35thstreetswarm

“As Tony La Russa’s attorney said in his statement, Tony deserves all the assumptions and protections granted to everyone in a court of law, especially while this is a pending matter. Once his case reaches resolution in the courts, we will have more to say. The White Sox understand the seriousness of these charges.” -White Sox statement I am puzzled by this statement. Why are the Sox putting so much weight on the final disposition of his case? I'm wondering if they have some reason to believe he will get off. Thinking through the scenarios, it seems that if they were planning to hire him regardless of the outcome they would try to make that clear now to head this off, rather than making a statement like this that drags it out and heightens the drama of the ultimate legal disposition. Having made this statement, if he's convicted and kept on it would beg the question why they waited to announce their intention in the first place. On the other hand, if they're seriously thinking of firing him if he's convicted, and believe there's a decent chance of that happening (which the *public* information suggests), they'd never have hired him in the first place, or might just cut ties with him now. To me this statement telegraphs confidence in a positive legal outcome. Then again, maybe there is no master plan and they're just punting on this to get through the news cycle in front of them. Would be really short-sighted, but it's possible.

...and it looks like even before that we'll get the drip drip drip of releases from the police report and other sources. Maybe we'll get some nice quotes from people inside the org that will be contradicted by later evidence, sparking nice little side controversies. We've got all the makings of a worst-case PR nightmare.

The crazy thing is it's not like this is the end of the controversy - it's the beginning. This is not just fading away, it will rear its head again at the end of the proceeding. "Wait it out" is all well and good if Tony beats the charge, but what if he doesn't? Remember - this isn't a case where there's merely a breathalyzer refusal. The police obtained a subpoena to draw his blood. After obtaining (and presumably testing) his blood they decided to bring charges. It doesn't look particularly good for TLR. If they're going to hire him no matter what (which seems likely) they should just announce it now rather than letting this linger for months.

...and f*ck Stone, too. It’s absolutely laughable to see him pompously attempt to claim some sort of moral high ground here. Go argue with a 12-year-old on Twitter you thin-skinned front office shill.

Just really sad that Jerry has single-handedly disrupted and distracted from the momentum of this great young team With this shambolic process. I was not an anti-Reinsdorf guy. I am now. Way to poison the well, jackass.

This was covered here and in the media when it came out. The overwhelming consensus was that it was ridiculous, especially since it involved a team McDowell didn’t even play on. Now we’re going to give new credence to a nonexistent Sox cheating “scandal” just because it makes TLR look bad? Come on. I don’t like the TLR hire at all but it’s getting a little out of hand around here.

AGREED

Would it? Kind of seems like it would blow up the team and be a monumental disaster. I swear I get the sense that some of you are rooting for that now, and more invested in your position on a managerial hiring than the Sox winning a World Series. I'm not happy they hired TLR, but I'm rooting for everybody to bridge the divides that Reinsdorf unnecessarily created, get on the same page, shore up the roster and win a title. I thought it went without saying that's what we all want, but starting to wonder.

...and going through a real, or at least real-looking, process would have been so easy. And then they could have hired TLR at the end and gotten the buy-in of a lot more fans and players. That they didn't even go through the minimal effort required to add some level of legitimacy to the processis the reason this is such a middle finger to the fans and team. Moreso than the TLR hire itself.

Now I'm really depressed. My top choice by a mile.

Yeah, that would be fantastic for the team.

I do think they can probably win a WS with him (and just about any of the candidates on the list). Still not crazy about it tho

Um, let whatever record you're keeping reflect that 35thstreetswarm said he did *not* support the TLR hiring about five times in the last day. Though not sure what you’re hoping to accomplish with this.

He is also significantly more unlikable, and more divisive, than TLR.

A better question is, who won't? So far that list is maybe 1, Stroman.

I think he'll moderate the views he stated before (when there were literally zero stakes). I doubt he has interest in igniting a firestorm over this.

I'd say around any team I've ever followed.

Without a doubt.

The use of passive voice is intentional here. "It was believed" is as close to an all caps "JERRY DID IT" as his lawyerly language and organizational constraints will allow.

Answer: it doesn't. In any case, I'm not really interested in entering into a "debate" on a baseball message board about whether age discrimination, a persistent and measurable injustice whose prevention is enshrined in 50+ years of civil rights legislation at the federal and state levels, is a good or bad thing.

This is uncalled for.

That’s...a really weird rule of thumb. Also, make sure you don’t say that if you’re ever deposed in an age discrimination case.

For a board that's generally fairly sensitive to issues surrounding bias, there's a lot of straight-up ageism in this thread. And no, I'm not a boomer. I disagree with his opinions, don't like his style and think he's been out of the game too long. Not ready to write off people in their 70s as an entire group, though, ffs

Don't like the hire, or what it implies about the dynamics within the organization. But will be able to forget it quickly if we move aggressively in FA/trades to shore up the pitching staff. Just a manager.

Well, this thread is a dumpster fire. Sox Twitter is a dumpster fire. Whether the Sox situation is a dumpster fire will depend on who they actually hire.