South Side Hit Men

Eliminating the last place team in each division for consistency: AL East + 50 Over .500 & +92 Run Differential AL West +29 & +230 NL West +13 & +55 NL East + 10 & -30 NL Central -9 & -22 AL Central -17 & -94

There is a slight advantage across The MLB in college players vs. high school players, but the Sox acquired their best hitters via international signings and trade acquisitions. Tim Anderson is the lone Top 10 hitter they drafted and developed since the Larry Himes era. Buehrle and Sale were home runs, but the only two over three decades in the pitcher column. Post Larry Himes Competent Domestic Scouting Era: International Free Agent Signing Trade Acquisition Domestic Draft Pick Domestic Free Agent Top 10 Hitters - White Sox fWAR 27.4 Jose Abreu 24.6 Paul Konerko 22.5 Magglio Ordonez 19.6 Alexei Ramirez 18.9 Tim Anderson 17.3 Jose Valentin 15.9 Carlos Lee 14.5 Tim Raines 14.3 Yoan Moncada 14.3 Adam Eaton Top 10 Pitchers - White Sox fWAR 42.8 Mark Buehrle 27.1 Chris Sale 21.1 Jose Quintana 17.5 John Danks 17.1 John Garland 15.3 Gavin Floyd 14.8 Jose Contreras 14.5 Lucas Giolito 14.3 Javier Vazquez 12.2 Freddy Garcia

Reviews statistics. Checks out. 1st White Sox Games over .500 (190: 840-650-5 .564) Tied 1st White Sox World Series Appearances Fielder Jones (1906 - Chicago A. L 4 Chicago N. L. 2) Pants Rowland (1917 - Chicago A. L. 4 New York N. L. 2) Kid Gleason (1919 - Cincinnati 5 Chicago A. L. 3) Al Lopez (1959 - Los Angeles N. L. 4 Chicago A. L. 2) Ozzie Guillen (2005 - Chicago A. L. 4 Houston 0) 2nd White Sox Games Managed & Won (1,495 - Jimmy Dykes #1 899-940-11) 5th White Sox Winning Percentage (Jones .592; Griffith .581; Rowland .578; Marion .565) The only criticism my Grandfather had for not starting Pierce in the World Series. He pitched flawless in a relief role (3 Appearances, 4 Innings, 3 Ks, 1.000 WHIP, 0 ER or R. He started 33 games that season, and while he didn't have his typical best stuff that season, he was better than Dick Donovan during the season and World Series. Still blame that bullshit USC Football Field configurations for a distorted stadium and World Series experience. https://sabr.org/journal/article/a-home-like-no-other-the-dodgers-in-l-a-memorial-coliseum/ Yes, you need to put your three best outfielders to cover the expansive field. Same with Colorado and San Francisco. White Sox records in Detroit through 5/28/23: All Time Record (1901-2023): 514-596 .463 Tigers Bank Park (2000-2023): 105-105 .500 Tigers Stadium (1912-1999): 364-425 .461 Bennett Park (1901-1911): 45-66 .405 Hope all is well. I was excited watching the past two weeks until Saturday. Might not be a lot of wins the rest of the way. Vaughn has room for improvement being 25, but he has to improve to be middle of the pack for a 1B in 2023. Current fWAR Rank: 44th out of 60. fWAR Rank among qualified starters (3.1 ABs per game): 25th out of 30 (24th Offense, 23rd Defense). Batting Average: 23rd out of 30. OBP: 24th out of 30. Slugging %: 19th out of 30.

The White Sox have a net 5.2 fWAR for the season. Their bullpen and four of nine starting positions are negative through Sunday. 2023 22-33 .400 (34% of season) 3.0 Pitching Staff (25th) 3.1 Starting Pitchers (19th) -0.1 Bullpen (27th) 2.2 Position Players (27th) 0.1 Catcher (24th) -0.2 First Base (23rd) -1.2 Second Base (30th) 1.0 Third Base (12th) -0.2 Shortstop (28th) 0.4 Left Field (22nd) 1.8 Center Field (10th) -0.1 Right Field (27th) 0.9 Designated Hitter (9th) Comparison to Previous Five Full Seasons: 2017 67-95 .414 16.0 Position Players (18th) 4.4 Pitching Staff (30th) 2018 62-100 .383 11.3 Position Players (23rd) 9.8 Pitching Staff (25th) 2019 72-89 .447 11.3 Position Players (23rd) 13.2 Pitching Staff (16th) 2021 93-69 .574 22.9 Position Players (9th) 27.6 Pitching Staff (1st) 2022 81-81 .500 15.2 Position Players (21st) 17.3 Pitching Staff (10th) Source: Fangraphs

Jerry is going to outlive just about everyone not named Keith Richards.

