South Side Hit Men

Over: Moncada (2.4); Pillar (0.2); Fedde (1.1); Brebbia (0.4). Under: Eloy (1.9); Fletcher (0.4); Sheets (0.1). Please do not sign: Moustakas (-0.1).

I'd like the Sox' to break camp with this roster, assuming no other major signings, with Sosa starting 4-5 games a week across 2B/SS/3B regularly if he looks ready to open the season at the MLB level. Assumes the Crochet SP experiment does not translate into the season. vs. RH: LF A. Benintendi; 1B A. Vaughn; CF L. Robert Jr.; 3B Y. Moncada; DH E. Jimenez; RF D. Fletcher; SS P. DeJong; 2B N. Lopez; C Stassi/Maldonado Bench: C Stassi/Maldonado; INF L. Sosa; INF/OF D. Mendick; OF K. Pillar vs. LH: LF A. Benintendi; 1B A. Vaughn; CF L. Robert Jr.; 3B Y. Moncada; DH E. Jimenez; RF K. Pillar; SS P. DeJong; 2B N. Lopez; C Stassi/Maldonado Bench: C Stassi/Maldonado; INF L. Sosa; INF/OF D. Mendick; OF D. Fletcher Rotation: D. Cease; M. Kopech; E. Fedde; M. Soroka; C. Flexen Bullpen: CL G. Crochet; SU J. Brebbia; J. Chavez; MR: D. Garcia; S. Drohan; T. Hill; B. Shaw Swing T. Toussaint.

Fletcher needs to sit vs. most LHP to not destroy his confidence at the MLB level, at least initially. He shouldn't just be handed the job, same as Colas or anyone else with zero proven MLB track record. Nomar Mazara is like Babe Ruth in comparison. Billy Hamilton is far better vs. LHP. Yesterday Nomar Mazara (Through Age 27) 684 Games, 2690 PA .729 OPS, 85 HR (.633 OPS vs. LHP 648 PA) Billy Hamilton (Through Age 32) 951 Games, 3285 PA .617 OPS, 24 HR (.598 OPS vs. LHP 923 PA) Leury Garcia (Through Age 31) 701 Games, 2402 PA .644 OPS, 34 HR (.670 OPS vs. LHP 704 PA) Adam Eaton (Through Age 32) 914 Games, 3910 PA .763 OPS, 66 HR ( .682 OPS vs. LHP 926 PA) Brian Goodwin (Through Age 30) 429 Games, 1395 PA .757 OPS, 50 HR (.688 OPS vs. LHP 293 PA) Adam Engel (Through Age 31) 528 Games, 1546 PA, .628 OPS, 30 HR (.636 OPS vs. LHP 474 PA) Today Gavin Sheets (Through Age 27) 296 Games, 933 PA .690 OPS, 36 HR (.332 OPS vs. LHP 84 PA) Dominic Fletcher (Through Age 25) 28 Games, 102 PA .791 OPS, 2 HR (.422 OPS vs. LHP 30 PA) Oscar Colas (Through Age 24) 75 Games, 263 PA .571 OPS, 5 HR (.531 OPS vs. LHP 63 PA) Kevin Pillar (Through Age 34) 1114 Games. 4052 PA .702 OPS, 106 HR (.769 OPS vs. LHP 1198 PA)

He cannot start opening day as they are facing LHP Skubal, unless they are going to go with 5th OF guy’s .422 OPS vs. LHP. Since Colas, Sheets, Benintendi and DeLoach are also LHB, Pillar or Sosa will (or at least should) be the OD and regular RF against LHP. Getz is on the road to Hahnville with that Mena trade.

At least with the Sox, there is a good chance a non-Reinsdorf will take over within the next decade, though can see him slotting in someone as non-committed to winning as he was during a near half century. Perhaps Michael is still hamstrung with his father trying annually to land an 8 or 9 playoff seed. If he continues in this manner after Jerry is gone, you would need some major random multiyear lottery luck to ever hope to have a legitimate chance at ever possibly competing.

