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Nice Job Moncada?

All right you bunch of losers get some runs !

Yea if I was Manager I'd leave that .861. Home Slugging % on the bench (Not OPS but slugging !)

This is just a pitiful display by the Sox hitters .But yeah keep leaving Burger out of the Lineup.

Ugh No Burger again 3 of last 4 games at home. The guy still has a .600 slugging % on the season an astonishing .861 Slugging at home when most of your guys aren't even at .450 . He's only 4 for 5 with a HR since the Sox got back home. Play the man at home ! Still the 0 HR guys at the top of the order. Is Grifol allergic to against getting AB's for his few HR hitters ? The Sox are still bad against RHP. If anyone is going to hit a HR against a AAA pitcher who can't command the zone it's Burger. He'll just look for a pitch on the inner half and turn and burn.

They couldn't even start the hottest hitter at home they have in 2 of 3 against the Angels . In the one game Burger started he got 3 hits and PH in the last game and hit a HR. 1.0 fWAR now , 145wRC+ .603 Slugging Romy should be easier to fit in at 2nd base but we'll see.

Hahn doesn't make trades in a vaccuum. They do have MLB scouts and an analytics dept. ( I think). I know you aren't implying Hahn was solely responsible and the only input he had was his own view of Fangraphs. Most of MLB probably came to the same conclusion you discovered in hindsight which is why the Cubs got only Madrigal and Heuer although that was a lot of years for a few months of Kimbrel. Plenty of time for them to get some value from those 2.

Do you think JR buying controlling interest of Stadium Network was just a coincidence ? The Regional Sports Network model is being re-evaluated and ComCast's rights for Bulls, Hawks and Sox expires in Oct. 2024. Reinsdorf probably will put the Bulls and Sox on Stadium and could even expand nationally. He'll certainly try to get the Hawks on Stadium too since they will be an up and coming team soon once they build a team around Connor Bedard and Marquee couldn't get them. It sure helps that Stadium's home is in the United Center. I wonder what he's thinking and how he's going to screw it up. Didnt he screw up the Sox television appearances when he took them off WGN back in the day and put them on Channel 44 ? I don't know his whole history dabbling with television. I don't think whatever he did was very smart or good for the Sox though.

I can think of one player to sell ASAP and that's Grandal. Sell while he's still relatively healthy with a decent OBP. Eat some salary if you have to. They won't because I'm sure in their minds they think they need his bat. But it will become apparent soon enough when they start losing to the upcoming better teams and drop to 15-20 below .500 that this season and the window and is over and falling below mediocrity has begun. I know Hahn knows it's over no matter how much he sugarcoats it as he must do for the fans and media.

Welcome to SoxTalk

Add it to the list of why bad teams are bad . With how their pitching has been what does it get the Sox a couple more wins ?

I don't have counter arguments. There's no perfect way to win a World Series or stay in contention. There are many many things the Sox do wrong and I'm consistently the one whining about them along with Balta and the wonderful recent post from eminor. Basically if you take all the posters here who pick out one thing or player to complain about, they all have differnt idea. SOme hate the lack of big name signings. Some hated Grandal, Keuchel now Lynn once he started to failthey never should have resigned him etc. During the height of the frenzy about about the direction the Sox were headed in 2020 and 2021 I posted that the rebuild would fail. I'd have trouble finding that post. I dont even know which thread it was in or the year I posted it. I think I said something about typical Sox contention window with Covid, Labor problems , injuries etc. Not sure if I mentioned Hahn or JR. I always complain about their methods so it's likely I did. If you think the Lynn trade was bad so be it. Add it to the list of the Sox many many failures but I'll tell you the same thing I told Balta. Tell me the perfect way to consistently stay in contention and throw in a World Series win every 5 years of so and I'll pass it along to the 29 other teams with small and medium and big budgets. Picking out one trade that actually worked seems odd. One minor leaguer who hasn't done much of anything yet for 1 3rd place Cy Young year seems like a decent trade. Resigning him turned out to be the mistake a much bigger mistake. At least they didnt give up Semien, Bassitt and 2 others for one year of Samardzija. Imagine having Semien, Tatis ( James Shield trade) and Bassitt for the rebuild years. The failure of the rebuild started with those trades but Sox are gonna Sox in multiple bad ways. Add it to the long list.

