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Probably not a good idea to compare a World Series winning team from 14 years ago to a 100 loss team now. Strikeouts throughout baseball have skyrocketed since 2005 not just for the White Sox . When you are a 100 loss teams you are going to be at the top of a lot of bad statistical categories.

I was just pointing out that good value can be found any year . It obviously becomes more important in rebuild years. Konerko was traded for Cameron right?. They both were young and it worked out for both sides. Jenks was a good value find. Iguchi came out of nowhere.Dye's production exceeded his cost. I also mention them because KW was GM then Hahn was assistant GM so they have some history of finding gems that worked out just not many recently. Maybe they used up their quota with the baseball gods to win us a World Series. The question becomes how did they find gems in the past ? Better scouting ?.More luck? A better plan or vision ?

I didn't mean to put you on the spot . It's just like I said though , you named a handful among 30 teams. it's all easier said then done.Once we found Quintana that was under the current regime wasn't it ? What about Quentin, Thornton, Jenks. Seems like a lot of guys from 2005 were those types of value. Iguchi, Dye, Konerko and probably more.

injuries have derailed it. The train can be put back on the track. Your fantasy of the ideal rebuild is just that a fantasy . You can map it out however you want in your head but the reality is always going to be that prospects flop and get injured and roster building is always in a state of flux.

So you're saying that you would have signed Shields and a bunch of cheaper relievers while at the same time pursuing Machado while also not signing Alonso and Jay ? Revisionist history until you can show me when you laid out your plan when the off season started. Also I still don't see the point of crying over spilled milk. Was the point of this off season to spend as little as possible while pursuing a whale so that whale could play on another 100 loss team while also having spent so little that there's no chance to turn any of your cheaper guys into prospects and also hurt the young arms in the process ?

Oh please.None of the prospects that we were all so high on have even played 2 full seasons yet while most haven't even seen the majors . Kopech had a brief cup of coffee No Cease No Eloy, Robert, none of the OF prospects . The rebuild failed because Moncada,Giolito and Lopez didn't become instant stars and we didn't sign a whale ?

Well those 2 years you're talking about were the 1st 2 years of the rebuild and isn't the idea to be bad and get high draft picks? Granted drafting isn't their strong suit nor is being successful in free agency. Yes it sucks that attempts to find a gem amongst the rhinestones hasn't worked out but isn't that the case with most teams? I know my baseball expertise isn't good enough to find the handful of guys over the last 2 years who have given teams value Jed Lowrie blossomed in his age 33 season and continued it last year. Outside of him I'm hard pressed to think of anyone. Maybe you can find more but younger guys because I doubt the Sox were looking too hard for over 30 guys. Like Balta is fond of saying about free agents , the majority of them flop even the inexpensive ones. . So seems most teams are bad at picking productive free agents not just the Sox. It gets even harder when you are shopping the bargain bin. Twins were a good example of that last year. It makes it harder when you start looking more for offense than you do for defense. My own personal philosophy is find the undervalued good defensive players and do what you can to get the hitting to catch up.That's why i thought Jackie Bradley jr was worth a shot 4 -5 years ago when he wasn't hitting in his 1st couple years. It's why I still like Byron Buxton. It's why I can still tolerate Engel when most can't. The young relievers are still young. Throwing them into the fire in stressful situations isn't a great idea . Let them develop pitching the 5th, 6th or 7th innings . I like vets around them eating up the stressful innings . Maybe a few of the young guys do well in their roles and then can be moved into the stressful innings and eventually take over the spots of Herrera and Colome. I'm not exactly thrilled either how things worked out but there's no choice but to move on and hope we draft better and sign productive free agents and we get some good surprises from our farm system. The history isn't great for those things but it's not like anyone signed this year is a long term piece they were just roster fillers or enticements for Manny. Most get upset because Hahn said no stop gaps but looking at it realistically roles had to be filled just to field a team that wasn't going to lose 110 games . Those aren't stopgaps they're placeholders. Small difference I know. The meaningful decisions are yet to be made . Strike 1 on that front but more pitches are coming and all I can do is hope we get some hits.

I read that too. I forgot .

Plus there was another post somewhere around here about jersey sales or something going way up so anything with Harpers name on can be continually counted.

Can't say it was all blown. Sox were going to get an innings eater no matter what and relievers to help the young guys develop. Hindsight says Alonso and Jay was wasted money but if Machado had signed they would be fine. Have to fill the roster, the money's going to be spent somehow. I just have a problem calling it all wasted. Should Hahn make no attempts to get more minor leaguers for anyone ? Should he not try to protect the young arms ? Should he just sign a lot of flotsam and jetsam and run back to Jerry and say "hey Uncle Jer we are going to suck again and I did it for as cheap as I could" ? Does it make a difference how much they spent or wasted this year ? I really can't believe you're still hurt over this. It's done . All we can do is hope next year is different otherwise it's giving up hope. I can't exist as a fan that way. I can keep my expectations low but to have zero expectations is just plain pitiful.

