Jack Parkman

I'd consider it if they threw in $44M to offset Heyward's contract. That gets it down to 4/42 which is actually reasonable for Heyward.

Sign someone to the largest deal(in dollars) in Sox history. As of right now it's Abreu's $68M so it isn't a high bar. A 4/80 for Wheeler would do the trick.

So for the last couple months I feel like I've done a lot of damage to my reputation as a poster. I've put a lot of things out there that I wish I didn't, and it took me until this weekend to realize what was going on. I'm pretty messed up right now. Not only am I dealing with being on the autistic spectrum, I've been dealing with chronic pain for the better part of 20 years. About two years ago, it started to get really bad and it got so bad by the end of 2018 that I couldn't do anything anymore other than sit at home. I tried to fight through it as much as I could but it just kept getting worse. In April, I decided to have surgery to hopefully correct my issues. I've been dealing with the after effects of it(Physical therapy and another surgery) for the better part of the last 6 months. I'm not handling it well. I haven't been able to do much of anything for 6 months. Even so, the PT isn't far enough along that I can work or go do things I enjoy yet. Please forgive me for being an uber grouch for the last 3 months or so because I'm pretty pissed off about how long this is taking and the rate of progress. I'm going to try not to post angry anymore and sit on them for 30 mins before submitting. I'm a lot more testy and assholish than normal right now. I have just started to realize I've been posting angry way too much. Please be kind. Cheers, Parkman.

I'm going back on one, but I felt the need to call out that guy for being a dick.

You did. You personally attacked me for being open about my condition. It doesn't matter what you think, it matters what I think...you'll never get it so just STFU. I don't think this was an outlandish claim nor a ridiculous opinion. It's entirely plausible based on how the Sox ran their teamEven though I believed it at first because it made a metric ton of sense, I chose to back off because acknowledging it as fact or truth would make me want to quit being a fan of the team. I don't want to do that right now. I'm willing to give JR 2 offseasons to prove Sampson wrong. If he continues to behave like Sampson is correct, I'll have to come to terms with that. I apologize for calling people sheep for not believing it. None of us want to believe that it is true. The comment initially set me off because how the Sox were run from 2000-2012 fits the bill.

Now you're just being an asshole and this completely crossed the line. Don't be a dick, Richard. I came back to call you out. This is just entirely mean-spirited and hurtful.

I've been gunslinging way too much lately. I'm out.

I think I've made a fool of myself in this thread and a couple other ones. I'm taking a break from posting here until the Sox make their first move of the winter. I need to re-evaluate my posting habits.

It made a lot of sense when it was posted. Legit criticism. I'll take the heat for that one. I didn't know how much of a scumbag the guy that said this was, and that he's tried to make a lot of people in baseball look bad since he left the Marlins. That's on me. It doesn't change the plausibility of this accusation. There's no way to know for sure, so I guess people should just go on like it never happened. The Sox have a wonderful core of players in place, and nobody should give any passes if they screw this up. There is a strong possibility that this is a false accusation, however that does not change the plausibility of it. If you look back at 2000-2016, it looks really bad for JR at the very least, and if you have your tin foil hat on, it is indicting at worst. I looked at it and assumed the worst case scenario. I tend to do that way too much. I tend to be very gullible, so I assume the worst out of people until proven otherwise rather than the opposite. It's a way that I protect myself from being taken advantage of. Apologies.

This. Nice post.

I'm with ya about this. I mean, this does seem a little out of character. However, it is somewhat plausible when you have to compete withe the Yankees and Red Sox just to get to the World Series. I posted this thread because I thought the accusation should be discussed, and its plausibility.

I've talked about this before, I have mixed feelings about Reinsdorf as an owner. As a fan, I can't stand some of the stuff he does, but I appreciate that he treats his employees very well. We need more of that in all workplaces.

Because maybe I'm not so negative and I'm willing to give JR the benefit of the doubt for the time being. The guy who said this is a known scumbag, so it's possible that he's talking out of his ass. I'm not waiting forever. I'm giving him a couple more offseasons to prove this guy wrong. Who knows? Maybe this will motivate JR to open his wallet for once. I won't deny that it was an extremely plausible accusation. I left the Hawks for 7 years when Dollar Bill traded Roenick and Belfour, I've done it before and I'm not afraid to do it again. If I leave, I'll be back when ownership changes hands.

