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The best he could have done was give his his $1 million buyout and tell him to go scratch. Instead he traded for a guy who couldn't hit righties and couldn't play RF. You almost have to try to be that wrong.

It was so fitting for the whole season that he blew the first game due to his inability to play RF

99% of Hahn criticism is valid, but Pollock was coming off a 3 WAR season & 2 consecutive years with a wRC+ of 130 or higher. It was impossible to foresee him falling off a cliff like this.

Could be one of the top off season moves for the Sox.

Outman is exactly the player you want IMO. My goal for the offseason has been to slide Eloy permanently to DH and turn the outfield into a super plus defensive unit. Outman, Robert & Colas would be incredible.

The complete misevaluation of his ability to play RF should have gotten him fired

It's funny, because if you use the standard that is always used for tax cuts, this is WAY more efficient. The spending rates of the people who still have student loans are WAY higher than where most of the tax cuts of recent years have gone. But of course that gets forgotten here.

FIFY. His entire legacy is lucking into Jordan in basketball.

This thread should never leave the top 5 topics.

They have too much money allocated into the bullpen. Trade Hendricks and get a haul for him and put Lopez in the closer role.

Hello Gavin Sheets!

83s suck Road grays - with the Diamond patch - for me.

They bet on Lonzos knee and so far have lost handily

How many aging, slow and injured players does Hahn have to acquire before he realizes they rarely work out for us?

This one I was pretty emphatic about last season, Kimbrel did not look like a player who was worth anything other than a bad contract, he wasn't getting back any sort of prospect of any value from anyone. Teams that had that much money to spend on relievers - the Phillies, Braves - they found better options on the FA market where they didn't have to give up talent. Teams that were willing to make trades for relievers - Padres - found better options on the trade market. Criticize for the contract option being picked up if you want, that's correct it shouldn't have been done. Kimbrel on the FA market might have gotten a contract close to what he was actually paid, but he wasn't going to get more than his salary this year (note that Jansen got the same money Kimbrel got), and that means Kimbrel was not worth a prospect of any value.

I totally get this thinking. And honestly, if that’s the case, trade Gio, trade Lynn, trade Hendriks (and TA?). Finish 2nd, finish 4th, whatever, it’s all the same. What’s maddening to me is the balancing act of sort of focusing on the present and sort of focusing on the future, while not doing either effectively. Pick a lane.

The thing is we use these kind of things in the tax code literally every day. People get deductions and tax breaks for everything under the sun. This really isn't any different. But this isn't going to the 1% so now they are big mad.

I don't think people realize what an awful location that would be for a baseball park. Hard to get to. The nearest CTA train is a mile away. If anyone has ever been to a Bears game and decided to take a bus from Roosevelt, the closest station to Soldier Field, it takes longer than walking due to heavy Lake Shore Drive traffic. Its OK for the Bears 10 times a year on Sundays. But 81 games a year, most during the work week, would be a nightmare. The other thing is, the biggest complaint about the Sox current home, is lack of restaurants and bars around it. If the Sox moved to Soldier Field, that situation would be worse.

The idea that a left handed hitter with a career WRC+ of 126 and .836 OPS is “worth nothing” is ridiculous. Soxtalk: Our front office sucks, they don’t do anything! Also Soxtalk on any available player that’s going to make less than $20mil a year: That player sucks, don’t bring him here! SHOULD this organization just spend some $ and solve our problem with Nimmo? Of course. Will they? Of course not. At some point beggars can’t be choosers and we have to be realistic. If it’s possible to buy low on Jesse Winker it’s definitely not a bad realistic option.

Honestly? That's exactly what you do. You hope he is back to the 2020-21 version for what you owe him. If he bounces back, great. If not, you release him in May or June and call up Perez. There is no risk here. It isn't about pretending, it is about a lack of options. With their limited funds, it isn't like they have a lot to spend here anyway.

Makes absolutely no sense to do that

32 strike out rate with 0 walk potential? s%*# im sure Hahn is on the phone with him right now, hed fit right in

Kind of weird how AZ. traded for the RH OF Lewis when they DFA Stone Garrett . Why give up a guy for a guy when you had a guy ? Garrett was called up by Arizona in August and immediately let his presence be known. In 27 games, Garrett slashed .276/.309/.539 while putting up a 131 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR. Garrett has potential due to his mix of speed and raw power. However, there are legit concerns about his swing-and-miss tendencies and overall plate discipline, which manifested at the major league level in the form of a 32.1 strikeout percentage and 3.6 walk percentage. Still, considering the fact that he has options remaining and has proven he can handle major league pitching, there’s no reason to believe Garrett won’t be claimed and given a chance to earn a role next spring. Which is why I want the Sox to claim him.

It really has been a joy to watch the Packers this season. Keep it coming Aaron.

Seems to be the official theme of the off-season

Sounds pretty close to last off season.

Well I don't know what algorithms Hahn uses but I shudder at the thought of the return we'd get for AV......hard pass.

Oh it’s going to be a total disaster

#3 in the dark version

Did you forget that Justin Verlander just won the ALCY coming off TJS?

Again, name for me a pitcher in the last several years who has come back from TJS and been fully back to themselves in under 18 months.

