nitetrain8601

I think one of the things that killed Eloy and a lot of Sox players was the joy they used to play with. I mean, Rick Renteria allowed them to have fun. Tim Anderson is the one most folks point to, but Eloy definitely had fun. Whether it was him tipping his cap, the way he wore his shirt, etc. I think once TLR came in, things got too uptight. Not saying Eloy will ever meet his potential. I think a strength and conditioning coach will play more into that, but it's just a factor in terms of why some things didn't work out.

That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying Robert should've been dealt last offseason, aka Winter 2023 into 2024. Crochet should've been dealt in June. It's not like the innings thing was some revelation, only him talking about it was. They knew back then they weren't going to resign him. So with that stated, they should've gone ahead and dealt him right away. Instead, they waited up until the trade deadline and fractured a relationship (despite what Getz says).

D He traded a lot of guys which he gets credit for. That's it. Those deals were pretty bad though. The Fedde one is a fireable offense. I mean, after seeing what the Marlins got, there's no reason why they couldn't get that done for Fedde after Crochet was off the table. They held onto Crochet too long and got cute. Lots of folks believed they should've dealt him in June. The longer you held on, the bigger the risk because of the IP. Robert should've been dealt last off season, if not, right after he came back. With it being a seller's market, and this being the best they could do - yeah, no. There's no hope for the team.

Told everyone on Sunday, that's exactly what I heard. It wasn't only a want, it was a requirement.

Waste for the Orioles considering Cowser and Hjerstad need playing time. White Sox willing to dump anyone if it means saving money.

That's a little inaccurate. Machado had full intentions of going to the White Sox. He thought it would be a done deal, especially with them signing on the Friends and Family plan. With that stated, they played games with the money which you don't do with a HoF in the prime of their career.

Because Morel is more of a pull guy. They need more power in that lineup. More importantly, he gives them the flexibility to play in other spots and open a spot for their top prospect.

Correct. The extension stuff killed it for a lot of teams. Keep in mind, the teams that want him are attracted to him due are mostly large market teams. Perhaps the biggest attraction is getting a lefty ace at the beginning of his prime FOR CHEAP so they could stay under certain thresholds. Crochet threw that out the window. Some of those teams GMs would still go after him in a heartbeat, even with the same prospects attached. The problem is, their owners will not okay that. Especially with the White Sox also trying to pry Benentendi in the deal, seemingly.

This may be outdated by Heyman already. I was told that the Sox actually had advanced discussions for Crochet before Thursday. Three teams that the Sox were talking to throughout the process flat out dropped out. One of the trades did have Benintendi attached, but couldn't be confirmed if the other one did as well. At least one team was still interested until Crochet was asked about it. The priority has been Crochet, Fedde and Kopech over the last week. The Sox will not give anyone away. The deals that I've heard for Robert would have folks here more pissed than the day JR opened his mouth about the Shohei stuff last year. One team has checked in on a Robert, Crochet deal since Friday. That's all I have.

If this was straight up, I like the deal for the Cubs. If it was even Morel and two lower level prospects, I still like it. Bigge and Morel? Nope.

It's really simple. The Sox don't want to spend money in their front office either. They cost cut everywhere.

See what The Beast said. I do think there will be some time of unexpected expense (that's how it always works), which is why I think they beat the Sox to the punch. Because if you're funding the Sox stadium with the same revenue stream, your budgets have to be tight and you have to be in cost cutting mode if you're short at that point. But once shovels go in the ground (which Kevin Warren is aiming for this spring), then they're not going to stop. It's not. It's already something that's in place. It was set to expire, but if you've followed state or city politics, you should know that it was never going to go away. It was just going to be repurposed for something else, even if it's not a new stadium. See Illinois Tollway for example.

They're basically going to use the hotel tax at 2% that ISFA uses. I could see them increasing that to 3% even which isn't taxing residents. With that stated, you build that stadium, you also expect to have a lot more hotel tenants with the events lining up such as Final Four for men's and women's, Wrestlemania, Super Bowl, International Soccer, and Olympics (I see them bidding in the next 3 cycles). It could work. Yep. And I'm happy for that. Force JR's hand.

Looking at the Bears presentation, the stadium looks nice. No new taxes. Replacing existing Soldier Field with pure green space. I think the Bears beat the Sox to it.

Don't give into his demands then, and it will make him sell apparently. I'm down for that.

