South Side Hit Men
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Posts posted by South Side Hit Men
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4 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:
Good rationalization by Getz. You don’t need a good closer (and one with questionable arm health) for a team like this one that is going to lose a lot of games.
23 Players remain from the 8/22/23 40 Man Roster Chris Getz inherited:
Hitters (11): Benintendi (29), Colas (25), Jimenez (27), Lee (25), Moncada (28), Ramos (21), Robert Jr. (26), Rodriguez (22), Sheets (27), Sosa (24), Vaughn (25)
Pitchers (12): Banks (32), Cease (28), Crochet (24), Foster (29), Garcia (24), Kopech (27), Lambert (29), Martin (27), Peralta (25), Ramsey (27), Scholtens (29), Toussaint (27)
Should be below 20 by Opening Day.
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Chris Getz vs. Rick Hahn’s 40 Man Roster
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OK, I’m glad I didn’t bet over 62 1/2 wins yet.
Think this makes a Cease trade before OD more likely.
Looking forward to learning about the players they received.
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Six Teams who should have payroll flexibility to sign two plus solid remaining available Free Agents:
Cubs, both Los Angeles and New York teams, San Francisco
Eleven Teams at or above than usual payrolls, likely limited additional spending at this stage but may have one solid FA signing left:
Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Texas
Thirteen Teams with zero intention of legitimately competing for a championship in 2024:
White Sox, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Washington
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2 hours ago, Timmy U said:
That's why I said year 0 and another poster said year -1. They are in the process of tearing stuff down (waiting for contracts to end). I can even begin to imagine when their next competitive team will be. Montgomery looks like an mlb regular. I have hope for Nastrini as a rotation member, then a lot of guys like Eder and Cannon that they can plug in and hopefully hit on 1 or 2. Both Ramos and Quero have mlb regular upside, but are by no means sure things. After that it gets hard to imagine who the next wave really is. I guess I'm saying, enjoy the churros?
I look at this as 2018, but without the number of theoretically high ceiling prospects that the Sox thought they had at the time.
The only way to get to what they should / could have been in 2021 and beyond is vastly improve player development and scouting. This allows you to draft, sign and trade for more players with high upside like Colson Montgomerys, and less guys like Jacob Gonzalez at the upper end. Also need to vastly improve development of second tier acquisitions to create more solid starters, relievers and role players with lower picks and signings.
They also to develop catchers and defensive players so you’re not spending money on Grandals, and your not left with perennial holes.
The quick to remedy roster management steps Getz can take is to build as much depth as possible, have a proper roster which can adequately cover all positions defensively, and to ensure and keep a roster of 26 healthy players. Give your medical staff a day or two, not a week or month or two, to move injured players to the IR and bring up reinforcements. Hahn failed at all of this with $60M more per year to spend, and four years of tanking at his disposal to be ready for his parades. Getz has several months and a barren organization of players and many FO holes to fill short and long term.
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12 hours ago, EloyJenkins said:
648 posts already? HOLEEE SHIIIIIT
LOL, at first I thought that was the thread post count, not his individual post count.
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When Forbes reports their numbers or when people talk about revenue, the only revenue owners and Forbes considers are the following earned within the stadium:
2022 Gross MLB Revenue $11 Billion vs. $10.5 Billion with Breakout used below
- $3.2B - Tickets Sales
- $3.1B - National Revenue including TV Contracts and MLB.com / MLB Media
- $2.2B - Local TV and Radio Media Rights Paid To Teams (Does not include RSN net revenue owned by the 18 clubs which own RSN in part or in whole)
- $1.1B - Sponsorship Rights
- $0.9B - Stadium Concessions (Food, drinks and merchandise purchased within the stadium*)
The growing portion of revenue for most owners includes real estate owned and operated beyond stadiums, RSN revenues beyond the media rights paid directly to clubs, and other substantial revenues including *I believe parking (not positive about parking).
I broke out ownership in the initial post to break out which team ownership groups earn substantially more than what people say are "on the books". This and the real estate empires certain teams like the Braves and Cubs have built are creating vast revenue and net income differences between organizations, much ore so than what occurs within baseball stadiums.
RSN Ownership by Division:
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American League East
- Baltimore Orioles 77% of MASN (Also includes Washington Nationals & various collegiate sports broadcasts).
- Boston Red Sox 80% of NESN (Also includes Boston Bruins and several minor league teams and collegiate sports broadcasts).
- New York Yankees 26% of YES Network (Also includes Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty and NYC FC broadcasts).
