JoeC

See - I read that and I fail to see the difference between your "C" and my option "B." In both cases, the Sox couldn't see that they were bad. In either event, I don't think it changes my assertion that the Sox made themselves laughingstocks without the misfortune of bad luck.

Sorry for the long posts - in front of a physical keyboard instead of a damn phone, and I actually have a little bit of time to myself. Boredom + stress + shitty White Sox team + access to keyboard = long posts from me, apparently.

To clarify, the 2024 Sox were like a rudderless ship who drifted into the path of an oncoming storm, whereas anyone who was paying attention would have said "uh - guys? we should probably have a way to steer this ship, and has anyone checked the weather forecast lately?" Sure, it's "luck" that you drift into the storm, but the point is that the Sox have done so many things to shoot themselves in the foot that the bad "luck" of a linear 5~6 win subtraction kicks you outside of a standard distribution curve and wayyyy out beyond the bell curve. The Sox, with no misfortune, would have lost 100+ last year, in a year that the team tried to sell the public as being part of a quick turnaround, "not a rebuild," etc. So it's either: a) The Sox lied to us and knew they were going to be bad but tried to sell us otherwise to defend their decisions. This is funny, because nobody who'd been paying attention at all believed their bullshit. or b) The Sox believed that the team was going to be good. This is funny because... well... they were bad, and everyone who'd been paying attention knew it. Thus, in conclusion, the White Sox absolutely are, were, and would have been laughingstock regardless of their "luck" or "misfortune," and they are, in fact, laughingstocks because of the decisions they've made, and the manner in which they've made the decisions.

I mean, the team was going to be a laughingstock regardless of the misfortunes they suffered last year. From the second they hired Tony La Russa, all of the credibility and momentum and gusto that went into "multiple parades" territory went all out the window. The confidence in the team that it had built up was suddenly flipped upside down, from an outsider's perspective, and a pretty sizeable consensus of the non-Sox world was puzzled (at its most generous) by the hiring. The Hahn rebuild had good momentum going into the 2020-2021 offseason, then Jerry Jerryed it up by getting involved and doing it "his" way by hiring TLR. Fast forward to the tail end of the failed rebuild, and they fire Hahn and KW. Everyone's thinking "OK - this is the chance the Sox turn it around," then.... they promote Getz without a legitimate GM search, and the hiring is sold to us as someone who will lead a quick turnaround. In reality, it just showed that the Sox refuse to get out of their own way and will sit and try to slam the revolving door shut over and over again. The national media has called bullshit on this since day 1. Leaving aside my belief that "luck" in the case of the 2024 White Sox was as much "luck" as a rudderless ship helplessly drifting into a storm, the process that went into the 2024 White Sox, including the hype at the tail end of the pre-2020 rebuild, as well as the comedy of executive-level errors and missteps that followed, firmly planted the Sox into "laughingstock" territory that absolutely deserves mockery.

Collect enough straws, and you can build a raft. maybe.

Yep.... and the "top 3 farm system" needs to restock and double down on player development funding and strategy to continually restock the top end of the farm without having to tear it down. Look at what teams like Cleveland and Tampa do.

Petty sure it also applies to the other 28 teams.

You can say ". . . to restock our farm system and compete in 3 years," and it would be completely valid. Sucking is a side effect of having to rebuild - not the primary objective.

It’s the way he said it. “Anyone who thinks we can catch Cleveland is crazy” is literally insulting your fans.

Or he could have said literally a whole lot of emptiness like “we have a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re leaving all options on the table. All we ask our guys to do is to work hard and play together as a team through thick and thin, and we’ll see how to best address our long term outlook.” Pretty much any canned statement that didn’t try to put a completely incredibly positive spin on it, really, would have at least told me “hey - they’re not trying to bullshit us, at least.”

To me, it’s a matter of insulting our intelligence. We all saw the same thing, but they tried to tell us it was a quick turnaround, we’re not wasting a year, etc. Again, it’s a matter of showing the fans that you live in the same reality as they do. I personally don’t like being lied to (option A), and I don’t like to follow teams who are so detached from reality that they can’t even figure out that they’re on the precipice of another 100+ loss season (option B). Either way, it stinks. The only way out of it would have been to own up to the situation from the start rather than trying to bullshit us.

Sure, if there’s a government-mandated antitrust exemption that allows, for all intents and purposes, for all sandwiches to be purchased from you or one other competitor in the city of Chicago.

Good signing. Wonder what the big league salary will be if he’s rostered.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

Yeah minor league players are not represented at all, from what I understand. IIRC, in the latest labor disputes, the big league union tried negotiating for improvements to the minor league conditions and labor standards as well… but I could be making that part up.

He would have some semblance of credibility with the fanbase if he would have said this 12 months ago.

Also true.

Of course the guy setting the direction and taking action will say that the team is going in the right direction. That said, I don't disagree. The moves he's made throughout the latter part of 2024 and into the 2024-2025 offseason, directionally, are what he should have done as soon as he took over at the end of 2023. Tear the fucker down and rebuild. He's done, more or less, what Hahn was credited and praised for doing (trading away big league assets for prospects). I don't think he's done all that well in terms of maximizing returns, but he's at least put the farm system into a respectable footing. The next couple of years are going to be painful at the big league level. Where Getz needs to focus (where Hahn failed) IMO are: 1. Treat the minor leagues as a factory and not a warehouse. Let players develop and mature - don't just rush prospects because you have a hole to fill. 2. Align player development, scouting / player acquisition, coaching, and front office philosophies across the organization, top to bottom. It seems like he's trying to do that, at least. 3. Convince JR to sell the team I see what Getz is doing, and, in general, I like it. It's going to make for an ugly 2025 and probably 2026 (the arrival of guys like Colson Montgomery, if it happens, will just be the beginning... or the the start of the end of the ugly years), and it can still fail... but the organization needed (still needs?) to be stripped down to the studs to be able to build, and it looks like Getz recognizes that. Again, it's going to continue to be ugly in the short term.

Still seems pretty epic. Just not sure what noun to append to "epic." An epic trainwreck? Embarrassment? Fall from grace?

Vanilla works if he/she is partnered with a complete opposite, ideally with credibility. Having a Hawk-like persona as a color commentator alongside a McKnight would be fine by me.

Same. Hope it happens sooner.

Click on the rows for those seasons in B-R.com

Yeah, my parents never let me call those. I do remember the phone numbers you’d call to get the weather forecast though.

I do not miss the days of looking for box scores in the paper and seeing “late game not included.”

Seems like you’ve invented collusion.