Offseason Predictions with Connor McKnight and Brooke Fletcher | The White Sox Podcast

Offseason Predictions with Connor McKnight and Brooke Fletcher | The White Sox Podcast

Rep the Southside whenever you pay with your White Socks debit card from Winrust Community Banks and score perks like free ATMs, no monthly fees, and a $300 opening bonus. Pay with pride every time with Windrust Chicago’s bank. Hey everybody, it’s Chuck Carfine. Welcome back to the White Socks podcast. It is brought to you, as always, by our great friends at Winest, Chicago’s Bank. Show your team pride with the White Sox debit card. You can get yours at winterest.com/socks. Member FDIC EHL lender. Okay, the hot stove season. It is officially here. White Socks actually made some moves last week. More are coming. And now that the nontender deadline has come and gone and we know the players who are coming back and who are not coming back with all the free agents who are now available and we got some surprises last week, this seemed like the right time to bring you our White Socks off season predictions. So, Brooke Fletcher and Conor Mcnite will join me as we look into our Crystal Baseballs and try to predict what the White Socks will do this winter. So, who will they add to the infield, to the outfield, to the pitching staff? What about a team leader in the clubhouse? Will Luis Robert Jr. be traded before the season starts? Will Kyle Teal, Edgar Carol be traded? Will the White Socks win the lottery at the winner meetings and get the first overall pick in next year’s draft? We actually did a computer stimulation here on the pod to give us an idea. Uh we also made bold predictions for the offseason and talk about the moves that happened just last week not tendering contracts to Mike Tauman, Tim Elco, and Cam Boozer. So what is this winter going to look like for the White Socks? What kind of moves are coming? Our offseason predictions are here. Let’s do it. All right, let’s get to it. We’ve got Conor Mcnite. We’ve got Brooke Fletcher. Uh we have not all been together since the season ended. Brooke, you’re flying all over the country. Where were you this past weekend? You’re doing all this great work for Big 10 Network. We’ll start with you. Oh, well, thanks Jo. It’s great to be back with you guys. But yes, I have been in full football mode. Um I was at in Maryland, College Park for the Maryland Michigan game. Uh, so yeah, I mean it was it was a good game story a lot of story lines given you know the game this week when Michigan’s going up against Ohio State so that’s going to be be a fun one but no football it’s been it’s been flying by but it’s been a lot of fun. How about you Connor? What’s up with you? Full-time dad. It’s been great spend the offseason. You really got to listen for those who work in the baseball, you know, kind of uh the ethos, the atmosphere. When you get time, you take time. And we have taken time over here at the Mcnite household. It’s been nice. That’s good. Uh I just came back from you. What have you been up to? I just came back from Miami. We were there for our anniversary. Happy anniversary. And to give you an idea of the kind of stay that we had, um we were in South Beach. stayed at a hotel on South Beach and we were in bed usually by 900 p.m. So, yes. Yes. That’s a luxury these days, Chuck. Nobody goes out anymore. Yeah. We didn’t go to any clubs. Uh we did no partying whatsoever. We were just, you know, I was up at like 7 a.m. every day walking around by myself. There wasn’t much going on. So, that was my weekend in Miami. I’m back in Chicago now. And guys, so much has happened. We want to get to our predictions and I’m curious to see what your predictions are. But before we do that, uh, White Sox made some trades, some moves last week. They non-tender Mike Tachman, Tim Elco, Camboozer. They kept Derek Hill. Um, want to get your thoughts on that, then I’ll share mine. Connor, what did you think about those moves that they made? Yeah, I I think, you know, each one’s kind of understandable on its own in a vacuum. Um, I’m I guess overall, you know, kind of initial reactions. I’m a little surprised where the White Socks are at in terms of outfield depth right now. I mean, it’s thin. Uh, yeah, thin. And I think there’s going to be there be some additions here. We’ll talk about that when we get to our predictions. But, you know, I think that willingness to be thin kind of speaks to the organization’s evaluation of talent and, you know, expendable dollars in those particular areas. Um, it’s a tough place to be. I’m I’m a little surprised that that’s where they’re at. Um, I like the additions of of Tanner McDougall and Duncan Davitt to the 40man roster. I’m sure we’ll talk about some of the others who who weren’t added to the 40man and their perspective of where they’ll be over the next, you know, 6 to 12 months or so, but, you know, I think those are understandable. I talked with Paulish on our podcast about McDougall getting added to the 40man. It’s a guy that, and I thought this was cool. it makes sense to protect him for all the, you know, baseball reasons and also this is a reward to Tanner for earning it this season and same for Duncan Dav. We talked more about uh Tanner McDougall and that’s really cool to to see those guys taking advantage of those opportunities and earning them with their play. Yeah. You know, and you know, going back to Derrick Hill and uh and Mike Tman, you know, Will was super high on Derrick Hill. I think there’s a lot of upside there and so and he’s controllable so I think that makes sense. But I with Mike I uh I we’re all I was a little surprised just because he was a leader in that group last year and you know everybody was speaking really high of him and we saw glimpses but I that that doesn’t mean that he can’t come back you know maybe just getting a feel for the free agency market maybe bring him back at a lower price. Um so yeah I mean surprised but I’m also I can understand where their head could be at with with Mike. Yeah. So Tman had a 112 OPS+. That’s above league average. Played 93 games. Started the season on the injured list, ended the season on the injured list. Miniscus tear. He played hurt. He’s a gamer. There’s so much to like about him, but he’s also, you know, he’s turning 35 next week. Uh Brooke, I’m glad you mentioned that cuz he could technically come back at a lesser price. It was a $3 million uh I think contract he’d be signing. Um, he made 1.9 million last