Balta1701
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Posts posted by Balta1701
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1 hour ago, ScootsMcGoots said:
I honestly think Ozzie would be great for guys like Moncada and Eloy. He would give them the kick in the ass they need.
Ozzie had a pretty decent record with young pitchers (Garland, Danks, Floyd), how much of that was Cooper who knows but they did a good job together.
Ozzie's performance with guys in the lineup...was less positive. You had guys like Anderson, Viciedo who were completely buried because Ozzie immediately declared them to be platoon players or just said he wasn't playing them, he needed his vetz like Juan Pierre and Rob bleeping Mackowiak in the lineup whenever possible. Carlos Quentin was benched to start the 2008 season because small guys like Jerry Owens were more valuable. The Mark Kotsay experience was on Ozzie. Ozzie would love the roster Getz put together this year, full of short guys who don't produce much but who have da experience and da TWTW. Eloy is a guy he'd probably be looking to bench or get rid of, because that's not how you play baseball, you have to bunt and Eloy can't bunt.
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24 minutes ago, KipWellsFan said:
I have issues with the Tony La Russa bit, but nothing in the main article cited here is offensive. And the quote above cuts off the other sentence which says:
I get it that Sox fans are pissed. Rightfully so. But this article is a nothing burger.
This is one of those where the actual correct response, the one that doesn't sound terrible, is to acknowledge there's a problem and vow to fix it. He could easily have doubled back on the other things he said in this interview.
"Pedro, some fans want to know why you haven't been fired yet, how do you respond to that"?
"Well, honestly I understand their frustration, we lost 101 games last year, our defense was poor, we had a lot of things to fix. The fans have a right to be frustrated with that style of play and that level of performance. But this year, I think we have a good group of guys in the clubhouse, we are going to be better on defense, I don't know how the season is going to wind up but I expect the fans will see progress and improvement on the field, and I hope they judge all of us by the improvement they see."
Contrast that with:
‘‘It didn’t look right, maybe, in their eyes last year,’’ he said. ‘‘But there’s a reason I am where I am, right? You don’t just get handed these [manager] jobs, right? This is one of 30. So over time, you know, I’ve earned the right to be here. But I’ve got to continue to prove that, you know, [hiring me] was the right decision.’’
See the difference? In one he's telling the fans they're wrong and he didn't get handed the job for no reason so he must have done a good job so all those other peons must be wrong, that "maybe it didn't look right in their eyes last year" (really, maybe????), in the other he's saying that the fans who pay his salary have some genuine complaints and he expects to do a job this year that will satisfy some of those complaints.
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1 hour ago, ptatc said:
If you read the article, that's a possible plan again. It doesn't matter how he gets his innings. He is going to be limited to reliever number of innings.
But we are 22 months from TJS instead of a ludicrous 13, and we aren’t expecting him to come back from surgery and immediately save the bullpen as a high leverage arm.
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12 minutes ago, ptatc said:
Does it really matter with this roster? You can bet that Getz is going to call the shits just like Hahn did. Next year when the kids are up for the season they'll have a new manager.
I agree with the idea that Getz is calling the shits.
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9 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:
I'm trying to see a sliver of a silver lining. 😉
I get what Getz is trying to do, but I do feel like he believes he can import a culture by bringing in his correct Vetz, and praise be to Maldy fits with that. But I think the Sox have had plenty of vets rip them upon leaving - Keuchel, Lynn, Middleton, and that tell me something about the idea of importing leaders rather than having a solid organizational footing.
If you want a silver lining, aside from $15 million or so spent on his Vetz, Getz did not make things worse. No trades for Perez, no prospects given up, no Hahn “we are one player away” backloaded signings. I don’t like the “overpay for guys I like and former Royals” mentality, but it is way better than the Hahn way.
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1 minute ago, chitownsportsfan said:
Bro you coulda just said catcher ERA isn't a thing?
I haven’t found the numbers for the full team but their starters did not have better ERAs throwing to Maldonado.
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56 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:
There are a lot of ways to come to that conclusion. If all you look at is offensive and defensive metrics that's your likely conclusion.
However if you want Cease and the rest of the staff to pitch well enough to be traded for more than we expect, a veteran catcher calling a good game recognizing his pitcher's strengths and weaknesses and making adjustments on the fly may be a positive influence.
That to me is the main reason to play the season. Get as much as u can for Cease and others . For catchers his preparation , knowledge, intelligence might mean more to the Sox future than any other player. I guarantee he'll be catching Cease.
The thing with Maldonado is that “he handles the staff well” has become a self fulfilling prophecy. He must handle the staff well because everyone says he handles the staff well.
