South Side Hit Men

We can expect a 27 year old healthy Eaton, does he have a time machine?

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/team/front-office Drunken Ass Clown. Whether Tony is formally above Kenny and or Hahn in the org chart is semantics. Neither Kenny or Hahn had a say in Tony's hire, if you cannot hire your direct reports, you really don't have any power, just a title. Hahn has already been in the position multiple times, inheriting Ventura and then having to slot in Renteria with no formal interview process. Then after Hahn grants Renteria an extension, Jerry sometime after Tony's arrest decided Tony would be the next manager. Hell Don Cooper was Kenny's direct report since Ozzie's managing days. Not sure whether Kenny fired Cooper or whether it was LaRussa's call. it's a completely dysfunctional organization. the Bulls were run exactly the same way until jerry stepped down and let Michael run things, including hiring professional executives and coaches.

When Jerry is gone, Kenny and Hahn are gone. Jerry theoretically can't live forever, and he is approaching 90 soon. And Jerry just big timed Hahn and denied him a managerial hire yet again. Jerry already did give it to LaRussa. Kenny and Hahn are Executives in name only, 4th and 5th on the totem pole. White Sox Hierarchy: Chairman of the Board: Reinsdorf > Direct Reports: SEVP Howard Pizer & DAC Tony LaRussa > Next layer: EVP Kenny Williams > Rick Hahn/Don Cooper

Thankfully players don't vote for the BBHOF, the BBWAA does. Again, not a perfect process, but much better than some crony Reinsdorf run committee.

Tony LaRussa is sober compared to Rob Manfred. Just watch the video of Rob handing out what he publicly calls a "Piece of Metal". Hell, Hockey's Count Van Count may be more popular.

Hopefully the reporting of his habitual wife beating and the unspecified atrocities committed against at least one or more male White Sox employees in Birmingham help keep him out of the Hall. With continued inductions of players like Tony Perez, Omar Vizquel and Harold Baines, they will need to strip the term Hall of Fame and replace it with Hall Of Decent Players, Many Of Whom Played Too Long. The bottom line is matching or exceeding the worst player at each position cannot be the benchmark for voting for a candidate. If you fall short against the average Hall of Farmer at your position, than you should not get a vote. Belanger is a Hall of Famer if Vizquel is. Todd Helton, Mark McGwire, Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Jason Giambi, and Will Clark all have better JAWS than Perez. Tony Fernandez, Alvin Dark, Miguel Tejada, Jimmy Rollins, Jim Fergosi and Bert Campaneris are ranked higher than Vizquel. It becomes absurd once you go down this path of electing the lowest common denominator, or setting the worst elected player as a benchmark. #StopTheShame #VoteNoForVizquel

The HOF is using the research from the 1920-1948 period. Per the great article @KipWellsFan posted, about 73% of the known Negro League games (9,137 of 12,525) are in the database. Research will continue and stats adjusted with new information. They were very strict with the stats counted, including only Negro League games and not including the various barnstorming games. Great article, thanks for posting. The article lays out the primary reason the cut off was 1948, the inability to compile statistics post 1948. Before reading the article, I would have thought it would have been easier to compile the more recent stats and hard for the 1920s, but the opposite is true due to the fact many newspapers including primary sources like Black Newspapers dropped publishing box scores for publishing space in the 1940s. Nearly every game in the 1920s is included in the database, but only 50 percent of games from 1940-1948. The article also notes many historians feel the cut off should be 1950 or 1951, after which MLB's integration efforts resulted in a significant drop in Negro League talent beyond just a handful of superstars. It took several years before a majority of teams integrated (only three by the 1948 cutoff), and many more before a large number of black players successfully integrated MLB beyond the handful of elite superstars most people can name off the top of their head.

Number two is Mark Belanger, his bat wasn't good enough to lift his overall WAR or his chances at the HOF. And neither is Vizquel. Mark Belanger: oWAR 14.7; dWAR 39.5; bWAR 40.9; JAWS 36.4 (40th among SS) Omar Vizquel: oWAR 32.9; dWAR 29.5; bWAR 45.6; JAWS 36.2 (41st among SS) Average SS HOF: 67.5 bWAR; JAWS 55.3

Agreed, unless you are truly an all time best ever at a key defensive position, which Vizquel wasn’t. Player / bWAR / dWAR / JAWS (Score/Position Rank) Ozzie Smith 76.9 / 44.2 / 76.9 (9th) Brooks Robinson 78.4 / 39.1 / 78.4 (8th) Omar Vizquel 45.6 / 29.5 / 45.6 (41st) I’d consider Vizquel closer to a Nellie Fox, who also was rightfully passed over by the BBWAA, though like with too many players, the Veterans committee couldn’t resist. Fox had a better case, but neither should be in unless you are looking at a very watered down 500 + induct 4-5 players every year hall of fame. BBWAA not the greatest process, but prefer their much stricter criteria vs. the crony reach veterans committee criteria. Nellie Fox 49.5 / 21 / 49 (23rd)

The Sox should have saved Avery Weems for a bigger trade.

