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I'm sure Bauer hired his agent based on her extraordinary negotiating skills and wealth of experience, doing something.... But regardless, he's the same guy who asked for an arb number that involved 420 and 69 in it, and likely lost his case and some extra money in large part because of it. And he turned around and threw the ball into the stands or towards the stands when getting pulled out of his last Indians appearance in a public hissy fit. For an overpaid #3 starter, I don't really think he's worth that much of a headache. Hoepfully Cease and Kopech develop as desired, because if they do, people will forget about all of this outside help stuff rather quickly.

And Obama is a White Sox fan. Who cares? What does politics have to do with this?

Right now JR has sent a couple of expensive bottles of champagne to KW and RH for ridding him of this.

I believe his already solid defense and base running will improve with a bit more experience and teaching. The few mistakes he made seem exaggerated by the very small sample size. The kid will hit, get on base, move runners over, and score some runs. What more do you need from a 9 hole hitter?

Part of this is also having a beat writer who respects that his audience cares about this level of detail

This is now a sexist comment.

No. I don’t care this is half personal. No. Go somewhere else.

Bauer is a so much more logical pick then Springer. It's not even close. Any World Series team can win it with a guy like Eaton in the lineup. Superior pitching every day will enhance your chances much more. Add Bauer and maybe you don't have to get the most expensive reliever on the market. Hendriks is a built in excuse not to add big money to the starting rotation. If Bauer is truly interested in just about any type of contract ,that's in the Sox wheelhouse. He may just be the guy that doesn't want and the longest highest contract he can get.

Thanks! There is a thread for that.

Just go the next logical step further. The federal govt owns and operates the sports leagues. Teams are portioned out such that all areas have 1 team and that 1 team represents a consistent population size. Players are government employees whose salaries are capped at a minimum and maximum, and bonuses are collected into a central fund and then portioned out at the end of the year equally based upon statistical performance. Players are well-paid patriots, all monies coming from al aspects of the enterprise including monies from private companies purchasing licensing rights, etc. are re-routed to fund educational structures and other necessary aspects of society such as infrastructure development and repair, etc. Why? Because when the Chicago White Sox play the Cleveland Indians in America before an audience of the people, Chicago and Cleveland, and their populaces and the country as well, are the ones who should "get rich" out of it, or profit out of it, if anyone does at all. The reality is that it is the reinsdorf White Sox vs. the dolan Indians, and the entire thing is funded by the workforce and predominantly the working class, and yet there's always this finger pointing between a bunch of overpaid players and a bunch of fat fuck owners as to who is broke / can't feed their family and who can. Etc. In reality you only need paying viewers and players, and there's no need for owners at all, and they are easily the most useless and unnecessary drains on society overall.

If Biden ran 4 years ago, none of this would have happened.

Ummmm...quote from Suze Orman? It sounds almost Hitlerian when you consider the redistribution is away from minorities/women and towards upper class whites. If you could prove it was going more towards those under 35, that would be at least one positive spin for the country, notwithstanding the completely unnecessary nature of inflicting most of this on ourselves.

Oh ok. Well, welcome to Soxtalk yourself then!

It is a greeting of warm salutation.

They’ve seen him a bunch physically in last year. He made it clear that from a baseball standpoint, he’s not far away. He needs to assimilate culturally though and learn how to play every day. The grind is a bigger issue. I’d bet he goes to Winston-Salem

My kind of guys. We do have the same owner who, in his reign has never, produced back to back playoff teams. Hopefully that changes this year but I'm not going to take anything for granted like making the playoffs every year for the next 6 years. If we can't win a World Series in the next 3 years there isn't going to be one in the following 3 years. It takes this team 10 years of coming close before they realize they can't/won't spend enough to get them over the top before they tear it down again. The Sox had good teams in the 90's. We kept hearing about 2nd highest winning percent for a cumulative period. It never got them in the playoffs in back to back years. It didn't get them a World Series . They won 1 World Series because ,in an unlikely chain of events, a lot of good things happened that you could say was planned, based on a number of roster decisions ending up working, but ,in the grand scheme was just so much going right at the same time, it can only be described as luck or fate. The Sox aren't real good at actually planning to win because they don't do it that often. They always suck at one thing or another , drafting, trading for or signing bums or trading away superstars ,international draft, MLB scouting but mostly not really caring about winning.

