I had about nine hours of flying time coming back from Paris on Monday. There was some in-flight entertainment in the form of watching a woman pound three glasses of wine before passing out in the middle of the fourth (she was OK), but I also spent the time thinking about questions from Patreon supporters for the first exclusive P.O. Sox of the offseason.
From Andrew Segall:
What did you make of the report that the Sox had a deal to trade Avi that was scuttled by his health? Do you think that prevented us from a couple months of Eloy and is it a tell about what they do with Avi this offseason?
If you missed it -- and I'd only caught part of the story the first time around, as I was able to largely stay off Twitter while out and about -- here's the full story from Ken Rosenthal:
After learning they could not land Harper, the Astros put together another trade that would have sent right-hander Francis Martes to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Avisaíl García, sources said. That deal failed to come to fruition when the Astros expressed concern over the condition of García’s right knee.
García, a right-handed hitter, would play the rest of the season, but batted only .197 with a .631 OPS in the final two months and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee on Oct. 2. Martes had Tommy John surgery on Aug. 15, but the White Sox were aware of his condition at the time the deal was discussed, sources said.
It's possible that they could've called up Avi, similar to how the Todd Frazier trade officially marked the changing of the guard with the infield and made room for Yoan Moncada to take over. It made worlds more sense to call up Jimenez in late July than early September, because you'd have the same trade-off in service time, but far more experience to gain from the abbreviated first season.
It seems like it would've been too insulting to see the Sox stuff both corners with filler for two-plus months, but maybe they had the appetite for it. All along I was too optimistic that the White Sox had plans for Jimenez in 2018, so I should at some point and correct and say a call-up was never going to happen.
What I find more fascinating about this story is the Astros taking an interest in Garcia in the first place. If you think the Astros know better than the White Sox about talent evaluation, then it should give pause to those in the non-tender camp. There probably isn't a great chance of Garcia being healthy and productive, and so there's even less of a chance of dealing him in a walk year for somebody of use, but letting him walk without a replacement on hand seems more emotional than rational.
I think the sudden outburst of pull-field power keeps me intrigued enough to see it all the way through to the end, at least if the White Sox fail to connect on any higher targets. Hopefully Bryce Harper makes up his mind before the Nov. 30 deadline so minimize the financial implications.
Kristopher Olson:
Would trading for high-dollar (but shorter) contracts now be better than long term free agent signing? Looking at names like Zack Greinke, Carlos Santana and more, with the other team adding cash or prospects to lessen the financial load.
I think last year would've been the sweet spot for adding such a deal. As it stands, I'm reluctant to advocate for the White Sox to play fast and loose with their financial flexibility, because we've seen how that can dissolve in a hurry. I always come back to the Adam LaRoche deal. I didn't care for it at the time, but thought the mere two-year length would allow the White Sox to spend past a disappointing first year. Instead, they stopped well short, and everything fell apart.
Again, maybe if the White Sox are unsuccessful in their attempts to lure big-ticket FAs this winter, maybe they'll be able to make use of their low overhead to get one more significant prospect. I like the idea of Greinke on this roster, but if he's the White Sox' first $20+ million player, I don't trust them to navigate around it if they have to wait a year for free agents to accept their money. That's not saying they won't, it's just saying they haven't, and the benefit of the doubt should be deployed sparingly.
Thinking about these Plan Bs after the Bulls put Bryce Harper's jersey on Michael Jordan's statue to signal their in-ness, it feels like signing Ron Mercer after whiffing on Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.) But I think Plan A is to let superstars determine the course of spending, then adjust.
Asinwreck wrote:
What non-tendered free agents would you like to see the Sox pursue?
The non-tender deadline won't happen until Nov. 30, but there are some Avi-like fringe cases I'm keeping an eye on. Kevin Pillar might be a center field upgrade should the Blue Jays find his $5.3 million price tag too high. Travis d'Arnaud is there for some injury-plagued framing ability, and Brad Boxberger has closing experience for a team that might need some.
Scanning the list of non-tender candidates (MLB Trade Rumors' offseason outlook series is a good cheat sheet), a lot of them are in the same boat as Leury Garcia. Hernan Perez, Tyler Saladino, Wilmer Flores, Ehire Adrianza have all shown good bench production in the past, but how many of those guys can one roster carry?
