Full Transcript for 5 Free Agent Outfielder Targets for Chicago White Sox

a, you know, whether it's 1.5 or 6.6%, depending on which projection system you used to make it to the postseason with those odds or those probabilities. And yeah, requiring all of the work that Venable had to do in terms of nursing a rotation that sometimes only had one starter and all the platoons and all the pinch hitting and all of the defensive substitutions run amok. It seems like if you're going to name a manager of the year that both, you know, for a team that surprised and required a lot of tactical excellence, or at least luck or, but at least, you know, hands-on approach to managing, Venable, I think, checks both boxes to where I think you would say he's the favorite. I don't know if I would bet on him versus the field, but as opposed to the second base gold glove race, where it's Chase Mydroth and Cole Young and Michael Massey, and the metrics are all over the place, and neither of them, I guess none of the candidates had gold glove history to where they had the reputation that they could coast on. I shrugged. I thought like 33% chance. I think in this case, I would be maybe 48% chance. It seems like it would be a mild surprise if Venable didn't get it, but I think when you have the year-in, year-out excellence that the Rays have, especially, you can't necessarily write it off and say, they're done with him. 00:04:46 Speaker 1: Yeah, so Kevin Cash is the other nominee, the Tampa Bay Rays manager, and Chad Tracy, who stepped in When the Red Sox made that shift in early in the season, I thought early June, the Red Sox were sunk. Chad Tracy was able to keep not only things stabilized, but really helped the Red Sox turn around their season. And for a stretch there, Jim, I thought they were playing as the American League's best team and they just seemed to run out of steam and couldn't get past the Yankees in the postseason. But just to add on to what you said about Will Venable, it's not just winning the 84 games after going 60 and 102 the year before, which that was a huge jump in wins. That was plus 19 wins. And they do it again, another huge jump, adding 24 wins. The White Sox won a playoff series, Jim. And they should have won two playoff series. They should have beaten Cleveland in the American League Division Series after going up. And we played that game. 59 different players appeared in a game for the Chicago White Sox this season. And I lost track of it, but it seems like a franchise record number of rookies starting for this team. I think I would be. 00:06:06 Speaker 1: I don't know if it would be a mild upset. I would just be personally upset, Jim, if Will Venable doesn't win manager of the year, because I don't know what else he could have done in this spot with this team to get, I think the most possible other than, well, we're not going to give it to him because he didn't reach the American league championship series, but you didn't even list Steven Vogt as a finalist for the award. And, you know, Cleveland came back and ended up winning the American league central. That's where I am a bit surprised, but, There's a number of managers, I think, that deserve to be a finalist, but you can only have three. 00:06:42 Speaker 4: Yeah, Chad Tracy, I mean, he gets some credit, I think, for managing Boston's weirdness, especially Craig Breslow, mixed opinions on him. Alex Cora seemed to be a real power struggle between the two of them, and so to inherit what could have been a mess and then go 77 58 under his watch. Like, I think that's worthy of commendation. 00:07:07 Speaker 2: Oh yeah. 00:07:07 Speaker 4: You just don't know in terms of, you know, the, the overall record, you know, the, how much was him, how much was regression. They should have been a decent team all along and a third place finish in the AL East. Like as it ended seemed like a fair place for them to end up. So they don't necessarily, they have the overachieving or the surprise finish based on, his watch of the team but how much of that was just maybe luck regression you know the long season evening out how much of that was just more uh uh discredit to alex cora maybe or just to how how weird things have gotten under him to where tracy looked great like i don't know if he you know it's close to a full season like he would qualify for the batting title as a manager given that Coro's fired after 27 games. So I would call it a full season, even though he wasn't there the entire time, but just felt a little incomplete or a little bit like, yeah, they're a good team that played well and kind of finished where they should. But I think votes, given that they had to squeeze out an AL Central title in an unimpressive division versus the Red Sox– putting up real fights in a real tough division, I think maybe vote is on the outside looking into this race. 00:08:25 Speaker 2: Okay. 00:08:26 Speaker 1: Well, we'll see in who ends up winning manager of the year. But I think both Jim and I agree, it should be Will Venable for the work that he did with the White Sox in 2026. I know some of you on social media really disagree because I'm still surprised, Jim, that there are Will Venable haters online. Among the White Sox fandom, but I just chalked that up to Chicago sports. There's just going to be a certain sect of fans, no matter what the sport is, Jim, they're always going to hate the coach. 00:08:55 Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I think maybe to their credit or maybe something they can look forward to is last year's ale manager of the year was Dan Wilson. And he had to fire himself at the end of the season. Uh, so like there is a precedent for, uh, or at least at the sport, he was the sporting news manager of the year. So he wasn't the BBWA, but like in terms of he got votes, he got, uh, that kind of support and he was fired by the end of the year. Sometimes expectations can rise and a disappointing season, uh, does lead to some discontent. Uh, but I think in this case, yeah, he left some meat on the bone. You could put

