Jose Abreu

Here's the list of candidates (obviously, only the living ones): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chicago_White_Sox_managers

I think they could probably get away with framing it as making the team better by trading away the 2022 underperformers, but it's probably just me overcorrecting my expectations after the disaster that was last offseason

Your pessimistic/cheap outlook is way more optimistic than mine. I don't even like Conforto much, mainly since he's coming off shoulder surgery, but I'm fully expecting a nightmare offseason of salary cuts (due to lack of playoff revenue), utility/relief signings, salary dump trades (such as getting out of Joe Kelly's contract by attaching Jose Rodriguez to him), selling low on Moncada/Giolito only for them to predictably return to form, etc.

SI is just Fansided now. They would absolutely allow this to be posted if it were BS

He might be my favorite potential option, at least based on publicly available information. I recommend reading this (Athletic sub required): https://theathletic.com/3234920/2022/04/07/qa-phillies-hitting-coach-kevin-long-on-his-prep-work-philosophy-and-a-stacked-lineup-thats-as-solid-as-there-is/

I don't understand this idea where the Sox have core players on expensive contracts who are not good, but are simultaneously desirable as trade targets for other teams. Vaughn is a realistic trade option, but probably has less trade value than everyone thinks. Moncada, contrary to popular belief, has never been this bad before, so you could maybe convince a team that this was just an aberration, and that he'll at least get back to his 2021 self. But with his money owed, you'd just be dumping him for no return, at the pretty likely risk of him being a better 3B option than whatever you'd run out there anyway

This aged poorly

Seconded here, for me it shows up in every page of every thread, no matter what. I don't mind it, but it would be nice to be able to minimize it, as it otherwise renders the right 1/3rd of my screen useless for the bottom 95% of every page in a thread

I get what you mean. I think, especially among the younger generation, there is an increasingly common sentiment that in order for things (which I am being purposely vague about, but it could be in politics, sports, etc.) to get better to a meaningful degree, there is sometimes no choice but to wait for certain people to die. It's super nihilistic, but I see it all the time now. However, it's another thing to have that attitude and then manifest it by actively wishing for it to happen, like you said

I should preface this by saying that I obviously don't want him to die or anything, but how are we as fans supposed to react to this? I don't feel bad for him, if it's that hard on him, he should resign.

I don't know if he counts, but Yordan Alvarez

Ben Gamel it is

Especially when the current offense of singles hitters who rarely strike out is working so well

Hader (7 in 34 innings) has allowed more home runs than Hendriks (5 in 35 innings) this year. In fact, in what's a down year for both of them, Hendriks has been clearly better. That said, I agree that the weird contract structure would make things tough

I'm glad that many are opening up to the idea of Gallo, but if it's true that the Padres, Brewers, Rangers, etc. are also in on him, I don't see why the Sox would come out on top. Especially considering that while the FO might like him, TLR probably does not

But the question (with both of these) is: what is their idea of "burning it all down" or pulling something "stupidly aggressive?" If it's someone truly impactful like Luis Castillo, it would at least make some sense

Exactly what I said too. Literally every time we're only one position player away and there's some light at the end of the tunnel, the next injury comes in

My fear would actually be that TLR plays Leury types over him because of his strikeout rate (even if he's playing well)

Moncada and Grandal had objectively good to great seasons at the plate last year, and about half of the posts I read about them during the season were negative

Agree with all of the names mentioned above, and also want to include Kohl Simas, Wilfred Veras (his power surge over the last month or so has been fun to track), and to a lesser extent, Matthew Thompson, whose peripherals have at least been decent in A+ despite being quite young for the level

I don't feel strongly either way, but I think one could make a decent argument that Happ has a better/at least similar track record. If Benintendi wasn't once a big name in a big market, he's just a league average corner outfielder with one great season (2018) and a bunch of mediocre otherwise

It would be such a departure from the usual deadline strategy, but I'd love buying low on guys like him so that you give yourself some chance this season without having to trade Montgomery types. At the end of the day, unless you're trading for Juan Soto or Luis Castillo, the success of this season will depend on the core players already on the roster. Might as well buy low on high upside guys in case the core group clicks. If Gallo comes here and sucks, then he's just lefty AJ Pollock with better defense

I was thinking along the same lines. Would probably have to be Kopech, Vaughn, Montgomery+ though, right? The potential inclusion of Corbin is what messes things up, as I don't see any way Reinsdorf takes on both salaries (even if the Nats kick in cash)

Sharing from another thread, but Bowden says Sox are talking to the Nats about Soto

Admittedly I haven't been checking the board as often as I normally do, but it feels like the Oscar Colas hype is getting out of control. His start in AA is definitely encouraging, but I still don't think he has the juice that Montgomery or a younger prospect might have