nrockway

ESPN has the absolute worst broadcasts. Last night, they cut away from an Ohtani lead off home run to show a WNBA talkshow. Later on, they were showing a replay while Tommy Edman was hitting a home run. Tonight, I'm simply annoyed by the dumbass broadcasters. Trevor Story had a pretty good game and the room temperature IQ broadcaster thought he was very clever talking about Story's "storyline season" (get it?)...except the dude put up .740 OPS this year after a couple of years putting up .900+ OPS and is one of the most overpaid/oft-injured players in baseball. Hardly a storyline season. Maybe he meant it's like the tenku in the Japanese kishōtenketsu four-act play structure, a "twist" of sorts, but I sort of doubt it. I think the guy simply couldn't resist the lowest brow play on words imaginable regardless of whether or not it made sense. Worse than Schriffen.

Hiring Stearns has been an unabashed failure. Eppler was clearly better at the job. I wonder if it's a coincidence that the Brewers took a step forward after Stearns left and they hired Eppler as a 'special advisor'. Also, feel like it's simply karma that the criminal racketeer/inside trading owner isn't being rewarded for his ill begotten gains. Yes, none of these owners earned their money ethically, but this guy has got to be the biggest sleezeball in MLB.

This point is frankly outdated. The savvy owner doesn't even want public money outside of grants (free money). All of these billionaire bozos aren't doing private financing out of the kindness of their own hearts. They just want to reap all of the profits and not have to share in it. These ventures actually make money nowadays compared to 30 or 40 years ago. The public return on investment is generally good, although it depends how the project is done. It shouldn't be viewed as a 'public subsidy' but rather as an investment that derives more tax revenue than is spent. I'm skeptical about the Fire deal because it seems like the alderpeople are not even thinking about the TIF investment for a soccer team that nobody watches. I suspect once they figure it out, it will halt construction. There is actual tax revenue to be derived from these projects, we talk about it with the 'ballpark village' concept. Many cities are reaping benefits from it. JP Morgan et al is a better source of financing for these billionaires because JP Morgan doesn't demand democratic oversight or ask for non-profitable concessions like a PUD might. Private financiers demand a return on their investment but not in the way the public does. They don't take an ownership stake in the facilities like the City/State might. The Royals totally bungled their past stadium proposal because their owners follow in an outdated mode of thinking unlike the Braves ownership. Braves stadium public funding never went to a vote but received public funds in a roundabout way akin to TIF. The Fire are hoping to follow in this path I reckon, I hope alderpeople are savvy enough to see through it. So far they are not. I already wrote a letter to my alder about it, but she strikes me as already not stupid in this regard. The Fire stadium is such a bad idea and it'll be a miracle if it actually gets built. I guess that makes me a NIMBY.

There's a constant tone of negativity on this board and it's typically misguided/not rooted in anything factual. I don't understand the urge of being a dick on the internet especially to fellow baseball/White Sox fans. No one's pounding their chest, I just used the SoxTalk search feature to look at opinions of Crochet after he made a terrific postseason start. And found many of the remarks quite amusing and not surprising. The bullies are typically as wrong as they are uninsightful. I don't take it as seriously as you seem to. I'll bump the Montgomery thread eventually. Maybe one of the Schultz threads in a few years. Also, notably, people keep re-bumping this thread to be like "why are you bumping this thread?" lol. Y'all could just ignore it. Or lock it. Or continue to talk about the same fuckin thing in every thread "boo hoo this team is bad". Like get a new bit. Is the entire offseason gonna be whiny like this?

Precisely, people make emotion-fueled arguments that tend to defy reason and sound judgement. Wouldn't trust the ability to make a reasonable evaluation about the sport. Find it curious as to why people are so interested in ragebaiting themselves. I'm not sure if that was the point you were trying to make.

I mean the guy just torched the Yankees and threw 120 pitches and the Sox were apparently stupid for even trying him as a starter. Amusingly, it's a similar cast of voices in the 10 concurrent threads whining about the Sox. I was looking at old threads about Crochet in light of his awesome postseason start and the comments in them were genuinely baffling...although not necessarily surprising. People just like to whine.

Snell is lights out. 1 hit, 1 walk, 70 pitches through 6. Usually he's at 100 pitches through 4.

these various Crochet threads are awesome

"self esteem" is Gen X coded. 1980s through and through. The Gen Z motto would just be nihilistic. ey bruh its only sports frfr 😭😭💦💦

why do they play postseason games at noon on a Tuesday?

nothing about this post makes any sense to me. starting with the lemon cookie, to 'tampering' to the implication that the sox are constantly tampering. is it a black sox reference? why a lemon cookie? is that even something people say? i don't think that's an expression.

it shows you the number

all 30 of them...soccer fans correctly realize that that the MLS is a joke. Trib editorial board is so annoying. A "bespoke" stadium, it reads like a sparking water advertisement...they're not using that word correctly. The whole article annoys me, it feels like it was written by a real estate developer.