it that way. Uh, the finish at the end of the regular season, uh, the postseason, you can argue about, you know, whether he could have done anything meaningfully more or it was just the roster he was given, you know, as threadbare as it was, especially on the rotation side. And as strikeout prone as they were based on like the offense being kind of incomplete, I think in their construction. Yeah, I'm inclined to say like he did a great job with what he had. Some things he can do better, but, you know, for us, learning, a teachable moment for him, teachable moment after 84 wins and a surprise wildcard appearance is fantastic versus Pedro Grafol having a bunch of teachable moments that never stuck. The fact that he accepted blame for what he did wrong or things he could have easily second guessed himself about, uh, I think is a, a huge point in his favor as you look to try to figure out how he's going to improve from here. And it's also on Chris gets to improve the team. So you don't have to manage the hell out of the team. You don't have to be geared up for, you know, just always looking for some lever to pull, which I think, you know, Venable got in the habit of being. So, The good news is that, you know, unlike, you know, the Griffo second year when Chris gets is like, I don't care about this guy made no meaningful effort to improve the roster that Griffo had to work with and was kind of like, if he gets fired, great. You know, if Jerry finally wants to pull the plug and I'm sure, but I think in this case, you know, as well as they seem to work together, you would hope that this winter is about giving Venable more players to work with. So you can take it easier. 00:11:14 Speaker 1: And in other White Sox news, so they removed Kai Busch and Junior Perez from the 40-man roster. That reduced it down to 38. However, the White Sox make a waiver wire claim infielder Graham Pauly from the Miami Marlins. Now, Pauly has played three seasons in the major leagues. Last year in 62 games for Miami, had a 630 OPS with four home runs, and he could play all over the infield. I mean, it's interesting, Jim. I don't think it's Earth shattering that the White Sox claimed Graham Pauly. Is he part of the answer in 2027? Probably not. Probably not. 00:11:54 Speaker 4: He was not in anybody's offseason plans yet. 00:11:59 Speaker 1: I could not imagine that he was. But I guess the question still has to be asked. Why did the White Sox claim Pauly? Is infield depth an issue? Especially not knowing, unlike how Tanner Murray is going to come off from the injured list. 00:12:17 Speaker 4: He's out of options. So I think that means that he's not part of any roster plans. He strikes me as a guy who is going to probably be put on the waivers three or four times this winter. And some team is just trying to sneak them through because he has some interesting skills. Like he's had some moments in the majors. He's, uh, you know, he doesn't strike out all that much. His defense has

improved. So, uh, He's somebody I think a lot of teams like to have in AAA as depth, as maybe somebody they can look at his swing and say, well, he's making good decisions. It's just a matter of punishing more strikes. And we like his left-handed swing. He has some things going for him to where he can be on the long side of a platoon. So I could see why the White Sox picked him. assuming that over the course of this off season, they're probably going to put them in waivers and see if they can get them through. But I imagine he might be one of those guys who bounces around from team to team, to team, to team until like spring training. And then finally somebody is able to get the timing right. I'm getting Pauly through waivers. Yeah. 00:13:18 Speaker 1: Then we can play the fun game. What was your favorite Graham Pauly moment of his white socks tenure? So we'll see if, if Pauly makes it a spring training with the Chicago white socks, but that's technically Jim, The first roster transaction edition for the Chicago White Sox this offseason. 00:13:37 Speaker 4: And that's usually the moment where you start winding down the offseason plan project because people start baking in moves already made into their roster, even though the idea is to come up with your own. At least this one shouldn't figure into anybody's roster plans and say, we've got to make room on the 26-man roster for Graham Paulie. So it didn't cost anybody. Nobody's lost on waivers because Bush and Perez got both got through. So still probably a day or two for the offseason plans to come in before something happens to to change the calculus, whether it's a White Sox signing somebody, whether it's a free agent signing elsewhere. That's in a lot of plans. And that's kind of when you can draw the line and start wrapping up the plans and seeing what people thought. 00:14:20 Speaker 1: Yep, and I will have mine published later this week. That'll be our next podcast episode is me walking through my off-season plan project for the Chicago White Sox. So again, get those in. You can submit yours on SoxMachine.com. Jim and I are going to take a quick break. Speaking of free agents, we're going to be taking a look at the MLB free agent hitter class as the deadline has passed to place qualifying offers and decide what options and more. Players have been added to the free agent pool. So we're going to check out the hitters next on the Sox Machine Podcast. Howard, I'm so glad I saved your number. 00:14:57 Speaker 3: My husband fell at a construction site and is in critical condition. 00:15:01 Speaker 1: I knew it wasn't safe. 00:15:02 Speaker 2: I'm very sorry to hear that. I just want to let you know I'm here to help. Yeah, tell me more about it. Work injuries not only affect the victim, but also everyone around them. Incan Law is Chicago-based and here to advocate on your behalf. With over 100 attorneys and staff, if you or someone you know has questions about a work injury, call 312-6-MILLION. Injury law made personal. That's Hank and Law. 00:15:25 Speaker 1: Visit the new Sox Machine store at SoxMachineShop.com to pick up your new white socks and Sox Machine gear. Sam Antonacci, Mutataka Murakami, Tristan Peters, Chase Mydroth, and of course, the celibate for Sean Burke shirts are available. Plus new Sox Machines three-quarter zip-up sweaters and coffee mugs. Officially licensed gear from the MOB Players Association. Visit SoxMachineShop.com. Welcome back to the Sox Machine Podcast. 