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The guy hitting .122 since the Minnesota series should be more worried about staying in the lineup.

Ron has turned full heel with LaRussa after seeing Tray take away his seat at the top of the troll pyramid. I love it! Ron was a Larussa hater but that became too popular so he switched. I also heard he's a big fan of Hansen and Nickleback now.

One of those "other 40" as Hawk would put it. Could have went other way, but the better team won. Good win. Lotta contributors. Vaughn the MVP tonight and Rodon battled.

it's pretty insane how many draft picks the Sox have contributing.

That middle inning pick off really flipped this one.

I find it in bad taste personally. Talking shit between players on the field? Have at it. I find heckling pro athletes from the stands ridiculous. You haven't earned the right to talk shit to players unless you have the talent and work ethic to be their peer on the field. If you're not on the field with them, then STFU. I'm of the opinion that hecklers should get tossed from the ballpark. There's no place for that in this day and age. That being said, if you want to call the Sports Blab stations and rip a player a new asshole, be my guest, because that is a space for fans.

That's legit. Brother.

Except NO ONE, ever, has played the game to win by one run. You play to score as many runs as possible.

I'm old. ?

Lol, Hendriks #2

As always with your posts, poorly informed and factually incorrect

I'm glad the Sox blew their international load on Yolbert Sanchez. Great move during that period.

We can't be the Rays because we...locked up our young talent? Woe is us.

is how I'm extremely annoyed by baseball media again. Takes me right back to 17 years old calling the tribune the cub-une and yelling at every baseball tonight segment that didn't mention the white sox. Biggest annoyances at the moment: - National baseball media falling over themselves to talk about how resilient and grindy the Mets have been since they've faced such devastating injuries that have forced some of their players to the sidelines for upwards of a few weeks ? RIP Conforto, i'm sure they also threw a funeral for you - *Fernando Tatis Jr catches a pop-up* . *my phone buzzes 17 times straight* "YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT TATIS JUST DID" "CAN YOUR SHORTSTOP do ThAt? ?" "SEE HOW A SUMMARY OF HOW OUR WRITERS REACTED TO TATIS INSANE CAN-Of-CORN CATCH!" - "The cubs just won a game...are they the greatest team in baseball?" I'm hurt! I'm hurting! The grievances are bubbling to my surface!

It Takes A Team . Rodon, Marshall, Ruiz, Crochet, Hendriks. Vaughn, Abreu, Mercedes, Grandal, Eaton, Leury, Mr. Anderson ! Special thanks to TLR for not bunting.

Ask the braves of the 90s.

This kid has that clutch factor man. I'm already seeing it. Gonna be a beast in the playoffs and when he gains experience at the plate.

It maybe was a little ungenerous to serenade Ray with the nah nah song as he strode to the showers but I enjoyed every second of it.

It was the good luck waffle cone...and we are all tied!!!!

Yea they can hit….. Wont get anywhere with this pitching staff though

Lmao you sound like a great individual! Each to his own I guess, lmao crying about the wave at a sporting event. Wish I had that luxury.

Wow. It’s a sporting event, with kids involved trying to take in the full experience. Hell it might be the ONLY game they get to go to this season, chill tf out. Not everybody has season tickets or gets to go to multiple games.

It may have been a tactical error to start with the foot long polish ?

Depends on the tone. I've never seen a player laugh so hard when a fan yelled "you aren't even as good as Parker brothers" to Milton Bradley. And he was a known nutcase.

There's no fanbase more obnoxious than Yankee fans. That being said, Sawx fans and Cub fans give them a run for their money.

HR Derbies are played out and not realistic. Rather see a Sac Bunt Derby.

Unfortunately game threads are superstitious, creatures of habit. TLR was mentioned in the last thread title, so he must be mentioned in this thread title. He will be mentioned in the thread titles until the team loses. It's just how game threads go.

Going to the game tonight, my 1st this year...I have heard great things about the energy in the ballpark this season. Looking forward to a great game from Rodon and the Sox teeing off on some starting LH pitching.....and plenty grilled onions on my dog or polish....and I hope that ice cream stand with the freshly made waffle cones is still there.

