South Side Hit Men

Not a young 40 Man Roster. 10/1/2023 Ages 37: Cueto 36: Abreu, Diekman, Harrison, Lynn 35: Andrus, Kelly, Pollock 34: Grandal, Hendriks 32: Garcia, Graveman 31: Banks, Engel, Payton, Velasquez 30: Anderson, Bummer, Crick, Mendick, Zavala 29: Giolito, Lopez 28: Foster, Lambert, Moncada, Ruiz, Sousa 27: Burger, Cease, Haseley, Gonzalez, Kopech, Perez, Sheets 26: Aybar, Bilous, Jimenez, Martin, Padilla, Robert, Stiever 25: Vaughn 24: Crochet 23: Sosa

White Sox = Ludacris:

Sorry to hear about your mother and dealing with bureaucrats and endless corporate grifting.

The White Sox have the least amount of AL Division Titles among the eleven franchises that have played in all years since the inception of divisional play. Houston, Tampa Bay and Toronto have a much better percentage of title seasons than the Sox, leaving expansion teams Seattle and The Departed (Milwaukee) as the two American League teams less successful on an annual basis of winning American League Division Titles. American League Divisional Titles: 52 Seasons: New York (19) - 2022 Pending Oakland (17) Minnesota (12) Cleveland (10) - 2022 Pending Boston (10) Baltimore (9) Los Angeles (9) Detroit (7) Kansas City (7) Texas (7) Chicago (6) 45 Seasons: Toronto (6) & Seattle (3). 29 Seasons: Milwaukee (1). 24 Seasons: Tampa Bay (4). 9 Seasons: Houston (4). - 2022 Pending A. L. East (1969-1993) 25 Seasons: Baltimore (7), Toronto (5), New York (5), Boston (4), Detroit (3), Milwaukee (1), Cleveland (0). A. L. West (1969 - 1993) 25 Seasons: Oakland (10), Kansas City (6), Minnesota (4), Los Angeles (3), Chicago (2), Texas (0), Seattle (0). A. L. East (1995 - 2021) 27 Seasons: New York (14), Boston (6), Tampa Bay (4), Baltimore (2), Toronto (1). A. L. Central (1995 - 2021) 27 Seasons: Cleveland (10), Minnesota (8), Detroit (4), Chicago (4), Kansas City (1). A. L. West (1995 - 2021) 27 Seasons: Texas (7), Oakland (7), Los Angeles (6), Houston (4), Seattle (3).

Leaving China, or just a vacation? Can't imagine being in China the past three years.

This is how the Sox should close out this season. Batters: C Grandal & Zavala. INF: Abreu, Andrus, Gonzalez, Harrison, Moncada. OF: Engel, Garcia, Haseley, Payton, Sheets, Vaughn. DH: Eloy. Starting Pitchers: Cease, Cueto, Giolito, Lynn, Martin. Bullpen: Bummer, Diekman, Graveman, Hendriks, Kelly, Lambert, Lopez, Ruiz, Velasquez. IL: Anderson, Crick, Crochet, Kopech, Mendick, Pollock, Robert, Stiever.

Hahn left his Ace, in San Francisco....

"Finish in second place every single year because your fans will say 'Wow, we got a shot. We're in it!' But there's always the carrot left." - Jerry Reinsdorf White Sox 1980-2022 ownership philosophy as stated to David Samson

I agree that not all 29 teams which fail to win the WS had a bad season / failed. But the expectation was the Sox would have a team that would be at least competitive among the top teams in baseball during their “multi-championship window”. In 2020, they had one good SP entering the playoffs, last year they were completely overmatched by Houston and this year even if they do qualify, it’s only because they played in the worst division in The MLB. Looking at the Cubs 2015-2018 or even the shorter Royals or Cleveland mid 2010 windows as the standard Sox fans were hoping for. The Astros / Dodgers are the gold standard in terms of having a very long competitive window. All but Cleveland won one WS, but all were unquestionably among the top 4-6 teams for at least two plus consecutive seasons. This is why most are considering the Sox rebuild to date as a failure.