year. Uh, I’m looking at right field and we’re going to get to this. They need a placeholder for Braden Montgomery. I’m just going to put it out there and say it. Who is that person going to be? It might end up being Mike Tman. We’ll go a little further on that a little bit. Tim Elco, non-tendered. And listen, he had a 910 OPS in Triple A, a 523 OPS in the majors, 30 strikeouts, and 72 plate appearances. Tore his ACL, he’s out until July. They need room on the 40man roster, and they don’t want to necessarily put Tim Elco on there for, you know, three months. So, I I get why uh they made that move. And you mentioned Derek Hill. Uh and, you know, I look at the moves that they made because there’s also the trades that they made. Um, the White Sox are making defense a priority and I looked at Derek Hill. This surprised me. He had a plus eight defensive run saved in 44 games last season in center field. Uh, that’s really good. And then they got Everson Pereira and Tanner Murray from the Rays. Murray plays six positions. He was the Rays defensive player of the year in 2024. And Pereira, a former top 100 prospect with the Yankees, a plus defender, plays all three defensive spots. So, you see a theme here, guys. Yeah. Positional versatility, too, right? I mean, it’s something we talked about, the three of us talked about all throughout the season last year. It’s something the White Socks truly truly value. It’s something Will really likes in making those lineups. I mean, how many times did we have a conversation when Curtis me and Miguel Vargas were both on this roster saying, you know, where’s the other? Where’s one or the other? and continually it was, well, we like that they can both play in both spots. And that was really something we heard over and over again. You think about the few guys that that that doesn’t apply to, right? Even Coulson Montgomery could probably play some third base at some point, even next season, despite the fact that he played really well at short um all of last year. Everybody’s got to play a couple of different spots it feels like right now. Yeah, especially given where the team is at right now. I think versatility is is key here. And so, um, I am curious if we will see Coulson at third a little bit more next season. Connor, it’ll be it’ll be fun. I think I think they want that club in his bag. You know, he talked about that a ton. However, and I’d be the first to say it and so many others have, the most outstanding thing from Coulson Montgomery in 2025 to me wasn’t the homers or the offense or anything. It was that the defense was where it was. That was exceptional. Right. And the White Socks uh had ranked last in defense two years ago. They got up to like 25th last season. They want to get better at defense. So these are small names that we’re bringing up here. You want bigger names. We’re going to start thinking about some bigger names on this podcast. I I don’t know what you guys have. Um but I just look at these moves like, yeah, we just need to fill in some spots and have better defense because we played so many close games and lost so many close games. Let’s just kind of shore up some defensive positions and we’ll go from there. All right, prediction time. It is prediction time. Uh, and before I get your predictions, so there are only 34 players on their 40man roster. There is room to add. Uh, there is money to be spent. How much money? I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s the question, Chuck. Where do we want to allocate that money? I know. So, this will not be the 2019 off seasonason when the White Sox spend well over hund00 million on free agents. uh and uh contract extensions to like Robert and Mata. We’re not getting that. Uh before we start though, I want to just give you the stat from get not stat this quote from gets from the GM meetings because I think this will be a good jumping off point for us. He said quote uh we’re going to be able to add some free agents and identify players that we feel like could help this club. We’re going to be aggressive in the right places. Look at the other teams that were in similar positions to ours in the last couple of years that have taken significant jumps and how they went about it. Modeling after those clubs that will dictate a pathway for us. Connor, what does that say to you? I think it means that they want to be opportunistic. I think one of the things that both Brian Banister and Ryan Fuller have talked about quite often and pretty candidly is that they want to be a reclamation place. They want to be a spot where they can take players that have had some shine, whether it’s prospectwise or maybe coming over from overseas or what have you, and kind of reshine and retool and rework those players a little bit like they did with Eric Fetty um two years ago and and make that a stop, make that a reason why this player or that player is coming here to kind of fix his game. I think the White Socks are still in the not necessarily the sign only to flip scenario, but they are in a sign and flip kind of state. Like this is still where they’re at. And I think it’s important to hit on those because you know whether it’s a trade that you made for um whether it’s sending um you know Adrien Hower to the Rays last year, you want you want something in return for that effort and that’s important for them right now. Yeah. And I think, you know, talking about where other teams and how they were able to scale as quickly as they were, I also think they had a sense of identity and knowing their identity. And I think Chris and I and and co and I think they, you know, the reason why they parted ways with certain coaches. I think why they’re bringing certain guys on. They all have a similar philosophy. And I think now that’s why this White Socks organization is different than in years past. I feel like they all kind of are on the same page and they know exactly what type of players and they’re looking for and, you know, making the right moves. is not just throwing things at the wall or looking at the flashy names and seeing what sticks. Yeah. And you know, get had said that, you know, the the key for this next season is going to be the further development of the young guys. And you could definitely say that a big part of their additions this off season, well, it’s not going to be this offseason, but really into next season are going to be Braden Montgomery, Hagen Smith, you know, Noah Schultz, Sam Antinaci. These guys added to this