I 100% believed that the owner wanted to win until today. Then suddenly things have changed. I'm not 100% on the dark side yet but I'm considering it because the way they ran the Sox for the better part of two decades backs up what that guy from the Marlins said. I don't know what to think right now. This is a plausible accusation. I think I'm going to wait it out over the next few years and make Jerry prove this guy wrong.

I didn't believe that until today. I mostly believed what CWS and The Sir believed, that JR wouldn't go into the red for a season or two and that he had to at least come out slightly ahead, as well as being incredibly risk-averse with contracts. Now, I'm not so sure. I don't want to believe this is true. Reinsdorf had to release a statement denying that he ever said this, and that he actually wants to win. Take that for what it's worth. Even if it is true, it isn't like he'd publicly admit it.

My skepticism isn't going to go away until they make the ALDS for 2 consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

The overwhelming evidence is 2000-2008. They had multiple opportunities to put those teams over the top and never did it. Idk how old you are, but what they did to the 2003 team was quite frankly intentional sabotage. With the exception of 05-06, they were always a couple pitchers or bats short, and continually refused to plug holes. 2001-04 was the poster child for this behavior. They never went into the season without glaring weaknesses, and always seemed to win 81-88 games. They were always just good enough to fall short. The evidence isn't in the reporting, but the behavior of the team over the 2000s and into the early 2010s before it all crashed in 2013. Their 2014-15 offseason is more evidence that this is what they planned to do, but it didn't work as well as they had hoped. This entire century through 2016 is enough evidence for you to be convinced. It's not only about what was said. It's about what was said AND what they did from 2000-2016. That combination should be enough to convince everyone. Actually it's more about the fact that what they did always made no sense until you hear this quote. Then it makes a lot more sense. How the Sox ran the team from 2000-2016 backs up this quote. If how they ran the team didn't back this up, I probably would be as dismissive as you guys are of the quote. But how the team has been run for the better part of two decades backs it up. A lot of illogical decisions they made suddenly become logical. Maybe there just aren't enough people who truly remember 2001-04 like I do. I'm sure everyone remembers 2011-12, and 15-16 and that fits the bill as well.

That is the one exception, and you don't get a free pass coming off of a WS. Everyone's arm fell off that year. Garcia showed up to ST throwing 86 mph. Contreras and Buehrle were good in the first half, and sucked in the 2nd half. They still haven't recovered in CF from trading Rowand, but nobody complained about giving Anderson a chance. Garland went back to being Garland. If the pitching would have held up they would have won 100 games that year but whatever. When it was obvious that Anderson was failing they could have gone and grabbed a CF and Bullpen help. I'm done litigating the 2006 Sox.

There is no FO that treats its customers like that in sports other than the Sox. I don't get why they feel the need to insult the fanbase to the media.

In 2001 they had a cheap team with the #1 farm system in baseball and didn't do anything noteworthy. One of my favorite(sarcasm) White Sox things that they do is trade for a star player during their walk year. Wells and Colon fit this. They like to trade for 1 year rentals a lot. Hopefully they learned from Samardzija.

The flexibility goes away in 2021 though when guys start hitting arbitration. I'd feel a lot better if they could get Moncada and Giolito to sign extensions this winter, but idk how realistic that is.

I'm not completely closing my mind to the possibility, but I won't believe it until it happens. Same as I thought last year. They have to prove me wrong. I don't necessarily believe they're going to go super cheap this winter, but rather they're going to sign a lot of B-/C+ guys. Guys like Odorizzi, Wood, Dickerson, Calhoun, etc. and maybe make a trade or two. Wheeler is the highest profile guy I think they'd be on.

There's literally no reason to believe this isn't true. They had multiple opportunities from 2000-2008 to put the team over the top and win more than one title and they never did it.

You're right, but they have to get really lucky. Lightning struck once, I'm not counting on it happening again.

Yes, mostly because he had multiple chances to put very competitive teams over the top from 1995-2012 and he never did it. The 2003 team was the most egregious example of self-sabotage.