- Tampa Bay Rays 0%
- Toronto Blue Jays 100% of Sportsnet (Also includes English Language Broadcasting throughout Canada for the NHL including rights for three teams in addition to Hockey Night In Canada and all NHL playoff games), the Olympics, All Blue Jays, national MLB games, all Fox and TBS Playoff Games, Toronto Raptors, English Football and other various additional broadcasts).
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American League Central
- Chicago White Sox 25% of NBC Sports Chicago (Also includes Chicago Bulls and Chicago NHL Broadcasts)
- Cleveland Guardians 0%
- Detroit Tigers 0%
- Kansas City Royals 0%
- Minnesota Twins 0%
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American League West
- Houston Astros 50% of Space City Home Network (Also includes Houston Rockets and various collegiate and minor league broadcasts).
- Los Angeles Angels 25% of Bally Sports West (Also includes Los Angeles Kings and collegiate sports broadcasts).
- Oakland Athletics 0%
- Seattle Mariners 100% of Root Sports Northwest (Also includes Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Kraken broadcasts).
- Texas Rangers 10% of Bally's Sports Southwest (Also includes Dallas Stars and local broadcast rights of Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Arkansas rights to the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder).
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National League East
- Atlanta 0%
- Miami Marlins 0%
- New York Mets 65% of SNY (Also includes various collegiate sports broadcasts).
- Philadelphia Phillies 25% of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Also includes Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers and various collegiate and minor league teams).
- Washington Nationals 23% of MASN (Also includes Baltimore Orioles & various collegiate sports broadcasts).
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National League Central
- Chicago Cubs 50% of Marquee Sports Network (Also includes various minor league, collegiate and high school broadcasts).
- Cincinnati Reds 50% of Bally Sports Ohio (Also includes Columbus Blue Jackets, Cleveland Cavilers and various collegiate and minor league broadcasts).
- Milwaukee Brewers 0%
- Pittsburgh Pirates 20% of SportsNet Pittsburgh (Also includes Pittsburgh Penguins and various minor league, collegiate, high school broadcasts).
- Saint Louis Cardinals 30% of Bally Sports Midwest (Also includes primary Saint Louis Blues broadcasts, plus limited Kansas City Royals, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder broadcast rights).
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National League West
- Arizona Diamondbacks 0%
- Colorado Rockies 0%
- Los Angeles Dodgers 50% of Spectrum SportsNet LA (No other teams or sports are aired on this channel).
- San Diego Padres 0%.
- San Francisco Giants 50% of NBC Sports Bay Area (Also includes Golden State Warriors & various collegiate and high school sports broadcasts).
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2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:
They should have spent August and September promoting this guy on radio and tv broadcasts...how many except deep deep insiders/selected media even knew of his existence.
If only Sam watched games with Jerry in the owners box, and pined for the days of David Eckstein.
Jerry would never go with an outsider again after the Larry Himes experience. Even one with far better baseball experience and knowledge.
Competitively both teams are bad, but Sam is in a better position in Miami, as he can stay as long as he goes along with permanent tanking budgets. Everyone here may lose their job post transition period after Jerry passes. It’s the only way they’ll possibly shed Boyer.
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2 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:
Seriously, save all the money Getz wasted this offseason dumpster diving for terrible veterans, put it in a vault, and spend it later on something worthwhile. Not this collection of crap.
They haven’t spent much of anything this off-season. That save the money for later ended up being complete bullshit. They spent over a quarter billion on Lynn, Grandal, Keuchel, Benintendi and Leury. Not to mention over $100M on ancient bullpen guys who knew and played for TLR back in the day.
They aren’t blocking a single player worth a damn, including the dozen already cut. A bunch of scraps held together by meat glue. The entire organization was/is that barren. The few solid prospects they do have are either in AA or just getting started in AAA. Colas needs to get his act together first before playing here.
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Pending 2/9 bankruptcy court approval, Cleveland, Minnesota and Texas will receive at least 85% of their current deal 2023 payments (Texas $111M; Cleveland $55M, Minnesota's deal which expired after 2023 was for $54M).
Altitude Sports and Entertainment owns the rights to the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. However, with the Rockies broadcasts with approximately 15,000 viewers per game, or 1/2 their in game attendance, they said hard pass to picking up rights to the Rockies. Therefore, MLB Media is making arrangements to take over Rockies broadcasts, similar to the Arizona and San Diego broadcast arrangements. Last year, MLB guaranteed 80% of previous rights fees, with losses eaten by MLB as a whole. This guarantee will no longer exist for all three clubs in 2024.
