WestEddy

happy birthday.

They were certainly lock down today. I would have been glad for them to get their first victory 2 games into the 1st half.

I'll get to that one after you hunt down where P4P read that a 120+ season was planned.

Yes, I said that. Weird how nobody makes fun of the guys who called Fedde garbage, and demanded he be cut in spring training.

There we go. Thank you for not wasting any more of our time. Scouting Lee and Fedde isn't something lucky that dropped out of the sky. Crochet finally being fully healthy isn't magical.

Just like I thought. You are afraid to answer that question. You and SS play argument games about who said what, and "oh that excuse". We've already established that saying "everybody knew" doesn't magically put all three back on the field. It's an argumentative technique to take that reason off the table. We banked on injury prone and mediocre players because.... wait for it... they're under contract. Crazy, huh? I know, in WS2023 fantasyland, you just cut everybody, eat millions upon millions in payroll, and go "get" all the best players and we all live happily ever after. That's a great plan. I'll just keep asking this, and you'll just keep running scared:

They sure screw up those draft picks, didn't they? The only meme-level screw-up I remember was Beckham tackling Gillaspie during a pop-up to the mound. The Astros had dozens of those moments during their 3-year long 110+ loss streak. Guys running into each other during routine groundballs...

The Chicago White Sox don't "work" for me. They are an entertainment option. I am as frustrated with the losing as anybody else, here. I'm actually a pretty cool boss. I worked with my employees to get good results. I didn't make up things to whine all day every day about.

Here's the question you and Southsider won't answer: Are you actually saying that if Yoan, Eloy and Robert stayed healthy and played all the games, and if Benintendi and Vaughn had rebound years and OPSed a passable .700-.750, they'd still be 21-81? I'll leave this here. I'm tired of playing your argument games.

Nope. Try again.

This is the quote I'm responding to from the hysterical one: I'm not reliving yesterday's argument. P4P is making s%*# up to argue against. I believe that's called a strawman.

Hysterical again. LOL. You certainly don't give a flying f*** about facts, or about what people actually think. Run along and keep making up things to be angry and hysterical about. Hysterical P4P is pretty spot on, actually. Have fun with your little game.

See? At this point, you're arguing just to argue. Fletcher wasn't ready, and the Pillar DFA was unfortunate. You don't even really have a point.

Continue to be wrong. It's actually funny.

You get a response to this every time you ask it, then you pretend you didn't and continue to say made up things.

Can you cite one person who has ever said that? You can't. Tell me, can you ride on flying unicorns in this fantasyland of yours?

DeJong is an obvious upgrade from Anderson. Victory. Lopez is about as good as what was at 2B last year. Defense is better. Draw. Fletcher/Pillar crumbled when they moved to CF. Failure. Maldonado/Stassi never materialized. Lee is probably better than Zavala/Grandal. Unintended victory. Otherwise, Benny, Robert, Yoan, Vaughn and Eloy were already here. They all just did worse. We've already discussed what I thought Getz was doing with pitching. I'm sure he didn't think he was getting better by bringing in Soroka and not pursuing Giolito.

Terrify? I believe you're becoming hysterical.

You can stop taking wild guesses at what I think anytime you're ready. You complain about my posting, I'm guessing because you read it, yet it still hasn't sunk in, yet, that I don't think Getz planned on a 120+ loss season. This entire discussion erupts once a week in one string, or another. Yet, there's always the guy who is flabbergasted that "I think Getz was planning a World Series parade" by signing Maldonado, DeJong, Flexen, and trading for Soroka and Lopez. You seem angry. Perhaps you should deal with your anger issues separate from your problem with projection. Here's what I actually think: 1) Getz thought this team would be merely bad. 2) 3 injuries and multiple key slumps shot this team through the floor. 3) The rotation and bullpen were thrown together to find players to flip, with effectiveness a secondary concern. 4) It's foolish to think that ~$12m spent on Fedde, Flexen and Soroka is wasted money. It was throwing multiple arms at the wall to see if one popped, then trade him. It worked. $12m for about 4WAR at mid-point is an incredible deal. 5) win-loss record no longer matters at this point. Nobody actively frets about the 2003 Tigers, or the rebuilding Astros who lost over 110 3 years in a row. The Astros were even an internet meme, with how bad they were. I don't see videos of White Sox players stumbling over each other all over Twitter. So respond or not, it doesn't matter. You're not having an argument with me. You seem to be screaming at made up people who are saying things you made up. Have fun with that.

I'll just keep copying and posting this until it sinks in for you: Getz did acquire Lopez and he did sign Maldonado, so I'm not sure why I need to "blame" him. I didn't like the Maldy signing; I still don't. I can 'not like' it and understand why he did it - at the same time. What I don't understand is why you try to make people on this site repeat the same things over and over and over. We all surmise that Reinsdorf wouldn't let Getz fire Grifol, just yet. Grifol is a weak manager, and wanted a clubhouse presence to help him keep the team under control. It's dumb, but there's an easily acceptable reason. I'm pretty sure a lifetime baseball guy isn't looking at Maldy's .080 BA, and thinking that's productive. I would also be sure that Getz sees Maldy laboring to be bad behind the plate, and knows he's done. I can make up reasons why he doesn't cut Maldonado this instant. Professional courtesy? Don't damage an already bad reputation among free agents that the handling of Pillar didn't help? He's Grifol's little buddy, and helps him not lose the clubhouse? He is mentoring Lee and bringing him along? All of the above? 2B - In a rebuild year, I don't think I saw any compelling, cheap options on the market. Getz seemed resolute to cover defense and not worry about offense. I think Remillard would have been slightly better, in that he has a little pop. However, Remy was exposed like any utility infielder would be getting starters innings. I also think the brass recognizes Lopez' shortcomings, and he's pretty much in a straight platoon with Mendick. I don't think the Lopez move was "bad". He was basically for free in trade, and his salary is negligible for being, perhaps, our strongest defensive infielder.

I honestly thought Shuster would be one of the DFAs in the few flurries of moves then. He was horrible starting at AAA.

I'm always amazed by the people who laughed at this team in the off-season, and proclaimed that there was no way, no collection of trades and signings that would make this team competitive this year, and now act surprised at every single loss. I think trading your best pitcher in Spring training indicates something akin to tanking. It's silly to pretend that slotting a utility infielder in at 2B, trading off your best pitcher and dropping Maldonado at C was a major push at "competing". But hey! I'm performing mental gymnastics. LOL.

Any idea what Bummer would have brought back then? Something similar to Graveman or Middleton?

Bleacher Report suggests 10 trades. Included: To BAL: LHP Garrett Crochet To CWS: 1B/OF Heston Kjerstad, LHP Cade Povich, 2B Connor Norby, OF Dylan Beavers To PHI: OF Luis Robert Jr., RHP John Brebbia To CWS: RHP Mick Abel (No. 3 PHI prospect), SS Starlyn Caba (No. 5 PHI prospect), C Eduardo Tait (No. 8 PHI prospect), LHP Samuel Aldegheri (No. 10 PHI prospect) To MIL: RHP Erick Fedde To CWS: RHP Josh Knoth (No. 6 MIL prospect), 1B Wes Clarke https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10125833-10-fresh-mlb-trade-ideas-1-month-from-2024-trade-deadline

SoxMachine did a nice write-up of how the Bummer trade has turned out, so far. Hint: it's a wash depending on what Gowens becomes. https://soxmachine.com/2024/06/the-aaron-bummer-trade-scorecard-hasnt-been-worth-keeping/#google_vignette