nrockway

Sounds like the sort of pointless statement that gets people to click on espn’s worthless articles

More good than bad so far imo. All you can do is grade him on his work and I think the team is better positioned than it was when he took over. What would someone like David Stearns or Alex Anthoupolos have done differently? Pulled Shohei Ohtani out of his hat? there have been a few head scratcher moves like Popeye and Mena but otherwise he seems fine. You can’t really make a proper judgement until we see what Thorpe, Iriarte and Zavala can do. I thought he could’ve gotten a better return similar to what Castillo netted the Reds but time will tell.

It's not conveniently forgotten that Sheets played, it's just not a stroke of managerial insight. He was obviously going to be the guy playing in this same role since well before the season began. This is what he did last year and nobody better came along to replace him. I've given credit where credit is due but this game's management was really bad from beginning to end. Putting Benintendi fifth is dumber than keeping TA first for so long last season. It's dumber because he was smart enough to realize Benintendi probably shouldn't be leading off but seemingly doesn't understand baseball well enough to realize maybe you shouldn't put the guy that can't hit in the slot where you expect the batter to drive in runs. As for the little league play, Sheets is out by a mile if Gimenez makes the right decision and throws home. I don't think major league teams are so bad that you can strategize around opponents' mental mistakes or bobbling bunts. Anyway, the point I'm responding to in the first place is why they don't score when runners are in scoring position and it starts with the manager not putting the team in a position for it to happen with his blunders. You can only do so much with this group of players, you're right, and he's not doing 'so much' or even 'much' with them.

I like how he says this but it's his own fault. Benintendi sucks so he promotes him to fifth in the lineup. Pedro thinks it's a demotion because "higher=better" but now a useless batter is in a position to hit when runners are actually in scoring position. How many did Benintendi strand today, 4 or 5 or more? Other odd lineup decisions that helped create this problem: pinch running for Vaughn then pinch hitting for Lee. not a terrible idea in a vacuum, except Lee is actually hitting and maybe there's someone else you'd pinch hit for (like Benintendi). The result is Pillar and Maldonado coming up to bat in extra innings and getting outs with runners in scoring position. Also odd: batting Sosa second and using him to sacrifice bunt. Many teams put their best hitters second in the lineup. If the manager thinks Sosa can't hit and is helping the team more by getting out on purpose, why is he batting second? I just watched the replay and this feels like a game that Pedro lost on his own.

he's got a beautiful swing. I'm impressed that a guy that big and strong has such an ability to crush high and inside pitches. I hope I was wrong about him and he's finally turned a corner, he has the tools to be a very good hitter. why do you have to build around your first baseman? that's seemingly the White Sox MO, but if you can have a first baseman making no money and hitting for .850-.900 OPS, I'd call that a good thing. first base and dh seem like the last two positions you should build around/devote real money to, but that's just me.

That really sucks. He was playing well, if he kept it up he'd probably get a pretty good contract next year. Time for an extended look at Sosa I guess, that's OK with me.

Crochet's value is probably still not super high considering the risk of injury and lack of track record. Pointless to trade him for now. Fedde probably has some value if he can keep this up for a while, I'd look to trade him and/or Kopech eventually for a middle infielder. I still like, in theory, a trade for Jonathan India. Their pitching is a little suspect and they have Marte, McLain, Arroyo ready to replace him. Kopech for India seems fair, Reds get a good closer who they can take a crack at turning back into a useful starter. Soroka is a guy who has more value to us than other teams I think. He's a free agent after this year and I don't think he's in a position like Lynn/Giolito to be traded for a prospect. I hope we can re-sign him for $10mil-ish AAV if he can prove to be a 4-4.5 ERA starter.

oh I guess it does say "when I was with the White Sox" I just can't read. I think it's annoying when players take shots at their former teams whether or not they're right so I guess I didn't want to be annoyed by Liam. He talks too much.