Yeah except he hates the media because it won't kiss his ass. He doesn't give a shit about whether or not the media is subconsciously racist like most of America.

I hope the next White Sox ownership group are affluent sportsmen - not these egocentric bean-counters. Actually, they'll have to be affluent to keep this budding star-studded team together. Reinsdorf bought the Sox for pennies on the dollars and got a great deal with the state - with the expectation he could then use his resources to turn the Sox into perennial contenders. We got played and that's why I loathed him. (And don't get me started with the way he's ran the Bulls needlessly into the ground). And unless he was bowled over by some Balmer-like premium, P.T. Barnum 2.0. will never give us the satisfaction of watching him hand over the keys to the White Sox kingdom to a new ownership group. He has a monopoly on NBA basketball in a tri-state area. That family will never sell the Bulls.

Katz will fix em

The #1 goal is to win a WS. I think it is foolish to think this is going to be some sort of dynasty especially with this owner. I am not suggesting to upload the farm for some mid grade players, but giving a closer a 4 year deal shouldn't be a problem. Win the WS, and then we can talk about the possibility of a dynasty.

To me this Hendriks pursuit is like watching a bunch of kids having an easter egg hunt in the back yard, and you know there's a landmine in there because you just saw the dog take a dump in the grass this morning, and you're just sitting there watching and hoping that it's not your kid who ends up stepping into the pile of shit while trying to win a prize.

I’m sure I will get pushback on this, but what exactly was Cooper doing with these guys the last few years

FWIW, I think it's cool that she's trying to break into a male-dominated business as a young woman. I think the people on Twitter saying she's going to cost Bauer a ton of money cause she doesn't know what she's doing is pretty sexist. Do I think that some of the stuff they're getting involved in on social is counter-productive? Perhaps. Bauer was doing that shit on his own anyhow. But I also doubt teams would not pay a guy as talented as Bauer just because he and his agent don't act like the rest of the agents in baseball. I do find it weird that they vlog all day and are clearly more than just friends. I'm not sure how many players would admit to having their significant other/girlfriend as their agent. But then again, Bauer is just weird like that.

In his first 29 career games last year Madrigal hit .340, and here we have a 6 page thread with people complaining about him. So bizarre.

https://theathletic.com/2309736/2021/01/08/new-white-sox-pitching-coach-ethan-katz-is-in-constant-contact-with-his-starters/?source=emp_shared_article We have had good discussion on the Crochet part, but thought some would like to get some info on what was said on the rest of the pitchers on the staff: Cease - Katz has been working with Cease to eliminate the cutting action on his fastball that was causing decreased command and ineffectiveness. Katz showed Cease he was opening up too early and is having him ride on his back leg longer before starting. Good line: "But Cease noted to Katz that his delivery feels like that of Josh Hader, Milwaukee’s All-Star closer with a distinct cross-firing throwing motion. Cease is not cross-firing at all in Katz’s estimation, but it’s just that after two seasons of flying open, that’s how unfamiliar having a consistently straight line felt." Lopez - Katz thought Lopez' arm was getting too far from his body causing the velocity decrease. He's had him throw more compact and keeping his arm closer to a straight line. He is reintroducing his curveball now that the changes were made. Kopech - Kopech is going to be a Fastball, Slider, Curveball pitcher, his changeup is no longer the primary focus of the 3rd pitch. Giolito - They are refocusing on the Curveball. It won't be the same as it was in high school, and they are going for a "strike getting" pitch, but they aren't dismissing it becoming an out pitch. They also have focused on trying to keep his slider consistency to match how good itw as at end of last year. Lynn - Talked about Lynn's 3 fastball approach, but he's been working on two offspeed pitches and hoping to add those to his arsenal this year. Keuchel - Basically Keuchel is perfect and knows what to do on his own lol. The rest of the crochet stuff is mostly in the other thread. Thanks fegan.

