South Side Hit Men

So they wanted to open the "must win" Twins series with Steak Dinner? Seriously? Just like Hahn and Tony's plan to open the 2021 playoffs.

Since his acquisition, Touki Toussaint has been the White Sox best starter. 6/21 - 7/18 (Doesn't include tonight) Toussaint 20 1/3 IP, 7 ER (3.10 ERA) Giolito 26 IP, 9 ER (3.11 ERA) Cease 22 1/3 IP, 10 ER (4.02 ERA) Lynn 24 IP, 12 ER (4,50 ERA) Kopech 8 2/3 IP, 9 ER (9.34 ERA)

Beneficiary of a pitcher who is now out the season after a major injury (60 day IL). Seems like most MLB teams work with their pitchers to be ready with their command after the All Star Break. The White Sox (Lucas, Kopech) not so much (plus Lynn sucking as he typically does unless someone bunts on him and makes him angry).

Yea, not so good tonight. I guess playing catch in Central Park didn't work out for him.

Last extra base hit: 7/16 Jake Burger HR 7/16 Luis Robert Jr. HR 7/16 Elvis Andrus 2B 7/15 Oscar Colas 2B 7/15 Andrew Benintendi 2B 7/7 Zach Remillard 2B 7/7 Andrew Vaughn 2B 7/6 Eloy Jimenez HR 7/6 Seby Zavala 2B 7/4 Tim Anderson 3B 7/1 Carlos Perez 2B 6/24 Yasmani Grandal HR 6/21 Clint Frazier 2B 6/17 Gavin Sheets 2B 6/11 Romy Gonzalez 2B 6/10 Yoan Moncada 2B 5/9 Lenyn Sosa 2B 5/6 Adam Haseley 2B

Hopefully Lucas will have his command after the long break. Hope Kopech can regain command on Thursday.

Hahn acquired a decade of players via the draft, and none since 2015 became an adequate starter for the White Sox. Marco Paddy signed two great players, but was thwarted by Jerry Reinsdorf to do his job and bring in more. Hahn acquired several highly rated prospects by handing out World Series rings to other organizations. They have all regressed in the White Sox system and have drastically underperformed their projections and Hahn's contract extension payments. Hahn tanked for three seasons, had top of round draft selections, and produced marginal at best players for his "multi-championship competitive window". That is the state of the White Sox player acquisition and development organization over the past decade under Rick Hahn. I and most Sox fans don't give a rats ass how many gold stars Baseball America, MLB.com or anyone else has given the White Sox. Most Sox fans care about what players can actually produce for the White Sox,. Sadly, they have been few and far between for a very long time which has led to one 82+ win season over the past decade, with no future 82 win season in sight.

The reason for the higher rankings were primarily based on prospects acquired after Hahn pawned what he inherited from Kenny plus Eaton, Hahn's one shining moment. Even though Shirley seems to be more competent than his predecessors, it seems most players fall further behind in development each season than their peers. It's been nine years since the Sox drafted someone who has had even one season as an adequate MLB starter (2.0 + bWAR threshold). Players with 2 + bWAR (Average + MLB starter) White Sox seasons initially signed by the White Sox (Rostered under Hahn) Draft (2006) Hector Santiago (2013) (2007) Nate Jones (2012. 2016) (2010) Chris Sale (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) (2010) Jake Petricka (2014) (2014) Tim Anderson (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) (2014) Carlos Rodon (2018, 2021) (2014) Aaron Bummer (2019) International Signings (1/18/08) Alexei Ramirez (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) (5/6/09) Yolmer Sanchez (2017, 2018) (10/29/13) Jose Abreu (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) (5/27/17) Luis Robert Junior (2021, 2022, 2023 YTD)

Grandal has three hits this month (2 on July 1), last extra base hit was June 24. Dropped 52 points on his OPS over the past month (.732 6/18, .680 today). Sheets has similar stats (2 hits in July, dropped from .736 6/18 to .688 today). What's more egregious is they have no legitimate 4th outfielder in New York. Fear Robert fatigue will lead to an injury, with him getting less than a game a month off this season, and while others rested last week he had to schlep twice across country to Seattle and then Atlanta for the HR bullshit. Glad he sat out the exhibition game. All for a Jerry revenue sharing check.

Any updates on Eloy's Monday evaluation? If they don't bring an OFer (Haseley, Hamilton) up today, their active position players will consist of: 3 Catchers (1 adequate + defensively) 4 Infielders + 1 Reserve (Andrus) 3 Outfielders + Gavin Sheets who can't hit against LHP or play OF. This could be the worst position player roster since the beginning of 2021 April 13, 2021 - Cleveland 2 Chicago A. L. 0 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA202104130.shtml A. Eaton RF (Released 7/13) L. Robert CF J. Abreu 1B Y. Moncada 3B N. Williams LF (Released 8/2) Y. Grandal C J. Lamb DH (Waived by White Sox 9/3) N. Madrigal 2B (Traded by White Sox 7/30) D. Mendick SS

1B/DHs held in 2017: Abreu, Burger, Davidson, Eloy, Mercedes, Sheets. Additional 1B/DHs acquired 2018-2022: Yonder Alonso, Grandal, Parrot, Vaughn.

If Rick Hahn watched Seinfeld, he and the White Sox would have the answers to become World Series Champions.

