South Side Hit Men

“Don’t you blaspheme me.”

Let's face it, trash from the top dozen teams are better than most current rostered White Sox pitchers and at least a few current projected starting position players. Soroka has the second highest projected 2024 Pitcher fWAR (Depth Charts) Projection per Fangraphs. Using Fangraph's "rule of thumb" WAR averages for position players and starting pitchers: Projected White Sox fWAR: Position Player (Handed) (Projected Games/Starts fWAR Fangraph fWAR translation) Hitters Projected OBP SLG / Pitchers Projected FIP LF Andrew Benintendi (L) (139 G 1.4 role player) .339 .391 CF Luis Robert Junior (R) (149 G 3.4 good player) .318 .488 DH Eloy Jimenez (R) (141 G 2.2 solid starter) .334 .486 3B Yoan Moncada (S) (144 G 2.2 solid starter) .325 .407 1B Andrew Vaughn (R) (147 G 1.8 role player) .324 .454 RF Oscar Colas (L) (97 G 0.3 scrub) .301 .411 C Carlos Perez (R) (57 G 0.3 scrub) .289 .388 2B Nicky Lopez (L) (83 G 0.5 scrub) .319 .325 SS Lenyn Sosa (R) (45 G 0.4 scrub) .285 .410 C K. Lee (76 G -0.1 AAA) DH 1B OF G. Sheets (76 G 0.3 scrub) INF/OF R. Gonzalez (66 G 0.3 scrub) INF/OF Z. Remillard (65 G 0.0 AAA) Dylan Cease (31 GS 2.7 solid starter) 4.30 Michael Soroka (23 GS 1.3 role player) 4.68 Touki Toussaint (24 GS 0.7 scrub) 5.18 Michael Kopech (26 GS 0.6 scrub) 5.43 Nick Nastrini (18 GS 0.5 scrub) 5.31 Jared Shuster (18 GS 0.3 scrub) 5.46 Jake Eder (11 GS 0.3 scrub) 5.33 Gregory Santos (64 G 1.1) 4.03 Garrett Crochet (63 G 0.7) 4.04 Deivi Garcia (63 G -0.5) 5.41 Tanner Banks (62 G 0.3) 4.37 Jimmy Lambert (61 G -0.1) 5.13 Sammy Peralta (58 G 0.0) 4.77 Lane Ramsey (56 G -0.1) 5.30 Alex Speas (51 G 0.0) 4.54 Yohan Ramirez (44 G 0.0) 4.76 Declan Cronin (38 G -0.1) 5.10 Luis Patino (36 G 0.0) 5.29

I'm hoping if the Sox are bringing Lopez to arbitration, he is a utility player filling in a game plus each week at 2B, SS and 3B, while giving the younger Sox players a chance to establish themselves at 2B and SS. No need to "try to win now" with a lineup of guys like Lopez, Elvis, Salvy and Adam Duvall playing until they break down / get injured / get DFA'd, with guys like Clint Frazer, Tony Kemp and Jake Lamb waiting in the wings. Unless Tony remains in charge, I don't see them signing a bunch of guys on their last MLB contract like in the Hahn era. Banks is the only player older than 30 on the current roster, and beyond an inning eater or two like Shaw or perhaps a starter or two, hopefully it will remain a youth oriented roster in 2024, to determine what pieces could be valuable in 2025 and beyond.

