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WHITE SOX ALIVE

“Roki Sasaki has informed the White Sox that he has never heard of them.”

White Sox are out?

Ah yes, the two very similar environments: 1) The one with the offensive coordinator who is being requested for head coach interviews 2) The one that had three different offensive coordinators throughout the season

“Bare minimum: They’re going to catch the baseball, they’re going to be in the right position and make sound decisions,” Getz said. “I look for players that have high baseball IQ, can direct traffic in the middle of the diamond. On the catching position, they build a solid rapport with our pitching staff and they educate our pitchers and they can make adjustments within a game, postgame, pregame. We’ve got a lot of pitchers that are still developing in their careers or once again have something to prove, and I feel like we’ve got two additional coaches with the catchers that we’ve brought in with Max Stassi and [Martín] Maldonado.” lol

Why are we acting like CJ Stroud has risen to Patrick Mahomes/Josh Allen levels? Caleb and Stroud both played in 17 games this year. Stroud - 3,727 Yards, 233 rushing yards, 20 TD's, 12 INT's Williams - 3,541 yards, 489 rushing yards, 20 TD's, 6 INT's I mean, what are we doing here?

At least we are actively trying to take advantage of what's going on with Sasaki. Quality addition. Maybe we can trade the rest of our money and something else to LAD for Zyhir Hope.

some video here

A man can dream can’t he?!

The timing of this signing is probably all the proof anyone needs that the Sox are OUT.

Posted this in the international signings thread but I guess it's also relevant here.

For those outside of Houston - a ton of Stroud’s issues this year have been under pressure. CJ Stroud was 25th in the NFL this year in passer rating under pressure. 24th was Caleb Williams. CJ Stroud was #1 in the NFL in total pressures applied to him this year, a couple guys like Watson and Brissett had pressure more often but in short stints. The QB who faced the second most total pressures? Caleb Williams. In Houston, it wasn’t just the pressures themselves, but expecting pressures also limited their attempts for deep balls or play action, so it made their offense run worse as a whole. You saw on Saturday what Stroud can do when he’s protected, that was their second most yards all years.

It ages like diseased milk.

I believe this means that Roki believes the white sox are better than the Yankees and Mets.

Nothing is clear as day after year 1. Even you using Stroud as an example kind of disproves your own point as he took a massive step backwards for whatever reason this year. Stroud and/or Daniels absolutely might be better than Caleb going forward but you're just jumping the gun here cause you don't like Caleb.

I'm still pretty high on williams. It is crazy to me though that he had the numbers he did - and our offense was 32nd. Why? His sacks were a big deal, for one. His turnovers were not bad, but being unable to go for short yards hurt the team - and where he was going for constantly keeping us ahead of the chains were our best games. But the weirdest part of caleb's year was by far his horrendous deep accuracy. The reason why people are gaga over Maye instead of Williams was Maye went after chunk yards and hit it a bunch, Williams was doing a better job short and intermediate. But the pats oline isn't good, neither was washingtons last year. Washington smartly invested in the interior, but also made an offense for Jayden. Bears decided to push a different route and it was super clunky. I don't think we know a lot yet. Bears just have a lot of issues related to being the bears. Their GM is horrendous in FA, while others found good starters. Their coaching is terrible. Just have been unable to grind out victories. But even if Caleb and Jayden had similar numbers, Jayden's teams never punted because he always got them to third and short and then he converted every 4th down. On the other hand, Brian Robinson is good and swift would run backward 10 yards. Great signing.

This is why Mike McCarthy or Pete Carroll are so intriguing. They know how to win, they bring a program that works. McCarthy in particular is very intriguing to me as he is an offensive mind who was at the ground level in Rodger's development (and also helped get Matt Flynn paid) and than did good work with Dak. Monday through Saturday he is a professional coach who knows what it takes to win. The only real knock on him is his in-game management and at this point, I think the Bears have been so broken for years, getting someone to get the Monday-Saturday dialed in and who can work with young QB's and develop QB's would be a huge homerun. If in 3-4 years the team is falling short IN the playoffs - than at least you have the system in place and franchise to a point it has actually moved forward and can find the next coach (ala let Mike McCarthy be Doug Collins to Caleb Williams). You got to get this right and I think McCarthy should ensure you have the stability and process in place to provide Caleb with an environment to grow the next few years into the type of QB he can be. With Johnson he might be brilliant at X's and O's but I have no idea if he can do the other stuff right and quite frankly I think that is the most important thing the Bears need. Crazy cause I don't think McCarthy is an elite coach - but he's a no doubt good coach and he's on the right side of the ball.

This is the most Jerry response yet. I am smarter than you, so stfu.

