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No term is derogatory enough for them.

Hays also won’t accept being a platoon OF either.

Takes two to tango, Hays likely has a much better market than Slater, hence the Sox stand no chance to convince him to come here.

Yeah. I'd rather watch a season of young guys and hope to see some growth instead of doing what they did last year and hope older guys peform so you can trade them.

Eh, I’m not so sure about that. I think plenty of Sox fans would actually pay the money to go blast Jerry and Getz. I wouldn’t, because then I would be funding these clowns more money. But many Sox fans would. This was a strategic move by the Sox to avoid being lambasted by a massive crowd of angry Sox fans.

Well thankfully the people responsible for development have been rightfully fired. Did I say fired? I meant promoted.

And incel #1/6000 posts in a year guy responds in less than a minute, at almost 2:00 am Chicago time.

Sox Fest used to be a good event. This is a joke.

Thanks. was hoping for some more entertaining responses, but this works.

Just wait until we sign 4 similar guys so they can start..

COMMENTS!!!!!! nNEEEEED MOOOAAAAAAR COOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEEENNNNTS

Clear starter? No one, but for a rebuilding team coming off a historically bad season and in desperate need of some building blocking? Fletcher, the guy you were super excited about when Getz first acquired him and thought he could be an Eaton clone. Or DeLoach, a guy you said you could be a LH RF power bat for us. Why do you want to block these guys in a season where winning doesn’t matter when they liked as recently as a year ago? Just for the possibility of Hays rebounding and you can flip him at the deadline for something more valuable? I wouldn’t be completely against a Hays move if they plan rotate some of the OFs through the DH spot, but the original point was if you’re Getz and you’re looking to supplement Fletcher & DeLoach or whomever we get in a Crochet trade (and not replace them) then Slater on the cheap is a more realistic move as Hays won’t want to fill that role in the first place.

Sox Festivus will include the airing of grievances, Festivus pole, wrestling and of course autographs for the youngsters .

The hit tool is the hardest tool to project especially for international and HS guys because everyone who has a half decent swing and good athleticism can hit .400 as long the pitching is bad enough. I'm hitting .400 in my beer league every year too:). In pitching 95 is 95 but in hitting the result is extremely dependent on the pitcher that you face. College hitters have less variance and bust rate but also less upside when you get past best first couple college bat picks (typically a college second rounder or late first rounder will make mlb has a bench/utility bat ceiling while a hs bat in that range could be a good player or bust out in AA with a 40 % k rate. Pitching of course also busts a lot, here it is more about injuries and also ability to throw strikes or hold your stuff through a pro schedule (every 5 days instead of once a week often velo drops). With the sox hitting it was imo a combination of bad development and prioritizing safety over upside. Sheets for example really isn't that much of a disappointment, his bat is mlb bench quality (got a little unlucky with babip), problem is that he is a 1b/emergency outfielder with a bench bat.

I heard the same from a friend of mine with a Phillies connection.

Seeing as they were reported as trying to do so at the deadline, I don't think that's for sure.

Sox afraid to admit Vaughn is a bust.

As I said above, you could have both Slater and Hays as part of a 5 man outfield rotation. You would have to part with Julks, if you could bear it.

Colson Montgomery put up an 88 wRC+ in AAA while playing half his games in an absolute bandbox. To think he’s ready for the majors is wild to me and to think he’d have any chance of winning ROY next year is even crazier. I’m glad he had a nice AFL stint but it was 42 plate appearances. He needs to have an extended stretch of success in AAA before we consider calling him up. There is zero benefit of burning a year of service while he hoping he’ll complete critical development in the majors. Baldwin can and should start for a month or two or however long it takes for Colson to legit be ready for a shot.

I'm good with Baldwin holding down the fort for a few weeks at SS to get that extra year of control personally.

It’s just very weird that they haven’t had one since Covid and yea let’s go ahead and have one now after we really pissed the fans off

No, they were a week away from being DFA by a real organization. The White Sox finally caught up and cut one of the two. 🤣

I didn’t highlight the Sheets portion of your post. I highlighted the Julks portion. And yes, penciling in Julks into the 2025 lineup last July was just as unreasonable then as it is now.

No, MLB average OPS was what I stated (.709), at the time. Corey Julks walked in a single PA on 7/20, and brought his OPS up to .699. Gavin Sheets just registered a 1-4 on July 14th that had him sitting with a .693 OPS. What I said was factually correct, and not really all that "out there".

