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Ricky made the playoffs with 2 starters. You rip managers and players all of the time. You're posts contradict each other all of the time, and you say others have no idea what they are talking about. It's really funny.

Thanks for sharing this, helps some folks see that our run differential is made up of both a good offense AND good pitching. But this graphic is also killing me that the "best" quadrant is bottom-right, not positioned in the top-right. Creator needs to flip that X axis!

And LaRussa is one of the worst managers in baseball, if not the worst. Me and Tony got something in common after all! I don't mention posters either, I respond to posts... weird. I also don't let posters on the internet get me so angry that I have to rage at them and block them. I stick to the topic that is being discussed and disagree/agree when I see fit. Aggro is telling posters to STFU and not talk to you, not responding to a posts content. Hope that helps!

Grandal has been 38% better of an offensive contributor and has a 10 year track record. I don't know why you want to put your name next to this argument.

It's because you don't watch the games. No. It's almost the exact opposite No, he should not be hitting ninth

yes he is that bad.

No. You can’t have it both ways. 5 posts up, you’re jerking off the roster for being like an “OTTP roster that has been building for 3-4 years after you keeping winning lopsided trades.” But then you’re going to come over the top and say “Well Tony might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but these guys are playing for him!” Which is it? Is the roster amazing or is Tony getting the most out of these guys? Sorry, but I believe the reports from Passan, Rosenthal and Jesse that multiple players don’t feel like Tony is on top of his game over....you. This isn’t a complicated roster to handle. Furthermore, I have a lot faith in this roster. What I don’t have faith in is the soon to be 77 year old in the dugout who may make a costly mistake when it matters the most. That’s not who I want to go into battle with. Sorry, my expectations are a little higher than that.

Yes, TLR made a mistake, and he admitted it. It's not the only one he's admitted. That doesn't warrant even 1% of the ridicule he receives from fans. I think it's fair to criticize moves that TLR makes. What I find rather offensive is the way posters on here think they are smarter about baseball than Tony LaRussa. That's total BS. That's why I wrote that NONE OF YOU COULD MANAGE A MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM. So, if you want to question Tony, fine. I don't have a problem. If you want to try to come off like you are a genius and TLR is an idiot, I think you demean yourself, because that's total BS. TLR has made some mistakes. But he's also done some very good things, and he has the team in first place despite missing two of his most important hitters, a subpar start from Jose Abreu, his starting catcher hitting .113, every bullpen pitcher blowing something (other than Kopech), a very slow start from Yoan Moncada, etc.

Yikes? This was the best you could do? Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal are wrong because Moncada rubs Madrigals head. Got it.

The team collapsed down the stretch last year and choked like a dog. If that happens this year with TLR I'll be the 1st person here ripping him. Until that happens I'm not going to rip him because that's literally the only thing that matters this year. It's like ripping Doc Rivers after 40 games because of his rotations. Wait until the playoffs, if the team doesn't win then, sure, rip him, but these managers are only here for one reason and it's to make the playoffs, however you do it, and then win in them. And Ray for the love of god STFU you're one of the worst posters here and you constantly are super aggro about it. I don't mention you for 2 weeks and all you do is respond to me over and over and over again. You're in your 30s right? That's just pathetic.

Show one source that says Vaughn is happy to sit on the bench. Also it is just hilarious to see this from you. All you did last year was blast Renteria every single day. He was the reason for all the failings . Facts: 1. Renteria's team outperformed expectations by much more than this team is. Renteria had 2 starting pitchers last year too. 2. Everyone had fun on the team last year; in fact, you were mad because they were having "too much fun" but now fun is great according to you and a sign of great management. 3. TA danced last year, Moncada smiled last year, everyone who pitched out of the bullpen was lights out. Yet last year all you did everyday was rip the manager. Now this year? Complete opposite and here you are citing reasons that were prevalent last year when you demanded the managers head.

To all the LaRussa stans in this thread, these questions still have not been answered in the endless back and forth: 1. What has Tony LaRussa done well in his time as manager? Just please name one or two things. 2. What is man management? Renteria had his teams playing their ass off every single night. It's May 10th and there have been multiple reports of the players asking WTF is this guy doing here. Is that man management lol? When Ricky was here, the bullpen was lights out. I still argue Ricky should have been fired because in the playoffs it looked like he was going to have a heart attack every time they showed him and you gotta be calm in those spots as the manager. 3. Where does LaRussa improve the team - in what facet? I see people in this thread giving LaRussa for playing Vaughn in LF - huh? He would sit his ass all the time for a guy that is not even in the big leagues anymore. He has let Billy Hamilton and Leury Garcia consistently hit in HUGE situations late in the game. He said he was looking for a single with the tying run at the dish in the 8th inning and 1 out. Would the Sox have won all those games? Obviously not. Could they have won one or two of them if their manager didn't insist on letting Billy Hamilton hit? Maybe. So... what has LaRussa done well?

