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So just to confirm, the only thing you got is La Russa? If your other reason free agents should avoid us is because we’re cheap, well then that’s just a stupid comment not worth stating. I was hoping there was more to your statement, but as expected it was just your inner meatball talking.

I still don’t follow. Wheeler signed with the Phillies for family reasons. Machado signed with the Padres because they offered significantly more money. If the money is there, we should be an attractive landing spot for most free agents.

I've seen a lot of Sugano. Some thoughts: - "The Giants don't post players" is true, except when it isn't -- Shun Yamaguchi was posted just last year, and it turned out it was because it was a provision in his FA contract, but it also turned out that a lot of people in the Giants org DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT the provision. It's entirely possible Sugano also has such a provision, whether it came before or after we all learned about Yamaguchi, as he has been clamoring to be posted for years. Also, there is a near consensus perception among people that cover NPB that the Sugano situation could be viewed as an outlier for the Giants because the guy has been such a hero for them; he's been perceived to have "paid his dues" to the organization. Not only has he been massively successful for them, but he actually got drafted initially by a different team and refused to sign because he wanted to play for the Giants. He sat out a year and got drafted by the Giants the next season, which has become a sort of legendary tidbit in his story to show how much he respected the team. The Giants understand that two-way success stories like Hideki Matsui help their brand. Also, the Giants have clinched their pennant and a trip to the Japan Series, and especially if they win it all, it could be seen as an appropriate "final contribution." All in all, I give it even odds that he's posted. - "He should just wait until he's a free agent next year" makes sense in the context of MLB ball, but less so in NPB. Filing for free agency is actually seen as a bad look in NPB, or at least as casting shade upon your team. Unlike here where it's a default and seen as "just business," there's an expectation to have loyalty to your club, and as a result, almost literally everyone who files for domestic or international free agency ends up leaving their team, because if they were gonna stay, they would have negotiated an extension already. Given the mutually respectable dynamic between Sugano and the Giants, being posted could be a much more desirable outcome for his legacy than resorting to filing for free agency. - Sugano is legit. I would describe his pitching style as a poor man's Roy Halladay, in that he relies heavily on a slider and a split/change that tunnel extremely well but slash diagonally in different directions. He sits low 90's but can go to the mid-90's when he needs to. He is definitely a command control guy, but commands like five pitches, so he strikes guys out. The raw stuff is a tick below Tanaka when he came over, but the control and polish is equal or better. The velo is a tick below Kikuchi, but the arsenal is wider and the control is two ticks better. He's substantially better than Yamaguchi ever was. The ONE thing that really gives me pause is that, like a lot of NPB pitchers, he throws a lot of high breaking balls. It's possible that with the current uppercut meta, that isn't as dangerous as it used to be, but I can't help but be worried about that. - He has been pitching with a partially torn UCL for many years. Take that for what it's worth. He has started to become injury prone in non-arm ways over the past few seasons. - Dude is an absolute gamer. Tons of swagger and a major competitor. I would love to see this guy on the White Sox, though I have to admit that part of it is that I'm an NPB fanboi. I agree with the #3 projection, and I think with the wide arsenal and expert control, it's safe if he's healthy. That said, there's injury risk, he's on the wrong side of 30, and with any NPB transfer, you have to remember that the ball is different and that can affect different guys in different ways. Also, the best pitching prospect in the NPB is Yoshinobu Yamamoto. I don't know why no one is talking about him.

Lol. We signed 2 of Machado's buddies to try to sway him to sign with us instead of just paying him. That ALONE answers your question. But then we can add the fact that Reinsdorf is loyal to a fault and has hired a lot of the wrong people and now he's basically hired a 76 year-old who hasn't managed i 10 years as a favor for guilt. We offered Wheeler the most money and he still didn't sign. This all speaks volumes about this team.

It's time to get back in the box.

Bold is signing Bauer AND Stroman AND Springer. Or replacing one of those with an elite trade. That’s how you piss all over the AL

Spain is fucking Amazing. From your rambling about her, I gather you don't like women in your sports... or women in general. Yikes.

Harris is not running for president.

Maybe it’s not a reading issue. Maybe it’s an issue articulating your point. Do you actually believe that if we offered somebody the most money, they would say no, and one of their reasons for saying no would be because they didn’t like how we handled the Machado situation a couple years ago?

Our biggest and most successful corporations today were started by people from outside the industry they disrupted. Why not baseball? The skill set to be a manager is different than being a player. Almost all the top managers in every sport were benchwarmers studying the game. Why not study the game remotely? We already have front office personnel who didn't play the game.