Darrin Jackson gives his thoughts on pairing with Len Kasper. https://www.mlb.com/news/darrin-jackson-len-kasper-white-sox-broadcasts “I know two things,” Jackson told MLB.com during a recent interview. “I know he’s great at what he does, and I know I like to have fun, break down the game. And I know he’s going to make me better just because he’s a great broadcaster. “I’m going to play off of him. I know we are going to get along great. That’s the No. 1 thing. Now it’s going to matter about the chemistry and the timing, and let’s see what I can do to make him have a good day and have some fun up there and what he can do to tee me up and make me sound like I know what I’m talking about. I’m going to try to have a lot of fun up there.”

This would have been a nice pickup by the White Sox. $3M guaranteed plus a second year team option. https://www.mlb.com/news/mike-zunino-rays-agree-to-deal Also, MLB reports DeScalfani will sign with the Giants, terms pending.

It’s about time. It appears the cutoff of years prior/after 1920-1948 is due to lack or research/data. Baseball Reference has the same time period of Negro League stats available on their website, and their footnotes indicate these stats were made available from the Hall of Fame research project. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?group=NLB&year=1951 At first I thought the omission of the final twelve seasons perhaps had to do with locking in Hank Aaron’s total HRs. The league was strong until the early 1950s. I believe they should include the final twelve seasons if possible / feasible.

I’m going to go against general consensus and state I hope the Sox pass on Hendricks if a high four year deal is required. Outside of say Mariano Rivera, it never turns out well, and a penny pinching team can’t afford mistakes. Use the $14M to get two solid late inning arms, and or sign one and use the rest for another starter. It’s a much better use of self-imposed limited resources.

Baines has a 38.7 rWAR, played until he was 42 and still was far removed from 3,000 hits yet he is in. If Altuve retires today, he is still a better HOF candidate than Harold Baines, with a 35.7 JAWS and 41st all time among 2B vs. Harold Baines' 30.1 JAWS, 74th among RFs. Shin-Soo Choo and Brian Jordan are better qualified and nobody thinks of them as Hall of Fame players either.

2020 White Sox Manager Rick Renteria stood with Tim Anderson 2021 White Sox Manager Tony LaRussa kneels on Tim Anderson's neck. Yesterday Today Tony LaRussa Yesterday, Today and Forever

Tony LaRussa demands his cheaters are inducted, Jerry will make it happen. In fact, LaRussa himself was a cheater from his first job until his last, will sully the 2021 White Sox if he's alive and manager by the time the team takes the field.

The one factor both Grandal and McCann fans/Stans fail to acknowledge is the fact that for a mid level payroll team like the White Sox ($120M-$140M), a high priced offense producing catcher is a luxury the team cannot afford. Even if Grandal gives you similar production in his final three seasons as to when he was in his prime, he is taking up $18M or around 15% of the payroll, with 25 others on the roster. On a $200M team, it's a more reasonable 9% payroll committment. The Sox would be far better off having say Pederson/Bradley Jr. in RF, Schwarber in LF and Jimenez at DH (or Pederson/Bradley Jr., Jimenez and Vaughn if he's ready) and a solid defensive catching team ($4-5M each). The team wasted $18M last year on two much easier positions to fill (Parrot and Mazara), and Eaton will likely produce the same as Mazara next year. This is why I opposed the Grandal signing last year (Keuchel was the only signing I liked), and why I am glad the Sox never came close to signing Machado or Harper. I also support passing on Springer or Bauer, unless they plan on significantly and permanently increasing their annual payroll by the equivalent amount. There is no evidence that is their intention.

Wirtz just wants another year of interest free use of your money. I’d say the chance of indoor stadiums reopening to fans in Chicago in February are close to nil. In terms of baseball, the owners would prefer little to no regular season, since they pay the players relatively nothing in the playoffs and make increased revenue simultaneously. I hope the players walk out in August or September in preparation for the CBA negotiations, and the WS is cancelled if the owners pull the same shit as last year and cancel a majority of the regular season. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next WS is in 2023 between COVID and the CBA.