I agree with you on some of your points, and likely dislike the "Yuppies" you bring up as much as Bill "Die Yuppie Scum" Gleason from the Daily Southtown Economist on the Sports Writers on TV back in the day. In terms of the White Sox, their fan base are by and large historically working / middle class fans with families from the South, West and Near West Sides. Cubs gathered a lot of transplants, a good portion being college grads moving here after perhaps watching Harry and the Cubs for decades. Harry left the Sox because he wanted to reach all Chicagoans including those who couldn't afford Sportsvision/PPV/On-TV. We didn't even get a color TV until I believe a hand me down one in the late 70s or early 80s. In terms of Vegas, Paradise isn't a suburb, but more similar to unincorporated Cook County. Casinos built the Strip (south of Sahara) to avoid taxes paid to downtown Vegas, but the city and Clark County provide all government services (schools, police, water, etc.). Their original parcel was on the site of the trucker prostitute hotel/casino, Station Casinos owned Wild Wild West, which offered enough land to engage in these real estate developments you not in your post. I believe Days Inn managed the hotels before they ended up shutting down the site. However, the Stadium bill was not going to pass with the Culinary Union blocking it (the WWW site is owned by non-union Stations Casinos, whereas unions have deals with the Tropicana Hotel and most other Vegas casinos. So the legislature passed the revised bill, and the A's total land purchase shrunk from the WWW 49 acres (with an additional option to purchase more adjacent land) to the current 35 acres on The Strip. So there is still room for some development, but not to the extent the A's could have gotten at the Wild Wild West Site, and a small fraction of what they would have gotten with more capital up front at the Howard Terminal Proposal (stadium + 3,000 residential units plus 1.5 million square feet of commercial space + an indoor performance theater, a hotel with 400 rooms and 18 acres of open space. The A's bitched about the funding for the infrastructure and the portion of affordable housing subsidies for Howard Terminal, but got everything else they wanted, and ended up walking away from the much larger real estate play than what they ended up with in Las Vegas, all for the portion of the $352M of infrastructure the A's. So bottom line, their real estate footprint beyond the stadium is much smaller in Vegas, their television revenue will be smaller than their previous years, and while they will likely be able to charge a higher ticket cost per seat and get substantial skybox suite support from casinos, they will have trouble drawing over 2M after perhaps the first year or two between the location and small capacity, whereas they would have made a lot more overall revenue and capital appreciation at the Howard Terminal. I believe Fischer thought they would be able to get everything they wanted in Nevada, but after the Raiders experience, they didn't get nearly as much as they thought they would. I feel bad for Vegas getting Fischer after already being stuck with Mark Davis and his roster of seemingly weekly DUI players. I hope Oakland (or Montreal) gets one or both MLB expansion teams. I'm still not sold on the long term prospects in Nashville between the weather, culture, size of market and other factors, but I believe in the end it will be Nashville and Oakland approved, as Manfred is like Bettman in terms of hating Canada because they don't build stadiums for billionaires with taxpayer funds (well unless they get a hand-me-down Olympic Stadium). I have to laugh at Salt Lake City, Portland and Orlando being listed. https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/oakland-reportedly-a-top-two-expansion-site-if-as-leave-for-las-vegas

Nicky Lopez had 1 HR and a .581 OPS the past two seasons (742 plate appearances). Billy Hamilton had a .620 OPS in 2021 (only had 25 MLB ABs 2022-2023). Just sayin', and doubled his HR output over a weekend.

Hoping to see Tony and Pedro In-n-Out, if you catch my drift.

Kenny Williams Chris Getz always lands his man. In all seriousness, I don't think Hahn scores this type of haul for Bummer. He would be happy with one or two players acquired before heading to Michigan for a 10 day Thanksgiving Day break. Here are the 14 teams without this limitation. Revenue Sharing Recipients: Rank listed is among the 30 MLB teams, not overall as several larger US markets do not have a team. Teams in red do not get revenue sharing Market data source link based on 2022 US population estimates + 1 for Toronto (applicable for populations under 6.20M) 30th Milwaukee (41st 1.56M) 29th Cleveland (34th 2.16M) 28th Kansas City (32nd 2.21M) 27th Cincinnati (31st 2.26M) 26th Las Vegas (30th 2.32M) 25th Pittsburgh (27th 2.43M) 24th Saint Louis (22nd 2.80M) 23rd Baltimore (21st 2.85M) 22nd Denver (20th 2.99M) 21st San Diego (19th 3.28M) 20th Tampa Bay (18th 3.29M) 19th Minnesota (17th 3.69M) 18th Seattle (16th 4.03M) 17th Detroit (15th 4.35M) 16th San Francisco (14th 4.58M) 14th Chicago Cubs (13th 4.64M - Total 3rd overall 9.274M / 2 teams) 14th Chicago White Sox (13th 4.64M - Total 3rd overall 9.274M / 2 teams) 13th Boston (12th 4.90M) 12th Arizona (11th 5.02M) 11th Miami (10th 6.14M) 10th Toronto (9th 6.20M) 9th Atlanta (8th 6.24M) 8th Philadelphia (7th 6.24M) 7th District of Columbia (6th 6.27M) 5th Los Angeles Angels (5th 6.44M - Total 2nd overall 12.872M / 2 teams) 5th Los Angeles Dodgers (5th 6.44M - Total 2nd overall 12.872M / 2 teams) 4th Houston (3rd 7.37M) 3rd Arlington (2nd 7.94M) 1st New York Mets (1st 9.78M - Total 1st overall 19.557M / 2 teams) 1st New York Yankees (1st 9.78M - Total 1st overall 19.557M / 2 teams) Not sure why the ninth and tenth largest US markets get revenue sharing, especially since they are over 400,000 larger than the former combined San Francisco/Oakland market. On the other end of the stick, Saint Louis (24th largest MLB market / 21st overall) and San Diego (21st/18th) are penalized for fielding competitive teams fans enjoy supporting.

