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I think given how bad Vaughn was here, this was the best possible outcome. He was never gonna bring us back anything valuable, so why not help ends the Cubs season.

I would have been highly aggravated if I had to endure an extended Cubs post season especially in light of my team's dilemma. But I still encounter people (wife included) who always ask me why I can't root for another Chicago team to win a championship. I guess it's a Sox fan thing and they don't understand. Anyway my mind keeps drifting back 20 years ago when things were better

1. Vaughn was key in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs. 2. Civale pitched innings as the young starters became tired. 3. Vaughn was important in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs. 4. Most people just wanted to dump or DFA Vaughn anyway. 5. Vaughn was crucial in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs 6. Civale was a veteran guide for the young Sox pitching staff. 7. Vaughn was clutch in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs. 8. The Sox were able to flip Civale for a prospect. 9. Vaughn was instrumental in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs. 10. The Sox only had to pay a small portion of Civale's salary. 11. Vaughn was essential in the Brewers eliminating the Cubs. My two favorite teams: The White Sox and whoever is playing the Cubs.

Can’t believe PCA almost robbed those homers.

I deliberately avoided the news yesterday. but I was not upset when my better half said to me this morning "so the Cubs season is over, huh?" "Is it? Oh that is too bad." She replied "you can be a mean little man sometimes."

They should take their victory lap. Cubs fans go up there all of the time and annoy the s%*# out of them with their Wrigley North stuff, and then add on the whole Counsell stuff.

Since I live in Wisconsin I follow the Brewers . Vaughn is a beast . I really dislike the Dodgers, so looking forward to the nlds.

When it’s comes to Baseball I’m for 2 clubs The Go Go White Sox and whoever is playing the Cubs.

The rare “you win the trade if you actually lose the trade” rationale Civale was waived, no? Cubs just claimed him, no prospect?

As long as this thread has returned, I may as well put in my vote. So many good pitcher signings, bringing up talent when it was needed, a 19 win improvement. So I give Getz a B+, and before people make fun of this, the two guys on the Sox FutureSox podcast also gave him a B+ for the season; so I think their opinion give a little validity to my grade. **well, one of the FutureSox guys moved his grade down from a B+ to B because he felt Getz needed to do something about the thinning starting pitching at the end of the season with too many bullpen games.

I fly my "L" proudly today!!

Go M’s

The theory on Mead is that he was a really hyped prospect who couldn’t pick a lane hit vs. power. The Sox grabbed and said, “You gotta get stronger and hit for power.” They have a plan for him this offseason similar to Vargas. Is it gonna work? Who the heck knows? Gotta wait until next year to find out. But they are betting they can help him reach his ceiling. Not a terrible bet for a guy they picked up after he opted out of his AAA contract. Mead certainly has a higher ceiling than either of the pitchers they got.

That is his record in recent years, if that's a flex, so be it. The Sox fell apart under his watch. There were also collapses in Arizona and Anaheim.

IMO, if the Cubs had won the World Series as the Sox were coming off 324 losses in the last 3 seasons and no end in sight to the mediocrity, it would be a huge nail in the coffin for Sox market share in Chicago. If the Sox franchise where in a more healthy situation, it'd be easier as a Sox fan to be sanguine about a possible Cubs championship. I also don't remember many Cubs fans rooting for the Sox in 2005. They just kept shouting "what about attendance"! I'm not sure why it's always Sox fans who are expected to kneel down and kiss the Cubbie ring and not the other way around when the situation is reversed.

Give it up for Marcus Thames everybody

Sox fan 1st....Nationality 2nd One big Sox Fan Family

No fan of the Cubs but I look forward to the day when cheering for a Cub loss is not the best thing a Sox fan can hope for.

Well, at least the Civale “prospect” won’t have a negative WAR, which is better than we did for Houser.

Can’t wait to watch that prospect we got for Civale develop…

Boom

Woof

F 60 win season is a total Failure

Vaughn sucked with the White Sox but I'm very happy he got to stick it up the Cubs rear end. Now I can enjoy the postseason...no Red Sox, no Yankees, no Cubs.

I see people on Reddit shitting on the Sox for this trade and some Sox fans regretting it. Hell no lol. Vaughn was never going to amount to s%*# on the Sox. Having him sink the Cubs was probably the best outcome from this trade aside from Civale becoming good again (never was happening).

That would be much better if Mead was a competent outfielder, since they already have Vargas Sosa and two catchers that can hit.

Exactly. F the Cubs and all that they stand for. It's wild some people think Sox fans should root for the Cubs and visa versa. You don't see Yankee fans rooting for the Mets do you? Or Dodger fans rooting for the Angels? It doesn't work that way folks. You pick your side, pitch your tent and that's it.

Just for the fun of it- Dylan Cease

I told my wife in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice " That's a shame"

Dude inherited a rising playoff team that self-destructed under his watch. That isn't the flex you think it is.

That team played well until Moncada, Eloy, and Robert came back. Was much more fun to watch.

