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I absolutely loathe the Moncada is lazy or disinterested narrative. I am pretty disappointed with Steve Stone’s comments, but it doesn’t surprise me that a boomer has boomer-takes. Anyone who watches Moncada on a regular basis should be able to see the effort he puts into honing his craft as a baseball player. He takes that craft to the field and to me, it looks pretty and I love it. The “balls-to-the-wall” style of baseball doesn’t work for him. His style is steady. He works his ass off to perfect his technique and trusts that technique to take care of itself on the baseball field. You don’t improve your defense as much as Moncada has by being lazy. It’s literally impossible. I 100% do not think a lazy person would bust his ass to improve on the defensive side of the game. Maybe to hit more home runs, but not to play GG caliber defense. The dude is also a smart baseball player, pop-ups aside, he makes good decisions on the field, and that tells me he’s also a student of the game. Abreu looks different when he plays because he’s a different type of player. He literally needs to go “all out” to be an average defender. Yes, a lot of it is natural ability, but Moncada’s defense wouldn’t be improving every year solely because of natural ability. It would be regressing. I personally love watching Moncada play on both sides of the game and I’ve never looked at his steady presence as disinterested or unmotivated. I welcome it as it avoids instances such as grindy Madrigal freaking out because he has to make a quick play on a ground ball hit to him. Every person/player is different and everyone approaches things in a different way. Just because it doesn’t look the same, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Stone Pony should just shut the fuck up. He should understand his own style of play had to be different because he didn’t have 1/4 of the talent Moncada has for the majority of his career. And I highly doubt Pony has ever worked half as hard as Moncada has in an offseason. Moncada’s work will pay off, and when he’s playing at an elite level, it will look exactly the same as it does now, and we should commend him for it.

Madrigal can only dream of having the arm strength, ability to come in on balls and throw across his body...and generally dominate a game from a defensive standpoint. He’s not as flashy as TA, but he’s smooth and steady. But Nick is the darling grinder/“dirt dog” along with Eaton.

Keep doing what you’re doing, Yoan. And please leave Twitter, Steve.

I‘d rather watch Moncada mail it in on a routine grounder from time to time than having to watch bad “gritty“ players.

Somehow I have a feeling nobody will say the same thing about Kelenic or Lucas Giolito if they sign extensions. Each Latin American player is different. Sal Perez was given a second extension because he was outperforming the first, something like $7 million for five years...which he signed simply to guarantee a better future for his family. He got yet another one recently and is having one of his best all-around seasons so far in his career. Not every Cuban is Puig or Yoenis Cespedes, for example. If you remove the Covid-19 year...let’s assume he ends up somewhere between 750-825 OPS, maybe 850, he’s one of the 25-30 most valuable players in the sport due to his defense. Was Abreu coasting after the first couple of seasons of his first deal? His 2014-15 numbers seemed almost like outliers or anomalies until 2020.

If you can't find it at Binnys, you can find it at Tony's

He’s still got the Covid long haul. Yeah thats it.

I think the idea he isn’t interested in baseball is literally the worst take in Sox history

Is it possible that La Russa, Hahn, or someone else in the organization, is using Stone to deliver a message to Moncada? Perhaps he has been criticized by management, but it hasn't been effective and this is simply another way to make the point. I have no idea, just wondering. This has to be coming from somewhere. I don't believe that Stone is simply inventing this public criticism, all on his own, for no reason.

Caulfield, does Tatis Jr know you’re cheating on him with Kelenic?

Moncada seems to carry himself in a low-gear, meaning he doesn't come across as overly intense or animated. I think thats just his personality and completely unrelated to Covid. I was skeptical he'd develop into an adaquate third baseman and I'm delighted to admit I could not be more impressed with his defense at the hot corner. I also think he's capable of more at the plate but a 340-360 OBP nd 8-830 OPS plays anywhere.

