Chris Getz Is Going To Have To Make Some Very Uncomfortable Decisions This Winter
Watching Cleveland touch up the Rays in the latter innings last night fucking sucked. All I could think about was how it could have been the White Sox. Yes, this season was incredible. It was the most fun I've had at the ballpark in a long LONG time, and a lot of that fun was due in part of the unexpectedness of the run the White Sox made.
The players balled out all summer long for the most part. We as fans truly appreciate it, especially after the aborted fetus that was the last "core" pull the blanket from under us.
What absolutely sucks is how the White Sox went out. The last 3 games were just flat out rancid offensively. I'm not sure what happened, but it was a shitty way to end an awesome year and I have a feeling the competitors and BASEBALL PLAYERS the Sox have targeted over the last 3 years will use that salty taste in their mouths as a way to get better this off season. Every last one of them.
The fellas seemed pretty miserable in the locker room after the game.
It's refreshing to see the juxtaposition from this core players after living through the last "core" of players. Those guys fucking hated each other. This team doesn't. That goes a LONG way to stacking successful seasons on top of each other.
So what now? My good pal Beefloaf and I had small back and forth with it yesterday after he brought up this point:
Before we break down his tweet, let me back up a bit. Out of nowhere, it seems like the White Sox core has been established for the long haul. Let's break it down by position:
C: Teel, Bart
1B: Murakami
2B: Meidroth
3B: Vargas
SS: C. Montgomery
LF: Antonacci
CF: Peters
RF: B. Montgomery
DH: Benintendi + platoon mate
SP: Burke, Castillo, Schultz, Martin
That, my friends, isn't a bad start. That lineup right there, along with mixing and matching the pitching staff, led the White Sox to a 84 wins and playoff appearance.
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With that said, the status quo is not quite good enough. Chris Getz is now tasked with shaping an 85ish win team into a 90+ win team this winter.
…But that's assuming they are willing to make a few really uncomfortable changes. If the Sox want to go from the scrappy little engine that could.
Sure, the ALDS turned into the coinflip everyone thought it'd be. A Jo Adell chopper down the 1B line here, a Steven Kwan flare there, and this bullshit:
That's not me complaining, either…that's me saying baseball is a game of inches. No, you can't strike out 1000x like the White Sox did in the final 3 games of the ALDS and expect to win anything at all. But the baseball gods proved more powerful than actual god, as the Tribe found grass and the White Sox didn't.
That's baseball.
But back to the "what now for the Sox" part of this blog.
Truly, what now?
Well everyone and their mother knows they need starting pitching. They literally had one player you could classify as a starter for the playoffs, Sean Burke. Fedde, Kay, and Schultz all were coming out of the pen. Deadline pickup Luis Castillo was nowhere to be found, while first half stud Davis Martin fell off a cliff and forgot how to command his repertoire in any fashion.
Check out MLB Trade rumors list of starting pitchers that are available. Is there ONE SINGLE NAME that jumps out as a "must sign" type guy that will instantly give you 170+IP of 3.0 fWAR pitching?
And I'm not talking about the Michael Kings and Tarik Skubals of the world…obviously those guys are studs but Jerry Reinsdorf. Enough said. Winning the Wild Card round and advancing to game 5 of the ALDS was enough for Jerry to say, "SEE!!! We don't need to spend money!!!"
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Not that that method has ever worked year over year in the 40+ years he's been the Chairman, but it gives him the easiest out possible to take when it comes to spending like the big market team MLB classifies the White Sox as. That fucking sucks.
So who do they target? A Brady Singer type? As far as free agents are concerned, I have no idea. I want studs. The Sox don't sign studs. I don't want them spending money just to spend it, like with the 5/75 deal they tossed Benintendi. Those types of deals almost always turn into shitbox deals.
Should the White Sox acquire a true blue TOR starter, it'll be via trade.
"BUT BUT BUT WSD, the Sox aren't trading Bonemer or Cholowsky and after that their MiLB system is BARREN, who in the FUCK could they acquire a TOR starter without trading one of those guys???"
This is where the "uncomfortable" part of the conversation goes. If I am Chris Getz, I am targeting a cheaper, team controlled pitcher that has STUD potential and using Colson Montgomery as my headliner.
Colson Montgomery is an excellent defensive SS that has mammo whammo power. He also strikes out. A lot. In fact he set the single season strike out record this year. For as much fun as it is when he connects on a baseball and shits on it 450' pull side, it's equally as frustrating when he puts up a golden sombrero.
People may think the Sox would be selling low on him, but I don't. Teams know his potential, and teams are cocky. Most orgs would be salivating at getting Montgomery in the lab and turning him into the Corey Seager-type they thought he'd be and yes, one of those orgs may very well be the White Sox in the end.
There's still a lot to unlock with him. He's absolutely, positively better than how he played in the 2nd half. I know that, the White Sox know that, you know that, Colson himself knows that, and the rest of baseball knows that. I also know that there's not a spot for him, Antonacci, Bonemer, Cholowsky and Braden Montgomery on the team next year. At least one of them has to be the odd man out.
So with him dealt, this is how my lineup/rotation would look in 2027:
C: Teel
1B: Murakami
2B: Antonacci
3B: Vargas
SS: Meidroth then eventually Cholowsky (I really hope he goes forces the issue next year)
LF: Eventually Bonemer
CF: Peters
RF: Braden Montgomery or a FA signing
DH: Benintendi? Anyone?
SR: Burke, Grant Taylor, SP from Monty trade, FA signing (Sonny Gray anyone???), Noah Schultz, Eric Fedde (run it back, fuck it)
Even after dealing Monty in this hypothetical, it's hard to find a spot for ALL of these guys. I wouldn't even be surprised if two of the guys we fell in love with this summer. Any one of Peters, Antonacci, and both Montgomerys could be dealt.
It's going to be a stressful offseason. Someone Sox fans really, really like, is gonezo. I truly have that feeling. Maybe it's because I think running it back with the exact same core, minus a few obvious tweaks and twacks like signing relievers or whatever, would be really fucking stupid, especially with Jerry is turning 91 in February, but I don't think Getz is going to operate that way in my heart of hearts.
But as I say all of this, we all already know that's what the White Sox will probably do, because, once again…Jerry.