00:15:53 Speaker 2: All right. 00:15:54 Speaker 1: So we said that we're going to be taking a look at the MLB free agent list. But before we do that, from the hitter's perspective, let's take a look at the players that have been placed to qualify and offer for them this offseason. So they do sign with another team. That team may have, depending on how much they sign up for. And how many players they sign with a qualifying offer could be losing draft picks, but the teams that end up losing these free agents will gain a comp pick in the 2027 MLB draft. Randy Rosarena, Jake Bowers for the Milwaukee Brewers had a huge postseason in the National League Championship Series MVP for the Brewers. Ryan Jeffers for the Minnesota Twins. Brandon Lau, the Pittsburgh Cowboys. Pirates, starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, we talked about him in our previous episode, listing off five of my favorite free agent starting pitching options. He's got a qualifying offer. Seiya Suzuki has a qualifying offer. So not many players, Jim, have a qualifying offer on them in this free agency. but with so much uncertainty leading up to this off season with the CBA set to expire on December 1st, and it is over like $ 23 million. So it is a nice chunk of change. When you look at the list of these eight players, do you see anyone accepting the qualifying offer? 00:17:12 Speaker 4: I don't think so. Like the ones that jumped out to me initially, just based on their histories or, you know, just, Track records were like Bednar and Bowers because they've both been up and down a bit, or maybe on the older side, Bowers famously almost retired. Bednar's been in the closer role, but now the closer role back in. But then you look at the numbers, solid seasons for both Bowers, one of the best hitters in the league, even if he was somewhat in a platoon role, or at least sometimes had his at bats managed he still like racked up yeah 144 games nearly 600 plate appearances so that wasn't enough to prevent him from making the next step so yeah i don't see anybody that jumps out to me as being like a an easy accept um and i think when you look at the players who weren't offered one like it seems like teams took a pretty conservative approach to the qualifying offer you didn't see anybody who's like oh take that one immediately so i think uh we've seen that one in the past like Brandon Woodruff, I think, was one of them last year that had a qualifying offer. Nobody like that that makes you jump out and say, hey,

it worked out for the Brewers with Woodruff getting a ring in a Game of the World series. So even that worked out well in the end for everybody. 00:18:31 Speaker 1: Yeah, Rosarito, Rodgers, Suzuki, I think they can all sign for more than this $ 23 million deal. qualifying offer as far as their AAV. But to your point, Jim, I wonder if someone like Jake Bowers or Ryan Jeffers or Bednar or even Lau, if they seriously have to take a look at this. Because I understand the need to sign a multi-year extension, but unless teams coming out of the gates, which is now, free agency is open right now, Jim. If you're not getting a ton of calls right away about what are you willing to accept to sign before the CBA, I guess, I don't know. If I were these guys' positions, I understand having that type of security, having a multi-year contract, but Bowers, $ 23 million, man. That's a huge chunk of change. Jeffers, we don't see many catchers pay $ 23 million. In Major League Baseball, Bednar, as you mentioned, he's a closer right now. We don't see a lot of relievers getting paid more than $ 20 million in a season. While I agree with you, at the end, I think this is more of like a union thing that the Players Association wants to show some type of unity. So I imagine all eight decline the qualifying offer. But I do wonder for veterans like Bowers, Jeffers, and Bednar if they should accept. Maybe I'm crazy, Jim, but I don't know if they'll ever make more than 23 in average annual value. 00:20:14 Speaker 4: Maybe. In case of– I think Bowers is probably the trickiest case because this year– largely came out of nowhere, especially somebody able to handle position all by himself. Um, but just the free agent class being light on hitters. Um, you know, when you look at just the idea of both, you know, Bednar and I kind of look at it from the team side in terms of, would you sign, would you be happy if Bednar came back into the qualifying offer? Yes. Same thing with Bowers for one year. Those are nice deals to have. I think both teams would happily take them back. So, I think it tilts a little bit too much in the team's favor to say like, yes, take it in order for those players think they can do just fine in the open markets. Worth considering for them, but I think even if they don't reach the AAV, still probably they might find a three-year deal to their liking that gives them the security they want. Especially if it's a case like Bauer's. This could be his big contract, even if it is. 00:21:18 Speaker 4: Maybe a little bit shorter than he would earn without the qualifying offer. It could be like his chance to make a big payday. Doesn't want to kick it back a year because you never know what will happen if you accept the offer. Something happens and all of a sudden might be kicking yourself for not exploring that option when probably a fallback for him is something similar, like a short-term deal. that pays him around the qualifying offer and he can go back into it. So I don't think it makes that big of a difference to him. It would just be a matter of whether he ends up on the Brewers or somebody else for that one-year deal. Yeah. 00:21:49 Speaker 1: It would just kind of stink