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The players failed for sure. They scored enough to win game 4 and the pitching failed. If they struck out 75 times and moved on because someone hit a 3 run homer on Saturday, it wouldn't matter as much how the outs were made. I wouldn't make any sweeping decisions based on the the playoffs though.

No, but setting records for strikeout futility in the biggest games of your season doesn’t prove to me that anything is truly fixed. Colson absolutely falling apart and Braden not doing much are other factors.

Would you make wholesale changes due to a 7 game sample in May, June or July?

Proof is in the pudding — absolutely no one likes Schriffen.

Left-handed power was a huge reason for the White Sox success. They led the AL in walks, hit 211 homers and led in runs scored and fangraphs WAR. I don't know how they replace the left-handed power if they get rid of Montgomery and/or Murakami. Sam shouldn't be in LF full time but Meidroth is ones of the best 2B in the sport and moving him to shortstop would be a mistake. I'm not expecting major changes to the offense.

Also, Ant is basically a younger Brendan Donovan. Less power, more steals

The irony of the Pham situation is everyone in the media loved it when he yelled at Schriffen, but they act like he’s the worst person ever if he gets mad at anyone else.

Just in general, he needs to find his power stroke again. Sam’s power vanished in the second half of the year. He was still quite solid, especially in the last month.

Every once in a while he acts like a reasonable teammate. Didn't he give up a chance for a fifth hit in a World Series game so a teammate could have an at bat? I wonder if he loves the same enough to play some independent ball or go overseas.

Antonacci's OPS against LHP was carried by the fact he was HBP 11 times. If that is him going forward fine, but I am worried that he hasn't shown the ability to hit the ball against them. 18 singles, 4 doubles, 5 walks in 114 plate appearances just shows me he will continue to need help there especially with how his LF defense is lacking. The issue is we have a similar player in RF who has similar offensive struggles against LHP. I love him and want him to be a fixture on this team but he needs to improve in those two areas going forward.

Arizona Fall League Update: Two White Sox prospects out o...Now that the White Sox are out of the postseason — and it’s assuring to see the Guardians are capable of tormenting other teams’ bullpens, even a fresh one — it’s time to shift our attention to the us

Goes to show the Sox still have a long ways to go as an organization.

I'm not even advocating for Ant to start against everyone. I was using him as an example of analytics being used to limit Ant's exposure and bring him along slowly against LHPs until he got more comfortable. I believe he's a guy you keep and build with. The bat plays. He can work himself up to an adequate LF, or backup 2B.

Of qualifying LF's last year, Sam was the worst in baseball with -9 fielding run value. It's going to be really difficult to find a spot for all of these guys because Sam simply cannot be your opening day LF next year. Colson is a top 10 SS in the league in the same metrics, Chase is the 6th best 2B. Roch and Bonemer complicate things further. Sam could be a light power DH/platoon role if you can find someone to take on Beni's contract or just eat it. I think Beni has to go regardless so you can see if Colson and Mune can bounce back before you make a long term decision on them, it's difficult to see how both of them stay on the team past 2027 if you extend Vargas as you should. Good problem to have I suppose.

but Sox have Mune and japanese players love to go to teams in a big market with another japanese player. their shot at any japanese starters would be higher than most and a huge boost to marketing revenue potential as well.

I’m fine with him playing against LHP, but you have to upgrade RF against LHP then.

For a team that should be expecting themselves to contend going into next season, I’m okay with slotting him in at the back end of the rotation and letting him eat innings. If he can regain anything close to his first half this year, let that be a big time bonus. I just hope they don’t expect or rely on him to be that first half guy moving forward.

Are you replying to me? Antonacci, full season, vs. LH starters. Ant was OPSing in the low .500s, on the season, against all LH pitchers in August, sometime. By the end of the season, he dragged that up to .604. He improved against LHPs by the end of the season.

Antonacci full season vs. LHP, what was the limited timeframe you just quoted??? He really needs to be at .675 vs lefties to be viable everyday with his defense…unless he improves considerably there (Not only Teel…but Venable stuck with Benintendi, Mune, Braden, Colson, etc.) .227 .336 .268 .604

Davis Martin had a dominant first two months of the season (11 starts), then was adequate in 5 of his next 10 before he started to stumble. Except for the Rockies game, his September was normal for him.

Of course Pham was a selfish asshole. That's who he has always been. Duh.

Polarizing figure and all, but TA brought a swagger and electricity to the Sox that they hadn’t had for as I long as I can remember. It’s too bad it was so short lived.

Yes, they even added the best FA starter in Cease…not to mention Okamoto at third.

The numbered list is the article. The paragraphs with the dash (-) are my own thoughts. 1) who is sox core - (Vargas, Droth, Taylor, Burke, Ant) - Vargas is the star, Droth, Peters, Ant, Burke and maybe Teel are the established "core" of this bunch. Grant Taylor, Hagen. While Teel took an effort to return from injuries, he OPSed .808 in September. Mune, Colson and Braden require some heavy work to be considered solid pieces going forward. Bonemer and Brooks Baldwin give Getz breathing room to make a decision on whether Braden is MLB-ready again at the end of ST, or he still needs a month in AAA to consolidate any advancements he pursues this off-season. William Bergolla, Nick McLain and maybe Samuel Zavala have outside shots at bench roles. 2) 27 rotation - (burke, taylor, Hagen, FA) - That's where it starts. They've also assembled a group of 4's and 5's. (Martin, Schultz, Sandlin, Schweitzer, Shane Smith, McDougal, Thorpe, a returning Mike Vasil, Ky Bush, and let us not forget Luis Castillo). 3) strikeouts - fix Mune, trade Colson, Droth to SS, Ant to 2B - Teel also requires a productive off-season to get his bat going consistently. Even though he OPSed .808 in September, he sported a 33% K-rate. I've seen Luis Arraez thrown out there as a profile who could compliment the K-heavy lineup. His defense is still solid enough where he's probably not old enough to commit to a DH-only role. 4) Shoman and hitting adjustments - cites K rates in postseason - The Sox were 1/2 (AL only) in many offensive categories, and top 5 overall. They led the AL in Runs scored. They did something right, even though the current trend of 3 true outcomes isn't quite as aesthetically pleasing. They also led the AL in walks. That's ambitious for a team starting 7 players who haven't logged a full year of MLB games, and then Vargas, who's the veteran of the bunch, coming into the season with 2.5 seasons of games under his belt. They're young. The Sox got a lot out of this bunch, for all the griping about RISP, bunting and platoons. 5) Pham is evil - I never understand focusing on one player who is the 26th, 27th man, as if he's indicative of why this team stopped astonishing. It's an incredibly young team. Veteran presence matters. The Sox entered the year with the goal of not losing 90 games. Getz flippantly floated improving another 19 games from 2025. The exposure came from the team achieving too much too soon. So a team built to audition a bunch of options had to cobble together some experience while not sacrificing the future. Pham wasn't the reason the Sox set all sorts of strikeout records. He's not the reason the Guards put up 9 runs in 2 drop-dead games in a row. 6) Venable needs growth - cites analytics, sticking with Teel, bullpen games - Analytics are what drive the game today. Sam Antonacci is a good example. He had huge platoon splits for most of the season, so they subbed in a RHH against some lefties. As he gained experience, they left him in more. At the end of the season, his slash line against left-handed starters was .318/.398/.430. As far as sticking with the regulars as they stumbled in the final three games, who else was Venable going to play? He got a young team thorough playoff experience. One can only hope these guys watched the Guardians pile on the Rays yesterday and get pissed at how close they were. Sullivan's take is that the team is still rebuilding, has a lot of question marks - beyond a few "tweaks".