I think you are jumping the gun far too soon. Stroud is one thing, but If you look at both Caleb’s and Jayden’s stats on the season, they are very comparable. But Caleb did it with a garbage OL and moronic coaching. Meanwhile, Jayden is in a much better situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if you swapped both QB’s and put Caleb on the Commanders and Jayden on the Bears, Caleb would look like the stud and Jayden would have struggled.

WTH

The success of the other QBs is finally shining a light on how inept the Bears are as an organization. Passing on Kingsbury for Waldron, the process that got Flus hired and retained. The ineptitude is not only Poles but Warren and George. The folks above the GM seemed to not get as hammered as they are now. The entire failing organization is in the crosshairs. Trubisky, Fields and their predecessors were a mix of talent evaluation and coaching fails but to be honest nobody has gone on to succeed after leaving the Bears as a fired HC or failed QB draft pick. Williams is different. If he fails it is viewed as organizational. The success of Nix, Daniels and Stroud even Young is organizations putting their drafted QB in a position to succeed while the Bears through 3 OCs put their player in a position to fail.

I think its obvious whatever plan he had has completely changed after what happened last year. You don't make the signings and moves he made last offseason if you think your team is going to lose 110+ games. It definitely felt like he thought he could just swap out a few flawed pieces with defenders and that was going to fix the issues. I think a lot of what he has done so far this offseason is far better than what he did last season. I hope we don't spend 3/4 of the season trotting out washed vets just because. I hope they have a tighter leash and cut bait faster to ensure the young guys who need development get their time. We don't need Bryse Wilson making 25 starts with a 5+ ERA if we have 3,4,5 other young guys who are ready to make starts on the big club.

Very little MLB talent to trade, a bad farm system (arguably Getz’s own doing), and new asinine draft lottery rules…trying to rebuild that is going to be a long difficult road for anyone. Reality is that if at least 2 legit free agent hitters aren’t signed at some point and the payroll doesn’t get back up to $160+M I don’t see how Getz could possibly dig out of this hole in less than 5 years. And I’m not even trying to defend Getz. I never thought he should have gotten the job to begin with. Just important to acknowledge how dire the situation really is.

Isn’t it possible for someone to be bad at directing player development but better at GM? They are two different jobs. It’s certainly possible that Getz is bad at both, but just because he failed at one position doesn’t mean he will automatically fail at the other. And I’m not directing this at you, DA. I’ve just seen several people point out his failure at player development the last few years as if it’s clear indicator of his ability as a GM.

Well this thread went about as well as expected

I don't think his plan is play the future. I think it's to delay that as much as you can. I think the Project Birmingham in 2023 and the Barons championship in 2024 is part of what he's thinking . He wants as many prospects to grow together as possible. Now you have to play some like Sosa and Vargas because they are out of options. I think he wants other guys to force the issue and they will start the year in the minors , whoever it may be. No need to start the clocks on guys . He wants competition but will be trying to preserve service time and options for as long as he can . Maybe that's why he picked up Perez , Rojas, Tauchman, Slater and lots of veteran arms. He still wants to churn the minors so he hopes to flip 5 or 6 guys and he'll look for a lot more in lower minors now . Sox in the Basement podcast has been spouting that Getz has a plan and it's a lot like what I've been talking about which is build the foundation , create minor leagues depth, create competition, grow together. They start off saying Getz was handed a crap sandwich and it's pretty much the same things you hear on Sox Machine with the occasional "not sure what he's doing in this instance" stance.

What in god's name are you talking about? Were you old enough to watch those teams? They never "rebuilt" anything. They just kept doubling and tripling down on the plan to win roughly 80 games and then they caught lightning in a bottle in 2005 (bless them for it) and then added a ton of talent for 2006 but completely collapsed as the pitching reverted back out of once every 50 years type lightning in a bottle. Look at the actual records but also the pythags from the time period in question (far right column). Basically it was a team that bounced around the expected variation in a .500 team on paper. There was no rebuild. They never sold off vets and turned them into prospects. They just kept being content with being average and got really fucking lucky with almost literally their entire pitching staff having a career year. As we saw immediately after the WS run, there was no secret sauce. On paper the 2006 team was much better, but of course regression happened hard and then reality hit for the next 7-8 years that the org was in decline. This of course culminated in the Hahn rebuild. @WestEddy if you're gonna throw down internet stickers instead of articulating any sort of argument for your position you're even sillier than I thought. Here's a simple test: did ANY SOX FAN AROUND AGE 35-60 ON THIS FORUM HEAD INTO THE 2005 SEASON THINKING THIS IS OUR WS YEAR? Of course fucking not. Because there was no rebuild, there was no "contention window" it was just muddling along on the tail end of Frank's career, making profits for JR, and hoping KW could eventually pull something out of his ass with his trades and "80 cent on the dollar" type FA moves.

