35thstreetswarm

I consider it art.

Sure -- how about "I refuse to participate in the poll I just participated in"?

The "Nos" come roaring back to make it 50/50 -- interesting.

I read the lack of transparency differently -- to me it smacks of a desire to maximize plausible deniability of every scenario while avoiding outright lying to the public about what really happened. If it was a straightforward physiological/medical issue ("TLR's known heart condition got worse, his doctor says it's not safe for him to continue coaching, we're all very sad about it but our hands are tied") why not say that? It seems a hell of a lot more face-saving for everybody involved than the current opaque explanation, which leaves room for all sorts of speculation and conspiracy theories. That seems like a state of affairs you'd tolerate only if the alternative (telling the truth) is worse. I personally think it was a mix of alcoholism (the "second health issue"), recognition of toxic team chemistry, and poor team performance (which was explicitly included in TLR's statement in order to make it plausibly truthful) all coming to a head, and the "I have a pacemaker" thing was thrown in as cover to make it all sound more straightforwardly medical. Whatever happened, I think it was more complicated than the org let on and that the FO finally came to consensus that he couldn't continue as manager.

I'm genuinely curious what folks think went down with the decision to move on from TLR, and whether posters really think TLR would be at the helm in 2023 if fully healthy. I tried to capture the three scenarios I think are most likely, but feel free to elaborate if you think something went down that was different from what the questions describe.

I will accept nothing from the marketing team short of a daily public apology.

I miss the days when that could be recognized as a rhetorical question.

Stone's silence has been glorious. He's far from the first public person with a horrendous social media persona, but I can't think of many whose on-line presence is such a striking mismatch with their public/on-air personality. On the air he presents as this level-headed elder statesman. On Twitter he rises to every bait, and spends his time down in the mud getting into petty slap-fights with fourteen-year-old trolls. It's so strange.

As somebody married to a woman who had one back surgery that turned into NINE over the course of a decade, a bjg second to this post.

“Show the northsiders” ?. Send those Marlins a message while we’re at it

Is that confirmed or poster speculation?

My comment wasn't even directed at the Sox specifically, so perhaps you should direct your comment elsewhere.

It always is. Every year there are fans and media folks who take the simplistic predictive approach of "take last year as the baseline, now for every good player added add X wins, for every good player departed subtract X wins, the team will therefore have essentially the same season." It almost never works that way. It keeps fans and media from spotting emergent trends as they are busy re-litigating the prior season's developments. Teams routinely make 20-win jumps without adding "20 wins" worth of players in the offseason, and vice versa. There are way too many factors at work with too many players to just pretend each season is a continuation of the last one. If four decades of watching baseball has taught me anything, it's that each individual season is an independent, living, breathing thing.

I'm good with this. Would have been OK with Gallo, too, who may have a higher ceiling...but I would have been very nervous about the real bust potential, which is something this team absolutely cannot afford in 2023. For a team whose success will rise and fall on bouncebacks from its core players, going the safe route makes sense. At least there won't be a smoking hole in the outfield anymore (barring injury).

I have loved Loui-ee Ro-bearr since he was a soot-smudged urchin playing stickball in the streets of old Paree

Translation: I really hate bat flips a lot

Wait until I tell you about the time Ozzie Guillen was the 2023 White Sox manager for a week. I gave up my season tickets over it!

I was screaming from the stands when they brought Crochet in. The then-nervous Astros fans around me appreciated the advance heads up that they were about to blow a tight game open and seize control of the series, though.

Yep. I was at game 2. That was the one I'll go to my grave believing we'd have won without TLR's horrendous decisionmaking.

"...and now we'll hear from the Defense."

Joey Gallo was a 4 WAR player in 2021, it's not like it's been forever since he's been productive. And he's 29. He wouldn't be my first choice by any stretch, but I'd be modestly excited if he was signed because I think the alternative is likely to be worse.

Go to your proposed alternative teams' message boards and see how joyful they are. Yes, the Mets are super psyched on their team all the time, what with their zero championships in the last 40 yrs and all. You would have loved being out of the playoffs one season ago. Being a Sox fan sucks, but misery defines Soxtalk-level fans of almost all franchises.

One year ago the #1 would be the Phillies. Do with that what you will.

It seems like everyone has grasped the idea that Hahn deliberately says nothing when he speaks. But somehow that doesn't stop everyone from busting out their decoder rings and dissecting his every phrase when he does. For god's sake, the answer is always "drink more Ovaltine", people. We'll eventually learn what the Sox are up to, but it won't be through Hahn's press statements.

Agreed. Way too many people are falling victim to the tendency to take the immediate past season and project it forward into eternity. Every baseball season is its own independent story. It's not that crazy for a team -- especially one with sufficient talent to have back-to-back playoff appearances -- to have a bad year and bounce back. But they absolutely need to add to/tinker with what they have if they want to have a shot.