Boyer ordered Getz to acquire Lopez to extract revenge for all the bad Benetti press this week. In all seriousness, wonder if the Sox will non-tender any of their return based on the projected arbitration values, or if they sent any cash in the deal. Regardless, it's a good deal for a reliever which I hope for his sake bounces back so he can get a solid deal in FA. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/braves-acquire-aaron-bummer-in-six-player-deal.html $3.9M Arb Estimate "Naperville" Nicky Lopez ($4.0M estimate per BP/Cot's) $3.0M Arb Estimate Michael Soroka ($3.15M estimate per BP/Cot's) $0.8M Braden Shewmake $0.8M Jared Shuster Minor League $ - Riley Gowens After the bump, Cot's Contracts has the projected White Sox 26 man 2024 payroll at $109.8M, not counting buyouts beyond Leury, or deferred payments to Jose Abreu and Liam Hendriks. A new owner gets a very clean slate compared to most teams. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C4dU46AiC_pt1GtzakmASUg9UD_UnpG32kdRZ3clOnk/edit#gid=1520401900 $109.8M 2024 commitments/estimates $40.10M 2025 c/e $19.1M 2026 c/e $15.1M 2027 $0.0M 2028

Zing

He wouldn't dare, knowing fans could very likely be armed with guns hidden in their flabs of fat.

321https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/mlb-awards-2025-all-star-game-to-atlanta-braves.html Apparently the players have agreed to return to Atlanta. Absolutely nothing has changed since Manfred pulled the game in 2021. Same Atlanta logo imagery and name, same Atlanta in-game antics, same Georgia laws MLB claimed to object to on the books. Will LMAO if a certain someone is elected in 2024 and Manfred pulls the game in 2025 for a second time. Manfred gonna Manfred, MLB gonna MLB, "Local Markets" gonna "Market to Locals".

The Wrigley Field area was gentrified in the 1980s, when college graduates began moving here for jobs in financial, insurance and other industries replacing our manufacturing base. This and the garbage AirBNB type sites today were/are far more impactful than anything over the past few years, though like you I don’t like the process of how they acquired the buildings directly across on Sheffield and Waveland, including blocking their views into the park a decade ago. In terms of the Sox, there was a contemporary fight to keep the neighborhood to the south in tact. Local businesses were also fighting for survival, including McCuddy’s, which the Governor pledged would be relocated across the street where that garbage corporate bar Jerry controls is now located. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-mccuddys-mess-big-jim-opens-big-mouth-tavern-owners-get-big-shaft/

Here is the clip of what I mentioned above in terms of Jason’s First Airing of Grievances in July 2021, two months after Len and DJ resumed traveling with the team. Apparently Brooks and Jerry were more concerned funding Brooks’ vast ticket seller operation than he was paying for a people to properly operate, manage and broadcast the White Sox. Nothing has changed on that front three years later. This clip also included the fact that Jason and Steve had to fight for something as simple as broadcasting road games in the same physical space at the NBC Towers for road games (beyond fighting to travel with the team like Len / DJ), with a few additional grievances discussed during the segment. Jason called the argument made by (likely) Boyer that Steve and Jason weren’t adapting to the circumstances of not traveling well “Absolute Hot Garbage”. Looking at the facts, it appears Jason was spot on with that assessment.

