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I know people love to s%*# on the Sox no matter what and a lot of it is warranted but I just don't get why people are making such a deal out of it. The Cubs had a press conference for Tucker Barnhart yesterday. He's a part time catcher who had a .554 OPS last year. The Pirates had a press conference for Vince Velasquez. Why are the Sox getting s%*# for having a presser for a guy who was an all star last year and just signed the biggest contract in Sox history? There are plenty of things to complain about around here. This aint it.

Don’t want to care, f*** that guy

Eloy is not going to be playing RF with any regularity. I would think they would put Benintendi in RF and Eloy in LF if they were going to play Eloy in the field. Figures that some tiny comment from Grifol was the huge takeaway. I think Grifol was more saying Eloy should be ready to play even if he is slated as the DH. It was really a nothing comment to me.

Officer Karkovice breaking the laws of physics with that stat and his speed. Can you imagine how many stolen bags he would have had with the larger bases?? Maybe 11.

As long as JR owned the club if TLR was healthy, he'd be the manager.

for no particular reason, was thinking of him last night in a Baseball forum chat. Somehow he had 10 SB in 1992, which would have nearly made him the team leader in 2022.

Invite to spring training I could get with. He at least has had some success in recent years. I think the physical would be key here. If he really is physically unable, that probably excludes him.

With the circumstances around his departure, there is WAY more to the story than is being told. What we know adds up very cleanly to something bigger than we know.

No because that isn't going to happen

That won't happen without an injury to Romy and no acquisition. Even then, they might start Sosa if Romy weren't on the opening day roster. Leury has been here for a long time but he was no doubt a Tony guy. Check Leury's game logs after Tony left the team. He went from playing 3-4-5 times a week to barely playing at all.

I think the main point of what Grifol told him is "be ready IF we need you out there. Continue to work on your game as always. Do not think of yourself as a useless guy only capable of one thing. Be prepared to be more even if we don't think that's where the best you is. The best you is staying in the lineup as a hitter. That's what will help the team most." Grifol is all about positive reinforcement and encouragement but if he doesn't see you trying to be the best you possible he will get on you for your lack of effort in the tough love way that every parent should have inside them. Probably much the same way he raised his girls. Kindness with expecting firmness of resolve.

I believe that Keppinger quit first.

I imagine it's more that, since Benitendi will be the "everyday" LF, Grifol just wants to leave him alone there, rather than having two guys playing out of position (Eloy in LF and Benitendi in RF).

It is nice to move on.

As someone that lived with an alcoholic I would never make that speculation without first hand knowledge. I've also known social drinkers who have been picked up for DUI. So I'm not going to blame that. Occam's Razor, the team was underperforming and clearly he wasn't effective. They used a minor or phantom health issue to remove him. JR is loyal and smart. Kenny has been with him a long time. With loyalties split he did the smart thing.

I'll go with 12. Officer Karkovice hit one of the longest and hardest hit homers I saw in person at old Comiskey, IIRC it was in 1989 and we were sitting way out in left centerfield in the upper deck about 5 rows up and Karko hit a laser that went over our heads by about 4 or 5 rows. When you think about it, it should have been a roof shot but as I said it was a laser shot, more of a line drive than a moon shot.

There's more to take into account than just those stats. You got an old guy past his prime and a guy about to be 27. Gavin was a .906 OPS, .346 OBP 155 wRC+ at home. Couldn't hit for s%*# on the road .508 OPS, .243 OBP and 43 wRC+. I don't think he's a .900 OPS guy but he's also not a 500 OPS guy . I suppose if you split the difference he's a .700 OPS guy ? But if he can ever replicate that home OPS on the road he'd be a pretty damn good hitter. So Gavin does have upside if he can find a place to get PT .He's not a FA til 2028 but the Cubs would have had to trade for him and pay an equal salary to Hosmer. As a GM I'd probably go with Sheets just to find out if he can become a 30 HR guy and since they do have a huge opening at 1st base. Cubs just went with the cheapest guy possible I suppose.

I really, really think the truth is imbedded in this statement more than we will know for a while. I don't think it is as much "health" as a concept versus him not being able to exist in a healthy state in this job. Read into that what you will.

I think he would have finished out his contract if healthy. The White Sox had every opportunity to move on from LaRussa when Maddon and Girardi were fired....there were plenty of local and national baseball people saying it was time to move on. Since they didn't fire him then, I have no reason to think they wouldn't have said "2022 was due to injuries, Tony will be back for the 23 Season."

