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Nick Madrigal showed us two things in his time here. An 80 hit tool and an 80 injury tool. Everything else about him was not what we expected. Maybe he gets there eventually, but his defense and baserunning where decidedly average as a whole. The grinder fan club can stan him all they like, but when 2Bs are a dime a dozen, it's more like Nick Mehdrigal. Kimbrel may have struggled since he got here, but remember 2 things. #1, the pen outside of Liam was pretty scary at this point, including Heuer who was supposed to be a vital bridge guy. #2, Kimbrel had put up the best stats of any reliever on the market at that point, and Rick Hahn beat everyone to him without giving up a current starter or top prospect.

The Tepera trade was very solid. Horn is fine and may, possibly, eventually, become a contributor in the Cubs pen in 2023; however, he's a 35+ guy no matter how you slice it. The A's gave up Daniel Palencia who is a better prospect than Horn for Chafin who is objectively worse than Tep. Cesar obviously hasn't been great, but it would've been a bit short-sighted to just plug Leury in a second and take him out of the super-utility role. The idea of Cesar was that he'd be a league average bat (more pop than contact) with plus defense. Hasn't exactly worked out, but its hard to blame Hahn for that. Picking him up from the second place team in the division that you have a super series with at the end of the year was a nice boost. Looking back, Pilkerton was too steep of a price considering the results both have had, but their is no guarantee that Pilkerton's stuff will play at the bigs during the title window. Regardless, I dont think Pilkerton was netting more than Cesar so their isnt much opportunity cost worry here. Then obviously, the Kimbrel Trade. If the plan was for an eighth inning guy, there were cheaper ways to do this. If Kimbrel were a guy like 2016 Andrew Miller that would give you 2 innings of shutdown relief every other night then fine. If you wanted to put Kimbrel at closer and move Hendricks into that role, then I'm good with that. Sox talk legend Codi Heuer got absolutely shelled today. Even prior to today I dont think anyone here would rather put him out there in the 8th instead of Kimbrel. The biggest issue is the Madrigal part. The thought was that Cesar would provide similar value to Madrigal next year, while contributing to the title run this year. By 2023, Jose Rodriguez may be able to be the starting second basemen. To a tanking team like the Cubs, getting an MLB ready asset that wont impact the teams mission of putting a disgusting product out there day in and day out is a dream. The bigger concern is more the opportunity cost of what else Madrigal could've brought back. The right teams had to value a second-base-only guy with a torn hammy who relies on his hit tool. If the Marlins/Pirates/Rockies' scouts aren't impressed with Madrigal you can build a trade around him. Simple as that. Sure Bryant would've slotted in well, but there was no club option on Bryant and he would almost definitely leave after this year. I also really don't think that Hoyer and ownership would be willing to trade him to the South Side without a huge tax. On the emotional attachment scale, I think TA=Javy, Jose=Rizzo, and Bryant=Robert. Kimbrel is like Hendricks. Love the guy, but he's more of a mercenary than a guy you've been attached to for years. I root for the Sox, but that wouldve hurt me. There has been and will be debate on what Madrigal should've been cashed in for, but I think Hahn's process was sound here. The starters were dominant prior to the deadline and Lopez has been great as the #6 since. The lineup was producing and still had Robert, Grandal, and Eloy coming back. And the bullpen was very good, but there was a need for another reliable high-leverage guy so that Crochet and Kopech could avoid being over/misused. From the outside looking in, I think Hahn is a hell of a GM. Like Theo, he will have his warts when you look back at his tenure, but he brought back the Sox from purgatory by nailing the Sale, Quintana, and Eaton trades. If Hahn had a bigger budget, he may have given Zack Wheeler and offer so big that he told is in-laws to give him some space. Hahn obviously preferred Wheeler over Keuchel and that would've been a huge difference in this title window. If the Sox win the WS, the answer is A+. If not it's a C or worse. Pretty much no matter what he did during the deadline the answer would be the exact same. As for your question, I'd probably go B or C if I had to choose. I think he showed that he can be a somewhat unemotional buyer which is a good thing. I think some GMs would be more attached to their #4 overall pick and wouldn't sell him at an injury discount.

What I want to know is why we're assuming illegal immigrants from Haiti (or, in general, from Central and South America) are bringing Covid-19 into the US at higher rates than the US population is already spreading it in some of those same border or immigration-heavy states like Texas, Florida and Arizona?

Ask me again in November. Then ask me again in June. Then ask me again in 2023.

Sox win the series and the season series against the soon to be former Racial Stereotypes.

This is why I have hated the trade from the start. Given the volatility of relievers and Kimbrel's recent history, it was possible that Heuer could be better than Kimbrel the remainder of the year (after the trade). We ALSO gave up Madrigal, who could very well be an all-star for years. The Sox will owe an aging reliever 18m next year if they want to keep him. That money would be better spent on somebody like Semien. They would also still have Heuer, who has the stuff to bounce back and be great like he was last season. That trade just sucked. Plain and simple.