I'm not sure what you are proposing. There is no perfect way to win a World Series. A lot of teams do it different ways. Many sign megabucks FA. Lester and Heyward Cubs. They traded youth for Chapman. They also traded for Quintana trying to sustain their run. Boston traded for Sale. Houston signed Verlander and developed a lot of youth. Dodgers ,despite all their talent with their farm system and all their money won 1 World Series in the Covid year . Yankees consistently outspent everyone in FA. The Padres signed big FA's and traded a lot of youth and no World Series. If you want to complain how the Sox do it that's fine I do it all the time. Tell me the perfect way on the Sox budget to win consistently be in contention for a World Series. TB has never won one but their methods for their budget are sound. I'm defending one FA signing they made. Were they not supposed to sign Grandal when they badly needed a catcher , more LHH and OBP ? Collins ended up being a bad draft choice, Fulmer. Madrigal, Vaughn all no help. Cease's great year was no help. Kopech no help. Gio no help after 2021. Lynn no help after they resigned him in the middle of the 2021 season. Rodon had 1 more good year after the Sox decided not to keep him I ultimately think it was failed draft choices and poor participation in Int'l FA for many many years and the Sox utter lack of investment in youth that doomed the rebuild and a lack of commitment in high quality FA that led to failure . But even if they had done those things it's hard to overcome injuries and inconsistencies in performance to most of the youth they acquired to start the rebuild among the other ways JR doesn't invest in youth.You tell me how to be perfect enough to consistently stay in contention and win a World Series. I'll hang up and listen to pass it along to the 29 other teams.

Yes the regular season means just about nothing which is why I suggested and not for the 1st time, that the baseball season be shortened, mostly for the health of the players but it's never likely to happen.

For a chance at the World Series many teams do it though. In that context it wasn't all that risky. Giolito was in his 3rd season of getting Cy Young votes. After that he fell off . Cease was improving. Kopech was injured but was expected to be a high quality starter. We all know that the Sox have made that same mistake in years that they were mediocre. Samardzija, Bassitt, James Shields and in that context it is far worse. You cannot predict the future with youth. Dunning might look good ATM for his 12 appearances (8 in relief) but who knows how he'll do as as starter the rest of the year and in 24 and 25. If we look at all the injuries that doomed the Sox as well as the lack of depth at all levels Dunning wouldn't have helped the Sox contend in 2022 or 2023 and what he does going forward is a mystery. We can't talk about him now as if he's an All Star. He's not and he may never be. Fine depth for a contender like the Rangers With Dunning and without Lynn there's no playoffs in 2021 . If they weren't developing youth and kept every prospect they're likely still mediocre . Trades must be made at some point . I've long been saying the Sox have need to start getting more, youthful and operate more like Tampa Bay. We can't wish it into existence. Jerry and Hahn do what they do and we know what the usual results are. Crying about not having Dunning now is pure hindsight. At the time many thought it was a great trade for the "window".

