South Side Hit Men

WTF? Who is going to be different if Grandal can't catch? If he can, than perhaps Vaughn will get the nod at DH if JR is not worrying about his contract when JR is in his 90s. Would be irresponsible to shove Vaughn in Left Field, but then again this is what the White Sox do as general operating procedure.

Even more egregious is the $61M in stupid money spent during tanking years. Kelvin Herrera $18M Yonder Alonso $16M Wellington Castillo $15M Todd Frazier $12M The Royals outspent the Sox this off-season, before the Salvador Perez signing.

Opening Day: SP Giolito 1. Anderson SS, 2. Eaton^ RF, 3. Abreu 1B, 4. Moncada* 3B, 5, Robert CF, 6. Grandal* DH, 7. Garcia* LF, 8. Lucroy C, 9. Madrigal 2B If Grandal can catch, than perhaps Vaughn will be brought up or they'll go with Collins at DH. EDIT: RHP Bundy is the Angels' pitcher, so I believe La Russa will bat Eaton 2nd and Grandal 5th or 6th. (Had Grandal 2 and Eaton 6)

He's a Katz guy. Lucroy is a Narron guy. Lynn and Hendriks were LaRussa guys.

1-2-3 for Carson Fulmer.

Joc Pederson 1.247 OPS, 5 HRs Kyle Schwarber 1.147 OPS, 4 HRs Jose Quintana 5 G, 14 IP, 15 K, 1.07 WHIP, 0.64 ERA.

Because the Sox did not have the balls to tell Eloy no to this sham the past three years, and the FO kept signing and drafting more DH types as if it weren’t a problem. Decisions like these is why this team now entering its ninth season under Rick Hahn has never won more than 78 games. Kim Ng should have been hired in 2013.

There is a Cuban still available, may sign for a cheap contract.

“I’m thinking Nick Delmonico, we’re capped out in terms of resources.” “I’m thinking Arby’s, I have a coupon about to expire.”

The Biggest Hurt ?

It doesn't have anything to do with Machismo, unless meatballs like Kenny or Ozzie are involved. Most ML hitters, the best hitters on Earth, no longer have the ability to bunt consistently, because fundamentals are not highlights on Sportscenter and that's not why were promoted to the show. The best athletes are raking throughout the lower levels, and are never asked to bunt. Also, hitters do not have the ability to consistently launch a batted ball (non bunts) safely to specific areas on the field. Pitchers are pitching you a certain way to force you to hit into the shift. If batters had the ability to consistently hit balls "where they ain't", shift or no shift, they would be hitting .500-.600 +. This isn't 16 inch softball. The best batting average hitter ever caped out at .366 (Ty Cobb). The best of all time, who spent their entire career working hard at their crafts like Cobb, Williams, Gwynn, etc., were better than their peers, but could not beat the law of averages beyond a couple standard deviations beyond the best hitters in the game.

"Rick, Let me get this straight, because I'm hard of hearing as you know. You mean to tell me we can get Texas to eat the remaining contract for guys like Castillo and Jones, and in return we also end up spending far less on International players? Way the hell are we not doing this every season?"

Fangraphs 2021 projected OPS: Eloy Jimenez .878 vs. Anderson .776 In terms of leadoff, I do agree Anderson is not always optimal vs. RHP. However, I do agree with LaRussa’s call to slot Anderson in the lead off hole, and Abreu third as permanent fixtures to solidify the lineup is a different animal psychologically vs. the other lineup slots, same as closer for bullpen pitchers. Would rather maximize at bats across the four best hitters, Anderson, Moncada, Abreu and Jimenez, and let the bottom sort itself out. I can see an argument of Grandal at #2 vs. Moncada vs. Righties (.813 vs LHP, .702 vs. RHP) , moving Moncada 5th. I don’t have a lot of confidence in Eaton at this stage of his career, and Madrigal needs to prove himself with only a few dozen games under his belt. If either prove consistent production after a few months, perhaps top of the order would make sense, but I wouldn’t start the season that way.

Sweet Baby Jesus

I’m entering year three of saying permanent DH and ban him from owning or wearing a mitt. Lance Lynn or David Wells would make for a better LF option on their off days.

And you act as though the team couldn’t have brought in an actual left fielder the past three seasons, or not draft yet another DH only type in 2019 to prevent the inevitable, over the past four years. So they have Vaughn, Eloy, Collins, Abreu, Grandal for at least 50 games and Burger if he’s viable at the ML Level vying for two lineup spots. And little depth anywhere else beyond Garcia and Engel. More Hahn Brilliance.

