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I’ll take this contract for Bellinger over Benintendi’s $75 million dollar contract all day long.

Except you shouldn't have to waste a Top 20 asset to "motivate" a player...that's how the White Sox got into the mess they're currently in, or having to find "managers" on the field to make up for Grifol and TLR's fault/s, isn't it?

Well of course it is only a one year contact and the people who deal hindsight evaluation will agree. Lao Tzu said (paraphrased as I am not that eloquent) Those who live in the past suffer depression. Those who live in the future suffer anxiety. Only those who live in the present will be at peace.

The Soxtalk Tea Party is formed and takes to the streets for fiscal responsibility in the great state of Illinois.

Spent like 15 million on offensive downgrades on a team that already couldn’t hit. This is going to be so unwatchable.

Nothing will really change until ownership changes and everyone on the baseball side is fired.

I like how, if they win, the games don't matter. If they lose, of course they matter!! Pick a lane, Duber. I hope he's not referring to Fletcher's misplay on that triple. The sky in Arizona is notoriously hard to judge fly balls against. And the no-hitter wasn't an "almost" no hitter. That's petty of the score keeper to rule a clear hit as an error to keep the "no hitter" going. Jonathan Cannon seems to have thrown a nice 2 innings. Each team had 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. I'd call that a draw.

Eh, I really think Getz is starting to overplay his hand with this. Dylan Cease has had 1 very good season with a bunch of inconsistent ones. This is not trading Chris Sale 2.0 - there is much more risk to this the longer the Sox hold onto him.

Colas breaks up the no hitter go sox

Meanwhile, we paid a left fielder $75 million and his bat turned into utility player quality in the first year, but with the added benefit of playing a poor left field as well.

Nightengale Law's write-up on Jones, who is not in his top 100, makes him seem like the next Palka.

Or Quentin for C.Carter.

Mena was a super popular prospect here, so not sure where you’re coming up with this theory.

The Sox actually have a pretty good shot at a good, veteran bullpen. They have rotation depth and bullpen depth they haven't had for a good decade. Tell us the "dumpster diving" options for the bullpen that would have played for the Sox at the money offered. Amed Rosario is not a good fielder. And something tells me he would have had to be offered more to play with the Sox, and somehow, his bat would have fallen off. Pillar's a 4th OF. If he keeps hitting like his first 2 games, he's going to be really cheap. Like zero dollars. Seriously, as long as we all love to list out all the FA and trade failures over the past 15 years, why do you think Amed Rosario would come to Chicago and rake? Why do you think he would not put on a Sox uniform and OPS a whopping .450 in his first 3 months? If we're going to play the "everything this team has done sucked" game, we can't pretend the one guy they didn't sign would be the answer.

While Tatis' HoF chances took a massive hit with the PED suspension...well... Tatis was a just signed, flier prospect Semien couldn't field Bassist was a middle of the rotation arm Montas had the future reliever tag Escobar was a rookie hitting .207 Dane Dunning wasn't ready to produce like Lynn (who worked out, for one season) And that's not counting guys who could have been long term depth like Hudson, Thompson, Devenski, Wendelkin, and Phegley Mena for Fletcher reeks of those trades, even if Fletcher is a rookie. He's five years older and supposed to be the plug and play right field guy. I think a lot of us trust Keith Law's assessment of players (even if it's taken a while to get there) and he's got Fletcher as a weak platoon bat and is profiling Mena as a rotation pitcher with a plus curve that could add mph to his fastball. TL;Dr - Fletcher makes me think of the days of Danny Richard and Matt Davidson.

But elevated revenue normally is most correlated to previous year performance...they make the playoffs, and the real gains in ticket revenues trail the following year in increased interest and usually ticket prices rising as well. So we're now entering the opposite cycle where the teams will struggle on the field, interest in tickets will diminish, I guess from JR's perspective it doesn't matter because it all balances out, 4th or 5th place and low payroll or 1st/2nd/3rd and a higher payroll. But they've hardly ever gone out and invested in the product coming off down years...instead demonstrating that propensity to cut back and claw back any previous losses rather than "investing in the future" like the Royals did with all their spending this offseason, coming off a 106 loss season. Sherman (KC owners) would certainly at least acknowledge this strategy (the Witt extension especially) is just as much for positive PR and goodwill for the new stadium project/upcoming vote as it is for demonstrable results on the field. That's something JR doesn't care about in the least, winning fans over, so to speak.

How do they manage to look bad defensively when they basically acquired a bunch of defensive specialists?

Deivi Garcia, apparently actually in the best shape of his life, just threw a 97.4 mph FB. Sosa got robbed on a .850 xBA liner up the middle. My guy Mason Adams is in to pitch. Ramos, Montgomery, and Hackenberg in on D.

Hitless through 6 innings? Sounds about right.

Besides being a lousy manager the guy is a big jerk.

Maybe WBWSF is Getz dad.

And if we’re only going off of actual results, which is what you seem to be basing your entire argument around…the clubhouse was a disaster last year, they were fundamentally flawed and there was nearly zero player improvement, the team regressed in almost every way. And you have the balls to call Sox fans “impatient?” They haven’t won a playoff series in 18 years. They play in BY FAR the largest market in the AL Central, yet are the only team in the division that hasn’t won a playoff series in that long. And Sox fans are impatient? Respectfully, get fucked.