team. But still, we need some free agents. We need some big names. Hopefully, maybe. How big, Chuck, are we talking? I don’t know. I mean, listen, if it was like Jared Sultakia bid, do we want to go that big of a name? Salt. John Q, you know, if I was John Q, general manager, owner for the White Socks, am I signing Kyle Schwarber tomorrow? Yes, absolutely. Breaking the bank to bring him in. Yes. I don’t think we’re going to be getting Kyle Schubber. Uh let’s start with uh infield free agent. I asked all of you for these categories. I want to hear what you came up with and we’ll discuss. We’ll go how about we go how we look at each other. Connor, Brooke, and then me. So, I picked one that uh like I’m looking for guys with a little bit of former shine, guys that I’ve seen play well a little bit and then trying to fit the price range, too. One of the things that uh that’s been out there is the idea that the White Sox are looking for somebody that can play on the corners and bat left-handed. Uh and I Abraham Toro is a guy that’s out there on the free agent market. Uh he’s 29 years old, I want to say, switch hitter. Uh 28 29. It’s been with Houston, broke in with Houston, like kind of showed you, oh, there’s there’s something there. Got traded to Seattle. If you remember, that was the Kendall Graveman trade, right? So, we’ve got a connection to an old friend. Uh, and all of Seattle was just up in arms about it before they added on and made their run. Um, Toro defensively is kind of an interesting sort of wasn’t great over at third base last year or pardon over at first base last year, but has played some third. Um, I I think there’s something there that might be able to be kind of reformed and resculpted. And when I was looking at the infielders too, remember I’m not I’m not looking to blow it out on the infield necessarily because I kind of like the mix that the White Socks have available to them on the infield coming up. Whether that’s the guys that we’d seen last year or some of the prospects like Sam Antinachi that could be on his way too. There’s a few names that I was thinking of, but I’m thinking of a guy where I mean I know we’re hungry for a bat here and a left bat at that. And so I’m thinking of maybe Nate Low. Nate Low. I know the potential former Silver Slugger as far as like in the price range, a guy that is maybe trying and White Sox, we have a theme, guys that are looking to kind of revamp their career and we’ve already seen what he can do, a guy that has experience and so first baseman, left bat, um has shown those glimpses, I think maybe just getting a hold of him, trying to, you know, diagnose what’s been going on. But this is a guy that has a lot of potential and also can be potentially in that range. Yeah, he’s been on my list last couple seasons. Actually, I’ve been watching him and uh thinking he could fit with the socks. Those are both good. Here’s what I got. All right, so Chris gets mentioned wanting a left-handed corner infielder, right? You mentioned that. U Connor, I got a guy who plays first base, plays right field, he’s left-handed, Ryan O’Harn. So Ryan O’Harn has worked with Ryan Fuller. There’s a lot here, by the way. Worked with Ryan Fuller, helped turn his career around basically with the Orioles. Uh he played 71 games at first base last season, had a plus4 defensive run saved. Wasn’t good in right, 20 games in right minus four. But again, we’re looking for a little placeholder for Braden Montgomery. So, you put him in right to start. This is me. And then you move over to first full-time. Uh he’s 32 years old, made the All-Star team last season, 125 OPS plus. Bruce Levine did report that the Socks are interested in him. So it’s not just me coming up with this name. Jim Bowden says he can make two year be it could be he’s projecting a two-year $24 million contract. What do you What do you think there? I would love Ryan O’Harn on the White Sox. I think that would be great. I think the question is because he is looking for a multi-year deal and are we able to cough up are we willing to cough up cough it up cough it up. Uh so I think that’s the big question but I to your point the versatility and we talked about that’s a that’s a point of emphasis for this group. Also a guy that I think is a great presence in the clubhouse. I think um you know he’s been around I think you know been a part of winning teams. He knows what it takes. So I think that could be that could be a good fit. Yeah. I mean, the Socks payroll is very, very low. They’re going to spend money somewhere. I don’t know where it’s going to be. This would seem to me like a great place to spend that money. Left-handed bat, first baseman, right fielder. And I’ve been watching Lenin Sosa a little bit because he played right played first base a lot for the White Socks last season. Um, he’s been playing almost exclusively second base in winter league. I’m very curious to see what becomes of Lenin Sosen next year, especially if they add a first baseman. What does it mean for him? Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that’s that’s a fair question. You can’t ignore his bad and what he was able to do last year. And I know there were some questions on where he could fit in defensively, but I want to while we’re because we were talking about Sam Antinachi. I know this is a guy, Chuck, you had him on your podcast, Connor. We’ve talked about him a lot and I know you’ve been following him and the miners. while we’re talking about the infield here, like what are the chances that he could break camp with the team, where could I know they’re really high on him, um, and he has a high ceiling. What What do you guys think? I mean, the guy led the fall league in hits, had a great Arizona over the last couple of weeks here, which is stupendous. And the the offensive environment in Arizona is always very good, which is nice for Sam. Uh, but he took advantage of this opportunity. It’s interesting, Brooke, like depending on the Sosa of it all, right? You could look at your second base situation after the start of this year and look at Chase Maid and Sam Antinachi and go, there’s your right left platoon matchup. And yeah, that decreases the playing time for for Maid quite a bit, but you know, we’ve seen him used in some other spots. He’s got shortstop attached to him. I you know they’re very similar players in terms of their contact rate, a little bit of lack of power, but they can handle themselves on a baseball field. And I I