JotCast | White Sox Offseason Chat

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Tim Dierkes

9:22

I think Burger is more appealing than he should be right now because he's only had 225 PA in the Majors and fared well at the plate. But he's also a guy who has not hit RHP in the Majors or at Triple-A.

9:23

The reason they are sticking with Moncada is that he's much more likely to give them a 4 WAR season - he did that in 2019 and '21. The other obv reason is that they still owe him a bunch of money for this year and next.

9:24

I think if they'd put Yoan on the trade market this winter, someone would've scooped up the contract fairly happily.

Realist

9:24

Yasmani Grandal or Yoan Moncada: Which of these contracts do the Chisox regret the most?

Tim Dierkes

9:26

Has to be Grandal. It's true that they overpaid for Yoan's arb years based on what he did, and having him for $24 mil next year (29 with the buyout) is not a good thing. But that seems more likely to work out OK than Grandal.

Rick (not Hahn)

9:26

Of their top two moves, which move was better: landing Benintendi, or locking up Jason Benetti?

Tim Dierkes

9:26

The latter!

Better contract

Benintendi (36.9% | 45 votes)

Benetti (63.1% | 77 votes)

Total Votes: 122

John

9:26

Speaking of Burger, what should/could the Sox do with him? Does he have any trade value or does he have a place on this roster? He is a guy that is hard not to root for.

Tim Dierkes

9:27

He can be a tough guy to fit on the roster because, as I mentioned, he's yet to prove he can hit RHP, and most pitchers are RH. And he's not really making up for that on defense.

9:28

At the moment I assume he's viewed as an MLB-ready short-side platoon guy, who maybe given enough reps could become decent against righties. I feel like he could become a second-division regular but may need to take some lumps to get there.

Gus

9:28

Do you see the Sox making any trade or picking up a player as spring training ends.

Tim Dierkes

9:29

As I mentioned I could see Leury shipped out in a salary dump trade. But I think the offseason work has been done.

Guest

9:29

Tim, does this team have a higher floor then most people are led to believe? Sure, injuries, and a disconnected manager have run them down the last couple of years, but 35:1 WS odds seems to hard to pass up.

Tim Dierkes

9:30

Well, I'm not quite willing to say they have a high floor, because that'd mean they're highly likely to play .500 ball and I wouldn't really say that. Overall I do feel that baseball fans at large are probably sleeping on them a bit.

AJ Glick

9:30

Does Dylan Cease regress heavy?

Tim Dierkes

9:31

It's easy to see a sub-3.50 ERA from Cease, which would be excellent but technically a lot worse than 2.20

Martin Davis

9:32

How good can I be? My minors numbers aren’t great. My college career was.

Tim Dierkes

9:33

Davis Martin is the first man up when a starting pitcher gets hurt this year. He seems to have a cerebral approach and I think optimism for him would have to come from that and changes he made over the winter more so than his stats from 2022.

Scott

9:34

Is the window already closed for the White Sox? Unless the problem really was La Russa and they'll be better just by having Grifol there, the roster doesn't seem too impressive.

Tim Dierkes

9:35

I think that when healthy, the roster actually is pretty impressive. There is a fairly realistic scenario where every single hitter 1-9 is above average (meaning wRC+ 100 or better). That's a deep lineup! And with real potential for star-caliber seasons from guys like Robert, Vaughn, and Jimenez.

Rotation has three guys who have pitched like aces at different points, plus Kopech who is approaching age 27 and hasn't shown us his best yet.

9:36

Now, if these guys start dropping like flies with injuries, then yeah, it's gonna be another long year.

You'll see AJ Alexy getting key starts, Andrus playing SS, Marisnick or Leury playing CF, and that won't be too good.

Eb1226

9:36

If the White Sox are leading/in contention around the deadline do you expect any significant moves to add to the team?

Tim Dierkes

9:37

I could see that. Some kind of rental SP could make a lot of sense. Such as...

9:38

Hmm. Let's say Chris Sale for fun

Rick

9:39

Does Reinsdorf really have the stomach to go for a WS championship in today’s baseball? Do you think a sale is coming with the new CBA coming up and Reinsdorf advanced age?

Tim Dierkes

9:39

I think what Reinsdorf is doing now is his definition of going for it. If yours is signing the Trea Turners of the world, then yeah, you'd have to wait for new ownership.

9:40

Reinsdorf has owned the White Sox longer than I've been alive. I haven't read up on whether he's talked about succession plans.

Rick Hahn

9:40

With Colas, in RF, and Benintendi in LF , plus Vaughn and Eloy not playing the outfield; shouldn't we consider having a vastly improved defense helping them win games and helping to save the pitchers?

Tim Dierkes

9:41

Yes - it's fair to say the OF defense should be a lot better. Really good defense in LF, good enough in RF, and a bit of an enigma in CF. That is still an upgrade from 2022.

Babs

9:41

Hearing that gary Sanchez could be a possibility, especially with Grandal's pop time and pass ball issues. Is this still in the cards?

Tim Dierkes

9:42

I'm not sure offhand if Seby has minor league options remaining. I assume he'd have to to make Gary Sanchez work. Although if that's what the White Sox wanted I don't know why they wouldn't have done it by now, because you'd be talking about Sanchez joining camp late and trying to learn their pitching staff. Not a recipe for success

Ken

9:42

Why was there no effort to bring back Johnny Cueto?

Tim Dierkes

9:43

It's a great question for Rick Hahn. Easy to expect regression from what Cueto did last year, and I assume the Sox expect that, but weighing the totality of Mike Clevinger, he doesn't seem more appealing.

Chris

9:43

Any chance they bring in another starter on a minor league deal? Kopech, Clevinger and Gio I feel like they need insurance besides Davis Martin.

Tim Dierkes

9:44

Seems like a good idea. Someone like Michael Pineda could be a nice stash. It depends on who would be willing to go to Triple-A from guys like him, Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer, and Anibal Sanchez.

South side babyyy

9:44

Can we expect any positive changes from having Griferol replacing La Russa?

Tim Dierkes

9:45

I don't think anyone knows a ton about how Grifol will be as a manager, but no one seemed happy with TLR's work and they seem to have nowhere to go but up.

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