I preferred Bleday over Vaughn and India over Madrigal. I did like the Montgomery selection. At least Madrigal wasn’t a DH like Sheets, Burger, Vaughn, Eloy, Grandal, Encarnacion, et al. Keeping Madrigal at least gets you a player at the minimum salary, same with Dunning. It just exacerbated the issues, spending over $30M for Lynn and Kimbrel/Pollock, instead of $1.4M. Then your hamstrung and can’t sign a solid RF like Conforto, or even a cromulent one like Gallo. Not to mention spending $73M on a guy who couldn’t catch in his 20s for four age 30s seasons perhaps 2-3 more if Hahn resigns him like I suspect he might. Then Hahn compounds it by locking Benintendi for a 5 year backloaded contract, when he isn’t going to give them anything beyond catching baseballs in LF. This is the least valuable position besides 1B/DH. Now they are cycling DHs through RF and even CF to spell Robert. The roster construction has always been completely absurd. Hahn couldn’t finish top half in an open public twelve team Yahoo league.

They were better in two of three tanking seasons. .481 78-64 2016 - “Trying” .469 76-86 2015 - “Trying” .451 73-89 2014 - “Trying” .447 72-90 2019 - Tanking .414 67-95 2017 - Tanking .400 22-33 2023 White Sox .389 63-99 2013 - “Trying” .383 62-100 2018 - Tanking

Schedule through the All Star Break: H Los Angeles A. L. 28-25, H Detroit 25-26 A New York A. L. 32-23, H Miami 27-26 A Los Angeles N. L. 32-22, A Seattle 27-25 H Texas 33-19, H Boston 28-24 A Los Angeles A. L. (4) 28-25, A Oakland 10-44 H Toronto 28-26, H Saint Louis 24-31 Two certainties. There will be a lot of losses, and Hahn will still be with the team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1400411-san-diego-padres-catcher-yasmani-grandal-suspended-50-games-for-testosterone https://patch.com/illinois/southside/white-sox-catcher-wellington-castillo-suspended-ped-use

He was not pleased. Len doesn't get too critical, but he is not kissing ass when the team plays shitty. Len will say something like "I expected XXX to do/throw XXX". Both were on the awful pitch calling to Greene on multiple at bats. Can't hit fast balls, Grandal calls for breaking balls to get burnt in critical spots. Sox should have won three of four in Detroit. Instead, they lose ground.

I don't even know how you people can watch the games without it on mute. Len and DJ don't sugar coat this bullshit. When I watch game recaps, I mute it because I cannot stand hearing Benetti for a second. He seems nice on interviews, however, should just stick to Basketball and Football. He is too spastic verbally for baseball. And that's a White Sox loser.

Robert is a dumb ass. Greene can't hit fastball, Grandal again calls for off speed. DFA his ass. That is all.

Loved Tiger Stadium, though the new park is a nice visit. The only place I shook Jerry's hand, after the Sox clinched the 2005 Division.

Crochet to be very valauble with effective 2 + inning appearances in close games. 100%. Enough at bats and games for everyone to stay fresh. Catcher Grandal 90 Zavala 72 First Base Vaughn 130 Sheets 32 Second Base Gonzalez 92 Andrus 70 Shortstop Anderson 140 Andrus 22 Third Base Moncada 140 Burger 22 Left Field Benintendi 120 Sheets 42 Center Field Robert 135 Hamilton 27 Right Field Eloy 120 Sheets 22 Hamilton 20 Designated Hitter Burger 100 Sheets 25 Eloy 20 (Vaughn/Moncada/Robert/Grandal) 17

Pedro's Boys Don't Quit!

This, it worked in 2019 and 2020 with McCann, McGwire and Collins would have been fine since. Zavala can't hit, but he can manage a game and staff. Yasmani Grandal Career Postseason: 40 Games, 128 PA, .605 OPS Most recent five playoff years: 2021 White Sox: 4 Starts at Catcher (1-3), 31 Runs allowed 2020 White Sox: 2 Starts at Catcher (0-2), 11 Runs Allowed [Sox won the one game he did not catch] 2019 Brewers: 1 Start at Catcher (0-1), 4 Runs Allowed 2018 Dodgers: Benched all but one game in the World Series, benched four of six games in the NLCS. .541 OPS 2017 Dodgers: Benched all but two games out of fifteen playoff games. .273 OPS.

