chitownsportsfan

It's the lack of respect they have for the fans that really gets us. Not even casual fans think this team is going anywhere this season.

That's fine, as there will probably be a hot market for him in July as well. And maybe then they'll get what they want. I don't think it's a bad thing a deal hasn't gotten done. Hell, if nothing else it cooled off Orioles fans crowing on this site.

The Sox expected two Boras clients, both veteran pitchers looking for that last big deal, to have signed already? I mean, OK. You can expect that, but I can also expect a 60 degree sunny week ahead here in God's own PNW in the middle of February.

Simply seeing the obvious hasn't been a strong suit of the Sox' lately.

From your lips to my ears Jimmy. I've disagreed with you on many things over the years but there's no doubt you're closer to the org than most -- and if you are hearing that and sensing it, LFG. It's about time we stopped building our 25 man roster around 2-3 guys every year that should be strictly DHs and then trotting them out into the field. DH should be the last spot you worry about, not the springboard for how everything else has to be laid out.

If you can only point to 2-3 orgs at any given time, and then those orgs can only sustain it for a few years, it's not something reliable. It's like the Sox' run of SP health in the aughts, it will probably never be duplicated, and in hindsight, a large part of it was probably just luck. Don't get me wrong, this org has had some of the worst instructors and coaches in baseball the last 5 years or so and I'd love to see improvement there. But expecting anything more than "first do no harm" is too much. At the end of the day players play and coaches coach and there hasn't been a baseball team in history that has had coaching drive their success over a multi year time frame, it's players, always.

a little creativity would go a long way. There's absolutely zero pressure to compete for anything this year and that should (in theory) free up the 40 man to be used as more of a shuttle bus than in a competing year where you might need those 2-3 guys on it and in AAA to come up in midseason and hold down the fort. We have no fort to hold down, if we have to call up half a dozen career minor leaguers by midseason, just cycle through all of them, purchase the contract, put 'em on the 40 man, and then DFA as needed. I understand there is a human element and guys might get offended being "jerked around" but FFS, this is pro ball and we've again, we've got no culture to speak of any good, we might as well have a culture of treating this thing like a 3 year plan and get a look at as many guys as possible until we need to settle on a roster built to weather the storm over 162 in a contention window.

I wouldn't over complicate it for now. Just cut sheets, claim Njigba. There is a decent chance that nobody claims Sheets. A lefty DH, that can't hit RHP and has regressed to below replacement level that is entering his age 27 season isn't even AAAA fodder imo, he's now down into career AAA org guy territory. Notably, there's nothing in his underlying stats that points to bad luck, he was just incredibly awful. His xWOBA was .265 FFS. 14% of his ball in play were popups. He stinks. Lord knows this club isn't going to stay healthy, so there will be playing time available at some point for Njigba. I'd rather give him every single inning in the OF over Shields when they come available.

Seems like he was just saying much like a golf swing, there's always a wrong way to get the clubface on the ball, but there's also a lot of right ways -- and that each pitcher, like a golfer, will have his own right way. I dunno, read like mostly fluff to me. To the extent pitching tacticians, coaches, whatever can make a difference it's not something you can rely on year in year out and certainly not with the talent we currently have in the starting rotation. If nothing else, maybe it can help Kopech avoid injury. That would be valuable.

Looking at the 40 man roster, to the extent they have a 40 man crunch, it's only because they haven't cut a bunch of dead wood. If they have a bunch of guys that will need protecting in the offseason, than worry about that in the offseason. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/roster/40-man You're telling me Sheets, and at least a couple pitchers, couldn't be cast off for a better, younger player should one come available like Njigba? We're gonna lose 90+ games, why in the world wouldn't we be bringing in guys like Njigba if available?

Yea I've followed him a bit because of his brother. If nothing else he fits what Getz has said he wants to do with the 40 man, get more athletic, more versatile. There's a chance this guy could be a useful 4th OF and a piece we could either flip or try and develop a bit.

Yea why not. Sheets is a DH that can't hit. He's old enough now to where you can't even squint and see him improving enough to ever play a competent corner OF.

Might as well bring him into camp, some electric athletes in that family. Not like we have anything to lose.

You in finance? You seem like you have a good handle on this. The minutiae of it is almost endless. I know a lot of the times the municipal bond interest is then resold as general interest bearing debt or ends up funding...pension plans. There's a lot of positives if the city can get the right deal. Thing is, does anybody really trust JR to want to strike a fair deal? Chicago isn't the best run city but it's not the worst either, and they aren't just going to bend over for him. Some of you guys have said the general political will is strong, but we'll see how that goes after it gets out of the hyper local interests into citywide politics.

I keep making the point but if it was a multi use facility, that would have Taylor Swift concerts and rodeo championships and boat shows and hosted local little league games and so on and on and on -- it would have an order of magnitude more value to the city, the local area, and ultimately the people of Chicago. But if JR wants to use it 81 times a year and have it mostly sit empty the rest of the time, he can take his ball down to Nashville and nobody will give a f***.

A snowball won't last long in hell, and while I big upped your awesome post outlining exactly what should happen if JR had any shread of common sense left in his noggin -- ain't no way.

yea I'm very confused on that general point. Are they basically just able to pay the interest and not pay down the principle? How exactly would it be retired? Would the Illinois agency just write it off as a bad debt and take the haircut?

Pros: Did a helluva job advancing WBC, pitch clock, bigger bases, shift limits Cons: extra innings rules, revenue sharing and draft changes are stupid and counter productive. I'm sure I'm missing a few things either way but he's done some good and bad.

@South Side Hit Men Yea that's what I figured. Basically the city would be retiring a debt mostly already paid in order to take on a new, much bigger debt, that would be subject to the same downside risk except now you've increased that risk by stretching it over three decades. How many pandemics can we fit in before it's paid off? I want some gold star plated accounting and consulting firm to project what the revenue would be if the city could use the stadium for its own uses for 200+ days a year. That's the nut here. Of course JR's greedy ass wants all that gate and licensing revenue too. f*** HIM.

Use this one weird trick to sign the players you want at the price you can afford!

I don't have a sub and can't read the entire article, how exactly would the city retire the SF debt? It sounds great in theory, but what are the actual mechanisms?

Yup, you just said what I did in 1/3 the words, perfectly said. JR wants all the upside, he wants the city to take on all the downside. f*** that.

Again, in my layman's opinion "retiring city's obligation" on the SF debt is doing a lot of work. The city is taking on new risk by transferring the hotel tax revenue to JR, instead of the ISFA. This certainly isn't a slam dunk from the city and taxpayer's perspective. It is of course a slam dunk for JR.

I actually think he's done a lot of good things. Mixed bag really. Same way I feel about Silver.

As is his style, he's completely out to lunch on the sad reality of his franchise in 2024. This is not the LA Dodgers. Frankly, it's not even the Oakland Athletics. This is a franchise to where if it left the city tmr, outside of a few diehards, would get a Larry David style "nobody gives a f***" shrug in Chicago. He's acting like he's got all this leverage, bro.