caulfield12

DeShaun Watson situation also comes to mind...multiples of victims, but the seriousness here as it relates to potential child abuse is a huge black eye for baseball regardless. To MLB braintrust, must be thinking luckily he's not on a high profile team in a hyper critical media market like Philly, Boston, NYC. Expect Jeff Passan to weigh in soon.

Ship has probably sailed until mid-May....

See Belle, Joey Albert Or Machado to a lesser extent. A Rod, when he went to Texas and Sox were supposedly a distant second as a stalking horse in the Boras race.

Then I will just defer to what Dick Allen said on this same subject...

Haber and Hahn with their Stanford, HLS, NW, Michigan educations can't figure all of this out? So much for their so-called "risk mitigation."

See Carl Everett, especially first half of career. Or the Raiders and Cowboys, largely to their detriment in many cases over the last 2-3 decades.

Thay's the Harvard lawyer in him talking...Bill Clintonesque answer/non-answer that came to drive so many crazy in frustration. Because in the end it's just obfuscation and covering his own ass. His one really elite "skill" as an exec, but tone deaf to the fan base simultaneously.

Notice they weren’t willing to pay Clevinger and brought in Wacha instead…? We shall see the respective fWAR for both guys with their new teams these next two years,

Obviously a 50% increase sounds dramatic. Gameday Audio is probably one of the best deals available in sports media, particularly for those outside the US.

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https://sports.yahoo.com/another-nfl-head-coaching-cycle-sadly-ends-without-eric-bieniemy-landing-a-job-010743794.html

Were they in the game Sunday? It was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer castoffs and missfit toys...

MLB plans to emphasize enforcement of balks as changes kick in...slow news day. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35660530/mlb-plans-emphasize-enforcement-balks-changes-kick-in

Bienemy's got the best nickname (Sleeping With the Bienemy), had to totally rebuild his receiving corps over the last couple of seasons, went through 3-4 different running backs before settling with 7th rounder Pacheco and was facing one of the best defenses in recent NFL memory. Meanwhile, KC has a strong defensive line (Jones was ill), but are not exactly brimming with All-Pros across the linebacker group and secondary. They do have a LOT of younger/athletic players with potential...but it's apples and oranges to compare the two. See what happens if you give Mahomes AJ Brown and Davonta Smith, to go along with Kelce. The NFL would be totally wrecked.

Benintendi must be the quietest, most unremarkable "biggest contract in team history" in recent memory. I thought about including the Astros and Braves with the Dodgers and Rays as the two best franchises, but too much water under the bridge, especially with Houston. The Guardians are nudging closer to that Top 5 spot if they can just hold onto their arbitration years talent, but that's not on the GM as much as the ownership group.

We might want to actually find legit catchers and 2B...but there's always the end of ST waiver wire to go dumpster diving in. Brujan would be a start. Rick Brunson, maybe not. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=brunso001lar Or this former 1st rounder for DET in the 90's...9th in first round.

But you couldn't really hate the Royals, right? If it was that easy to be a fair weather fan, I would just denounce/renounce my allegiance (as an alum) to Iowa fb and bb, because the odds of winning a national championship in either revenue sport are much lower than that of the White Sox winning the World Series. Probably below zero with James Ferentz around. In fact, one of my best friends from high school (orthodontist now) sent both of his kids for free on SAT-based scholarships to Alabama and adopted them as his favorite team even though he went to Northwestern and Iowa Dental School. So that's even more sacrilegious. Like being a Warriors' fan the last decade. The Sox simply need to start over with a clean slate...across the board. That's the only way fans will really come back. Everyone used Epstein as a counterexample in the past when I made this argument (backed up by Liptak's piece), but Hahn not being able to ever play baseball well or truly understand the sport from a player's perspective has handicapped him greatly...especially on the talent evaluation side. The only way to overcome that is to run a Top 2-3 payroll.

