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I didn't expect to read through this thread thinking there'd be philosophical debates and what not but here we go. People can look at glasses half empty, half full or at 50% capacity. However they want to view the Sox is up to them, but to expect everyone in our fanbase to be optimistic is bonkers. I was an eternal optimist until Getz's hiring did me in because it showed that Jerry Reinsdorf had an opportunity to maybe take things seriously but instead broke Selig rule to prove that he is an unserious man and hired the baseball embodiment of the Peter Principle. If Getz is fired tomorrow he might get hired as a baseball operations grunt, but he's not getting any time of executive role because so far, despite being the Ecksteinian Wunderkind, his organizational renovations have resulted in: He is still, statistically, one of (if not the) worst general managers in the history of major league baseball. Improving from "piece of s%*# that's on fire" to "steaming pile of s%*#" doesn't absolve him of that. A middle of the pack farm system led by question marks, top prospects losing their luster, and blockbuster trade acquisitions that will drop the system once they graduate (cue: The Who). He's shown that he struggles negotiating with other GMs. Cease trade was horrid at the time, but the prospects have aged poorly, Wilson is Wilson (sometimes good, most times bad) and De Vries ascension makes it painful. Crochet trade: Braden-Teel-Meidroth is a good return! No complaints. Booser trade was stupid at the time and still makes no sense. Tyler Gilbert, I see the vision, but also dumb. Dude found Rick Hahn's book of "give up young arms for old relievers" sitting around and blitzed through it. The Kopech/Fedde/Pham trade is aging better thanks to Vargas going from horrid to average and Jeral Perez balling. Curtis Mead TBD. Looks better this year as a Sox player than a Ray, but Former Top Prospect™ is a term we are deeply familiar with. Dude held onto Robert too long. The argument that other teams couldn't meet his price...just means that he held onto an asset with the intent of it depreciating in value. I'm both in and out on development. Lord have mercy I dunked on Ryan Fuller but that dude might have saved Colson Montgomery and for that we are thankful. At the same time, I really liked Brian Bannister and suddenly this year every arm in the system has started dealing with soreness, Oprah was hired to hand out Tommy John surgeries, and Schultz/Smith - the prize duo - are looking less and less like Sale/Crochet - or even good version of Rodon - that the team needs. If Grant Taylor is converted to a reliever full-time in the future, that's just a massive, depressing L. If you take 2 steps back and look at this team, there's a lot to like. If you're a glass half-full person, this is probably what you're jazzed about and focusing on the most — and I get it. It's more fun to look at the ups than downs, especially if sports is your form of escape. The Montgomery Brothers. Having two young, exciting catchers. I feel like Korey Lee is worth mentioning but also not really? Meidroth, Sosa and Vargas all look like they can contribute to the infield. Shane Smith and Mike Vasil are massive Rule 5 wins. There are really fun names in the farm system. If the org gets smoke for Hagen Smith, they deserve a lot of flowers for Caleb Bonemer. Smoke-Flower ratio can always change, but right now Bonemer looks like an absolute steal. Billy Carlson is apparently S-Tier at defense. I'm begging for highlights. McDougal is finally alive, Oppor is dealing. Some guys look really really fun, but aren't screaming off the page. Antonacci, Wolkow, Taylor (if kept as a starter), LaCombe, Shane Murphy Luis Reyes, please, be a successful big LatAm signing. If LatAm guys start turning around soon, that's a definitive Getz win since he (at least very, very visibly) was instituting those changes before KW/Hahn were fired. Venable is smarter and more likable than Pedro. If you take 10 steps back: They are still horrible at the Major League level If Colson and Co. form another small but mighty core that has no depth coming from the minors, then we're gonna see this fall apart like the 2016 core and like the TLR's teams. Watching Colson for 5 years and then seeing him get traded and sign a $1 billion deal with the Yankees in 2030 will hurt.Venable Venable still makes a lot of mistakes we've seen from recent Sox managers - but he deserves grace considering he's a rookie. Under normal ownership, Year 3 of a rebuild should at least be the year where you aspire to hit .500. Getz needs the team to be at least a mid-70 win team next year or the Sox fanbase will continue to wither and wither closer to extinction. Here's a TL;dr of my ramblings: We all still argue and discuss this team cause we, for one reason or another, care about them. The longer that they continue to be horrid, the more glass half-full people will begin to feel deluded and eventually stop watching and the more glass half-empty people will finally decide the team generating negative emotions for them isn't worth it. Go back 4 years: There were more posters on this board because the fanbase was vibing. Tons of people were out on Colson months ago and now we all feel like he is must-see TV. If Getz succeeds at making the Sox a sustainable winning team, I'm sure tons of people will eat crow. But if he doesn't, he just becomes the embodiment of everything wrong with the Reinsdorf era as it goes out with a whimper, and after decades of frustration, no one will not want to hear about how Chris Getz optimized workflow when he couldn't get wins.

