Leaderboard

Slide 1: How to be a Leader of Men - Lead men - Bear down - Get tough Slide 2: The grind - Wake up at 4:30 a.m. (no alarm) - "Steel the mind" - Workout to 90s playlist - Take notes, pray to sketches of Halas Slide 3: Take the North - Run the ball - Big hits! - O-line? - Lead the men

Ok

I disagree. When Giolito, Kopech, Cease, Lopez, and Dunning were traded for, the rest of the Sox pitching in the minors was pretty thin. The prospect pedigree on Giolito, Cease, and Kopech may be slightly > Schultz, Smith, and Taylor, but, by the time the Sox got them, both Giolito's and Cease's stock were down considerably. That's why they were available. Schultz is currently one of the top 3 pitching prospects in the minors (alongside Jobe and Painter). Smith is coming off one of the most dominant college seasons in history. Taylor may be more of a stretch, but having seen him pitch, I think he's a very bad man. After that, there's like 10 guys fighting for spots. John Ely says "don't sleep on Carela" and I personally love Batista. Even their super young guys like Larsen, Oppor, Reyes, LaCombe, etc have upside. I think the pitching depth in their system is waaaaaay better than it was 6/7 years ago.

Made this last year, but it fits. Padme is a 2017/2018 fan.

Why do I start to feel depressed and sad every time I read conversations/debates between posters in Sox Talk? That is not a knock on anyone, it just reminds me how far this team is off from being a good MLB team. White Sox are my favorite sports teams in the world. However, there is no light at the end of the tunnel to this sadness and pain. Anyway, back to debating AAA outfielders that will start for the White Sox.

Nope. Just went through a Top 30 prospect list from back then and the only starters listed other than Kopech, Cease et al are Alec Hansen and Konnor Pilkington. I'll admit there was 1 year of Hansen hype, but Pilkington didn't rise to the level of even a Gowens, let alone Iriarte, Nastrini, Bush, Batista, etc etc etc. Sox development may still suck, but they've got more depth than they did back then.

I know a friend who slept with Dalbec when he was in the minors... That's all the info I have about Bobby Dalbec.

The fastest way to improve quickly is to identify a bunch of cheap 1.5 to 2.0 win players vs. the replacement level and below guys that we trotted out there last season. As such, we should try to give as many of our young players with some potential an actual opportunity to become legit regulars. Unless you’re getting a potential impact player at a steal, there is zero reason block guys right now.

The season before he hit free agency, Prince Fielder put up a .981 OPS. For a 5 year period before hitting FA, he averaged a .951 OPS. He turned 28 in the first year of his new contract. Last year, Pete Alonso put up a .788 OPS. He averaged an .854 OPS during his entire time with the Mets, and it was .804 the last 2 years so he's been trending downwards. Pete Alonso just turned 30 in December. The performance of these two players has never been anywhere close to each other, one guy seems to be trending downwards, and that guy is already 2 years older at the time of his contract.

Are you wrong that Fletcher & DeLoach deserve playing time on the major league roster at their advanced ages despite not even hitting in AAA? Yes, I think you are very wrong there. I think saying that we won’t be able to afford anyone but Cedric Mullins is completely ridiculous and doesn’t warrant further comment. We’ve seen Reinsdorf eat contracts in the past, see Dallas Keuchel’s contract as the most recent example. So again, you’re likely wrong there. As for rushing Montgomery, we’re debating a future event so impossible to say right now, but Getz’s track record both as GM and Player Development director don’t suggest he’s one to regularly rush prospects.

Obviously JR has accomplished what he wanted. Low payroll and losing team.

Andrew Vaughn’s midseason replacement? Who am I kidding — this is our RFer

You could read it this way. Teams that are still in on Roki Sasaki : Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, Yankees , Mets. Rangers maybe. Giants not. The White Sox , others, could be added to list. I didn't change a single word. Just added punctuation. Sox still in it ! 👍

All the MILB deals, please. Sox are certainly due for a late bloomer to click.

You really can’t wrap your head around the idea that paying market value for free agents when you are multiple years from competing is a bad idea as they will likely be bad when the rest of the team is good.

If Keller is the guy who added Rodriguez, is is great to see immediate results from them.

Ownership is just not spending that type of money this offseason

Other teams do it just fine. The White Sox f*** up because they try it with their most unathletic people.

Could bring TA back to play CF since the Sox have already foolishly stocked up on Catchers

I'm sure one of the infield prospects they have will find themselves out there. Which worries me a lot less than sticking a first baseman into RF.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/baseball-americas-2025-scout-survey-evaluators-fear-games-direction-amid-doom-and-gloom-offseason/ We'very been hearing for months now about how the White Sox have cut into veteran scouts about as deeply as any organization out there...scary, because what exactly is replacing it? Just JR Getz Shirley Bannister Barfield and TLR in the old KW "War Room" with the big whiteboard? "Not to knock the romanticized history of scouting, but traditional scouting is just guessing. It is imperfect and capable of being heuristically silly. But that humanity is what makes the industry compelling. This is an entertainment industry and storytelling is a part of that entertainment. I doubt Vin Scully would have been as beloved as he was if the story he told about a player coming into an org was as bland as ‘The team ran his Trackman feed through its model and the model flagged his spin rates and exit velos.’ We’re losing that storytelling ability. The broader industry wants games to be done with as fast as possible. To identify players with a single click of a refresh button on its internal dashboard. And to employ as few people as possible whether that is to help hoard resources or remove the risk of dissenting opinion. MLB: The Show has a simulation feature, and it would be nice if that were enough to satiate those who are too impatient to endure and enjoy the ride.”