wouldn’t be surprised at all if those were, you know, two guys who wanted to fit on the same roster. All right. And I had an honorable mention for u first space. This is just me talking here. Just sign Luis Arise to a one-year deal. Teams don’t want to sign him to a long-term contract. I mean, the guy second most hits in the majors. He’s going to be 29. He had 34 walks and 21 strikeouts in 675 played appearances. Ladies and gentlemen, the metrics say he had a down year. I just want him on the White Socks. So, I don’t know. Good dude, too. Good dude. All right. So, uh how about outfield free agent? Uh Chris said at the GM meetings, “Our outfield corners were an underperforming position offensively and defensively. We’re looking to improve in those areas.” So Connor, who do you have as your outfield free agent? You know what? It’s a guy that just got non-tendered and it’s JJ Bladeet. Broke in with the Mars. You’re going to go Garcia. That’s a good one. Go. Okay, fair enough. Yeah. No, not Adidolis Garcia. There’s just a a little bit. I love him. And that postseason home run, all the postseason home runs just like epic. But bade bats left. He throws left. He can handle center field. But I don’t know that that’s where you necessarily want him to be in the case of a Luis Robert trade, but you know, we’ll get to that later. Um, former what is he a firstround pick, fourth overall out of Vanderbilt. You reme probably remember him as an Oakland athletic. Obviously, they’re not even in Oakland anymore, but there were some minutes where where Blade really kind of showed that promise. Um, I wouldn’t be I wouldn’t be surprised at all if corner a better spot for him, if fitting in a little better there. He had a 120 OPS plus in 2024 with the A’s, a 2.1 war season two years ago and it really looked like things were kind of starting to click together for him. Last year very much not the case, which is unfortunate and why he’s been non- tendered. But I I kind of like the JJ Blade of it all. I don’t know if you if I mentioned his age. Did I mention his age? The man’s 28. Happy birthday back on November 10th when the Gales of November struck early and took down the Edmund Fitzgerald 50 years ago this year. That’s a good one, Connor. That I have my list right here, so I’m like going through that was that was one of the guys. Um I think Garrett Hamson could be interesting. We saw what he was able to do in Colorado. He bounced around uh last season. Um you know, he had kind of had a down year, but this is a guy talking about versatility, kind of your utility guy, can play infield, obviously play outfield. Um and I just feel like he’s got the speed, makes contact. I feel like he kind of fits checks the box of what the White Socks have been looking for. Um, but I think he could be he could be good. Um, also here’s one Jared Kelnik. Now, this guy only because I like his potential. This was a former top prospect. The It’s there. It’s there. Um, he’s had a down season, but I think he has potential to be really good. But that’s kind of like another little aster guy. You guys have done your homework. I’m not surprised, of course, but I just like what you’re bringing to the table here. These you’re you’re making me think about a lot of these guys. All right, but listen. Here’s the outfield right now for the White Socks. Uh in the middle of November, we got Luis Robert Jr., we got um Pereira, what’s his first name? Preston Ever. Everson. There we go. I got to learn this team. Uh Brooks Baldwin, maybe Derek Hill, and Chris Get says that Andrew Benendi is going to play more DH than left field next season. And he only played 68 games in left last year. So, we got to add a left fielder. And so, I already said Ryan O’Harn as your probably maybe backup, not backup, but your right fielder to start the year to some degree. And then you move him over to first base or you bring Mike Tman back and you have him play right field. Mhm. Uh I did have Adelis Garcia on here. Uh I know he got nontened by the Rangers. I know he had a bad year offensively. I looked at his defensive run saved. number one. Really good. And the Rangers were like, “Oh, you know what? We’re good.” Kind of shocked. Give me I mean, I can’t believe they non-turn. Cannot believe that. Could you imagine him and Louisie in the lineup? That would be like when they’re both at their best. Them and Cin, right? I mean, I know that would be I know it’d be kind of insane. He won a gold glove a couple of years ago. So I but that’s not who I came up with because I think he’s just someone’s going to be like, “Yeah, we’re a playoff team. We’re going to give you whatever the number is going to be. Come over here.” Like we’re good with you. And he’s going to go there. So uh I’ve got another former Orio, Austin. Now there’s Cedric Mullins, too. I was gonna say Austin Hayes. Austin Hayes is a good one. So he’s a left fielder, can also play right. was with Ryan Fuller and he also Fuller helped him a couple of years ago. Played a part in it. He was there with like two hitting coaches with uh the Orioles. Uh he had an 105 OPS plus with the Reds last season. Made the All-Star team in 2023. We can do a righty lefty split in left field with him and Andrew Benendi. He’s made the playoffs the last three years with three different teams, Orioles, Phillies, and Reds. So I like someone who’s got some playoff experience. knows Ryan Fuller, Austin Hayes, that’s my outfielder where we’re at. I like it. Yes. Uh, okay. We got a few more categories. We have a lot still to get to. Let’s get to pitching. And so I didn’t I could have You guys could have gone bullpen arm, starting pitcher arm. Who did you go with? Who’s your one addition? I’m assuming there’s going to be more than just one pitching free agent added, but for our purposes, just give me one name. So, this is where I went big kind of. Uh, I went with Cody Pototts, the former second round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers. Two years with Racketin last year with the uh Hanoa, I think it’s the Tigers and the KBO. Um, had some really good numbers. Won their version of the Sai Young. It’s going to take more than one year to sign Cody Pon. It’s going to take a lot of money to sign Cody Pon, all relative. probably from from what I’ve you know been hearing from you probably more than than Fetty got coming over from the KBO when the White Sox got him. Um but the White Sox have reliably shown their ability to take pitchers and make them better. Uh