Thanks for your post and welcome to Soxtalk. Sorry to read about your friend’s tragic death. Some claim here boycotts are fake, and people saying they are boycotting had no plans to go to White Sox games. My most recent Sox game was in early March 2020 in Arizona, two weeks before the lockdown. I planned to go to many games here last year until COVID restrictions killed that possibility. Planned on returning to AZ and Comiskey Park II next year, until this hire as news of the Sox owner’s disregard over his arrest. I’ll listen to games with Len Kasper and Chris Singleton, and watch the free game summary videos on mlb.com until LaRussa is gone. Since I live in Chicago, I want the team to address how Tony LaRussa will travel within in the city, to allow residents here to take necessary precautions when LaRussa is in town.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker According to fangraphs, the White Sox are paying Lance Lynn $2.82M per projected 2021 fWAR ($9.333M / 3.3), and Adam Eaton $5.0M ($8.0M (includes buyout) / 1.6). For the three remaining positions the White Sox may consider adding (OF/DH; SP & RP), below are the best value picks in terms of $s per fWAR at each (Minimum 1.0 fWAR for OF/SP & 0.5 fWAR for RP). Outfielders / Designated Hitters (1.2 + Projected fWAR) ranked by $ per 2021 projected fWAR $3.5M Kyle Schwarber (LF/DH - No projected contract, $7M AAV my estimate) $4.2M Joc Pederson (RF) $4.7M Jurickson Profar (2B/LF) $5.0M Eddie Rosario (LF - No projected contract, $7M AAV my estimate)) $5.5M George Springer (CF) $6.0M Marcell Ozuna (DH/LF) $7.1M Jackie Bradley Jr. (CF/RF) $7.9M Michael Brantley (DH/LF) Starting Pitchers (1.2 + Projected fWAR) ranked by $ per projected fWAR $3.3M Matt Shoemaker $3.8M Brett Anderson $4.2M Chris Archer $4.6M Corey Kluber $5.3M Garrett Richards $5.4M Adam Wainwright $5.8M Rick Porcello $5.9M Jose Quintana $6.0M Masahiro Tanaka $6.3M James Paxton $7.2M Jake Ordorizzi $7.5M Taijuan Walker $7.6M Trevor Bauer $9.3M J. A. Happ Relief Pitchers (Ranked by projected fWAR - projected contract value included if presented) 1.1 Liam Hendricks ($12M) 0.6 Kirby Yates ($7M) 0.5 Blake Treinen ($8M) 0.5 Trevor Rosenthal ($6.5M) 0.4 David Robertson 0.4 Brad Hand ($9M) 0.4 Andrew Chafin 0.4 Justin Wilson ($5.3M) 0.4 Colin McHugh 0.4 Joakim Soria ($7M) 0.3 Keone Kela 0.3 Jake McGee ($5M) Alex Colome has a 0.1 projected fWAR and $16M/2yr ($8M AAV) projected contract.

Las Vegas Westgate odds from last week: 2021 American League Pennant (teams under 10/1) New York Yankees+275 Tampa Bay Rays+575 Chicago White Sox+650 Minnesota Twins+700 Oakland Athletics+825 Houston Astros+900 2021 World Series (teams under 20/1) Los Angeles Dodgers+425 New York Yankees+550 Atlanta Braves+1000 Tampa Bay Rays+1200 San Diego Padres+1300 Chicago White Sox+1500 Minnesota Twins+1500 Houston Astros+1800 New York Mets+1800 Oakland Athletics+1800

Theo Epstein President Managing Partner, backed by billionaires who aren't pinching pennies and clipping coupons at age 86. There is a lot of money out there willing to back this.

I’m ok with an average of one inductee per year average. A majority of veterans committee inductees were mistakes/reaches, diluting the quality over the years. Many were crony picks, through Baines. The BBHOF should be reserved for the best players in each generation, 12-15 at each position (100), 60 starters and maybe 5-10 relievers over the first 150 years of professional baseball. The other three sports HOFs are even more diluted, don’t want to continue trending in that direction.

I’m with you, Engel is more than capable of starting vs. LHP and a few dozen vs. RHP. I’m also fine with Garcia rotating between OF and IF and playing a significant number of games. I fear our manager will play Eaton regardless of performance and/or regularly against LHP. I hope Eaton performs well in a platoon role, may help keep him healthy as well, but he’ll pressure Tony to play him every day since he is playing for his next contract. Based on limited reporting / data from 2020, only the White Sox FO truly knows what their plans for Vaughn are in terms of a promotion and expected number of games in the ML. If Vaughn is truly ready and can be expected to be promoted within the first few weeks, the roster configuration is what it is, though not ideal defensively or for Eloy’s health. Overall the offense should again perform well, outside of considering a defense first backup catcher to help Grandal’s load, every available dollar should be spent on RP and or perhaps 1 more SP.