They didn’t spend their way when they were in their own perceived window of contention when both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado were available.

Kind of interesting at least they are getting to talk with a legend like Pete.

Fulmer was another guy who was cracking top 100 lists early on. Honestly, it’s impossible for me to say that Schultz/Smith/Thorpe/Taylor/Iriarte/Cannon is a better group than Rodon/Giolito/Cease/Kopech/Lopez/Dunning/Fulmer were at the time. However, I think the next few tiers of pitchers in the system today blows the old rebuild group out of the water. The pitching depth is the best I can remember since the 2000 system under Kenny as Farm Director.

Nice pull on the two Jordans! Sadly, Spencer Adams had hype when drafted, but never had plus stuff. The other two names from back then were Jimmy Lambert and future big leaguer (briefly) Bernardo Flores. A lot of those guys (esp. Stephen’s, Flores and Lambert) were seen as relievers. Low draft picks who struggled some in college that the Sox were trying to reclaim. I seem to remember Stephen’s was overused in college and never did much after being drafted.

Time to bring relegation to MLB

Nah, everyone was making the same lists then too.

If someone gives Pete 9 years, they get what they deserve

I would call it good, not great. I think you could slap a 50 on it. His strength at every position defensively is baseball smarts. Son of a coach. Always in the right position. Good footwork, so he maximizes his tools. He played mostly 3b in Kanny and his arm was fine over there. At short, it might be a tick light on plays in the whole, but so was Ozzie's. In the outfield, he gets rid of it in a hurry and he hits the cutoff man. He's not Fletcher or Colas or Zavala or Braden Montgomery, but he's fine in any outfield position. I wouldn't make him an everyday CF, but he can play the position. I bet he'd score average or better at 6 or 7 positions defensively.

Dead GM walking. Poles was more worried about telling everyone how the media reports were BS and that he gets along fine with Kevin Warren. Poles asking the one reporter to explain what he meant by Caleb being subjected to disruption and stress in his rookie season was embarrassing, and the reporter then owned him by responding immediately — “his OC was fired, his head coach was fired, a lot of turmoil during his rookie season…” 🤣 Poles also wouldn’t admit to how long he is under contract for or if he received an extension. 🤡 https://www.chicagobears.com/video/ryan-poles-media-availability-press-conference-end-of-season-2024

The sad thing is that Dalbec probably has more power than Vaughn.

My post was a joke. Took that whole Bowden tweet that came without punctuation and added punctuation to make it look like the Sox were still in it. I actually don't care where Sasaki goes if it's not the Sox.

Crazy how 1 second you’re discussing trading for a top prospect and then you blink and he’s being signed as a 30 year old minor league free agent.

It's like the football equal of "baseball men".

You interested?

Ok, I guess it'd be funny if Roki just never responded to the email.

They already have more than 20 arms they could use in 2025 in the pen between guys from last year on the 40, guys they've added to the 40 after the season and guys not on the 40 but good enough to get a shot based on their years in the minors. See my post in the Crochet thread recently naming them all.

Back to the Baseball Reference site.

we dont sign the players we need, we sign the players we can. and there ends up being a reason for that.. no one is fighting us for them. the draft and trades could similarly be interpreted that way as well

I hope someone sends that to Jeremy Haber. LOL

But 35 PAs is a cup of coffee and he ended the 2023 season in A+ so it’s not like he already had extensive experience in AA either. Call it whatever you want but that seems rushed to me.

You can debate he could have used more time, but saying he was rushed after hitting as well as he did in AA doesn’t seem right to me. Not all prospects need extensive AAA stints IMO.

Cool, so he’d be part of the Sox contention window with even more team control than guys like Thorpe, Cannon, Montgomery, Teel, etc. Paulie was productive into his mid 30s. Don’t see why Alonso wouldn’t be.

If Kim sucks or there are injuries, Edman could move to 2B and they can be an option for Robert. Feel like Robert to LAD is more likely in the summer than now.

Because it’s the White Sox, here’s the more likely scenario. -Robert gets hurt this season and his last couple years with the Sox end similarly to Moncada’s. Sox get nothing in return for him before he walks. -Montgomery is rushed to the majors in 2026 and he struggles mightily because the development process was incomplete. -Benintendi is stuck with the Sox until August 2027 before they finally cut bait and DFA him the last two months of the season. -Sox give outfield reps to Vargas and Ramos before realizing they’re better off just leaving those reps to Fletcher and Deloach. -Sox sign 31 yo Cedric Mullins because it’s all they can afford and he falls off precipitously because the bulk of his value lies in his speed and defense that doesn’t age well in his 30s.

Also, trades are very much possible. If all goes well, we should have some SP to trade. Had we chosen McCarthy over Fletcher, we’d already have spot solved for. Just need to get it right the next time.

But if we’re being realistic about 2026 & 2027: Trade Robert for a near ready CF prospect at this year’s deadline Use Baldwin as your primary RF until Montgomery is ready by 2027 Benintendi is probably your LF for one last half season in 2026 Start giving some LF reps to some of your IF guys to add versatility Add reinforcements in the offseason ahead of the 2027 season

Nope, this sounds like the @JUSTgottaBELIEVE way of trying maximize wins during the early years of a rebuild instead of making good long-term decisions.