Chimpton

What about his work as GM over this winter gives you such confidence? The Cease deal was hardly the 'massive' haul he was supposedly asking, and the team he has assembled are hardly looking good at the moment.

a) But would a team give up top prospects for an undoubtedly talented player but one seemingly made of glass? I know he played 145 games last season but that is the only time he has played more than a 100 in a season. b) Would you trust Getz to make that trade? c) Even if Getz gets a good haul for Robert would you trust the White Sox to develop them properly? Unfortunately, at the moment b and c are a 'no' for me.

This team isn't in 'rebuilding mode' yet, it is still tearing down and putting in a few rickety old props to try to stop the whole house falling down.

That's if he ever 'had the clubhouse' in the first place, and from the evidence of last season that is doubtful.

I seem to remember someone on the team saying the "stated Spring Training goal is Jiménez, Robert and Yoán Moncada each playing at least 150 games". Something tells me that 'goal' is already gone.

The only thing worse tham watching the team on the field is listening to Grifol's bull after the game trying to pretend the team is 'competing' etc. I would much rather he just came out and said straight up that it was bad but what did you expect with this team of players, preferably followed up by announcing his resignation.

So it only took 7 games for both Eloy and Luis to get injured, I wonder how long before Yoan joins them?

'probably' but I won't put money against it!

I think they have a good shot at all of these records.

Or that 7 of the line up today would have an average under .200!

It's not just that Moncada gets hurt alot or has back issues which may genuinely be hampering him in some situations, but he appears to have little to no baseball intelligence. The plate appearance the other day when he had 3 balls against a pitcher who had already walked 2 and then proceeded to take one down the middle and swing wildly at 2 off the plate balls was awful, it would be insulting to little leaguers to call it a little league play. Equally, Eloy gets injured alot but similarly shows an amazing lack of baseball intelligence or ability to adjust his play to the situation on the field.

Sad but true.

The White Sox will be out of it by mid-April let alone May!

The media wil be interested if the White Sox have a historically bad start! The "when will they win a game?" attention would be more than they would get for just being mediocre. Then the attention of will they have the worst season ever would guarantee attention beyond the All Star Break. Maybe Jerry thinks that any attention is better than no attention.

My pre-season prediction of about 65 wins suddenly seems very optimisitic!

I think that is the problem with TLR still lurking around whispering in Jerry's ear and Getz as a rookie GM where will Grifol get that guidance? I think that the way things are keeping Grifol this season is not a total disaster, but he has to show some signs of becoming a competent MLB manager. A repeat of last season in terms of they way they played and the way he managed would be a wasted season and could do damage to young players development. With all the new players and the 'rebuilding' the team needs a manager to guide the younger players and teach them fundamentals not a manager who is learning himself and shown few signs of being up to the job himself. Whilst there is something to be said for the team and manager learning and growing together nothing he has done or said so far suggests that is going to happen.

With the product the White Sox have this season the grass on the field should be well fertilized.

Not sure it is spirit being broken so much as reality, and not wanting to get our hopes up again. The way I am thinking at the moment is that anything above 5th place will be above expectations so will anything above 65 wins.

I think we all know the answer to that one.

It's nothing we didn't already know, but seeing it in writing somehow makes it seem worse!

I'm hoping that the team surprises us by not being the worst ever but I can't see them winning more than 70 games.

"The entire situation made the organization look inept and dysfunctional." This could be the catchphrase for the last 10 years at the White Sox.

Not just claim back a year of control but actually build him up properly to be a starter like a responsible management would. If he lasts through May before breaking down I will be surprised.

That's the big issue, given how few innings he has pitched over the last 2 seasons it would be crazy to expect him to be a regular starter this season. It would be better long term to have him starting in AAA but we all know that won't happen.

Its not a question of being a 'good teammate', he could be the best guy in the clubhouse, which is unlikely given that no other team will touch him, the whole off field nonsense is not what you want around a supposedly rebuilding team looking for a fresh start. As for being a 'success' he was hardly 'lights out' last season and once again no other team seems interested in his talents, he is at best a 3 or 4 starter these days. In addition it would be far better to give a younger player MLB exposure this seaon considering the WS are going to be losing anyway. Clevinger is hardly going to transform the team into contenders this season so why bring him back?