Who owns what at this point?
Online Streaming Rights:
- 22 Teams - Owned by MLB and each organization - Incumbered by current MLB blackout rules.
- 3 Teams - Owned by MLB and Cleveland, Minnesota and Texas, but teams are prohibited via the Diamond group to exercise these rights in 2024.
- 5 Teams - Amazon to acquire the rights to Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa streaming rights pending court approvals over the next two months.
Local Broadcast Networks:
4 MLB Teams or their parent companies which own their RSN without any non-MLB partners:
- MASN Baltimore Orioles (77% ownership) and Washington Nationals (23% ownership) - Split subject to change with pending Baltimore Orioles sale.
- Root Sports Northwest (100% Seattle Mariners - This network also broadcasts the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Kraken).
- Sportsnet One (100% Rodgers Sports & Media, owner of the Toronto Blue Jays). - Note National French Canadian Broadcast rights are owned by TVA Sports for the less than 80 games broadcast each season.
14 MLB Teams which own a split their RSN with other non MLB organizations:
- Bally's Sports Midwest (30% Saint Louis Cardinals + 70% Diamond Sports Group).
- Bally Sports Ohio (50% Cincinnati Reds + 50% Diamond Sports Group).
- Bally Sports Southwest (10% Texas Rangers + 90% Diamond Sports Group - Also broadcasts the Dallas Stars throughout all four broadcast markets exclusively, plus limited rights to Dallas Mavericks (Dallas-Fort Worth & Arkansas); San Antonio Spurs (San Antonio) plus Arkansas Rights for the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Bally Sports West (25% Los Angeles Angels + 75% Diamond Sports Group).
- A portion of the schedule is broadcast OTA via Fox 11 Plus (KCOP Channel 13).
- Marquee Network (50% Chicago Cubs; 50% Sinclair Broadcast Group - Owner of Diamond Sports Group).
- NBC Sports Bay Area (50% San Francisco Giants + 50% NBC Sports Group). Select games are broadcast OTA via KNTV Channel 11.
- NBC Sports Chicago (25% Chicago White Sox + 25% each Chicago Bulls; Chicago NHL Team & NBC Sports Group) - Future beyond October 2024 TBD
- NBC Sports Philadelphia (25% Philadelphia Phillies + 75% NBC Sports Group). Select games broadcast OTA via WCAU Channel 10 and WPHL-TV Channel 17.
- NESN (80% Fenway Sports Group owner of the Boston Red Sox) + 20% Delaware North (Boston Bruins and Boston Garden II)
- SNY (65% Sterling Equities owner of the New York Mets + 27% Charter Communications + 8% NBC Sports Group). 28 Games are Broadcast OTA via PIX 11.
- Space City Home Network (50% Houston Astros + 50% Houston Rockets)
- Spectrum SportsNet LA (50% Guggenheim Partners - Owners of Guggenheim Baseball Management + 50% Charter Communications)
- Sports Net Pittsburgh (20% Pittsburgh Pirates + 80% Fenway Sports Group / Pittsburgh Penguins)
- YES Network (26% Yankee Global Enterprises; 20% Diamond Sports Group; 15% Amazon; 13% Each for The Blackstone Group; Mubadala Investment Co. & RedBird Capital). 21 Games are Broadcast on Amazon Prime Network, a platform separate from Amazon's ownership of the YES Network).
12 MLB Teams which do not own any stake in their RSN:
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(1 Primary / 2 Secondary) Bally Sports South & Southeast: Several States including all of Georgia for Atlanta Baseball.
- This entity also owns select North Carolina and Tennessee Markets for Cincinnati Reds Broadcasts; and three limited markets (Western Kentucky, Northern Mississippi and Memphis & Jackson Tennessee) for the Saint Louis Cardinals Broadcasts.
- (7) Diamond Sports Group: Cleveland Guardians; Detroit Tigers; Kansas City Royals; Miami Marlins; Milwaukee Brewers; Minnesota Twins; Tampa Bay Rays
- (3) MLB Local Media: Arizona Diamondbacks; Colorado Rockies; San Diego Padres
- (1) NBC Sports California: Oakland Athletics
National Television Broadcast Rights (All times CDT) - Along with MLB.Com and Media Properties, each of the 30 teams received $103M in 2023 for the aforementioned rights and for the National Telecasts identified below. The 2024 Split is TBA or TBD:
Pay Channel Broadcasts
Regular Season
- Apple TV: Friday Night Baseball - Apple TV or Direct TV (simulcast of Apple TV games) required. Schedule TBA
- ESPN / ESPN 2: Thirty exclusive Sunday Night Baseball Games (April - mid June schedule linked) + Opening Day Telecasts; plus the MLB World Tour (3/20-3/21 in Seoul) and Two MLB Mexico Series (4/14 & 4/28 Mexico City) games and One London Series Game (6/9 10 AM Philadelphia vs. New York Mets).
