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Lmao come on. That's just ridiculous. His lowest fWAR the past 3 seasons was 3.7, which was last season. Somehow he has zero trade value now?

Scott Boras/Jerry

No surprise the California White Sox are interested in him. There are much better places for him to get it together, though.

Calls out the hypocrisy. Ozzie's family gets into it to:

I wouldn't cross 35th St. to see those guys.

Not giving JR one dollar from now on

Not catcher? WTF are they thinking?!?!?!

For what its worth and that's not much, according to Baseball Trade Values, Cease's surplus value (44.80) is virtually identical to the combined surplus value of Kjerstad, Ortiz, Bradfield and Povich (44.30). I'm pretty sure no one here would turn down that package for Cease.

There was a season under Schueler, when the Sox grabbed a half dozen Rule 5 guys to sort through in Spring Training, and Jerry had quite the problem with paying the $50k fee on each player. He shut down that practice, going forward.

The problem comes in starting Carela's clock a year or two too early. Wilfred Veras is probably just too far away from the bigs to stow on the 26-man roster all season. I'd also think the Sox would like to keep the 40-man lean and mean, not only for the Rule 5, but also to be grabbing up relievers other teams are trying to slip through waivers.

I like this. Bradfield sure sounds like the type of player the current regime wants. Ugh. Can't get over the Gonzalez pick still. (Hope he proves me wrong.)

Moncada's contract should become far less relevant as we get closer to the deadline, no?

Robert had 36 doubles to go with his 38 homers, plus 20 steals. I'd hardly call him "all or nothing," though I'd prefer if he improved his 5% walk rate.

But if he had said he liked the team or was in any way happy he would have been jumped on for that as well. After a 100 loss season you would hardly expect a GM to say he liked the team, just looking at these comment boards many people have said get rid of them all etc. Not liking the team is different to not liking individual players, I doubt Robert would be happy putting up those numbers in a 100 loss team going forward. And some of these players need a kick up the backside to understand that a performance like last season is unacceptable. I know, and agree, that Getz was an underwhelming appointment at best, but at least give him the chance to undo the Hahn team that came out so bad. No matter who the new GM was this team needed massive surgery not just a bit of a face lift, and at least he acknowledges that.

Think about what the Cubs got for Yu Darvish. That's about the best you could do.

I love the story I heard one time about Vazquez...someone said scouts would watch him during a game and say great stuff, damn great stuff, hey when did he give up 6 runs??

Whatever do you mean???

It was never a team. It was a bunch of individuals that didn’t like each other. Watch the Anderson All Star announcement, nobody cared. They didn’t like him. Roberts couldn’t be bothered to learn the coaches names. Moncada was more interested in partying. Middleton told us on his way out. It was a cultural disaster. And they weren’t talented enough to overcome lack of teamwork.

Any Sox fan who spends money on the 2024 product should be publicly mocked

In the past I planned multiple summer vacations around attending games in Chicago. Now, I'll be at a game or two if they happen to be in town when I am. I'll also check the secondary market for cheap seats over buying direct. I threw away a few worn out hats and shirts. I won't be replacing them anytime soon.

Or just walk away from the sport for a while. I didn’t watch for years recently and I’d say it was just fine. You’ll find something else to fill the time.

s%*#, I made the same joke as Caulfield. Time for a self-imposed suspension.

I didn't want to talk about it when the news broke, but the feeling is still there. After all the baseball-related s%*# I've been served, I didn't really waver. But my overwhelming feeling upon hearing the Benetti news was that I didn't want to be a Sox fan anymore. I feel basically stuck, there's no other team I care for and I continue to harbor the resentments towards various Sox adversaries. But man are the White Sox playing with fire (with me specifically, at least) if the expansion teams get rolling soon...especially if Charlotte gets one.

Yeah, but we'd just waste 'em like the Angels did.

It's $100K now ($50K refund if player returned) so it will be interesting if Getz will be allowed to dedicate nearly $1M (including the league minimum salary) toward anyone. Still would be more cost effective than signing their typical $3M-$6M plug in 2B/RF mid 30s veteran. If they had quality scouts, or perhaps Bannister / Barfield can identify a few players they can "fix", hope they take a shot on a few guys. Worth a gamble this season with zero at stake competitively.

I wish we had a Trout and an Ohtani.

Wouldn't mind us grabbing two arms with the idea that one probably gets returned.

Given what’s come out about the clubhouse, I’d be very weary of signing anyone who wants to sign with the Sox.