they’ve got a new pitching infrastructure as well with uh with with Ethan Cat’s gone. Brian Bannister still here of course, but this is this is what they do and it’s pretty reliable and I I think this is where I get back to being in that still sign and trade mode. sign two trade signs so that you maybe can’t Cody Potts fits that. And this is where I wouldn’t mind at all going big with a guy that can take innings for you because that’s still going to be really important despite all the arms. They’re going to be getting back and healthy at different points throughout the summer. Brooke, did you have him, too? Is that your That was going to be mine. just because well he just won the MVP over there for for the KBO but I it’s it’s interesting because it could go one or two ways like you don’t know exactly who’s going to pick him up like cuz I know but I know guys from the KBO like you’re looking for an opportunity there. You’re not looking to really go to a team that’s trying to win a World Series. You’re just looking really for an opportunity. So I think he fits to everything that Connor said. He fits well I think with the White Sox organization getting a hold of him. He’s just trying to prove himself. So, I think that could be and the Milwaukee Ties because we do love our Milwaukee ties here. Uh, so maybe Walker McKen uh maybe knows him. But I also thought about Austin Gomebert, left-handed pitcher. He’s durable. He’s cheap. Um, innings eater. Like I think he could potentially be a good fit as well. Okay. So, the rotation right now, I believe, is Shane Smith, Davis Martin are locks. Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon have something to prove, right? Not locks, right? No, not Locks. Okay, so we got two starters right now in the rotation. Um, I’ll start with this. They need a lefty until Shane Smith, Noah Schultz. I’m assuming they’re going to be up here at some point next year. I would hope that happens. They’re looking for, in my opinion, Martin Perez 2.0, you know, someone who can be a left-hander in this rotation to start and be a clubhouse leader, if you want to call it that. They could bring Martine Perez back. I think that is still in the cards. So, that is a possibility. I wouldn’t be shocked. Get has said they want someone to come in who can provide innings to protect the young arms. I got him. I got the guy. Patrick Corbin. Oh, wow. Patrick Corbin. All right. Okay. Wow. Left-handed. By the way, he’s signed. You like that? Just listen. The Patrick Corbin story over the last 10 years is absolutely incredible. And he was you’re you’re right. Way better last year than he’d been in a long time. Going off of last year. Yeah. And it’s it’s just really tough to not look at the rest of that baseball reference page and go, I’m not looking at the rest of it. I’m looking at last year. That’s a lot of work. Conor, we want to look at last year. I’m going so deep into the past when he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. So deep. So deep in the past. That’s great, too. Love that. Okay, so here’s what I’m looking at. All right. I’m not looking at Patrick Corbin leading the White Socks to the playoffs, although that would be amazing. I’m looking for a guy who can get innings. He had 155 of them, okay, which would have been the most on the White Socks. He uh was signed at the end of spring training by the Rangers. very end and he was like ready for opening almost opening day. So he went 7-11 at a 4.40 RA lowest RA since 2019. Okay, so he’s trending in the right direction, Connor. Okay, and here’s what Rangers President of baseball operations Chris Young said after they signed him. This is going to sound familiar. Uh quote, “We felt like signing Patrick Corbin was an opportunity to bring in someone who has really been an inning stabilizer over the last 10 years. He’s a veteran player, a competitor by all accounts, and just a winning personality. He’s somebody who’s going to fit in our clubhouse well and gives us added protection. That could basically be a Chris Gets quote right there. Again, I’m trying to make predictions, not saying I want the best arm available. Yeah. I mean, I think there is an importance there or there is value in getting somebody that has experience and that veteran presence. We know how huge that was for the rotation last year, especially with there being guys that are green trying to learn and navigate, you know, at the big league level. So, there is value. I wouldn’t be surprised, you know, that they do go after a veteran arm like that or even I mean, I don’t know if Martine Perez is done, but No, I mean, we’ll see. Yeah, we’ll see. He he declined the option, by the way. He declined it. So, like he he’s looking for something out there. He feels good. Uh, another name though is um I I’d be fine bringing back Adrien Howser. Sure. He had a two RA with the Socks. He had almost a five RA with the Rays. He’s now a free agent. So, um, that’s another possibility. All right, we got another category here before we get to our other topics. Actually, two more two more categories. Got to talk about Luis Robert Jr. and other things. Veteran leader. So, Michael Taylor is gone. Mike Tman might be gone. Martin Perez might be gone, Austin Slater, Josh Rojos, Matt Th. I mean, this was a thing that was going on last year. The Socks were bringing in a bunch of veterans to blend in with the young guys. So, who is going to be added as a veteran leader, Conor Mcnite? So, this is where I kind of put the best of the rest. And so, I’ll give you four names. I’m not going to walk through each and every one of them. There’s no need. But here’s kind of the best of the rest. I like Cedric Mullins on a rebound, revamp, refurbish, play him in the corner spot. Josh Bell has been around for a long time and can add a little bit of thump and play first base. He’s a switch hitter. I have Austin Hayes in this category as well because I’ve always liked him ever since that series. The Orioles played against the White Sox a couple of years ago where Austin Hayes uh looked like Aussie Smith if Aussie Smith played outfield. I couldn’t think of a really a Ken Griffy Jr. afternoon for Austin Hayes. Uh and then Luis Renhifo who’s who’s no longer with the Angels and plays all over the diamond on the infield kind of things. I think these are the kinds of names. Mullins may be a little bit different, but those are the kind of guys that, you know, could be kind of the fits, those veteran sign and move, that