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My question, as usual with the Sox: Was Paul Janish even in the conversation for any other MLB team to take any sort of development role, let alone the head of player development for an entire organization?

The bar is low enough that seeing no Royals connection or promotion from within has me open minded.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38793943/way-too-early-2024-mlb-power-rankings Spoiler alert -- scroll to 30th

Ctrl - C Ctrl - V Will save you some time this off season.

They just need 3 or 4 starters, 3 or 4 bullpen arms, a few defensive upgrades (at LF, RF, SS, 1B, and C), and like 7 upgrades on offense (C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, RF). Plus a good coaching staff and medical staff. Other than that, they're right there.

The '05 Sox and the '99 Yankees are tied for all-time playoff win percentage. So if we look at their losses as the deciding factor. Both in the ALCS. Sox lost 3-2 to the Angels. Yankees lost 13-1 against the Red Sox. Yes, the Yankees were up against prime Pedro. But the Yankees had Clemens coming off back-to-back Cy Youngs (he had an average year, but w/e). Therefore,, logically the '05 White Sox are the greatest playoff team of all-time.

I don't have time to read this ESPN article but does it mention that the only American League teams to not win a World Series are The Rays, Mariners, and White Sox?

Some talk among some of the talking heads this may be a guy the Sox should look to. Not happening. Resigned with the Dodgers today, two years, 24 million. I just have a feeling the Sox free agent possibilities are going to be very slim pickings. This is just an awful situation, just brutal across the board in all areas. How quickly everything went downhill and completely fell apart. Truly remarkable.

I have no issue with this. Analytical type from outside the org. Player development directors rarely have experience because they get promoted to other jobs generally He also has a connection with Walt Jocketty who hangs out with Jerry Reinsdorf and Tony La Russa….

Oh, so it isn't Hugh's brother.

They had to try very hard to make the hire sound legitimate. It was a step above saying, “he has 30+ years of professional baseball experience, and now we’re going to break down his time playing going back to t-ball.”

But he probably works cheap! 😄

Par for the course………..cheap uninspiring hire with no real experience for job hired.

According to some national "specialists" they would say this team is a sleeping giant. Lmao.

We don't need rankings to tell us this team won't be seriously contending for anything in 2024. Too many things would have to go right, and that hasn't happened much lately.

This Rangers team had a lot of the same guys on offense last year and they were nowhere near this good. Bochy and his staff definitely played a role in them improving. Now imagine if we could have taken that and put it towards the 2021 White Sox... I don't think I can ever forgive JR for hiring La Russa.

shame on anyone who spends money on this organization next year, this is insulting

https://x.com/VinnieDuber/status/1720202799181357348?s=20

Better than KW Jr I guess

Sox did make 4 roster moves today 😄 11/02/23 RHP José Ureña elected free agency. 11/02/23 SS Elvis Andrus elected free agency. 11/02/23 RHP Bryan Shaw elected free agency. 11/02/23 C Yasmani Grandal elected free agency.

He had an option for $14M so was unlikely to be a free agent anyway. Good move lower the AAV for luxury tax purposes.

Like you and like most seasons since 1993 I didn’t watch a second of it. TV Ratings matter to indicate how much interest general fans have. Forty years ago, like the Kentucky Derby or the Super Bowl, many everyday wouldn’t follow MLB games every day (or horse racing or NFL), but would generally flip on the WS (and KD and SB). Now nobody gives a rats ass except for the SB. I don’t believe analytics played a role, but do believe less people watching games locally (minor leagues contraction) and playing games (pick up games, organized leagues) has played a role. Much of our recent immigration is from Latin America which has a baseball tradition. Growing numbers of people each can’t access games anymore (games all on cable) and after years of this you shrink collective interest. Out of sight, out of mind. The NFL could make a lot more money short term like the MLB and other leagues did and start putting all games on cable or pay per view, but they are smart enough to know having 95% of your games available for everyone is the best way to sustain and grow your business. Teams from the NBA and NHL have started to shift some or most games to over the air broadcasts with much success. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have more than doubled their TV viewership over last year shifting to a VHF station. https://www.ktnv.com/news/golden-knights/vegas-golden-knights-tv-ratings-more-than-double-from-last-season-with-scripps-sports-new-data-reveals The Sox were greedy and stupid shifting all games off of WGN. In a generation, they will be lucky to draw over 1 million fans if they continue down this path, and they will blame everyone on Earth except themselves for what they had wrought.

Yes and no

Took me a second, forgot the ESPN part of that sentence

Greg...news bulletin: the pronounced shift defensive alignment is out.

Scott Merkin will happily provide the softball Q and A article that you’re seeking.

So far nothing the franchise has done since the hiring of Getz has improved the situation one iota. Addition by subtraction would have worked by sending Grifol out the door and of course hiring Getz was probably a big mistake.