Yea not everything is as we wish it to be. But sometimes between naps and synapses failing grandfathers can come up with the odd pearls . Years of devoting your life to baseball means something to people in the game. Mistakes at the end dont invalidates everything else you have to offer . Even Ozzie Guillen is a dinosaur who laughs at all the computer stuff in the game now .

The very definition of baseball and being a rookie. You can't get 3 hits every 10 ABs and 10 HRs every 110 AB. Sometime you'll get more, sometime less. Most hit better at home . All hit better without nagging injuries. Sometimes you get a bunch of fat pitches and sometimes you always seem to fall behind in counts or get ahead. Sometimes you get more walks, more hits more HRs . Sometimes you K more, walk less and you hit line drives that get caught. The fan and player both have to stay even keeled , let things play out, get decent sample sizes, be mindful of injuries.

Wait, are you talking about OPS for total minor league systems? Like, they had a ranking at the beginning of the season for system OPS (based on what, actually?) and it fell as players were promoted to harder levels? I'd have to say that if you're complaining about that niche a stat, the Sox must be doing well everywhere else that matters.

Apropros for a totally forgettable player....

That trade wouldn't have pissed me off as much had he just traded Houser for the 2 pitchers without Mead. Mead had no redeeming qualities as a player either statistically on paper (no power, no obp, high Ks, not a good defender) or in his actual play. Just a lot of wasted time and crowding out other evaluations by playing him regularly for 6 weeks.

Steven Wilson being pretty good at baseball is the hill I'm going to die on lol

Btw, the ticker on NBC Chicago last night said something like: Former White Sox player, Andrew Vaughn, hits deciding homer to eliminate Cubs

F 60 win season is a total Failure

Brewers fans being extra petty is funny lol

"The current competitive-balance tax limit penalized teams who spent over $237 million on player salaries and benefits in 2024, using various tax rates on any amounts spent beyond that and the higher thresholds. The greater the degree by which you surpassed the limit, the higher your tax due, up to a maximum of 90% taxation for the top bracket—with repeat offenders facing escalating penalties. It's a big reason why teams like the Dodgers are trying to defer as much money as they can, in order to reduce their CBT obligations... All in all, it's highly likely the Brewers are recipients of the supplemental commissioner's discretionary fund, and have been for some time. As a result, they probably have nearly $10 million more than we've been accounting for, and every incentive to roll it back into the team. It might not sound like much, but combined with the return of the FanDuel TV deal, the Brewers may have found around $12-$14 million more in their pockets this offseason. From what was a very tight payroll approaching the new year, it seems some additional funds have materialized. Can they use it to reinforce their infield mix? Add some thump to their lineup? Who knows, but the funds are now there to make a move..." https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/the-brewers-are-getting-more-cash-for-2025-than-you-might-think-r2948/ "The Average Joes/Andrews"

Los Angeles Dodgers luxury tax payments to MLB $150 million Milwaukee Brewers payroll $122 million

It was a win for Sox fans for sure

Chris Getz's best trade ever. Knocks the Cubs out.

Vaughn is one of my favorite draftees

I stopped listening to the Watson podcast as soon as he talked about how fortunate they were to have LaRussa so involved.

Of course once again we see a nothing the Sox ever do is good enough answers. I dont know what we got but I'm sure it isn't good enough. I'm not happy whatever they did to unlock Colson and find Shane Smith have 8 rookies perform at decent levels. Let's downplay how huge these things were in scouting and development and demand they spend $160M on computers , software and more people which ,by the way, wouldnt even come close to being $160M . So lazy and unimaginative. Compare what Colson did in his rookie year to Tatis, Jr. Very very similar . Next year it could be Hagen Smith Schultz, Bonemer ,Antonacci, Teel or Quero, Baldwin, Sosa, Vargas , Shane Smith or even Burke emerging as All Star caliber players .There's more development left. Let's make sure the upcoming draft is the has been well scouted and they stick with the the current strategy of getting non prima donna types who love baseball. How bout this. Stick your nose back into the Japanese market and make a play for Munetaka Murakami. He's only 25 and has big power and a high walk rate. He plays 3rd and 1st base. The Cubs seem to be able to get Japanese players so the Sox can too. Need to start evolving things on the player acquistion side of things. The faster the team gets into acting like a big market team on the player acquistion side of things the better. It's the easiest way to win the division most years. You don't need overkill in an area that generally doesn't cost tens of millions of dollars . You just have to maintain and update yearly and get the things like Trajekt machines and modern tech into the affiliates. The Sox are probably still behind the curve but since JR went into estate planning mode Getz has managed put some money into modernizing and R & D . The new facility in the DR that was announced in August 2025 will cost $12M and be finished in the fall 2026 .I'm sure getting everything up to speed the 1st few years would be the most costly but just $10M annually would go pretty far . OK fantasy play time is over but in a few years once the Ishbia's are the new owners this could be a reality .

$160 million Josh Naylor: UFA, $60 million 4 yr contract Shane Bieber: opts out of player option, $75 million 3 yr contract Devin Williams: UFA, $10 million 2 yr contract Adrian Houser: UFA, $15 million 2yr contract