Oh my, you're still here stanning for this move. Amazing. I'll say it probably for the 30th time. Madrigal for Kimbrel would have been laughable at the beginning of the season. Thirty innings from an aging expensive reliever should have never ever changed that. It's absolutely amazing to me you still think this was a smart move.

I will allow it.

At this point, I am willing to consider that Yermin Mercedes would be a better playoff option at DH than Andrew Vaughn. (Shudder.)

Indians*

With all due respect, I hate grading it now. If you graded the 2005 deadline before the season ended, anyone would have said “meh”. After what Blum did in the WS, it’s considered an amazing deadline.

Well, hopefully that is an easy way to keep him off the playoff roster.

I gave it an A for bringing a lot of anxiety to all the geniuses on this board who think they could do better.

Hmmm…I can’t think of anything about Haitians, Central, and South Americans that would make good, red-blooded Americans feel differently about them. I’ll have to think about this a little more..

Not possible.

So if the double vax and booster don't prevent the virus completely (the 'mild cases in the double vacced actually have been fairly nasty; Chris Rock said it's something you don't want to get), it still seems wacky to allow 100,000 people at football games and concerts where the vaxxed still are going to get covid and spread it. The anti vaxxers can still claim distrust of politicians and scientists when all this hypocrisy is going on. The anti vaxxers say 'it's my body. I ain't trusting these people with double standards.'

Excellent post by jerksticks. Those who are vaccined are getting covid. Here in Lawrence, KU coach Bill Self got Covid in a high school gym and he's been double vaxxed. Rogan was vaxxed and got it. Those two women on the View got it Friday and are vaxxed. So yes your post is on spot here. What I've been trying to say is the vaccine hesitant have the right to not be vaxxed when the country is allowing all this stuff. If they are checking vaccine cards, big deal, like I said the vaxxed are contracting Covid and spreading it too. Like jerksticks said it's criminal to check vaccine cards at the pizza shop in NYC or anywhere when 100,000 go to a michigan football game. U wonder why the anti vaccers don't trust the government when folks are streaming over the border with Covid or getting bussed or flown to cities all over the USA as well? This is not just a pandemic of the unvaccinated like politicans say; there's a lot of people at fault.

Man, after all these years, you still just suck at this. You’d think you'd wise up just a little bit over time. The White Sox ran away and hid from the division during the 2021 season. It was unlike most other seasons we are used to. The Sox bullpen, at times, was a strength for this team but also inconsistent. The Sox went out and got Ryan Tepera but over the following few days, teams across the league really bolstered their stretch rosters and the Sox decided to make a strength even stronger. Craig Kimbrel was far and away the best relief pitcher on the market. You can disagree, but you'd also be wrong. It was a guy many of us were asking for, and Hahn confirmed him and Williams had their eye on him since May as one of their ideal acquisitions. Now, see if you can stay with me here, this is where it gets a little nuanced, and I fear I may confuse you. The playoffs are more important than the regular season. I know it's hard to fathom, but the impact a dominant reliever can have in the playoffs is much greater than in the regular season, especially when recently we've seen starters get pulled incredibly early in postseason games. If Kimbrel is lights out this postseason and contributes meaningful, impactful innings on the way to the World Series.....I don't give a FUCK about a game he blew in the middle of August. I also won't give a fuck what Nicky Slapdick does for the Cubs in 2024 either. I hope he does great. But he is never going to be a true impact player and became expendable while sitting on the IL when the Sox were chasing a World Series. So yes, in conclusion.....you and Ron can have a circlejerk over Madrigal and Kimbrel struggling with the Sox. You hated the trade from the moment it was announced and won't hesitate to tell everyone the moment his name gets brought up. But I'm not willing to grade a trade when history is still being written. Kimbrel still has the opportunity to make a major impact for this team when it matters most. If he does that, the trade will be a win for hopefully both teams involved. If he shits the bed when it matters most, then it was a bad acquisition. But I'm also not going to hang Hann and Co. out to dry for acquiring the best available RP on the market and using an injured player as the main trade piece during their World Series window. That's what I want my GM to do.

This angle is nonsense. They acquired them for the stretch run, to hopefully get a 1 or 2 seed and have home field which they did not get because those guys stink.

Well fuck me eh?

The correct answer is that it’s way too early to give a grade. All the guys the Sox acquired were brought here for October. It’s not October yet.

WE HAVE A POSTER COMPARING ELOY AND CEASE TO MADRIGAL AND HEUER

It's ridiculous to grade it now, but consider the source.

Bryant would not come to the south side. He wanted to go to the west coast and the Cubs wanted to accommodate him.

They have no line and no weapons to go around him. By the time they might be able to build a team around him, he will be gone.

Fan base was praying for a month that the cute new QB would fix all that was wrong with the offense and offensive personnel. It's what football fans do. Dumasses. If we're lucky, we'll have White Sox baseball to hold our interest for another 5 weeks. Then count the days until pitchers and catchers report. Don't waste your time on the Bears. Get a reading list. Join a film review group. Take up a hobby.