veteran lead and and installation for some of the top prospects, too. I I think side note, you sign Mullins and he bounces back to kind of anything that could be a really good trade ship. Yeah, I I agree with you, Connor. I uh No, he was I think he’s a good one. I think Miguel Anduhar could be an interesting one. I think he’s a veteran presence. he could I mean we saw what he was able to do uh last season and so I think he could be a flip at the trade deadline. Um so that was that would be my person. All right, here’s mine. Um this is uh someone who has just damaged my soul many many times. He’s played 200 games against the White Socks in his career. I think he’s been on almost every other American League Central team. It is time to bring Carlos Santana to the White Socks. Bring him to the White Socks. I’m fine with it. Yes. Is he gonna be 40? Yes. He’s going to be 40 years old. Bring all the veteran presents. He is a pitch hitter. He plays first base. Do you want to guess? I listen. I’m just following what the White Socks are doing. Okay. They want defense. They want leadership in some spots. Do you want to guess what his defensive run saved at first base was last year? Last year he won a gold glove two years ago. Plus what? 10. You’re going 10. Brooke, what do you want to go with? Plus eight. Plus 12. Second best in the majors at 40. At 40. Now you look at his hitting statistics. No, they were not great. But I remember the White Socks facing him and he didn’t put up big numbers against them, but like every at bat I’m like, “God, he is just wearing out our pitchers. He is taking so many freaking pitches.” Piling up the pitch count for the Socks. I’m like, you know what? If you want to bring a veteran leader, give me some Carlos Santana and uh maybe he can win a game against the Guardians for once. Exactly. And he can offer some insight as to why he’s always been so good for the White Socks. Yeah. And I did have an honorable mention. Cedric Mullins. Yeah. So, that’s uh he was not good in center. No, he was negative. Cost to get him though. What’s that, Brooke? What do you think it’ll cost to get him though? Like one-year deal. 8 million. I think that’s kind of the pool you’re in here. I was going to look up what he made last season. Yeah. 87 last year for the Orioles, right? Yeah. So, I think I think you’re in the eight to10 million dollar range despite, you know, kind of a down year. Yeah. I mean, he was uh either he was pretty average with the Orioles, went to the Mets. That did not go over well. I’m assuming he’s going to be looking for a team that has uh playoff aspirations. But the White Socks could say, and Ryan Filler, his former hitting coach, can say, “Hey, come over here. We need this from you. We’ll pay you this, and then we’ll trade you if you have a good first half.” Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. Where do you want your at bats uh up until June 30th, right? Where do you want those at bats to be? Do you want to be a lot of them or do you want them coming off the bench for a playoff team? Because that’s probably what Mullins is looking at here. All right. Uh All right. Now, we have bold prediction. Bold prediction. I know this is a challenging category for us because the White Socks aren’t exactly, as far as we can tell, spending a whole lot of money. So, bold prediction can be tough. I’m curious to know your answers. What do you got? So, I went here. I went with the prospects. I went with the prospects. I Here’s the list. Braden Montgomery, Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougall, Sam Antinacci, Mason Adams, Pton Plet, Jacob Gonzalez, and Tyler Schwitzer will all make the bigs at some point next season. That means, oh, three of the top five, four of the top 10, eight of the top 20, and nine of the top 30 prospects in the White Sox system make the debuts in 2026. Now, I know that means that Peyton Plet’s got to not get taken in the rule five. Same with Tyler Schwitzer. Hopefully that’s the case and they hang on to that arm talent. But I think this could be a year where you see a lot more young and I feel like it’s bold because we saw so much last season with Teal and Carol with Montgomery and Madroth and so forth. But like I I think there’s more there and I think we see it and that might be another reason why you’re not seeing the White Sox spending so much money in free agency because they’ve got all these guys that give them a chance they might be a part of their future that are right on the cusp there. I mean, I think Mason Adams had he almost broke camp. He didn’t get injured. He would have broken camp with the big league team uh out of spring training. And then I think, you know, Sam Antinachi, Braden, I I’m curious what kind of spring training he’s going to have. I don’t know if he will break camp, but I think I mean, he’ll like definitely be in the bigs next season. Yeah. Um I already kind of told you mine. Ad Adole Garcia, I think the White Socks should just go big or go home. Uh go after him. because you Chuck you were going through all of his accolades and what what this guy can do. I think that could be a really uh really cool move for the White Socks. So him and Louisie in the same line, you know what? And that might even be a thing of like, okay, Adoulis, you are not our future. It’s going to be Braden. We’ll pay you 15. That’s the whole thing. What’s he going to make? 15 million. 15. Okay. This doesn’t seem like the kind of move the White Sox would make necessarily under these circumstances, but they could be saying the same thing. We’re gonna pay you more than anyone else is paying you, and we’re going to trade you to a contender if you have a good season. I don’t know. It’s not doesn’t It’s not a perfect fit, but I like it. I like what you’re thinking. What’s that? It’s bold. That’s why it’s bold. Bold. Yeah. You’re not saying it’s gonna happen, but it’s bold. So, my bold prediction goes along with our next category. The next category is percent chances that Luis Robert Jr. gets traded before the season starts. And we are here trying to make predictions, trying to see the future. And what I’m looking at is if you are a team out there looking for a center fielder right now, these are your choices. Uh, as for free agents, Cody Bellinger, if he’s still a center fielder, he only played 39 games in center last year, but that’s one. Then it drops to Harrison Bader, JJ Blade is now available, Cedric Mullins, and it pretty much stops