South Side Hit Men

This will be a tougher matchup, as Lorenzen owned the Sox last time. Hoped Zavala would catch Cease today, but that’s not the case. Burger remains on the bench, because poor platoon guy. Meet the new Tony, same as the old Tony.

Those weren’t the only two options. They had Collins, acquired McGuire and had Zavala. There were other options than the assclown Mets McCann deal or Hahn’s assclown Grandal deal. Grandal performed as expected, a terrible catcher in decline stage who could hit at times. That’s what I pegged him at Thanksgiving Week 2019. I thought it was a poor allocation of roster resources by a team operating under Jerry Reinsdorf. Many here said he would play 120 games a season and would be an elite catcher. These people clearly do not understand how nearly all catchers break down after age 30 due to the physical demands of the game. Did Illinois, or more accurately for Kenny Williams residency in Arizona, legalize cocaine or other drugs stronger than “The Weed-duh”? Bruce Levine is and always has been completely worthless and a full of s%*# hand puppet for owners.

You can use either, but the isolated starter is more realistic in terms of what to expect in a game. Sheets gets pulled for PHs, because he is not a ML ballplayer against LHP, whereas Burger is solid regardless. Burger can also run and play 3B, whereas Sheets has no position he can adequately play, not even 1B. Even Frazier is more valuable at this stage because he can play an acceptable RF. I prefer a Catcher, Andrus (2B SS), Frazier (RF LF) and Hamilton (CF, RF, LF) as the four reserves, with Burger backing up 3B and learning / backing up 1B (not 2B). Its a good year to have folks work on things. Eloy has the body where he could theoretically play 1B, but really is too fragile to play anywhere including DH. It's probably best for him mentally and for his trade value for him to stay in RF, and hopefully he can stay healthy for six weeks and be flipped at the deadline with half the club.

Eaton also had the highest position player fWAR in 2015, though in CF. There were other LFers who played well, but in eras where Lemon (1977-1981), Fisk (1982-1990) and Thomas (1991-2000) were consistent top players. I thought Abreu would have had a couple more seasons, but 1B depresses your value with the defensive ding you get at the position.

Elvis could be productive giving Tim and Romy a day off a week, and coming in to close out blow out games to give Tim more rest. He's 34, plus trying to pick up a new position for the first time ever. Would say trying to adjust to 2B and Grifol playing him nearly every single game were large factors in his .534 OPS. Perhaps flip him to a contender looking to replace or fill in for an injured reserve player. His defense makes him valuable as a reserve. His bat is a liability as an everyday player in 2023.

Glad Middleton gets the win. Also glad I can listen uninterrupted tomorrow afternoon, and watch the Golden Knights in the evening.

10 First Basemen 9 Rightfielders 8 Centerfielders 7 Catchers 5 Shortstops 4 Designated Hitters 3 Third Basemen 2 Leftfielders 2 Second Basemen Top Chicago White Sox Position Player fWAR Per Season 1973-2022 (Position listed is the player's primary for the season) Catcher - Seven (6) Carlton Fisk 1990 5.0; 1989 3.4; 1988 2.9; 1985 3.4; 1983 4.6; 1982 3.0. (1) Brian Downing 1975 3.0. First Baseman - Ten (6) Frank Thomas 1997 7.2; 1996 6.1; 1995 5.4; 1994 7.0; 1993 6.3; 1992 7.1. (3) Jose Abreu 2022 3.9; 2020 2.8; 2014 5.3. (1) Paul Konerko 2005 3.8. Second Baseman - Two (1) Ray Durham 2001 3.9. (1) Jack Brohamer 1976 2.5. Third Baseman - Three (1) Yoan Moncada 2019 5.5. (1) Gordon Beckham 2009 2.3. (1) Bill Melton 1973 4.1. Shortstop - Five (3) Alexei Ramirez 2013 2.8; 2011 4.2; 2010 4.2. (2) Tim Anderson 2021 4.6; 2018 2.5. Leftfielder - Two (1) Carlos Quentin 2008 4.7. (1) Albert Belle 1998 7.1. Centerfielder - Eight (5) Chet Lemon 1981 3.9; 1980 3.9; 1979 5.8; 1978 4.6; 1977 5.0. (1) Adam Eaton 2015 3.9. (1) Aaron Rowand 2004 5.8. (1) Ken Henderson 1974 4.6. Rightfielder - Nine (3) Magglio Ordonez 2003 4.6; 2002 4.5; 1999 5.5. (2) Harold Baines 1986 3.0; 1984 4.8. (1) Avisail Garcia 2017 4.7. (1) Adam Eaton 2016 6.7. (1) Alex Rios 2012 4.0. (1) Ivan Calderon 1987 4.0. Designated Hitter - Four (2) Jim Thome 2007 3.4; 2006 4.8. (2) Frank Thomas 2000 5.9; 1991 7.3.

