The White Sox Should Trade For Ketel Marte TODAY

Due to the expiration of the current CBA, MLB has faced a sort of ipso facto offseason deadline to sign/trade players at the MLB level. It's been kinda awesome, as there has been a ton of movement across the league to acquire/trade players before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow. MLB offseasons are notoriously slow and dragged out; out of the 4 major sports, MLB's offseason is the worst by FAR, aside from Winter Meetings week. 

That said, as awesome as the offseason has been to date, it's about to take a BRUTAL turn for the worst. Nobody should be shocked when new CBA negotiations run into February or even March. It's going to suck ass and further drive the casual fan away from the game. Unless you're a diehard baseball fan painstakingly refreshing Twitter to get the latest update on CBA negotiations, you're gonna forget the game exists. Fucking sucks, but that's the way it is. That said, I do think the game will be better off once it's settled compared to what we're used to. The games should be faster paced, more teams trying to win (opposed to trying to lose, which became way too common) and teams will hopefully be incentivized to spend and acquire the best talent.

The White Sox haven't really done the latter, at least not yet. They are so goddamn close to being perhaps the most formidable team in baseball, but they've so far watched Semien, Gausman, Scherzer, Marte and other players that have at least some amount of "fit" with the White Sox current roster and payroll walk away. The offseason ain't over and there are still good players out there, but at this point of the offseason Sox fans are understandably becoming restless. 

So let's talk about them:

We should be EXTREMELY pissed off. The White Sox have never even SNIFFED approaching the luxury tax threshold. For a large market team and one that had payrolls as little as $82MM just 3 years ago, there's no excuse to not act like a big dog because they ARE a big dog. The league recognizes them as such. Like, it's literally baked into MLB rules that the White Sox are considered a large market team and aren't allowed to spend in some realms like the Reds or Brewers are. Reinsdorf just chooses not to act like one. 

If (come MARCH, not 12/1) the White Sox end the offseason with their most expensive acquisition being a bullpen piece? Yeah, we as fans should be really fucking pissed. I don't believe that will happen though. I would be SHOCKED if this is it for them, aside from a few minor moves. I think they do land Conforto, sign/trade for a SP, trade for a 2B, and re-sign Tepera. I don't necessarily LOVE that, but I'd be content with it. It should be enough to win the AL Central again. At that point, see ya at the deadline.

Fuck yeah I would. Segura is… fine. If he's hitting 9th in your order, you're doing just fine. Segura is only a 1 year commitment too, unless he lights it up and they wanna bring him back next year with his 2023 club option. For as much as I loved the trade at the time, Kimbrel has STUNK on the White Sox. The exact opposite of what the White Sox envisioned happening with Kimbrel, Hendriks and Kopech becoming a 3 headed monster in the backend of the White Sox bullpen happened. He shit the bed and nobody really saw it coming. At the time of the trade, Kimbrel had a microscopic FIP, xFIP, and all the other advanced stats used to predict a player's performance. It didn't work out, but I'm not shedding tears about losing Madrigal. He was a fine hitter but stunk on the bases and with the glove. He's replaceable. In the end, if it's Madrigal for Segura with Kimbrel being the "all in" move to go for the jugular in the middle of the two, I'll never not be cool with that. Some things don't work out. Hopefully Segura comes to fruition. 

I could be wrong, but most I think most WS fans are in agreement with you Beef? At least from what I've seen they are. I still think they should 100% bring Tepera back. He's just a good reliever. To use your descriptor, there's nothing sexy about his arsenal at all, he's just good. Constantly on the edges, can get swings and misses, and shouldn't be crazy expensive. I think 2/$13-14MM should do it for him. Then on top of that, go after the high ceiling guys who haven't clicked yet. One guy I think has high leverage stuff but hasn't had a lot of success yet is a Keynan Middleton. Guy can touch upper 90s, has the coveted high spin rates, has a nasty slider and changeup, but has been pretty bad. That said, he's only 27 and still super raw. Def worth the flyer to see if Katz can work his magic. I assume we'll see at least a handful of MiLB contracts handed out to players like him, and one of them will win the job in mop up duty. Hopefully they discover a diamond in the rough. 

This I wholeheartedly disagree with. The White Sox should not just look to buy low and hope for the best at 2B or RF right now. They should be looking for a WAY more sure of a thing. Acquiring Solak is a move the 2018 White Sox should have made. Not the 2021 White Sox. This team, by all accounts, wants to win a World Series. Nick Solak, as much as I love a fellow west suburban and DVC guy, ain't making the White Sox better. He doesn't give them a better shot at winning a World Series right now. 

Bring back the south side jerseys for sure. Save the Blackout games for the playoffs and do or die games only. Can't water a good ol' fashioned blackout down.

The White Sox have way too many 1B/DH/OF types so…. no thank you on either of those two players. Brian Bilek started his own site a little while back and had a great breakdown on what teams match well (or not well) with the White Sox in a trade. Adam Frazier would have made sense, but there was clearly no interest of Frazier from the White Sox end, considering what he was dealt for. I still think Jean Segura makes a ton of sense.