He’s had like 3/4 bad plays with fly balls…has there been any other instance to really criticize Yoan on? He’s been pretty stellar on D otherwise and the bat has been good, even if there is still hope for improvement. I also think a lot of people like Stone don’t like to admit that a superior athlete like Yoan doesn’t have to all out hustle at all times like the less talented “scrappy” guys…the results are what should matter, not what an old curmudgeon (and I like Stone) perceives.

Sox take game 2 of the double header with good pitching from Kopech, Heuer, Bummer and Hendriks and good hitting from Moncada, Vaughn and Eaton!! Go Sox! Oh, Bummer is the truth.

Exactly. You don't improve as much as Yoan has at 3B and from the right side of the plate without working on your craft. People mistake rah rah for passion too often. Not everybody is well served being Hendricks like. In fact in baseball it's almost always better to be an even keel type.

Compared to Jose Abreu most players are going to be seen as not working hard. He also doesn't play with the emotion of Tim Anderson, but few do. Yoan is a great talent who plays terrific defense (except on popups) no matter what he's doing at the plate. He can also carry the club at times offensively. I have little to no problems with his play.

Sounds like Stone has reached the DGAF portion of his White Sox broadcasting career. This could get interesting. For me, I like when people bring their honest opinions, whether I agree with them or not. I hate the "taking the company line" speak, as it's so transparent.

Moncada has never seemed to me to really enjoy playing baseball. It often seems he would rather be doing anything else. But he has worked his ass off, and his talent is off the charts. I am glad he is on the team.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31440076/why-chicago-white-sox-mlb-most-interesting-best-team Its a deservedly complimentary report of the team. What's amazing was something I didn't realize until after I had read it: they didn't mention TA once. This is the former batting champ and one of the most charismatic personalities is the game, but yet there is so much other talent on the team that demands attention. It just speaks to how loaded they are.

His starts have been pushed back, im putting 2 and 2 together

I have started to really appreciate what Hamilton brings to the club. His speed shows up quite frequently on both offensive and defense. His defense in center is so important that we just have to live with his hitting until Engel is available. If the choice is Hamilton or Garcia...I pick Hamilton.

I hope he retires after the Dodgers lose to the Sox in the World Series.

Fortunately in today's world a tweet like that is money. You gotta love a stupid old boomer winning at the millennial's game. It's all about the followers and eyeballs.

Stony would make a horrible manager apparently lol ostracizing a top 3 Player on this team for no reason

I like Steve Stone, but his assertion that Moncada is lazy is...bad. Moncada has a shit ton if talent and makes a lot of things look effortless, especially on defense. He does have swagger, but it’s a more subdued swagger, definitely in comparison to TA. The guy is one of the best 3Bs in baseball. Lazy players don’t become the best in their field.

Hot takes a flying right here.

we saw this coming miles away when he should have been focused on reaching the next level of his baseball career, he decided to make a music video. He's going to never reach that high potential. He'll be good just based off talent, but he's fine keeping it at that level.

So Stone admonishes Moncada for being too aggressive in claiming fly balls and then admonishes Moncada for a lack of effort. Got it.

I've always like Stone, but Jesus, show a little tact, my guy.

I trust Stone knows what he's saying in terms of assessing effort. He is among the best analysts in baseball. I would like an explanation from Stoney regarding your point. Moncada OBVIOUSLY is extremely into the game when playing defense. Man, he's ready for those rockets hit at him at 3B. He's right on almost every smash to his left or right. I dunno how he is on slow rollers (I haven't noticed as much yet), but I've been amazed at his "alertness" and "reflexes" at the hot corner. I would assume to make those plays you have to be "into the game."

The only thing Moncada is disinterested in is calling for pop-ups

Madrigal refused to run for 1st after the dropped 3rd stoke in the first game yesterday. Steve should turn his ire toward him instead. Not a good look!