Sheets should not be on the 26 man roster, wouldn’t mind it if he was traded off the 40 man. Sheets vs. RHS: 2023: .706 Career: .738 Elite! Burger vs. RHS: 2023: .869 Career: .793 Hahn / Grifol bench.

Burger has been slumping on that road trip, but I agree if you're playing him anywhere its at home. He should play every game at 3B that Yoan is resting, if only to get him more reps there. He's an injury risk attempting to learn 2B on the fly, they reviewed this in ST and found out it's a bad idea. White Sox Baseball, where bad ideas never die.

And now are today's lineup for your 2021 Chicago White Sox managed by Tony La Russa. SS Leury Garcia .711 OPS RF Jake Lamb .710 CF Brian Goodwin .693 1B Yasmani Grandal .939 DH Yermin Mercedes .732 LF Nick Williams .231 3B Romy Gonzalez .616 C Zack Collins .669 2B Cesar Hernandez .608

Over 16 plate appearances, largely driven by 1 home run, He got Tim injured, cannot field, Billy Hamilton (.625 OPS vs. RHP. .618 overall) a far superior batter vs. RHP (.587 career / .556 2023). In terms of smiles, Jerry got your smiles right here.

This works if they continue playing Romy this season, and see what they have. Andrus could prove a valuable backup playing 15%-20% of games at SS and 2B. He is overmatched offensively as an everyday starter. Hate that Clevinger returned, I'll skip the game tonight as I do all his starts. Hope they trade him by the deadline.

Try making White Sox go to Rehab, Hahn says "No, no, no."

The dumb ass traded for Kimbrel as his best idea. The dumb ass picked up Kimbrel's option, passed on Rodon's QO. The dumb ass received one weak ass Kimbrel offer for an even more overpriced reserve OFer. The dumb ass can absolutely pick up Lynn's option if he somehow strings together a few decent starts against Central s%*# to close the season. Never underestimate the damage Hahn can and will do to this White Sox organization.

I peg them at 29 under .500 (39-68) on July 30. 1-2 vs. Detroit (24-37) 1-2 at New York A. L. (25-39) 1-2 vs. Miami (26-41) 0-3 at Los Angeles N. L. (26-44) 1-2 at Seattle (27-46) 1-2 vs. Texas (28-48) 1-2 vs. Boston (29-50) 1-3 at Los Angeles A. L. (30-53) 2-1 at Oakland (32-54) 1-2 vs. Toronto (33-56) 1-2 vs. Saint Louis (34-58) 0-3 at Atlanta (34-61) 1-2 at New York N. L. (35-63) 1-2 at Minnesota (36-65) 1-1 vs. Chicago N. L. (37-66) 2-2 vs. Cleveland (39-68)

We had weekend season tickets that year, and several of us in our section were given boxes of all star ballots each game to just punch Fisk. We booed Tony La Russa every time he emerged from the dugout, and gave up our tickets after the season primarily because Tony was not fired. I started working at Comiskey Park and elsewhere for Andy Frain in 1986.

The White Sox are the only team with three full time managers (Renteria, La Russa & Grifol) since the cancelled COVID season. Four if you also count the interim stint of Miguel Cairo. Gave proof through the night That Rick Hahn was still there Teams with two permanent managers since 2020 (11): Detroit (Gardenhire, Hinch) Florida (Mattingly, Schumaker) Kansas City (Matheny, Quataro) Los Angeles A. L. (Maddon, Nevin) New York N. L. (Rojas, Showalter) Philadelphia (Girardi, Thomson) 2022 N. L. Pennant Oakland (Melvin, Kotsay) Saint Louis (Shildt, Marmol) San Diego (Tingler, Melvin) Texas (Woodward, Bochy) Toronto (Montoyo & Schneider) Teams with managerial continuity since 2020 (18): 2013 Cleveland (Terry Francona) 2016 A. L. Pennant 2015 Milwaukee (Craig Counsell) 2015 Tampa Bay (Kevin Cash) 2020 A. L. Pennant 2016 Atlanta (Brian Snitker) 2021 World Series Champions 2016 Los Angeles N. L. (Dave Roberts) 2020 World Series Champions; 2017 & 2018 N. L. Pennants 2016 Seattle (Scott Servais) 2017 Arizona (Torey Lovullo) 2017 Colorado (Bud Black) 2018 Boston (Alex Cora) 2018 World Series Champions 2018 New York A. L. (Aaron Boone) 2018 Washington (Dave Martinez) 2019 World Series Champions 2019 Baltimore (Brandon Hyde) 2019 Cincinnati (David Bell) 2019 Minnesota (Rocco Baldelli) 2020 Chicago N. L. (David Ross) 2020 Houston (Dusty Baker) 2022 World Series Champions; 2021 A. L. Pennant 2020 Pittsburgh (Derek Shelton) 2020 San Francisco (Gabe Kapler) Note - Interim managers not included in the above, be it for health, suspension or managers bridging the gap between two full time managers.