there. So, there’s the trademark it. And I mean, Luis Robert Jr. 14 homers, 53 RBI’s. We watched every game that he played and we watched every game that he wasn’t there. and he had a career-high in walks and steals. He had a 599 OPS in the first half or before the All-Star break. After the All-Star break, 808, you know, all it takes is a team willing to at least come close to the White Sox demands uh an injury to happen, whatever it might be. My bold prediction is I think he ends up getting traded. I think he ends up getting traded. Now, it’s not 100%. And I’m not going 100% but like I’m just like looking out there and you know the socks have asked for more than what teams are willing to give. But that was also during like the trade deadline. That’s during the season. You have now an entire off season to kind of see what you want to make your team. We’ll see. But that’s my bold prediction. Not saying it’s going to happen. I get it. It’s bold. What do you guys think? I get it. I mean, I think, you know, even though Gat said he’s not really actively shopping him, but you know that they’re listening to teams. Um, I also think it comes down to if if maybe the White Sox are going to have to eat some money or a team, are they going to cough up that that contract or money for that contract? So, but to your point, Chuck, I mean, when when Louise when Luis is on, he’s on. I mean, he’s the best in the league. So, um, is there a team that could take that risk and we get what we want in return? Could be. Yeah, could be. And Luis, if you happen to see this and you see me at Camelback Ranch, I didn’t say I wanted you to be traded. I’m just being I could see it happening. It’s been in the air for like over a year. So, uh I will say Louis and I we made a breakthrough towards the end down the stretch of the season. He would give me a head nod. Hey, how’s it going? You know, and I’m like, yes, like we’re making progress. So, for me, I’m looking to build on that. Build on your relationship with Luis, huh? Looking to build on your relationship with Luis. Is that what you’re saying? Yeah. Maybe I’ll get a fist bump next year, you know. Yeah. High five. Very low expectations. You can You can I I Here are my expectations for Louise. An English interview. I would love that. Oh, yeah. He did give me one if you want to call it an interview. It was opening day 2024. On the field as we as they took the field, he did give me an interview where he I asked him his expectations or hopes for the season and he gave a fiveword answer in English. Got it. And the only reason why we’re saying this is because Luis is a little shy towards the media. He’s a great person, great guy, clubhouse guy. Um but you know, we did see his personality come out a little bit more in the second half. Yeah. And I I something that I think sex fans don’t even know is like you ask him to do an interview, he’ll do it. He was very available to the media. Um he does them in Spanish, which is fine. I mean, that’s his language. I mean, ask me to do an interview in Spanish, I’m not going to be doing very well at that. Um but, uh we have had our connections with him with this despite the the language barrier. All right. Uh, will Kyle Teal or Edgar Carol be traded this off season? Yes or no? We’ve seen some stuff out there in uh the social media landscape that uh teams have inquired about both of them. Will either of them get traded? Conor, you can go first. No, they’re not getting traded in this off seasonason. Nobody’s moving. Nobody’s moving. They’re not getting traded. Yeah, I think it’s fun to listen and just I think it gives um Chris gets more confidence in what he has the fact that teams are reaching out and I think you know it’s so rare to have that much depth at the catching position and so when you do it’s like all right you know now it’s giving us a year especially now that Walker McKimman is likely going to take over more you know uh of the responsibilities when it comes to catching and so just kind of get an idea of you know what they have what they how they want to approach moving forward I think this is a luxury and and Chris gets he knows he has the advantage here. So, kind of riding with that going into the season. I agree with both of you. They will not be traded. We’ll see both of them in Glendale and then we’ll see both of them as the season begins. But there was a lot of, you know, stuff out there chatter. So, I wanted to at least stress it on the podcast that this is not going to happen. Okay. Um, our last category, this will be fun. Will the White Socks get the number one pick in the MLB lottery? If not, what number will they draft? So, if in case you don’t know this, White Sox have a 27% chance to get the number one pick, best odds of any team. In two weeks at the winter meetings, they will hold this lottery. And it is extremely the draft for this year extremely, you want to call it topheavy, but there’s some big big talent, shortstop talent at the tippy tippy top of this draft. It’s a great year to be drafting one through three. Definitely one. You’re nodding your head very much there, Connor. Um, so, uh, before I get your guys thoughts, the White Socks, as I said, have a 27% chance of getting the number one pick. That means they have a 73% chance of not getting the number one pick. So, I’ll be curious to know your answers. And then when you’re done with your answers, we’re going to play the little simulation you can do on tankathon.com. And we’re Oh, that’s on who we could get. What’s that? On who we could get. Yeah. Yeah. Well, no, not no not on who you can get where the White Sox will draft. Oh, got it. It’s a computer simulation. I’ve done it many times where I’ll do like out of 10 times, how many times will the White Socks get that number one pick? But we’re going to pretend. We’re going to pretend like this is the draft. There’s one time we’re doing it. I’m going to hit the simulator button and we’re going to see where the White Socks will draft. So, Connor, where will the White Socks end up in the lottery? I say number one cuz why not? Dream big. Yes, it’s been a tough winner. Let’s let’s get going here. Number one, and I what that does is I as as you guys know and as as others might, I I cover the Big 10 network, cover Big 10 baseball a little bit for the Big 10 Network. I have seen a lot of Rock Chilowski. He’s the shortstop at UCLA. Uh if they get the first overall pick, obviously that means they can take Rock Chilowski should they choose