nrockway

He's been so good. 1.000 OPS the last month, I'd like see him at AA before he turns 21. Albertus is no slouch either, but out for the rest of the year. Vargas might end up being the worst player in that trade.

Yup, good point. Big win for all teams. My optimism thinks the Sox could produce a team like the Orioles did...the pessimism is it could turn into a team like the current Orioles. Rubenstein is already/ will be a bad owner and had the track record to suggest he'd be cheap. I dunno if the grass is greener with Ishbia. He has less of a track record as Boobenstein.

The girlies like going to baseball games regardless. Anecdotally, I like it as a date (cheap date because I'm a Sox fan) and we have fun even if it's just sitting in the ChiSox bar or walking around the park. The energy at a baseball game is fun regardless if you like the sport or not or even if the team is any good. My chauvinistic impression is baseball is a better sport for it than any of the others. Bulls games are less fun for this since it's non-stop, action-packed sports (also more expensive). No organ, no fireworks, no time to chit-chat or wander around. Football might be different but I've never attended a NFL game. Hockey is much like basketball in this way except the other fans yell at you when you stand up and walk around. But I'd ask the question: are women showing up to banana ball in significant numbers by themselves/with their girlfriends, without their husband/boyfriend? I kinda doubt it. I'm interested in more female fans being into the game and I think MLB could take a page out of the KBO (Korean League) playbook. Looking at this article from last year, "women accounted for more than half of all ticket buyers in the first half of the season." A more recent article suggests 38.3% of spectators are women. I think it has something to do with the singing and "cheer culture" more than the sport itself, but what do I know. I don't think it's because the players are sexy, I think it's just a fun environment to be yourself and is culturally-relevant. MLB should take notes.

None. I wouldn't extend any young player as long as the arbitration system exists (look how well it's working out for ATL and previously the Hahn Sox) unless they're Juan Soto. We'll see how it goes for Basallo, Anthony, Chourio, whoever else. Doesn't seem worth the risk. I wouldn't extend Colson at this point. I'm not sure extensions was the discussion anyway, but rather free agency. I'm simply replying to the percentage of payroll point. I think one just looks at the flat amount in this case. $3.5mil is practically nothing for a free agent. It's obviously an overpay for Rojas, it's double what Tauchman is making, but it's not like it hamstrings the team in the same way a Benintendi-esque contract does. SFG is clearly keen on spending money and look how it's working for them. Adames is not a bad player, but the Sox would be totally screwed if they signed him to that contract when you can pay Meidroth, Montgomery, Billy Carlson combined 1.2% of the price. Nobody is going to be thinking about Rojas next year. Maldonado signed for more money than Rojas did and it's dubious to think that affected JR's intention to spend money. Sure didn't stop 'em spending on Rojas...who was probably worth the risk if he could've produced 2-3 WAR (as he has in the past) at that price. The Pirates, a notoriously cheap team, paid considerably more (roughly x1.5) than we did on Rojas for Tommy Pham, and they didn't trade him despite being better, or roughly the same, this season as he was with the Sox. Is that gonna change the Nutting logic? No money was being spent regardless and they'll probably spend next year on a bunch of $2-5mil guys who may or may not produce. Slater returned something, Fedde returned a lot more than he's actually worth (which MLB teams clearly noticed). All in all, the Getz position player free agents have not generated any trade interest while the pitchers have, but signing them also did not cripple the team in any meaningful way. I think we're getting past the point of trying to sign guys to trade for prospects and we should start building a winning team. At the same time, what other teams are signing position players for that amount and then trading them for great players/prospects after half a season? I'm trying to find some examples and not seeing any. I'm thinking about Tommy Edman vs Miguel Vargas. one guy is 30-years-old, OPSing .677 and is being paid $74mil dollars; the other guy is 25, making $770k (more if you extend it out 5 years as with Edman, obviously...maybe it's more like $17mil vs $770k) and is OPSing .704. Both are exactly the same bWAR and one guy is getting old and the other is just starting his career. Erick Fedde doesn't even look like he belongs in the MLB once again, he has an even worse ERA (7.11) than he did with the team who DFA'd him. Sox also got some prospects in return. It's clear who won that trade. To your other point, it's a good point but we'll see. More revenue is generated if the team is actually good in the case of the Sox. If there's a free agent who fits a need on a winning team, they might sign him, and it likely produces more revenue than whatever the expenditure is. It totally depends on the talent evaluation. They signed Benintendi, didn't they, when a cheaper option like Teoscar Hernandez or Cody Bellinger was available and both are simply better at baseball. It was an issue of player evaluation, not money. Not expecting them to spend this coming free agency, I'm also not sure who they would spend it on...outside of Tucker who fills a need but could very well turn into Benny. As I said in a different post, Getz will actually be put to the test in 2027 and I dunno how to speculate on that.

