FT35

Exactly. Why not? It’s not like if you cut ties with Pedro now other teams will be knocking at the door for his services. Say he miraculously finds a way to manage his kid’s little league team to a .400 win %—giving you hope that he has the shot at sniffing a .300 win % in the big leagues down the road…you can pick him up again with zero competition at pennies on the dollar if the new guy isn’t cutting it.

This is exactly it. The fans who are angry were once the same ones who believed enough to actually emotionally attach to the point of getting burned for trusting so much. The frequent burn has now turned into anger. They were the die hards who stuck by the team through much more thick than thin. It’s their money that was wasted when they were the ones who received big fat middle finger after big fat middle finger from the owner. Now they get called out when a win puts their team at 5-22 as though those same people didn’t support them through all the losing seasons. Instead, the voice of the Sox essentially says, “We’re 5-22 now—you should have believed in us! You lost faith and got mad after getting burned by our lies for decades on end, now look at us flying high at 5-22—we don’t need you!”

IMO, calling out the fans after moving from 4-22 to 5-22 just further alienates them. They’re 5-22 and all of a sudden the angry fans get called out as though they’ve been wrong to be upset about this team who is nearly on track to be the worst team of all-time? Classic Jerry’s White Sox. It’s always good to see a win. But how about we save the call out for when they win at a 70+% clip from here on out and actually accomplish something—then continue that accomplishment year after year proving again that they care about winning and the fans. You can’t go 5-22 with a roster expected to do just that without making fans angry. Pretty reasonable.

Yes. The rate in which the bad decisions are happening would cost a High School Athletic Director a job. It’s completely stunning to see this happen at the Major League Baseball level (or any pro sports team).

Yep. They are conditioned to not only losing but justifying losing. They have devalued winning and become non-competitive as a result. Rewards are given (continued involvement/employment) despite habitual underachieving and habitual losing. Long leashes are on individuals who have zero history of success or even recent accomplishment. From a fan standpoint—what is left to buy or consume from the Chicago White Sox at this point? They have no product and can’t even sell “hope.” “Remember when we took things seriously 30 years ago” only gets you so far today.

Exactly. This is bigger than the team on the field—the brand has been completely destroyed beyond repair. This is a product of not a few bad decisions, but decades of bad decisions. The Sox logo—once endeared—literally angers people now. It’s a symbol of total betrayal as far as baseball and sports “fanship” goes. I do not believe ownership/upper management understands either. We’re still throwing the Nicky Lopez’s of the world at this problem. No one respects what this organization has become. It’s built on endless spins and elusive narratives that turn out to be blatantly false—straight lies. Because of this—any possibility of positive intent is met with disbelief. It will take decades of sustained success to rebuild what these people have done to the White Sox brand.

Best part of the Sox not being able to hit baseballs is we don’t have to watch much of the super dumb HR celebrations that teams do to desperately try to appeal to fans. Such a strange time for MLB—all those acts are ultra awkward. I don’t mind genuine emotion after a big moment & I understand a handful of people might find the grossly immature HR side shows amusing—for me it got old fast and the game is becoming unwatchable. I watch these same guys slobber all over each other after a HR skit then proceed to ineptly fiddle fart around defensively the following inning like a bunch of amateurs. Let’s have fun in a way that keeps focus. The moment this team accidentally connects on a long ball and tries some goofy adolescent mosh pit ritual in the dugout that’s only funny to them (as if HR’s are a regular thing)…I’m out.

I think it will ultimately hurt Getz if he doesn’t. By not firing him, he’s already communicating to the organization that results don’t matter. Not just losing, but performing poorly is “OK” now “in the big picture” way. That is why their culture has been in the tank for so long. Hahn and Williams justified SO MUCH LOSING, going through repeated tanks and rebuilds. Justifying losing for any reason—whether it’s to tank or save money, whatever it may be, is difficult to get back. The person who justifies it is usually the person who has to leave before winning matters to everyone again. To think a team conditioned to justify losing for someone for so long will just all of a sudden be able to win for that same person is nonsense.

A multi-BILLION dollar industry and they can’t get a working radar gun for Spring Training?

They might not get on base.

Had we signed Yonder Alonso we might have had a better shot at Whit.

I hope he gets another chance to pitch in some meaningful games. His competitiveness needs fed!

2036 is the year we get him.

We’re going to need designated hitters for most of our position players.

I just also hope this deal doesn’t lower the bar as far as returns are concerned. “Burnes only returned “x” so we’re not going as high on Cease…”