Yes, I agree it’s not necessarily related to his disability. Doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice and respectful. Not sure when the issues with Jason began, but they first became public three years ago where WMVP was paying to have their announcers travel to cover games in person, whereas the more important broadcast (and by far higher revenue generating) to a majority of fans suffered when Jason and Steve were confined by Jerry’s CSN to calling games off of a monitor feed of opponents broadcasters in a basement. Jason discussed the matter on The Score, and said there were multiple issues Steve and him were dealing with in terms of fighting to deliver the best broadcasts under the circumstances and being thwarted by the Sox / CSN.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/11/16/23964326/jason-benetti-white-sox-brooks-boyer-mike-monaco-connor-mcknight-chris-stefan-chip-harry-caray No human being wants to report to someone which shows them little to no respect. This is how Brooks Boyer operates.

Who broadcast more games each year, Jason or Steve, or was it about the same? Why was Jason an issue and Stone not, beyond cronyism, if each broadcast 130 or so CSN games a year?

Las Vegas is my home away from home, visiting 62 times since 1991, typically 2-3 weeks a year (have family there, did gambling trips when I was young). Really embraced the Vegas Golden Knights who did everything the right way, and converted the 3-4 thousand max fans of their minor league team (the Wranglers) into I’d say Top 6 NHL US market in terms of knowledge and fan base interest. City is NFL crazy because gambling, so they would embrace any team even Mark Davis’ now pathetic organization. When it comes to this team and this owner, not sure if this will be a good long term move or fit. Fischer had much better offers on the table he passed on then this. The site across I 15 would have given him the real estate empire he was angling for, and this site gives him nothing, barely enough room to fit the stadium. They need to tear down the second oldest casino on the strip to accommodate. Local fans really try to avoid going to the strip, a traffic nightmare, and this is in the heart of it. The Raiders stadium is far enough south to accommodate 215 traffic, the hockey stadium on the strip though with 1/3 less capacity and enough infrastructure to accommodate fans. The A’s will have none of it, will be playing in a dome for nearly all of the season, will have the lowest TV market and will struggle to sell seats after a possible initial honeymoon phase. Fischer took the worst possible alternative because he overplayed his hand. John Fischer will join the ranks of Jeff Loria, Art Modell and Robert Irsay in terms of being the most hated and despicable owners in modern American sports history.

Jerry purchased Comiskey Park, The Baseball Palace of the World. From the first day as owner he wanted to tear it down and replace it with either Saint Petersburg’s god-awful stadium or the Robert Taylor Homes West version he demanded. Could have completely refurbished the OG stadium. Could have been immersed in a neighborhood just like Wrigley as proposed in the Armour Square design. Could have still kept his garbage new proposal but faced the open OF concourse for views of the Chicago skyline. Nope, Jerry wanted the two worst possible proposals (TB or current stadium), surrounded completely by parking lots for max profits, or so he thought. Always penny smart dollar foolish. Jerry didn’t realize or appreciate what he purchased or where he purchased it. He was a carpetbagging Brooklyn Dodger fan seeking the biggest grift. Jerry literally destroyed the neighborhood south of the park, and cut off Bridgeport to the north and west. Not a fan of the Ricketts, but there is no comparison in terms of what these two owners did to a neighborhood, to or for their ball clubs, and for or against their fans.

A few teams hold an event for fans the day or two days before Opening Day. Likely be cold, but still wouldn't cost the team anything for the space, just staffing. They can offer free admission for this like most teams do, or perhaps charge something or charge for extras like going on the field / autographs and the money goes to Sox Charities. Also would be smart to hold kids clinics free of charge. Avoids the "issue" of having players have to come into town during the off-season. They can also hold the event at the United Center the weekend of Feb 10-11, can also coordinate the United Center for future years for a January Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday event. I sincerely thought you might be interested in a nicely priced Eloy jersey. Also think many may be interested in getting a $70 / person mini season ticket plan on sale now. 10 Games for $7 minimum, all games available except Jason Benetti's triumphant return to Comiskey Park on March 28 and the stupid Cubs two games. You can even pay an extra fee to upgrade to Opening Day tickets. If you pick a weekday April, May or September game, chances are your $7 tickets will allow you lower level access since they many times close the Upper Deck for lower attended games to save operating expenses (ushers, vendors, custodians, security (as if), etc.. Also a good deal if you want to pick the games they generally jack up the prices for (Yankees, Red Cubs, possibly the Dodgers) and pick either Upper Deck box for a C-Note or the Outfield Reserve to guarantee decent seat selection You exchange the vouchers via their account manager phone app when regular season single game tickets go on sale. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/tickets/packs?utm_source=CWS.com&utm_medium=CWS_Media_Wall+&utm_campaign=Holiday_Packs_6_Vouchers&utm_term=Ongoing_Sales&utm_content=Single_Game

