hogan873

Yeah, but compared to JR, Ishbia might be the Pope.

Time will tell. It's early. Cleveland is 5-5 in their last 10 but 12-8 in their last 20. The Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 and 11-9 in their last 20. Cleveland is the better team and has the better chance to win the division. But right now, the Sox are playing about as well as them.

I think they have a better chance to win the division than a wild card. The AL Central is bad, and I don't see any team (the Sox included) going on a tear and breaking away from the pack. There are probably enough other teams in the AL that will start playing better and possibly add at the trade deadline to get a wild card. All that said, I'm not sure the Sox are quite there to be a playoff team, or at least not a team that would go anywhere in the playoffs. As you said, there are still holes. And this is a young team that will likely be streaky. They could do some minor adding at the deadline, but I don't see anything dramatic happening.

TA certainly had some injury issues, but his personal life was a mess and that carried over to the field. He became less of a shadow of his formal self. Starting a flight, and then promptly getting KO'd didn't help matters.

It's actually okay to love the team, appreciate the job Getz and Venable have done, AND think JR is a bad owner. This team, that still has a very low payroll, is playing very well because of the players and coaches. JR had to be convinced to take a no-brainer gamble on Murakami, and look what happened. He has even more money to roll around in while scheming ways to not spend it. Team - Awesome Venable and coaches - Doing a great job Getz - Getting better, learning on the job...still under-qualified JR - Still a shitty owner

William's The Conquerors The 2026 White Sox - Now Schlub Free! Bridgeport Bombers

I would say Venable is getting A LOT out of the team he has. There's talent, for sure, but it's young, raw talent for the most part. The few veterans sprinkled in are helping on and off the field. Grichuk fit right in, Benintendi (despite being bad at baseball) seems to be well liked, Hill is having the time of his life, and Kay is helping a young pitching staff. Don't overlook the fact that the culture of this team has been completely overhauled with the last of the *ahem* problems traded away during the off season. And I firmly believe that Murakami has been a huge part in bringing this team together. It's amazing that a guy with limited English and Spanish fits in so well and already seems to be a leader in the clubhouse. Venable will get a lot of credit, deservedly so, but this group of players is so tight and truly seem to like each other. That, along with the growing talent, is producing an exciting team to watch.

This seems to be a big difference from previous years' teams. Of course, they were almost always playing teams better than them, but they seemed to lose more games to crappy teams and occasionally play well against good teams. The 2026 Sox have been steadily decent to good and are for the most part beating bad teams. If the team keeps playing like this, they have a chance to play .500ish ball in June and be near the top of the (bad) devision.

It was really nice to see Sandlin not get flustered after the lead-off home run. He didn't just brush it off, he completely shut down the Twins after that. It has been so long since the Sox had a player as exciting as Murakami. He's exceeding pretty much all expectations, and you know there are multiple teams kicking themselves. By the way, how did he hit a 432 foot opposite field home run with such a casual swing? How about Meidroth with the power? What a great win. Let's hope they saved a few runs for the final game.

I don't think there was anyone who didn't see that coming. Looks like a bad trade for both parties. The Sox at least dumped the salary and have a maybe in Pauley.

Maybe we should be less concerned with his bunting ability and more about the fact that he was asked to bunt with two strikes.

As well as this team is playing and surprising many, I'm not sure they will be in a position to consider adding at the deadline. Nor do I think they'll be sellers. I could see a few minor trades, maybe to add a starting pitcher. But I'd hate to see them trade some of the future for a moderate upgrade for the near future.

Well, Robert isn't playing...but Acuna is putting up a negative WAR. So, neither?

My standard is watching fun baseball. The past few years, there wasn't much fun to watch. This team is fun and much better than expected. Sure, they're in a shitty division and realistically wouldn't be within striking distance of first place in any other division, but being in the hunt makes it even more fun.

Man, how could I forget Martin. He's one of the best pitchers in the league right now, quietly. Hopefully Smith can get some of that magic back and make it to the big league team again.

I'm in the camp of enjoying this team because they are so much better than the teams of the past few years. I recognize they are still not a great team, but they are getting close to not bad. This team is actually exciting to watch with the energy and the (at least perceived) closeness of the guys. They seem to be having fun and playing their asses off. I think it's wild to see the team playing as well as they do with so many non-household names. Tristan Peters, Sam Antonacci, Derek Hill, Drew Romo, Bryan Hudson... That is what is making me believe. This team is probably another bat or two and some starting pitching away from being solidly good. And, yes, I know who owns the team; and yes, I know Getz isn't qualified to be a GM. So maybe they don't get that hitter or that pitching. But, damn, these guys are easy to like and root for, and a lot of fun to watch.

If we were to cull out all posts that have nothing to do with the signing of Grichuk, this thread would be one page. Every damn thread devolves into this crap. About the Grichuk signing, it's fine. Not exciting, but if it keeps a few others from getting playing time and allows Hays to heal up, it's fine.

There HAS to be scenarios where the Sox extend him. It's early, but as each day goes by, I think the league is realizing Mune was a risk worth taking. Some teams are kicking themselves, I'm sure. This is a very rare occurrence for the Sox - taking a chance on a player, and that chance paying off. Trading him at the deadline or even this coming off season would be a huge PR disaster, especially if he keeps hitting the way he is. If the Sox want the fans to believe that they are building to a competing team, extending Mune to be a part of that team is a no-brainer.

A ballpark village like they have in St. Louis would be awesome. Restaurants, bars, activities, fan shops. Inside, just make it unique and functional. Don't have a huge upper level that will never fill up. A club level with more rows would be nice, maybe 10 instead of 6. A cool section in the outfield like the Miller Landing but with more seats and less SRO. A lower outfield section where balls could exit the stadium, maybe into the river, would be perfect. I haven't been to a lot of stadiums, but something like PNC Park with a ballpark village like St. Louis would be ideal. Sightlines with the city behind the outfield. As far as concessions, the Sox do a pretty good job with food and drinks. Don't sacrifice that for anything else. And make sure there are plenty of options for buying souvenirs and gear.

At least a back injury is something new for him. I thought for sure he'd blow a hamstring. It's too bad. He has (had) tons of potential and has looked amazing at times, but he just can't stay healthy.

For the first time in quite a few seasons, pretty much the entire team is likeable. And they all seem to like each other. This still isn't a competing team, but they are a much more enjoyable team to watch.

I thought winner threads were not allowed, and celebrating improvement was banned. Anyway, solid win. Martin looked really good, and the bullpen didn't collapse. Specifically, Newcomb and Dominguez did what they are supposed to do. Drew Romo is already much better than McGuire, and his three RBIs were the difference. Nice to see Colson hit a bomb off a really good pitcher. And props to Antonacci for taking one for the team.

Not quite. He hasn't gotten hurt yet.

If the Sox win two series in a row, but Soxtalk doesn't acknowledge, did they actually win? Nice win yesterday with Benintendi being the unlikely hero. Great pitching from start to finish. Martin continues to look good, Taylor was firing, and Dominguez didn't screw up.

We've probably seen enough of Colson to admit he'll never have a high batting average, but we've also seen enough to know he has insane power. So far, he's shown that last year was not a fluke. He's on pace for about 40 HRs, and that's giving him 550 plate appearances. The biggest question mark is still health. He's stayed relatively healthy since coming up, but the back injuries prior are concerning. I like the Seager comparison (with a lower batting average) as a complete package since he plays pretty good defense.