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FS1: Exclusive Rights to 40 Games, 37 identified plus 3 TBD
- 4/22 6:30 PM Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins
- 4/29 6:30 PM Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox
- 6/15 9:00 PM Chicago White Sox at Arizona Diamondbacks
- 7/27 6:00 PM Seattle Mariners at Chicago White Sox
- MLB: 26 non exclusive live games. Schedule TBA
- TBS: 26 Tuesday Night Baseball Games (Schedule through June linked)
Postseason
- ESPN; Wild Card Series
- FS1: Majority of NLDS and NLCS Series
- TBS: ALDS and ALCS
National Over The Air Broadcasts
Regular Season
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Fox:
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19 Saturdays 1 of 2 identified games
- 8/10 6:00 PM Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox
- 9/7 6:00 PM Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox
- 2 Saturdays (6/1 & 8/3) 1 of 3 identified games
- 2 September Thursday (9/12 & 9/19) and 1 September Saturday Evening (9/28) Games TBD
- 6/8 1:00 PM London Series Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets
- 6/20 6:00 PM Rickwood Field (Birmingham, Alabama) Negro Leagues Tribute (San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals)
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19 Saturdays 1 of 2 identified games
Exhibition Game + Post Season
- ABC: Select Wild Card Games
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Fox:
- 7/16 All Star Game 7 PM (Arlington, Texas)
- Select NLDS and NLCS Games
- Entire 2024 World Series
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He'll battle it out with Brett Phillips to determine the 3rd, possibly 2nd best outfielder for the 2024 Chicago White Sox roster.
I'm good with this, but please sign Duvall would be cromulent for OD RF plus covering all three OF positions.
Kevin Pillar 2023 fWAR 0.1 (206 PA), Projected 2024 fWAR 0.0 (231 PA).
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On 2/2/2024 at 3:29 PM, Quin said:
This is the funniest aspect of it all.
Tearing it down to studs for to gain...what? Tim Hill, Martin Maldonado and Chris Flexen?
What I would have liked to have seen, both in real time and to this day, would be a better effort to have kept the elite All Time White Sox around through the end of their careers. Would have been great if Buehrle, Thomas and Abreu would have stayed their entire careers with the White Sox.
The first two had great years after leaving, and I believe Abreu would have stayed on a reasonable deal, signed in season, if he was shown more respect by the FO his final season (say 2 / $38M, would get not matching Houston's offer if he wasn't extended in season). Would have liked the same for Giolito (though wasn't going to happen under Jerry, don't regret the trade as a result) and at least through 2022 said the same about Tim (think it was best for both to go their separate ways after last season).
Perhaps @Lip Man 1or someone else alive could speak to what lead Joe Horlen to leave for a final season with Oakland, which allowed him to appear in ALCS and World Series and win a ring. Oakland picked him up after the Sox released him at the end of Spring Training, before being signed by Oakland 17 days later. Perhaps they were doing him a favor like the did when they sent Adam Dunn to Oakland for September for a chance to play for his first playoff team (a wild card birth).
7 of the Top 50 Hitter bWAR and 10 of the Top 50 Pitcher Chicago White Sox Career bWAR leaders spent their entire Major League career with the White Sox. Luke Appling and Ted Lyons are the two lone BBWAA elected hall of famers, with Ed Walsh (highest BBWAA vote total 55,5% in 1945) elected via the Old Timers Committee shortly after the BBHOF was established, and Red Faber (highest BBWAA vote total 30.9% in 1960) elected via the Veterans Committee eighteen years later.
Ted Lyons is the only White Sox for life inductee who broke the 75% BBWAA vote threshold without a run off election.
Top 50 All Time bWAR White Sox For Life (13.1 + for Hitters and 10.8 + for Pitchers)
Modern Era Hitters
- 16.2 Tim Anderson (2016-2023) - Will drop off if he signs and plays for another organization.