to decline it and then nobody's calling and then the lockout and you have to wait until things get settled and you're still in limbo during this entire time. I think some of these guys are in a tough spot. A Rosarena, Suzuki, Rodgers, no. I don't think. For them, absolutely no-brainer, decline it. But for some of the veterans, I do wonder if they are taking a hard look at the qualifying offer. But now that we know what players have the qualifying offer, it's time for me to share my five favorite free agent targets from the hitter's class, Jim. And let me start by saying I hate this class of free agent hitters. I spent so much time going back and forth, going to SpotTrack and looking at market value, Jim, and then going to Baseball Reference and then going to Fangraphs and going to Baseball Savant and looking at the metrics and looking at the recent results and taking into consideration age and understanding that, yeah, last year was a great season, but how did they perform the previous two seasons? And thanks to tools like Fangraphs and our friend Dan Zaborski who You could take a look at Zip's projections for the next three years. I hate this free agent class of hitters. If Chris Getz pulled me aside and said, off the record, Josh, I agree with you and we plan on not spending more than $ 10 million on free agent hitters, I can't argue against that thought because there's just very few impact players, Jim, And once again, it just feels like all of us in baseball are looking to Japan and asking, can someone that just got posted save this free agent class of hitters? Because there's just not a whole lot to work off here. 00:23:46 Speaker 4: Yeah, the Andrew Benintendi contract is a cautionary tale in this regard. When you look at a... free agent class of hitters, and you're looking for an offensive upgrade, a position of great need. And Benintendi checked some of the boxes, maybe a lot of the boxes, but also, you know, we talked about it at the time. My concern was that he didn't necessarily do anything great. He did a lot of things okay, especially the way his defense, he was supposed to be a good defender when he came to the White Sox. But I think, you know, the Achilles thing, the ankle problems really hampered him and set that decline in motion pretty quickly. But he was a guy who could hit for a decent average and some power, assuming he was past the risk thing. But if decline set in, you'd try to think like, what skill is going to buoy him to provide value for the five years? And I just didn't know what that was. And when you look at this class and you're thinking like, well, if the White Sox were so hamstrung by that five-year, $ 75 million commitment to Benintendi and he just wasn't a great use of a franchise record contract. It

does give you pause when kind of facing the same questions about a class of outfielders in their thirties to where, you know, you're just kind of wondering, you know, how much can we get out of those first two years of the contract before decline sets in? And then how much can we mitigate it on the back end? I think at this point, like this White Sox roster is worth the kind of overinvestment in terms of worry about the next two years when it comes to free agent impact, worry about the final three years. You cross that bridge when you get to it because you don't know what kind of success this team could have, what the stadium situation will look like, what the roster looks like in terms of which players are extended, which players are being cycled out for other players. So you don't know what the budget's going to be or what kind of space that player's going to take up. So I think now is the time to over-invest in a player and worry about a five-year deal aging poorly after year two. I guess that's the comfort, but it does require a little bit of faith that either Chris Goetz will turn over enough of the roster to work around that, or somehow something changes at the revenue level or ownership level to make it easier to spend past. 00:26:14 Speaker 1: My concern with this raging class is that it blows up in your face immediately like it did with the internet attendee. That's my worry. So let's start with my favorite, which is probably at high risk, reading what other people had to say about Randy Orozarena. He's number one on my list. And SpotTrack's market value for Orozarena is five years, $ 127 million. He turns 32 in February. He is a Scott Boris client. And Orozarena's just had a very good career. It's a career $ 128 way to runs creative plus it's six straight 20 plus home run seasons. However, a Rose arena really took a step back with his defense and left field gym. He's pretty much just left field or DH, but the reason why he's number one on my list was with the way that he hit last year and the consistency of just how good of an offensive hitter he has been in his career gym. And it just does feel like the white socks really do need one more Power hitting right-handed bat to help out Miguel Vargas in the middle of this order. And that's why I like Randy Rosarena. So to your point, you know, with such little commitments over the next two years, money-wise, finally land a deal with Scott Boras' client for more than $ 100 million, Jim. I like the idea of adding Randy Rosarito to this White Sox roster. So to start, high, medium, or low, what is the probability that a Rosarito could land with the White Sox? 00:27:51 Speaker 4: I keep saying this answer. At least I did a lot in the pitcher exercise. But medium feels like right. I mean, he checks off enough boxes to where he makes sense. White Sox need a right-handed bat. Also, personality-wise, it seems like he would fit in this White Sox clubhouse. That's true. Plays the game with a lot of personality and a lot of joy. And the White Sox seem to accept that. So if he hit the ground running, he would be another popular figure among a team with a lot of popular figures. Yeah, I think the question is, you know, along the lines of Benintendi, like the defense has dropped off. How quickly are you okay with him being a primary DH? With Benintendi, it was disappointing because he won a gold glove recently before the White Sox signed him. With Rosarine, it's been fading on him. And then when you have a guy who's not good in left field and he's a right-handed hitter, it tends to be... Well, he's going to be on the short side of the platoon if kind of decline sets in offensively. And then he can't really have any defensive versatility after like maybe the first year. So you do run the risk of being painted into a corner. However, that could keep his price down to where like the White Sox feel comfortable committing to it and do get the solutions for what they needed from this free agent class. 