And judging by the drops in attendance, ratings, and advertising, there are plenty of both.

The fact that you believe that White Sox fan animosity is in line with other franchises, especially towards their owner, is where youre just incredibly wrong. What is happening here is not the same. As I've noted many times. I have been surrounded by sox fans my entire life. 90% of those people today are not watching or following the franchise. That is catastrophic. Heck look at the poster counts here. You all are free to feel how you want, but comparing the status of white sox fans to that of other fans who are frustrated with a signing or move is juat naive.

Yep. A rebuilding team should not be in the business of trading prospects for two mediocre 31 and 33 year old relievers.

Youre pretending frustrated fans are the same as fans who are completely disengaged. Many sox fans aren't angry, they just dont care. Im in the boat most of the time, but i at least follow somewhat.

But it is valid. Dude put up a 5.1 WAR for them in 2021, and were so fearful of him accepting the 18.4 qualifying offer, didn't even extend one. He went on to make 31 starts for the Giants the next year, and put up a 5.2 WAR in 2022. Meanwhile the Sox had to release Dallas Keuchle in 2022 after he posted a 7.88 ERA in 8 starts. He was making 18 million that season. Just awesome asset management from the Sox.

Narrator: he did not

This is as bad of an idea as playing him in the outfield. 🤣

Wouldn't put it past him to not know who the Barons are. 😉

People use Reddit as an echo chamber to get other people to agree with them, and it is nearly always closed to those who might disagree. The awful upvoting system only makes the hive mentality of those who post there stronger. Personally, I think that is the problem with social media in general; it's a place where miserable people seek affirmation rather than actually engaging in worthwhile discussions. I personally avoid social media completely, and I urge everyone to follow suit. Talk to real people and get outside and touch the grass. You'll lead a much fuller and richer life.

This is going to be a great draft at the top, especially the first three picks. I would be thrilled with Lombard, Emerson, or Cholowsky. Not interested in another pitcher with a top 5 pick. McDougal and Oppor were both taken in the 5th round. Arms are available later. Premium position players, not so much.

Once upon a time I spent the first 4 years of my life living next to the elevated tracks at 18th street on what was the Howard-Englewood line. One of my first memories was standing on our back porch and almost able to touch the tracks. That was in the late 1940s and the station was gone. As you can see in the photo which I found on the CTA site, we lived very close to the tracks.

Again, not hindsight. Just like the Cease trade, the Booser trade was bad as soon as it was announced.

Baldwin is just a terrible fielder at so many positions. This should have never been so difficult, Vargas should have been 3B all season.

It’s not an oblique so who knows. If it hurts swinging and fielding, then just IL him.

Robertson has been on the MLB team but hasn't played! Should've put him out there instead of Taylor. Dom is also looking OK lately. Agreed, give these guys a look. s%*#, I'd even give Jacob Gonzalez a cup of coffee...unlikely to happen.

Why would you put Teel at first? He’s a possible all star catcher down the road?

Should just give Vasil a shot to start next year because he's not being utilized effectively by Venable in the pen.

It's insane to me that a team coming off a 121 loss season is trading teenage pitching prospects for 30+ year old middle relievers. Wtf..

