South Side Hit Men

Sadly, if this happened three weeks ago, there was a chance the Sox could snooker Jeff Bridich into giving the Sox Charlie Blackmon and paying most of the salary, which Jerry would sign likely sign off. Sadly, he stepped down last week. Can't see Feasel eating the contract, thus beyond Jerry's willingness to spend, by about $35M of his $40-50M deal + options.

It would be problematic both publicly and in the clubhouse to do anything but add at this point. However, if it’s bleak in July (at below .500 and bad prognosis for Robert Eloy returning), they could definitely get a few solid prospects and or one or two Major League ready contributors in 2022. GMs aren’t selling the farm like they did even a few years ago (like the Eaton Quintana deals), but between both pitcher’s solid performance to date and cost friendly contracts, you open up the potential bidding process for either of these two players and would get a much stronger return than say for a high priced but mediocre veteran rental, especially in these penny pinching times.

Have to give Hahn some credit. He has to say this for ticket sales, and to not insinuate panic or desperation with trade talks. Setting up blame on TLR is irrelevant. Rick has no say over Tony, not sure if he can even request he do something has any management authority. They could go 60-102, and Tony stays unless he wants to leave, or is asked by Jerry, which I don’t ever see happening as it would create “another regret” which “must be rectified”.

I’m not certain why there is a discussion of players with eight figure contracts. Hahn stated the team is on the floor, and did nothing when Eloy went down besides sign “LF” Jake Lamb. Jerry isn’t going to eat $15M-$25M contracts, even if Tony says pretty please with sugar on top. He MIGHT authorize a seven figure stop gap acquisition, but would prefer to send good prospects like the Dunning for Lynn deal than add 10-15% more to payroll. There is max 10k attendance currently, and no guarantee any acquisition will lead to the postseason revenue Jerry will want for his “investment”.

Remember a few months ago when posters like us and a few others were questioning the stars and scrubs roster construction and depth issues heading into the year, and being roundly criticized for questioning the wisdom of the “Executive of the Year”? As a Sox fan, I’m sad my second worst fear (career ending injuries to core players being the worst) came to fruition a month into the season. Would like to think this is a chance to develop Vaughn, see if Engel can play regularly, see if Yermin can catch at least 30-40 games a year, stretch Kopech up here and Crotchet in the minors, and come back strong and healthy next year with 3-4 FA bargains, with a few hopefully panning out and complementing the core.

If they sign a free agent or assume a contract, I’m fine with it. If they trade key prospects and/or give away significant international bonus signing money slots, I’m not fine with it. If they are still within playoff striking distance in July, stay the course. If not, I’m fine selling pieces like Lynn Rodon or other short term pieces, as they will likely have limited ability to load up if they are good the next few years.

Tony got aroused reading those names. Add Molina and Wainwright, perhaps intentional walk God Pujols and he may personally write a seven figure check to “get er done”.

Same level of lucidity.

The FO and Manager are not aligned. The manager and team are not aligned. The owner and FO were not aligned. This is what dysfunction looks like.

He brought good karma to the team and clubhouse?

He held a conference call from the airport. You can hear a replay of pwhat was aired later this evening for the 5PM hour of Speigel Parkins. Would also check their flagship who may have the full call.

They need to not rush this, target a fully healthy return next year, assuming the postseason is a consideration in August. Same with Eloy. The next three years is more important to any short term consideration. I don’t see a Karma improvement until La Russa is gone.

I’m taking this as a “teal” assessment of the situation. Well played, sir.

DJ mentioned Luis Robert works daily pre-game with the strength and conditioning coach on elastic resistance training equipment to strengthen his core and range. Ptatc has always been on point with his assessments as usual, but I was also grateful to hear DJ's immediate assessment (same as ptatc's) and input in terms of what players in general and Luis in particular due to work on their strength and flexibility. When I played football in my teens and 20s, I'd show up and play. Once I hit 30 and into my early 40s when I gave it up, my stretching and other pregame measures increased each year and time allocated about 5 minutes more added every year or two. Nearly a decade later, I currently don't stretch pre-walk (target 4.0-4.2 miles per hour over two hours in Summer, usually hit 3.4-3.8 miles/hour in Winter with the added clothing), but imagine I should and hopefully will begin working on stretching and light weight resistance training as well.

