Leaderboard

Seriously, for unlawful carnal knowledge fangraphs. Bottom line is David Stearns and Farhan Zaidi have winning records and playoff success as General Managers, and Rick Hahn has one of the worst records in MLB (517-658 .440). Stearns paid Grandal to go away after last season, and Zaidi didn't consider resigning him once he became a free agent. They both had enough. Catching Records McCann 12-6 Grandal 15-11 The White Sox needed an outfielder and more pitching if they were to compete this year. Their current record is inflated by the heavy dose of garbage the COVID schedule provided. If it weren't for Abreu's recruitment of Cubans and Lucas Giolito's High School pitching coach, the Sox would have finished with yet another losing season. Williams, Hahn, Renteria and Cooper all need to go, a complete redo from top to bottom just like the Bulls are doing. Will they wait for Jerry to finally leave his role, or until this window comes and goes before finally pulling the trigger, which they should have done after 2015? Likely the latter. I have no confidence in Hahn making the moves required to bring a championship. Hahn signed Renteria twice, the second time with an extension. These Friends of Jerry are long past their expiration date.

Grandal catching like it’s a postseason game

I dig division banners hanging in the ballpark.

At least it was a good game for Grandal’s fWAR

The overreactions after losses are the best.

The danger of that is Yolmer hitting .300 that last week and Ricky deciding to ride that hot bat in the playoffs.

Sox will go 10-9, partly because of just getting ready for the postseason series. 36-24. 4-seed. I predict the current seeds will be the matchups in three weeks: NY at TB; Tor at Sox Hou at Oak; Min at Cle

If given the choice I would rather the Sox be the 2020 AL Central champions than not the 2020 AL Central champions.

Terrible post

Tomorrow is almost a must-win. You can't get swept by the Pirates. The Tigers series is also a trap series. If we don't show up they can take 2 out of 3 from us with the way they've been playing. Not the kind of results you need heading into a 4 game series against the Twins.

T.A. starting the game off with a double and no one driving him in was a precursor.

Uh oh - Is Boylen the new Sox manager?

Also dropped a foul ball in the 8th. McCann needs to catch tomorrow.

Oh come on, that game was easily the ugliest game of the year. You had bad base running, terrible defense and a player gave up a free base because he sat on the rail.

That Grandal, he sure can frame!

I don't mind the loss. Losses happen - especially in baseball. But seriously - why does Cordero pitch so much, let alone in this high leverage of a situation. Please Rodon and Lopez - please come back and kick butt out of the pen. This team could seriously use that type of awesomeness.

Grandal looks like a turtle behind the plate. So damn slow

He’s throwing meatballs right down the plate. Hahn killed this bullpen by not making any moves.

Abreu joking around cost the Sox a base. This netting stuff is so freaking stupid.

That was not a horrible play in RF. That ball was smashed hard off the wall. Stop complaining about every other play and stop F bombing so much, that is truly horrible.

Someone will get the Mazara 1st HR prediction right soon. I hope it's you, Flava Flav .

Just got a call from my mom. She just got out of surgery for an appendectomy and she's alive but George Soros offered her $500 to say she is dead from coronavirus, so we are having a funeral for her this saturday. Anyone else hearing of this?

Well, sucks that your mom got lied to.

As we've seen with the Sox arms, things can go south in a hurry with injuries and lack of development. The Sox guys were farther away than the Detroit guys are, but you never know what happens once they get up. In late 2017, the Sox had Rodon(chronically injured) Giolito(TOR SP) Lopez (bust) Kopech (Injuries/work in progress) Cease(Work in Progress) Hansen(bust) Dunning(injuries/work in progress) And out of all of them, only one has emerged so far as even a decent SP, and it's the guy nobody thought would.

10-9 or 11-8. OP doesn't have us losing a single series the rest of the way, which seems unlikely. 10-9 gets the Sox to 36 wins (.600), which would be just an outstanding year by any preseason measuring stick.

