Leaderboard

I wrote the international signing preview for FutureSox here: https://www.futuresox.net/2026/01/03/2026-white-sox-international-signing/

No need for the idiotic politics unless people want to find somewhere else to post.

I’m just not sure what the answer is in a non salary cap league. QO’s really affect the marketplace though. If they got rid of one thing, it should be not penalizing teams for signing players.

I pray we don't have to suffer much Cannon this year. He had some moments but he has zero control and command most starts. Few guys throw more meatballs. Burke I agree stuff might play better out of pen but we need him to start as of now imo.

I think Burke should move to the bullpen, but that’s just me. I think his stuff would play up. Cannon, he might not be a MLB caliber pitcher unfortunately.

I think if the sox signed this guy, it would show you what they think of the Martin, Burke, Cannon group.

Not surprising at all. His profile didn't look all that great for success in the MLB.

He also doesn't hit the ball particularly hard. It'll be interesting to see how his bat (and power) translates while also trying to play secondary positions. I originally was more on him than Mune, but I honestly think his career will end up being closer to Yoshida's.

I think Okamoto will be a better hitter immediately but he's already 30 so his upside won't be that high. This might be the only real contract he gets in the Majors.

January 3, 2005 - As part of a plan to add more depth to the rotation, the Sox signed veteran hurler Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. “The Duke” started strong in 2005, faded somewhat down the stretch but pitched perhaps the most historic inning in franchise history when he came in to a bases loaded, no out situation at Boston in game #3 of the A.L.D.S. with the Sox only leading 4-3 in the sixth inning. He proceeded to get two pop outs and a strike out as the Sox held on to win 5-3 and advance to the A.L.C.S. For the 2005 season Hernandez went 9-9 with a save in 128 innings of work. He was traded that off season as part of a deal bringing Javier Vasquez to the White Sox. January 3, 2008 – The White Sox were looking for another solid hitter to join the lineup and G.M. Kenny Williams thought he had found him as he made a deal with Oakland and acquired outfielder/first baseman Nick “Dirty 30” Swisher for Ryan Sweeney, Fautino De Los Santos and Gio Gonzalez. Unfortunately the deal fell far short. In 2008 Swisher put up decent numbers 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 69 RBI’s but he turned into a distracting presence in the clubhouse, was benched by manager Ozzie Guillen towards the end of the year and was then traded to the Yankees…where he promptly regained his Oakland form in four solid seasons. Sweeney hit higher than .286 in three of his four years with the A’s while Gonzalez blossomed into a solid starting pitcher for the A’s and then later the Nationals where he won 21 games in 2012. The Sox signed him as a free agent for the 2020 season but he was injured and only started four games in the 60-game pandemic shortened year.

I lose interest in this thread when @tray doesn’t post.

because we spent the money on Murakami with a special extension from Jerry... this now means the RF is Kelenic. Clear as day. And Pereira. just little bits to round things out but we are now set

That low strikeout rate was scary, and the fact that it has declined over the years.

I would have liked Murakami on a similar contract but I can see why he didn’t sign such a deal.

Kona Takahashi goes back to Japan.

Curious to see how much money he got compared to Murakami.

I’m not saying they would but damn does the MLB do a good job of losing fan interest in the offseason

They’ve done it with Bonemer and Fauske the last two years. Bonemer is a top 50 prospect in the sport. It’s how you get those guys. I just don’t look at the draft as slot amounts per round. I see it as, they have a certain total amount to spend and trying to get as much talent for that money as possible.

Might be worth a waiver claim… “Astros designated RHP Kaleb Ort for assignment.”

MLB needs to do something to get their offseason going, some sort of incentive to signing free agents in the 1st week of FA, with lesser incentives as every week goes by and install a deadline for the players to sign by. I remember tuning into the winter meetings being so excited but has just been a big letdown for awhile now. MLB needs to do something to get the fans tuned in for the offseason.

Yeah, that's what I don't get. If Sox draft him and want to give him $10 million, what difference does it make if Tampa Bay offers him $12 million? I understand if its a high schooler or something.

I’ll have preview out this weekend for FutureSox. They have some monster classes coming if the rules stay the same.