I credit the WS for keeping their word to hold a Soxfest-type event. After the year we had it would have been instinctual to hide from the fans. The rebranding and smaller venue is just the reality of not getting enough fans to keep it in the former space.

Julks and Sheets a week away from being an average MLB hitter? Well, I guess if they were catchers.

Anyways, moving away from the incel debate, does anyone know where the payroll after these tenders?

I call a smart hitter someone who combines their physical gifts , with knowledge of hitting ,being good at recognizing pitch sequences, hitting in various counts, game preparedness like knowing the pitchers repertoire and tendencies. Eyesight is very important in recognizing spin and processing that info in fractions of seconds to decide the swing path to make the ball hit the sweet spot and drive it. It's all done so quickly on every pitch and requires quick reflexes. and perhaps a quicker mind. Even then you have to gain experience and deal with your failures most at bats. Imagine all the different ways hitters hold a bat ,all the different stances and swing mechanisms strides, toe tap. Ttsr can literally make millions of combined changes to how he swings the bat. For example where you hold your hands .It can be anywhere from waist high to above your head. Add that to all the ways to tilt the bat, stride . Then their are proper hitting mechanics. Finding the right combo of things to do that unlocks you to be better is like finding a needle in a haystack for some and comes more naturally to others. Personally I'd give prospects every eye test under the sun to test depth perception, color blindness, peripheral vision. Since livh colored eyes are more sensitive to light Id see if sunglasses are ever a for different colored eyes or if their are better sunglasses for artificial light like for night games. It's said Ted Williams had 20/10 vision. But that's the extent most of us ever hear about vision. Test seems like an extremely important thing to do every year to every player.Slight worsening of vision could lead to bad results for hitters just as improved vision in sunlight and artificial light may improve hitting. Hitting a baseball well is like sophisticated targetting systems in the military. It all starts with how well you see the moving target.

I think the original gist was conservative dude who was too misogynist for women to even want to be around.

Involuntarily Celibate. Can't get a girlfriend.

Post your LinkedIn, bro. Wtf? 😆I didn't think the incel post would hit home like that. Sorry man. I run a paper route. It's about to take off. I feel it.

Some people call it "going to sleep."

6th round. Close though.

Like I said, it’s going to be a bad lineup. But at least the bulk of guys are young and controllable, which to me, is more fun than watching a lineup with Pham, Maldonado, Lopez, & DeJong.

Crazy to see the most of that core being DFA’d (Madrigal), options getting declined (Moncada, Eloy), or just already out of baseball (TA) like 4 years later. Robert could be another down/injury plagued season away from joining them.

I would argue that there are a lot of guys I would dump first, including Shewmake, Amaya, Scholtens, Julks, and Chuckie Robinson. If they need 9 spots, including the 2 they already have open, Colas is definitely vulnerable.

Calling him up early last year would have been being rushed. That might be ok for some players, but it might destroy some other players. Some guys struggle for the first time, develop some bad habits, and that's their career. Some guys might thrive with that challenge. Calling up Montgomery now would not necessarily be "Rushing him" in terms of a schedule you might have drawn up when he was drafted...but my word is this a player who did not at all look ready for the big leagues for an entire season at AAA. What would calling him up last year have done to him other than embarrass him? I don't care about the schedule when he was drafted. I do care about the fact that he couldn't handle pitching at AAA and major league pitchers blow AAA pitching out of the water. Rick Hahn's thing, one of his nonstop things, was calling guys up not because they deserved it based on their performance but because of external factors. Moncada, Giolito, Lopez, were called up because trades created vacancies on the big league roster. Madrigal, Vaughn, Rodon, Anderson, Fulmer were called up because we desperately needed help filling holes on our so-called competitive teams. Robert, Jimenez were called up because they signed their contract extensions. How much did all this backfire? Treat guys consistently. If they do their job and perform at a minor league level, call them up when the opportunity presents itself. If guys struggle, they have to overcome their struggles before they move to the next level. If you don't want to do that, then just bring back Rick Hahn, he was masterful in making moves for reasons other than baseball performance.

