nrockway

Schriffen is great about this sort of thing IMO. He has clearly tried hard to ingratiate himself to the city and seems to understand that baseball is “more than a game”. He gave some spiel on Jackie Robinson day about his work with kids and it struck me as genuinely inspiring and thoughtful. Most of all, it was well said (well written prose he was certainly reading); and I just wish he could apply that energy and passion to his day job. Because he’s really bad at it. I’m listening to the radio or other teams’ broadcasts this season. He seems like a good guy, just really bad at announcing baseball. I think the ‘nuts n bolts’ so to speak are there, just maybe not the passion. The Andrew Vaughn of announcers.

I think it might depend. Half a season of Giolito and Lopez returned Quero, a top 100 prospect who appears to be a pretty good player, as well as Ky Bush who I think can still be a pretty good starter, he definitely has talent if he isn't walking 1 guy per inning. That was a rare situation though, a sad attempt to impress and retain Ohtani, and both of those pitchers have a clearer track record than Houser. I don't think you're getting back a top 100 prospect for Houser, but there are plenty of teams who will desire starting pitching if they think it's the difference between the playoffs or not. Or if they're the Dodgers and all of their pitchers are permanently on the disabled list (playing for the Dodgers is arguably a disability in and of itself). I think you can do better than a lotto ticket, or if it's a lotto ticket, I like Eddy's suggestion of a Jordan Walker type player. Although I personally like the Cubs glut of outfielders, I don't know how they have room for both Alcantara and Caissie if they decide to re-sign Tucker, and they could probably use another pitcher or two. I'd really like to get Alcantara somehow.

Its Willkomen!! Blew the shutout I guess, but “welcome” to the team.

Clint "Imelda Marcos" Frazier. That's a lotta shoes. Anyway, pretty funny and thoughtfully put by him. the first post-Sock s%*# talker that talked his s%*# the correct way. Grifool and his staff clearly commanded no respect and a lot of those players were, in aggregate, very toxic. Very disrespectful to just be on your phone when somebody is talking to you, to not know your coach's name, to evidently threaten the manager...but why weren't there any consequences? I suspect Rick Hahn is a giant wimp. This year's team is hard to watch but much more likable all around, even more so now that Vaughn and Colas are gone (if only the same was true of Clev). The coaching staff seems competent, or at least they don't appear to be staving off a mutiny

Being the dh isn't "switching positions", it simply isn't a position. If he didn't want to play first base or dh, he should've played better defense at third base. Bregman is also hitting better this season. It was inevitable he'd move to first base and he already got paid so there isn't a financial incentive for him to play a more challenging position. If it's about racking up stats, you rack up more WAR playing 1b than dh. This Devers saga is weird. The guy being paid hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game, it's not like it's an unreasonable request to...stand near a base and sometimes catch the ball as its thrown to you. Diva behavior. I think it's funny when things don't work out for the Red Sox though. Remember when they had Mookie Betts?

aw shucks, why didn't matt thaiss, a guy i will never think about again, return a superstar in a trade?

right, but he was initially on the Mets, then selected by the Phillies and traded to Tampa Bay. Tampa put him on waivers and the Sox claimed him. Unique path to be sure. It's a different situation than Shane Smith who would've returned to Milwaukee if the Sox 'waived' him. The question is simply: do the "Rule 5 rules" even apply to him? I stated it was my opinion that he's doing well and the MLB team "needs" him, I'm just wondering about the rule. At the same time, I'm speculating if it isn't better for future purposes when the team is actually good to try him as a starter. I think so, but maybe being a reliever for a terrible team doesn't preclude one from being a starting pitcher in the future. If they 'could' send him down, you wonder why they'd try to do it for Clevinger and not Vasil. You wonder a similar thing about Grant Taylor, but he might just straight up be a reliever.

True and I suspect you're right that that has been the pattern. I was wondering if they could stretch him out in Charlotte, but: 1) the MLB team relies on him to a great extent and 2) my question, is he technically a rule 5 player and can't be sent down? He took a pretty interesting path after the draft, got traded then DFA'd by Tampa and didn't immediately go back to his original team. Then as I understand it, we picked him up off the waiver wire. Dunno the 'letter of the law' on this topic, but it seems like an interesting grey area...whether or not it's in his/the team's best interest to send him to Charlotte. Either way, glad he's on the team.

think the team should make more of an effort to 'stretch him out'. he's performed very well and has the pitch mix to be a starter. I don't mind seeing what Civale can offer, but Vasil seems like a guy the team should be thinking about as a starter.