Last year, Framber Valdez throws a no hitter and it’s because Maldy called a great game. Valdez gives up 6 runs and it’s because Valdez had an off day or wasn’t prepped. It could never have been Maldy’s fault because he calls a great game.
Several of the Astros starters had down years last year especially in the second half, but Maldy can’t bear responsibility for that. Hunter Brown has a lower ERA throwing to Diaz, he threw to Diaz in the minors, but we have to spend the second half having him throw to Maldonado because Maldonado has to start playoff games, not the guy with the OPS like 300 points higher, better defense, and better work with that pitcher. Then, Brown has a bad enough second half that he isn’t in the playoff rotation, but that can’t be Maldy’s fault because we know he calls a great game so it must be the pitcher not understanding his greatness.
Maldonado calling a great game, for Dusty at the end, was Leury having a good day in the batting cages for LaRussa. It was a truth that couldn’t be challenged by anyone, even if it doesn’t look good. These pitchers had bad games - that’s not on Maldonado, ever.
I think the Astros are better led and that limited it from being a problem, but I think we’d have seen Dusty’s deference to this player become a real problem this year if Dusty had come back, one of those that really causes a break with the GM and coaches. It started to last year because people around here could recognize the struggling rotation pieces and how Awful Maldonado was with the bat, and there was an awful lot of talk about it.
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47 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:
Good point. Is it better to lose 4-0 or 10-6? At least the 4-0 game is over under 3 hours I guess. To be fair, with this staff we might just be losing 10-0 a lot.
With that lineup, the white Sox are going to have an awful lot of short games this year.
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1 minute ago, wegner said:
9. Maldonado can't be worse than Grandal.
I can't stress this enough...last year, Maldonado was literally, by basically every publication I have checked, the worst catcher in all of baseball.
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Just now, Lip Man 1 said:
I still think if the Sox get off to another dreadful start (which is certainly possible) he's fired around Memorial Day.
Normally I think you're wrong, and then I read things he says.
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3 minutes ago, ptatc said:
Good luck.
Better chance of success here than the ridiculous and insane miracle that was key to their bullpen plans last year.
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2 hours ago, GreenSox said:
I just got the feeling that the Burger trade (KW doing it sort of behind Hahn's back) just was "the last straw" for Reinsdorf and cemented in his mind that the front office dysfunction was irredeemable.
Burger was such a strange player to trade (good attitude, lots of control). I doubt the trade ever really haunts us (in the Semien/Tatis sense) but if it does, at least the culprit is gone. And we got a young pitcher in return, so good things could still happen.
Edit: I just read Law's report on the Sox' top 20, and he said that the Eder (#6) trade was a "buy low" opportunity.
I said this a lot at the time - trading away a player like Jake Burger makes a ton of sense for the White Sox.
1. He's position limited at positions where the White Sox have several players, including some minor league talent (3b, 1b/DH).
2. He's defensively a liability. The White Sox defensively aren't good enough to just cover for him.
3. The fact that he's pre-arbitration means that teams who don't trade for guys close to free agency will be in on him. This happened - the market for 3bs making $15 million in their last arbitration year is almost nothing. The market for weak defensive 3b who are pre-arbitration exists.
4. He's already going to turn 28 in April. Although he doesn't have a ton of experience, this is not some 23 year old prospect we're talking about whose body might fill out or whose abilities might increase.
5. His injury history makes holding him a risk for a team in position of the White Sox. At least with Cease, he's been healthy and reliable for 3+ years, you can say it would be surprising and out of character if he got hurt even though he's a pitcher, that isn't the case with Burger.
6. The 2023-2025 White Sox don't look good. At all. Jake Burger will probably give his biggest contributions in the next few years. These do not match up.None of this means that Hahn identified a quality return, it's not like I have a ton of confidence in him, but if "Trading Burger away was such a mistake that I'm firing you" was how it went down, that is not a good sign. Trading Burger away was aggressive on rebuilding, but also sensible in the context of the White Sox.
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11 hours ago, GreenSox said:
Yeah, but they all play good D. He could’ve gotten guys for those prices that hit a little better, but who aren’t defensively solid.
this wasn’t the year to invest real $ in free agents, even if they could. And if nothing else, and there probably isn’t much else, the Sox will have a first rate defensive team out there.They don't all play good D.
They all have reputations for playing good D, sometimes several seasons ago.
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6 minutes ago, bmags said:
I would probably be advocating for JJ McCarthy at 6 tbh and Odunze at 9 and keeping Fields
Is McCarthy being looked at as going that high?
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this one is paywalled for me but there's presumably the business version discussed here.