I agree with this. If you look through my post history, my criticism of Jerry has been on the dysfunctional management, cronyism, his anti-player sentiment when he was powerful / controlled Selig, and interference in decisions three-four layers removed from his purview (White Sox Manager current and past). The team's budget is reasonable for the revenue they generate, when the team exceeds expectations and variable revenue increases, he has increased player payroll accordingly. My criticism of Hahn is he knows the budget, but has shown throughout his entire tenure a poor ability to spend it wisely on external free agents, and also has a history of poor roster construction. Kenny won in 2005 by spreading thin FA money across several seeds, hitting big with Dye ($3M), Iguchi ($2.3M), AJ ($2.5M), Everett ($4M), and three core veterans to complement the staff Contreras & Garcia ($8M each) and El Duque ($3.5M). This is what I advocated both pre and post rebuild. Hahn hasn't spent wisely for the most part on external free agents during the three stages of his tenure ("competing", spending unnecessarily during tanking, and then his big contracts during the "multiple championship window"). You won't ever find a single post from me advocating for Bauer or any $25M-$40M external FA under the current ownership, because it severely hamstrings your flexibility. Spending 30% of payroll on two guys with limited upside, and performance decline / concerns hitting their mid 30s is not a prudent use of a known budget. It's why the team is left with NRIs filling key depth positions, exacerbated by La Russa's proclivity to overuse veterans and devalue quality rookies.

Has any Chicago media mentioned or discussed Tony's "Ebonics" Joke aimed at a black man as disclosed in the lawsuit filed in April against his animal welfare organization? An organization so tainted both Tony's wife and daughter left not wanting to have anything to do with that mess, a mess Tony continues to defend. https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/24/family-divisions-explosive-allegations-engulf-tony-la-russas-animal-rescue-foundation/

Understood. Abreu's deal is $50M for 3 years, Grandal ($73M) and Keuchel ($75.5M if he vests). They're both decent players, just tied up to too much payroll (30%) on a mid-market team, whereas if they spread the money broader, you're not at major risk for a mid-30s expected production drop off, or an injury. Sox do better signing their internal players they know best, including Abreu, or their extensions to Eloy and Robert, or even going back to Konerko's post WS extension. Also why I want them to not overcommit to veterans beyond the current deals (including Lynn), to allow them to sign Anderson/Lucas/Robert/Eloy for a reasonable (market, not discount, but not $200M-300M deal which the current ownership won't fund). A change in ownership before 2024 could prove a major bonanza in terms of having a solid team throughout the decade.

Not mentioned or inferred in my post.

Have to think if Hahn is going to emerge from the bunker and speak to the media on zoom before the start of the Reds series, he'll want to have his story straight in terms of who the Sox bring up, who is traveling to Cincinnati, Engel's status, and also try to reach some type of agreement or understanding with La Russa, so Hahn doesn't yet again say one thing, and Tony go in a completely different direction.

Come back Luis, don't follow the light!

He just spent $150M on two rehashed veterans, $23M on complete busts last season (Parrot, Gio and Mazara), burning money on two managers this year with his Renteria extension, and pissing away $60M more during the three tanking years (Kelvin Herrera, Yonder Alonso, Wellington Castillo and Todd Frazier). Hahn pissed away a quarter of a billion dollars in the past four off seasons, after he was declared “all growns up”.

Tony and the White Sox are so fortunate beat writers have little to no access to the clubhouse or front office beyond team managed zoom calls. The vast majority of media and fans has seen many of the first month of decisions as a complete joke. There’s no doubt players and FO experiencing this first hand are even more frustrated at wasting at least another year because of this fossil.

I’m talking about the recent make over, Michael Reinsdorf swapping out Jerry’s decades old relics last offseason with professional competent management. Hahn has spent more than a full years payroll on a #4/#5 starter people are hoping doesn’t vest his 4th year, and a catcher who has matched his backups the past two seasons. His prior high priced FAs have also been busts. He’s not trusted enough in the organization to ever select a manager. If it weren’t for Jerry’s preferred dysfunctional management style, Hahn and Kenny would have been swept out in 2015-2016. Thankfully for Hahn, nobody ever gets fired in a Reinsdorf FO, and there is never any accountability. You blame the players for not performing. Who acquired those players for the past decade? Which team accumulated the second worst record in MLB since Hahn was hired (thank you Miami)?

No, it’s pretty clear Ethan Katz was the only acquisition not initiated by Tony this off-season, hence the qualification of letting the dumpster fire continue. As much as I have criticized Hahn, I don’t believe he would be in agreement of finding new positions for Jake Lamb to learn, playing Leury regularly, or leading the league in 110 + pitch outings. Frankly I was surprised Lucroy and Williams were jettisoned. Bottom line is Soxtalk wanted Ricky gone, I wanted the FO gone with a Bulls type makeover, and someone else making the manager hire. Similar to a Twilight Zone episode, the Faustian bargain didn’t turn out as hoped or planned. Best I can hope for is Tony is happy after reaching #2 on the wins list, leaves after the season and a competent manager is hired who can lead the team to a World Series win.

Not to mention pigs will fly out of Jerry’s behind before Jerry eats even two months of KB’s contract. Jarod Dyson was an “aggressive move” at last year’s deadline, with only one month of contracts to eat and a starting playoff rotation consisting of Lucas, Keuchel and duct tape.