caulfield12

The problem is that relying on Martin or Lambert is the pitching equivalent of Sheets and Leury. Maybe they get another deal with Cueto, but it won’t be nearly so advantageous the second time around.

Then they’re really going to have to get creative with Eloy, Moncada, Hendriks, Pollock, Lynn, etc. It would seem pretty much impossible to move either Grandal or Kelly. Unless they’re going to run a $210-215 million payroll or make some dramatic cuts somewhere, they won’t be able to afford a TOR guy. They might have to settle for a Manaea 3rd/4th starter type, because there’s no way they will go after Musgrove, deGrom or Rodon.

If Ventura and Bevington are the two worst modern Sox managers, shouldn't LaRussa be at least fairly comparable?

The White Sox had that long run from 2006-2011 where they were usually around 4th through 6th, offsetting the lower attendance by gouging that 20% of the fanbase that accounts for 80% of the revenues. It never made sense to me why we weren’t more aligned with teams like the Brewers, Braves, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Angels, Mariners and for a long long time the Dodgers were quite competitive in pricing despite being a large market team. Finally, the A’s seem to be purposely alienating their fans so they can leave ASAP. They had some of the best food deals and packages in the sport until this year, when they inexplicably raised prices and cut down on a lot of the discounting. You simply can’t do that for a crappy team bereft of all its past stars competing in the same market with the Giants and their far superior stadium and location.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA201209170.shtml White Sox went up 3 games over the Tigers, with just 16 left to play. Detroit 77-69 at that juncture. Tigers would finish 11-5 down the stretch and wind up at 88-74, going on to eventually face the Giants in the World Series and getting swept away… White Sox would go on to finish 5-11 and an 85-77 final record. Young and hungry/overachieving White Sox team in Ventura’s first year against the heavily favored, veteran-led Tigers’ team that coasted through most of that late summer. Pretty sure we used 12-13 rookies total that year, mostly pitchers led by Sale and a rookie in Quintana. Of course this season, the Twins and White Sox face off in 6 of the final 9 games of the season, on the road and at GRF the final 3. White Sox at San Diego middle three of those final 9 games, Twins at Detroit for their 3.

It has to happen next year considering Giolito's status, the fact that it would be two years without a post-season appearance (if they didn't make it THIS year)...which would spell the doom of the rebuild's momentum (the Cubs had that one year without making it, and then bounced back, but they started with three consecutive NL championship series as a baseline too)...and TA's free agency status looming the following year as well (progress of Montgomery in AA/AAA). Not to mention they would need to find a completely new catcher for 2024, which means next year is pivotal. Lynn's status is up in the air too, quite obviously, after 2023.

This has got to be the most unrealistic tweet of the decade. Ray's not going anywhere because 1) the M's desperately need him with Gilbert/Kirby hitting their limits as rookies and 2) they're not going to sign a premium free agent and trade him within 12 months. Semien doesn't actually begin to fit with Sox salary/payroll philosophy. Harrison probably has comparable numbers the last 6-8 weeks. Second base is no longer one of the biggest problem areas on the team, unless Leury plays "too much."

Ian Happ, OF, Cubs Free agent after 2023 Happ turns 28 in August and won’t be a free agent until after 2023, so the Cubs don’t have to trade him -- and they might not. But with Chicago still far away from contention, it might consider it, because Happ, who made his first All-Star team this year, would be an intriguing trade piece. With a 126 OPS+, he’s doing his usual “be average or above” routine that he always does – he’s never been worse than a 102 OPS+ or better than a 131 OPS+, but the shape of it is a little different this year. That’s because Happ, who once ran unacceptably high strikeout rates -- 34% of the time in his first two seasons in 2017-18, and 29% as recently as last year -- has cut those whiffs down to 21%, more or less league average. Yet where he was once running very high hard-hit rates, that’s down to league average as well. It’s less of a "loud" package as it once was, and more of a solidly competent one. If that doesn’t sound terribly exciting, it’s still valuable, because the outfield trade market -- Soto aside -- is thin, and the switch–hitting Happ, a top-30 slugger among outfielders, might be the best one traded. Potential fits: Guardians, Padres, Braves, Brewers, White Sox, Yankees if they move Joey Gallo source: mlb.com

Vaughn in that RF? Brilliant stuff, Rick Hahn.