I truly wish I could have a conversation with a MAGA follower that doesn’t end up in personal attacks, but the only people I’ve been able to have conversations with are people who are liberal, never Trump republicans or independents. I can’t get the Trump wing to have an actual civilized conversation where we are even on the same wave length. 43 dead out of 9,000 is 0.000477778%. Assuming the rest were vaccinated, that is a low percentage and even the most skeptical should realize that. These were also deaths from covid and not the vaccine. That percentage of deaths is also low too and I am not saying it doesn’t happen but it is extremely rare.

Grading with hindsight is cheating.

This is true too. There are too many people with anecdotal evidence and sharable memes of misinformation that the vaccine hesitant chose to read and listen to this rather than even consider the statistical evidence. It’s sad.

5-2 the rest of the way. Let’s go. Get used to winning games!

The Sox would have also faced a challenge making the playoffs in the NL West this season. Jerry may not have even bothered to try, would have a permanent built in excuse for waving a perennial wild card carrot in light of not being able to compete against two “big market teams”.

I’d say C for the players the team acquired, but voted D since they should have gotten another cheap starter and reliever or two to help get them over the final two months. Could have also used a legitimate 3rd or 4th OF, Goodwin should be nowhere near a playoff roster as he fails at every aspect of the game. Kimbrel only made sense to cover their incompetent manager, and to free Kopech to stretch out, but that didn’t happen. They also had no intention to replace Liam, despite the fact he is better equipped to handle higher leverage or multi-inning appearances, so it didn’t make sense to commit those resources (players and $s) based on an eighth inning role Crochet is fine covering. There error will be compounded if they pick up Kimbrel option to try to save face or salvage something from the deal. Tepera and Cesar are solid acquisitions based on what was available. Like the half dozen other costly old players Hahn has picked up over the past two years, the team would have been better served spreading the wealth and getting two or three additional Tepera / Cesar pieces over an “all in” Kimbrel piece, especially in light of what was given up. Heuer is the more painful loss of the two for me, both this season and beyond.

McKenzie was whupped last time out. Sox have a strong lineup today. Time to keep the line moving and destroy the Guardians to take the season series 10-9. Otherwise Cleveland joins Kansas City with a 10-9 advantage.

I imagine that not a lot of people will be watching the 12:10 Chicago at Cleveland game but instead will be watching the 12:00 Chicago at Cleveland game.

I think people who are vaccine hesitant or find excuses mistake the vaccine for a cure. But they also disregard how there’s still breakthrough infections and use those to drive the narrative not to get it.

I don't think this at all. I think this is all quite intentional and part of his long running act.

I also think Greg has confused the words cure and vaccine.

Regardless of their post season results, Cesar and Kimbrel are a big fat F.

Failure to get a RF and dramatically overpaying for Kimbrel are huge negatives. Missing on Escobar is still mystifying to me. It will take HUGE contributions from Kimbrel and Cesar in the postseason to raise the grade. Since the Sox FO saw Cleveland waive the white flag before the deadline, any deals had to be to strengthen us in the postseason. I think we gave up way too much equity to not get a RF.

And the Padres are eliminated from the playoffs after their mega off season and in season additions lmfao

A manager's job is to make it gel. If you're looking for a reason, that's the place to start. No offense to Tony, I'm talking in general. Reason two is that fans like us tend to overvalue their own players.

They certainly need to make a splash in the offseason. Need a RF. Need another starter (or two). There is so much talent in this lineup and for some reason its just not gelling right now. I think it will in the playoffs though. If not - BLOW IT UP!

I do hope when I get Covid (it seems with all the new variants it's inevitable) the vaccine in me does keep my case mild. I consider lost of taste and smell to be a big deal not a small inconvenience. Not to mention the possible breathing problems. It's alarming that the people I know who have been vaxxed and got covid anyway have had some pretty annoying symptoms. Nobody I konw that has been vaxxed has been hospitalized but there are cases of vaxxed people being hospitalized when they get covid.

Why does our guy with an inside source have to be such a dbag?

So what you are proposing is a more detailed tracking and isolation system modeled after Southeast Asian countries. Interesting.

A RFer instead of Kimbrel was always the right move.

Fields statistically should've had a big day if not for dropped TDs.

Sad thing is now that NXT just went through their rebranding, Vince is taking over. Also hearing that many people on NXT are set to be fired. Ciampa, Gargano ect. Also, difference between AEW and WWE. AEW was in Cincinnati this past weekend and let Pillman main event that night. Smackdown was in the MSG 1 day before 9/11. Zelina Vega had a match scheduled and special gear made because her dad died in the twin towers. WWE cut her match because of time constraints and she didn't even get on camera.

Hes literally ruining WWE, and unfortunately no one will do anything about it until hes gone and even then who knows.

I went to All Out on Sunday and it was one of the best wrestling shows I have been to. Lucha Bros/Young Bucks putting on a 5 star match. Jericho and MJF match was also good. Punk looked in shape and could go, which was nice to see. Seeing Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson come out at the end of show was just spectacular. I didn't think we would get both in the same segment. Also, rumors what I saw on why Cole left WWE is that Vince wanted Cole on Smackdown to be the GM and not even wrestle....