greg775

He's either a.) become Alex Gordon. Just suddenly become a useless hitter. b.) lost all interest for obvious reasons. c.) actually a continuation of b. Wants to get traded and play for a winner and is sulking til he gets shipped.

Please baseball. Do not let us play the great teams. It's embarrassing for the game. We shouldn't be allowed to play the elite teams until we field an MLB squad. I wish somebody would interview Jerry R and he'd apologize.

Boy we stink. Playing the Astros is not good for baseball. Such a mismatch. When the Sox are going bad (most of the time) I truly think they would lose to most AAA teams. All facets of our game is that bad on most nights. Then once in a long while we play a great baseball game.

This is a very very good post. I love the critical Balta more than the other one. I know nobody believes me, but almost all those acquisitions were disgusting to me. Like I said, only Robertson was a good pick up. Melky? Dunn? Frazier? Ugh. Shark? Ugh. LaRoche? My gosh he stunk. Once in a while we pick up a pitcher that's average and Coop fixes him for a good while, then they stink again (Humber, now Covey).

I disagreed with almost all those signings because those players, uh, sucked. Melky I despised before he got to the Sox and during his tenure; Keppinger didn't thrill me; I ripped acquiring Dunn. I was very happy to get Robertson and I was displeased to get Samardzija. The board was so happy about Shark, however, I accepted that move and he was blah as well. Only Robertson was a good acquisition. He was splendid.

I said I still love him. Maybe it's the eye test. When I watch, he makes outs. Last year I saw all those bombs and clutch hits. No biggie. I still want him on the team and he probably ties as my second favorite player (with Abreu) with Palka No. 1 right now.

He's not healthy. According to the Trib his leg was wrapped up after last night's game and his knee was wrapped on the other leg. He admitted his hammies are sore as well.

Is he worth that? Not living in the world of the new-wave stat people who I read closely on this board. First of all he's way too old (remember the new wave stat people are starting to 'brainwash' Greg). Secondly he's terra-bad defensively I've learned. Thirdly, if he keeps hitting like this, many will say he's pretty much on an apparent, rapid, Alex Gordon-like decline. You can't have it both ways. The new-wave stat people tell me Abreu won't even bring much in a trade now. What team would pay him $100,000,000 for five years for certain to decline productivity? In answer to your question, hell no, I don't think he's worth that (because of what the new stat people have put in my head). Of course not. I see him as signing a deal in the 12 to 14 million a year range for 4 years. Folks, he has nothing going for him in terms of what an ideal ballplayer is now. A bad defensive first baseman I've been told, who is of the age a decline is pretty much certain. Put it this way, if he is certain to get nine figures like Sullivan says, then the Sox would be able to get a great haul for him in trade before the deadline. My take is no way and if the stat people on here tell me he's going to get nine figure deal after everything you've taught me about bad defensive first basemen and declining players in terms of age, I give up. The stat people can't have it both ways. You are teaching me what to look for now in a ballplayer and according to what I've been taught here, he's worth what I suggest in free agency, not what Sullivan suggests. My stance hasn't changed BTW: Keep Abreu, let his contract run out, and uh, try to sign him? Enter the sweepstakes with the other teams when it's time and keep him for 13-15 mill a year for 4 years.

IMO Madrigal is not going to EVER beat out Moncada in terms of production/ability. Thus Moncada should be the Sox second baseman a long long time. However, let's say the Sox do decide both players will be part of the program 10 years or so. That necessitates a move for one of the two. Is it possible they will wait til after this offseason to see if they sign Machado (LOL, no way they'll pay what it takes to get him and I'm not even suggesting they should) or Moustakas (who they could sign to a reasonable contract if the fans think he's not too old; he actually is way too old in most fans' eyes, turning 30 in September). If they don't sign a third baseman, do they simply switch Moncada to 3B or Madrigal to 3B when it's time for Madrigal to come up to the bigs? That would mean a third baseman with no power in Madrigal or a third baseman who probably would be furious to be moved in Moncada? Interesting stuff. I could see a time the trade people call for a trade of Moncada or Madrigal or even Timmy (with Madrigal at SS) if both Moncada and Madrigal are deemed second basemen of the future in the bigs and there's no room for both of them.

