Greg Hibbard

Time is a flat circle (like the runs scored for the White Sox)

Ask yourself this question: how would a historically bad season cause the outcome you want? because I’m not sure that a 120 loss season affects Reinsdorf’s net worth or the franchise valuation that much, especially because the biggest dollars are from cable, not from ticket sales. Unless lots and lot of people stay away for years I’m not sure it does anything either way. that all being said I’m verging on full boycott mode (as I did for the Blackhawks from 1997 until the day Bill Wirtz died)

I'm good with playing him for 400 PAs this season. I just don't want the Sox to make him into a starter.

Ok. I guess you know how I feel. I’m worried that the White Sox are going to do what the White Sox frequently do with fringe players that get hot. Bet on the flimsy notion that the kid has “come into his own” and “grinderball” worked

Ok I take back what I said in comparing Valentin to Sheets. That’s a pretty big insult to Valentin, whose numbers are better than I remembered.

I am not panicking about anything, that seems a strange way to put this. How could anyone panic about anything on this team? We have reached the literal bottom of our fandom. I’m not afraid of blocking anyone on the current team. The first baseman of the future should be a quality proven MLB FA or a high draft pick. The point is that I don’t want some Jose Valentin type of situation where a replacement level player becomes this evergreen mainstay “heart of the team” for the next four seasons while scuffling to Dan Pasqua type numbers because he has a hot first half in one year. That’s a very White Sox thing to do, and I think you know it. An even more White Sox thing would be Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn becoming some sort of “Veets” 1B platoon that maxes out at a combined 28 HR and .805 OPS. I’m saying Sheets hot streak - whatever it ends up being - can’t be for real. He will come back to earth for many reasons. Having a replacement level 1B might be passable if we had any power prospects at any position. In the White Sox’ case, we need a prototypical slugger on a team that struggles to score runs. Sheets ain’t and won’t ever be enough.

Medium term I think it’s potentially a terrible thing for this organization. Holding onto a Gavin Sheets that has a hot two months (which turns in something like a full season at .250/.310/.450/.760) past this season, especially if Andrew Vaughn goes busto, means that Gavin Sheets is potentially your idea of a First Baseman of the Future that You’re Building Around. That would be a disastrous notion.

Lost rebuilding season? Check Desperate team looking for anyone to pin a positive story on? Check Fringe AAAA 1/2 tool player having an insanely hot streak that the White Sox will want to “move forward” with in their latest “off the scrap heap” love affair? Check mate I would love to believe in this guy, but I just can’t. He’s too old, too slow, too left handed, too one dimensional. Please Please Please let him come back to earth before the Kool Aid Man reaches the White Sox FO

Imagine an entire team of 2001 Royce Claytons. Now imagine you don’t even have to imagine it

So the most fun aspect of this season is that we are probably THE team this season that other fanbases will feel it is absolutely unacceptable to lose even one game of a series to. Every time we win a game, it will be fun to read other team’s boards and reddits and see people freaking out to losing to Gavin Sheets’ White Sox.

Gavin Sheets hitting 3rd in a major league lineup. And it’s appropriate because he sucks the least I can’t believe it’s come to this

INFIELDER Gavin Sheets?!?

I don't want Eloy Jimenez anywhere near a field and haven't for three years. I want him DHing 140 games and hitting home runs.

Remotely seems like an exaggeration. I would argue that there's no way to evaluate that trade for the White Sox as anything except an A. With respect to Jimenez, how can a 2 WAR a year MLB player with 33 homers per 162 be a "bust"? I feel like there's this tendency here to either view players as overwhelming successes or failures. Jimenez is a very solid offensive player when healthy, and not a "bust". He's a starting caliber MLB player. There's also still a chance he becomes a 40 home run / year slugger. We don't need him to play defense, even if he disagrees. If I recall correctly, nobody really projected Cease to be anywhere near as dominant as he became when he was traded to the White Sox. He far exceeded my expectations with his 2022 performance, and we just flipped him for four other prospects coming off of a very disappointing year.

I understand your point about control, but 20 seems like it would be a outsized haul. Consider that Cease and Jimenez haven't even put up 20 combined yet, and I think most consider that an A+ haul for the White Sox side of the Quintana deal, which offered more control to the Cubs.

so something like 15 rWAR total for these four players combined?

It seems to me that the jury will be out on the return of this trade for at least two years. what kind of production do we need to see from these four players for this trade to be viewed as an overall success?

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I don’t know that Reynaldo Lopez is a failure in the same sense that some of these others are. He contributed quite a bit especially in the last couple years.

This was exactly what I was going to post as well. It's like they are trolling the fans even with the fluff pieces.

I liked TA, and I also like this move both for the White Sox and TA. The org needs to move away from him and he needs a fresh start. I would love for people against this to explain to me the maximum value Tim Anderson (given his last two subpar seasons, his age, and his power outage) hitting well next season would net the White Sox in trade. 2024 is dead; there’s no way this team can win as constructed; so it’s not likely picking up his option helps us win a title. TA’s max value is prospects, and not top prospects, IMO, so I think this proposition was either paying $14 million hoping to get two mid tier prospects that pan out to decent major leaguers in two years - with a decent chance that Tim is actually just done and you waste $14 million - or you’re going to keep $13 million of that $14 million and know you can spend that money better elsewhere this season and in the future. seems like a no brainer to me

Even if TA has a good first half of next year, what is the market value for a 2 month rental of an over 30 proven clubhouse headache who is also a defensive liability with almost no power? You're not going to get anything of real value long term for him. Cut bait now. The only way picking up the option makes sense to me is if you wanted him around and could get a team-friendly long term contract out of him at a good future value for a good first half.

Now at .310/.889 since joining the Marlins. 12 doubles and 8 home runs in 44 games played. I like him so much. Still root for him.

Last 37 games, .293/.333/.474/.807 141 plate appearances is a small sample size, but maybe this guy is back to being good again? we could use a bright spot…

Why is Sox marketing and FO so desperate to force feed us this idea of Andrew Vaughn as leader on and off the field lately? Every time I turn around I’m reading another headline about Vaughn being some kind of leader, or that the FO consulted him regarding a trade. Today Sox FB splashed a big quote from Dylan’s Cease about how he was player of the game. His stat line, his WAR, his defensive value, his speed….look, I like Andrew and hope he improves… but he is an utterly unremarkable first baseman. 15-20 homers and an OPS in the mid 700s is not going to cut it at a position where you need big slugging and big OBA. If he is what this is, he is kind of a bust as a major league first baseman. I say this in sharp contrast to Sox marketing of Luis Robert, who they aren’t really putting forth as a “leader”. Like it or not, Robert is the very best player on the field and they better start making him the centerpiece of what they’re moving forward with…he is coming into his own as one of the very best players in the game. Anyone have any insight as to why the Sox are so in love with Andrew Vaughn? Again nice player, but consistently unremarkable in every category.

Who the hell would ever want to come play for this org? Serious question.