00:29:22 Speaker 1: So do you feel like a Rosarito would be a good fit for the White Sox? 00:29:26 Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, especially since the strikeout rate came down. That's, I think, what jumped out to me is he did make some swing changes and he cut the strikeout rate by more than five percent uh was 27 percent uh in 2025 we had 238 uh and then last year among you know the uh other career highs he sets uh he batted 281 his his best showing in any full season it's because he cut a strikeout rate of 21.6 percent the walk rate remained the same so it's not a case of he'd work shorter counts or didn't get to the main deep counts. He was attacking earlier and not drawing many walks, like swing decisions remain good. And, uh, when you look at the way he was able to almost seems like the chase, my draw thing of having shorter swings and, um, yeah, the bat speed drops off, but it's also a case of like, not necessarily age, but, uh, mechanics and the ability to hit more pitches with some kind of authority, uh, that, uh, paid off for him, uh, in 2026. So, I think the concern is whether that stuff is sticky, and we'll see that with my draft as well, or whether it's a case where you league adjust to it, then you see how many adjustments Rosarena has left. But I think when it comes to what he offers immediately, and if you look at him as a two-year fit that the White Sox have to sign for four years, which I think is probably if you price in inefficiency with every free agent deal, that's what you're looking at. I think he does enough well that you can look at it and say, well, he's basically an upgrade on Randall Gritchick. And that's kind of how you look at him, like a better Randall Gritchick. And Randall Gritchick fit fantastically on the White Sox roster. So why not get a better Randall Gritchick? 00:31:13 Speaker 1: All of these players I'm going to be listing are in the outfield as the White Sox. I think there'll be some pushback, Jim. Why are you trying

to prove upon Sam Antonacci? Because the fielding metrics do not like Sam Antonacci in left field. Well, Brady Montgomery is a rookie. He still needs time to learn. 00:31:32 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:31:33 Speaker 1: Maybe the White Sox do need to give him time to learn how to hit. But if they want to improve upon 84 wins, I don't know how much time you want to give both to Sam Antonacci to learn how to be a better outfielder. Also, Antonacci doesn't have a ton of power. And also, how much time you want to give Brady Montgomery. There's a thing called AAA. Both of them could go back to Charlotte. to work on their improvements. So number two is someone that I think sounds like what I'm reading could be heading to the outfield. And that is Teruaki Sato. And Sato has had back-to-back excellent seasons in Japan. Last year, Sato hit 39 home runs with 106 RBIs, 40 doubles. He almost won 40-40 in Japan. batted. 306 with a. 383 on-base percentage and slugging. 00:32:21 Speaker 4: 609. 00:32:21 Speaker 1: The year prior, he had 40 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 34 doubles. So Mutataka Murakami leaves, and Sato steps in and becomes the premier power hitter in Japan, Jim. And while he did win a gold glove at third base, there seems to be the early indication from MLB scouts that they don't necessarily like him at third base in the majors. But if you want to give him a shot, you can go for it. But Sato does have a strong throwing arm. So if you do want to put him into the corner outfield, let's say right field, that could be a good fit for Sato. He is a left-handed hitter, but we did see the power translate, not just for Murakami, but recently for some of these Japanese hitters coming overseas, Jim. They've hit the ground running to display that they can hit. hit for power in the major leagues. So here is another possible power hitter coming from Japan with Sato, high, medium, or low probability in the White Sox, once again, dipping their toes into the pool from Japanese players. 00:33:26 Speaker 4: He ranked number five on Fangraph's free agent list, which speaks to both The upside that he possesses, but also, as you've mentioned, the weakness of this free agent class and a lack of position players to where you do start looking for upside wherever you can find it. The White Sox having had success, especially in the first half before Murakami's injury and injury. Looking back at the longest home runs post that I wrote on Sunday and just, you know, you look at Murakami and Colson Montgomery and you look at the homers they hit, you know, a lot of them coming in the first half and you realize, like, oh, yeah, that's why the White Sox liked him. That's why, you know, as much as people want to get rid of Colson Montgomery at this point or jettison him for whatever he can find, like, first half Colson was an excellent player with really just awesome, you know, just quality– contact quality, maybe not quantity, but just, you know, he devastated the ball in a lot of different areas of the zone when he's anticipating it. And so if the White Sox have a chance of recapturing that guy, they're going to take it because those, those homers easy to forget when you watched him over the last two months of the season. And I think Murakami is the same thing. Just a question. I think when it comes to somebody like Sato, like can they add another one of those guys while Montgomery and Murakami are already on the roster? 