Gausman probably takes that $19 million and runs with it. I'm not sure he'll get more than 30-40 million in a 3 year deal.

Some people on here have convinced themselves TLR is the boogeyman

We can keep getting lectures about what the fans should be thinking, but at the end of the day it only really matters what the players think, and so far there has been nothing to indicate that this organization even cares what they think. If this go sideways, Jerry has no one to blame but himself.

Rapist.

I bet Jose Oquendo is coaching 3b.

Well, doesn't that sound familiar. Maybe we can sign a couple of Bauer's friends and sign him to a sweet, friendly discount multi-year deal. If I'm a big FA in 2020, honestly I probably stay away from this team.

He's been recovering from the dreaded Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Wish the guy well and all, but this pretty much destroyed Matt Harvey's career. He's a hard pass for me. Take a chance on another guy, there's plenty out there.

You watch waaaaay too much sports tv to know this much about ESPN personalities.

Late to the show but here's my take: I think it's entirely possible that the White Sox could have executed a thorough, objective search and interview process and still ended up choosing Tony La Russa. I don't think there's any way it wouldn't still be understood as a risky, potentially polarizing move -- but he clearly checks some of their boxes more strongly than any other candidate available. I don't think I would have LIKED the move even then, but I would at least admit that I could see that there was logic behind it, assuming I knew they really did all their homework and considered all options. However, the fact that I KNOW that such a process did NOT occur -- that the decision was entirely emotional, made by the one guy that was NOT hired to be a baseball expert, and from all accounts left no room at all for any other possibility -- makes all of the risks and cons seem much more likely and substantial, because now I can't even believe that someone did the due diligence necessary to find out. I mean, for example: what if Rick Hahn or KW took the time to get input from the leaders in the clubhouse, like Abreu and TA? I'd have to think that even just the gesture itself of seeking input would cause the players to be more willing to accept such a jarring change, and it would, at the very least, have given the administration an opportunity to sell the move. But the fact that it's being reported that the clubhouse is in disarray suggests that such a thing either could not have occurred, or if it did, was so obviously a ruse that it didn't convince anyone. I can see why Jerry Reinsdorf would feel the impulse to take the reins in this case -- I'm sure he really does understand that this is his last real shot at another title, and the instinct to be the author of your own fate when everything is on the line is common and not necessarily a bad thing. But you'd think, of all people, Reinsdorf would have learned the value of "hiring people smarter than you" to make the decisions you aren't qualified to make. Except, of course he hasn't -- this is the guy who just rides the SAME group of executives through decades of failure, as if no amount of evidence could convince him that the problem is stemming from the process. This move certainly might work out, there's even a decent chance -- but if it does, it will be because it was blind luck, not because it was a smart move. And THAT should bother all of us.

Do you believe that only Houston and Boston have created elaborate cheating systems?

By your own logic, you lack the knowledge to tell people they are wrong here.

At least it's the second worst, because Tony LaRussa's teams were absolutely loaded with people violating federal controlled substance laws openly jabbing needles into each other's butts in order to cheat, and that cheating scandal lasted basically his entire managerial career. But for some reason for the LaRussa defenders, that gigantic scandal is forgotten and Hinch's is the worst thing eva!

After the backlash the team is getting, from the fans and media alike, from this managerial hiring, they better be more than "just a little" bolder financially. They better be very bold. While also being smart with their signings.

At this point, Passans article has now had space on ESPN.com and on their app main pages for 3 days, so readership and interest in that article must be pretty big. I can’t read them, but the Tribune is running articles saying “deal with it” because that’s all they can do. There seems to have been, aside from LaRussa’s sincerely held comments about being sincere, zero effort at damage control. They haven’t given the fans anything. They haven’t made any of the players available for an interview. They haven’t provided quotes from any of the players. They didn’t bother to track down any of LaRussa’s former players to give a quote praising him on any of the things we’d have called baggage. They didn’t announce any of his staff or anything neW that the fans could get excited about. Notably, when the Tigers hired Hinch, they did a couple of these - gave a positive story about his interview for the press (we called him 30 minutes after the World Series!) and they had a comment from a former player named Justin Verlander, who has some connection to Detroit. The White Sox did none of the basic PR efforts other than a press conference where LaRussa got publicly called on his bullsh*t by basically every major baseball writer and angry fans literally put them as the top trending story on Twitter after they did it. So, either the white Sox did not anticipate an intensely angry reaction from their fan base (and players and league) to this, or they did and didn’t care if they look bad to the rest of the league and country. I'm not sure which would be worse.

