nrockway

Sox are 21-23 since the all-star break, Tigers are 22-22.

Dom had a good august, glad he and Ramos are getting at least one more look. No reason to tread out MAT.

Sorry, I'll delete that portion. There's some other Sox page I see on Facebook that is doing that. I assumed it was them. Unnecessary from me!

Yup, we'll definitely see. Thus I wrote "let's see in a year" because I can't predict the future but the speculation is also reasonable. Then again, think of Albert Belle. Biggest contract in baseball signed right after the lockout. I don't think we can predict these things.

Yes I did. I wrote a different post, then I responded snarkily to this Ray Ray guy who is always a jerk for no particular reason. The guy is a caveman. Also, the past precedent doesn't really make a ton of sense. It seems emotionally-based and not an objective perspective. You might recall that there's a new front office that operates differently, for example, getting us out of the baseball stone age by hiring biomechanists, improving the use of technology, revamping the Arizona facility, hiring people like Fuller and Bannister, building a new academy in the Dominican Republic. The "future" remark is to say: why would you just spend a bunch of money on mediocre veterans? There's actually a lot of past precedent for that and it cripples the team. Semien for Samardzija, Tatis for Shields, Benintendi, etc There have been plenty of posts on here showing how the Sox payroll has compared to other teams over the last 20 or so years. The past precedent is that the White Sox have top 10 payrolls when the team is competitive and spends nothing when it isn't. Payroll isn't so much the issue as Jerry's meddling is. The guy is a bad owner and the team should spend more money than it has, it's a Chicago team, but payroll has historically not been the issue. Poor management is.

Why is Gonzalez a 4A player? He's actually performing well and he's 23, same age as Grant, 4 years younger than Leasure. His profile is very good and he's controlling his stuff. His 1-2 combo of four-seam/slurve is quite effective. The slurve and changeup are great wipeout pitches, the slurve has wild movement and it's a huge velocity difference from his fastball. Hitters are batting under .100 on the fastball. I think he's clearly an MLB player, he's just not the starter the Red Sox hoped he'd be. He and Grant have been used ineffectively at times, throwing rookies into the flame instead of giving them clean innings. Learning experiences for the rookies including the rookie manager. I agree with you that Wilson isn't a high leverage guy, but he's having his best season this year and is a career 107+ ERA. That isn't stunning, but it's literally above average and 4 years is a reasonable track record. He was also the third piece in that bust of a trade, I don't think you can fault him for not being a superstar. He seems like a reasonably paid guy that you bring out in the 6th inning or whatever. Reading that SSS article, most of those guys are not going to stick around. That's the churn I spoke of. I think it's disrespectful for the writer to call, for example, Eisert's 4.19 ERA putrid. It's literally league average and from the left side and he's technically a rookie. But is controllable with options. I'd hope we find a better alternative. There are some internal guys. I think Booser was clearly the biggest miss but he could be salvageable yet if he throws strikes. Look at some of the guys in the minor league system that ought to be called up next season. Most of those Bryse Wilson type guys are just warm bodies to waste some time. This was obviously gonna be a wasted year. The churn resulted in a few useful players. You only need 8 of them. I think we're set on righties for sure. Too many of them arguably.

You're putting words in my mouth. Imagine yourself as the owner, seriously who would you spend $30mil on to put the team over the hill? That would actually sign here? also "gaslighting" come on now...

I'm all for spending money, but we simply won't do it like the Yankees or Dodgers and it's fantastical to think otherwise. These teams have historically spent money on payroll but spent it poorly. We were 6th in payroll in 2022 for an 81-81 team. I kind of aspire to more than 81-81 and it seems to be predicated on developing players internally.