No, just giving you reasons to spend money in November. In terms of my White Sox spending the past four years: 2019: 12-15 games plus merchandise, Sox Beer Fest, etc.. 2020: Spring Training Game. COVID bullshit thereafter. October 26, 2020 - End of 2022: Tony La Russa Boycott - f*** you Jerry. 2023: Went to games via resellers, also bought the $1 ticket game from the team but did not go, plus on friends tickets. Also bought Sox hats on MLB. 2024 and Beyond: Now that it’s been reported Tony is back with the White Sox, I’m going to wait until he is definitively gone and possibly until Jerry passes, sells / or is incapacitated and replaced before spending money on his team.

Every major league gets over $100M just to send 26 humans out in laundry 162 times like Oakland did last season. That is before they sell a single ticket or television ad. Even if they sold zero ads and had zero viewers, they make a lot of money via cable / Direct TV carriage fees off of every single household that has a sports package forced to bundle CSN. The way Jerry runs the team, and with their current stadium deal and Federal anti-trust exemptions, it would be impossible to lose money. The Sox are worth over $2B simply for existing in Chicago. Jerry and his partners would be worth close to a billion $ less if they moved to Tampa 35 years ago. Per Forbes, these are the 2023 valuations and 2022 revenue for the five least valuable MLB teams plus the White Sox. https://www.forbes.com/teams/miami-marlins/?sh=76b3ab0b6a27 #30 Miami (Worth $1B, Revenue $238M, Gate Receipts $29M, Player Expense $104M) #29 Oakland (Worth $1.18B, Revenue $212B, Gate Receipts $30M, Player Expense $70M) #28 Cincinnati (Worth $1.19B, Revenue $250M, Gate Receipts $47M, Player Expense $138M) #27 Kansas City (Worth $1.2B, Revenue $260M, Gate Receipts $54M, Player Expense $112M) #26 Tampa Bay (Worth $1.25B, Revenue $248M, Gate Receipts $35M, Player Expense $119M) #15 Chicago White Sox (Worth $2.05B, Revenue $276M, Gate Receipts $73M, Player Expense $213M)

I previously thought Ozzie was the most toxic broadcaster on the team, but these podcasts have flipped the script to Garfein. How does Pat Foley get shitcanned and these two still have a job?

Great deals on Eloy White Sox jerseys. https://www.mlbshop.com/chicago-white-sox/eloy-jimenez-jerseys/t-14558634+a-3400968109+d-346596+z-9-2658433959

