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I would say "Bye-Bye" but we all know you'll be back.....

It could be worse. You could be a White Sox fan watching a team in the beginning stages of completely squandering a window because ownership is too chicken shit to take a risk to win a championship. At least the Cubs ownership, for all of their faults, wasn't content with 2nd place during their window. Should the Sox be trading guys like Vaughn/Kopech/Madrigal/Crochet/Kelley? No. But they should be using money to fill holes. And they don't.

I joined Chuck Garfein on the show yesterday and talked Cespedes, Colas and Vera. He had Ben Badler on the show as well. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-sox-talk-podcast/id1162163703?mt=2

This is actually a frustrating part of the board. There are so many facets to roster building in baseball which is what makes it so interesting. But when a group of posters criticizes the Sox taking off the 2018 intl period it gets pushed off as whining because Sox have had success with Cuban market. And if Sox aren’t the worst at something you can’t criticize it. But then when a trade like this happens, it shows the downside of not getting that talent - we didn’t have a comparable talent package because we signed Yolbert Sanchez instead. And then it’s just “well if we would have traded for Darvish we’d have whined because we gave up X”. The Sox have had a lot more success in so many avenues than where they were in 2016. The draft, player development, international - all better. But they still hold back and it has repercussions like this - where a good player is available for a reasonable cost and they missed out on getting the pieces needed two years ago had they just spent $1 million more on a budget that should just be an automatic like item.

You're right. Adding Darvish and Snell doesn't move the needle much.

Google translate having a tough day

Well the problem is we aren't really trying.

The international signing period starts on january 15. I detailed it here with info on the White Sox signings, rules, etc. https://www.futuresox.com/2020/12/29/2020-2021-white-sox-international-signing-preview/

Whitesox twitter has taken over soxtalk, yay

Let's try and keep politics to a minimum. By minimum, I mean none.

Well if you take out all his good starts, his numbers are atrocious. How could anyone ever justify acquiring a pitcher who occasionally has a bad game and pitches for a team with atrocious defense so his ERA is usually a half run or higher more than his FIP? That's preposterous, he has to be awful.

Who is on the Dodgers level except for the Dodgers? If you think the Sox will ever be like the Dodgers, I have other news for you. And what have the Padres actually done to be better than the White Sox? They've made a few good trades this offseason and signed an int 2b. They haven't done anything yet on the field to prove it. Last season they had 2 more wins than the Sox, and the Sox probably should have had more if not for poor managing decisions. And models can say all they want. I know what this Sox team has and it should scare the shit out of every team in the league.

I choose to be excited about the Sox, who actually made the freaking playoffs last year (and should've won the division and probably the first series if it weren't for the manager, who is no longer with the team). I choose to be excited about the team actually realistically winning the division next year and doing damage in the postseason, where anything can happen. I choose to be excited about the new pitching coach, Ethan Katz, and seeing what he can do with players like Cease and Kopech. I choose to be excited about a potential juggernaut rotation coupled with an already juggernaut lineup. And, yes, I am looking forward to seeing a new manager in the dugout, even if its not really who most of us want. And there are other things I choose to be excited about with this team. It's all about perspective man.

Yup. If Harper was patrolling RF I'd have shut up a while ago. I have a problem with wasting prospects on 1 year rentals(a very White Sox thing to do) and also the perpetual dumpster diving.

The difference between the Sox and Padres is that the middle tier of their farm is vastly superior to ours. Beyond our top 10 it quickly tails off.

Here's an example of a question from the test for those wondering: Place an x next to the correct sentence: ( ) The White Sox should sign Lyle Mouton ( ) We should sign Lyle Mouton (x) Lyle Mouton

Stop saying “we” Not only do you have 0.00% to do with the Chicago White Sox organization, but you “renounced” your fandom after the Sox failed to sign Machado. There is no “we” here. Go away

I like Lynn more than Snell this is true. But I definitely have jealousy of a team comparable to us in the rebuild going out and netting Clevinger, Snell and Darvish in a three month period and still being relatively whole in the farm in terms of top guys. I'd rank it (leaving off clev, I was a big fan but that injury would be a huge hit to sox) 1. Darvish (like contract and talent, best pitcher of bunch) 2. Lynn 3. Snell Definitely wish we were talking about upgrading with a Snell/Darvish for our next pitcher and not Quintana, who we are hoping gets us an Ivan Nova 2019 year. That's our dream big.

Nice, looking forward to it. Gotta be easier to be a guest on WST nowadays. So long as you don't state that missing work due to being in jail is the same as missing it because you are sick you won't be the worst guest that appeared on the show.

No matter what SD does they will not be on par with the Dodgers. SD is definitely better than the Sox with these two moves. Now watch LAD go after Bauer. The World Series goes through LA. We need affluent sportsmen that can play in that space. Lord knows we definitely don't have it with Reinsdorf. It's too bad because the Cubs are back-tracking again and control for the baseball entertainment dollar is up for grabs. Weren't the Cubs suppose to win multiple championships a la the 90's Bulls ? They came up a tad short.

No matter what SD does they still won't be as good as the Dodgers. I see LA going af

I don't understand why Theo didn't want to stick around?

Donald Trump

It’s funny because Chuck actually talked to Badler after me. He knew he wasn’t gonna pitch after we talked.