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27 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:
I'm really hoping he is sent down or DFA'd, because beyond the 2 solid months in 2021 he parlayed into three years of MLB baseball, you can't carry a platoon only DH only player with four bench spots. Especially one with an under .700 OPS with all but under 100 ABs with the platoon advantage.
Crochet concerns me more. It's not his fault he was misused in 2021 if he in fact was/is ever capable of starting. He has 13 short inning college starts since high school. The time to convert him was in 2021. Even if he beats the odds and successfully converts, he will start 20-25 games next year if all goes perfect, with his first full year as starter in 2026, his walk year.
If he is willing to sign an extension to stay here and work through a conversion, perhaps that might make sense. For the current team and time before the next legitimate competitive window, transitioning to a successful closer or set up role and being flipped or extended is what makes sense at this stage.
if they're starting Crochet at AAA and using an option year on him, don't they get an additional year of service time if he's down for like 2 months?
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30 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:
Merkin “predicts” the 26 man Opening Day roster.
https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-2024-opening-day-roster
Starters: C M. Maldonado; 1B A. Vaughn; 2B N. Lopez; SS P. DeJong; 3B Y. Moncada; LF A. Benintendi; CF L. Robert Jr.; RF D. Fletcher; DH E. JimenezReserves: C M. Stassi; INF/OF D. Mendick; OF K. Pillar; DH G. Sheets
Rotation: 1 D. Cease; 2 M. Kopech; 3 E. Fedde; 4 M. Soroka; 5 C. Flexen
Bullpen: J. Brebbia; J. Chavez; T. Hill; J. Shuster; T. Toussaint; D. Garcia; S. Drohan (Rule 5); P. Berroa
Others Mentioned AAA / Reserves
- C K. Lee; E. Quero
- INF C. Montgomery
- OF Z. DeLoach
- INF/OF Z. Remillard
- SP G. Crochet (AAA to stretch out); N. Nastrini; J. Eder
- RP J. Leasure; J. Lambert; T. Banks; A. Speas; J. Barlow
If I'm counting right, that means they need 3 40-man roster spots? Chavez, Pillar, Mendick.
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5 minutes ago, fathom said:
It also is a ridiculous comment from Getz because it’s not like he signed these defensive upgrades to long-term deals. Guys like Pillar, Maldonado and Dejong will be here for a season (at most).
Maldonado is probably here for 2 and you know that.
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3 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:
I think the whole thing gets serious when the parties decide to talk about how it gets paid for. I know many are saying this will be an economic home run for the city, but really? People will just be spending money there that they would have been spending in another neighborhood. That's what just about every study of a publicly funded stadium has ever shown. There are 2 entities that get rich on it, Related and the White Sox.
If the White Sox and that realty company spent the money to produce renderings and designs already, my guess is that they're early in the process of deciding this right now. We are seeing a little bit of financial posturing in the press, each side is going to want to make sure that they get every last cent, but we are also seeing them avoid any declarative "Take it or leave it" kinda statements. I have to guess that's exactly what they are doing right now.
And yes, high density development being created in this area would be very different from just having spending shifted from one neighborhood to another. It would support development of the surrounding neighborhoods as well as generating revenue on its own. Hopefully it also frees up the space in Bridgeport for appropriate redevelopment as well. This should be obvious by the fact that "There are other buildings in the designs for the property that they showed".
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1 hour ago, The Beast said:
I would have taken the points in the red zone like the 49ers did in overtime, but I wonder what the analytics would say to do.
What boggles my mind is that KC is likely better next year. That secondary is legit and their draft picks this year and last year will likely help them restock. Losing Jones will sting but no more than Hill or the other guys they lost.
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7 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:
Both are bad, but Maldonado hasn’t had his complete lower half breakdown on him. Remember, Yaz admitted to not having feeling in his legs at points while running the bases. Maldonado is more likely to have some sort of resurgence for a half than Yaz IMO. Plus there’s a history of pitchers who truly enjoy throwing to him. Can’t say that about Yaz.
Maldonado hasn’t had a .700 OPS since 126 at bats in 2014. What exactly is a resurgence for him?
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24 minutes ago, Johno said:
Does this money carry over to next year or the team just loses it if they don’t spend it?
While it is tradeable it does not carry over if not spent.
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Who had money on Jennings for MVP? He’s like one play away?
Grifol, Sox out to prove doubters wrong in 2024 (Merkin Optimism Series)
in Pale Hose Talk
Posted
For now, I am half joking about Grifol benching Montgomery if he's called up late in the year because DeJong and Lopez have got to get their at bats. It might still happen, some guys got that treatment last year.
I have zero doubt that if Montgomery were called up in August for any reason other than an injury while Ozzie is the manager, he's playing 2, maybe 3 times a week. DeJong has earned it.