did Liam take less than he was worth? He got paid $13mil per 1 WAR he produced as a Sox, that feels like a pretty good return for him. Overpaying for relievers, including Hendricks, does not feel like a recipe for success and so I wonder why he would complain about being overpaid -- which leads me to believe other teams low-balled him. I'm just not sure who the Sox are scaring into taking less money unless he's talking about the international pipeline which I don't think he is, I think he's talking about free agency. Maybe Reinsdorf scared the bejesus out of Benintendi otherwise he was going to be paid 200 million dollars

Interesting remark that feels like it should be a shot at the White Sox, but they paid him $54mil the COVID year, so probably not.

on the other hand, the top of the order is actually worse than I figured it would be and stands to eventually even out. Like, Vaughn and Eloy are bad, but not .400 OPS bad. really need Oscar on the major league team, the worst possible outcome of his bat is still better than what 90% of this lineup can produce. even if this team is going to lose 120 games, I'd much rather watch Sosa and Colas and the like struggle rather than a bunch of bums who shouldn't be in the MLB anymore.

Oh I totally agree, my point is just that Pham is probably a better baseball player at 1/100th of the cost and I wanted to pile on Rick Hahn a little bit. Absolutely pointless to sign him, though maybe that hot head energy can breathe some life into the team. I'll take bat flippers over sad sacks.

I like this corner outfielder quick fix much more than the $75 million tin man.

I've talked a lot of trash about him in the past but he genuinely seems like a good dude who wants to succeed as a baseball player, so I wish him luck. He has the tools to be a good hitter and it's fun watching him crush high fastballs. I still think there's a good career ahead of him as a professional bricklayer if baseball doesn't work out, he definitely looks the part.

I think the players would have to actually care if they win or lose for something like that to happen. I dunno, I can't blame Grifol for our first baseman hitting .200 with no homers. I give him a little credit for playing Shewmake and Sosa.

He has been incredible, so far he's exceeded my expectations that were already pretty lofty. I'm just waiting to get burned because it seems inevitable: Sox fans aren't allowed to have nice things. Though I think the lesson I'm learning is to stop watching these games after the 6th inning. And that maybe Deivi isn't as good as I thought he was.

I think my expectations for Crochet are getting too high. 5 IP, 5 Ks, 0 BB, 2 ER is a very good outing but his weakest so far. Across three starts, he's given up 4 runs in 18 innings which is pretty incredible (2 ERA). I think I'm most impressed that he's only walked one guy (to 21 K's).

it's so funny how aggressively everybody is running on balls hit to Benintendi. their back up catcher legged out a double that probably should've been a single, Benny doesn't even throw to second.

nice idea moving Benintendi down in the lineup. bad idea putting him 5th. this guy can't be trusted with runners in scoring position. edit: oh look he struck out

I like how Sheets and Moncada hit the ball to the exact same spot yet Sheets is the one to come away with 2 bases. Should be 1-0.

I just turned the game on to see Fletcher "oops" a flyout into a home run. why do I watch this team

thank god, somebody has to protect Gavin's big bat.

Hopefully Pillar, Grossman can actually hit. Who’s supposed to start in CF tonight? Don’t tell me it’s Pillar.

oh, I thought that was just good practice, didn't know it was an actual rule. Anyway, you may be right, it just seems to me that at this stage of a rebuild, you'd want to take flyers on young players who might show something rather than jettison them. He had a weak first half at AA last year but finished strong, I just think there was time left for him to compete for a spot on the major league team at a position we desperately need to fill

Thus far he has a 12 ERA so I’m not sure he’s helping much in that regard. Popeye’s trajectory almost certainly puts him on pace for the major leagues. He crushed rookie league as an 18-year-old, A* as a 20-year-old, then finally figured out AA at 22. He’s not ready yet but I don’t think there’s any expectation that he would be until 2026 at the earliest. It’s absurd that he was on the 40-man roster to begin with, I suppose when they were shuffling him around between charlotte and Chicago for a week last season for no reason. Or was that Sosa? Roster mismanagement for sure but I wouldn’t compound that by trashing prospects for nothing. Also of the opinion that major league teams only need 7 out of the bullpen and would benefit from an extra bat, so Leone’s slot could literally be replaced by star pitcher Danny Mendick and the team would be no worse off for it.