ya know, at least the Sox can pick higher than 10 this year

great question. if you watched it, you wouldn't have a better idea.

Punish this guy. can't throw a strike

easy strike to call...

🤯

Julien is primed for something big...hope it isn't now.

did Jirschele send him? that was the dumbest thing I've ever seen

wtf?

let's go!

didn't realize the Twins had any relievers left with a sub 10 ERA

sure, but $72mil is payroll on a rebuilding team that was obviously not going to compete. 2022 Sox payroll was $203,205,326 (according to Spotrac), so the contract is less than 2%. In terms of free agent acquisitions and not pre-arb players, it's nothing. Although, I'm of the opinion that teams should be mostly arb/pre-arb guys and a handful of inefficient, big money contracts for actual good players that fit a need. Bryce Harper's $/WAR is not efficient like, say, Roman Anthony.

Perhaps. I didn't like the signing because I thought we had plenty of infielders already and it blocked a guy. Thought he should've been DFA'd sooner. But I also thought, prior to spring training, Colson should've started the season with the team. Which was dumb to think. So maybe it's good that Rojas "blocked" him while he got his game in order. I still think it's a bad signing because Korey Lee should've started the season with the team. Lee is a good player and I bet we could've done that Freddy Fermin deal (maybe not for 2 RPs though), especially because Lee was actually hitting to start the year. Jake Amaya could've done everything Rojas did. Rojas was completely unnecessary. I'm just only saying it's not so much money. Well, it's a lot of money, they could've paid you or me that money and the result would be pretty much the same and we'd definitely enjoy the millions. You'd probably offer better commentary. Although Rojas seems like a charismatic dude, I liked his bump on the radio broadcast. Maybe JR thinks this, but I dunno. The Sox spending patterns seem pretty consistent over the years. I'm not sure a player like that moves the needle in his determination to spend or not. I think the Benintendi contract does. I'd be interested in signing Kyle Tucker to a big contract, but maybe that's a bad idea that leaves a bad taste in ownership's mouth.

Benintendi has the noodliest arm. How did this guy win a GG

if I were the other team, I would only throw Colson four-seam fastballs until he proves he can actually hit them. That was his problem in the minors, it's still a problem. He's not hitting velocity. He's crushing basically everything else. He's crushing two-seamers and cutters. But when the fastball gets a little faster... Prior to this game, he has a .114 average against 4-seamers and it's the pitch he sees the most, it's dragging down his stats. If he figures it out, he's a superstar. But I think that's where his bust potential still lies. Pretty bad against changeup too, but low sample size. It also looks a lot like a 4-seam fastball...

I watched a little bit of some 'banana ball' earlier. Party Animals vs Tailgaters. Not the Savannah team. It just seemed like boring baseball being played in cutoff shirts. Lots of commercials and otherwise just regular, non-professional baseball with some guys shimmying their shoulders in the background. Some guy rode around on a 4 wheeler and hi-fived some kids. They played some cornhole. They brought out Logan Forsythe as the 'MLB star' (remember him? barely) who took a walk and probably should've struck out looking but got some generous calls. Maybe the Savannah guys are showmen, but these other dudes certainly were not.