Sports are very simple. As a fan, are you satisfied your team did everything it possibly could to compete? The Eagles just experienced a terribly bitter loss, but they put the best team out on the field they possibly could all season...totally rebuilding (and fast!) after their last Super Bowl win. They simply got out coached by a master...who was highly motivated (along with his tremendously loyal players) in a match-up with the organization that infamously gave up on him. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-rumors-padres-sign-top-international-prospect-ethan-salas-orioles-interested-in-michael-wacha/ Just freaking try to compete. The White Sox haven't had a legit All-Star catching prospect (not accepting Collins here) of their own in decades...so go out and get one. Luis Robert is the only occasion other than Abreu in the last decade plus where they were the aggressors and successfully signed a potentially great player. But you have to consistently go after great players with the conviction you can sign them and the willingness to back it up with real money and not just loophole contracts that create the illusion you've got a seat at the table.

If that's the case, why are the White Sox seeing a 25-30% fall off in season ticket sales...and the Padres sold out all their available season ticket packages by January 25th? What is the equivalent of the White Sox beating the Mets, Dodgers and Cardinals in the post-season? The Yankees/Astros, Cubs, Red Sox, etc.? And by the lack of playoff success metric, the Dodgers and Rays have been terrible the last decade...yet they are universally regarded by most as the two best franchises for various reasons. The only WS championship for LA since 1988 was in the tainted strike-shortened year. Zero for the Rays. And the Braves went to the postseason constantly in the 90's and 2000's and only recorded a single title. Indians also zero, etc. Would the Chiefs be considered a disappointment too if they only had one title (instead of two) after five consecutive AFC Championship appearances (all home games)??? Context counts. If the White Sox beat two teams that significantly outspent them in the post season...let alone their own division...it would be considered a minor miracle.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/35630053/2022-2023-mlb-offseason-grades-all-30-teams Anyone with an ESPN Insider sub? Guess the Sox got anywhere from a C- to an F...depending on how generous Schoenfield was feeling. Did we again manage to be ranked last, denied Hahn offseason championship #4? https://www.soxon35th.com/mlb-insider-gives-the-white-sox-a-disappointing-offseason-grade/

Even Benintendi (see Pollock), look at his FG numbers the last three seasons prior to 2022. He has a lot to prove with that new contract, which is now somehow the biggest in team history. Lynn, always comes down to health/weight/conditioning. Lambert and Lopez, hard to expect both to out or over perform like last season.

Well, except for three post-season series victories, a 50000+ sold out fanfest along with Soto, Tatis, Jr., Bogaerts, Machado, Musgrove, Darvish, Snell and Hader...pretty much exactly the same. And maybe the competition in the NL West is just a wee BIT stiffer... However, that's a great selling point for all those ticket agents desperate to generate some commissions, though. Just switch the years around in the way one perceives the two respective franchises. And let's not forget the White Sox have unlimited financial flexibility at #12 in current MLB payrolls, while the Padres simply have to be tapped out, right? No way they can afford an extension for Soto AND a new deal for Machado simultaneously, right? Meanwhile, Sox looking to dump Giolito and Anderson over the next two seasons....arguably two of the top 3-5 most popular and/or identifiable members of the team. Without Anderson, it's basically Dylan Cease and Luis Robert's unfulfilled potential. Montgomery might actually be third, with Colas 4th...unless one is a huge Eloy or Vaughn fanboy.

FA. Didn't realize Giants dumped him in the off season. Watch him end up with the Twins or Guardians.

Madrigal/Kimbrel/Pollock, Moncada and Grandal are the obvious ones. Crochet I guess. Abreu gone. Losing Rodon for nothing. Hendriks and Clevinger money frozen. Not sure exactly how Benintendi offsets all of that...

That's a bit more dramatic because the result is faster (like penalty kicks in soccer) and still more dramatic, especially when you have to go for two. Not to mention all the additional head injuries from playing even longer games or getting injured when excessively tired.