I would be excited, but while the Sox may, if all pans out, have young, controllable young pitching, that's not saying much. That's how JR likes his teams built. Young and cheap. The entire roster will be young and cheap. The main thing missing is good. We all know he won't supplement the roster. Vaughn looks like a 4A player, at best. Benentendi, numbers wise, might be the worst signing in MLB in the past 14 years.

Warning: Incoming Rant The problem is the lack of finances JR and the board make available for FAs or even big trade acquisitions. The problem is the team owner lying through his teeth about making a quick hire to ensure he had a leg up on the competition because he wanted to remain competitive this year. The problem is the owner scoffs at the idea of paying any player market value. The problem is the owner wants to model himself after small market KC Royals. The problem is the goddamn owner's favorite player is David Eckstein. The problem is the owner doesn't value the fans, their opinions, or their desires. The problem is, the owner has always had this mindset and gotten away with it. He lucked into one world series. He hired Kenny because it would be cheaper than the alternative. He hired Ozzie who was so damn determined to take any job, that he took one where he argued with the GM in the goddamn interview room. The problem was, the owner still allowed the hire because it would still be cheaper than the alternatives. This goddamn owner hired his friend when a WS caliber manager was available. The problem is, that same damn owner won't even hire a competent staff that could hide a lot of his cheapness on the field; he rather hire the cheapest staff that money can hire. The same goddamn owner who only makes 250 of his novelty shakes on gameday because he's too fkn cheap to make any more. "You know the price of a cow went up". And that's just the owner. We have a GM who is in over his head. He didn't have credentials to be leading the farm system, yet here he was, leading the farm system. And what did that farm system produce in his time? A whole lot of nothing. Many of his top prospects wouldn't be ranked in the top 25 of other organizations. Why? Well part of the reason why is because the goddamn owner refuses to pay over slot for players and refuses to trade for international money. Why is he here? Because the owner was too cheap and too lazy to go actually find someone worth a damn. So lazy, in fact, that he sought a waiver from MLB to let him just make the hire. His idea of creating a competitive ball club is trading whatever prospects we have for bench players or fringe MLB type. To give playing time to 4A players or contracts to players way past their bedtime and their prime. We have a GM who's okay with knowing that he won't ever be able to spend a dime. And we have that same GM who recommended the piece of s%*# manager. And who is the manager? The worst manager, coach, leader of any professional sports team in the world. I mean it. I have more confidence in a soccer coach who's never even watched baseball to do a better job leading these men. This organization is a joke, but you know what's more of a joke? Major league baseball. Because to them, as long as the good ole boys club is not interrupted, they could give a s%*# less about competition in their sport. They could care less about fun. It's why you have s%*# popping up in Oakland, and more s%*# popping up in the third biggest city in the nation.

Hobson is George Lucas' wife? Sorry, I haven't followed ownership stuff at all other than JR wanted his family to sell the team when he's gone.

Not getting at least one of Machado or Harper while you had a cheap young core locked up and had clear holes on the roster. Then, instead using the money on the likes of Yasmani Grandal and those types.

Do you project this team needing 4 years or less to compete? Because if you don't, you're not doing yourself any favors by not trading him.

You deal everyone who looks worth a cent, including Luis Robert.

At one point or another, yes, you want that prospect. But as time goes by, you're willing to deal that prospect for even a flawed player. Padres are great at showcasing their prospects and putting them in positions to succeed, but I would bet maybe 5 of their top 25 prospects over the past 3 years even pan out into + WAR players over the course of their careers. Look at Washington. They thought they got a haul for Soto.

I give it a D. Padres gave up prospects they "developed", but didn't want. If Cease pitches well, they could flip him again at the deadline. Sox were also adamant about top end talent. Doesn't feel like we got that. Lastly, when you're rebuilding, I'm always in the opinion that you trade star pitching for position players, because everyday players affect the season more than SP. Talks about Spencer Jones or Kjerstad, and we go Thorpe? Yeah, no.

A developer. I don't think that's too hard. They may sell it at a slight loss, but maybe not since the area is clear. You can start building on it almost immediately.

I think they end up selling Arlington Heights and are including that sale as part of the "We'll pony up 2 mil". And I think that's why it gets done. Even if the stadium is 4 billion to build, that's half. You would be lucky to get even a quarter of that from JR.