I have lived most of my adult life 10 miles from Dodger Stadium. When Tommy was at his peak and that peak lasted a long time he was one of the biggest celebrities in a town full of celebrities. He loved people unless you were on the other side questioning him or talking shit about the Dodgers. He hung out with any famous Italian celebrity he could and they actually sough him out ,Sinatra, Dean Martin, Vince Ferragamo when he played for the Rams. Don Rickles and Billy Crystal were huge Dodger fans. Tommy was the last celebrity manager in baseball. He was in all kinds of commercials and was a baseball ambassador throughout the world. Lasorda had just begun his coaching career in 1965 when he traveled to Japan to train the Tokyo Giants on team tactics and strategies. The Giants won nine consecutive championships beginning that year. In 2008 Lasorda was honored by the Emporer of Japan for his contributions to the development of baseball in the country. LaSorda had Rickles in the dugout during a game and Lasorda told him to go out to remove a Dodger pitcher and he did. SInatra told him when he became manger he would sing the National anthem and he did in 1977. He stopped his own HOF induction speech to introduce Tony Danza who was in the audience to see Tommy inducted. He was the host of one big Dodger party for many many years and was loved , by fans,the press celebrities and MLB for his tireless contributions to the sport globally.

The Cat is Back!!!

I hope he convinces Lopez to work faster. With a runner on...he looks afraid to throw the ball. Needs some eye of the Tiger aggression.

I will Venmo Hendricks $20 to make a decision today even if not sox to cover the loss of signing earlier

Exactly

70,000,000 Americans voted for him and in various amounts agree with the protestors, (but probably not the actions). I'll take a guess and say 60,000,000 will never ever vote for a Democrat for president. I'm hoping some moderate within the party can gain traction and build a base that pushes Cruz and his cult to fringes where they belong. The GOP is facing a serious crisis. Or, perhaps a socially liberal, fiscally conservative, party can gain ground. I'd look seriously at that.

My god these people are stupid.

Good for Schwarber

At that price...big nope.

Grassley will be 89. Father Time is calling. Him and Feinstein need to be escorted to Memory Care. But yes he might try to stay.

Spiegel is the best. Nice get. Also I can’t listen to this so any summaries appreciated

Agreed he was great for baseball.

The 6th Commissioner has it right. We don’t need every piece of life turned into a commodifiable asset. We let a single man or a boardroom control the prides of our city. I mean all we have to do is look at Cleveland for what bad teams can do to a place. Our own city applauded the death of a man because he held our hockey team hostage. Private individuals owning our sports is questionable but when they do it while concerned about ROI and asset growth it’s ridiculous. I only want to ever care about how much an athlete is making when they put a salary cap on the league where players get the majority. What has someone like Nutting in Pittsburgh done to deserve any profits from continuously fielding one of the worst teams in the league? Having initial capital shouldn’t be the qualification for getting to run a piece of American history.

I would have hated to witness an actual vicious attack.

If he can get Cease and Lopez straightened out, he will be the best acquisition of this off season.

Seems like just repeating "stay tall" may not work with everyone.

Adding Cutters.

WE GONNA CALL IT CODE BOOM

The league won't have all teams be competitive until there is a salary cap and floor along with better revenue sharing formula similar to the other leagues.

Oh and the economy is starting to tank again because surprise you can't actually chose economy over lives/public safety and let a pandemic rage unchecked

Our eight starting position players might be one of the best in White Sox history. This is an awesome team from top to bottom. They are going to destroy a lot of pitchers. Can't wait for Spring Training.

Madrigal was pick 4. Vaughn 3. Both will be getting rings as everyday players with the Sox. Enjoy the show.

I don't want to derail this thread any further, but Moncada's speed, power, and elite eye can do everything you want Grandal to do batting 2nd without clogging the order or making lazy outs ahead of the heart of the order. He also scores from 1st on anything in the gaps or into the corners. He's my 2 hitter every day he's healthy and on the field. Grandal can stand like a statue working walks lower in the order after the Sox put a few across the plate ahead of him.

This makes no sense. His primary worth on offense is standing like a statute and drawing walks, secondary is for the times he does swing he connects enough times to hit home runs. He is third on the team in OBP, and fourth in OPS. Second makes most sense, to allow others to knock him in. If he bats 5th or 6th, his walks don't score nearly enough. Proposed lineup / Career OPS (R) Anderson .751 (L) Grandal .793 (R) Abreu .870 (R) Jimenez .848 (L) Moncada .783 (R) Robert .738 TBD RF/DH TBD RF/DH (R) Madrigal .745