caulfield12

One thing you NEVER hear is how Dolan is affecting their scouting/talent evaluation/international departments...at age 92, not in the way Reindsdorf is pilloried around here. Granted, they've gone through something like 4 full rebuilds in the two decades since those great mid to late 90's team that was selling out all those consecutive games at Jacobs..eventually made it to two more World Series, and their fans are actually starting to get out in big/ger numbers just like in Cincy. The most impressive thing is that they hadn't been more than 7 games under .500 dating all the way back to the 2016 WS team that lost to the Cubs. That's some consistency for such a small market club.

Diamondbacks were probably THE surprise story of the early season, along with the Rangers and Rays. That said, that franchise (along with the Rockies) has never gotten much attention with the Dodgers, Giants and now the Padres gobbling up most of the headlines...and certainly spending the most money. But imagine if Corbin Carroll switched places with Volpe, how much more national attention he'd be getting. It would be Benintendi 5-10X his spotlight with the Red Sox in his first 2-3 years.

Joe Espada was a big name back then...

Is that Dolan related to the Guardians' ownership group? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Dolan

Deadline.

KW will definitely be allowed the dignity of walking out on his own terms at the conclusion of this year, at least from all indications.

WFLD... right?

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/diamond-appears-ready-cut-more-171157005.html

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/wild-thing-cant-ways-cincinnati-055007516.html

Looks like the Pirates and DBacks...

The interesting thing is they're cutting back on their "business of sports" guys... which is seemingly no more relevant than today. Guess the NY Times already feels they have that area locked down, along with the WSJ.

Hahaha... I meant to write Cody Bellinger of the Cubs. Nobody would take "our" B guy. Along with Joc Pederson... whose name arises seemingly every offseason and then summer trade deadline.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/the-athletic-layoffs-june-2023 https://nypost.com/2023/06/12/new-york-times-reorganizes-the-athletic-with-layoffs/ “The Athletic has generally viewed every league in a similar manner, with similar beats and offerings. But our growing body of research and our own understanding of the sports we cover compel a more nuanced approach,” the note said. “There is no perfect formula for determining which teams to cover, but we are committing dedicated beat reporters to the ones that most consistently produce stories that appeal to both large and news-hungry fan bases, as well as league-wide audiences.” Hahn can stick that one on his bio...consigning the White Sox to the dustbin of MLB relevancy.

Tigers just managed to pull back within one half game of the White Sox after losing nine consecutive games. Of course, they mounted a pretty miraculous comeback against the Braves (of all teams) playing at Comerica. Does that mean the A's are going to take it to the Rays, too?

https://sportsnaut.com/mlb-trade-candidates/ Giolito, TA7, Lynn, Grandal to name a few... Seems like the Rays are already positioning to trade for Sal Perez...that would obviously cut down the list of potential suitors for Grandal. Conforto with the Giants because of the unique structure of that contract would have to be another candidate for trade. Benintendi as well? Starting pitchers Ohtani, Burnes (maybe), Bieber (maybe), Giolito, Stroman (no QO possibility attached to his deal), Kyle Freeland, Jack Flaherty, Clevinger Nola, Urias and Snell all going into FA but none of those guys likely to be moved...

https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/athletic-beat-writers-assigned-20-30-clubs-boston-dc-still-missing-coverage.html Look at how dramatically things have changed on the print media front just in the last five years...at least as far as print baseball coverage goes, including the Sun-Times, Tribune, Daily Herald, etc. Same thing with all the cable cord cutting.

The problem with that argument is that they've gone from Forbes 8th most highly valued franchise in 2006 to mid teens. So they're not even winning on that metric. That said, a riding tide floats all boats and that's certainly the case with the White Sox running on the coattails of those Top 10-12 franchises over the last 18 years or so.

Old habits die hard.

This is yet another problem with MLB. They had this great revenue producing model the last ten or fifteen years... but they still don't really know how to actually promote the sport. As Reinsdorf even mentioned...now all the legalized gambling and fantasy sports leagues, and yet they have no concept of the consequences of losing the last objective purveyor of their product. It really is encapsulated by all the White Sox issues. The sport is doing well from a financial standpoint...for now, but is still a sport with a fanbase in their 40s through 70s. The Sox can somehow afford $70-75 million for Benintendi and Grandal...but there's not enough there left over for a James Fegan (I know...obviously MLB doesn't directly subsidize The Athletic), modern-day analytics approaches and legit international scouting operations outside of Marco Paddy can pretty much handle everything himself. If there's a way to cut costs or corners (short season, intl., etc.), they're pretty much going to do the opposite of the Rays Dodgers and Braves...heck, can't even keep with the Twins and Guardians despite all their built in advantages with this pathetic division.

See owners of the Phillies, Padres and Rangers, for recent examples.

Hahn and Jr have to be happy, at least. I mean, fans of teams like the Rays Marlins Pirates Reds and DBacks are much more excited about their teams in 2023. We all knew that 20-30% fall off in attendance and "cumulative" interest was coming, but here is a concrete, in your face consequence of it all. We now find ourselves back in that bottom 5-10 of almost complete irrelevance when a near dynastic run was predicted by so many around the team. More Scott Merkin corporate PR crap is on the way. Sad he couldn't even finish out the season or at least the trade deadline.

Giolito has already passed the point of no return in terms of staying. Cease and Kopech are the only remote possibilities left. They probably aren't even willing to go be Lucas half of $131 million... let alone $100. Jose Berrios was going to be in the same free class before the Twins gave up on signing him to prioritze Buxton and then Correa. Jose Berrios signed a 7 year / $131,000,000 contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $131,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $18,714,286. In 2023, Berrios will earn a base salary of $15,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $15,714,285.

But the veteran deals (Grandal/Keuchel/Lynn/Hendriks/Benintendi, etc.) basically were just as bad if not worse than Robert/Anderson/Moncada/Eloy. None of them have turned out well, except for Luis Robert at least not "costing" the Sox money or not paying off the $$$/fWAR return on investment. Someone will argue for Moncada (still), but it's hard to spin him as anything but a disappointment as the former #1 prospects in the entire sport.

Jason? Even Anderson simply said it was a faster baserunner and he was thinking too far ahead and rushed the throw...probably flashbacks to similar play/s or muscle memory. He did have ONE that worked out well this year, but at least 3-4 that turned into absolute disasters.

Then there would have had to be international bonus money tied to him...