The White Sox's bullpen was a sliver better than average last year, but the bullpen construction was actually more important than that. The one thing that kept the White Sox from being a mid-70s win team is that they were tied with Cleveland for 4th best record in MLB in 1-run games. To say that another way, when the White Sox were able to give a tight game to the key 2 or 3 guys in their bullpen, they were commonly able to hold that lead or win that game, at a rate comparable to the best bullpens in baseball. However, the bullpen had very poor depth, so if the middle relievers came into a game, more often than you would ever want - they crumbled. They do have too much money allocated to the bullpen, but they also have very poor bullpen depth. Trading away Hendriks and moving guys like Bummer and Lambert into key roles in tighter games has a very good chance of making this team suddenly beatable in 1-run games, and thus it has a very good chance of making this team worse. Take a look at the Phillies and Astros and ask yourself if you have confidence in Bummer, Lambert, Graveman, and Lopez as key contributors in a pennant race or a playoff series? Maybe Lopez is fine, you ready to go to Bummer and Lambert in a key game? We did exactly that in the "must-win" series against Cleveland.

I do not hate the item of trading Hendriks if we truly have massive money constraits. I still think you roll with the majority of this team and try to win this year. AKA use Hendriks to fill holes elsewhere not for prospects who can't help in 2023.

Most recent Soxtalk Podcast, Garfien with Justin Jirschele. , the Birmingham manager. Mostly about Colas, but also Project Birmingham, Ramos , Rodriquez, and Kelly.

Bring back #6

I liked the '68 uniforms , especialy the road powder blue.

I mean in the first batch of City Connects, the White Sox and Miami were the only top tier ones. Now you've got more good ones like the Angels and Nationals.

Pollock being banged up but productive when on the field is basically his entire career. Of course the Sox got the 2nd healthiest season of his career and that's when he forgets how to hit. But if he were a FA after 2021 Pollock would have done a lot better than the 1 year deal (with a player option) that he was on. Declining Kimbrel's option wouldn't have been the correct move because it was possible to flip him for something with positive trade value. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been Pollock. I was advocating for trading him to the Dodgers in exchange for upper minors SP prospects.

I'm at the point where I'd rather not make the Samardzija and Shields mistakes again. If that means more 2nd place finishes, so be it. I have zero expectations with this core group anymore. I'm just biding time until all of their contracts have expired. They traded Montas, Bassitt, Semien and Tatis Jr for a failed bid at competition. Any of those players could have been the difference once they decided to trade Sale/Quintana/Eaton.

I think this illustrates in general how difficult it is to field a competitive team in the present WHILE worrying about still staying competitive in the future. But even more so with the Sox and their self-imposed restrictions and insistence on getting in their own way. Based on the current roster, contracts and closing window, I’d argue that this is exactly the time to buy a rental. It’s a win now move. And if they’re not actually trying to win now, then what are they even doing? Oh, that’s right, they’re trying to field a consistently second place team that prides itself on being “good enough” and relies on catching breaks and best case scenarios playing out. To be clear, I’m with you that Winker probably doesn’t move the needle enough to be worthy of a rental, but this is the corner they’ve painted themselves in and I think it’s a slightly better move than continuing to half-ass it.

The obnoxious thing was he and Krause couldn't wait for the Jordan era to end. They thought they were so smart, and were jealous the players and Phil were getting all the credit. I think it has since been beat by "the Process" but the 5 years after Jordan were at that point, the worst 5 year cumulative record in NBA history. Without MJ, JR is a total failure.

I have been saying that for a while. But they still need to figure out a way to add warm bodies. They need 2 outfielders and a starter to fill out a roster. Not negotiable.

Call me crazy, but I feel Hahn would do the least damage by doing absolutely nothing this winter. That’s how little faith I have left in his ability to put a winning product on the field. I’m skeptical of whatever plans they do or don’t have and their ability to execute.

If the White Sox came away with two 1 WAR outfielders and one 1 WAR starter I would not consider that a failed offseason. It wouldn’t be great, but that would be an upgrade over Vaughn, Sheets, and Engel in the OF. With seemingly only $20 million or less to spend, I’m ok with that as long as it doesn’t create a long term commitment. The success of the 2023 White Sox will not be determined by finding ideal free agent fits or some great trade, it will be getting more out of guys already here. If that happens then they are potentially in the race, if it doesn’t then the quality of who you spend your $20 million on barely matters.

Folks are doing their best to prop up a flawed team. That’s understandable, but It’s desperation. Find another way without stabbing yourselves in the face.

The guy who brought the suit got almost $50k in PPP money, and then got it forgiven.

Another disgusting and pathetic reason Hahn and the entire front office need to be fired. Our medical, training and anything else related to the health of our players, is a serious gross negligent group. These medical and training people are buffoons and they are hindering this organization of ever being a healthy enough team to contend for a world series title...regardless of whether we ever assemble a roster of elite talent. Do you think Andrew Freidman of the Dodgers as one example, with his amazing roster would allow such inept medical doctors and trainers like our Sox employ, to handle his players? Jesus F*#king Christ Jerry. Wake up and do something about this horrific front office and all the slugs it employs. It's one thing if you don't give a s%*# about your fans, but my god, at least give a s%*# about the health of your players...that you pay all those millions to.

Fire the hacks in the training staff already. Everyone involved in either missing a torn meniscus or letting him pitch with a torn meniscus should be shown the door. Between Kopech & Robert we have some gross negligence and or medical malpractice on our hands. As ridiculous as it is enraging.