This is a case where OPS goes astray. The OBP is significantly better but the difference in slugging isn’t very significant. Yet the OPS is nearly the same. .334 OBP guy has way more value

I’d take the guy with the above average obp of .334 every day of the week

Free to a good home.

People said it was just lip service when TLR called Leury an every day player…

Leury always finds a way...

First one is Sheets, yeah? Game changer I tell ya!

Let's play the game of Gavin Sheets or Eric Hosmer? .241/.295/.411/.706 .268/.334/.382/.716 This signing is the definition of low risk no reward.

Agree completely. Of course the Sox are going to market him.

I know people who know Benetti, and there’s been nothing mentioned about him leaving the Sox

nothing comment to me as well. People just overreact

I hope someone kicks the Cuban crutch out from under these guys, and they learn how to scout and sign around the world well like other professional scouting departments. Ban Cuba. Get legitimate.

Anyone with Leury's speed is going to be a positive baserunner. If you routinely get from 1st to 3rd on a single, 2nd to home on a single, 1st to home on a double and steal at a decent rate you will be considered a good base runner. Just like he is consider a decent fielder because of his speed. It doesn't necessarily mean he is above average at everything. He doesn't have an accurate arm and often misses cut off men.

I feel like this isn't true.

Yea that other post was odd to me. Leury was one of the worst base runners for a long time on the team. He and Abreu were very baseball stupid in that department.

I’m no Leury fan and didn’t and still don’t understand the extension beyond TLR wanting his guy. But the if we weren’t paying Leury we could have Duvall analysis is worthless because they are stuck paying Leury.

I guess the question is has he ever played defense before? 🤣

Great runner of the pigskin. Not a great (or good?) thrower of the pigskin.

No wonder they hired him, he’s as delusional as the front office.

The Jays already have their own Gavin Sheets. They call him Spencer Horwitz. I agree with the pessimism towards the idea of the Sox cutting bait with Leury. The hope is they treat him like Jeff Keppinger who they cut before he made an appearance in year 2 of his 3/12 deal. That said, Garcia is a sunk cost. If Reinsdorf is the great businessman who wants to win as much as anyone like we are told, he would cut his losses on a player who decreases the club's chances of winning.

The whole Leury thing is so overplayed by Sox fans. First off, the Sox dumped more money just last year on Keuchel. So there is precedent. Secondly, Leury can be a useful bench player. Tony just criminally overused him and he got buried in his failure. I would not be surprised in the least to see Leury rebound to the .270/.325/.375 type player he was from 17-21. For $5M, that's earning your paycheck.

This is gonna end up with some stupid s%*# like Eloy winning a Gold Glove in right field, but completely forgetting how to hit.

Nobody asked, but here are my Top 10 films of 2022: 10. Till 9. Emily the Criminal (Netflix) 8. Vengeance (Peacock) 7. Banshees of Inisherin (HBO Max) 6. Decision to Leave 5. Everything Everywhere All At Once (Showtime) 4. The Outfit (Peacock) 3. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount+) 2. The Fabelmans 1. Cha Cha Real Smooth (AppleTV+) First 5 Out: Elvis (HBO Max) Glass Onion (Netflix) The Menu Thirteen Lives (Amazon Prime) The Black Phone (Peacock) Others I enjoyed: Armageddon Time Athena (Netflix) Avatar: Way of Water Devotion Fall Fire of Love (Disney+) Good Night Oppy (Amazon Prime) Marcel the Shell with shoes on Nope (Peacock) Prey (Hulu) RRR (Netflix) She Said The Swimmers (Netflix) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Starz) The Woman King The Whale To Leslie Violent Night

I really just find it unforgivable that the mlb owners saw Ohtani clamoring to come over and said “let’s try and make it harder for the best players in the world to play on our league just in case we have to pay them full price!” Crazy player competitiveness of these guys keeps saying to go for it anyway.

I’m not even sure this prospect is even being posted, this team will NOT land him. This pitiful organization will not even look his way.

That’s disingenuous. I opposed getting Segura for Kimbrel (had no idea they were looking at Pollock) and I was not in favor of signing him, but Segura missed over a third of the season after getting hurt on a bunt. He’s better than Harrison.