I'm not sure you can call $3.5 mil precious money. Precious, wasted money is Willy Adames at $187 million and 1.5 WAR. Anthony Santander at $92.5mil and -1.0 WAR. Sean Manea, $75mil, -0.2 WAR Tanner Scott, $72mil, 0 WAR Luis Severino, $67mil, 0.8 WAR Christian Walker, $60mil -0.4 WAR You can see where I'm going with this. $3.5 mil is nothing. It's a nothingburger. It's only something because a different player could've been on the roster. Andrew Benintendi is wasted money, Josh Rojas is a flyer that didn't work out.

dunno why anyone would throw Colson a breaking ball. absolutely smoking them

I'd take that bet

why am I watching opera videos on youtube and the advertisement i can't skip is grant taylor and sean burke working at a fish market in seattle? what in the world? anyone see this? it's usually spanish language beer ads. definitely not a thought worthy of its own thread, but are the sox paying for 'viral' advertisements now? they should advertise to people who don 't already have sox-stockholm syndrome

That’s awesome but also can’t believe it’s never happened. Like, Ozzie never managed against a fellow Venezuela guy?

Welp, everything I wrote in this thread is absolutely an opinion. One "tells" opinions just as one "tells" facts. "Telling" and "opining" are not opposites. They're related in the sense that both are verbs and they communicate a thought. Interestingly, I'm not sure if there's a verb form of "fact" like there is with "opinion". I'm also functionally illiterate and I don't know many words, but I know the difference between a fact and an opinion. Evidently many do not. Facts are, like, you know, things that aren't disputable. "X player has Z batting average" is a fact. "On August 18, 2026, The Chicago White Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 13-9" is a fact. "Batting average is more important than OBP" is an opinion that might also be a fact. That's a little more challenging. I read a great article with statistical evidence as to why it might be true. It's a worthy discussion. "I like the strategic aspects of pinch hitting for a pitcher" is an opinion. "I don't like the designated hitter for xyz reason" is clearly an opinion. I also definitely did not write "worse hitters make the game more exciting." It's a total misrepresentation. I don't know if the misrepresentation is willful or what, but it's annoying and rude. Your opinion is "it robs fans of a better experience", a fair perspective to have, if you think it robs you of a better experience. You're entitled to your opinion and I respect it. I think it is bombastic language though that I wouldn't use, I'm saying, "this is what I think, some people agree with me". Much less rhetorical. I'm not winning any presidential elections talking like that. Never gonna be a TikTok influencer, alas. It isn't the intention to offend you, seemingly you took it personally because somebody has a different opinion than you, and I try to write in such a way that doesn't make it personal. I wish other people felt and wrote the same way and weren't offended by differing perspectives. Seems like bad argumentation too. I wrote a bunch of reasons why I dislike the DH and nobody actually replied to it. Talked past it. It's a bully tendency. I don't even care, really, but I care about people being internet bullies...which is a lot of people on this forum for whatever reason. It's quite a hostile place. Was it less hostile when the team was good? I haven't been posting here very long. In your post, you are hung up something I simply didn't write. I said I like the strategic aspects of potentially pinch hitting for a pitcher who is having a good game. It makes the manager a relevant factor in the outcome of ballgames. I think if you watch baseball to see home runs, you're gonna have a bad time. Go watch a more action-packed sport. Basketball is a fun sport to watch and there's a lot of scoring. My opinion is that pitching is what makes baseball a sport worth watching. The physics and metaphysics behind it is very cool. My opinion is that a baseball player should have to play both offense and defense. I think, like I said, extending players' careers is a good argument in favor of your opinion that the DH is worthwhile. People made fun of me without actually addressing the argument though. Make it personal. I elaborated on it anyway that clearly there is no logical connection between a bad hitter in the lineup and more hits... Could also reply to the actual point if you really wanted instead of, ya know, putting words in my mouth. My words are written down, you can go back and look at them. Or not, because again, you know, who gives a s%*#, I'm not replying to this thread anymore. It's not like it's a wild perspective that people preferred NL baseball to the AL though. I already stated my perspective on standardization. It's boring in every fucking field, specifically art and literature, not just sports. Outdoor baseball is fun because the playing conditions are never the same. Playing inside a dome in climate-controlled conditions is not much fun. It's sterile. It's bad architecture too. That's an opinion by the way. You are welcome to disagree, it's a free country, it's no skin off my back, it has no bearing on the outcome of either one of our lives. Watching baseball and playing in a beer league is a fun, almost childish hobby. Getting offended over it is sort of wild to me.