Exactly, Machado got one of his buddies paid and successfully used us to get more money from the Padres. And had we offered the most money, it’s practically all but a guarantee he would of signed with us, as free agents typically like money.

Rodon is closer to being non-tendered than be a long-term part of this team.

Immediately back pedaled on 4th down for no reason at all. He looks like a high school QB this half.

Yep because Saints I’m sure thought the Bears would go for it on 4th and 2 from their own 15 or so

Exactly. I think a guy that spends fifteen years studying the science of the game behind a computer could be better than a guy who spent those fifteen years playing a single position.

If he doesn’t call a timeout, they go into the half up ten with the ball. Did Nagy really think the Bears would score if they had the ball at their own 10 with about 35 seconds left?

TLR

To make decisions in a game I absolutely do not think you need to have played. But I would want someone who knows how a professional clubhouse operates.

The Sox could have selected Kelenic instead of Madrigal in the Draft , Now you can't get Kelenic unless you give up a boat load of talent. The Sox should have released EE mid season and let Vaughn at least DH. If Vaughn raked...even for 20 or 30 games, he would at least have maximized his trade value.

I don’t think tgat trade is bad assuming that Milwaukee opts for rebuilding but they could probably do better selling hader and yelich individualy

Fegan with a fantastic article today about Tony’s relationship with Maxwell and Sanders. Hopefully it makes some fans and/or players a little more receptive of the hire.

My video game offseason Bauer + Stroman + Lemahieu FA. Trade Cease + Madrigal + Stiever + Lopez + Collins + Adolfo for Yelich and Hader. Yes I said video game. Holy shit that team tho.

You have to feel bad for Nick Capra. He loses his job because RR can't run a bullpen., or make out a line up. And on top of that, RR didn't hire him. Unlike TLR, RR didn't select his coaches.

Not a whole helluva lot is the answer you are looking for.

Brewers don't need 2B (have Hiura) but have needs across the IF and OF, especially after letting Gyorko and Braun go. Cease and Collins make sense but probably a bit light...maybe add Sheets and Stiever (WI kid) and they'd entertain it.

I like the thought. Major bounce back candidate. Cease/Collins/Madrigal get it done? Or would you have to include Vaughn? I don't think I can stomach him, but that trio plus another young arm would be okay. Buying a 2nd base FA wouldn't be that hard and Yelich may be the one guy worth Madrigal.

Jerry's reputation is on the line ? I'd have to know what that reputation is before I could declare it's on the line. If I had to venture a guess as to his established reputation, I'd say he is a very smart man, loves baseball and is loyal but loves being smart with money more. The Sox losing more than they win is an already established pattern in his ownership. I doubt a few more years of that pattern will sully his reputation in the rest of his time left .

This is a great interview with Fegan about all things Sox. Non Tony related, but nice to hear good things about Thompson and Dahlquist. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=s7eDQNQxVQ4

Sigh. This is just absurd. One scandal destroyed the record books of baseball. The other one gave a team the runner on 2nd advantage all game.

Stone should be retiring.

To be fair, a lot of MLB players were also doing that at the time, not just the players on his teams. The flip side is, Hinch was part of one or two teams that were cheating. Plus he was a straight up cuck when confronted about it. Dude got off light and shouldn't even have been in a position to manage this year. MLBs punishment was a joke.

Yolmer

I'm very happy and kind of embarrassed for Sox nation. Fans have treated Tony terribly on Twitter and many on this board have been quite negative. People need to get a grip IMO. The guy is old. He's been in the public eye since his 20s. Yes he's made some mistakes. He also has a helluva baseball resume and I just betcha in his long life he's given a lot back to society in the forms of $$$ to good causes, etc. I could be mistaken, but MLB makes it easy for some guys to embrace different charities if they wish to do so and I betcha Tony has been generous. Just a guess. I respect Tony's baseball knowledge and despite some shortcomings on a couple occasions in his personal life, he's by no means the devil. I hope Sox fans who despise the hire suck it up and support him. Geez it's going to be a miserable time around here and in his tenure if fans hate, hate, hate. Trust greg on this one ... Tony will not disappoint, health permitting. GO SOX! Lets win a title or three. Team still has a lot of work to do on the roster.

Just ordered my retro LaRussa jersey I'll be wearing to all the games. First jersey since Griffey. So excited!!

Hope not. Eaton isn't that good player first of all and he is an asshole.

You might be on to something here.