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I kind of enjoy the info that Harold provides to the board (for free by the way). All of the bitching and moaning about him and his info is fucking absurd. It would suck if he went away or stopped sharing with random message board people.

So his opinion is different than the echo chamber on here? Oh the horror.

Can you stop dragging your hurt feelings into every single thread? I know you think you are on some crusade, but it literally ruins every thread you drag this into.

Harold is awesome. One of the few reasons to read this site.

Thank you, don’t leave, Go White Sox @Harold's Leg Lift

I was told they're still doing final interviews and nothing has been decided yet.

I don't know if it's not being able to be coached, or bad clubhouse/field presence. It's just my opinion that if they have somebody who might top out at a 95 RC+, play him and save the $2.6 million Sheets will probably earn.

I think it’s more of people being frustrated with his info if it is truly accurate, because it is usually bad news for the Sox (e.g., TLR running interviews, etc.). It usually seems to be the Sox soxing everything up. He gets messed with because he supports every move that Getz makes to the bitter end and won’t admit the obviously bad moves Getz has made like signing Maldonado.

Hmm, Brooks must be a Kelis fan. 🤔

He is not a good first baseman at all. He is slow, he doesn’t communicate on the field, he doesn’t scoop well. He doesn’t have the power for the position, he hasn’t driven in runs well. why are you clowning on Rizzo? MF is in the World Series right now. These guys aren’t in the same discussion both on talent and accomplishments. if they replace him, I really don’t think it will be terribly hard to find a less than replacement level first baseman.

Aw.

How the f*** do you not know this?

Serious question for those who strongly believe this: Short of JR being removed from the picture, exactly what kind of moves are you hoping to see that won’t be met with layers upon layers of snark? I completely understand not instantly celebrating the moves or giving the org the benefit of the doubt, because they don’t deserve either, but what it is a realistic move in your eyes that wouldn’t warrant an instant roll of the eyes and dismissal of said move?

Yeah that first line in quotes...I was just looking to see if there were any reviews yet so I read the "preview" section Amazon typically provides to entice customers to buy.

I still think Hahn got screwed over. When he announced the TLR signing, it seemed like he was reporting a death, which in essence, he was

A .250ish(?) hitter with a little pop at 1B is not a good player. He's no gold glover either. Non-tender him and move on.

Your Campfire Milkshake brings

Maldonado was an obvious bad acquisition. It’s tough to not agree with the “echo chamber” on that one.

No idea. Seems like this org is dead set against letting Colas get any plate appearances at the big league level - that was more my intent with my post.

LOL Jjust LOL! Does the trade deadline mean anything? Getz trading Crochet and Robert is something every fan should fear. Lame analogies are: Haul - doesn't happen in an injury prone sport They aren't going to win anything with them anyway. Well who is the next star for that rinse and repeat. People follow these theories of baseball but never question the results. If they worked the league would be a lot better. Those myths reveal an organization's ability to scout and develop. Follow those myths baseball fans, Follow the myths.

As someone who sells said service, this isn't even close to accurate for the majority of people who try it. Heavy gaming is a different story though.

His projected arb number is what, $6.3M? Finding it difficult to pay him that.

Guys f*** up during games, dude. his entire history is a hell of a lot more accomplished than Vaughn. This isn’t even an argument 😂 ”Vaughn is such a better player than Rizzo because Rizzo had a mental gaffe in the WORLD SERIES last night” lol! Lmao even

Real simple. He had a .156 BABIP at the end of that series of starts. That is complete blind luck. Rick Hahn makes that mistake, believing ultra low BABIP numbers, we don’t have to. Thorpe currently doesn’t have a way to get actual outs. He doesn’t generate a lot of ground balls. His strikeout rate was 25% lower than any qualified starter in the league, and out of the bottom 5 in strikeout rate only Jose Quintana had an ERA under 5 this year. That is a huge gap to overcome. Thorpe’s strikeout rate was comparable to 46 year old Jamie Moyer’s strikeout rate, and his walk rate was 3x as high. I saw zero that suggested he’s a big league starter this year. Pitchers cannot pull off a .200 BABIP as starters. People were putting the ball in play against him hard, it just went at people. Pitchers don’t control that, it’s luck. It’s possible his numbers were affected by injury, the fact that they shut him down was about the only good sign this year because his actual performance was really bad. Maybe this was bad because of health, and that’s a way for it to improve. If he doesn’t become a fundamentally different pitcher, by either adding a solid sinker or by upping his spin rate to make people actually miss his pitchers, then maybe he can go to the bullpen and do something like Tommy Kahnle, throwing 15 straight change-up’s. But making your pitches harder to hit is a lot harder than “throwing more strikes”. A 25% increase in his K rate next year and a halving of his walk rate still leaves him likely to have an ERA in the 5s.