Not sure if Caufield was throwing me dap or shade, similarly to this thread being about 2006 but not 2006 but kind of 2006 but not totally 2006 but maybe similar to 2006 in ways but not the same but could be bad just like then but not positive if that's going to happen but maybe it will... oh 2006

This is one big drawback of the expanded playoffs. It cheapens the season somewhat. We fans shouldn't be having this debate. It should always be better to win the division.

No I was a member here then. You can see that as my signature at the bottom of my posts where I list a bunch of Soxtalk members who were in So Cal at the time. There really was no official So Cal Chapter of Soxtalk. It was just something I made up in my head. I did attend the game 5 clincher in Anaheim with my buddy White Sox Murph who I got to join this site but he never became a contributing member. If you have the DVD of the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series Collectors Edition the fifth game to win the pennant in Anaheim, there was a part of it during the Pepsi 7th inning fan cam where they showed a little boy sitting on his fathers lap. That was White Sox Murph and his son Cooper.We grew up together in Chicago on the SW side. I was right next to them but it was a tight shot so I wasn't on camera. As far as the bullpen goes I didn't really care how they have been used to this point only with how I envision them being used in the playoffs. I want our best guys on in the 7th and 8th before Colome when we are ahead in order of who I see as the best options without Bummer. 1. Foster 2. Tossup between Heuer and Marshall 3. Detwiler but of course it all depends on who is batting. Detwiler if the upcoming hitters are left handed. I'd haven't checked their splits but that's for more in depth analysis. Cordero I see as being used to bail out a starter with men on base and not much more than that.

Well I for one like to have last ABs more than my opponent in a playoff series. But thats just me.

Started hammering the ball after this post. lol. Now he's slashing .257/.376/.440 (.816 OPS). That is elite as hell for a catcher. AND he's one of the best defensively. What more do the people want? It was ALWAYS stupid. People declaring him a failure over 15-20 games? What a joke.

2-0 2-1 1-3 2-1 2-2 1-2 Gives me 10-9 prediction.

Yeah I get that. But still sucks for him. Also not a fan of the sox not staying in contact with him (and probably other non Schaumburg players). Between the lines sheets seems to be pretty pissed, that interview was almost open criticism of the sox even though he mentioned positive changes.

Picks: Dodgers run line - this is an easy one obviously. its about as big of a mismatch as there can be in baseball... only worries are Buehler's exit velocity and high flyball %. I can see him getting dinged for a 2-3 run homer possibly, but outside of that he's been good. Hopefully when he gives up the homer it's bases empty. Outside of that this should be a rout. weaver has been trash, serving up 11% barrels which is just entirely too high and the dodgers are too good to lose this one. Jays over Yanks - value is good here. I think it's a slight edge to the jays here. happ has been better of late, and actually his underlying numbers show he should continue to improve, it's just the jays are top 5 in league in offense. they are taking walks, not chasing, and mashing. while the going is good, got to pile in. Indians run line - this one is going to be very, very small. almost in pass territory. --- **** Junis is on mound today, not singer, all about the same though *****but the indians haven't really been very good. they were bottom of the league, now of late are league average. mckenzie on mound has been a rock star in all metrics, however still just his 4th start. that scares me with that juice. paying him like he's done this for years. Royals have been trash without soler and the team is just bad. bullpen is bad. etc. etc. feels like a fools bet to play this too big. but royals are so bad that i think i'll end up small, probably ML too. On fence here because of fantasy implications playing with me... but i think you have to take the brewers over tigers. everythign is trending towards a brewers breakout soon. bullpen looking better, offense starting to click, etc. tigers are opposite. they had a nice run for a two week stretch but their offense and bullpen turning back into the tigers. I think i have to play brewers ML here. but another small play. PASSING ON: Passing on: Padres - juice is high, clev has been better of late, but his metrics don't support the juice/name recongnition in vegas at this point. rockies on the road aren't great, good names, but they chase too much. I'm waiting to see the k props if it's at 4.5 i'll take a stab at clev on a small bet. Passing on our Sox - toyed with a game over, or maybe a sox TT over, but pirates bulpen better of late and not sure what you'll get out of a musgrove. all of his numbers are trash, but i still love him. I'll have fun watching, but with money in my pocket. Braves/Marlins - marlins f5, however passing on this too. everything lines up right for marlins here. sixto has been on fire, kyle wright should be in AAA if not for terrible pitching out of braves. but marlins offense is really bad of late and braves offense is top 5 as well. pair that wtih sixto's third start overall? meh.. i can see the marlins being up early, but not enough to take my money and play it.