I'm going to listen a bit more coming from Stone than I would most announcers or media types. I think you also need to consider you can't see thoughts and emotions with 100% clarity. I've coached players that look like they care but really didn't and players that don't show emotion but really care. I'm thinking right now of a freshman who played horrible on day one and showed almost no emotion, like she didn't care. Coincidentally later I was having dinner at a different course and she was on the putting green at 8 pm. The pro told me she had been hitting balls since 4 o'clock. You don't always see the commitment and passion.

Anybody that watches Yoan knows he enjoys playing the game. He doesn't bust ass all the time because he's Robbie Cano 2.0 and his body just won't let him. Is what it is. He's a fucking 5 WAR 3B people need to just let the idea go that he's going to be a 8-9 WAR superstar. That's still a helluva player to have on your squad. Steve Stone is a fucking joke. He should be reprimanded for running his mouth on Twitter. This isn't the first or the last time he'll do it. It doesn't help anything. In fact it actively hurts the team's image. I feel that Stone is starting to think he's bigger than the team, frankly. Jason has been feeding his ego too long. He needs a reality check he's a fucking long retired player that doesn't have a legacy as a player on the South Side to run his mouth off like he does.

The worst criticism a sports media personality can levy against a pro athlete is that he isn't trying. Stone just did that. I am tired of Stone and Bennetti for a variety of reasons, this being the latest, but I don't want to get into that, beyond responding to this outrageous comment. Perhaps Stone needs to take off another week to visit his dogs, or perhaps, he should consider retirement.

I mean, maybe spend less time posting in every thread on this board and actually do 8 seconds of research. Major League Operations Developer: Brett Phillips Analysts: Wataru Ando, Emily Blady, Jonathan Lewyckyi Coordinator of Baseball Information: Devin Pickett Baseball Video Coordinator: Bryan Johnson Technical Video Coordinator: Ross Mika

Hawaii and Texas....not exactly a perfectly overlaid Venn diagram there, haha.

Yes, Moncada has always been in great shape. However, that is not necessarily an indication of his drive to be a great baseball player. Perhaps he just likes taking care of his body.

Hustle is great and all but that ball couldn't have come down more than 10 ft from home plate. If that's not the catcher's play then, apart from a pop-up behind HP, I'm not sure what is.

He doesn't say it on the telecast, only Twitter. So I give him no credit.

Yoan makes everything look effortless (except popups) , especially on defense. But I never equated that with a lack of hustle. People gave Cano shit for dogging it all the time and he managed to have a HOF-caliber career if it hadn’t been for the whole PED thing.

Like I’m going to read your crap

Gold glove defense and is hitting nice offensively but sure he only wants to make music looooool

I’m fine with him dogging it to avoid injury

Moncada seems injury prone when he goes all out, i.e. legging out a ground out. Rarely do I see a time where is loafing or lazy on a defensive play, with the exception of the inexplicable issues he is having with popups. Between Covid recovery and being a bit injury prone I think he is finding a balance between all out effort and staying healthy and on the field. He helps no one if he has to sit out banged up. I am not entirely sure what Stone is inferring in those tweets though.

Just to clarify: My suggestion that Moncada may not be the kind of guy, who could remain highly motivated after getting a huge contract, has nothing to do with his being a Latino. That is why I said that Abreu was such a great mentor, and I might add role model. In fact, it is only human nature to be a little complacent, once one is guaranteed a fortune. It has nothing to do with his nationality,

Welcome to Soxtalk!

I‘ll just go ahead and post caulfield‘s response for him. We must not forget about:Lance Broadway Rocky Biddle Matt Ginter Kip Wells Keon Barnum Courtney Hawkins Carson Fulmer Kris Honel.and other failed first round picks. No other team ever drafts busts in the first round. Something about Tatis/Puig and the Kansas City Royals. Damn millennials!

This team has 6 of its own 1st round picks on the active roster.

I think it's mostly mental with Gio. When he gets too amped or uptight his mechanics go to shit and he has a hard time finding his release points.

That's just one comment tho.