If Chris Getz can draft a player finishing with one or more first place AL ROY votes, it will be the first time under 43 years of Jerry Reinsdorf. Prior White Sox ALROY history can be found here: First Place votes by American League Team (Player drafted and voted ROY via same team) since 1981: WS Championship Seasons AL Pennant Seasons 140 Oakland - 1990, 1989, 1988 87 Baltimore - 1983 87 Los Angeles - 2002 60 Kansas City - 2015, 2014, 1985 60 Seattle 59 New York - 2009, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1981 58 Boston - 2018, 2013, 2007, 2004, 1986 55 Tampa Bay - 2020, 2008 43 Minnesota - 1991, 1987 34 Detroit - 2012, 2006, 1984 21 Milwaukee - 1982 17 Houston - 2022, 2021, 2019, 2017 14 Cleveland - 2016, 1997, 1995 5 Texas - 2023, 2011, 2010 0 Chicago - 2005 0 Toronto - 1993, 1992 Domestic Draft Selections earning one or more First Place ROY votes by the drafting team since 1981: Bold = Winner 2023 Baltimore Gunnar Henderson (2nd Round 2019) 30 of 30 2022 Baltimore Adley Rutschman (1st Round 2019) 1 of 30 2020 Seattle Kyle Lewis (1st Round 2016) 30 of 30 2017 New York Aaron Judge (1st Round 2013) 30 of 30 2015 Houston Carlos Correa (1st Round 2012) 17 of 30 2015 Cleveland Francisco Lindor (1st Round 2011) 13 of 30 2013 Oakland Dan Straily (24th Round 2009) 1 of 30 2012 Los Angeles Mike Trout (1st Round 2009) 28 of 28 2011 Tampa Bay Jeremy Hellickson (4th Round 2005) 17 of 28 2011 Los Angeles Mark Trumbo (18th Round 2004) 5 of 28 2011 Kansas City Eric Hosmer (1st Round 2008) 4 of 28 2011 Seattle Dustin Ackley (1st Round 2009) 1 of 28 2009 Oakland Andrew Bailey (6th Round 2006) 13 of 28 2009 Detroit Rick Porcello (1st Round 2007) 7 of 28 2008 Tampa Bay Evan Longoria (1st Round 2006) 28 of 28 2007 Boston Dustin Pedroia (2nd Round 2004) 24 of 28 2007 Tampa Bay Delmon Young (1st Round 2003) 3 of 28 2006 Detroit Justin Verlander (1st Round 2004) 26 of 28 2006 Baltimore Nick Markakis (1st Round 2003) 1 of 28 2005 Oakland Houston Street (1st Round 2004) 15 of 28 2005 Tampa Bay Jonny Gomes (18th Round 2001) 2 of 28 2004 Oakland Bobby Crosby (1st Round 2001) 27 of 28 2003 Tampa Bay Rocco Baldelli (1st Round 2000) 5 of 28 2003 Texas Mark Teixeira (1st Round 2001) 1 of 28 2001 Cleveland C. C. Sabathia (1st Round 1998) 1 of 28 2000 Kansas City Mark Quinn (11th Round 1995) 4 of 28 1999 Kansas City Carlos Beltran (2nd Round 1995) 26 of 28 1998 Oakland Ben Grieve (1st Round 1994) 23 of 28 1997 Boston Nomar Garciaparra (1st Round 1994) 28 of 28 1996 New York Derek Jeter (1st Round 1992) 28 of 28 1995 Minnesota Marty Cordova (10th Round 1989) 13 of 28 1995 Los Angeles Garret Anderson (4th Round 1990) 13 of 28 1995 New York Andy Pettitte (22nd Round 1990) 1 of 28 1995 Los Angeles Troy Percival (6th Round 1990) 1 of 28 1994 Kansas City Bob Hamelin (2nd Round 1988) 25 of 28 1994 Texas Rusty Greer (10th Round 1990) 3 of 28 1993 Los Angeles Tim Salmon (3rd Round 1989) 28 of 28 1992 Milwaukee Pat Listach (5th Round 1988) 20 of 28 1992 Milwaukee Cal Eldred (1st Round 1989) 1 of 28 1991 Minnesota Chuck Knoblauch (1st Round 1989) 26 of 28 1991 Detroit Milt Cuyler (2nd Round 1986) 1 of 28 1989 Baltimore Gregg Olson (1st Round 1988) 26 of 28 1989 Kansas City Tom Gordon (6th Round 1986) 1 of 28 1989 Seattle Ken Griffey Junior (1st Round 1987) 1 of 28 1988 Oakland Walt Weiss (1st Round 1985) 17 of 28 1988 Boston Jody Reed (8th Round 1984) 6 of 28 1987 Oakland Mark McGwire (1st Round 1984) 28 of 28 1986 Oakland Jose Canseco (15th Round 1982) 16 of 28 1986 Los Angeles Wally Joyner (3rd Round 1983) 12 of 28 1985 Texas Oddibe McDowell (1st Round 1984) 1 of 28 1984 Seattle Alvin Davis (6th Round 1982) 25 of 28 1984 Seattle Mark Langston (2nd Round 1981) 3 of 28 1983 Baltimore Mike Boddicker (6th Round 1978) 5 of 28 1982 Baltimore Cal Ripken Junior (2nd Round 1978) 24 of 28 1982 Minnesota Kent Hrbek (17th Round 1978) 4 of 28