GreenSox

And he didn't go past 5 or 6 innings very often in college. In 2023 they draft low-ceiling Gonzalez and in 2024 they pass on high ceiling Cags. Well, I think the way they draft is weird and sort of arrogant (and they don't have the results to support arrogance).

Matt Thornton for Borchard. He spit the bit on the major trades. But none of the bad trades were devastating (in contrast to those of his successor). The Sox were good for most of the period 1990-2010. Not coincidentally, their farm system was consistently good until the end of that period....and not from the fruits of dispersal trades, but from their own drafting, international signings and development.

Technically, the last was Marcus Semien in 2024 (and a few other years). And before Semien and Anderson was Chris Young in 2010.

How is this depressing? It's progress. Yes, the Ishbia's first priority is having a spot to park some money. But I doubt that they put up with a dog-and-pony show for too long. And at some point, JR's sons may have "that talk" with their aging father. And as somebody said above, you can print money if you do this right.

Astros were so good at finding these players that they drummed-out a young JD Martinez during the rebuild and it didn't matter. I agree that the Sox have been way light on finding diamond-in-the rough types. Hahn actually found a couple of these guys right before he decided to rebuild; I guess he found some c. 2020 but then forgot about them. All relievers. Hahn barely used Rule V at all during the rebuild.. He got virtually nothing from secondary trades in the rebuild or from secondary pieced in major trades. Nothing on the waiver wire. Getz may have found 2 keepers in Rule 5. So far, nothing in secondary trades or as secondary pieces in major trades -to be fair, many secondary pieces have been low minors guys. He doesn't give himself much of a chance on the waiver wire- he just picks guys who don't have a real hit-tool, most of whom are 30+ anyway.

I agree . And that's how I saw it last year; although the 3 much-discussed players (Caglianone, Wetherholt, Griffin) were there when the Sox picked, they still went pitcher. I don't know if they are better at drafting pitching than hitting, but under Shirley they have certainly used far more top-of-the-draft resources on pitching than hitting.

I just wonder how much of this evaluating/drafting, particularly on the position player side, is as much luck as skill. Last year, the consensus was "worst upper end draft class in a decade." Well Cam Smith, drafted #14, is already in the majors and playing well. And I read somewhere that they think Nick Kurtz, drafted #4 and paid substantially below slot, now looks like the next Jim Thome. Kristian Campbell looks like a great young middle-infielder, but he was the 27th SS drafted in 2023, and the 3rd by the RedSox.

So the rumor is that there is no trade talk. Outman's a AAAA player at this point. So it boils down to "front-line prospect." Nah, just stay away from the Dodgers.

I viewed Madrigal and Vaughn at the time as similar picks: high floor, low ceiling that should give the Sox 2 fundamentally sound position players for a team that was coming together . But Vaughn is just not fundamentally sound. His D is iffy. And on offense, aside from the lack of HRs (I never really expected him to be more than a 25 guy anyway), he just doesn't walk enough. He's at 6.5% and dropping. He should be at least 10%. And if he were, his other numbers would be better to.

The White Sox organization was loaded with young talent at that time (from 1990-2005 into 2010). KW was constantly making deals and his moves finally clicked for that one year. That talent base should have won a lot more divisions, if not titles, than it did. Getz has just got to get young talent into this organization...especially position players. It's tough when we've shown no ability at all to evaluate/draft amateur position players. I don't think we're as far away from being able to put together a competitive team as most probably do....but we're a long way away from having a real pipeline to sustain winning.

I understand that the Sox don't need either player now. I just don't think it does the player any good to leave them in the minors when they are ready for the majors. And not much good ever happens for the Sox in Charlotte, anyway. It's like a back hole. Anderson, arguably, was rushed. Presuming Vaughn hit well at the alternate site, I'd say, no, he wasn't rushed. He looks like a hitter - he just can't hit. Colas may have been rushed. Now he's been de-rushed. He may be the next OF candidate.

Trouble with Jones is that he can't hit minor league pitching. Call up Lipcius and play him in the OF. Or ride with Julks again - he held his own in the first half of 2024, then cratered. Yea, have no OF prospects is ridiculous. Who's the last good one we drafted? Rowand? Chris Young? Haven't drafted many good IFs or catchers either. That's why the Sox are in this mess.

Teams are pushing their prospects these days. When Quero, Teel and anyone else is ready, bring him up (with exceptions for the date where you get an extra year of control); nothing to be gained languishing in Charlotte. I can't remember the Sox rushing prospects in the last decade or so, except for a few pitchers rushed into the bullpen. Why can't the Sox draft someone like Meidroth? Ever.

Thanks for the correction. This is the rare situation from the last few years that should satisfy everyone.

I'd have been more pissed off than I already was had Samardzija said after the trade "Yea, I really hope Chris Bassitt and Marcus Semien do well in Oakland; that's important to me." Perhaps Merkin could not ask incompetent and irrelevant questions. It's a roundabout way of asking "Hey, Garret, say you still like the Whitesox. Please." Have some pride. This whole situation is a win-win. Boston gets an ace. Crochet got his long term deal. The Sox, 1 injury away from another Burdi situation, end up with 3 young highly-regraded POSITION prospects.

And Quero should be right behind him. And anyone else who has hit in Charlotte.

3 1-run losses in a row. It gets old. And Robert - what is that?

I kind of feel bad for not feeling bad about this. This Sox are beyond due to get lucky with one of these AAAA players. I don't know about this guy though. The one I thought was interesting was the guy the As waived and went to the Dodgers.

Hahn inherited an 85 win team and, in only 1 season, led that team to his comfort zone of 63 wins. He had a productive offseason with KW bagging Abreu and Hahn making a savvy deal ( one of the 4 he made in his long career) for Eaton. The team improved 10 games to 73 wins in 2014 with some young players showing promise. But then Hahn put on the clown hat and clowns shoes, pulled out his magic 8-ball and made series of moves over the next 18 months that set this organization back 5 years (or is it 10+ and counting?). And then in mid-season 2016, barely a month after the last of his outrageous moves, he announces that it's time to rebuild. What a Putz. And for all of his decade+ tenure, he had a competitive budget. I can't say that Getz is a good GM at this time. But he isn't Hahn.

And 2 of those guys need to really pop for that Crochet deal to be a big plus. Crochet only had 2 years of control, but man he's a top 5 pitcher. On the other hand, Santos for the #68 pick by itself seems like a good deal (if one values draft picks).

Getz is nowhere near Hahn-level bad.

He didn't hire himself, so I just evaluate what he's done as GM. I can understand the ire. I just choose not to participate in it, if for no other reason than I spent 10 years howling about Hahn (who effed things up a lot more than Getz has) and I'm tired of howling;

Tragic May he rest in peace.

Max Fried got more than that and Crochet's a better pitcher than Fried. But, Crochet has never pitched an unencumbered full-season; Crochet may have been able to get more by waiting but there is risk to doing that and even last year, Crochet was wanting to sign an extension.

On the other hand, the only trade where the jury is not out is Mena for Fletcher. That one is bad and looked bad at the time; and in that one, we're the ones that gave up the more uncertain prospect. Otherwise, the Santos trade is still live and TBD; as are the Cease and Crochet trades. And as questionable as the Fedde trade looked (and still looks) it's at worst a neutral, because we wouldn't have had Fedde to trade, but for Getz. And he also deserves some of the credit for getting Crochet out of the bullpen. The last guy sputtered at the start but did some good work in his year 2; and then in year 3, it all went to hell and he kept digging a bigger hole. Hopefully, this won't repeat.