The lowest BABIP over a full season is .196. There have been a total of two under .200 since WW2. Grandal currently sits at .119. I am going to guess Grandal's BABIP improves from now until September. https://community.fangraphs.com/the-ten-lowest-babips-since-1945/

This is Cody Parkey all over again. Dude missed 4 FG's in a 34-22 win over Detroit. "Ah he might suck, but the Bears still won! It's all good!" You knew you couldn't really count on him, but the talent on the rest of the team was overcoming his mistakes. When crunch time came in the playoffs......guess who cost the team?

Wait what? Sale was locked up to a deal that went two more seasons when they dealt him, and the Sox were super careful with how they pitched him, if his arm showed any fatigue or if he complained of forearm tightness they rested him. if anyone did the "rode hard and put away wet" plan with him, it was Boston. Chicago had him dial down his velocity to preserve his arm and he gave them 7 good years, Boston said throw as hard as you want and his arm blew up in 2.

I'm totally expecting the Twins to sweep the Sox and then go on a run solely because I have PTSD from Sox/Twins over the years. (Note: intentional hyperbole)

Eloy was on pace for a 5+ WAR season in a non-shortened season. I can’t seriously believe that you advocate for acquiring Andujar to play the outfield. This has to be a joke, right?

I love takes like this. When is the last time you saw a real OF dealt in the 2nd week of May? It just doesn't happen.

Good call @caulfield12 lol

If he managed like this in Oakland and St Louis he never would have won jack crap or a single ring or be in the HOA!

You deserve an answer because of your intensity. All I can say as a LaRussa supporter is, "I don't know (what he has done well)." I just think it's very early in the season and despite mega injuries the Sox have a good/pretty excellent record. It's a cop out to just look at the record, but it's also not a cop out as a Sox fan to say I don't dislike the job LaRussa has done so far. I know as somebody with concerns this answer probably would frustrate you. As a fan I go by the eye test a lot and I see a banged-up team doing just fine. He's the manager of this banged-up team with a not so bad record, so I don't despise his work.

So much drama on here some days.

I guess I am kind of assuming Goodwin gets a shot soon too. Lamb is at least left-handed and the Sox clearly like him. If you pencil in Vaughn in LF, Garcia/Goodwin/Engel in CF and Eaton in RF, it's kind of hard to have Hamilton on the bench with two of Garcia/Goodwin/Engel on the bench. Especially if the Sox trust Mendick in RF. I like Hamilton as a guy/teammate. He's obviously quick and good outfielder but this guy is absolutely useless at the plate. He makes me yearn for Leury.

Man, @chitownsportsfan....

I really DGAF about "the most respected reporters in the game" have to say about TLR. Because you know what? Those guys don't know their ass from their elbow when it comes to judging the mood in the Sox' clubhouse. You know what I do see? I see TA dancing and hitting over 300 and playing the best defense he's played in years, probably since the stretch in 2018. I see Moncada smiling, having fun, fucking with TA and rubbing Madrigal's little head and jumping into his pitcher's arms that just threw a no hitter. I see Andrew Vaughn taking his walks, making diving plays in LF and saying himself that it's nice not having to worry about playing every day and having a chance to just watch the vets. I see a journeyman AAAA player that showed up late being handled about as well as he possibly can by his manager (who called him out in the media in a subtle, nuanced way I'd add) and who is the story of baseball so far. I see a team that is near 1st in every meaningful statistical category: pitching, defense, offense. Surely the manager gets some credit for that. Sometimes the particle is both in and out of the box and it's a measurement problem us mere mortals haven't figured out yet. TLR has been bad tactically and some of the credit for how great the Sox are playing goes to him. There's the response you seemed to demand of me.

Sox are in first and nobody is running away with this Division. To make a panic move now is insane. Engel will be back in a couple weeks and solve a lot of issues. Vaughn is not a disaster in left and is starting to get dialed in at the plate. They will most likely have Robert back for the last month of the season and just maybe Eloy as well.

He has three rings, brother. Ignore that the league has changed and every baseball thing he's done since 2011 has been laughably bad. If La Russa wasn't named Tony La Russa, his performance would be hated by everyone so far.

Rockies aren’t going to have a new GM give away too much like they did with Arenado...even with Blackmon dramatically underperforming. And White Sox usually don’t take on bigger than $10+ million commitments during the season. Who knows, the late stage career “big name” player addition is typical Sox, although often more sizzle/marketing than steak.

Yes, he is that horrific! He has cost us at least 3 to 4 games. The season is still young, don't kid yourself and think he won't lose more games for us. He doesn't know how to put a lineup together, and clearly doesn't know our bullpen in terms of how and when to use them. He still makes bad game decisions. I seriously don't think he even listens to his coaches. As far as the starters go, he has often pulled them way too soon. Yes when they only go 5 or 6 innings you need to use the bullpen which is as you say, is kind of common. However good managers use their bullpen effectively and wisely and TLR does not. The only reason TLR is here is because Hawk Harrelson fired Tony 35 years ago and Jerry didn't have the backbone or common sense to stop it. How ironic today that the same owner didn't have the balls back then to override his GM then and STOP the firing, but now 35 later. he has the audacity to override Hahn and make him hire TLR. I seriously do not understand why there is still all this defending of Jerry. He did these same dumb decisions with the Bulls...letting Krause get rid of Jordan and Jackson and keeping Gar/Pax too long. Again "we will win this year not because of TLR, but in spite of him".