At least the Cubs had their pretty consistent youngish offensive core…whereas pitching development and drafting killed them. Which is how it’s looking for the Sox unless we get a miracle with Vera. For the Northsiders, that second generation of prospects never turned out. Soler, Happ, Almora and Bote, to name a few. Finally, the Heyward, Chatwood, Darvish and Kimbrel deals. Basically, they faded away over 2-3 seasons rather than completely imploding at once.

Just can’t imagine many “kids” under age 25 or so following 75% of his jokes…that are mostly about the 80’s and 90’s. Then again, it might be even more corny if he deliberately talked about Taylor Swift, the Kardashians, Blackpink and BTS to seem hip or cool.

Can they give away money from the following cycle? Or only 2022-23?

Pirates made so many bad trades, especially on the pitching side. Glasnow and Musgrove, too. Then they dumped quality hitters like Bell and Starling Marte but held on to Gregory Polanco. They’re seemingly operating much smarter the last 12-18 months, comparatively.

Nobody is going to want to take Joe Kelly and that contract unless we send significant money along with him. Ruiz makes sense because he will lose his spot on the roster to Tatis in the next couple of weeks. Although they might prefer to dump Grisham. That’s a tough call whether that guy can ever rebound this season, a truly Pollock like year except Grisham is a very solid defender and provides occasional/inconsistent pop from the LH side.

Great, since we’re likely stuck with Pollock unless he retires, we’re left with yet another corner outfielder.

White Sox acquire someone who will end up with a negative fWAR for the remaining two months by giving away their entire international pool allotment…

Sure, pretty much stuck with Moncada and they're not going to move him back to second…and then Burger still profiles better at DH and 1B, where we have, what, 6-7 possible options already?

Do we really think Pollock's problem is hitting coach related (he's as experienced a veteran as you get with lots of high profile post-season bats)...or age/regression? He was a 3 fWAR player last year, this year somewhere between 0.0 and 0.5 I'd guess without looking it up since Sunday. How many 34 year old veterans would dramatically change their offensive approach to "comply" to a hitting coach/organizational philosophy?

That's only for movies and disgruntled teachers, lol.

https://www.mlb.com/news/2022-midseason-world-series-draft Leitch: Yep. Yep! I’m still a believer. They were my No. 2 pick this preseason after all, a nod more to their division than their overwhelming top-to-bottom talent. That division is still wide open, and the White Sox – who have the easiest schedule in the American League moving forward – have somehow weathered all the injuries, underperformance and the, uh, interesting dugout decisions to still be within only three games of the Twins at the break.

Colorado can be tough. An unnamed NL West team is 3~9 against them this year. Basically worse than the Sox/Guardians head to head, but this particular team is double digit victories over .500.

Cardinals finally getting bold with Arenado Goldschmidt and possibly Soto. For the last thirty years or so, they tended to stay away from big name players in a mid tier payroll range, avoiding costly extensions for vets, even Pujols. McGwire and Holliday stick out as rare exceptions...

Also lots of rumors they want to dump Alex Verdugo as he's not in the long term plans at this point.

He just completely shut down the Mets. Mackenzie Gore is on fumes and Nick Martinez just fills a back end spot. Doubt they would make this deal very easily. Plus Manaea and Musgrove are FA’s. Their main trade targets are all outfielders/hitters…maybe one more bullpen arm.

Yeah, we've joked so much about these formerly top players being acquired 3-5 years too late by KW for at least two decades. Cano was a similar name earlier in the season who last I checked was still plying his trade in AAA. Can't imagine he could have blown through that Mariners' mega deal cash. Unless he had a private jet like some of the Jenners and Kardashians. (Well, Yoenis Cespedes had his classic/antique/muscle car collection...but probably not in the 10's of millions of dollars.)