Looks like they will be adding to this list at 2B and RF at minimum, with Eloy the only likely player to break the current streak. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/opening.shtml Career White Sox bWAR White Sox Seasons 2B Gordon Beckham (2010-2013) 6.9 7 Seasons DH Adam Dunn (2011-2014) -0.4 4 Seasons RF Avisail Garcia (2017-2018) 6.4 6 Seasons

I think we can all agree some projections will far short, perhaps a few far short, and others will exceed, perhaps a few greatly exceed their projections. I think the primary difference between last year and this year is the Sox are about the same when you compare actual 2023 performance and likely 2024 performance among their core group. However, I believe their depth in the rotation and position players is much improved. Their bullpen is worse than last year, but you need to blend in the last two months of 2023, which I believe the Sox can match, possibly exceed, with the people they brought it. I'm not saying there is a likely huge margin of safety for over 64 1/2, but the public in general overreact based on what happened last year. A majority here thought the Sox would win over 100 games in 2022 based primarily on 2021. Nobody here predicted a 60 win season last year. That's where I'm coming from.

The ISFA, not Jerry, owns all the adjacent land around the stadium. Jerry isn't selling until he is dead. The only way it's sold when he's alive if he becomes incapacitated and his family takes over his business affairs. Even in that scenario, they would structure it like the Orioles did with Peter Angelos' sale; a minority share now and the rest upon death to minimize the tax impact.

WGN has exclusive footage of Jerry Reinsdorf in Springfield.

Stadium: Paul Vario Field Attached Bar/Restaurant: The Bamboo Lounge

Last year's team had a lot of expensive deadwood with name recognition among the general public, but they likely were the worse team considering the entire season. People are overlooking the absolute, but par for the course under Hahn, putrid level of depth on and beyond the 40 man roster. Simply managing injuries better and having playable substitutes should add 4-5 wins. All that said, the primary focus of Getz and Pedro should be: Send support to the minor leagues to assess and develop players. Maximize playing time for all young players on the active roster. No more "Tony/Ozzie Ball" ride the bench rookie, you got to earn any time here. Shitcan Pedro immediately, if not sooner, if he doesn't play ball and favors win now over the future. Be up front and incentivize Pedro and staff. They will be assessed in 2024 primarily on player development, not Ws & Ls. Stop the bleeding of bad baseball to stabilize attendance while marketing a more likable team. Flip any valuable guys over 27, add A-AA-AAA potential 2026 MLB starting player prospects. 13.2 2023 Actual fWAR 3.1 Position Players 10.1 Pitchers Versus 23.5 2024 Projected fWAR 7.5 Outfield + DH 6.5 Infield 7.8 Starters 1.7 Relievers

There is minimal public support in Las Vegas to land the A’s. There is minimal public support in Nashville to land any MLB team. The cable TV RSN carriage scam has reached an end (grabbing a majority of revenue off of subscribers who have zero interest in you product, about 97% of Americans based Manfred’s new normal World Series ratings). The stadium musical chairs scam is also nearing an end, with Oakland drastically downgraded Nevada land grant facing significant funding and logistic shortfalls, and all remaining American markets as or less lucrative than the bottom five existing markets. Stand tall Pritzker, Do The Right Thing.

Well, Randolph didn’t walk out of that room either.

Their system projects the Sox finishing 67-95. https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings Not sure how dynamic their system is to account for likely trade deadline dumps and roster playing time in Aug-Sept for fill ins. I don’t see as many guys being traded this July, primarily because they had more high caliber players to trade last year vs. this year.

I’m excited because until 2021, I’ve loved everyone in the dugout but TLR in the 1980s. That changed 2021-2023 except for the Field of Dreams game. Heading into this season, I love everyone once again. I am concerned with a few of Getz’ moves the past two weeks, and really hope he doesn’t keep cutting potential useful players for guys who are near or should be in retirement. They will not be good, but definitely love the season win total lines of over 63’ (-105) or 64’ (+110).