If Hahn brings Grandal back next season, I will not listen to a pitch until Hahn is gone. The Dodgers sat him in the playoffs because he is a DH/1B, not a ML catcher beyond pitch framing. The Dodgers and Brewers said hard pass once their contracts were done. I don't recall a worse starting catcher in the decades I've followed the White Sox, let alone the "World's Richest White Sox". well until Benintendi was signed, another huge unforced error.

Dylan thrives pitching to Zavala, McGwire last season. Grandal not so much. See also Giolito and Kopech. Burger should have played 3B today, Zavala at Catcher, Grandal at DH because the Sox are carrying a .381 OPS DH vs. LHP on their roster.

Now that Jeter is gone, I expect Kim Ng's Marlins to pass Hahn within four seasons, despite playing in a legitimate MLB division. Baltimore and Detroit should pass the White Sox within two seasons, leaving Cincinnati the buffer between 29th and 30th.

Their starting staff is fine if Kopech continues to pitch well, Hahn had no bullpen depth. Colome, Ruiz, Padilla, Peralta, Diekman. No pitching coach will fix these players.

I’d prefer starting three professional ML outfielders on a pitchers focused low scoring team. The White Sox started one today. They started one yesterday and were burnt a few times.

PS, why the f*** is Burger not playing 3B with Moncada out? It's the one position he can field, and he's better there than Alberto. DH Moncada or if he "needs" a full day off, DH Grandal and catch Zavala to give Cease the best chance at winning. Alberto shouldn't even be on the team.

Well, if they had a better 5th OFer who can actually field CF and RF adequately and could hit, then I'd go with that option but they don't. Billy is valuable to close out games and steal runs in tight ballgames as a PR late. Moncada and Robert are the only two complete baseball players at this stage on the team solid at the plate and in the field. If Anderson turns it around at the plate, than that would be the third and final possibility. The rest of the team are either DH/Faux C/1B who cannot field, fielders who cannot hit, or players who cannot field or hit. Sheets/Eloy/Frazier manning RF and spelling Robert in CF is not a solid plan, and will destroy this pitching staff and Robert. Robert has played 273 games since being called up to start 2020 needs regular rest. 3-4 games a month would be preferable to keep him fresh and on the field. Then you have Eloy who you're lucky to get 80 games out of. Unless they are playing in Thillens Stadium, they need someone better than DFA pickup Clint Frazier in CF. Perhaps they should have signed an actual RF over the past seven off-seasons instead of the absurdly overpaid LF with Nick Madrigal power. The only alternative on the current 40 man is to call up Colas in June or July, as he can adequately spell Robert in CF. At that stage, I'd be OK with Billy in AAA or helping another team. Still rather have Billy than Sheets or Frazier as the 26th man, but can understand arguments against. Leury and Engel were solid in 2020 and 2021. Their decline/loss in 2022 was a major blow, and they weren't replaced this offseason. Those are the two missing pieces on the team, players who can cover the entire field between the two of them, and provide cromulent hitting.

I rather see the seven position players rotate their off days one game at a time versus multiple guys off consistently during the final game of a series. Punting this game makes the road trip a losing one (3-4), and deflates any momentum the team had leaving Cleveland. LHS: SS Anderson R CF Robert Jr. R 3B Moncada S RF Jimenez R DH Burger R 1B Vaughn R C Grandal S 2B Gonzalez R LF Benintendi L RHS: SS Anderson R LF Benintendi L CF Robert Jr. R RF Jimenez R 3B Moncada S DH Burger R C Grandal S 1B Vaughn R 2B Gonzalez R Elvis Andrus & Billy Hamilton Return (Alberto & Frazier AAA) Game 1 - Shortstop: Anderson Off, Andrus Game 2 - No off days Game 3 - Third Base; Moncada Off, Burger Game 4 - No off days Game 5 - Center Field: Robert Jr. Off, Hamilton Game 6 - No off days Game 7 - Left Field Benintendi Off, Sheets Game 8 - No off days Platoon or split positions: Catcher (Zavala - Giolito & Kopech, possibly Cease after Giolito traded; Grandal - The other 3) First Base (Sheets or Burger can spell Vaughn) Second Base (Gonzalez / Andrus) Right Field (Eloy Primary, Sheets (1-6) Billy (7-9) Secondary) Designated Hitter (Burger primary, Sheets secondary)

Eloy has died, alleluia Eloy is risen, alleluia Eloy will die again, Alleluia, alleluia Welcome back Eloy and please remain healthy and prosper!