Can we just not with the TLR reference in the subject... does everything positive/negative about this guy gotta be the focus of Soxtalk? I realize this was probably done with tongue in cheek. But c'mon! Bad mojo for the game thread!

I just like the fact, that the hardest thing about hitting a baseball is making contact, is something he has mastered. They can and will make him stronger. I like his chances having a really nice career.

Cubs city connect look much like the neighborhood they represent. Cold and corporate

Because it is bad sportsmanship. You need to read the unwritten rules.

In 2021, this statement is like, 104% incorrect. How are you so bad at this?

Am I the only one here who doesnt want Gallo on this team?

The fish rots at the top, JR the only person with fingerprints on this disgraceful hire. In terms of "cheating", funny how Tony's only previous success came via steroids. Similar to the sanctimonious John Wooden's pyramid of success built on the millions handed out by Sam Gilbert. He was completely owned by the Dodgers and Reds, despite far greater talent. Pitched to the only hitter the Dodgers had and blew Game 1 and the series. Couldn't use a phone correctly the last playoff series he managed, costing them a game. Tony trashed legitimate HOFers like Ozzie Smith, trashed Yermin Mercedes for hitting a home run, was perfectly fine the Twins threw at his his own player. Perfectly fine with defending and giving a crony coaching job to one of all time cheaters, Mark McGwire. Tony's bullshit response to Jack McDowell's acquisition that Tony cheated in his first stint here as well as his traveling roids show in Oakland and Saint Louis. Bunting isn't the only source of Tony's intentional outs. His asinine hit and run attempts, Yermin, Yoan and others "caught stealing" because of Tony's "gut", in front of three true outcome Grandal. Tony's asinine bullpen management, Tony selecting Liam Hendriks as his designated runner in the tenth. The fact that team leaders like Tim Anderson and Lance Lynn openly called out Tony's bullshit and said they ignore the old fool. if the Sox do anything in the postseason before he's finally gone, it will be in spite of Tony La Russa, not because of him.

Nothing the Sox realistically have to offer would get much either, so I guess that's ok.

lol, such a sloppy article. How much of the Sox' 72 million guaranteed in 2024 is "FA money" and how much is arb buyout money? Isn't 3/4 of it arb buyout?

Is this from the ESPN app or something, or are you texting with caulfield?

Ive written about this in another thread, but the Sox do have a lot of money committed to '22, '23, and '24 as they don't have too many contacts coming off the books and a lot of the young core is due for Arb raises or steep increases from their extensions. For comparison sake, the Sox have $85M (not including the Arb 2 years for Madrigal and Cease and Arb 1 years for Kopech and Crotchet) in payroll committed to 2024 and the Cubs have just $5M. The Sox financial commitments are pretty much entirely healthy. There arent any true albatross contacts and the long term commitments all seem like good investments at this point. The roughly $52M/year investment into Keuchel, Hendricks, and Grandal will ultimately impact what theyre able to spend in the coming summers, however. For 2022, the Sox have $116M committed (The Arb raises for Gio and Engle and the buyout from Eaton probably even out), but need to replace Rodon and Lynn who have been aces for a whopping $12M combined. The Sox will also have to patch up the bench and bullpen as their are a few expiring contacts (Lamb and Hamilton) and arb casualties (Marshall, Fry, and maybe Leury). The Sox need to go cheap and homegrown for as much of these spots as possible. Eloy can replace Eaton, defense be damned. I think Kopech needs to be converted back into being a starter. That would allow the Sox to afford to retain Lynn or Rodon and have money to address their other needs. The only other in house option that will likely be ready to start in 2022 is Stiever and Mike Wright who would be significant downgrades, but are serviceable As for relievers, Burdi and Medieros would be the in house options to fill in whats missing in the pen and Pilkington (maybe as a starter) and Gomez are also intriguing. As for hitting, next up in the pipeline is Burger, Sheets, Zavala, Cespedes, Adolfo, and Romy Gonzalez. I would love to see Burger and Sheets get some big league at bats this year and to see how well how they both can defend. It's also important to see if Yermin ends up more toward his player of the month April or his .567 OPS since May. It would be huge if he maintains his standing as a cheap long-term stars in the lineup along with Madrigal and Vaughn. If there was ever a time to increase the payroll this next offseason is it. The 2021-22 free agent class (pending extensions) is stacked which fits perfectly in this window over the next 2 years. Yoan goes from 6.8M in 21 to 24.8M in 24. Robert goes from $3,5M in 21 to 12.5M in 24. Eloy goes from 4.3 to 13.8. Timmy Goes from 7.2 to 14. Yoan, Robert, Eloy, Hendricks and TA cost the Sox $33.1M in 2021. The commitment to those same players goes up to 80.1M in 2024. As I said earlier, that doesnt include the Arb raises/extensions for Madrigal, Cease, Kopech and Crotchet. Gio and Keuchel are also UFAs in 2024 so thats two more rotation spots to fill. If the Sox don't develop their young pitching, they will have the same problem the Cubs had come 2024. If I were Rick Hahn, I would consider my window 2021-2023 and make whatever moves they need to get over the hump.