Regardless of whether Luis Robert can play or not, is active or not, in the next few days this team needs to shut down Pollock for the season before he accumulates another 31 plate appearances and White Sox Ed McMahon (Rick Hahn) hands him another $1M check. Pollock has played the second most games on the team, and as a result will collect $12M - $13M ($14M if he squeezes in 81 more plate appearances). The bench of Leury, Grandal and Pollock will cost the Sox over $37M in 2023, more if the other two players make over the minimum. And you thought Hahn's bullpen budget was ridiculous. After the acquisition, Parade Boy crowed "Obviously, AJ has the ability to help us in right field." Obvious to who exactly? Pollock entered this season as a 34 year old with exactly one start in RF over his major league career. AJ has a terrible arm and not much range, and as a result started nearly exclusively in LF last season (92 games in LF, 5 in CF) because a competent organization deemed LF as AJ's one acceptable defensive position. LF, the position the Sox already had multiple pretend outfielders lined up to play, and not enough slots to play them. So it wasn't until after AJ's Opening Day 2022 fiasco, a few days after Hahn acquired him after doubling down on the Kimbrel fiasco to kick off "The Offseason of George", the brain trust realized "Hey, AJ has no business in RF. He is barely adequate in LF." This is the norm, not the exception, as to how the Chicago White Sox have been managed the past decade. It is Exhibit 179 of why Hahn also needs to be purged on October 6, 2022.

99% + probability the lone path toward fundamental change is Jerry is no longer running the show. Doesn't matter whether Hahn or Tony goes, because Jerry will sign another Hahn and or Tony (cheap, unqualified, bottom perhaps even bizarre candidates) and not make the overall teardown of the organization which has been solely needed for at least a decade.

I noted trades for the two smart (of the three) directions the Sox can take this offseason. If they get a smart external GM, they could either: 1, Open up some salary flexibility with a savvy Dodgers trade if they use the flexibility to fill their holes and get a more athletic team (and 1-2 quality LH Bats). 2, Coupled with the nine players I listed as keep, and more they can acquired via trade and drafts the next few years, reset for a solid actual sustainable multi-championship window for 2025-2030 (and hopefully beyond). This also requires a total revamp of player development, analytics, scouting, so a tear down on the fly to be credibly ready in 3-4 years for actual WS appearances, not for AL Central titles and early exits. Larry Himes was the only GM under Jerry's tenure who built this solid of a core, but Jerry spited the team and fans prioritizing killing the Players Union over everything else. What will likely happen is 3. - Finger pointing / scapegoating, making changes but none meaningful or impactful in terms of being a top team during the remaining two years with this core.

Said it since October 2020, Tony was very bad karma / baseball juju.

White Sox MLB Trade Values: Keep: Robert $74M Cease $65M Montgomery $34M Vaughn $25M Kopech $18M Crochet $17M Colas $16M Lambert $12M Ramos $10M Short Term Players with Positive Trade Values: Anderson $46M (This one very inflated IMO) Hendriks $18M Giolito $13M Conundrum - I would trade for value, would keep if trade value is minimal: Eloy $11M Negative Player Value: Moncada Negative $12M Grandal Negative $10M Leury Negative $7M Kelly Negative $6M Diekman Negative $5M Pollock Negative $4M (soon to be $5M or $6M with more plate appearances)

I don't see the point of trading Vaughn for minimal salary relief / flexibility. Couple a few of your wanted veterans (Anderson, Liam, Giolito, Eloy, Lynn) with bad contracts (Moncada, Grandal, Pollock, Leury, Kelly, Diekman). Dodgers lose $134M in payroll next year if they let these free agents walk (Price $32M, T. Turner $21M, J. Turner $18M, C. Bellinger $17M, Kershaw $17M, Kimbrel $16M and Muncy $13M). Think they would want Anderson for a year if they aren't signing Trea Turner, Liam replaces Kimbrel. They could DFA or use as bench / backend bullpen players a subset of Grandal, Pollock, Leury, Kelly, Diekman. They might also take Moncada, his $42M for two years is nothing to them. Wouldn't want Hahn making the deal, because he would f*** it up yet again, but a solid TB/CLE type GM might make a great trade with the Dodgers willing to take on big money.

They are slow rolling Colas, so he isn't starting here next season. Jerry more concerned with 2029 payroll than winning ballgames.

Tony is celebrating on Rush Street tonight.

And this ballgame is ovah!

One more strikeout here Liam!!

I don't think they want to get to Javy with one out.

f*** me.

Liam is in for the win.

Bummer, Diekman, Ruiz and Velasquez are all that remain, assuming Lopez doesn't pitch another inning. He had 12 pitches yesterday, so doubtful.

Liam may have to go two if he can get out of the 10th with 10-12 pitches.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog......