Especially considering no one knows what either team will look like come opening day

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

85 wins for the pale hose. 82 wins for the lovable losers.

_________________

They've improved the right field position and didn't spend much money doing it.. The guy is only 24 years old and can hit and hit left handed. It helps to balance the line-up.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

You are aware it doesn't take much to improve that position? The fact is he is a below average hitter and a below average fielder. On the plus side he has some power and is 24. My guess is this trade was offered and Hahn said, "Sure, why not? Can't hurt".

Hawk named to the HOF.

Huzzah

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

They didn't need much. But they did improve the team. The guy drove in over 100 runs in 2017 and has a lot of power. Now their outfield is set and the line-up is finished. Now the pitching needs to be worked on.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

We pretty well do know what the opening day starting line-up for the White Sox will be. Pitching is the unknown.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

Mazara. Snore.

Get some pitching, you fucking cheap morons. Until you do that, no move you make will have the chance of mattering.

I think they are going to be satisfied with acquiring one cheap starter and then brag about Giolito and Kopech, who could conceivably combine for seven wins next year. That's what they are going to sell this as.

We do not know enough about either team right not to be making predictions on win totals.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Can we stop discussion the Cubs in this thread?

In April.

_________________

In Haiti.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I agree with the snore part. This is a small and insignificant move. We must be hard up for White Sox talk that this move has engendered this much discussion.

So they go from shit production in RF to league average WAR and maybe he develops into something more. Why spend $$ on Castellanos or another proven bat when you can get this guy for cheap? Right??!!

Now watch they will miss out on MadBum/Ryu and Keuchel too. Notice the spin now is "well we're a year away anyway...".

Jerry Reinsdorf needs to die Sox fans before your team will really commit to winning.

Imagine if they had signed Cole or Strasburg plus Rendon? How many season tickets would be sold then?? But no. They go get Dayan Viciedo II...

There hasn't been a lot of discussion. It was a trade which garnered a starting right fielder for a team which really needed a right fielder. The guy has averaged 20 home runs a season and has driven in a good number of runs in his young career. He is only 24 years old for cripes sake and has already had over 4 years of major league experience.

I do not know what some of you guys are expecting but most minor league players make the majors for the first time at about 24 years of age. Also, some of you guys were willing to give up on Anderson and also Moncada even earlier than this guy is. I read same kind of doubts about Jimenez being a bust this year. Now these three guys are top notch hitters in the White Sox line-up. And it is likely that all three of these guys will be American League all-stars and will be top run producers in the AL.

I am not saying that Mazara will be a top player but considering how bad the offense was for the guys who patrolled right field, he is a big improvement especially because of my opinion that the quality of hitter who hits behinds you greatly influences your performance. So Mazara not only will likely improve the production out of the right fielders position in the line-up, it will also likely improve the production of the guy who bats in the position ahead of him in the line-up. That guy will get better pitches to hit than whoever the guy was last season who batted in front of the right fielder in the line-up.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

Castellanos is far from a significant upgrade from Mazara. They pretty much are the same player. Castellanos had his best season of his career but is also three years older. Both have about the same power numbers, Mazara draws more walks and strikes out less while Castellanos has a higher batting average. And they both have a below average OBP. I'd say as a VALUE, Mazara is better than Castellanos.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

Value is for nerds and cheapskate owners.

He's an .800 OPS hitter against righties and barely .600 against lefties. This fact has held him back considerably because he's one of the easiest guys to LOOGY in the late innings, and since he has such prodigious raw power (at least against RHP) its a very natural decision with men on base. I cant pull up the number but I'd reckon he was one of the most relentlessly targeted hitters in baseball by LOOGY's.

But the new rules forcing relievers to face three batters take effect this year and managers are very seldom, probably never, going to be in a position where they can make a pitching change to alleviate the threat of a guy who the Sox will probably have batting seventh. Its going to make him more effective, and doubly more effective in the late-innings where his raw power plays better in the higher leverage situations.

That and he's just mega talented and still under twenty-five years old. Three years ago he was a very viable headliner in return for Sale. That talent is still there even if the shine has well worn off. Now he's got a change of scenery, a place in a lineup where he has almost no pressure to carry the offense, a division where pitching overall is pretty mediocre and LHP even more nonthreatening and a recent MLB rule change that is going to swing twenty or so plate appearances from being doomed-to-failure into an advantageous matchup for Mazara.

All for the cost of Steele Walker? A guy I still dont think is appreciably better than Rutherford, who I'm still convinced is going to be a really good left fielder when its all said and done, or Basabe? Hard to fault this one.

They need an arm though. Bumgarner would be fine. I dont mind going ride-or-die with Lopez, Cease and Kopech all from the start of the season hoping but they need one more to pair with those three and Giolito. You can be frustrated about the lack of progress there and still appreciate how shrewd a trade this was for Mazara.

Porcello to Mets. Great job by Hahn.

Mazara may pay off. I get it. But if they fail to get an impact starting pitcher, then it's more of the same for the Sox. And remember Mazara played in Arlington with the wind tunnel in right/center and still only averaged 20 HRs with a juiced ball whereas you can pencil in Castellanos for 50 doubles, 20+ HRs and an excellent attitude. I wish we could unload Heyward and re-sign him on the North Side.

You're nuts, outside of Coors..Texas stadium is easily the best hitters park in MLB. Castellanos was at cavernous Detroit and still out producing him. There's a huge gap between Nick and Nomar.

_________________

Mazara is garbage. my grandma (in her prime, dead now) could've put up .800 OPS vs. righties in this environment.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

_________________
Hawaii (fuck) You

You are also leaving off Adolfo, who I think is the best possibility of them all to be their MLB RF. They were hit with a rash of season ending injuries to OF prospects at AA and up who could have developed into the RF spot for this year. It pushed back the time line for a year. So now they have to see if one out of Adolfo, Basabe, Rutherford, etc. can develop in this year.

Adolfo really has that classic RF look with big power and a huge arm.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I'm glad we spent the 3rd pick in the second round on hot garbage.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Really!?! He couldn't hit AFL pitching. I have Basabe as the one that makes it. I liked Adolfo before he got hurt.

Adolfo shit the bed in the Fall League. And I mean he really sucked.

As did all the hitting prospects sent there.

I also had thought Adolfo was going to complete a WS outfield. I've 90% have given up. When he isn't hurt, he sucks. Like Dolphin said, he looks the part, has a great baseball name, but when he plays baseball, he's terrible.