Leaderboard

Shortstops who are this talented with this quick proximity to majors don’t usually end up on campus. This is a rare guy who fits what they’re trying to do perfectly. Of course the season still needs to be played but there’s no need to overthink this.

Jerry is also 1 year older.

I hope one of two things happens: Roch plays out of his mind again and is a no doubt #1 pick Someone else plays even MORE out of his mind and becomes the no doubt #1 pick

After the historically bad 2024 for our favorite team, this year gave us more excitement than I expected (on and off the field). Here's some positive highlights I can think of: - Sox win draft lottery will pick #1 overall next summer - Colson Montgomery hits 21 HRs in 71 games after being called up on July 4 - Sox sign Munetaka Murakami - Local, multibillionaire Justin Ishbia drops his bid to buy the Twins and enters into an agreement to (eventually) be the next owner of the White Sox - A die-hard Sox fan is elected Pope (I bet NOBODY had this on their bingo card!) - The guy in bullet #4 above suggests to the guy in bullet #5 above that the Sox will be getting a new stadium in the near future This isn't an all-inclusive list and please feel free to add to it. And yeah, I know the fact that the new Pope is a Sox fan isn't going to affect the fortunes of this franchise, but we've certainly had a lot of fun with it since the news broke in May.

That the consensus #1 on 12/26/25 wasn't the consensus #1 on 12/26/24 is an odd thing to fixate on imo.

Very much disagree here. It also just seems unnecessary. The entire NFL would’ve taken Caleb Williams at #1.

Wanted like $4 million and had a strong UCLA commit. Dad is a pro scout, etc. He wasn't some lock, future #1 overall pick. Justin Lebron looked to be that guy early in the year. Cholowsky quickly overtook him though and he's very much the consensus obviously right now. Should be a fun season to follow. He'd be a top 20 prospect in baseball right now if he were eligible. He's going to be tough to overtake.

This is possible for sure but it's going to very unlikely that someone overtakes Cholowsky in this class. Guys like this just generally aren't available as collegians.

Good job. We're all going to have to step on each other's jokes a lot for the next month while Caulfield is on his self-imposed hiatus. Maybe @Bob Sacamano will want to help out by referencing a list of 80's era Cub players who have absolutely nothing to do with the convo. Do you even know who's going to be the 2033 Game 3 World Series starter for the Sox? Is he even in the system? Ohtani also made an impact on the mound for LA, making his return to pitching in June after an almost two-year layoff, following two procedures, including one to repair the right ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and his left shoulder last offseason. In 14 starts, he went 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and had 62 strikeouts. The second-straight MVP award comes after posting a historic season last year in which he became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single campaign. cnn.com

Things change during the season. Idk why they'd have a decision before the 2026 season has even been played. Sometimes players emerge and move up, and others have a bad season. I'd hope they do their due diligence and pick Cholowsky only if he's deserving. But this is the White Sox we're talking about.

I wish all Sox fans good health so they can live to see Ishbia take over and clean out everything from the previous ownership group.

Moncada had a solid 2025 - how does one define that? He played in 30 games?

He’s still dealing with Covid. Bring him home

This makes me think he has made up everything. There is no fucking chance. Even if he left on good terms and was healthy where the hell would he play?

There ain't no way. The Sox couldn't dump him quick enough. Dude is pushing names of teams to help a brother out.

And they will because we will be another season closer to Ishbia taking over.

Might even see a sub hundred loss season!

Those three years being his Freshman year of college, sophomore year of college, and now upcoming Junior. You can choose to disagree with it, but dude's name has been out there for a minute.

Hopefully it was a great day for all!

Correct. Also, correct.

Merry Christmas everyone! Actually looking forward to watching the Sox next year, great Christmas gift.

C’mon Ray Ray. I love your posts and I am usually the negative Nancy, but for once the Sox got the #1 pick with 27% odds in a draft with what looks like a consensus superstar. We should all be creaming our pants. It also makes it so the Sox can’t really f*** up their pick.

Ryan Pace was the fuckup. He didn’t even interview Mahomes or Watson.

Have you considered a career in politics?

Maybe, just maybe, the White Sox would like to show interest to get him to talk about his conditioning now compared to all the times he was injured, then when he opens up, they have evidence to sue him for his salary.

No thanks

Unlike Ryan Poles, who only scouted one quarterback. But I digress

...Huh?

And then turned it into that fixating on players was a horrible thing, even though that was never said.

As of right now, #1 is the Ishbia era beginning.

Ha! I did totally forget about the Buffalo Sabres! You're right - there are 8 MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL teams that currently play in the state of New York. So, NY state has lost 6 teams over the years (w/ 2 of those still playing in the NYC metro), but still have 8 teams playing within the state boundaries. ....and I'm only counting those 4 sports leagues, of course - not MLS, WNBA, etc.

He has? Guy was the 17th ranked player in his high school class.

If you forgot the Sabres nobody could blame you.

I am pretty sure that by the time the Sox would open a new stadium when the lease is up, their money owed will be paid off. That isn't a problem for Jerry and Co.

There is always incentive for the state to kick in some infrastructure because the state does benefit financially from having the teams here, just by state payroll taxes, and they do tax visiting teams.

Said it earlier, but this is such a silly thing to say in December. We have no idea what will happen over the next few months, and in baseball it's rare for some consensus guy to maintain a firm grip on #1. It wouldn't be crazy if the best year of Roch life was this past season. Happens in baseball all the time.

Merry Christmas/happy holidays to all

Merry Christmas 2 all. And to all a good night !

Ohtani and Jonathan Cannon are both pro baseball pitchers. There, now you have two.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hopefully we have more to cheer for next year and also a year closer to hopefully a real owner!!!

Even on Christmas, it's the gift that keeps on not giving.

This is the most real one yet.

Great! That and five bucks will get you a cup of coffee at a Starbucks. Who cares? They'll still be the Chicago Bears.

Also listening to podcasts at 1.3+ speed is not for the faint of heart.

Wow, what a slip. LOL. I guess we know who the Sox are drafting.

Merry Christmas to all Soxtalk members. Brighter days are coming.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, maybe Santa will bring us a merry winning season in 2026.

For those out there wondering what to do: First off, if we are talking about your retirement funds, and you are more than 10 years from retirement, do nothing. You might not want to hear this, but the time to sell is passed. We might still have legs down to go, but the ability to guess market bottoms to buy back in at is notoriously impossible, and odds are you will be wrong and miss a large piece of the rebound and that return. Just sit tight and let it ride. Forget it is there. In general, if you are close to, or in retirement, you should already be largely in cash and bond type funds in order to protect your cash value. Don't change that. The more you depend on those funds, or the sooner it you will need it, the less market exposure and more cash you should have. If you are looking for investment opportunities with spare cash, look for industry leaders. Things which got beat up in these conditions, but have business models to survive these conditions. Banks, brokers, and exchanges are my typical favorites, but YMMV. There could still be volatility and big legs down, but if you are looking longer term to add to your portfolio, this is a good time. Blue chips first and foremost. As for day trading type stuff, this is a crazy dangerous times. The moves are wild, and predicting the next seconds moves is a fools errand. One tweet can blow up anything. That goes for stocks, options, bonds, crypto, etc.