Phillip Rivers has inspired a wave of 40+ year old athletes.

Cuba really that hard up?

So much for Miami not being good enough #EntitledIrish

Its easy enough to hold a grudge against JR. He deserves it ,but to pretend he's some kind of fool when it comes to there being advantages to signing a Japanese superstar is ludicrous. He graduated Northwestern Law School. Worked for the IRS and then went into private practice. He became known as an expert in real estate partnership tax shelters. Then he formed Balcor, a company that raised significant capital for real estate investments. After around 10 years doing that he bought the Sox in 1981 and in 1982 sold his stake in Balcor to Shearson Lehman Brothers (American Express's investment arm). He bought the Bulls in 1985. He was also the architect of giving the Ishbia's a clear path to go from a Sox minority owner to primary owner rather than them owning the Minnesota Twins. Everything JR has ever done he viewed as an investment opportunity, including the Sox which never aligned with building winning teams. He never was the kind of guy who spends money to make money. He was mostly a facilitator to get others to invest in his projects because of his vast knowledge creating real estate tax shelters. He's extremely shrewd and used tax laws to his and his investors advantage. Fans spending would usually equate to JR spending, never the other way around. That was the main problem. Sox fans were more blue collar than white collars investors. Fans and JR wanted the other one to spend 1st. It's always been a stalemate and without investing in player development they never could maintain the level of success that might have provided a strong return on investment for the fans or JR's satisfaction.

I’m still in the middle of “Chicago Geography: You don’t even live here! 101”

If you like "Private Equity 102", make sure to also sign up for "Soil Engineering 102".

But the Ishbia’s didn’t publicly show their excitement over the Murakami signing so that means they hate the White Sox and their fans. I love how he also thinks that they should be assisting poor old Reinsdorf with a $34 million dollar signing when they don’t own the team yet, as if Jerry is broke. What a joke. Tray suddenly thinks Jerry is a big spender because the Sox signed a dude for $34 million. 🤣

Wait until 201 when you learn Jerry was the definition of a Private Equity guy himself.

The sad part is that Tray’s extremely dumb, long-winded rant should never of happened in the first place if he put any rationale into this and realized the Ishbia’s are purchasing the Sox with their own personal wealth and not buying it through Justin’s private equity firm. As such, the “leveraged buyout playbook” theory holds no meaning whatsoever and the accusation makes Tray look like an ever bigger clown.

Everyone get their notebooks and pencils, “Private Equity 102” has begun. In this class you will learn that calling Jerry cheap is actually a stereotype but you will also learn that you don’t know anything about Ishbia. But Tray knows. And it’s bad

The Sox currently have the smallest largest contract in the MLB. Call that what you want, but you shouldn’t be surprised when some Sox fans call it being cheap. We also have a direct quote from Getz regarding how Brooks Boyer was involved in talking up the marketing potential to get the Murakami signing to the finish line. I don’t believe that anyone said that Jerry was completely clueless to this marketing potential but we all remember his comments on Ohtani. Finally, if Murakami’s market was truly $150+ million as was initially estimated as opposed to signing for $34 million, do you honestly believe he would be a White Sox right now?

40+ years into ownership, enduring 3 of the worst seasons for this franchise in a row, and refuses to look at it as a team building expense but rather “can I market this y/n” 🥴

The biggest problem is even if the HeGetzUs crew is right and is some wunderkind, Jerry was still lurking to TLR his GM of the Year. If we have already seen a move happen because Ishbia actually cares about winning more than something that happened 40 years ago, things are already better.

I prefer to look at the actual stats he finished with over the past two seasons.

Not reasonable at all considering his last two full seasons, healthy or not. His most recent two seasons of 856 plate appearances have been BAD.

The asterisk is that he will play left shortstop. Meidroth will play right shortstop, also known as 2B.

the "espn prediction" is an opinion piece in which some guy talks about "well the sox should probably spend some money, they could use a first baseman, my prediction is that they will sign murakami". as far as i know, there has been nothing to actually indicate the sox are negotiating with him or that he's even on the radar.

2 shortstops is a bold choice