- 14.6 Ron Karkovice (1986-1997)
Modern Era Pitchers
- 20.2 John Danks (2007-2016)
- 11.8 Dylan Cease (2019-Current)
Segregation Era Hitters
- 77.5 Luke Appling (1930-1950) 1964 BBHOF (70.6% - 94.0% via the 1964 Run Off Election)
- 24.4 Johnny Mostil (1918-1929) BBWAA highest ballot 0.5% 1956
- 21.2 Buck Weaver (1912-1920) 1917 World Series Champion & 1919 American League Pennant Winner
- 20.9 Lee Tannehill (1903-1912) 1906 World Series Champion
- 19.4 Happy Felsch (1915-1920) 1917 World Series Champion & 1919 American League Pennant Winner
Segregation Era Pitchers
- 70.6 Ted Lyons (1923-1946) 1955 BBHOF (BBWAA 86.5%)
- 63.9 Red Faber (1914-1933) 1964 Veterans Committee BBHOF + 1917 World Series Champion & 1919 American League Pennant Winner
- 25.1 Jim Scott (1909-1917) 1917 World Series Champion
- 20.2 Johnny Rigney (1937-1947) Married Charlie Comiskey's Granddaughter and became co-GM.
- 16.4 Joe Benz (1911-1919) 1917 World Series Champion
- 14.0 Roy Patterson (1901-1907) 1906 World Series Champion
- 12.2 Ted Blankenship (1922-1930)
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8 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:
“That was then. This is now.”
Cues Nadia’s Theme!
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https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/white-sox-sign-juan-then-to-minor-league-deal.html
He’s 24, bounced around with the Yankees and Mariners. Has a brief MLB record, is a ground ball enduring pitcher, has had terrible ERAs but better FIP numbers.
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1 hour ago, wegner said:
I hope someone packed the big fella a nice friggin lunch after that inning
Lance Lynn earnings in his 30s: $97M including 2025 buyout ($107M if 2025 option picked up for his age 38 season).
Lance Lynn Postseason ERA in his 30s:
- 2018 11.58
- 2021 12.27
- 2023 13.50
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Former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein will have a role with the team once again, as Sportico’s Brendan Coffey reports that Epstein is set to join Fenway Sports Group as a partial owner and senior advisor.
Red Sox principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner hold those same respective titles with the FSG conglomerate, which owns the Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool F.C., RFK Racing, NESN and several other sports holdings.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/theo-epstein-fenway-sports-group-red-sox-owner-advisor.html
Theo will leave his formal role with the commissioner’s office, but continue as an informal advisor to the MLB Competition and On Field Committee responsible for previous changes such as the pitcher clock.
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Sam was a former assistant GM with the Nationals. Sam was responsible for analytics and mechanics for hitters, with Rod Larson doing the same with pitchers.
Miami offered a permanent officer / VP level promotion. I wouldn’t read too much into this, but do hope they find a quality replacement.
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49 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:
And both were due to extraordinary circumstances and Ken Rosenthal's latest story in The Athletic (I've seen parts of it posted) casts serious doubts over what the A's are trying to do. They may not wind up moving at all.
MLB should confiscate the franchise for multiple reasons.
They are not even remotely attempting to field a competitive team.
They have missed multiple deadlines regarding settling their 2025 location.
They are not even close to obtaining financing for their Las Vegas stadium.
There is a concerted effort by Nevada schools to place their state subsidy on the ballot for a referendum as to whether the tax should be used for a stadium or schools.
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5 hours ago, Tnetennba said:
Calling out a toxic environment doesn’t inherently make one an asshole.
Lance Lynn sucked at his job, Kenyan was mediocre at best. Especially the vastly overpaid Lynn who was neither physically or mentally prepared to do anything but eat, drink and b**** since they handed him the rushed extension after which he pitched like s%*# ($36M with a negative bWAR 2022-2023).
When shitty employees who suck at their jobs point their fingers and badmouth their co-workers on the way out the door, it speaks to their character. They left no doubt they also played a role in any clubhouse toxicity, perhaps a key role.
They ran to the press and AJ and aired dirty laundry. Dallas Keuchel conducted himself in a similar fashion. Dallas’ mother also got involved. All three need to look first in the mirror, and if they had any integrity or character, would apologize to their former teammates both for their actions and for the two starters their primary role in the failure of the Chicago White Sox, including crapping the bed in the lone playoff games they were entrusted. The two starters should also apologize to the fans for getting $100M and performing the absolute worst among the starting staff when it mattered most in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs. The Sox would have advanced in 2020 if they had a decent start in Game 2.
