined with a lack of shift, should make him more productive at least.
-Hahn’s best move he could have made was likely Andrus coming back to play second. Yeah, he is out of position, but his bat is going to likely be better than Gonzalez, Sosa, or Garcia.
-Once again the Sox better hope for no injuries after seeing their backups.. and this is on a team now notorious for injuries!
-Im glad that Hahn was not crazy enough to make a trade for Lopez from KC, regardless of how well he hits against this club.
-Curious to see where Sheets plays this year. I still believe that with consistent playing time at first he could be a good player. Good enough to stick around or as a meaningful trade chip.
-Colas looks good so far, but just wondering how well his bat does once the season starts.
-Robert, Jimenez, Moncada, and Anderson all have to look like major league players this year and not guys going through the motions and sitting on the DL while grabbing their checks.
-Not as impressed with the pitching staff as others are: All have to stay healthy, we have to see if Giolito’s ‘weight’ excuse really was why he was awful last season, and Cease has to show he can do it again now that teams should be viewing him as an Ace type pitcher.
-So far Grifol has not really inspired me.(hopefully he has his team inspired)
If they are at or over .500 this year I’ll be impressed but again all of these guys have to show some heart cause it was glaringly missing last season.
Thorough, concise, agree with it all. It’s moved from high expectations to I’m skeptical, prove it.
Pitching:
-Sox have a 24 club option on Lynn
-Crochet is out of the TJ (like Cease and Kopech) – so needs to prove he can pitch again then they’ll stretch him out.
-So you have a gap at the 5 starter next year? worst a 4 and a 5?
-Joe Kelly can be let go
-not that worried about losing GIo
Positions:
-getting out from under Grandal after this year
– Colas needs to prove it
-Montgomery is on the way
So where are the gaps?
-they missed at C this offseason cause they don’t invest in their own system
-4, 5, 6 starters?
-bullpen – develop in-house if they learned anything in the last few years (i lack faith here)
-see if you can extend TA and Cease (unlikely for Cease given his agent so accept it sooner than later)
-useable up the middle redundancy
-4th OF
-Colas needs to figure out RF
-stop overweighting 2B – it’s a shallow spot league wide
-there is redundancy with Burger and Sheets – stop carrying bad bats at the corners or OF that do the same thing poorly
Not that bad unless you just came here to gripe about things you can’t change (Reinsdorf)