Where would you park at the 78? The idea I imagine would be to build a multi-story parking garage in either scenario. Much better use of limited space. I wouldn't expect everyone to just take the train or walk. Surface lots are a bad idea for a variety of reasons (such as flooding, heat intensification) but primarily that the land is valuable and there's a reason you don't see a bunch of single family homes near the city core. Building up is profitable. Probably need to hire fewer employees to direct traffic. southsider2k5 beat me to this point apparently! The area is reasonably popular. I think as stated, some actual feasibility study should be done. 77 Hitmen made the good point about how valuable land actually is around those parts. Even if the lots get filled during the season, what are they doing the rest of the year?

I mean, the guy is suggesting we get like 5 more Benintendi's just because. Which free agents would you target? 2027 has a better crop and we'd be closer to a winning team. It really isn't about the owner.

Our man can only think in the present moment. Caveman tendency. Think about the future.

Yeah I think it's a good sign that Hahn-era Grant Taylor and Leasure are actually developing and look like high leverage, nasty stuff talent. Too bad that Grant isn't starting, but it's probably for his health more than anything (sort of like Mason Miller). Meanwhile Vasil was just some guy that nobody wanted and will likely throw 100+ IP to a 2.50ish ERA. Gonzalez was trade filler. Sucks that S Wilson seems like the best piece in the Cease trade, but his production this year and throughout his career has been very solid. Leasure was an add on to the Lance Lynn trade, he's not even in MLB anymore. All of these guys make nothing. To be fair, it took a lot of churn, some growing pains, some really bad outings from guys like Bryse Wilson; it's still not a sure thing (are young pitchers ever?) but it would be silly to devote serious money to a bullpen in a rebuilding season. Debatably ever. Seem to recall Sox fans being not so happy devoting a combined $31mil in 2022 to Hendriks, Graveman, Joe Kelly, Vince Velazquez when that money might have been spent on a proper position player. Or fuckin' Craig Kimbrel... My opinion is there's one more year of churn to see who the actual 8 guys are. Also the 5 starters. There are a ton of options. We seem to forget that many of the guys anticipated to be on the roster by now are recovering from TJ and could contribute next season along with the many guys who have performed well in the minors and ought to debut next season. Maybe more Rule 5 magic is in store. Having an entire bullpen on pre-arb - arb2 deals who can be around or above 100 ERA+ is definitely advantageous especially when you have someone like Grant Taylor at the back end. If Leasure pitches to his potential, that's a really good setup man. Even if Hagen or Noah 'bust', that's some serious left-handed stuff out of the pen. At that point, maybe you try to sign or trade for a top-end starter in 2027 or 2028. Maybe Luzardo. That part remains to be seen or if ownership will pay for it. The recent track record of Lynn, Keuchel, Shields suggests 'perhaps'. Not that any of those guys were very good, but they were well-paid. I'm not the GM, I don't know! But I don't think the doom and gloom is rooted in much of anything anything. There are definitely question marks, question marks that are maybe alleviated if you pay big money to someone like Edwin Diaz, Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman. I'd just rather spend limited money on a position player that fits an actual need. And give it another year to see what the holes are.

I don't love any of those guys at 1B but Sosa actually hits for power. His defense at 2B also doesn't kill you as much as this forum would have you think, though it's trending down...still not to the Gleyber Torres, Jackson Holliday, Brooks Lee, etc tier. More like Cronenworth or Ozzie Albies. I'd still let Meidroth and Sosa duke it out for 2B next season; different profiles but they can both stick there and neither one is a sure thing. I also think Meidroth should move to short and Colson to 3B to help preserve the latter's body. Probably won't happen next season but the versatility is useful. Mead could also be useful if he played 2B, his range is not bad but his arm is atrocious, he can't play 3rd. Sorta think Vargas is the odd man out but I kinda like him. Agree that there's not space for all three but it's hard to say who should go/which player could garner a better fitting player on the team. I wouldn't be married to any of them.

it was three, I was at that game!! Iguchi, Rowand, Konerko. evidently Widger hit a fourth that inning with two runners on. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200508210.shtml Randy gave up 6 runs in the 4th inning and still went 8 IP. Those were the days.

$10m + Robert's $20m would imply $30m spending. Who would we spend it on? Overpay Schwarber, Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger maybe. Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez seem like the only desirable big ticket free agents available. Not sure the 30+ pitchers are helpful in 2026. Tucker would be a big get but why would he sign here? Would we just distribute the money between a bunch of guys like Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hearn, Josh Naylor, Nestor Cortes? Seems like a losing strategy. Cheap and risky + the system is the actual strategy. Spending just to spend is how you end up with Benintendi. I'm curious, which free agents would you guys pursue? There are some actual good free agents in 2027 and 2028 that might be fill holes on the team, get back to me a in a year. Also, who is "White Sox Dave"? The barstool bozo right?

I posted in a different thread, but he went to my high school, I think it would be so cool if he pitched for the Sox! His older brother (roughly my age) was a 3rd rounder out of high school with 40 IP in the MLB and looked pretty solid for Texas's AAA affiliate this season, but is now playing in Korea. Fedde-esque revival in store I think. That guy Cody Bellinger also turned out to be pretty good I guess but signed with the wrong Chicago team. I'd definitely like to attend the game if/when he debuts. Seems likely at this point based on performance, but they'd have to protect him from the Rule 5 draft and there are several guys they have to make decisions on if this article is to believed: https://southsideshowdown.com/white-sox-could-lose-these-players-in-rule-5-draft-this-offseason Tanner McDougal, Mason Adams, Aldrin Batista, Shane Murphy, Peyton Pallette, Tyler Schweitzer, Duncan Davitt. Definitely a 40-man crunch for a bunch of guys who might just be marginal players. However, I can list some players who should not be on the 40-man going forward: Tyler Alexander, Tyler Gilbert, Bryan Hudson, Owen White, Elvis Peguero. Possibly Ellard, Eisert, Altavilla but they seem like fine depth pieces. I'd maybe try to trade Davis Martin and Jon Cannon.

I posted in a different thread, but he went to my high school, I think it would be so cool if he pitched for the Sox! His older brother (roughly my age) was a 3rd rounder out of high school with 40 IP in the MLB and looked pretty solid for Texas's AAA affiliate this season, but is now playing in Korea. Fedde-esque revival in store I think. That guy Cody Bellinger also turned out to be pretty good I guess but signed with the wrong Chicago team. I'd definitely like to attend the game if/when he debuts. Seems likely at this point based on performance, but they'd have to protect him from the Rule 5 draft and there are several guys they have to make decisions on if this article is to believed: https://southsideshowdown.com/white-sox-could-lose-these-players-in-rule-5-draft-this-offseason Tanner McDougal, Mason Adams, Aldrin Batista, Shane Murphy, Peyton Pallette, Tyler Schweitzer, Duncan Davitt. Definitely a 40-man crunch for a bunch of guys who might just be marginal players. However, I can list some players who should not be on the 40-man going forward: Tyler Alexander, Tyler Gilbert, Bryan Hudson, Owen White, Elvis Peguero. Possibly Ellard, Eisert, Altavilla but they seem like fine depth pieces. I'd maybe try to trade Davis Martin and Jon Cannon.

Why wouldn't you keep those two players is my question. Is a 1.84 ERA bad especially when the player is a rookie? The three guys you mention + Wikelman Gonzalez and Steven Wilson are all good players making next to nothing. The left-handers is the question mark. There are a few of them in the system that seem to be pretty good. Also making nothing. Aroldis Chapman alone costs double what the potential 2026 bullpen would cost.

So you'd kick to the curb the rookie with the sub 2 ERA? Or the guy who will make ~$1mil next year with a 139 ERA+? I think with that context, 75% becomes becomes 38%.

This has to be one of the longest 9 inning games this season right? Irrespective of the delay. Now I can make dinner 😴

That fan is just collecting balls out there

Somehow this guy reduced his ERA. Shoulda piled on. Brooks is kicking himself.

They're setting the L record next year

We talk about our 'bad' bullpen but this is genuinely the worst one I've ever seen

omg