Dick Allen

If the White Sox rushed Moncada, what did the world champions do to him? I think we would all take their development results.

Yet you claimed earlier since Moncada was “rushed”, everyone has to be treated the same. You also claimed it may takeKopech and Eloy more than a season to adjust, yet you are pinning a couple of months sample size on Madrigal. At least there. Used be. Some logic to your arguments. Recently, you have no consistency and even make stuff up.

As long as Madrigal doesn’t bust, Moncada will be playing 3B or the OF. And it shouldn’t be too much of a learning curve for him. Many players have switched positions without issue. Tim Raines was a 2B.

Same with me. He did well in the mop ups in 2018,, but that is with no scouting report on him, and no intensity from the opposition. If they project him to be anything but a joke in a legit situation, pursue it. Otherwise, work on making some contact this offseason. the problem with working on his pitching is it takes away from working on his hitting. His hitting needs a lot of work.

The Bulls defense is really a joke. You can blame injuries if you want, but that is just making excuses. They have plenty of guys on their team physically capable of being decent defenders, but they chose not to be, and the Bulls apparently choose not to emphasize it.

How are any of the Bulls injuries on the Bulls training staff?

As long as it's legit. I know he looked decent the few times he did pitch, but a lot of guys can look halfway decent in those spots. It doesn't hurt to have an extra guy to save your bullpen in out of reach games. If it's just a novelty, pass.

If the White Sox are awful in 2019, it means guys like Giolito and Lopez and Moncada, and Anderson, and several more didn’t take the next step. Which would not be good. it also means the longer you go without improving, the better the chance you aren’t going to improve. Signing a guy like Machado, not that I think there is much of a chance, but some seemed pretty convinced several months ago there was a decent chance, shows some faith in your young players and their capacity to put it all together. But they are going to have to blow him away.

Most season ticket accounts are corporate. You might be surprised where you would be able to sit if you wanted some lower level boxes. Not nearly as close as you would think. What would be interesting is to see how many companies hold on to their tickets during the losing. They cannot partially be written off anymore. If no one is using them, they might dump them. I do know at my company they have some sweet ones about 4 rows behind the Sox dugout, and if the executives or sales people aren't using them, they raffle them off. There is always a lot of entries.

To me managing comes down to 2 things. Running your bullpen, and making sure guys don't check out. Other than that, there are millions capable of being a major league managet.

Machado wants to play on the East coast. Probably should have traded some decent prospects for him last winter so he could have experienced how awesome it is to lose 100 games when no one is paying attention.

If I am not writing the checks and the choice is asshole Machado or great guy Yolmer playing 3B, it’s a pretty easy call. I want to see wins, and I don’t hang out with these guys. If he were a wife beater or something along those lines, it would be a different story. But he is certainly not as disruptive as an Albert Belle. The hustle thing would be a concern. The other stuff is no big deal when he is on your team. AJP loathed, becomes beloved White Sox. Bob Probert, big time asshole, becomes beloved Blackhawk. Sammy Sosa, beloved Cub. Dennis Rodman, beloved Bull. Machado’s rep isn’t half as bad as most of these guys.

Turns out Sales illness was from an irritation caused by a belly button ring.

My feelings certain aren’t hurt. This board is loaded with diehards, some who go to 50 games a year, some who haven’t been to a game in years. It doesn’t make them lesser fans. The Sox have to appeal to the masses. That is on them. Right now the Cubs are the latest tricked out IPhone,a dn the Sox are a cheap Korean made knockoff. It isn’t White Sox fans responsibility to change that.

That is one thing I would be a little worried about. But this guy and Harper are opportunities that don't come around very often. I think it's such a long shot, but if you are ever going to spend big on a free agent, it's on guys their age. Other than that, you are playing with fire. Production really drops off in the early 30s these days.

That's pretty much universal except for the Cubs, although they had some bailing, and their TV ratings were worse than the White Sox. Most people leave when things aren't going well. If a restaurant you loved and were a big fan, suddenly started sucking, are you a bad person for never going back? If your employer cuts your pay and benefits because they aren't making enough money, and asks you to work longer hours, would you consider another line of work? If you like a TV show and it just gets stale, do you insist you still must watch because you are a good fan? There are some things where you can criticize the White Sox base. Not showing up the past 6 seasons isn't one of them. Not showing up when the team is bad is not something that is unique to White Sox fans. The thing I worry about is will they show up when things are good? That really hasn't been the case since the WS high wore off.

2008,2010,2012, the Sox had some good teams, and the fans weren't all that supportive. But you are right, there is no way you can blame someone for not going to a game these last couple of seasons. Yes, you can do it dirt cheap, but the product is so bad that when they call up Moncada and Kopech, from day 1, the fan base treats them, and the team markets them, as saviors. Neither of their jerseys were front and center at their sales shops the last homestand of the season. Eloy's will be the next one. Hopefully, they will be able to keep it there for a while. I have had season tickets for a long time. I used to have a full season, now a 20 game plan. How it always went with me when the team was bad was the first couple of months, I still was excited to go. July and August was a grind, we would go but not that into it. Then a second wind in September because we knew we would be without baseball for a while. Even last year, that was how it worked for me. This year, I had no desire to go to games after May. I would have rathered watch a few innings on TV.

Jerry Krause always did something when he was running the Bulls that was pretty smart. In fact, it's how he actually landed Doug Collins to coach because he was one of the guys he hired to do this. He would bring in someone from the outside to evaluate their players and their staff. Being around guys all the time, or being the one that acquired him, or the one that thought he had a ton of potential, can cloud your judgement. Teams do fall in love with their players. I wonder if the White Sox do this. It would probably be nearly impossible to evaluate Steverson's day to day approach. But there could be some glaring things that he apparently has missed.

Sox fans have not cooperated. That is a fact. But it is also a fact the current front office hasn't done a stellar job. Ultimately you are based on wins and losses. Cleveland has had a couple of AL Central dominant stretches. Minnesota had a dominant stretch. Detroit had a dominant stretch. KC sort of had a dominant stretch. Why can't the White Sox compete with these teams?

Some, if not all, will pitch at Charlotte some. What we know is, every year, there is quite the shuttle between Charlotte and Chicago with relief pitchers.

The White Sox play in a bandbox. Todd Steverson has been a hitting coach for 5 seasons. At least 3 of those seasons the Sox were trying to win. They have yet to score the league average in runs scored since he took over. Either he isn’t a very good coach, the people making out the roster aren’t good at recognizing hitters, ownership can’t afford better players, or some combination of the three. Some sort of change has to be made.

They got Hader from Houston who got him from Baltimore.

I do think we may. Know pretty soon just how much this regime may try to change their stripes. If they go after Machado with a legit offer, maybe something has shifted. It it is like Tanaka and what they wanted to do with Ohtani, and want to try to sell the team as very comfortable but financially the offer is a bit short, we will know it is business as usual.

Kris Dunn attending to a personal matter. Cam Payne starting. The tank begins.

Victor was strictly a DH and put up a 121 OPS+. Palka, with all his hype is 111. i have also stated elsewhere on this board, Palka did surprise a bit, but strikes out a ton, doesn’t get on base very much, and probably won’t last. I also have mentioned scrub was a Fangraphs term twice. Maybe the third time is a charm.