The White Sox don't have a ton of farm depth, but they have pieces ready to contribute at the MLB level that other teams would covet. Sheets is one of them. With Bassit only having 1 year before he's a FA, I'm not sure I'd want to deal from big league depth for him, so that just about takes Sheets out of it from my perspective. We all love Lance Lynn; you can only deal from MLB depth like they did for Lynn a time or two before your depth is gonzo. Bassit has become a really, really good MLB pitcher. The White Sox are familiar with him. I don't know the White Sox would want to deal one of their largest trade chips for him. Maybe, but I don't see it. Then again maybe they trade for him and give him the Lynn extension? No idea

Everything I said about Bassit is true for Manaea as well. He's just a solid big league pitcher and has been a workhorse to date. He's also a free agent after the 2022 season. That said, he's a LHP and the White Sox need a LHP in their rotation assuming Rodon signs elsewhere (we'll get to him later) and Keuchel is dealt/old yeller'd. 

Castillo would cost Vaughn I'd guess and for that reason, I'm out. Castillo is obviously filthy, but if I'm trading Vaughn for anyone, he's headlining a package for Ketel Marte or another offensive player of his ilk. I don't trust pitchers enough from a health perspective to deal your BEST trade chip unless that pitcher is on the Max Scherzer level of good. That's just my opinion but I live and breath by it. 

In the end though? Both players make your rotation better and the White Sox HAVE to get a quality MLB starter this winter. Have to. 

Love these outside the box hypotheticals! Just don't love McMahon. At a glance his numbers aren't bad, 20+ bombs at 2B always plays, but he's done that at the best hitter's park in baseball and still has never had a wRC+ over 100 in his career. That's… not good … and that's not a risk I'm taking on a team with World Series aspirations. Again, I want sure things or close to sure things. McMahon ain't that. Ya know, like Semien would have been. 

On a scale of 1-100, I think the chances of Bryant winding up on the south side is about a 20. He makes some sense as he can play all over (would be mostly RF with Sox obviously) and grew up in Chicago. I also don't think he's gonna command some MEGA deal. That said, he doesn't pound RHP which is their first order of defense when improving the offseason this winter. I don't see it happening, but never say never. 

My SP wish list is the same as everyone else's wish list. I would have (obviously) loved Scherzer, but at $40MM+ AAV for a 37 year old that fizzled at the end of the year? No thank you. Gausman would have been REALLY nice at 5/$110MM though. I don't get why that's not something they could do. He reminds me of Charlie Morton a little bit where he blossomed after age 30 and looks prime to be a great pitcher for the duration of that 5 year deal. 

I assume they know Rodon's arm better than Rodon himself knows it and if he's all clear I'd love if he came back. Finish what they started with Rodon when they took him 3rd overall years back. The stuff was still there in the playoff game and hopefully 2021 was a base for him to build to 150+ innings. If it's not in Chicago, I'd love for Rodon to go win the Cy Young for an NL team. He's a great dude and I was so happy he found success last year.

We already talked about Bassit/Manaea who both make sense on some levels, and I wouldn't bitch about acquiring either, but aside from that, I have no idea what they're going to do with their SP depth. It doesn't exist from within right now and they need to add someone. Who it is, I don't know. Too many names to try to whittle down my personal list to just a few guys.

I want Ketel Marte, and on that note…

The White Sox aren't inking anyone to mega deals. With their hole at 2B, their need for LH bats, desire to get more athletic, and logjam of 1B/DH types playing the field (Vaughn, Sheets, Eloy, Abreu, Grandal), I would absolutely deal Vaughn for Marte. Marte has 3 years of team control left before he's off to make $200MM+. Dude's a STUD and in the prime of his career. Vaughn, as much as I love him, is redundant on this roster. I'd trade 5 years of Vaughn +++ for 3 years of Marte then immediately do whatever I can to extend Marte. Vaughn, I think, will be a star hitter, and could absolutely headline a deal for him if the White Sox want to go that route. I would, personally. Just think of this lineup:

1. TA SS
2. Moncada 3B
3. Robert CF
4. Abreu 1B
5. Grandal C
6. Marte 2B
7. Eloy LF
8. Conforto RF
9. Sheets (?) DH

That's a lethal lineup and more importantly, a balanced lineup. Do I think this lineup will happen? Not with Marte, unfortunately, but one can dream. 

In the end, whether it's now or after the new CBA is agreed upon, I do think the White Sox ink Conforto, resign Tepera, and trade for a SP/2B. They'll be better after the off season is complete than they were when it started. That's a guarantee. I just wish they'd play like a big dog for once. Now is the perfect time to do so. You know what like… 90% of your payroll is moving forward. There's not a lot of variance in what it will be. Why not bully the rest of the small market teams in your division around with financial might? It makes no sense to me and never really will. 

All good though. We will be content at the end of winter and at that point, we'll see ya at the trade deadline. Soxtober 2022 is still very real and don't think otherwise.