I agree in part. Great command of the strike zone. Pure hitter, almost certainly has more power and OBP in him than he's shown in MLB. I think he'll walk a lot more next season and could hit up to 15 home runs. I just don't see where he gets the playing time he is owed unless Teel moves to the outfield. I think Quero has better raw 'tools' at catcher, frankly, but they seem to be going with Teel behind the plate. Simply, he's too good to be a backup/dh. The lineup has bigger flaws imo. A young center fielder who can hit some would be perfect. I still like Alcantara on the Cubs, I think Quero for him makes sense for both teams...but I wouldn't trust my scouting ability either. A player like Alcantara plus another player or two. I think Quero is straight up a better player, just doesn't fit super well.

I wanted one of those two guys over Teel. Plus I liked Miguel Bleis. Boy, that would've been dumb. Definitely wanted Braden. Jury is out if Meidroth is a better piece than Bleis I guess.

Really? I'd think the opposite. Where'd you see that?

Sad if true, but I think it's reasonable for the 'hitting coordinator' and bench coach/catcher whisperer to see what they have before making a quick decision. Bannister will probably play a big part in hiring a pitching coach which strikes me as reasonable. I thought Katz was pretty good overall, but he's been around for a while and I agree with the "breath of fresh air" sentiment. Fuller seemed like a good hire to me and made a difference. McKinven had a nice track record with the Brewers, but Quero was an abysmal framer and Teel wasn't much better. I think the bench coach has better things to do than work with the catchers specifically. I think they can do a lot better in both of those departments. Petit Bourgeois was just some guy. I can't tell what he actually did. Semi-surprised Jirschelle is sticking around if Santos is gone. I don't know what his contract situation is though.

I wanted to vote 'A' just for the trolling component of it, but I think it's a solid 84%. I'm generally pleased with how the rookies played. I liked the organizational hires. Minor leaguers are showing some real promise. I could genuinely see Bonemer being a top 20 prospect in MLB, Antonacci top 100. Plus the pitchers especially Oppor. Some really nice improvement from the 'back end' despite many of the top guys graduating. Best Rule 5 draft ever? Good pitching development. The real winner is the Crochet trade to me. I would've gotten totally played if I was selecting players from the Red Sox system. I liked the players we drafted this year. First 2 rounders are gonna be awesome, there are some gems in the later rounds. Ely Brown is a surefire MLB player. Like that we opened a new academy in the DR and revamped that Arizona facility. Like the Venable hire generally but he needs to take some big steps forward in his sophomore season. Like the improvements to players like Vargas, Sosa, Baldwin Dislike: free agency (outside Houser), trading for Mead, telling Schultz to stop throwing a cutter, (carrying over from last year because it's extra disappointing) the Hagen Smith pick. Vaughn and Thaiss trades were a bust (but marginal). Too many ABs given to players like Capra, Rojas, Palacios, Amaya, Noda, Dalbec etc. Booser trade was awful. No good LHP acquisitions. Hate all the 1 run losses, but that's probably on the coaching staff...which makes me think, like the recent firings (I guess, but who cheers when someone gets fired). I think Getz could've done better, especially in hitter acquisition department, but I'm not really caring if the team lost 100 or 90. I generally like the roster we finished the season with. We'll see what they can do in 2026. Hopefully Quero, Meidroth, Brooks, Sosa, Vargas can take a big step forward. I think the pitching is in good shape but there are a lot of question marks still with the hitters.

They were both hired November 2023. I suspect McKinven and Fuller will have a large say in the replacements. Get "their guy".

I don't necessarily know what an 'assistant' does in this case, but I bet they probably just institute whatever philosophy their boss tells them to. And maybe they're both fine at that. Would be boring if they get promoted.

lol at "TEMS"

Katz is a little shocking, Santos is quite shocking. But I'm not mad about any of this. Some of these guys were holdovers from Grifool. Bourgeois seemed useless. Interested to see who they'll hire especially for pitching coach. I think Katz had his moments for sure. But there's definite room for improvement. Santos is kinda weird. I thought the org really liked him. Since his contract was up, maybe it's a mutual decision. He could probably get an MLB job.

Lindor grounds into a double play to end their season LUL

looking like it. Greg Soto is wild, Marlins might add on here. Bottom of Mets order up in the 9th.

is it spring training yet?