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The Sox are definitely not a podcast, but it may be a stretch to call them a “baseball team”

Why would they now?

My only thought is it’s hard to lose 100 games even when you try. I think this is one of the few years where the obvious worst team ends up with worst record. Sox will be bad next year, but in the least good division which may mute losses. Id be happy if they get top 3, super annoyed if they got 5/6

This is a solid haul. Few lottery tickets and a number of guys that will at least be members of the 26 man roster at some point for a RP that has straight up been bad. I also suspect the Braves will get the most out of Bummer because that’s what good organizations do, but it wasn’t going to happen here

I think Soroka is probably done. I mean, no one the Sox got is what you call good, but maybe the garbage they just added is better than the garbage that was already in the 40 man? Clearly, a team this bad doesn’t need Aaron Bummer, and he will benefit from getting away from their putrid defense. I wonder if Fraser Ellard has an outside shot of being an okay pen piece.

Benetti is going to be absolutely devastated that the pride of Naperville returns home and he won't get to call his games.

I may be the only person voicing this opinion but I liked McKnight as a fill-in and would be okay with him. My first choice is Adam Amin however (won't happen)

Yeah, I’m never siding with super rich owners (especially ones like Mark David and Fisher whose only achievements in life were born into billionaire families) extorting cities for $100s of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.

I barely think about him "overcoming obstacles" I just enjoy his broadcasts. While I'm not into the cheesy parts that fill time, I find him to be one of the most educated and modern broadcasters available. Didn't they have him doing a "modern broadcast" during the AS game or something like that this year on ESPN2? That's why I like him, I get to hear a discussion of how offensive production actually works rather than a discussion of how important it is to bunt all the time. I also found him quite good during the 2020-2021 seasons when there were actually a handful of dramatic games, and I think some of the stuff people like less was more emphasized in 2022 and 2023 because they had so little drama.

Where do the Sox rank?

As much as I feel sorry for A's fans, maybe its time for Oakland to accept that it is not a major league sports town and try to develop a thriving minor league sports scene. Build a nice 10,000 seat ballpark and try to get a AAA or AA team. I see a lot of people complaining about MLB on this, but the reality is Oakland has had teams in all four major sports and couldn't make it work for any. Its not just baseball and the A's have been talking about moving from there for 40 years.

If the Cubs sign Ohtani, why would any young or new baseball fan cheer for the Sox over the Cubs?

Yeah Lopez and Soroka were most likely non-tenders.

It is

Riley Gowens is also from Libertyville and went to U of I

Remember how Hawk was one of the first to imply that Brooks Boyer was a problem? And most of us just thought it was Hawk being a cooky old man?

He wouldn't dare, knowing fans could very likely be armed with guns hidden in their flabs of fat.

To be fair, if he did insult him regarding his disability, Getz will promote him to a minor league coach.

Thanks MLB, I hate it. Also, f*** Manfred and Fisher. Forever and always.

There is no evidence it had anything to do with his disability. It certainly sounds like they didn’t have a good relationship, and I’m sure both have pretty large egos. Brooks quote sounds like something an asshole says to someone who’s been an asshole before.

What does Jaspn want respect for? Being a national commentator? Then go be one full time I can't believe people are willing to quit on the White Sox because Jason Benetti left. We are a baseball team not a podcast

Brooks Boyer seems like a piece of work

I think my dog is a more likely suitor for Ohtani than the Sox.

I dont know about Top 14 suitors for Ohtani, but here's a spoiler alert, the Sox aren't among the Top 29 suitors for Ohtani.

The owner of the Chicago White Sox, in one of the largest media markets in the world, already said they won't be in the sweepstakes for Ohtani. So the odds are actually less than your sun analogy.

Any chance the Sox could change perception and sign this guy? He'd be great with Robert and his signing plus bringing in Salvy and Merrifield might bring out the best in Eloy, Timmy, Vaughn. Think about it. Signing one player would fix our everyday lineup in one day. If he can pitch again we'd have he and Cease. Sometimes you have to make a move dollars be damned that in one swoop could spark/cure a franchise and entire south side. I mean Jerry could tell Ohtani to wait, that he's selling the team and the new owners could bring him to town and fix this team. It's frankly sad that the Sox probably aren't in the discussion at all. Getting him would mean so much. I'm probably dreaming, The odds of getting Ohtani would be the same as an astronaut walking on the surface of the sun.

This is one of those weird situations where I'm 100% on board and ready for them to rip the Sox...but then they choose something dumb. I mean, Getz acknowledging that he doesn't like the team was the one encouraging thing I've seen this offseason. It gave me hope he might make dramatic changes instead of just resting on the "we have a talented group" nonsense. I guess Grifol could've been a little more tactful about agreeing with that accurate assessment, but this is like number 650 on the list of things to spend a whole podcast ripping the Sox about.