I don't understand that he wasn't in Schaumburg. He is 24 and really would have needed those live ABs. It is good he does some lifting and hitting in the cage but that is not a proper way of developing an advanced college hitter. That is a lost year for him. Was there no room for him in Schaumburg?

Every time I think about how we’ll have to scrape together a rotation to help this dynamic offense in the playoffs I can’t help but get really annoyed with Kopech. This season is such a perfect opportunity for him to contribute to something special. His team needs him; he’s not here. I’m really not accustomed to finding myself on what’s considered the “meatball” end of the fan spectrum, but here we are.

Sign me up for whatever gets us a first round date with Toronto.

I really hope that that the team in the last week uses their heads about rest and setting up the rotation. Unless the team absolutely collapses, I hope they use the last week to selectively rest guys who haven't sat much, as well as setting up the rotation and pen for the playoffs. Use guys like Burdi, McRae, and Flores to fill innings. Make sure everyone possible is at 100% for the second season, and that Gio and Dallas are set up to go 1/2 when it is time.

Isaac paredes is an interesting prospect. He is a very good hitter who doesn't strike out much and walks a lot. Isn't a great athlete at third though and doesn't have that much power (13 bombs last year in AAA) but could be a high on base guy who hits 15-20 bombs per year. Not super exciting but an interesting piece. They do lack hitting depth though and they don't really have a strong core yet. They have some interesting hitters at lower levels like adinso Reyes an de la cruz but they are at least 2-3 years away. Really illitch wanting to go all in till the end hurts them now because they waited until everyone was old and overpaid so they couldn't be traded anymore. Sox on the other hand got s huge jumpstart with the controllable pieces they could trade away (sale, Quintana, Eaton but some others too)

The wild-card series (if that's what they're calling it) is at the home ballpark of the higher seed. It's the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series that will be played at neutral sites (AL @ LAD/SDP, NL @ TEX/HOU). It hasn't been officially announced yet, but I'd bet on it

NY at TB; Tor at Sox Min at Cle; Hou at Oak

Yes, I want merch

Yes, that makes the most sense, though they haven't announced anything yet. Ballpark configuration is the key advantage of playing at a home stadium beyond the last at bat. When I read about this new format, which hopefully is one and done (16 teams playoffs are absurd, especially for baseball), I thought I also read teams would be able to select their opponent for the opening round based on seed (#1 seed could pick any team, #2 the next then #3 with #4 defaulting to the final remaining team). The way things stand now, it sucks to be the top two seeds without the selection format, as you are stuck playing the Yankees or Astros. Standings will likely change, but I think for a one time only format (16 teams), the selection show for teams to select playoff opponents would be very interesting for teams and fans.

that's what Twins and Indians fans are saying about the Sox tho!

Agreed, starting to get that nervous feeling of making the playoffs. Hopefully they can play well the last two weeks against improved competition.

I’m so fucking confused right now, hopefully that’s just me waking from a drunken stupor

Cub fans probably don't even know the Pirates are in their division.

It's arrogance because they think they're smarter than the game. They're eliminating minor league teams and cutting the draft because they think they're better and SMARTER at developing players. They have technology!!! No need for all those pesky players anymore. It's too bad. They're making the game worse but the nerds are holding the hammer because they can say the 5 magic words that every billionaire owner loves to hear. It will save you money.

Baseball should be trying to expand the game not contracting it. The more guys playing baseball is a good thing. Just another example of baseballs new found arrogance.

Good for who? Seems like this only benefits the billionaire owners of the MLB franchises.