I too don't love Gallo and absolutely would be pissed if we dealth Kelley/Crochet for him. Seems like a panic move. I am in the stand pat, or sign someone camp.

Going 5 games with a slash of .000/.636/.000 is honestly insane.l

They will also balance out with Abreu hitting again, Giolito pitching like a TOR guy, Hendriks not giving up a HR every 3rd flyball, Foster having an ERA that is in the same universe of his peripheral performance and Heuer's BABIP not being one of the highest of any reliever in the league. They will also balance out when the Sox have one of the four outfielders they expected to break camp with healthy.

How so? His OPS is .620. Collins was at .950 at AAA. how is that quite similar to .620

We are leading baseball in run differential and yet we are only 4th in overall winning percentage. We are 2 games behind our pythagorean number. We could have been putting away teams with this hot streak, yet we are only a half a game ahead of a team that has $100,000,000 less in payroll than us. While you point to downside flukes, you didn't mention that guys like Yermin, Rodon, and Cease aren't likely to keep up their fluke seasons either. These things will balance out. If we have a manager giving away games with his ignorance of the game in 2021, the team needs to be all of the more better to make up those extra games. Look the whole idea behind Tony is that he would come in here and be a motivator, and he wouldn't make stupid mistakes. Even if you don't believe Soxtalk on this topic, when you have NATIONAL writers mocking Tony's abilities AND reporting that the players themselves are wondering WTF their manager is doing, you SHOULD be able to open up your eyes and see that this team is winning in spite of their manager, and they could be doing even better with a capable MLB manager.

It does in MLBThe Show GM Mode! #Lawyered

From Reddit: Big takeaways: - Central is the Sox for the taking - This is without the power showing up, and we know the Sox have power.

LOL about the NL nuance of the foolish ghost runner rule, the hyperbole, and the lack of perspective by those who still rail about Tony not knowing who could be the ghost and not choosing the speedy Jose Abreu instead. The fact is that Tony has done an amazing job with a team that has a starting catcher hitting .113 and a starting outfield that now features the vaunted Vaughn hitting .262 with no home runs, Leury, who is hitting .212, and Mendick just up from the Minors. LaRussa will win Manager of the Year if he keeps this ship sailing with all the holes it has in the hull. First place but I get it...rats only jump off sinking ships but now I know what they do in the meantime.

After his experience/s the last two weeks of 2020, as well as Game 3 (not even sure RR got to pick the starter)...I'd honestly take Renteria, because he'd keep the team lose/more relaxed. Of course, there's a downside of that "friendliness" in terms of discipline and holding players accountable, being the Bad Cop suddenly isn't so easy when you have established a certain tenor. And it's not like Joe Maddon is suddenly looking like the second coming anymore.

Let it go man. TLR might not be the sharpest tool in the shed anymore but so far these guys are producing for him. IMO the managers main job is man management: getting his guys ready to play 162 games from day one of camp to the start of the year to the dog days of August to the stretch run and for this club playoffs. TLR will be tested in the fall. Until then he gets a pass fail grade and so far it's a pass.

I don’t agree with many of the specific opinions of the two super-positive posters being attacked here, but I find them a welcome counterweight to the equally extreme negative posters who outnumber them 10-to-1. I’m surprised there aren’t more like them given that, objectively speaking, the team has given fans more to be excited about in 2021 than at almost any time in franchise history. And I don’t understand why they seem to touch such a raw nerve here.

The saving grace of this season will be that the AL Central is bad and the AL in general is down. The Sox should be able to dominate this division (no mush) and beat up on a lot of bad AL teams. They're damn good, but they'll need Luis and Eloy come October (if they get there*) *have to add that given the historic track record of rooting for this team.

McCann obviously will get better as he is hitting now (babip and HR/FB way lower than career norms) but his Sox stats also were so good because he was protected and put in favorable spots. He likely is more of a 95 wrc+ true talent guy while grandal is like a 115-120 wrc+ guy.

I thought we did winners threads and didn't see one so I started it for good luck, figuring we as a board forgot the 'that's a winner' thread.

Gabe Kapler, SFG Not sure TLR can deserve it over Francona when the Indians dumped Hand, Lindor, Carrasco, Carlos Santana, etc. Shaved $40 million off payroll to get down to under $50 million, lowest in the entire majors. White Sox are at roughly $130 million. Just 1/2 game separates them.

I think this has been stated ad nauseum but the results of this group of players will not change how bad Larussa is. Bad managers can win baseball games and World Series. This teams results will be in spite of their manager not because of him.

Hopefully we don’t get them going.

We have been doing winners threads since at least 05

You know what's tiresome about all your posts? They're usually slanted and riddled with absurd whataboutisms. Shut up, jaysus.

Everybodys deathly silent when things are going well, lol. Keep it up and Sox are gonna put Soxtalk out of business!