From the perspective of a student there when he was fired... I think he also got way worse over time and as the accolades piled up. I can't look at that picture of him and his team from 76 or Isiah Thomas saying "prayers for our coach" yesterday, or the way Mike Woodson has treated him the last few years, and believe that he was also kicking these guys in the shins and slapping them on a regular basis. He might have been tough, but to do what he did there in the 70s, I struggle to see him being that level of abusive. I think especially after that undefeated season, the "legend of Bob Knight" started to grow, that fed his ego, and maybe he had fewer people willing to call him out if he pushed up against a line and eventually stepped over it. I think you can see this with the stores and books published about the 1980s, there's a level of "pushing the line" that isn't quite physically violent but isn't ok in those stories. Then there were some down seasons in the mid-80s and that took him to another level, that was when the chair incident happened. That's when a lot of the first incidents between him and the press, between him and his family apparently happened. What I remember from the 1990s and early 2000s teams is that they had way more talent and were way better put together than their final results would show. They could hang with anyone, but they'd often lose - I think they were legitimately playing scared all the time. I was at one game against Ohio State, the refs were calling the game tough, Indiana was the better team, but they lost because they weren't being aggressive at all, they were hanging back and expecting fouls. They knew if they screwed up that they'd get in real trouble, so they didn't focus on doing their best, they focused on not trying to make their coach angry. That fits with the high number of transfers they were getting in the late 90s from players who came there and wanted to get away from him. They stopped winning, and that was because of him too.

November 2, 1993 - Sox pitcher “Black” Jack McDowell easily captured the American League Cy Young Award. He beat out Randy Johnson. McDowell went 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA. He led the league in wins and shutouts. He was second in innings pitched and third in complete games. Jack got 124 points to Johnson’s 75. From 1990 through 1994 Jack won more games than any pitcher in the American League, 73 to be exact.

The White Sox can rebound...They can be that team that loses 90-100 and wins in a couple years. BUT They have they have to spend the money and spend it wisely (enough bullpen big contracts) Hire GOOD coaching to keep the team focused all season. They have to start DEVELOPING Young talent. No more drafting and signing talent and letting them "find themselves". Will they? Probably not.

Bob Knight was a great coach and trash person that probably influenced tons of jagoff high school coaches across the country to abuse athletes trying to have fun in a laundry list of sports because they thought it was the best way to get results. In conclusion: Good for him that he got results. The fact that you of all people SSHM - with your laundry list rants about TLR's persona during his two year stint - aren't recognizing that Bob Knight was a douchebag, just shows that plenty of people are willing to overlook abuse if it gets a W.

The Sox were ranked #2 in the 2022 version of these power rankings. So in conclusion: these lists are fucking stupid. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32515195/way-too-early-2022-mlb-power-rankings

I wish I could go back in time to 2017 and tell myself not to bother with this team

It is honestly that bad for me too. What we were promised and what we ended up with is a straight up disservice to the fans. This is a year they were supposed to be a prime WS contender and missing opportunities to beat a team like the Diamondbacks just plain sucks. Also I would have been a pig in s%*# since I live in AZ and would have spent way too much money going to games. 😂 The Sox... they gawn.

Now that he's won a World Series in an odd-numbered year, yes.

You are such a lame idiot. Can't stand your posts

Im not diving into the Kim Ng good or not debate, all I am saying is if you're a fan of the Chicago White Sox you really shouldn't be scoffing at someone else's playoff appearance count.

The White Sox have been around since 1901, that's 122 years. We have made the playoffs 11 times in that 122 year span. While playoffs have slowly expanded over that time frame, there is no Sox fan that should be calling making the playoffs unimpressive.

They improve 15 games, they win 76. That;s a good year for Rick Hahn, but really no one else.

Just like Alyssa with the Giants might be a fine major league manager one day, but the comfort level with a veteran guy like Bochy or Melvin is almost always going to trump taking a bigger risk with a female. We're overcorrecting for Ng, and undervaluing those who have no track record (yet) at the highest level because they've never had the opportunity to prove they can't get the job done just as well or better, largely because of inherent and long lasting biases prevalent within the industry. Same reason 90%+ of new age GMs have quite similarly elite academic backgrounds, for example.

They had 20% of the list last year and he’s worse now than when he was with the Sox. Does Garfein think shortstop and third base don’t need fixing? Left field is solid? There are too many holes on this team. They are not getting filled.

If they could have landed Harper and Wheeler I think it changes the fortunes of this franchise massively. Harper especially.

The dumpster diving world which what the Sox generally do.

This team had a .329 winning percentage once they ditched Lynn, Giolito, Lopez, Graveman, and Kelly. We don't have the spend available to replace all of them. They went 18-37 from the trade deadline to the end of the season. Its a dire situation.

This is so hilariously spot on. The season was a disaster Pedro, what are you going to do? Well, I need to replace all these bums I hired. lol. Im sorry, but there is no justification what so ever to bring back a manager that lost 100 games in a season where the organization expected to contend. It just can't happen. Especially when they are about to go out and lose 90-100 again next season, and Pedro will almost surely be fired when that happens. Its a waste of time.

Oh man, if you think this is rock bottom wait until next season. They have so many holes to fill and wont be spending the money to do it. They are not going to be able to improve a 100 loss roster. We haven't seen rock bottom yet.

I don't want to put in the effort to find this answer, so maybe someone else wants to, but when is the last time a team expected to contend for a World Series lost 100 games and didn't replace their manager? Has this EVER happened?

They already said they’re bringing back Grifol sadly

lol yeah ok Len, Snell is going to skip a start against the White Sox to try and preserve his league leading ERA.

Even with Moncada, his last 28 days of .337 / .382 / .972 gives me some hope that maybe he can be good again and if so, hes a very trade-able asset at the deadline next season. But it would be so fitting to trade Moncada to KC for Perez while Moncada puts up a 5 WAR season and KC moves him for some high level prospect(s) at the deadline while we have Perez doing his best Grandal impression and on the books for 22 million in 2025.