This does NOT prove your point and most replies in that thread were saying the same thing to you..

It’s one thing for Holmes to still complain about Benetti leaving, but him saying “the new hire has to be a home run, and the guy we think will get it, is not” it’s just such a shitty thing to say.

This is quite the departure from the situation you described

really disgusting

This is totally beyond the point of what I’m asking. Who on this site stated that those two players would fetch that return, and who laughed at Balta over that. This site would much more likely laugh at the person who suggested such a thing than they would laugh at Balta for stating that’s not true

Ok who was saying Eloy and TA was gonna bring back the number 1 prospect in baseball?

The more you listen to Benetti recently, the more you realize he trapped himself in that kind of cornball role…feeling he had to substitute for poor Sox onfield product with filling up so much awkward time and space. Like promoting concession items…pushing/explaining analytics, Nationwide. Away from the Sox, and the obligation of carrying the broadcast 162 games per year, he found his true voice in the natural rhythms of basketball and football. He has a really synergistic partnership with Brock Huard and seems to thrive more on the event status of Top Ten football matchups and the environment around college football and basketball. Probably he simply feels liberated to get away from what appears to be a horrific 4-5 upcoming years and simply wanted to be in a place where he was wanted/valued than tolerated. JR always seemed the type much more comfortable with the old ballplayers like a Stone Harrelson Farmer Paciorek…JR probably had zero clue about 85-90% of his pop cultural references and found his kissing up to partners and constantly deferring to them a bit of a drag, too. Heck, unless you just kiss JR’s ass, you’re eventually going to be on his bad side and losing KW/Hahn might have exposed another annoyance when it seemed as if Boyer wanted to totally clean house and move forward with a new group of sycophants. Benetti realized he had a lot more leverage/bargaining power but overplayed his hand and then burned some bridges with Brooks and realized it was going to be impossible to swallow his pride and return. He’s now branded himself as kind of an underdog symbolic of Detroit itself…being born again in a way, revitalized, restored. That fits his natural personality a lot more than simply being a sideshow resented for his growing popularity by ownership. Also believe the responsibility of attracting a new generation of Sox fans lost since the end of the Ozzie Era kind of wore him out or down over the last two seasons when Sox onfield play totally disintegrated and managerial decisions became a source of weekly embarrassment.

Exactly. He was an intern for B&B. He is obviously The Score's guy. I don't see this massive gap between Monaco and Benetti when it comes to calling baseball.

OTOH we have tank commander Grifol

Oh boy...

T R U (E)

Yep, something like Donovan and Carlson….which I wouldn’t be in favor of. Carlson stinks

My tiebreaker is that I don't want them to have an argument to present to fans for tanking. I'd love to see JR and Getz spin putting out a bad team and be like "we wanted to get the #10 draft pick!"

I'd also be worried that they aren't targeting rookies necessarily. Maybe just some established players with perhaps not tons of control left. I guess that shows that I'm of the opinion that they should just be rebuilding it at this point. Again.

Whit Merrifield, 2-way player

Trying to compete with the players they get in return sounds scary. That sure narrows down the scope. Would rather them just look for best package available regardless of proximity to the majors.

I mean, I've stanned my fair share of flops. Unfortunately I think my sole "Am I the only person who thinks this person will have an MLB career?" pick is Leury Garcia. Which was a fine pick until TLR.

I honestly didn't thnk they were going to trade Cease because they're serious about trying to compete next year but it sounds like they're going to try to compete with the players they get in return so the players will likely be major league ready or very close. They can fill some holes by trading him but they open a giant hole in the rotation that I don't think can be filled with a few 1-2 yr FA pitchers.

Those guys did a charity basketball game across the street from my house. Billy Williams signed my glove and I used it because it was my only glove. Back in the day you thought it was cool yo have a player sign something. Today it is different, A parent would throw that in a vault and try to sell it later on. I understand why some celebrities refuse to do autographs.

White Sox Winter Fest 2024....We've got a snowballs chance in hell of making the playoffs so come join us.

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

Cowser, Ortiz (if Montgomery cannot stick at SS he can be the guy there defensively, if not he can be 2B) and Povich for Cease. If BAL says no, remind them they won as many playoff games in 23 as the Sox.

I've never thought of switching my fandom from the Sox and that's after now spending the majority of my life in So Cal . I know the Sox are bad and honestly a historically bad franchise. Family tradition was Sox fandom and I embraced it . It helped with my relationship with any sports minded member of my family. I got a World Series win from it. While I might write a lot about how JR is the root of all Sox problems I just don't take it personally. I'm entrenched in my fandom but not an emotional prisoner of it.