00:34:50 Speaker 1: So do you find Sato a good fit for this White Sox roster? 00:34:56 Speaker 4: I don't. Theoretically, yes. But given the strikeout problems that the White Sox had in the postseason, 19 strikeouts in Game 3, 21 strikeouts in Game 5, it seems like the White Sox have to mitigate that. And I think Sato would be taking it to another level. He struck out 32% of the time in Japan. or he didn't try, but his, his projections based on his Japan work are 32% for zips. And that kind of is Murakami range. So it'd be one thing if like Murakami signed a one-year deal and he rented a free agency. Like, I think you'd say like, yeah, send them again. White Sox got a lot of benefits from signing that kind of player. But I think it's the kind of thing where we saw what Murakami did, uh, and Colson in the first half. But we saw also in the second half how the downside or their cold spells can kind of exacerbate each other and kind of amplify the effects of their individual concerns by having two of those guys in the lineup to where inviting a third into the mix might be really asking for trouble. I think it's the kind of thing where if they won 75 games last year and they're still looking to improve and still looking for like a big upside hit, Maybe they go for it, but I think having won 84 games and trying to finish a team and really stabilize it, I don't know if Sato is that guy to stabilize it. He might be more of a destabilizing effect, which I think for a team that's on the cusp or is a year away, that kind of volatility can be great, as we saw with Murakami. But I think when you have a mostly good team, and you really just need to make good on that player you're signing, that kind of volatility might not be something you can tolerate. 00:36:48 Speaker 1: All right, let's go to number three then. Crosstown, Seiya Suzuki. And spot track for Suzuki finds his market value to be four years, $ 110 million. And Suzuki just had his best defensive season at right field. When you look at baseball savant, it's plus five outs above average. When you look at fielding Bible, plus 14 defensive runs saved. He was a finalist for Gold Glove in right field. He was worth four and a half more, according to fan graphs, over five, according to baseball reference. Just like a Rosarena, Suzuki, a 128 weighted runs credit plus hitter. Last year, 26 homers, 86 RBIs. He's got a career walk rate close to 11. It's 10.9%. He punished fastballs last year, hit 296 with a 500 slugging percentage against fastballs. He's 32 years old. He will

turn 33 in August. That will be used against Suzuki. Just how many more years does he have left in his prime? But after I made this list, Jim, you could easily talk me into flip-flopping a Rosarino and Suzuki. Suzuki, I think you could have be your right fielder. If there's any concern about Brady Montgomery, especially his ability to bat right-handed, and you can't count on Brady Montgomery to help out with the right-handed issue in the lineup, I could see where signing Suzuki, even if you want to put them in left field, you could do that as well. But this is a kind of veteran right-handed outfielder bat that could have an immediate impact. But unlike a Rosarena, Suzuki could have a positive impact defensively. So the more I think about this, the more I should probably list Suzuki as my number one target for the White Sox in this offseason. But high, medium, low probability of Suzuki switching sides in Chicago, going from the north side, to the South side. 00:38:41 Speaker 4: Again, medium, if the White Sox were in the business of like setting a market, I would say high because of his ability to play right field and allow a lot of flexibility with the outfield versus something like a Rose Arena coming in and more or less seeing what he can do in the left field and planning on moving them to DH like Suzuki, depending on how you feel about Braden Montgomery on both sides. 00:39:03 Speaker 3: Of the ball. 00:39:05 Speaker 4: Could be overkill if you feel good about Montgomery's long-term future and rights. But I think if you are kind of iffy on it or if you want to provide him opportunities to develop at the major league level or AAA if it's needed and you don't want this season riding on Braden Montgomery figuring it out, then I think Suzuki is a great investment, especially to maximize two years The strikeout rate came down for him. Hit for power, made good swing decisions. Those pillars of the offense or offensive approach, he checks them off. Right-handedness works in the White Sox' favor. Like you mentioned, defense has been quality the entire time. I think If the White Sox, if they had offered a contract or at least landed a contract, because Zach Wheeler muddies the conversation there, but had they been able to close a deal for more than five years and $ 75 million, I'd say like, hi, because the market might not be all that enthused about Suzuki being in his early 30s and righty-righty and just not feeling great about his aging curve to where the back half of any contract could be a mess. but because he probably will command, you know, one of the biggest AAVs, you know, among position players, probably another team might be able to push the market beyond what the White Sox are comfortable paying. And, you know, that's a lot of markets, but still that's why I would say like medium in terms of price, but high in terms of a skillset. 