Soria had a 2.15 FIP and 1.16 WHIP when the Sox traded him. Swarzak had a 1.03 WHIP. We all know how good Kahnle and Robertson were. Why wouldn't we want one of those guys instead of Evan Marshall? They barely cost anything.

Madrigal is incredible. One of the highest actually-approachable ceilings I’ve ever seen. It seems like once he starts learning the pitchers, a .400 OBP is going to be an absolute layup for him. I bet we see some .450 OBP+ seasons for him. I’d love to see a .500 One of the highest ceilings I’ve ever seen in a prospect

i would, personally. I think we'll have a tough 40 man next year and grabbing some middle reliever having a good year seems like a reasonable trade-off there. I would grab a middle reliever every year we are competitive to be honest, they are very cheap and I can't remember a single guy we got for a middle reliever worth anything.

Tony, I 100% understand the point youre making, and I may also prefer higher upside talent but if Nick Madrigal has a long MLB career - which looks like it may be the case - you just can't say it was a terrible pick or a bust. The reason I brought up his time to the majors is because plenty guys never reach the majors in the top 5, and many who do don't stick around for longer than a year or two. When analyzing the pick it's important to hold the standard to a level that we have seen in the past. Madrigal may never be a superstar player, but being a productive and useful major league player is a hit on the 4th overall pick. Fans can certainly set their bar wherever they wish, but setting it at an irrational level that is sans any historical analysis or probability isn't a fair way to critique and analyze a player IMO.

I just don't get the Madrigal hate. He is the type of player that, if he were on another team, we'd like to have. Gets on base, doesn't strike out, gets a lot of two-strike hits, and is just a pain in the ass to the opposing pitcher. His defense has improved, and he'll continue to get better. He's going to make mistakes, but as long as he's learning from the mistakes, he'll continue to improve. A guy who gets on base, even with slappy singles, is valuable, especially if he's followed up by the RBI guys. As the team gets better (hopefully), Madrigal's contributions will be more meaningful.

A lot of good points here, but I also think a lot of people struggle with the concept of a maturity curve for young players (see Robert, Vaughn, etc). Yes, some guys come up and light the world on fire, but most young players take time before they hit their stride. The reality is outside of an elite ability to make contact, we don’t know what Nick will look like as a finished player. He almost certainly will never hit for 15 to 20 HRs like some speculated at time of draft, but the defense, base-running, and basic gap power remain TBD. I think he eventually improves in all three areas, but how much will determine whether he’s a second division starter or a non-flashy but plenty valuable ~3 win player. It’s totally fair to be disappointed with him so far and in particular for passing on guys like Kelenic to select him, but it’s way too early to draw too hard of conclusions on the bulk of his game.