Johan Dominguez was on the bump in LIDOM again yesterday. Scoreless with just 2 baserunners through 3, but then gave up a single to Junior Caminero (Pipeline #6) and a HR to Franmil Reyes. Final line: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB. Luis Patiño, who got into a handful of games with the Sox last season but may or may not stay on the roster with Rule 5 decisions coming, also pitched 2IP scoreless and got the W. Obviously, it's much easier to pitch well when you're backed up by offensive and defensive brilliance from a veteran two way superstar...

Whoever lines up AJ's beard is offending me even more. You're a millionaire AJ.

On the contrary, it's the perfect place for TA, especially with the Angels hiring Ron Washington as manager. Nightengale says they'd move him to second base if they sign him.

Good enough for me. I now demand they make this trade.

You know what, you're right about this one. Castillo is a really good comp for Cease because he was as inconsistent as Cease was but with premium stuff. What was the deal for him I forget? I think Castillo had a little more control than Cease does but I could be wrong. The major difference between Castillo and Cease is that I think Castillo had more good seasons than Cease did.

I take issue with Getz statement that he doesn't like this team. It is a dumbed down statement that could have unintended consequences like devaluing the players on your own roster. You don't have to like the team or any player on the team. Neither Getz nor any other GM is going to be able to put together a 25 man roster without a few players that you don't like and a few who do not get along with one another. The fact is that there is a talent deficit that needs to be addressed. If that is what he means he should be more precise with his words but if he truly dislikes individual players, perhaps he should be more restrained with his sentiments. Maybe acquiring KimNg instead of TLR to mentor Getz would be a good idea. It is beginning to look like he needs a baby sitter.

One would also think the O’s bowing out of the playoffs quickly after a fantastic season might make them hug those prospects a little less tight. I think they’re far and away the best fit for Cease.

Vazquez wasn’t that bad. There will always be a demand for pitchers who are durable and have the stuff that Cease has. Add on the fact that he has 2 years of control left and they should be able to get a nice haul for him.

Same with me. First time in a long time I have had absolutely no favorite player on the Sox roster. I used to stand up for some guys on the board who I liked who got ripped a lot. Now I don't like any of 'em particularly. No pitchers for sure are on my like list. I was starting to like Burger.

Should never forget how many teams missed out on anywhere from $25-75 million in media rights payments due to BALLY bankruptcy... Any of those teams looking to compete for the playoffs but out of the Top Tier FA's (including Japanese posting) would logically be interested in Cease...and fans are waiting to see what those teams will looking like heading into Feb/March before making purchasing decisions on MLB.TV packages (see Brewers, for example). It's the principal reason the Twins are cutting payroll despite their first playoff success in ages...when they could REALLY step on the throats of all the AL Central teams and deny hope to their fanbases, CLE and DET in particular. The Twins have to replace Sonny Gray, Top 3 Cy Young (basically Dylan Cease 2022), for example...and can't afford another $100+ million contract.

Did you read the Orioles board linked? They don't even want to trade Kjerstad straight up for Cease. If I were not a fan of the Sox I wouldn't be interested in acquiring him for anything more than a bag of baseballs.

I don't see how the team continues without Bendetti.

Because that’s a trend line along with the velocity drop and harder contact. BABIP may be obscuring that for a year.

But that’s down from 12.3 in 2021.

As they say in matters of taste, it's a matter of taste. Joe McConnell for my 2 cents, "Old Timer."

The first step towards recovery is admitting that there is a problem... clearly a breath of fresh air from the previous regime who was constantly trying to blow sunshine up our asses. Reportedly there were multiple cancers in that clubhouse last year, and I have long believed that TA was one of them. I hope they don't trade Robert, but I don't consider him untradeable if the price is right.

Mismanaging is in the eye of the beholder when you are still making millions and millions of dollars through domestic and international outlets. The rest of the board is basically JR's age and they are content with the way things are going. And he can only be removed for illegal activity or financial maleficence. With the Sox making money it would be hard to prove what he is doing is wrong. He's not going anywhere...all you can do is hope to outlive current ownership and see what happens.

When your bar is "at least he got up off his seat,"....oh boy.

Vitriolic Malaise 1 Getzie/Grifol 0

I believe Chris Getz should have scheduled a press conference welcoming the new members of the coaching staff and his other significant FO hires, followed by his vision for the offseason, 2024 and for the next 3-5 years after having a few months to assess the situation in his new role. Then his answers to follow up questions would have context vs. people speculating what he plans to do to improve the team. Ten years of Hahn created a Chernobyl type situation. Most reasonable people are willing to give Getz slack and time if he is honest and communicates a reasonable plan and timeframe.

Please remember that Getz was hired because we are not in a rebuild and anyone else would take a year to evaluate things.