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White Sox Offseason Chat
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Tim Dierkes
10:30
Hello everyone, and thank you for joining the White Sox offseason chat! I'm ready to rock, so I'm starting the chat early. I'll still go until at least noon if there are questions.

I love that we have been on the ball this year publishing our Offseason Outlook posts in a timely fashion. We started early due to Steve Adams' paternity leave, and it's paid off. Steve is probably not reading this, but if he is, congrats!

I also wanted to note that our Offseason Outlook series and Top 50 Free Agent list are significant October undertakings. If you enjoy that original work, please consider supporting us with an ad-free subscription:

https://mlbtraderumors.com/membership?ref=white-sox-chat-10-4-23

With that, let's talk White Sox. At least they were entertaining this year right?
John l
10:31
Will the Whitesox be active in free agency to get the club back in contention?
Tim Dierkes
10:32
If 2024 contention holds up as a White Sox goal, then yes, they'd have to be quite active in free agency to have a chance.  Chris Getz seems to have walked back Jerry Reinsdorf's comments about a quick turnaround, or at least was noncommittal recently.
Luke
10:32
You laid out a million reasons why the Sox will sign Whit Merrifield. On a similar note, the Sox were linked to Salvador Perez at the deadline. What would a trade look like from the Sox for Perez? And when does Sox merchandise go on sale in Kansas City?
Tim Dierkes
10:33
Perez will be 34 soon and has not been racking up much on-the-field value in recent years.  He's also owed $44MM through 2025, which I think most teams would consider underwater.
10:34
So you really wouldn't want to give up anything of note for him, but given his meaning to the Royals, I don't think they'd just drop him onto a divisional rival for nothing.
Doug
10:34
Man this year was tough. I like what Getz has put together with his front office hires. Can you give us any hope to look forward to 2024?
Tim Dierkes
10:35
I think the most hopeful thing for next year's White Sox has to be getting to enjoy Luis Robert in his prime.  Second place would be the likely promotion of Colson Montgomery.
Steve
10:35
What type of rotation pieces do you think is realistic to expect them to acquire? Seems that Bannister has a specific type of player he likes to work with. Montas, severino, flarhety?
Tim Dierkes
10:36
I don't know what level of influence Bannister had on various Giants or Red Sox reclamation pitching signings.  I'm sure he'll work with whatever Getz gives him.  Those three are definitely valid reclamation projects.  And in theory, wanting to work with Bannister could motivate certain players.
Jerry’s Best Friend
10:36
What does a realistic offseason look like for this team? While they have tons of money coming off the books, it doesn’t seem likely that this team will be in the market for a Jordan Montgomery or Teoscar Hernandez. At the same time, Getz was hired to quickly turn things around, seeming like a rebuild is not in the cards.
Tim Dierkes
10:37
Generally speaking, anyone I considered a reasonable White Sox target I mentioned in this post: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/10/offseason-outlook-chicago-white...
I mentioned at the end - the White Sox could reasonably add around $75MM in 2024 money without increasing their payroll
10:38
The question becomes, will they really run the same payroll back, and add that much AAV in 2024?  I'm skeptical.
I do think there's a fair chance we see a new White Sox franchise contract record this winter, given that it's only $75MM.
Southside Sadness
10:39
When Jerry set out on his farce to look for a new GM, he stated he selected Chris Getz to speed up the process of winning due to his age. Than Chris Getz came out several weeks later and stated he needs more time to determine if this is a rebuild or a retool. Jerry than made comments regarding a restraint on possible spending this offseason. This just reeks of disfunction. Honestly not surprised, am I wrong??
Tim Dierkes
10:39
I think everyone agrees the problem starts with Jerry.
Sad Sox
10:39
There have a been a lot observations about the White Sox's obsession with the Royals, ie Getz, Grifol, Benintendi, Salvy Perez rumors etc.  Has there ever been an explanation why?
Tim Dierkes
10:41
I have been pondering that question as well.  Best guess is that their execs really enjoyed the 2015 Royals, their style and everything.  Because yeah, why would Royals associations be seen as a positive?
John
10:41
Sox have a lot of money off the books, with Grandal, Lynn, and Giolito all gone. I know Moncada's and AB's salaries go up, but they only have $120M on the books for 2024. That said, there are a lot of holes on the roster. How aggressive do you see the Sox being in FA?
Tim Dierkes
10:42
In terms of number of free agent signings, I think they will be among the more aggressive teams.
John
10:42
Who are some realistic targets to fill in the starting rotation? Or are they going with Scholtens, Martin, Toussaint, and other castoffs / AAAA players?
Tim Dierkes
10:44
I mentioned in the post, I think they need to bring in at least three starting pitchers.  If there are strong internal options, I'm not aware of them.
Jack Flaherty, Marcus Stroman if he opts out, Seth Lugo, Kenta Maeda, Michael Wacha, Frankie Montas, Michael Lorenzen, James Paxton, Mike Clevinger, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Jakob Junis, Luis Severino, Kyle Gibson, Martin Perez, Wade Miley
I find all of those to be realistic targets
John
10:44
What do you make of Korey Lee? Is he the long-term answer at C or just a placeholder until Quero comes up?
Tim Dierkes
10:45
I think the latter.  I suppose if you're going to roll with a defense-first catcher, might as well pay him the league minimum?  But I think they need to add a veteran guy this winter, and more than a minor league deal type.
The Big Hurt
10:45
Do we have enough pieces to aquire a 2nd baseman such as Bryson Stott
Tim Dierkes
10:46
I suppose I don't see much of a reason why the Phillies would trade their starting 2B.  Various other second basemen, yes, the White Sox could reasonably put something together to get one.
WhiteStocking
10:46
It appears that much of the roster needs to be gutted. Who do you see as a surprise breakout for next year?
Tim Dierkes
10:47
Bryan Ramos maybe?  Andrew Vaughn will only be 26, he could certainly take a step forward.
John
10:47
Sox failed miserably in pitch-recognition / swing decisions, defense, and throwing strikes. Grifol talked a bunch about fundamentals, holding people accountable, and culture, yet didn't deliver on any of these. Why aren't the Sox replacing him? I honestly didn't expect things to get worse, let alone 20 games worse, this season with a new manager.
Tim Dierkes
10:48
I'm usually the guy who says, "I can't evaluate managers, there are too many intangibles and things going on behind closed doors."
But with Grifol, there actually are a good number of examples of him failing at things managers are supposed to do.
I think the theory is that Grifol has the ear of Reinsdorf and was able to buy himself another year.
Brett
10:48
This is a team stuck in the middle again!  Trying to compete would result in best case .500 record.  I hate being a WSox fan.
Tim Dierkes
10:49
Suggesting the current team is in the middle would be generous.  But yeah, if they spent a bunch of money and hit on some free agents, they still might be mediocre.
Brad Hand’s Hand
10:49
Why did this rebuild completely fail? Tony LaRussa can’t take all the blame right?
Tim Dierkes
10:50
No, I don't put too much of that on TLR.  Most of the core pieces took steps backward or didn't stay healthy, and on top of that Hahn made some bad moves or failed to address deficiencies.
10:51
They also don't have much in the way of players they drafted and developed who became good.  Part of the reason why people don't understand the Getz hire.
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