You trade youth for Veterans in your contention window and Lynn was better than Dunning easily in 2021. Lynn 157 IP 4.2 fWAR (5.5 bWAR) 3rd in Cy Young voting Dunning 117.2 IP 1.8 fWAR (.7 bWAR) 2022 Lynn 121.2 IP Injured and sucked for all but his last 12 starts, 1.9 fWar (.7 bWAR) Dunning 153.1 IP .9 fWar (1.1 bWAR) 2023 Lynn 63.1 IP .7 fWar although I suspect it might be lower after today. Dunning 43 IP 1.0 fWar He has only started 4 games and pitched in relief the other 8 games he has appeared in. Context matters. The Sox needed Lynn in 2021 way more than they needed Dunning. 2022 was a slight edge to Dunning You used BWAR which is acceptable for pitchers. It widened the gap between Lynn Dunning in 2021 with a huge edge to Lynn It closed the gap in 2022. fWar had Lynn 1.0 WAR better while bWAR had Dunning .4 better even though he pitched 32.1 more innings. 2023 edge to Dunning but since he's only started 4 games its hard to compare them. 2021 Lynn was a big part of the Sox success. Lynn has been a big part of the 22-23 WhiteSox failures. Dunning wouldn't have made a difference in 2022 except for salary . Same in 2023. Going forward Lynn is likely toast. Going forward with Dunning is a mystery . He could end up back in the pen or become a reliable starter. The Rangers have him through 2026.

Except that the last 7 tr 8 times it happened( bases loaded less than 2 outs I think) the Sox were 7 for 7 with hits and one time with a sac fly. That ended when Vaughn hit into a DP but right before that he had the bases loaded double that cleared the bases in the same game.

Right you make my point even more valid. The Golden KNights although a very good team they were 9th of 16 playoffs teams listed to win the Cup (+1400). The Panthers were 13th (+3000). https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10072573-2023-nhl-stanley-cup-playoffs-updated-odds-for-all-16-teams

AT least 1 cheer in here for his HR. If he had made an error at 2nd base would have got 3 x as many comments.

Got to get with the times. All the 4 major sports have divisions in North America. Yes weak teams make the playoffs, it creates false hope, and generates a lot of revenue for owners from TV and capacity houses. But every once in a while the unexpected happens and one of the lesser teams win it all. Florida Panthers and Las Vegas Golden Knights are in the Stanley Cup Final this year. Neither one of those teams were favored to win it all this year but one of them will. Might not be an ideal TV match up though. I do think with expanded playoffs it make the regular season less important and they should reduce the schedules back to 154 games but once the money is scheduled to be in the coffers they don't want to remove it. It's hell on the pitchers health though. Those playoff arms with the extra games pitched need more recovery time. But like any sport being healthy means a lot.

Beating up on the mop up LHP for 3 in the 9th.

Ho Hum another lineup without your second best HR hitter and the guy who had 3 hits yesterday ( although one of them was gift hit.) I still see Robert ,Vaughn ,and Romy in the lineup. Also the homerless wonders still at the top of the order getting the most AB's.

But can you give the front office a pass knowing that they needed a player at his healthiest this season and giving him $75M for 5 years without knowing know the surgery he had in Sept. 2022 was going to affect him. Obviously it's affected him greatly. I'm not even 100 % sure he had surgery. Lots of articles said he needs surgery and will get surgery but finally found one that said he had surgery and that was MLBTR. As far as an uptick goes, he has nowhere to go but up from 0 HR's and a huge drop in his hard hit rate. TA and benni both can't be at the top of the order until one of them shows they are fully healthy. Maybe one can but not both.

I love this post ! It's pure truth without the Hahn and JR sucks attached to them. It explains why they suck and why they always are mediocre to bad when the mediocre get overpaid. It's why they couldn't even fail at losing enough to get top 3 draft choices over and over. They traded youth for mediocre to bad players and did the same thing with free agency while ignoring anything to do with bringing in youth and developing it. They brought in just enough mediocre players during the rebuild to have mediocre losing seasons when they needed elite losing seasons. The only vision the Sox front office seems to have is tunnel vision.

That works in 3, 4, and 5 WAR seasons and playing and mostly catching 120+ games per year. But outside of 2021, his 3.6 fWAr year, he hasn't been that player for the Sox and hasn't yet played in 100 games. This year we haven't seen the highs and lows, just him hitting for a higher average than he normally does but not the slugging and walks he used to have.