Should never hate the player, he is only playing up to his capabilities, and he has tried to get better. It's the Front Office and Manager / Coaching Staff who need to make the correct call and DH him. Perhaps stop drafting year after year of hitters who can't seem to play any position at the ML Level besides DH and 1B if you're lucky. Can't expect anything different at this point.

When your defensive metrics indicate Carlos Lee and Dave Kingman are Gold Glove LFers compared to Eloy, he very well may finish as the worst defensive player with the highest negative dWAR if the stubborn front office continues to stick him out there year after year. Not to mention the lost games at the plate due to his constant injuries. He got injured jumping up and down after Giolito's no hitter, would likely have gotten injured if he was in Moncada's music video.

I didn't "predict" anything, I posted what Matt Spiegel reported on the Score, discussions between the city and sports teams.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/chicago-headed-in-the-wrong-way-as-younger-adults-drive-uptick-in-covid-19-cases-health-commissioner-warns/ar-BB1eToqj?ocid=uxbndlbing

I'm not saying there isn't upside. I am saying the White Sox do not earn more local television revenue than the Yankees (beyond perhaps a one time windfall if fangraphs is correct), and unless the Reinsdorf family cells the team, they don't have a realistic avenue to break up their current deal, owning half of the current broadcast vehicle. They'll get their share of the broadcast, including increases, its just a matter of which Reinsdorf pocket it goes into. I also agree with you some of it may trickle to payroll, though based on history, Jerry's increase in payroll spending is more correlated with ballpark revenue / increased attendance and season ticket sales. Both shall rise, at least short-term like the end of the 2000s, if the team is fortunate to win a WS title.

The Cubs outdrew the Sox 2 to 1 last season, after the Sox increased their own ratings by 250% over 2019. Parity would be a pipe dream at this point. Not sure what data Fangraphs has, but Forbes has the most accurate publicly available data. The Cubs massive revenue advantage (2019 data published in 2020) $471M to $285M was when they were both on NBC Sportsnetwork. The one logical explanation for fangraphs revenue listing the White Sox with a higher local television network revenue than even the NY Yankees (which I don't believe anyone here believes) is the fact it includes the increased capital gains on their ownership after the Cubs left after 2019. Otherwise, that data is garbage. The White Sox with bottom half television viewer interest does not bring in more revenue than the YES Network. Have you seen the size of Reinsdorf's pockets?

JR owns half the network (25/25 Bulls Sox). Unless the Reinsdorfs sell the White Sox to a new owner, they are never going to break off their two teams into two separate stations unless cable completely collapses and they go to a separate streaming plus model. The Bulls don't have enough interest in a stand alone network (like the Lakers have). Even with the 2005 WS, the Sox didn't overtake the Cubs, and Marquee isn't such a great deal as a stand alone entity. The Cubs really had to fight to get on the major carriers, and they had much more leverage than the White Sox would, even if they won three straight World Series. In terms of cash flow, both teams rather maximize revenue to the television networks they own, and allocate as minimal rights fees to the teams to short change revenue sharing. The Cubs/Tribune Co. did that for decades on the television/radio end, giving the Cubs peanuts for their broadcast rights and keeping all the revenue corporate. The Sox/Bulls (and their stadium partner BlackHawks) aren't shifting away from this arrangement unless cable is completely dead.

Really good piece for those interested in Lopez. Hahn, La Russa and both pitching coaches met with Lopez regarding the assignment to the alternate site. Lopez took it well, Katz and Tony emphasized the positives of what they saw this Spring and the importance of staying stretched out and available.

Solid segment with James Fegan on the Score this evening (scroll to the 30 minute mark to skip Ryne Sandberg and Bears discussion): https://www.radio.com/670thescore/podcasts/joe-ostrowski-on-670-the-score-756/grote-ryne-sandberg-james-fegan-interviews-hour-2-360017739 Giolito speaks about ST environment established by Tony La Russa. Doesn't see Kopech or Crochet leaving the bullpen this season, though Kopech may be converted to SP second half if things go wrong (Cease, Rodon) or injuries but still unlikely. Abreu appears to be playing at full capacity at this point post COVID in drills. Moncada is at full strength, likely to bat cleanup majority of the season. Hoping to see more power out of Anderson in terms of a next step move in 2021. Catcher Depth Chart: Team's preference is Lucroy due to connections with staff, Collins has done anything he could to show he is better and able to contribute now, still betting against him making the OD roster. (I hope he is wrong with this).