Time will tell what, if anything, the Cardinals get out of these two. Hopefully the other 38 men on that roster are prepared for what these two are bringing into their clubhouse.
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1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:
Not surprising that JR, Kenny, and Hahn fell for a snake oil salesman since that’s what they were as well.
When Bob Nightengale claims consensus, it has historically meant that Jerry made the call, though Hahn appeared excited for Grifol.
Similar language was used after the Tony La Russa hire and other White Sox debacles over the years.
Quote“You’ve heard me say over the last several years on major decisions, that it’s about consensus, that it’s a conversation between the chairman, Kenny and myself and ultimately we come to a conclusion together,” Hahn said.
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This is the same guy whose mother or whatever bitched the White Sox cut off his free baby sitting service after he was traded and then trashed the organization.
I’m glad the toxic duo are now with the Cardinals. Both sucked on the White Sox and beyond, with the other one giving up four home runs in a playoff inning. This guy sat out the final month in New York, finished the season with a 0.1 fWAR (doubling his career total).
“History”
- Hawk Harrelson
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3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:
I hate that I have to keep repeating this, but our run differential was 319 runs worse than the Twins. How does that roster make up that difference?
I think we both (and most here) want to get to the same place (sustained success, dominating this division, then being a legitimate WS contender), but have a different mindset of how to get there. We can't control ownership, which is the major solution for both the team and potential new stadium.
Jerry gutted payroll for five years (1986-1990) before the new stadium to "prove" they needed a new stadium, and fans of course obliged, with 1990 being a surprise on the field success plus fans really wanting one more season at the park they lived their entire lives enjoying.
We've lived through "The money will be spent", which in reality meant that's not necessarily the case, and even the portion spent may be spent poorly.
Say a decent revamped roster nets 70-75 wins, and a 5% chance of winning the division. You stabilize and likely improve attendance and TV ratings YOY, and prevent further additional substantial 2025 and 2026 payroll cuts. You have a few more players teams may possibly want at the deadline, including perhaps one or two good to really solid pitchers beyond Cease. You are not risking the future at all with short term 1-2 year free agent signings, and only adding to potential pieces to move if things turn out as expected.
In the end, no return for Cease or even Robert is going to create a contender. Beyond a new owner, it will take the new current FO (or new new FO post Jerry) to completely revamp player acquisition criteria and player development strategies to build a legitimate core the team has not had since 1991-1994, and before that the late 1950s - mid 1960s. They also must continue to go modern in the statistics and mechanical analysis just to catch up to 21st century thinking.
I'm hoping for at least a decent RF and perhaps one or two more FA pitchers stranded without a deal that can add a few wins. Ryu or Soler are likely outside of the current budget, but if they went to $150M ($18M more than Cot's has them for the 40 Man Roster) they still have substantial savings YOY, but fill in additional major holes. Soler could really pad his stats here. Ryu or another starter would really help as well. Even Duvall or Rosario would be nice pick ups. F Whit Merrifield.
This is my angle for why I continue to want the Sox to pursue 1-2 year FA signings. I agree, it's 20-1, perhaps higher, to win the division with the current roster. But only good things can happen if they add a few more pieces, have a legit RF and 4th OF, perhaps 1 or 2 more low cost bullpen arms who can turn it around. They start the season with improved depth and perhaps end April and May near .500 which will help draw fans in the Summer and keep the Sox options open for the deadline and beyond.
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Seems like all the assholes are flocking to Saint Louis this offseason. Par for the course for that franchise.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/cardinals-to-sign-keynan-middleton.html
Career fWAR 0.2: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/keynan-middleton/15264/stats?position=P
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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:
Me and Aly have discussed privately and decided to cancel the ban bet. While I know @ron883 will be disappointed, we felt a better proposal was to ban all Orioles posters if/when a Cease trade happens and he commands a headliner better than Joey Ortiz.
I was as excited about Joey Ortiz as I was giving Leury $16M.
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Sox trade Cristian Mena to Arizona for OF Dominic Fletcher
in Pale Hose Talk
Posted · Edited by South Side Hit Men
I have liked most of what Getz has done since taking over considering his budget and inherited roster.
Maldonado and this move would be the exceptions. Not saying they should not have traded Mena, but don’t see the point in acquiring Benintendi’s tiny baby brother who will be 27 this season for Mena.
Fletcher is the type of player they should be picking up on waivers or signing to a Minor League FA deal, not dumping a decent prospect to acquire.