While the regular season means "just about nothing" in terms of the World Series, I really enjoy following the regular season, and don't really give a rats ass about MLB's playoffs since the last legitimate one held 30 years ago. I follow Spring Training more than Selig/Manfred sham postseasons. I did follow the White Sox 2005 one intensely, just as I did that season, attending dozens of games and every post season home game. They had a great team and great season. They were worthy of winning a legiitmate championship. I didn't watch the 2000 or 2008 playoffs, because I spent most of my 20s and 30s away from following the White Sox after Jerry destroyed first Comiskey Park and then MLB itself in 1994 in his quest for max greed and avarice. I did follow 2020 and 2021, the former because that team did well and was enjoyable, the latter because the team did have a solid season. Future playoffs would be dependent on whether the Sox had a legitimate regular season, or slipped in because of the greed driven playoff expansion. I want the Sox to win 90 + games and win the Division in the regular season each season. I would have far more enjoyed a 92 win season and 2nd place finish in the pre wild card days than a 79 or 83 win division title in 2023, which I believe will be the threshold this year (2nd-5th teams in the AL Central and possibly the NL Centrals will have less than 79 wins). A 92 win season was very good season, and I would be proud of what the team accomplished. A 79 win season is garbage, a 83 win season is mediocre, even if they are a "wild card" or "division "champion"". Sure. a team's goal should be to reach the playoffs, but the real goal is to have a team accomplish a solid regular season (90 + wins) AND a solid post season.

They don't have anything to do with that draft, but I'm pointing them out because people say they are busts or garbage but don't take into consideration the fact they are still very young. Then you have guys like Burger at 27 finally having a few healthy good weeks, and people want to move Moncada to 2B to accommodate him.

Lynn needs to wear it. Leave him in 5-6 innings each game, even if he gives up 10 runs a game for the rest of the season, or until he hits the IL for the third straight season. No need to waste the bullpen. leave them for the four other games through the rotation the Sox have a chance. Lynn is always quick to point at other players on the field, blaming teammates and third base coaches just like Dallas Keuchel. At least Dallas didn't cost the Sox one of the few solid pitching prospects over the past decade. Speaking of the other one, Hahn doesn't offer Carlos Rodon a QO, but pays these two on their final MLB deals $100M and doubled down on the Kimbrel debacle.

It's OK to judge college players from 2018 at this stage, but a high school prospect is only 23, or 1-2 + years before a typical chance at a MLB role. People need that in mind before judging a player like Colas or Sosa, who needed more time in AAA, especially Colas who the Sox were slow rolling last year to the point he played 7 AAA games last year, and was then named starting RF this year and set up for failure. Similar occurances for Sosa and Vaughn a few years back. The biggest failures aren't this particular draft class or set of players, but the mindset that everything is a panic fire drill. These hair brained schemes rarely work. Compare and contrast to teams with steady streams of successful prospects over the years, like Saint Louis, Tampa Bay, the Dodgers and others. Their management of injuries are similar, panic, throw a clearly injured guy out there and hope he contributes something, anything. Let them linger for weeks in limbo, postpone surgeries most teams would have encouraged straight away. This is why Sox fans can't have nice things.

He faced Cleveland and Kansas City at home, Sox scored 12 against a LHS for his win at Detroit. His future matchups through the All Star Break are not favorable. 6/7 at New York A. L. 6/13 at Los Angeles N. L. 6/18 at Seattle 6/24 vs. Boston 6/29 at Los Angeles A. L. 7/5 vs. Toronto

My point is the regular season is now a farce in all sports with all of these pathetic wild cards, but Las Vegas has been a solid franchise during it's short existence. I agree with your premise, just sticking up for the only team besides the White Sox I still follow care about at this juncture.

The Sox have had many bad seasons over the years, but only four teams 12 + games under .500 entering June. 2023 23-35 2018 16-37 (62-100) 1989 18-33 (69-92) 1948 9-26 (51-101-2) Please fire Rick Hahn to kick off June, and give White Sox fans hope for the future.