All Activity

Honestly it makes sense. Double the house, half the taxes

Unless the Sox are an American League juggernaut already by the time Ishbia takes over and there’s no need, gotta figure he makes a big splash in free agency at least once right away.

Almost every blurb is a variation of "questionable fit due to cost/position/timing" including the Sox: Chicago White Sox Adding Murakami would be a fun way to inject some much-needed excitement on the South Side and would offer Murakami a lower-stakes setting to adjust to major-league pitching, but it would also be a sizable risk that this front office (and ownership group) is probably uninterested in taking at this stage of their rebuild.

Some tidbits on the new guys: Denorfia and Venable were platoon mates in RF for SD in 2012. He comes over from 5 years with the Rockies, managing AA and then as outfield/baserunning coordinator. Also was on the 2019 Cubs staff as quality assurance coach. Local product Tony Medina shares Schaumburg Boomers ties with Shomon. His most recent title there was director of analytics, was a hitting coach before that. Has also worked in development/analytics with TEX/KC/HOU. His Twitter header is "chicks dig the xwOBA" and his timeline (which includes back to back reposts of the Ishbia news and Teel's call up) suggest a Sox fandom that predates his hiring. Markinson is the youngest member of the staff at 22. He's coming off of being Northwestern's starting catcher in 2025. Signed as an UDFA with the Phillies, but decided to pivot from a playing career last month. Matt Wise is the oldest member of the staff...and he's only 50. His title has changed from assistant pitching coach to bullpen coach, and Bobby Hearn gets his old role. 3 pitching coaches feels new? Hearn comes over from the Twins where he was assistant pitching coordinator. He was teammates with freshman Shane Smith at Wake Forest. This might be the youngest staff in the league. The staff is bigger than last year, but no longer has a dedicated catching coach. McKinven will handle most of those duties now. Leger is currently managing a DWL team. He comes over from STL where he worked his way up from their DR complex to "assistant field and baserunning coordinator." Won a manager of the year honor for leading their AA team to a franchise wins record in 2024. Also spent 7 years managing in the Mets MiLB system. Winning record over 1300+ games in the minors, seems on track to be interviewing for MLB managerial openings sooner than later. Definitely seems to be an emphasis on guys who can connect and communicate with players based on youth/playing experience/track record. Far cry from having TLR at the helm.

I specifically said I didn't like it but it was at least a "solution." Since the MLBPA will NEVER agree to a salary cap so that is a pipe dream. As a thought experiment I'd divide things up into three groups. The franchises spending/really trying to win, the middle group that spend somewhat and does try to compete and the bottom group that spends very little, has bad ownerships and basically is coasting along. And like in European soccer if you are successful/ get new ownership you can move up if you wish. I just put it out there because again the only other suggestion I saw was a salary cap/salary floor which is never going to happen under any circumstances. Here's roughly how I'd divide it: A: Toronto, Yankees, Boston, Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia, Mets, Dodgers B: Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Detroit, Texas, Angels, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cubs, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona. C : Kansas City, Minnesota, White Sox, Athletics, Miami, Washington, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Colorado Again you can debate/move teams around like Tampa, Cleveland and Cincinnati for example. Just a thought experiment remember, not liking the idea myself.

It’s not a bad idea. I always suspected he takes his at bats in the field with him and loses focus. Left field he can just catch the ball and hit the cutoff man.

Agreed. We already have a guy we hope develops with the bat that we want at 2B and a glut of other infielders. Just move Sosa to 1B and be done with this pipe dream of signing Murakami. Also, O’Hearn probably won’t be worth the money he is ultimately paid.

I still like the idea of showing up for spring training with him in LF and seeing how it goes. Maybe less thinking works for him.

Agreed. I didn’t realize it was Gilligan and the same actress that was in Better Call Saul. I just read the synopsis and I will definitely be watching this show now.

Yeah, that was never going to happen here.

I still would like to them just stick him at 1B and try to make him a decent defender there. Maybe he’s a guy who ends up being able to hit 30+ and the bat plays.

The guy had the best offensive year in his career and was still only worth 0.8 bWAR. Do you think his bat makes up for his very frequent botched plays?

I know the urge is to fall back on stats, but I think in this specific case, his mistakes don't always show up in the stats. Missing throwing to a base, throwing to a wrong base, and forgetting to cover a base aren't really trackables at this time.

That really is a key aspect to this, though. Meidroth had as good a season as more highly touted rookies like Cam Smith, K. Campbell and Matt Shaw. Sox have several players who did pretty well in 2025 and who should be ready to take a big step. Sox need to find out. Count me in as a Meidroth guy. If the Sox want to sign a good FA, great. But the Sox are likely going to win in the 70s regardless, some mediocre and below FA might crowd out more than they help. I’m not referring really to Murakami (I don’t have much of a read on him). To that end, I I hope some of these guys shag balls in the OF…just to see.

Okay, you've mentioned the 5 franchises out of 30 with bad owners that everyone knows about. Of course, then there's of the top 12 or so teams from the biggest markets that can hand out insane contracts. What about the other half of teams in the league? Move them to some inferior league? May as well roll back MLB to the original number of franchises at 16 for the biggest markets and push cities like Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cleveland, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, etc. to some sub-par league. The Brewers payroll is equivalent to the Dodgers luxury tax, so they'll be in this second rate league for sure. Terrible idea, just awful.

This… totally. And then everyone realizes they wasted their fingers even typing about said desired player.

Perhaps baseball will devolve into a regional sport if the competitive imbalance isn't addressed somehow. A sport that fans in the biggest markets follow, but sharply declining interest in the bottom half markets.

Lack of experience most likely and need more reps. Baldwin has the same problem in the OF. He's very fast but if you check his range its pitiful. He's literally learning how to judge fly balls so his jump must be atrocious. Then when he does get there on time I've seen him take his eyes off the ball and clank a few.

It’s risky no doubt, but also one of the cheaper ways to acquire a potential star and that probably excites Jerry. I also think the big name Japanese guys generate a lot of revenue, which I’m certain is factored into the contract offer.

Wow, this would be a lot of money for a guy who very well might not stick at the MLB level with that swing and miss. I don't disagree with you though, I have his deal closer to 5 years 100 million (Maybe Sox can claim he's their first 100 million dollar guy!!!). Just imagining Jerry paying a high posting fee for a player is pretty funny to think about. Not happening. My fear is if it did happen, this guy would flop so hard Jerry might pull back his sale and murder all Sox fans while on his death bed.

Wre not far apart on our AAV and I forgot about the posting fee. So basically you expect the The Sox to hand out their biggest contract ever that Jerry could be on the hook for most of or even all of it ? To be polite Ill just say I strongly disagree but admire how you view the current status of the franchise although I find it somewhat delusional. 🙂

he's a replacement level second baseman. we've been over this a number of times. he was as "bad" defensively as ozzie albies, colt keith, better than gleyber torres, julien, india, kristian campbell, plenty of other regular 2bs. his mediocre defense is fine because his bat is that much better than meidroth's. if you can get 25ish home runs out of your second baseman who can at least play the position, this is a good thing.