This is a good article but i just can't believe Abreu is going to command a 9 figure deal when he's a free agent. That means $100,000,000 for five years? 20 mill a year or something? Jose's age in this current climate and projected production in the new era of stats in no way suggests a team will give him that kind of money. What is the writer thinking? If the Sox are projecting Jose to get that type of contract, then I'm sure he'll be traded. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/ct-spt-white-sox-trade-rumors-20180705-story.html

I said I love Davidson, what more do you want? Maybe it's the old eye test thing for me. I see he's hitting .228, 14, 37. The 14, 37 is not bad at all, but I guess the traditional stat guy in me doesn't like that .228. It's one slump from really bad; one hot streak from .250. No problem though. I love Davidson and want him around a long time. I like the fact all the walks make the traditional stat lovers think he's the best hitter on our team so we can both love one player even if he's hitting under .230. Last time I listened guys like Stoney and the graphics people who flash stats on the screen still use BA as a useful metric.

Your post should scare everybody. Although even though it might take decades, the rebuild still could be popular. Never underestimate the power of unknown players. "Wait til next year" has been popular with fans forever as long as there are players being touted as future saviors.

I thought we were going to contend every year after winning it all in 05. But the White Sox pulled a Bears and it didn't take long to realize sadly we could not indeed dominate a division with small market teams because of bad ownership and bad player evaluation and bad performance of players as well as problems caused by Ozzie and KW, yes both of them, not just Ozzeroo.

Fan and owner impatience used to be why teams succeeded. But then baseball TV money exploded and owners don't care as long as they have a low payroll and are raking in $$$ while waiting for tank-led rebuilds to bring WS titles someday.

Quite frankly this tanking stuff is ruining sports. The only reason we couldn't win with Sale and Co. is the front office was so inept at bringing in real talent. You know what? We had a playoff workhorse pitcher in Sale. We had closers in the past. All we needed was some better set up guys. It's really ridiculous to think tanking for draft picks and making 2-3 trades will win us divisions and WS. The Sox have so much work to do still it's ridiculous. Eloy better be a fricking phenom. And the Sox have to sign so many relievers and maybe 1-2 veteran starters to go with hopefully 3 guys who pan out from the rebuild trades. If I were commissioner I'd be kicking some owner ass in meetings if I suspected them of tanking. It's sickening really. Fans wanting teams to lose and to trade any decent player they have is just wrong. I hate to break it to the tank people but if you trade Avi and Abreu you are really setting back this rebuild cause the White Sox are not going to win it all without some veterans. Jerry R. should be ashamed of what is going on in his sport.

I know. It makes sense Greg loves him as I stood up for him a long time last year. But I don't understand how a few walks have made the mean stat crowd think he's a piece for the future.