It also seems completely impossible physically.

I don't see why Thorpe is the object of such derision not only from you but others . He had 5 straight starts as a 23yr old rookie of at least 6 innings while giving up 3 hits or less and 2 runs or less. I think that was something that no rookie had ever done before in the history of the franchise. I guess it depends on your perspective how impressive that is. I mean I see a guy who despite his youth and relative inexperience pitching against the best hitters in the world and doing better than any rookie in the history of a 125+ year old franchise in those 5 consecutive starts as a very good thing. After all the bulk of his experience the year before was in A+ ball. But maybe that's just me who truly believes that prospect talk nonsense about development not being linear so he could also have periods that weren't so good especially when those not so good results ended with a forearm flexor strain and bone spur elbow surgery. But maybe you don't like the prevailing opinions that because he lacks "stuff" that his command has to be perfect for him to succeed . I guess it's a fundamental difference on how you view prospects and development and being a pitcher vs a guy with a 95+ MPH fastball and pinpoint command needed to keep hitters honest and off your outstanding changeup. Maybe you might also feel it was more of the league figuring him out rather than injury or the variance in performance inexperienced pitchers tend to have. I suppose it's reasonable to have doubts about such things just as it is for me to see hopeful things.

He's better than you give him credit for. He doesn't suck. He is what he is, a .250ish hitter with a little pop. Possibly the best hitter on this team. Plus, he is not lazy in the field like Rizzo was last night in the World Freaking Series. Who do you have in mind to replace him?

Ope. Hope that wasn't serious.

Seems like a very comprehensive list of knowledge required including , knowing Spanish and moving for some $15 /hr and housing stipend job. How the hell does one go to college and understand everything listed and still be young enough to be able to work a temp job while upheaving your entire life plus part of the job application process is giving them free advice to show you know your stuff ? It doesn't even mention job benefits like healthcare. Is this really how you get quality people in R & D /Not Analytics ?

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2015/09/16/diamondbacks-tony-la-russa-phil-nevin-could-hot-managerial-candidate/72343042/ I was right yet again. Not sure why many posters here thought it was shumacher. It would've been had he wanted the job. But he didn't want the job, and that was clear. Why would he quit the marlins just to go to the white sox?

Yelled “holy s%*#” off the bat and wasn’t cheering for anything but the moment. Glad I didn’t turn this off!

I think Drew Thorpe is good. We disagree again which doesn't surprise me.

We're not, apparently, and that's been the major argument on this board for weeks. It's frustrating when people are just confirming their biases and not actually reading what you say, but also it's fun to pop in here sometimes and say "you know that could potentially be a not half bad move" and watch as people absolutely lose their MINDS.

What's funny is that I think we're probably pretty close fundamentally in terms of being skeptical of moves, not giving the org the benefit of the doubt and needing to see actual improvement and results before feeling optimistic about the direction things are headed (aka standard "being a sox fan" stuff). But then I see the bolded phrases above and wonder if we're even reading the same thread. I just reread the whole thing and don't see anything remotely close to people doing that.

My book is now available in 3 formats on Amazon -- eBook, paperback, and hardback. Here's the link. Please leave a review here. Though I stand by my opening post about being willing to send a free PDF copy to anyone who messages me with their email.

Hey we agree! There’s a huge swath of middle ground between the two extremes of 1) instantly praising or trusting moves they make and 2) being proactively angry about any and every move. I’m just wondering what big measures you’re realistically hoping to see this offseason.

So, nothing? (Signing Soto is not a realistic move)

God help Bulls fans. It's amazing the gift Michael Jordan gave him, and his effort to try to mess it up. Pro basketball failed in Chicago. Then came back, was pretty good, but not great, Then MJ, and it's sellouts every night. He leaves, the team has never been so bad, but still sellouts. Now he can't get their games on cable, is fielding yet another lousy team, and interest is finally starting to fade. I used to be a huge Bulls fan, even before Michael. With Norm Van Lier, and Artis Gilmore....I watched whatever I could and would listen to Jim Durham on the radio for the rest. Since the demise of DRose, I look at it, but not engaged. The NBA as a whole, kind of bores me. I like watching Curry hoist 3's. but that seems to be the whole game now. Good analytically, boring to watch IMO. but a lot of people love it. I do think the Bulls are an exception. Their fans are starting to have had enough of being taken advantage of. What the Bulls do prove, is even if the Sox had stellar attendance, JR was still going to field a lousy team, just like he would at a new $2 billion stadium.

You don't get sarcasm, do you, @kitekrazy? that was the whole Leury thing.

Vaughn has been basically the same for 3 years. If the choice is him or Sheets, I'd take him, but they both should probably go.