hogan873

I think they could have been a bit better than that. But, yes, there were many problems. Grifol needs to come in and say, "Look assholes, what happened last year will never happen again. Get your s%*# together."

Anyone know if Grifol has thoughts on a hitting coach? Menechino has to be gone, right?

Good news. I like that aside from Katz, no other coaches are safe. I hope he brings in a good hitting coach.

We don't know if he was on anyone's radar or not. He may have interviewed with other teams. And there's no saying he was an afterthought and interviewed at the last minute. For all we know, the Sox have been in on him from the get go. I'm glad they're actually conducting a search and are interviewing plenty of candidates. Now, if they were to go through this whole process and hire Ozzie, that would be concerning. Luckily it doesn't sound like he's a likely option.

What do we know about Mendoza?

Is Mendoza the mystery candidate?

It’s hard for me to believe the Sox aren’t going to hire Long. If it was going to be Ozzie, they would have announced it by now, right? Or Washington, or Shildt, or anyone not associated with the Astros or Phillies. Right? Please?

I thought it was interesting that the Marlins didn't hire him after hearing he was a finalist. Maybe there is something we don't know. I'm beginning to believe (hope) that it's going to be Kevin Long. I would think that if the Sox were going to hire Getz, Thome, Ozzie, or even Washington, they would have by now. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they bumble this process again.

He then followed it up with a tweet saying Espada is still in the mix. I do agree that if we don't hear anything by Friday, the hire will be someone from the Astros or Phillies.

Regardless of who they hire, the only tip they should be giving Frank is how to find the door.

And the food accounts have spoken. Footlong Comiskey Dog said Kevin Long was interviewed a second time. Vinnie Parise said if the Sox don't name a manager by Friday, it'll most likely be someone from the Astros or Phillies and that he's hearing Kevin Long is a "big time possibility". Whatever that means.

If Getz is hired, I'd be less concerned with how he got the job or who made the decision than I would be about the job he can do. With the right bench coach, he could be a good manager. He's young and would almost certainly rely on statistics. He'd have a good rapport with the players (think David Ross minus the crotch bumps). He'd definitely bring more life to this team. I'm not saying he's the best guy for the job. And I'm definitely not saying he's more deserving than others. Maybe I'm just trying to look at the positives if this were to happen. Maybe I need to drink more beer.

He later tweeted that he still thinks Espada is the guy, but there's nothing official yet.

Ozzie would be a ludicrous hire. He burnt a lot of bridges when he quit on the team. And to bring back a former manager after just bringing back another former manager to much failure would not look good. I don't buy the Getz/Thome "rumors". Neither guy has nearly enough experience. Of the older candidates, I'd be okay with Bochy and even Washington. Definitely before Maddon or Shildt. The one candidate without a lot of experience that I could see being hired is Harris. I think a guy like Espada would be the best fit for the team. but as it has been pointed out, he might be in high demand. We haven't heard anything about Quartaro, but he's another guy that would be good for the Sox. My gut says it's going to be Bochy or Washington, but I have a sneaky suspicion we'll get someone who hasn't even been rumored.

I even saw a tweet saying Ozzie is not out of the running. That may be true, but I'm not officially out of the running either. I haven't been interviewed, and no one from the Sox has contacted me. But they haven't officially said I'm not an option.

What about Getz with Washington as bench coach? Might be more palatable, but I don't see how Getz would get hired before Espada, Quantraro, Grifol, etc. Of course no one saw Ventura being hired...and LaRussa was a major headscratcher.

Very few people said that about TLR. This board was overwhelmingly against the hire. Most were meh on Cairo.

If Washington or Bochy end up being the right fit after a true search and interviews of multiple candidates, I'd be okay with that. With as dysfunctional this team is on the field, someone like Washington would be a good fit, especially with a younger manager-to-be as bench coach for a couple years.

Carlos "The Product" Correa as player/manager.

Oh s%*#. Maybe he's announcing he's retiring from being away from the team and is ready to f*** things up for 2023 and beyond.

I know they want to give TLR a graceful way to end his tenure with the Sox, and that's fine I guess. But I don't know how people like Nightengale can say with a serious face that the Sox would have been just as bad with another manager. I mean, just the use of Leury alone cost them several wins. Cairo all but kept Leury on the bench. The handling of the bullpen was embarrassingly bad at times, especially considering TLR was supposed to be a genius with bullpens. Not knowing rules, falling asleep in the dugout (on TV), throwing players under the bus, telling young superstars to take it easy and not hustle. Need I go on? Good riddance two years too late.

I'm not so concerned with the age of the next manager. If they hire a guy who will use analytics, be able to relate to the players while holding them accountable, and manage a lineup and bullpen effectively, I don't care how old they are. Some of the more intriguing names are Beltran, Espada, Quatraro, Bochy, Alomar. Just, let's stop talking about Ozzie and AJ. Neither would be a good fit.

I could see TA being traded. Andrus is signed as a one year bridge to Montgomery. I think they might shop Moncada, but his value is pretty low right now with the contract he has attached. So, any return would be light or have a bad contract included. Giolito could, and possibly should, be traded. His value is low but as low as Moncada's. Still wouldn't see a big return. I don't think Vaughn gets traded. If he's not traded and Abreu is re-signed, it does nothing to break up the log jam of 1B/DH. Eloy needs to be in the lineup everyday and out of the field, so he's the primary DH. That would mean Abreu is the primary 1B. And Vaughn is the odd man out again. Which means he plays an outfield position...again. Other guys that could possibly be traded: Lynn, Graveman, Hendriks, Bummer, Leury (insert laughing emoji here)

IL stints are one thing. Players playing hurt is another. Players being told not to hustle is yet another. Maybe there was some bad luck there, but there was plenty of poor managing and leadership.

We all know Reinsdorf isn't selling the team any time soon, so let's not even consider that to be a possibility moving forward. Hahn most likely stays, even though he should probably be canned. So, what we're going to get for 2023 is a new manager. Hopefully they make a wise hire this time. Then, it will be necessary for Hahn to put together a better team.