Given what we know about how Jerry runs an organization, the above seems totally ass backwards to me. Signing a 300 million dollar player is never going to happen with JR alive. I question if we ever see a $100 million dollar contract given. Player salaries will always tower over any other cost associated with the team when it comes to the balance sheet. Because of that, if I had the restrictions that I’m sure Getz has, I’d be investing as many resources as possible in pitching labs, new tech, and FO staff that can put you ahead of who you are competing against. FO expenses are fractions of a cost compared to player salaries. It’s why the Rays, Brewers, etc have been successful. Being “average” at everything is going to get you exactly what you’re asking for. A very average W-L record. If you gave me these two choices: A. Killer developmental staff but same payroll as Twins B. Average staff but $35 million more in payroll room I’d take Door A everytime for the White Sox

This is definitely a thing. Guys get money at like 14-years-old. Sometimes they get way better and sometimes they get way worse. David Keller has been all over the marketplace He won't rank. We will have a tough time ranking Alejandro Cruz at this point. The system is pretty damn good.

This is all a master plan by Roki: Make Dodgers prospects decommit and go to the Sox, strengthening the farm system, train at the shiny new DSL academy (off the record), for a year and then he's OD starter in 2026. 5D chess.

This game hopefully takes Flores out of consideration…

Patiño is expected to sign for $570,000, an increase from the $400,000 he was in line to get from the Dodgers prior to Sasaki’s posting. Patiño is 6-foot-2, 203 pounds and extremely strong for his age with big righthanded power. There isn’t much physical projection left with Patiño, but he already drives the ball with impact in a swing geared to lift the ball. He’s a corner outfielder with a plus arm to fit in right field. Sasaki’s impending signing has caused ripple effects throughout the international market with the 2025 signing period set to open on Jan. 15. Teams that believe they are still in the mix have told the international players who had committed to sign with them that they still want to sign them. However, those signings would have to wait until after Jan. 15 and might ultimately fall through if the club does sign Sasaki. Many of those agreements are still in place, but it’s a situation that has created more tension in the market and caused trainers and players to consider offers from other teams. Several players committed to teams that have been in consideration for Sasaki have been receiving offers from other clubs and starting tryouts with other teams. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/white-sox-flip-international-prospect-as-roki-sasaki-decision-looms/ Not related to former Padre/Ray/White Sox pitcher Luis Patino, who's Colombian

I wonder if these bonuses are agreed to so early that as the player continues to age and mature, their price does too. They may have had those numbers agreed upon for a year now. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Just got to develop them extra fast!

Maybe he wants to take minimum so we can better build around him?

No lol

Do you think he even called the Sox to let us know

Truth be told I think this is a great year to hire a coach. I’m not super anti McCarthy or Carroll. I really need football, so I hope they get this right…but this “explore every nook” HC search as if they are an org like the packers that will uncover a McCarthy or lafleur after bad years…I have low expectations I guess. So I guess cards on the table, I still only really want Johnson. Id be ok with Carroll and McCarthy (I know, but I would) I’d be ok enough with Monken, Brady. Id be happy with Kliff (doesn’t sound like that’s a thing tho). but it really feels like it’ll be like Matt Campbell or like that northwestern coach or some s%*#

Jerry: "It's impossible to find a seller." Hobson owns part of the team. "Just absolutely no one with Chicago connections to be found." Ishbia brothers own part of the team and are actively trying to buy an MLB franchise. "Man, Dave Stewart sounds like a good future owner."

And the Cubs are out. At least they spent their offseason getting angry about 2.5 million dollars with their new superstar.

God that's amazing.

Got a busy signal....Oh well, I will try next year I guess.

some poster on here: uhmmm NARRATIVE VIOLATION, the Ishbia twins become owners and the white sox go from 30 games above .500 to 180 games below since they've been (single-digit) owners???!?

The only thing clear as day is that the Bears would not have put any QB they drafted in a position to succeed. They'd still be sitting at home if they had Stroud or Daniels and you'd be saying they should have drafted Caleb instead.

We really need a SS and CF to “complete” (probably still a pipe dream) this prospect rebuild. Hopefully they can get these two position players in the next draft and with a trade of hopeful comeback player of the year winner Luis Robert. And no more Jacob Gonzalez picks at SS.

Awesome, haha. Jerry hand-picked one guy. No one else had a shot. Resumes were not necessary or reviewed.

I wouldn’t bet on it.

I am so sick of the payroll disparity in baseball. I’m so sick of JR too.

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.

Time to bring relegation to MLB