Stealth G.O.A.T.

No, there are plenty of people who know. It isn’t exactly a big secret. Also these aren’t a bunch of anti JR people who have mentioned it either. It wasn’t mentioned with an agenda. Simply as a description of what occurred. If you only take things as fact because they’re publicly stated that perfectly fine with me. We can agree to disagree. I respect your point of view on it and 100 get it.

Yes it is. Furthermore, there are plenty of players who speak both languages, as well as other coaches/staff, etc. I don’t think it’s all that relevant. It certainly doesn’t hurt from a communications standpoint. But it’s not going to be a sticking point.

Yes, this went on for 2 seasons. There were also a lot of disputes between Ozzie and the front office over player personnel. The streaming/flex DH with Kotsay+ (Ozzie’s choice) over signing Thome (KW/RH’s choice) comes to mind. Thome went on to rake for a 2 more seasons (1.5 with the Twins). And Mark Kotsay… well, he was Mark Kotsay, put up a OPS in the .600’s, and the Sox ended up having near the lowest or THE lowest DH production in MLB.

JR is Bob Nightengale’s source. The Hinch news is known. Hinch thought the Sox job was his and was even starting the process of looking at homes. I believe some of the staff he planned on hiring did as well. It was pretty much set. JR overruled both Hahn and KW once TLR gave JR a yes. That Nightingale quote is either an opinion provided by JR himself, Bob just echoing JR’s opinion, or just a bad take by Bob himself.

Fan opinion isn’t relevant to the Jerry Reinsdorf. If it was, LaRuss would have never been hired and he’d make investments in star players available in free agents when they show an interest in playing for your franchise. He’s a great business man and his the principles he applies in business work well. Granted the White Sox organization is a business, those conservative and hardline financial principles simply don’t work when negotiating for star players. It’s why the largest contract ever given in franchise history is $73M. Ozzie has good traits and bad ones. I’m sure he has learned many things since he last managed. Minimal self reflection over a decade could accomplish that. But there’s a reason why he has d managed in a decade and at the end of the day, people don’t change all that much and he s%*# all over the organization in 2010-2011 over a contract extension he thought he was entitled to. The reality is winning franchises with real standards set regarding performance and results standards likely don’t even keep Ozzie around as long as he was. I’m not anti Ozzie either. I like some of the tangibles he brings to the table. But I don’t want him as the managerial choice. There are better options and frankly he’s done nothing to warrant the opportunity.

If this were the case, why wouldn’t they just hire him and announce it already? There is nothing preventing them from doing so and he’s not in the playoffs.

I believe he’s interviewed twice.

Ok. That’s your choose and it’s a completely reasonable one. Given who I’ve heard it from, I feel completely comfortable stating it as fact. I don’t feel statements can only be made about something solely based on what’s been publicly stated. Also, what are RH and KW supposed to say publicly? That they made a choice but then the owner who hired them to make these decisions undercut their choice and went over them to hire his friend/choice? I mean, the White Sox marketing department literally released the TLR welcome graphic with AJ Hinch’s signature on it.

Anyone Jerry hires isn’t the correct option. I also don’t think what is viewed as his option actually is. I don’t truly believe Ozzie is a true option amount JR, KW, or RH.

I don't believe Espada coming away unimpressed with the White Sox is true. I think he was a strong possibility and somewhere in the process the White Sox became more impressed with someone else. The 3rd option, which would be the shittiest one out of them all, would be Jerry stepped in and didn't allow his 2 top executives to do their jobs again.

I doubt many people disagree with you, including Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams. TLR was a Reinsdorf hire.

Willie himself stated he had not even been contacted about a week ago. I don't think he's even part of the equation. Frankly, this process is likely coming close to an end soon.

Is that right? Which part exactly? I didn't think that was ground breaking, new information shared...

I'm pretty certain Ozzie will not be the next manager of the White Sox. Kevin Long seems to be the choice and I'm thrilled about that.

Kenny was 100% not on the TLR train. RH, KW, and JR each had their preferred candidate. Hinch was ultimately the choice decided between RH and KW and I also believe Hinch thought it was basically done as well... JR then made the decision to hire TLR, and he made that decision himself. That is without question...

Rick Hahn: “Actually Jerry, I’m fairly sure the 2020 payroll over 162 games is about $6-7M more than the current payroll as it sits today... The Hendriks & Colome salaries are basically a wash. Yes, we added a starter at about $9.3M (a steal) and a RF at $7M, totaling just over $16.3M. But between McCann, Rodon, Gio Gonzalez, Mazara, & Edwin Encarnacion — that’s over $31M off the books... So please stop being a pain in my a**. We have a few holes to fill to step on the throats of the AL Central, most of the AL, & contend for a World Series... And LaRussa agrees. Thanks. See you on the Zoom Press Conferences...”

Yup. Kenny Williams wanted Thome & Ozzie wanted "flexibility" with Kotsay. We all know how that turned out...

Yes, too much paper "Loss" in 2020...

I think his take had more to with not expecting anything new from JR and less to do with people expecting the Dodgers/Yankees. People go to that extreme because when you think of spending money, you think of those teams, who also happen to have a completely different view than JR where spending is concerned. I wouldn't take it too literally to the point where he's saying that's what people expect. With JR, don't expect the unexpected. That said, I 100% agree with you. JR is in a large market and operates like a small market team, without the perks of actually being a small market team. It's a joke and I look forward to when he sells the team.

I'd say outside of his few really solid defensive years, Eaton pretty much grades-out as an average RF depending on what metrics you're looking at. I don't think I've seen "bad" but by no means is he setting the world on fire. I wouldn't say he has no power but he's not Joc in that category. No question about that.

Agree. Well said.

Outside of two very very strong defensive seasons, he's been pretty consistent on that front overall. Where his value seems to vary is based on health. When he's healthy, he seems to have solid output. When he's not, like a lot of players when they're not healthy, he doesn't. As you alluded to in a previous post, I think his value will live and die this season on his health. Platooning with Engel and maybe even getting some time at DH should help in this area. It'll be interesting.

Joc is a platoon player. If the Sox signed him, he would have platooned with Engel and likely did some DHing. Anything outside of a platoon and Joc is highly exposed and loses a ton of value. I would have liked Joc, but I'm not privy to what his ask is. I have no issue with the Eaton deal and it shouldn't hinder another signing IMO.

Have at it, man. Judge away. My point was it doesn't make a difference at this point. He's the manager, with his views, hypocrisy, and everything else. I am not criticizing your right to have an opinion and share it. You should share it. But we all know TLR's flaws. He certainly wasn't my managerial choice. It just gets to a point where we're beating a dead horse and things start to get conflated. A $7M low-end, low-risk/high-reward free agent signing becomes a TLR political issue somehow simply due to some snowball of negativity regarding personnel decisions. Yes, he judged Kaepernick and his stance, likely for the same reason why you judge TLR's view. He found it flawed when Kaepernick put himself out there and passed his own judgments. Again, all within his right. Where TLR hiding behind no comment is concerned, maybe he does have something to say about it down the line. Maybe he should man-up and say something when the time is right. My guess now, he's told by his legal counsel not to comment during a pending case. That's pretty standard. Hopefully, he addresses what needs to be addressed when that time is right and takes responsibility for things he needs to.

I don't think Eaton plays 150 games. But between Eaton/Engel platoon, if healthy, I think you can collectively be looking at 3 Wins, maybe slightly above, which would be huge in RF. Especially when compared to the production in RF the Sox have been getting.