Knowing what I know now that they would in fact not trade Mike Tauchman regardless of how well he performed, I would have rather seen the likes of DeLoach, Fletcher, Julks, etc. out in RF all year since that has more value to the long term goals of the franchise. I don't think there is anything more overrated in sports than a "veteran presence". These are professionals, not high school kids needing a mentor.

Absolutely agree with you. Of course by the time the team is good again some of us may no longer be above ground. 😆

Never would have guessed!

But if wins and losses don’t matter during a rebuild, what does “stabilizing” RF with a 34 year old lottery ticket that may or may not be in their plans for next year, and certainly not play a role for the organization when they post their next above .500 record…actually do for the team? Because again, you were the one who brought up yesterday that bringing back Robert in 2026 takes away playing time from younger players looking for an opportunity. How can the same not be said about a 35 year old Mike Tauchman? Bigger picture, generally in sports, wins and losses is how things are measured. The rules can change slightly when we’re talking about a team actively ripping down their roster, with the intention of having more sustained success down the line. So if wins and losses aren’t of concern for the White Sox at this point in time…if the Sox don’t obtain a future asset for Mike Tauchman, say he does play for the Sox next year, becomes a true FA because of service time, and they elect not to bring back a 36 year old outfielder…what did it do to help the organizations goals? I’m failing to grasp what “stabilizing” RF with a stop gap OF does to help the long term growth of the team, and again, simply going off of what you have posted about in the last few days.

I'm certainly not enraged. Im disappointed though. I use to watch 150+ games a year and loved investing that time. Now I haven't watched 10 full games in two years. I miss it but dont enjoy investing in things that dont invest in themselves.

The Oakland a's aren't the Oakland a's anymore because of how mismanaged the organization had become. The fanhood dwindled down over years and became irrelevant. Thats the path this organization is dangerously walking along. Congratulations. The Sox fans are in line with a team who moved cities before even having a city ready, and the Pirates who are a dead franchise.

What I cant grasp is two of our optimists are people who said they stopped following the Bulls and Bears because of incompetence, but they don't understand why someone would feel broke by the Sox. The Bulls and Bears have their challenges, but both franchises are light years ahead of where the white sox currently sit.

A 35 year old on a one year deal, on a team going for their 3rd straight 100 loss season, is a "home run" signing if you can turn him into at least one usable player with six years of control. The idea that this was a huge win because we got somewhere around 2 WAR out of a player who will be most likely playing with his grandkids by this time this is even a .500 team again isn't focused on the future at all. Ironically in one post, it doesn't matter how many games we lose because we are rebuilding, but then the next up short term results of a short term player who has returned nothing for the time when this franchise can start to win again is a home run? If it is a home run to get 2 WAR out of Tauchman this year, it was an embarrassment to lose 100 games. If this season doesn't matter for losses, than the results of Tauchman within those 100 losses, can't be a win, unless he returns someone who can be a win when the wins actually matter. It is either about now, or later.

See, this is where you use too much hyperbole. I don’t recall anyone saying that Vargas isn’t even a bench bat. But he’s probably a bench bat on a good team right now, unless he improves further. Also, it’s difficult to get excited about Tauchman. It’s great that he has a 1.6 bWAR in 77 games but you just also pointed out his downside of getting injured as much as Robert, likely because he is old. He’ll be 35 in the offseason and definitely won’t be on the next contending Sox team. These probably aren’t two players that are helping the Sox win a World Series. Also remember, two actual contending teams dumped both of these guys. Getting “real value” for some of these guys when they won’t be traded for any valuable prospects or contribute to a playoff team just doesn’t get many fans excited like you.

A home run would be Ramon Laureano's 900+ ops and outfield defense for just $4 million. Getting something of real value back for Tauchman. Hagen Smith or Schultz producing like Nick Kurtz, Konnor Griffin, Wetherholt, on the pitching side, etc.

