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tray

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Everything posted by tray

  1. I'll be at the Opener tomorrow. Want to meet up to discuss this further in "real life?" I'll wear a red White Sox hat and an Eloy jersey and will be hanging out with friends in the Center field concourse.
  2. " Jerry Reinsdorf 100% wants to relocate to the south loop full stop…that was confirmed when he went to Springfield to make his case and when the team’s PR people started discussing their plans publicly." I don't appreciate your disrespect, arrogance and passive aggressiveness. But go ahead if that makes you feel that you are smarter and more experienced in the subject than others, including those you know nothing about. The White Sox have options moving forward. Related apparently doesn't. Related and the prior ownership tried several options to develop that site over the course of decades and all have failed. Don't blame me for not trolling for Related. The reasons for the failures to develop 78 go well beyond the facts in my posts. Most involve money and more specifically, the need to use other people's money (i.e., Illinois and Chicago tax payers) . Pritzker has left the door open but his comments pretty much telegraph that he believes there should be private funding for any new sports stadium. As an IL tax payer, I concur.
  3. IMO, wholesale changes to the rotation and bullpen from last season make it extremely difficult to predict which way the 2024 season will go. In 2023, they were, trrible. (Barkley). Of course, it doesn't look good now, but sometimes low expectations can lead to a fighting underdog that over-performs and creates fan excitement around them. Sometimes even the harshest critics lose short term memory and are among the first to jump aboard a new bandwagon.
  4. Contrary to the title of the posting, the Sox are not and have not been looking to relocate to the South loop. The plan and promotion of that concept was generated by a developer who owns land and have (unsuccessfully) sought numerous ways and means to develop it for a few decades. The 78 thing is the latest pipe dream of Related development for many reasons including those mentioned by SSHM above. IMO, the Bears and the Sox would likely consider moving if and only if they were to relocate on land they own and have control over, including to some extent, development of surrounding land and revenue generated from it. The only way I see the Sox entering into another lease (if that is the way they choose to go) would be with the cooperation of the ISFA, the Governor, Mayor and respective legislatures on all matters. In the political climate we are now in, that seems unlikely. No public funding, especially for unnecessary projects.
  5. "Oh, and don’t mind the in-stadium shootings" There was one shooting I recall over the past few decades - a woman who got by security with a pistol under a fold of fat and accidentally shot herself in the foot. GRF security screens everyone entering with metal detectors, just like the airport. Sports stadiums have thousands of people drinking alcohol so sometimes brawls break out but generally they all do a good job.
  6. Solid Flunking grade. Thorpe was the centerpiece? or a 19 year old outfielder? Minimally one major league ready position player that filled a hole would have justified a trade for our Ace pitcher. If Thorpe makes the starting rotation this season and pitches well for us, then the trade will look better.
  7. I thought Kopech would be wise to switch to the pen and maybe attain the Closer role several years ago (when he was throwing 100+ to the first few hitters). MK has shown over the years that he sometimes loses focus as a game wears on. In the pen he could be more effective trying to focus all his energy into one inning, whether as a closer or set-up man. He still has that energy that could be unleashed in a short outing if he could harness it and throw enough strikes to get ahead of hitters. I'm still behind him but as with many pro athletes approaching 30 years old (like TA) their energy diminishes and the edge they once had is gone.
  8. I have enumerated facts supported by links why the 78 site makes no sense for the WSox, coupled with my own opinions and reasoning and no, it wasn't only about parking. However, it would be short sighted to discount that. I do not want to re-litigate the Related/78 proposal, but to highlight a few points. The 78 site is over a former river bed and dump site. Related is looking (once again) through rose colored glasses with their hands out after their prior proposals for that site (going back over 20 years) have failed. Reorienting streets, railroad tracks, and ingress/egress for the 78 would add tremendously to development costs for the City and State over developing other sites, including the Bridgeport or Bronzeville/M. Reese site. The 78 rendering of a nondescript baseball stadium within an office park was uninspiring. Related patronizing fans with a later version of their rendering painted green for St. Pat's day, was insulting.
  9. I think the Bears may now shift focus to the Bronzeville Lakefront site, where Michael Reese hospital used to be. Sox might look at that area as well since it makes much more sense than the 78 nonsense.
  10. WSox needed a power hitting RF I argued that the WSox should have outbid the Cubs by whatever was reasonably necessary to get Cody Bellinger. OK, I know that would have been a costly FA signing outside of the WSox typical framework, but it had the potential for being a real game changer. Now the Cubs feel invigorated by signing Bellinger and the WSox are left with the perennial hole in RF. Just great..Then there was Hahn and KW letting Burger go. You cannot continue to make foolish trades and fail to sign key FA when they are available. And you cannot make questionable Draft picks that end up as average or below major league talent.