He’s 28, won an MVP and put up a 4.4 bWAR last year. He’s also had two historically bad years at the plate. He comes with risk, as does any player. But as a fan, I’d much rather have my team sign a contract like this than an 7-8 year deal at an 25 million AAV with no opt outs. If he flames out, you have to pay him for two more years. If he’s great, the Cubs have every opportunity to bring him back, possibly during the season. The Cubs wanted Bellinger back. They did that, and removed a lot of risk from a long term deal

I agree. That debt is *only* $50M. If Jerry isn't willing to cover that, then the state should tell him no. JR is saving at least that much by slashing payroll after the rebuild crashed and burned. There are no term limits for Illinois Governor. Edgar chose not to seek a 3rd term voluntarily. Everyone else since him has been limited due to their incompetence and/or crookedness.

Public funding of sewer water electric and roads is OK. Jerry pays the rest. No one cares about what he needs. The team blows and he has ruined the franchise. First pay off the GRF debts and we will talk.

I have my season tickets and will enjoy the game of baseball.

Shame on anyone who pays for a game this season

Results like a team the GM thought was competitive in a weak division that spent a season at each others throats, where basically everyone underperformed, where they were sloppy and unfocused, and where they lost 101 games? Tell me how I shouldn’t judge Grifol based on his team’s underperformance last year. They had the talent of a 75 win team. Fine, this wasn’t where they wanted to be, but they played like a 67 win team in the first half, so bad that they had to trade people away. Multiple veterans ripped them after they left, all the way to literally yesterday. How many seasons do we have to wait for before judging him? In spring 2025 do we have to hear that we can’t judge the coach until we see the results? 26? 27? Is Grifol still someone we are waiting on in 2028? 2029? Maybe he gets better in season 8, after all it’s unfair to judge any coach based on their first 7 seasons.

Reinsdorf doesn’t get credit for offering Machado $100 million when there were poison pills in there and he had no intention of ever paying that money. It’s as credible as any one of us offering Machado $100 million. Same for Wheeler. It’s easy to offer something that won’t be accepted.

Whatever Tim Anderson ends up being at least there is potential that he can rebound and have a good year. Dejong is just awful. Which has been the theme all offseason we replace guys who had down/terrible years with awful baseball players. So where is the improvement going to come from? Tim Anderson, Grandal, etc were at least bounceback candidates I am not saying I wanted them back but at least last year as a fan I could tell myself Grandal and Anderson are going to hit because they have their entire careers basically. Dejong and Maldonado are never going to hit or be anything except marginal players. In fact if either of those guys even ended up being a marginal contributor that would be a huge positive as far as I'm concerned I don't think either are going to have positive wars or be in the lineup when the season ends.

2024 attendance:

Yea just the guy he hired to run his minor leagues!

Get used to the goose egg, defense upgrades only on a team that had trouble scoring already is disaster 101.

The next couple of years were spent on sphincter rehab.

I think that's what Boras is experiencing now with Jordan Montgomery (recent results not obscuring a relatively pedestrian career overall, 4+ ERA, etc.)...obviously Cease has the stuff/K's and durability, but he's suffering as well from high pitch counts and not providing extended innings.

The last time this matchup happened, Crochet made Ohtani look silly. Then we didn't see Crochet for years.

Remember, Getz the best at his minor league director job according to JR since Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. 70+ years of baseball history. (***Well, except for letting Clemente get away to the Pirates.)

Colas can do no wrong in February

The Walker FO was 99 mph (.470 xBA). The Suarez one was a 89mph lazy fly (.010 xBA). Statcast feed: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?gamePk=748229&game_date=2/25/2024&date=2/25/2024 Cannon pitch report: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=748229&player_id=686563

You insulted “most” of the people here. I insulted you. I’d say your statement was worse. But my all means, hide behind your feelings getting hurt than actually addressing the failures of the White Sox and this franchise that “deserves the benefit of the doubt”

I used to watch them for results on the field and not in the broadcast booth. That hasn't changed and one reason I won't be watching them this year! I don't have the time or the patience regarding Reindorf's team.

It’s just never going to happen. There’s not a salary cap and something like this would squeeze the players even more. It’s a tough situation. Nobody thought he was worth 8/200. It also doesn’t make sense for him to take like 5/150 due to the QO being attached. This deal makes sense for the Cubs but I doubt anyone else would do this because of the QO rules

Boras saves face if Bellinger plays so well he can escape that contract for another long term deal but that will be harder and harder as he gets into 30’s. Certainly nowhere near the $150-200 million in guaranteed money he was originally seeking.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/cody-bellinger-reportedly-agrees-80-073706612.html Bellinger reportedly back to Cubs…3 years for $80 million

Should be interesting if the TV stations and print outlets pretty much stop covering the Sox this year. Sure it's MLB but if the Sox start 10-30 and there's very little interest, these outlets might just decrease coverage of the Sox, especially on the road.

For nerds like me who care, tomorrow's ST game vs AZ is @ Salt River which means means a rare instance of Statcast availability.

Jesse Chavez is 9 days older than Chris Getz. Dominic Fletcher is six inches smaller than Chris Getz. Kevin Pillar is 35 years old. .692 is his best the first three real seasons this decade. Mike Moustakas is 35 years old. .685 is his best the first three real seasons this decade. This is not a serious franchise and won't be until a person without Reinsdorf in their name is controlling the franchise.

It was never Jerry’s or Kenny’s or Rick’s fault the Sox sucked. It was all on Bridgeport. So get this built as fast as you can. They can’t be good until they move. Don’t waste a year.

They are actually super well understood. In general they’re not worth the money, especially if the entire stadium is publicly financed. They’re usually awful deals for taxpayers. This concept is a little different from a normal one since it’s truly a blighted area that may not otherwise be developed. Some money going to put a stadium here is justified. But not the government paying for the entire stadium and a large fraction of the rest if the development.