While Getz and Tony was scouring MLB for any new late 30s to early 40s NRI candidate… https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/pirates-claim-canaan-smith-njigba-from-mariners.html

I agree with this statement if you are discussing allowing a relocation. I don’t agree with this statement if this includes expansion candidates. Oakland is already a recipient, so no change if Vegas works out. But outside of possibly Montreal, all other discussed expansion markets would slot in the bottom third of MLB locations in terms of population size, and most certainly be candidates for revenue sharing. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlb-expansion-cities-nashville-charlotte-and-other-candidates/c9bd7d4409a05ce2cb6bab46 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area

I stated last year I hope the Sox would renegotiate his 2024 contract to have a two year deal with a solid addition for 2025. Not sure how open he was to staying here on a non-contender, but it’s not as though Boston has significantly better prospects or ownership. Wonder what other offers, if any, he received, and what the Sox told him last October.

Deets to follow:

Describes most corporate print, online, and tv media. Opposition to the Olympics backed the moral / ethical side of the question on behalf of Chicago residents. There is only one way to deal with con artists like the IOC or Jerry. .

People talk about the initial $399M borrowed for the Bears, or the initial $150M for the Sox, but these combined are about 25% of the over two billion spent and borrowed when you account for significant total expenses involved over the decades. There will be minimum $4-$5 billion paid out in principal, interest and administrative costs if Jerry gets another $1B in loan guarantees, not to mention the half billion plus he wants to raid from TIF Funds and God knows what else he wants to jam through the assembly. Online records only start at 2009 (media should do a FOIA for the rest), and in the past 14 Years (2009-2022). https://www.isfauthority.com/annual-reports-of-isfa/ 14 year Total Expenses: $806M $70.6M (2022); $43.1M (2021); $65.5M (2020); $62.7M (2019); $63.7M (2018); $59.7M (2017); $60.6M (2016); $67.0M (2015); $54.0M (2014); $48.7M (2013); $48.5M (2012); $48.0M (2011) $44.5M (2010); $69.4M (2009) 14 year change Total Liabilities: $44.5 reduction (2009 = $496.7M vs. 2022 = $452.2M) Net Expenses Incurred: $761.5M

Am I missing something here? Because I look at the 40 man roster, I'd say 20 max players might matter in 2026 (likely 5-10), and 20 could stay or go and it doesn't matter to any solid future White Sox team. Valuable (2): Robert Jr. & Cease Guys who will or might possibly matter in 2026 (18): Born 1996 M. Kopech Born 1997 Fletcher, Shewmake Born 1998 O. Colas, J. Cousin, Z. DeLoach, J. Eder, K. Lee, J. Shuster,, A. Speas, A. Vaughn Born 1999 G. Crochet, S. Drohan, D. Garcia Born 2000 P. Berroa, L. Sosa Born 2021 J. Rodriguez Born 2022 B. Ramos

This is the lowest Boston payroll ($181.2M) in a real season since 2014 ($156.3M), and in inflation adjusted dollars since 2003 ($99.9M). Meanwhile, this ($132.2M) is the third highest payroll in White Sox history. Not to mention Red Sox tickets are significantly higher than the "dynamic pricing" charged by Brooks Boyer. Bottom line, both Sox will suck royally, standard operating procedure for Jerry, not as much for Boston.

The Sox have announced eight players officially signed, with only the four reported on the mlb / milb online portal. 3B $1,800,000 Eduardo Herrera (10/23/06) San Felipe, Venezuela (Signed 1/24/24) SS $600,000 Jurdrick Profar (4/24/07) Willemstad, Curacao (Signed 1/24/24) 3B $550,000 Jesus Premoli (1/19/07) Barquisimeto, Venezuela (Signed 1/24/24) OF $550,000 Christian Gonzalez - Pending online transaction update on MLB/Milb.com RHP $375,000 Orlando Suarez - Pending online transaction update on MLB/Milb.com RHP $100,000 Alexandre Valdiviezo - Pending online transaction update on MLB/Milb.com SS $80,000 Jhoangel Suarez - Pending online transaction update on MLB/Milb.com RHP $55,000 Jeziel Boekhoudt (1/29/07) Willemstad, Curacao (Signed 1/23/24) The White Sox have $1,815,000 remaining, of their $5,925,000 total pool through 1/14/25 for: Venezuelans Juan Berroteran & Manuel Ramos Dominican Republican pending official signing announcements Additional players +/- Trades of slot money