Do we ask for acknowledgement or recognition for every single positive post? It's called reading the room. Something just broke in the White Sox fanbase between 2022-23. It became virtually impossible to still defend Sox ownership and general management practices. Had moderators continued to do so...it would have come across like WSI leadership those last 2-3 years. They stubbornly adhered to their own version of "group think" until the very bitter end as they banned every single poster that didn't parrot their viewpoints. And that was their choice...to light that board on fire instead of continuing to exist as a viable entity.

Yeah I don’t think you get to decide that on their behalf. I am definitely not in the glass half full crowd, but this idea that they are just simple and naive comes off as pretty condescending.

https://www.southsidesox.com/2025/4/9/24404284/chris-getz-and-the-chicago-white-sox-the-aggressive-arrogance-of-the-mediocre The glass half full side still doesn't quite understand the width and breadth of anger still remaining out there. Ofc it's a lot easier to target the GM than the owner (see Pitt or Sac/Oakland/LV)...maybe if Getz wasn't around for those previous years and came in with a completely fresh start, there might be more willingness to give him a "fair" shot but Reinsdorf has made that next to impossible for many.

Oh, I could blame them. Anyone surprised by him missing another large chunk of the season? The answer is of course not, so this was true in July as well. You knew this about Robert. It shouldn't change much in their mind. I agree with your previous sentiment about there absolutely being a chance they decline the option, because it's Jerry. And it's his money, not ours. But again, because there isn't any sort of CF knocking down the Sox door, there really is no "risk" in bringing him back at this point, given it's simply money.

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

Robert has shockingly similar numbers in 2025 to 2024 2024: 425 PA's, .224/.278/.379, 1.4 WAR 2025: 431 PA's, .223/.297/.364 1.5 WAR You know what you're getting at this point...a 28 year old below average hitter who plays a very good CF and will maybe play 2/3 of a season. That's not worth 20 million or a valuable piece of your farm system, it just isn't.

We will likely never see Luis Robert play another game in a White Sox uniform. Chris Getz and company really screwed the pooch with this whole situation. Dude should have been traded at the same time they unloaded Cease. Robert will now go the way of Moncada, with his option quietly declined during football season when no one is paying attention.

If you think about all the excitement for Rodon, Giolito, Cease, Moncada, Kopech, Jimenez and Luis Robert Jr.'s White Sox debuts individually...that might be comparable to the collective excitement for all the debuts this year. Lots of talent, but Colson Montgomery is still the only one with true star talent (if absolutely everything went right)...and that certainly was far from the case over the past 18 months, to the point many had already given up on him as a prospect. Lenyn Sosa has also taken 2-3 years to get to the point where he's at as well...and it's just a completely different feeling with this rebuild right now on the pitching front as well.

After missing a few games this is what I've come back to see: Colson is still smashing the ball but is now sitting with soreness. Luis out for year with a strain. Steve Stone likes Korey Lee's pitching form. Korey Lee hitting mid-80s and even 90 mph on a pitch? Korey Lee for 2-way player.

Yes, clearly the answer is “it’s a conspiracy”

Not ideal seeing Fajardo listed as Boston’s hottest pitching prospect. At the time that trade was a head scratcher. It has not aged well. For the Sox, Pipeline listed Oppor, no wait, McDougal, no, Peyton Pallette. A reliever. Don’t know what to make of that. I don’t think they’re paying much attention to the Sox system.

Other GMs knew Robert’s inability to stay on the field well enough to call Getz’ bluff at the deadline, and low & behold he’s out with another injury that will keep him out significant time. I don’t see how the returns will be better come winter with a $20M price tag attached.

True, but I don’t know how your GM can concede that the guy may be done for the season and also say they are committed to him, but not pick up his option. It still seems like Getz is chasing rainbows. It sure doesn’t seem like Robert is ever going to perform well enough or be healthy enough to get the trade return that Getz is expecting.

Shocking!

Going on the injured list for a hamstring. He’s been mostly bad since August 2023 other than the one hot stretch this year and can never stay healthy. I maintain a team would be nuts to give up real value for him.

Who's responsible for giving the manager untalented pitchers? Who ran the minor league development program when these guys were being "developed"? Asking for a friend.....

JR:

Hopefully he can stay on the field the rest of the season

Over two seasons?