JoeC

Sorry - can you enlighten me on what makes NL players ill suited to play for the Sox? Is it like coming over from Japan where players have to adjust to (slightly) larger baseball? Are there additional immunizations that are required in coming over from the NL, thereby diminishing their abilities once they've crossed the border into the American League? If your take is based on "NL players coming to the Sox haven't worked out," AL players haven't really worked out, either (Alonso and Encarnacion, just off the top of my head for recent experience).

While RH has made bad decisions, the issue I have with Reinsdorf is that it's clear that the buck DOES NOT stop with Hahn. It sounds like Hahn had no say in the managerial search, and some of the acquisitions were TLR's call. That's why my plan, if I were JR, would be to either fire him on the spot, or to give him 2 years of complete control and autonomy. If the situation isn't turned around 180 degrees in 2 years, fire him.

I'm still a Sox fan and proud of it. Will criticize the f*** out of them, but I proudly drink out of a GRF cup in the office, wear a Sox hat around town (even when they're getting embarrassed by the Tigers), and have various sox paraphernalia at work, surrounded by Detroit and Cleveland fans.

Yep. Also, who is the “they” you speak of? The GM, or the GM’s boss?

I laughed audibly. I expect an apology for my wife yelling at me for waking her up. This. If the manager and GM aren't aligned on roster construction and overall strategy, then I feel like it's just another case study in inefficient organizational management. Whoever is actually in charge needs to have his / her / their philosophy congruent with what is being taught all the way down the organization. Furthermore, what is being taught / preached down the organization needs to be congruent with what it takes to be successful as a baseball team (not this "you worked for 15 years as a personal janitor to the assistant to the traveling secretary, so you're being rewarded with a position of baseball significance" thing that JR does). Naturally, the coaching staff needs to buy into whatever the GM has in mind, which should naturally be congruent with what the manager's hiring and teaching would also align.

Got it. Thanks

Am I missing something here...? Isn't Hinch currently employed?

Plus he meets the "he's been in the Sox org multiple times in the past" criterion.

I dislike him too. You know the best revenge? Win. Drilling him in the back just distracts you from the actual goal of the game. Plus, with a guy like him, if you drill him, he’ll just get more fired up and own you even worse. Just win. Make better pitches. Hit better. Field better. Then listen to the sound of him shutting the f*** up.

...assuming he'd have actually played ahead of Leury.

Yeah the third loss of the season was like, "ok - we lost, but that's still 3 straight series wins. I'll take it."

Yes, except I would go back to when they were 6-2 after 8 games.

Well, they seemed pretty damn proud in April.

Look on the bright side - after this weekend they are much less likely to be a 100-loss team.

Putting on my "I'm an executive / organizational leader" hat here. Honestly if I'm JR, I sell. Second choice - give Hahn 2 years and full control over hiring and firing of coaches, staff, etc. I get the f out of the way with any firings (including old timers). If Hahn fails to deliver anything short of a 95-win season within 2 years, he's gone, and the place gets burned down to the studs. I fire Hahn knowing that he had a reasonable amount of time. If this "core" group of players is as good as Hahn says it is, I'd give him control and give him the authority to see his vision through. The Hahn apologists (myself included) have played the "he didn't get a chance to build around the core and round out the team / staff the way he wanted to, so of course he failed" card. Putting together the core of talent is the hardest part of a rebuild. If it's good, prove it. If it's bad, prove it.

Good. Congrats to the Guardians. I hope this hurts the soul of every single Sox player.

This post makes me want to have a “Jerry” reaction icon available.

Yeah, but all he should have to do is run slowly and slide carefully. Maybe give 60% effort so he doesn’t get more injured. after all, a fast guy running slowly is still faster than a slow guy running slowly. simple Sox logic.

Depends on the individual, I’m sure.

Does the NL have a different set of leagues or something? I’ve seen people complain about NL people like they wouldn’t know what to do or something.

Problem is, while I fundamentally agree, what good would it do to banish them to a place where they’re not going to have any sort of reinforcement of good habits? One problem is that players don’t get that sort of training in the minors, so what good does it really do other than to serve s as punitive punishment? It’s like telling someone they’re doing something wrong, but never telling them what is the right thing to do. Yeah, you hope they can figure it out, but it’s also on you for not showing some sort of direction.

That is honestly a good example of something we did well (a homegrown player!!!), albeit seemingly accidentally.

To me, it depends on what their flaws are as hitters. Are they able to work on those flaws in AAA? If so, then keep 'em down as long as they need to develop. If they have to be pulled up to the big leagues to work on those flaws, then bring 'em up. At some point all players will have their flaws. Whether those flaws will allow them to live up to anything resembling their potential is up to the scouts and player development staff to decide. To me, I almost always err on the side of "over-seasoning," provided that the coaches and player both buy in to a development plan.

Sox record overall: 76-74: .507 (82-win pace) Sox record with Leury in the starting lineup: 34-42: .447 (72-win pace) Sox record without Leury in the starting lineup: 42-32: .568 (92-win pace) Obviously it's "too easy to look at results."

It's an organizational failure to bring out the best in talent, both in the short term (through hustle, give-a-shittatude, mental focus) and in the long term (working on filling holes in games, developing things like pitch selection / lowering chase rates, etc.). The raw talent and potential are there, but, as the great philosopher Shaquille O'Neal once said, "'potential' is French for 'you ain't s%*# yet.'"