Read this column!! The behavior of the left is helping Trump immensely. By Mark Thiessen Wash post Washington — Democrats have a new theory for how they can win back Congress and the White House. Just like “soccer moms” helped put Bill Clinton in the Oval Office in 1996, and “NASCAR dads” helped George W. Bush win in 2004, Donald Trump, the theory goes, was elected because of “#NeverHillary” voters who didn’t particularly like him but despised her. Axios reports that Democrats are targeting the “20% of Trump’s voters [who] told exit pollsters they didn’t like him” hoping these reluctant Trump voters will help power a “blue wave” in the 2018 midterms and defeat President Trump in 2020. One problem with that theory: The left’s nonstop, over-the-top attacks on Trump are not peeling those voters away from him; they are pushing them further into the president’s camp. In recent weeks, Trump derangement syndrome on the left has reached critical mass. First, there was Robert De Niro’s “(f-word) Trump” tirade at the Tony awards, followed by Samantha Bee’s calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless (c-word) on her TV show. Then the owners of the Red Hen restaurant threw out White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders because she works for the president, while chanting protesters heckled Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., added fuel to the fire by openly calling on mobs of left-wing activists to “absolutely harass” Trump officials. Then, there were the countless Trump opponents in the media, Congress and on Twitter who compared family separations at the southern border with Nazi Germany, and the Time magazine cover depicting Trump staring down heartlessly at a crying migrant girl and implying she was separated from her mother (until it emerged that she had not in fact been separated from her mother). And now come the threats to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before he has even nominated one. How do liberals think that 20 percent of reluctant Trump voters respond to these displays of unbridled contempt? They are outraged not at Trump but at his critics. The unhinged hatred for the president makes these voters almost reflexively defend him. Don’t take my word for it. The New York Times recently interviewed dozens of tepid Trump voters who explained how the incessant attacks are causing them to rally around the president. “Gina Anders knows the feeling well by now,” the Times reports. “President Trump says or does something that triggers a spasm of outrage. She doesn’t necessarily agree with how he handled the situation. She gets why people are upset.” But Anders, who the Times says has “not a stitch of ‘Make America Great Again’ gear in her wardrobe, is moved to defend him anyway.” When she hears the “overblown” attacks on Trump, she says, “It makes me angry at them, which causes me to want to defend him to them more.” Another reluctant Trump voter, Tony Schrantz, agrees. “He’s not a perfect guy; he does some stupid stuff,” he tells the Times. “But when they’re hounding him all the time it just gets old.” These are exactly the voters Democrats are hoping to win back. Instead, they are doing the opposite. Polls bear this out. Two weeks ago, Trump’s Gallup approval rating hit 45 percent — the highest it has been since his inauguration. (It slipped slightly to 41 percent last week). Trump’s approval among Republicans is at a near-record 87 percent, comparable to the levels of support for George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Think about that: The left’s attacks on Trump have had the same rallying effect for GOP voters as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. So, if appeals to civility, decency and conscience won’t work, then perhaps an appeal to base political pragmatism will. Democrats are deluding themselves if they think they lost because of “#NeverHillary” voters who will come home when she is not on the ballot. They lost because they have become a party of coastal liberal elites who have lost touch with millions of ordinary citizens in Middle America — working-class voters who are struggling with factories closing, jobs leaving and an opioid epidemic that is destroying their families. These voters concluded in 2016 that Democrats no longer care about their problems and that Trump does. Spasms of anti-Trump outrage are not going to win them back. If anything, they are confirming these voters’ conclusions that Democrats still don’t get it — and don’t get them. The left’s miasma of contempt may feel cathartic, but it is the best thing that ever happened to Trump. Indeed, it may very well get him reelected. — Marc A. Thiessen is a columnist for Washington Post Writers Group.

You guys are dreaming with this scenario. How often does this happen in baseball? Unless the player is a retread like Hector? Geez. If we trade Abreu he's not going to be dreaming of a return to the Sox. He'll get used to his new team for gawd sakes or just go to another.

I love Davidson obviously but I can't understand why you guys do. He seems to not be that good this year IMO. Does the fact he draws walks mean that much to you all?

11-4 is no rally. But I understand what you are saying. Anytime Palka hits a bomb its a good day. He is a beast.

I don't like them making money. I'd rather have them suffer like the fans until we get good again. Then they can make some money.

Man I can't believe this is Balta and not an impostor. Tonight's game was disgraceful. Great post. Wonderful post. I love it.

I turned it off. I hope Avi homered.

Baseball shouldn't allow teams as bad as the Sox to play a good team. Just make them forfeit if they are tanking. Or just play home run derby or something.

But some of us feel the Sox could and should resemble Kansas State basketball, then with just one or two graduate transfers become Kansas basketball. Just like that.