Maybe not. I’m not sure if Colson is ready for the majors. I just don’t think you can call it “being rushed” when he qualifies for a rule specifically created to prevent teams from stashing their prospects in the minors forever. Most of the big name high school guys from his class haven’t debuted yet but I suspect they will debut next year. Colson was also a year older than the typical HS kid (why he’s even rule 5 eligible, right?). It’s not a rush, we all expected him last year, he’s out of time as far as I’m concerned (and I suspect the White Sox and Colson Montgomery agree).

Yeah, I think you could.

It's not a prediction of anything. I'm offering an example of how, frankly, none of us really know what we are talking about in regards to Montgomery's development, outside of what is reported, ie the fastball issue and his back. And general pessimism about the Sox ability to develop players. You might've been saying the same thing about Merrill based on looking at a baseball-reference page was my point. And the point is certainly not that he will be as good as Merrill based on a projection of AA numbers or that they 'comp' on anything related to baseball tools, simply that one ought to not judge a 22-year-old's "readiness" based on some minor league numbers. You prefer he hit 2.000 OPS, right, but there's also reason to believe he was playing hurt and it was affecting him, considering the numbers were trending up the last month at Charlotte and in AFL. Can't put a ton of stock in that sample size, but there's an argument to make. .700ish OPS is not terrible anyway, just not what we expected. The actual point I wanted to make in this thread is that we can't call a guy "rushed" when he's rule 5 eligible! Sink or swim time, Monty! I think he's gonna be just fine.

No, I meant what is the point of saying something so antagonistic and rude?

The pessimism around Montgomery is primarily related to his struggles with velocity. And candidly speaking, those concerns are warranted until he proves otherwise. I’m optimistic he can adjust and become a very productive major leaguer, but he certainly has lost some of his prospect shine and no longer looks like a potential superstar IMO. Hopefully he proves me wrong though.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=montgo001col Looks like Montgomery put up an .828 OPS in AA in 2023, which I believe is higher than .782.

Well right, it sounds like we agree. If all of Colson's options are used, he probably just sucks at baseball. What's the point in waiting until a mid-season call up to find out? To win a couple extra games with a 30something SS with no trade value? Seems like you're actually hampering the player's development by starting him off with a staff he definitely won't finish the season with; plus it's just offensive. I'd take it personally. Get him around the major league team ASAP and the new coaching staff. I'm genuinely surprised that people think he is being rushed, he's practically graying. By the way, Jackson Merrill OPS'd considerably lower than Colson in AA in 2023 and was rewarded with a major league call-up. How'd that work out for the Padres. I think they're comparable players. Same draft class, both high schoolers, both play 'defense-first' positions and had similar prospect rankings. Not a 1:1 comparison, but he had a mediocre AA season then immediately had an excellent MLB season.

It's fairly arbitrary but there was also a league-mandated deadline to add him to the roster. I don't think it's about 'earning' it so much as he has run out of time to be babied and he should prove that he's an MLB player. I don't think you can say a guy is being rushed if he makes it to rule 5 eligibility. Especially someone with his supposed credentials and in an environment where guys are making the majors earlier than ever before. He's been in MILB forever, it's time to show something. At this point, it's on the player, and I suspect Colson thinks so too. I just think every party involved, Colson, the team, the fans wants to see him make the opening day roster and I don't see a good argument why he shouldn't make it. Or why the entire roster shouldn't be 25 or younger. If he really sucks, fine, option him, but nobody rushed him to the majors. There's a contradiction between two common fan perspectives: "why are these old bums playing over the kids?" and "why are these kids being rushed when old bums could be playing?". Two reasonable, context-specific questions, but what is gained by signing Jose Iglesias? so Colson can 'earn' it? Strikes me as poor management, a good way to piss off a player the organization holds in high esteem. That almost certainly affects job performance. What happens to Colson if he makes the opening day roster and blows it? His back is going to explode and he'll fall into a deep, Steve Blass-esque depression? Is everybody already writing off Jackson Holliday and his sub.600 OPS?

I mean what is he suppossed to say? Sox absolutely should have him start the season in AAA and prove he deserves to be called up to the majors. Zero reason to rush him.

Who of the White Sox decision makers are saying they are doing that? Colson is hoping to be the opening day starter. Which...why wouldn't he want that?

Cry more. b****

So Harold’s game plan for the Sox this offseason is: Rush Colson Montgomery to the majors Trade Robert + prospects for Lux Trade Crochet + Benintendi for crap Definitely seems like a foolproof plan!

Good luck Monty. Haven't earned it yet IMO.