00:40:40 Speaker 1: All right. So maybe that's who we got to root for. If, if the off season plan project was 150 million, If the White Sox are willing to add that type of cash, add a frontline starter, and Jerry's like, we got some room, I think Suzuki would be a great target for the Chicago White Sox. And if Murakami and Montgomery fix some of their swing issues as far as their ability to hit for more contact, It is possible with a Seiya Suzuki addition to the White Sox lineup, Jim. Vargas, Suzuki, Murakami, Montgomery. You could have four hitters that could hit 30-plus home runs for you. And that kind of harkens back to the 2006 White Sox team. While they didn't make the postseason, that team still... won more than 90 games. That could make an offense that already led the American League in runs scored last year even better. I view signing and even targeting someone like Seiya Suzuki a worthwhile endeavor for the Chicago White Sox this offseason. Will they? We'll see. It depends, I think, a lot on how the starting pitching market works out before the lockout. Now, my last two targets, I'm not going to say are throwaways, but just stick with me here, Jim. We're going to go to old target, let's call him. And that's George Sprainer. Now, SpotTrack's got George Sprainer's market value at one year, $ 10 million. And for podcast listeners, Jim is already chuckling at this idea. The question I raise is, does George Springer have one more dead cat bounce in him, Jim? Or was 2025 the dead cat bounce for George Springer? Because in 2025, Springer was awesome. He had 32 homers. He had a 959 OPS. Last year, dramatic drop, 726 OPS. And, you know, SpotTrack used a reference of JD Martinez when he signed a one-year $ 12 million contract. And You know, George Springer is 37 years old and he's kind of entering this late phase type of situation that Andrew McCutcheon has found himself in, Jim. That I don't know how many more opportunities that George Springer is going to get to be a starter in Major League Baseball. Would he accept a one-year deal? And is it worth the risk, Jim, to see if George Springer... still has one more good season in him. So I ask you, high, medium, low, and would George Springer be a good fit for this White Sox roster? 00:43:19 Speaker 4: It feels like low. He seems like the kind where late January, or I guess we'll say the equivalent of like January, early February rolls around. We'll see what that actually is. 00:43:31 Speaker 1: A week before spring training. 00:43:33 Speaker 4: Yeah. And you're looking at like, got some money left. Have a roster spot available. There isn't a better use of it. Kind of like when the White Sox signed Edwin Encarnacion. Didn't work out, but in terms of like the timing of the deal is like, sure, why not? If you're not spending the money, then it just goes to waste. So why not bring him in and see what he looks like? And I think. that would kind of go for spring or two, like signing him before the lockout would be like, what are you doing? But signing them, you know, would you look at your roster and say like,

yeah, there still is room for one more bat that we feel comfortable cutting in may. If it's not going well, uh, then you could maybe understand the use case. One thing that jumped out to me when looking at him is, uh, do you remember or know where he went to school? 00:44:18 Speaker 1: Yukon. 00:44:20 Speaker 2: Yep. 00:44:20 Speaker 4: And so whenever you see UConn, you think Ryan Fuller. And so you can always think of like the connections, the Connecticut connections of, do they have any connections or ideas or do they talk? Connecticut baseball world is a small one. Sure is. That's one reason why I wouldn't like dismiss it entirely out of hand. Like obviously Springer, Springer might be older than Ryan Fuller. I'm not quite sure. Like when you look it up, it's 37. Let's see what Fuller is. um if i can even find his age quickly but uh yeah there's 36 36 yeah so were. 00:45:01 Speaker 5: They teammates they may have been yeah let's look that up so in that case like there might be a connection the probability is rising yeah so as we talk about that the arrow is going. 00:45:15 Speaker 2: Up uh. 00:45:19 Speaker 1: Hearing our listeners and watchers just lament this idea. This is a stupid idea, Josh. And realizing, oh, it actually. 00:45:26 Speaker 4: Yeah, they were teammates. George Springer, 2011 UConn Huskies, hit 343, 1,058 OPS. Ryan Fuller, 911 OPS. Banned at 316, 378, 533 that year. So there you go. Arrow is pointing up on this idea, but I do think like If it happens, it still would be something like we're not going to have any– we're not going to bring him in to get in the way like Adam Eaton, like that deal. 00:45:58 Speaker 3: Oh, God. 00:45:58 Speaker 4: Bringing him back and just like having him be the first idea to jump in the market. Yeah. Getting in the way, clogging it up. Like that's not what you want. But I think it would be– there is– kind of like bringing back Tommy Pham. I think that's probably the kind of the analog for like– It was weird. Maybe a lot of people didn't like it, but it was also harmless because they just didn't have a better use of that roster spot for right-handed bats and one who could play the outfield. So I think Springer, you know, he's barely going to play the outfield if at all, but still like there might be a use case, but wait till February or March or whatever it is. 00:46:32 Speaker 1: And number five, Trent Grisham. Now I tried in my off-season plan project, convince people last year about Trent Grisham and they were right. Grisham did regress. But when you look at his metrics on baseball, Savant Jim, Grisham doesn't chase much. He has really good contact metrics. He just did not get the results last year. So when you look at his expected numbers, he should have had a much better 2026 season than he did. And he still does an excellent job of walking and he could at least fake it in center field. So if there's any questions or I guess maybe not so much doubts, but concerns that Tristan Peters regresses. And you don't like an idea of Tristan Peters and Brent Doyle being in the lineup every single day. Because if Peters stops hitting and Doyle has his moments, but he's not an everyday type of hitter, he's had many chances in the major leagues so far, then what do you have in center field? There is a real risk of regression here with both Tristan Peters and Brent Doyle. Maybe Trent Grisham helps out solidify center field, or he'd be fine in left field, in my opinion, as well. But again, not a great free agent market. SpotTrack's got him at three years, $ 41 million. The