20 minutes ago I was thinking, "huh, good point" now I'm thinking "eddy the prophet"

aw man, he's straight out of the bog! I liked him in Oakland for a minute then kinda forgot about him -- seems like an OK pickup, then again Boston is desperate for a first baseman, is a pretty bad team, and still DFA'd him. Sox had the first pick at him, right? And still took 4 days to pick him up. We've been overrating Elko on this board (and on the postgame show), but I'd still probably rather look at him.

deDone. I was thinking yesterday about how this Sox team seems to touch up all these great pitchers (or at least veteran, well-regarded ones), then they get like 1 hit across 9 innings in bullpen games. "Touch up" may be a stretch.

I’ve started listening to the radio broadcast since the game is usually just on in the background anyway. Much better experience.

this is the most boring baseball game I've ever half-watched

can u buy back your everlasting soul with those ill-begotten gains, is the question. it isn't a rhetorical question because the answer is clearly 'no'.

i feel like analytics is the pun in this situation

missed this one, probably for the best that I did. Looks like Burke got ate up. What's up with him? Is he any good? Regarding all of our starting pitchers, I wonder, are any of them actually any good?

Sox are 16-17 at home, 6-26 away. Why?

I'm not being serious? I thought your smartass responses were genuinely funny, but I'm clearly writing thoughtful posts on this matter. You don't agree, which is fine, but you're also a jerk to anyone you disagree with. Everyone else is being respectful. Unbecoming behavior of an administrator, I think. Set an example, be above the fray. I think you should be kinder to people and I'm probably not going to reply to your posts anymore, they are never polite. I'm not "crapping" on people by having a different point of view, it's called a discussion. My point of view is that we should thoughtfully consider what might become of the Chicago White Sox in light of this inevitable ownership change. It shouldn't be considered good news, it's simply news. I don't know why you think Jerry Reinsdorf is specifically more evil than any other rich idiot, but I think after his death, his kids have an interest in keeping the Sox in town only insofar as it affects the Bulls and their reputation. I frankly care more about the team being the "Chicago" White Sox than I do about their record. I literally wouldn't be a fan anymore, and I make this point because, simply, "why wouldn't he move the team?" at this point, it seems like the only way they stay put is if a new stadium gets built, and I think for non-baseball reasons they shouldn't build a new park. I'm also thinking emotionally on this like everyone else, I don't have a right to "jump into the discussion" and share my feelings? You're a dick, dude.

what do I know, I'm not an Egyptologist. it was mostly a joke. that's actually good to know. I'd be curious though, why wouldn't they use slaves and what is the evidence?

yes. perhaps Montreal. I might still like the team if they move there.

I just wanted to point out that your two responses have been awesome

yeah, and they haven't built anything in 50 years! it's not a good site! plant some trees, extend out the park! re the pyramids: yes. children figure out that if you stack one block on top of two, their tower won't collapse. wild things happen when you add a third block to that bottom row. it is literally common sense. the Pyramids were built by common sense, a well-funded monarchy and slave labor. I like to think about 'professions' in the classical world compared to now, 'civil engineering' as such is a modern innovation and a fascinating, helpful one. You can probably find antecedents for sure, some guy did some math to help him build his house, but it's not like people are being trained in this as a profession.

Wonderful, what have they done in the last 20 years? You see the trend, right? Meanwhile the Bulls lead the NBA in attendance every year while putting out an even worse product (in my opinion, I don't watch them anymore). There's a $7billion building project going on around the UC, it's a happening place. Is 35th and Shields a happening place? I think it could be but it's predicated on the Sox staying put. Everything you wrote is exactly the same with Oakland. The point is: fans won't show up when they're bad and that's a problem. Fans from around the world show up at Wrigley for a multitude of reasons, when people think of Chicago baseball, they think of the Cubs. Meanwhile they think they'll get shot if they go south of Cermak. I guess you might at a Sox game. You just get your car stolen in Lakeview. I just don't think this is good news. It's certainly expected and it'll be a long time before anything happens, but I think we need to think seriously that this guy is more likely to move the team than the Reinsdorf brats would be. We need to advocate for our team!

Bay Area couldn't handle two teams, why should a dying Rustbelt city like Chicago? Do you guys realize that nobody likes the Sox except the people on this forum and, well now, maybe, all of Christendom? But I don't think Italians and Filipinos care if the team is in Bridgeport or Nashville. There are a lot of analogies to draw between Oakland the South Side and the baseball team is the relevant one. "Trust the devil you know" is my only point. If it's genuinely more profitable to move the team, the guy is gonna do it and the fact that he has a house here means literally nothing. I hope you're right but I don't think you are. I'd hate to lose the Sox.