to do so. And I need Rock Chilowski in this organization like tomorrow. That is a number one with a bullet kind of player. And I Yes. Let’s go. Conor has he’s been talking about him all season long. He This is true. You have been very high on him. So, why do you love him so much? Why is he such a great uh player? Go ahead. In the game that I one of the games that I did with UCLA, they were playing against Washington and in his first at bat, he hit a ground ball, just an absolute missile at like a 100red billion miles an hour at shortstop, 6-3. Then for the next three at bats, he was intentionally walked twice and hit by a pitch. So he is uh 0 for one with two walks and a hit by pitch when he steps up to the plate in the ninth in a tight ball game. They were up by two and nukes on the very first pitch a two-run shot in a deep left center field in Omaha. This is a guy who hadn’t seen anything to hit for 2 hours and then absolutely pummel this thing. Not to say nothing, it’s exceptional shortstop defense and arm to match the whole thing. This this is that’s what you’re looking for. I think. Okay. So, I’m an optim I’m an optimistic person, Chuck. So, of course, I’m putting it out in the universe that we’re going to get the number one overall pick. Um if not number one overall pick, we’ll be in the top three, which means that we are guaranteed get to getting, excuse me, a uh a good player here. And so shortstop obviously is going to be it’s the sexy position everybody’s going for. So if we can’t get the guy from UCLA, then I think maybe like Justin LeBron could be a good person from Alabama. Um and so he’s been having an incredible run there uh in the SEC. We know how competitive it is. And so I think if you could just get just the athleticism overall. So I think you’d score either way way getting one of those guys. All right. So, as I do this job and do this podcast, I balance between being an optimist and a realist. Okay, the optimist in me is like, they’re going first. The realist is like, there’s a 73% chance that they’re not going to get the number one pick. And I don’t want you, the Socks fan, to have unrealistic expectations where you’re expecting them to get the number one pick. I want you to be excited and surprised when they get it. So, so I have them going third. They’re going to get the third. They’ll get the third overall pick. And you know, that’s still good. There’s some great players in this draft. But I do I want them to be first. Yes. So, here I am. I’m going to tankathon.com. And you can all do this yourself. Everybody just hit MLB. You go to the 2026 MLB draft lottery simulator. It says sim lottery. You can just hit that button and you’re going to see where they draft. Are you guys ready? Yes. Here we go. Sim lottery. I’m hitting the button and they got the number one pick. Number one pick. There it is. Rock, paper, scissors, baby. Yes. I know it’s backwards for everyone watching on YouTube, but it went white Socks, Pirates, Braves, A’s, Orioles. And if I hit it again, they got they got they got the sixth overall pick. Do it again. I mean, it’s Yeah, this is the craziness. I’ll do it again. They got the third. They got the third. Do it again. Fourth. Do it again. Third. I mean, this is how it goes. Yeah. Do it again first. So, it’s crazy. I will be at the winter meetings when this draft occurs. So, I’ll be reporting from Orlando about it. And I really hope they get the first overall pick. I think we’re we’re due, right? The vibes are high and white. Uh, you know, we got the Pope on our side now. I think we just need to put a few prayers up to the to the guy upstairs. And I I think I think it’s going to be in our favor. Do you think we can convince Rock Chilowski that his walk up music should be Rock the Caspa? It fits. Put the You could put the name right in the It fits. I’m sure he’s a big fan of the Clash. 100%. Uh let’s hope the White Socks have some Derek Rose luck like when the Bulls got him number one. So, uh whatever you got everybody and we have the Pope on our side. So, um I’m sure the Pope wants the White Sox to get the number one pick and it would be great if that happens. We should reach out to him. How can we get the message out to him that we need some prayers? We need some good vibes from the Well, he is on Twitter. Although, at least, you know, true. Like, does he know there’s a possibility there’s a 27% chance that we could have the first overall? Listen, I think that here’s the thing. The Pope listens to Chuck’s pod. I think it’s pretty clear it’s Chuck. How does that feel to know that the most like notable person, the most popular person in the world, famous person listens to your podcast? That’s pretty cool. That’s quite a flex. Yeah, I mean that’s that is quite a flex. I walk around my neighborhood all the time going up to people and telling them, “Do you know that the Pope might possibly listen on my podcast?” That’s the kind of you are. He knows Chuck Garfight. Well, he definitely knows Aussie Gillian. Yeah, that’s for sure. But yeah, if he’s been watching any pre and postgame shows over the last 20 years, uh he has seen my mug and he’s still a fan. So, uh guys, this was great. We have predicted the future or I don’t know if we have but we have looked into the future and we will see what happens. Uh we’ll see. It’s going to be uh interesting. It always is. There’ll be surprises no doubt and um we will circle back on these predictions later in the offseason maybe in spring training and um see who did the best. Love it. We’ll see. All right. All right. That is going to do it. Thank you everybody for listening, for watching, for Conor Mcnite, for Brooklyn Fletcher, for Seel Rodriguez. Behind the scenes, I’m Chuck Garfine. Hawk Harelson, take it away. All right, our Chuck, this edition of the White Sox podcast is over.

Chuck Garfien is joined by White Sox reporters Connor McKnight and Brooke Fletcher for a wide-ranging look at the White Sox offseason, breaking down the team’s latest roster moves following the non-tender deadline. They dig into which free agents could fit the Sox’s needs, from infield help to pitching, and what type of veteran leader might make sense. The trio makes bold predictions and discusses the possibility of trades involving Luis Robert Jr., Kyle Teel, or Edgar Quero. Chuck and company also try to predict where the White Sox will be selecting in the MLB Draft with a little help from Tankathon.

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