other free agents, so many of them are just second basemen. Jazz Chisholm, second base. Gleyber Torres, second base. And I just don't feel like that's an area where I want the White Sox to spend serious cash because you got Chase Maitre, you got Sam Antonacci, or you have both of those guys that I feel comfortable for the White Sox being your second baseman. And who knows what happens when Rock Chalowski starts playing every day in the minor leagues. And maybe he does force the issue as well for the White Sox. That's why I don't include those players in my list. And that's why all of these guys are DH outfield types, because that's where I see the areas, Jim, that the White Sox can improve offensively. But with Trent Grisham, let's end it there. High, medium, low. Would he be a good fit for. 00:48:35 Speaker 4: The White Sox? Feels like low. Like you can make a case for him. And he did. And you wonder, like, how much of his value is taken of having to play center field when he shouldn't. He was, I think, stretched beyond his capabilities in New York. Also had the hamstring strain at the end of the year. And, you know, at 30, he's the younger or I think youngest of the outfielders we've discussed, at least the domestic outfielders we've discussed or stateside outfielders. So... That's a case where hamstring strain is just bad luck versus something that's going to chronically set in. Swing decisions are fine. Just a case where, you know, based on Antonacci playing left Peters of East X being left-handed playing left, like doesn't provide that kind of right-handed counterparts to a left field platoon situation or like a mix and match situation almost feels like you're just be adding to what the White Sox already have. Like it would be a good like insurance case against Tristan Peters in case he turns into a pumpkin and, because we just don't– given the track record and how out of left field or center field his year happened to be, can't necessarily say it's going to happen again. I think that's why the White Sox brought in Brenton Doyle as kind of a way to take the stress off him to be like, we don't need Tristan Peters to be an all-star again. We just need him to be average, and we can have Doyle to make up for what he doesn't do. I could see Grisham helping, but he could also just– kind of take up money and not offer the team a whole lot more than it's already getting from

left side. So that's why I would say low. Depending on the timing of the market, he could make sense at some point, just not at the onset of free agency. 00:50:23 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think on the onset, we'll see in the post-season and how it works with the lockout. But again, the top three, Rosarena, Sato, Suzuki, If I think about it more, I'll probably put Suzuki as my number one target for the White Sox. If they have a way to spend $ 50 million in free agency and spending $ 25 million on either Rosarito, Suzuki, and then $ 25 million on a starting pitcher, I think that would be a great way to start off this offseason, Jim, before the lockout. Because I think then you address both of those needs better. You get another right-handed power hitter to help balance the lineup. And you get someone to help out Sean Burke in the starting rotation. How likely that is before December 1st, that's open to debate. And we'll be debating that in upcoming weeks on this podcast. But after going through this activity... There's very few targets here for the White Sox to convert, but at least there are targets for the White Sox to aim for in free agency that I think these guys can provide an immediate impact to the team. 00:51:37 Speaker 4: My sense, or I'd say under the previous front office, it would feel like, given the market's given what the White Sox don't want to pay the guys, like it feels like everything would line up for like a trade for Teoscar Hernandez at the end of it. But given how clean the payroll is after this year, like that's kind of the X factor to me is, and the unknown is they haven't extended anybody. Certainly they have prices or salary trajectories baked in to where they know what they're going to have to pay a Kyle Teal or Miguel Vargas, et cetera, after the year. But again, They also have ways, unlike with the way the extensions blew up on last time, that they can pivot out of things or trade players who might not be the perfect fit for players who are a better fit. So curious to see how Chris Getz either spends or starts to pivot based on just how clean the payroll is and how, I wouldn't say limitless the future is, but a lot of permutations. He has both in terms of salary and in terms of players he can keep and move that really make it, I guess this is the time to suspend cynicism and say, well, you know, probably Reinsdorf's not going to spend what people want to spend. But this might be the winner where he can make the best case for it. 00:53:00 Speaker 1: Well, that would do it for this episode of the Sox Machine Podcast. The next one will be me sharing my off-season plan project. So you can all rip it apart. Jim will be here to be the judge and provide his instant feedback while I walk through my off-season plan project. And of course, we'll also have this posted. on socks machine.com. So you have something to look forward to, uh, this week, but thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode of the socks machine podcast. This is a video podcast now. So if you did watch the show, please hit the subscribe button on our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash socks machine. And if you need something to listen to, you can subscribe to the sock machine podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, such as Spotify and and Apple Music. Follow us on social media. We're on all the social media platforms at Sox Machine, and the Sox Machine podcast is a production of SoxMachine.com. You're in for all things Chicago White Sox baseball and part of the Foul Territory Network. Alongside Jim Margulis, I'm Josh Nelson. Thanks for watching and listening.