Ben Derflott

In a word, no. The White Sox spent a bunch of money this winter, but did they really get all that much better? I would argue they did not. They are at least unlikely to totally embarrass themselves this year, but they are going to need literally everything to break just right for them AND see everything go totally sideways for both the Cleveland baseball club and the Twins.

"Jake Cave" and "capable placeholder" are words that should not ever be placed in the same sentence, unless the words "is not and will never be a" are placed between them.

This is going to end up being the best third baseman signing of the winter, and not by just a little bit. Nice sign, math boys!

Pretty much this. We're going to have to become a pitching factory. Fortunately, I think we're making some significant strides toward that goal.

I think Jose Berrios would really benefit if we were somehow able to find the Nelson Cruz of pitchers. Much like Miguel Sano, Berrios has all the talent in the world and could easily rattle off a handful of Cy Young Award-level seasons before he retires. Unfortunately he, much like Sano did prior to Cruz's arrival, seems to put too much pressure on himself and tends to fall apart physically, mentally, or both right when we need him the most. If we find the pitching version of Nelson Cruz, I think we'll find we have a real ace in Berrios for the next handful of years.

Why are we even considering trading anyone from the 26 man roster, much less two key starters again?

The White Sox have added a couple of bats and a #4 starter. They have burned a fair bit of payroll flexibility along the way. Furthermore, they're still heavily dependent on multiple prospects figuring it out at the same time. The Twins, meanwhile, have brought back their best starter down the stretch, their best first-half starter, and their best hitter. They have also brought in a more than capable backup backstop and figure to give their best catcher significantly more playing time next year. They still have the financial ability and prospect capital to add a Blake Snell type, if they decide they want to. All this to say, the White Sox are not remotely a threat to the Twins this year.

Twins, and it's not close.

The White Sox will likely be somewhat better this year than they were last year, but I don't think they're remotely a threat yet. Cleveland are still very much superior to the White Sox.

No love for Duffey as the RH closer type?