Has anyone on Twitter or the regular media come up with a early dollar figure about sold tickets or new season tix and merchandise related to the Harper signing ? I'm thinking he's probably close to already paying for his 1st season . The Sox fan base would have been just as excited but kind of doubt they could match what Phillies fans have spent so far. The Sox payroll commitment for 2020 is only $12.5M for Herrera and Anderson's salary's. That's if they let Abreu go and Alonso doesn't reach his plate appearances. They buyout Castillo for 500K so add that to salary commitment for 2020 right ? $13M now ? Jones has a club option next year. Rodon , Colome , Sanchez and Garcia are all Arb .3 guys,so technically not counted as a 2020 salary commitment until salary is determined. Guys who are pre arb also salary's don;t count because technically they can be non tendered. Pretty low next year the way I described it. Really makes no sense to extend Abreu. Use the damn unprecedented low payroll flexibilty.

Maybe they just didn't want to pay $300M . A $75 ,85, 100M is possible . I know optimism is outlawed here now but what else are they going to use the money for ?

Also hitters will hit against some pretty bad pitchers or as you said pitchers just working on things so never look at results. Everyone needs time to knock off the rust or experiment.

I guess I know where The Besss comes from now but sounds like Bees or maybe saying the Beast or the Best ?

Looked more like straight away RF by the time it finished slicing, Camera view started in RCF though.

Collins 2 run bomb to get the Sox close to Pads, 5-4.

Extra games mean extra chances for injuries. Many guys get work in side sessions. Once week or 3 times in 2 weeks is plenty for split squads considering you already know most of the 25 man roster before you even start spring.

I don't think so unless they get an offer too good to pass up. Remember he was hurt last year so his IP's this year won't be a high as a contender might like for the 2nd half and doubtful he'd be able to pitch at all in the post season unless his starts get severely limited or pitches as a reliever.

1998 Albert Belles 2nd and last season with the Sox was amazing. Led the league in games played, Slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases. 48 doubles, 49 HR's, 152 RBI. DIdn't make the AS team and came in a distant 8th in MVP voting but won a Silver Slugger Award. Red hot 2nd half , named Player of the Month for July and September. Player of the Week for 2 straight weeks in July. 3rd in batting average, 7th in OBP. 2nd in doubles , 2nd in HR's. 1st in Runs Created. 3rd in times on base. 1st in Offensive Win %., 1st in Sac Flys. 1st in Extra base hits. 1st in Adj. Batting Wins, 1st in RE24, . 7.1 WAR which was 3rd as a position player even though he played LF ,not too shabby.

Yep didn't have great hitting teams then but the pitching was pretty good.

Thank you Lip for providing wonderful historical stories. I know it's meaningless ancient history to many here, As for myself I remember many of the names you mentioned but don't remember Romano playing for the Sox. I remember John , Peter ,Berry , Ward, Aparicio and Buford so my awareness of the SOx started around 1967 or 68 at the age of 9 or 10. Of course I know of him because as I got older I became more aware of Sox history and even got an A on a paper I wrote comparing a Sox team to the 59 team. It was probably the 1975 or 1976 team. I knew my teacher was a Sox fan too . One of the few easy A's I ever got in H.S. Sounds so strange now to hear Peter's was used as a pinch hinter and got a hit even though I'm aware he was a good hitting pitcher thanks to sometimes playing Strat-o-matic baseball before the computer age.

Actually the guy you quoted didn't say a damn thing about anyone b****ing or wanting you not to b****. He only stated how he wishes to view things. You wish to view things differently go right ahead . He didn't criticize your point of view but you are criticizing his. Not everyone has to find the worst in things . Some choose to look at the bright side. Just because you don't believe he can actually choose to enjoy individual performances and ignore the wins and losses is on you. It's often a sign of maturity and growth to see the good rather than the ugly. That doesn't mean we are blind to the ugly or naive about it. If we start to see the bright side in something as inconsequential as a ST baseball game then it becomes easier to do with more important things . Perhaps that is a baby step that more of us need to take.

L.A. just went through the month of February without recording a temperature in the 70's for the 1st time in the history of recording the temperature.

Engel the spring training greatest hitter of all time hit a HR. Maybe one year he actually continues it into the season . Abreu and Mendick also HR's. Also all Sox HR's hit off of guys who most of us never heard of and 2 guys who should retire soon.

Oh I forgot I thanked all the appropriate people for not being on the ledge already after 9 spring games. Not that the team is any good , we know that so whining about Eloy batting 5th instead of 4th is just silly as hell.