In 2020, Musgrove threw his least dominant pitch (4 seam fastball) 10% less, and threw his unhittable curveball 10% more. It came at cost of a higher walk percentage, but much higher k rate, and better everything else. He has a great slider, a great curve, and a good sinker. I’d like to see a not pirates team play with him. Stiever can certainly grow but without his 2019 velo pop up, he’s much less interesting than the above with the weak stuff he showed.

The Cat is back!

I don't know if he is at that level, prime Q was a strong #2, borderline 1 by fWAR measures, but he's a solid #3 from what I can see. I wouldn't deal from top 5, but if it's Stiever as the headliner, I think it makes sense for both sides. Let's just hope the reasonably low cost of Snell and Darvish helped drive Musgrove's price down also.

People somehow don’t realize this. The Sox are sitting in a much sweeter position with people locked up long term. We are about to be the envy of the league

@bmags - this is so well put. This is where I think the Reinsdorf cheap/stubborn reputation is really warranted. People are saying SD can do this because they are in the position to give up depth and lottery tickets. The Sox aren't there because they have chosen not to be, and they've shown some aptitude to identify this type of talent, they just don't do it in the volume that is needed. I've always thought the Sox would be great candidates to benefit from the Darvish type salary dumps at lower prospect cost, like the Astros did so well. It's just disappointing they don't seem willing to go there, particularly if they are never going to go after top free agent pitching.

Is Lynn married to Tony LaRussa’s wife’s cousin?

Just to be clear here so I have this right... You’re not only saying you are making “logical arguments” but also calling me immature, while at the same time crediting the Padres for making trades in real life that you yourself would make in a video game. Is that right? And for the record, I’ll bring up your temper tantrum as much as I feel like. It’s a message board. You made the decision to tell the world you were done with the White Sox. Fine. But when you come back and want to use the word “we” like you are some loyal, die-hard fan, I’m 100% going to call you out on that. Deal with it.

It's true us real mods are known for our keen intellect and logical consistency. Tony failed his annual exams so we booted him.

I have my doubts with both Lynn and Keuchel. Darvish, on the other hand, has overpowering stuff. I would have felt better giving up Dunning for 3 guaranteed years of an overpowering arsenal of Darvish rather than Lynn. I see Lynn being closer to a 4.0 ERA with the Sox than a 3.0. Keuchel will regress, that's guaranteed, from last year. Kopech will pitch very little, and Cease so far has sucked. We are in trouble with pitching. I agree Bauer would have been the perfect move, but the W'Sox killed that with LaRussa signing and the fact that they don't sign big contracts anyway. I'm just jealous that the Padres had enough prospect capital and $$$$ to trade for the 2 biggest SP acquisitions and sign the korean sensation in the same 24 hour span while the W'Sox look around the league to find the best contracts to spend the least amount of money while trying to compete. Their shooting themselves in the foot. This isn't covid-white sox strategy, this has been their strategy all along. Teams like the Rays and A's have serious payroll constraints and compete with intelligent baseball analytic moves. The Chicago White Sox aren't that desperate with money, but my god, how much $$$$ we've wasted over the years on the 'middle route' with guys like Edwin, Nomar, Eaton, etc. etc. They need to learn to pay up once in a while to get their $$$'s worth.

100% looking at the cost of Darvish to the Padres we could have beaten that rather easily. I would have much preferred Darvish and his skillset + years over Lynn, but you know that JR and company wanted the cheaper contract. Good teams bring in talent, JR/co should be on the phone with the Cubs trying to grab Kris Bryant asap for nothing. Put him in the OF.

Τhe prob here is noone realizes that a big market tesm lije us gets humiliated by shitty padres 1st machafo then vlevinger then yu then snell and we only added....lynn,oh and eaton i say if u are serious about winning ho get musgrove snd marte from pirates or blsckmon and their sp from rockies,

greg775

Can you imagine how absolutely BONKERS this board would be if we got BOTH Snell and Darvish?

They may well need an expert on bankruptcy and not paying their bills.. oh wait you aren't talking about the Cubs.

Fuck Jerry Reinsdorf

There are some scenarios, albeit optimistic, where a very good Eloy Jimenez could be our 5th best hitter and Lynn could be our 3rd best starter. I like our team. Shore up the pen and go to work.

Against the Yankees in New York, none the less.

Are you trying to be funny? Or just stupid ?

He would offer a signed Brent Lillibridge batting glove for $$$ (unmarked bills) + Darvish as a throw in, not budge when rejected, because art of the deal, go play a shitty and falsified round of golf, probably from in front of the women's tee, and then after the Padres acquired Darvish from the Cubs and the ink was dry, yell until the deaf would hear him that Kopech, Vaughn, and Rick Hahn's firstborn were also part of the rejected deal all along. And that's exactly how that would go.

and last year

This guy is a freakin idiot.

Padres traded Davies, a 2nd round pick, and 3 LatAM kids signed for $3.8M total for Darvish. Sox traded millions of international bonus to get players off their roster or trade for org depth players.

So all that "new network, more spending" was bullshit, right?

IMore stoked about having Kasper in the booth on the radio side than any Cub taunting/impact. He is a good announcer, and I'll get used to his Kermit the Frog voice. I don't watch Cubs games much, but he seemed really interesting on his interview with the Score the day he was hired. Jason joined the show and they talked about a podcast and other things. Andy was OK, but the broadcast was awkward at times last season, though understandable with the COVID / call road games, Andy's inexperience and being new as a team beyond Andy filling in for a sick Farmeo the previous season. I expect them to hit the ground running. Harry / Piersall still the gold standard, Rooney / Farmer next best, Hawk was OK with the Double D, after that not so much.