With the exception of the Great Depression era (multiple Sox owners, worst teams in franchise history, Cubs having solid teams) the White Sox outdrew the Cubs until the Sox were cursed with the AL rejection of Veeck's preferred new owner, Ed Debartolo, and approval of Jerry Reinsdorf, This despite the fact the Cubs had a 25 year head start here. Jerry Reinsdorf destroyed this with repulsive persona and policies starting with SportsVision. Once Jerry dies and a new owner is in place, Sox fandom can begin the slow march to parity starting by reversing policies which have alienated fans over the decades and also by running a quality baseball organization. See Chicago NHL team post Dollar Bill Wirtz' death. Attendance Parity 1901-1929 White Sox 16.4M vs. Cubs 16.4M (Sox attendance would have been much higher if the KKK's Landis didn't destroy the World Series core) 1940-1979 White Sox 40.2M vs. Cubs 40.1M Charles Comiskey Death and Jerry Reinsdorf Alive Curses 1930-1939 Cubs 8.8M vs. Sox 4.1M (Three World Series appearances for the Cubs vs. Worst non Reinsdorf period in White Sox history). 1980-2022 Cubs 105.0M vs. Sox 77.8M (Reinsdorf Penny Wise vs. Dollar Foolish, Greed, Avarice, Petulance, Death).

Eloy ranks 29th this year among DHs in fWAR, Jake Burger 16th. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=dh&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2023&month=0&season1=2023&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=&enddate=

2013 White Sox Trying 2017 White Sox Tanking

Adults are accountable for themselves. Period. Management is responsible to identify and address. Teammates may occasionally say something, but it’s not their responsibility. The hotheads self proclaimed leaders on this club, Keuchel and Lynn, have been the players with the least accountability during their time here. The Sox need a FO that brings in many good players, not a “clubhouse leader” to save them.

Mike Trout has nine seasons with a higher fWAR than Eloy’s career 5.4. Eloy is 0.3 ahead of Adam Engel. He is a hyped reserve, should have been traded after 2021.

A team needs a 30 fWAR Position Player and 20 fWAR Pitching Staff, on average, to be a Top 6 team across The MLB. 2023 (58% played = X 1.72 pro-rated) 7.2 Hitters Pro-rated (24%) & Pitchers Pro-rated 10.8 (54%) 2022 15.2 Hitters (51%) & 17.3 Pitchers (87%) 2021 22.9 Hitters (76%) & 27.6 Pitchers (138%) You'll see a motivated Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada playing for their next contract. If you can get a 2 + fWAR out of both that would be positive seasons, though reasonably under their career peaks. Where they will be taking a hit is pitching which has held them up the prior two seasons with Lucas joining Rodon out the door. They look to be about 9 fWAR short in the pitching staff with 3 starters needed. The likely best way to obtain that with their budget is bring in guys and hope they get lucky on a couple like Cueto last season. 2024 Optimistic Best Case Scenario Projections (Previous fWAR career high) Hitting 20.5 (68%): 4.0 CF Robert (3.7 YTD); 2.5 3B Yoan (5.5); 2.5 SS Anderson (4.6); 2.0 LF Benintendi (4.9); 1.5 Burger (0.9 YTD); 1.5 C Zavala (1.9); 1.5 Jimenez (1.7); 1.0 1B Vaughn (0.2 YTD); 1.0 RF Colas (-0.5 YTD); 1.0 R. Gonzalez (0.0); 1.0 FA Defensive Catcher; 1.0 Reserves Pitching 11.1 + 3 new SPs (56% + new SPs) Rotation 4.5: 3.0 Cease (4.4); 1.5 Kopech (1.7) + SP + SP + SP Bullpen 6.6: 1.8 Hendriks (3.9); 1.0 Santos (1.1 YTD); 1.0 Bummer (1.3); 1.0 Crochet (1.4); 1.0 Graveman (1.1); 0.4 Middleton (0.2 YTD); 0.4 Toussaint (0.4); 0.0 Others.

I find it amazing the Sox have about the same winning percentage vs. RH and LH starters this deep into the season. Overall 40-55 .421 vs. RHS 29-40 .420 vs. LHS 11-15 .423

Harder to put the supercuts together without a twitter account / easy twitter access.

That's good, I didn't know what was going to happen with the LSU 2nd round pick due to his injury status. Hopefully the Sox will have a strong set of prospects emerging from the minor leagues in 26-27 to start the first legitimate competitive window since 2005-2008. Benintendi (sigh) and Robert will be the only contracts on the current roster still in effect.

Best case scenario for Sox fans is there is a new owner approved by the league within the next 18 months. One bright spot for 2024 will be Tim, Yoan and Eloy will be highly motivated to play hard for their next contract. If Yoan can regain his back health, there could be an interesting 2024 if all three return.

Top of the White Sox lineup burning down Atlanta this weekend! Andrew Benintendi 7-14, 4 R, 4 RBI Tim Anderson 4-12, 1 BB, 1 RBI Luis Robert Jr. 5-12, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Career White Sox Batting fWAR Leaders: 5.6 Tadahito Iguchi 109th (1,586 PA) 5.5 Jerry Hairston 112th (1,964 PA) 5.4 Eloy Jimenez 113th (1,546 PA) 5.1 Adam Engel 115th (1,540 PA) 4.9 Yasmani Grandal 121st (1,207 PA) 4.7 Todd Frazier 127th (1,001 PA)

I'll go to a lot more once Jerry and Hahn are gone. Hopefully this decade. Listen to most games. Had full season tickets for two season, weekend tickets for another, have multiple additional seasons with 15-20 plus games a year.