  11. The Related development 78 thing has been churning about since Rahm was Mayor and was set to go 4-5 years ago with a 10-20 year development window. It's worth reading some articles about that site and some of the comments made by readers. This isn't the first proposal pitched by 78 with their hand held out for Billions in tax payer backed as well as private financing. Here is one, but there are many others if you Google for them. https://chicago.curbed.com/2017/10/19/16503028/the-78-development-discovery-partners-institute
  12. " Chicago’s office vacancy rate ticked slightly higher last quarter, setting another record and prolonging a slump that started when the pandemic hit. The vacancy rate reached 23.8 percent in the final months of 2023, up from 23.7 percent in the previous quarter, Crain’s reported, citing data from CBRE. Office vacancy records have been set in 11 of the last 13 quarters, highlighting the persisting challenges brought on by the remote-work era, which have prompted a slew of companies to undergo layoffs and reduce their footprint. " https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2024/01/11/chicago-office-vacancies-rise-to-another-record-high/
  13. OK, but that not the best analogy. Different dynamic at play, i.e., the amount of starting players and the degree to which superstar talent impacts teams in the NBA. Anyway, something should be done to foster some degree of parity in mlb and frankly I don't know what the answer is.
  14. I am against the tank and rebuild cycle. It wreaks havoc on the fan base and many times it just doesn't work. Also, not that excited by the wealthiest owners trying to buy championships with mega player contracts. Maybe the best way for the mlb is some form of salary cap arrangement so that fans of every team stay involved and every team shows up to compete in every game.
  15. I liked Gio as a person and as a pitcher. Loved that high change-up and his competitive demeanor. I join with all other White Sox fans in wishing Gio the best.
  16. For the umpteenth time, the 78 proposal was dreamed up and hyped by a developer that could not obtain financing or public funding for several past projects there. This things was NOT the WSox or Reinsdorf's idea. Related paid for a laughable rendering of a generic stadium that has absolutely no relationship to historical baseball architecture, including original Comiskey or Wrigley. There is nothing to make it a destination or a special experience like Fenway or even the more modern stadiums, including Three Rivers or Oracle Park. It is a POS. But, Related thnks that smacking a several story high lighted SOX logo on the side, a few whirlybirds with fireworks will be enough to impress some fans. LOL. A view of the Loop? So what, but even that looks like it is blocked by a huge scoreboard, a similar mistake that was made during the remodel of Wrigley where the neighborhood views from inside and outside the park were blocked off with scoreboards. So we have a greedy developer with a laughable plan to build as many buildings as they could draw in as small a space as possible, leaving WSox fans with no useful ingress/egress or provisions for reasonable parking. Oh, and Related wants Billions from IL taxpayers to develop that site? LOL. No matter what you think of Gov. Pritzker, he is right about this one. No public funds for stadiums or funds awarded to private developers to build more unnecessary office space or high end condos. The answer is no.
  17. I would sign Eloy to a long term deal before his current contract expires. He is still young. You are not going to replace his bat (high BA and power) that easily or his Ernie Banks type demeanor, his personality and also, his good will towards WSox fans on and off the field. He likes playing here. I think most of his past injuries include flukes which can easily be avoided (celebrating a HR, reaching over a wall in ST to bring back a HR, stretching to beat out a single) and he is now being used as a DH.
  18. The much publicized 78 rendering of a high rise office development with a baseball stadium (using the White Sox name/logo) may have and possibly should have required White Sox authority prior to using it for purposes of exploring government/private financial assistance.... for Related to develop the entire 78 site. Meanwhile that rendering has been a distraction for the WSox ownership and the WSox fan base. Never forget, the idea was initiated by Related so that they could (finally) obtain enormous public/private funds for infrastructure improvements to enable construction of multiple high rise buildings. This is a semi-clever attempt at grift by Related. Governor Pritzker, among others, is not buying it.
  19. Further, I did not understand fully why someone (I think Getz) stated some weeks ago that Colas will start the season in the minors.
  20. Sorry, this was already posted here.
  21. Poor use of resources (Bennintendi), foolish trades (James Shields) terrible Draft selections (Carson Fulmer, Zach Collins, Nick Madrigal, Courtney Hawkins...) and the last straw (for me at least) was letting Jake Burger go. Then the acquisition of over-the-hill veterans like Shields, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Mazara, Grandal.. You can't complain about Owners failure to commit more resources when money is being thrown in the garbage can by management without anything to show for it. Owners are not worth billions because they just throw good money after bad money. Good riddance to KW and Hahn. I wonder what the final straw was that caused them to be dismissed summarily with a brief notice advising them to clear out their desks and not return to the field. We have not heard from those two since.
  22. JR has never said that or implied that. Never forget, this all started with Related after they failed when trying to develop that property previously, even with TIF tax incentives. JR was virtually dragged into this by an over zealous developer. Of course he would build in Timbuktu with 2 Billion in public funding, but this whole thing was not his idea. At this point he would be wise to shut this nonsense down because it has been creating uncertainty out of thin air and depressing fans.
  23. Related isn't scraping developing their land, they are just looking to develop it with other peoples' money as they have been doing for several years. They were pretty far down the road 5 years ago and something made them scrap that plan.
  24. Don't lose hope. The 78 chatter has been a distraction created by the developer who stands to gain millions on that project, not the White Sox. Related already had TIF funding approval about 5 years ago for the 78 but did not proceed for some reason. Instead, they somehow came up with a revised plan to stuff a baseball stadium inside a high rise office park, ostensibly to secure more private/public funding and/or more tax breaks.
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