caulfield12

The Dayan Viciedo of this generation lol. Well, if Trayce Thompson is starting for the Dodgers..

A-ROD bidding?

Exactly. I can't think of many managers who would move the meter much on ticket sales, either. Maddon, his time has passed. Bochy might not want the headaches. Beltran has that checkered past but a recognizable name. Alomar Jr. has always been expected but a second place finisher for managerial jobs. Next we will be rectifying the Willie Harris wrong.

You're forgetting they have one of the most favorable media rights deals in the sport. And somehow that gets obscured in their ownership structure with NBC Universal, the Bulls, Blackhawks, etc. Unfortunately, the last deal signed was for just five seasons, with everyone believing the next negotiation would come right in the middle of their unprecedented multi championship window. If they miss the playoffs again or substantially roll back payroll, they're more dead in the water than 2013-2019. This is about ownership, though. The Padres were the laughing stock of mlb a year ago and doubled down to get Soto and Drury. They simply replaced one Top 5 with another one. They had enough allowance for Bell and Hader to flop...Drury (less money for renting a 30+ homer guy two months than Leury by far) and having adequate middle infield and pitching depth. They have a third string catcher in Alfaro picked up for almost nothing who has individually won five games by himself...more than Robert and Moncada combined.

You're missing a key Texas high school football player who can do can backflips on stage.

You want to play Sosa at second? Guaranteed we're bottom 3-5 in ops at that position again. At least get a Wong/Huira type with some upside remaining.

He also consistently fielded entertaining teams that put runs on the board more often than not from 2000-2012.

Valentin C-Lee Magglio departing and freeing up all that payroll space and firming up the speed/defense, along with F.Garcia/Contreras added earlier...led to the most perfect offseason of all in Sox history. One that will never be matched again in the analytics era when the competitive edge is so slim now.

They were trying to reboot on the fly behind Robertson Cabrera LaRoche Shark etc. Win the off season, etc. Formed the Drake Eaton/Chris Sale circus to oblivion with Ventura unwilling to control the clubhouse, not unlike TLR these last two years. The next big move, so-called, was Todd Frazier.

Also highly competitive in 2008 10 12 even with the Dunn debacle, which really sealed KW's fate, and Ozzie/Buehrle leaving. Of course, one of the major elephants in the room here is race, which nobody wants to admit, at least not openly. I have argued this entire time that Hahn has never once been a talent evaluator...he's merely a glorified bean counter with a KPMG/E&Y/McKinsey look who rode three trades, Luis Robert and promise/hope/change/possibility to five or six more years of contract he didn't deserve. Tatis Jr. should have been the end of the line.

2 1/2 and 4 games up with eight to play and three with the White Sox and Giants each. Philly ends up at Houston...Brewers home rest of the way. Actually, looking like 4th place now will be the Mets instead of the Braves.

Trea Turner or Judge, but we won't shell out for either top of the market guy.

You just got yourself a job selling Sox whole and partial season ticket packages.

Along with Konerko and Contreras, among others. Peavy deal worked out okay in the end as we were able to dump him. No to Buehrle, of course.

Machado Tanaka ARod Torii Hunter Harper Wheeler

Balta??? His crusade for the next generation.

Only after moving on from Narvaez because they misjudged his defense and parting ways with an ex-Tiger now in NY.

Thankfully we accidentally turned out to be correct with Giolito. Just like we almost signed Alex Gordon, except he really didn’t want to be here, either.

At least Scott Merkin, the mlb.com Sox rep, admitted he was wrong. Too little too late but some sort of reckoning nevertheless. (Pause for those who know me to stop laughing. Or those who don’t know me. Or those who will know me.) But in my Newsletter from Sept. 6, I wrote the following: “By the time the White Sox return home from this seven-game West Coast trip on Sept. 12, they should at least have a share of the division lead, if not sitting atop alone.” Well, they came back from a solid 5-2 run in Seattle and Oakland at 2 1/2 games back in the American League Central, and despite my season-long mantra of the White Sox being a playoff team, they were eliminated from division title contention on Sunday. If you believe in true baseball miracles, the White Sox enter their final 2022 road trip with an elimination number of three in the AL Wild Card and trail Seattle by 7 1/2 games with nine to play. The White Sox were only in first place from April 10-20 during this entire disappointing campaign and my days of predictions might be on hiatus. Side note: Cleveland is going to win its AL Wild Card series, regardless of opponent. Ok, that was just one more prediction to get out of my system. So, what went wrong with the White Sox? I’ll save that analysis for the end of the season, but this story is focused more on why I was wrong. And the answer to that question involves two words: Cleveland Guardians. When I made the aforementioned prediction, Cleveland was coming off a stretch where they had lost 8 of 10 games and scored one run in a four-game stretch against Baltimore and Seattle. Not one run per game -- one run in total. Cleveland had been a great story all season, predicted by many to finish near the bottom of the AL Central and by few if any to win the division. But I’m not sure if the Cleveland front office really believed this outstanding overall performance would take them to the postseason. Then, with the season on the line and with the White Sox and Twins closing in, the Guardians showed they were more than a good story. They were a really good team. Try 18-3 in the last 21 games. Their victory Tuesday in 11 innings against the White Sox really took the heart from an underachieving crew knowing it basically needed a sweep of Cleveland to win the division. I knew if any one of these three teams went on a roll of this nature, it would take control of the AL Central. I just didn’t think it would be the Guardians. In my mind, the White Sox still have the most talent in the division, even with their plethora of injuries, but the Guardians clearly are the best team. They played hard every play of every inning. They took the extra base. They had a solid front three at the top of the rotation in Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill and had one of the game’s best closers in Emmanuel Clase. Again, I was wrong. I overestimated the White Sox ability to reach an extra gear when needed, especially when they had been between five under .500 and five over .500 all season. My true error, though, was overlooking Terry Francona’s crew.

It's not a tie because of Ohtani Trout Rendon. We have Cease, TA and a ton of question marks up and down the roster. The biggest is arguably Luis Robert. At least the most important. Hendriks and Iglesias cancel out.

Born in Clinton, Savanna until 1976, Bettendorf/Davenport ever since.

Battle for Second Place Bowl. Hope the Twins can manage to get there and keep their entire staff and front office in place. But likely no such luck is forthcoming. Wouldn’t be totally shocked if Andrus replaces Correa, either.

They traded Sandy Leon to their rival the Twins. They traded LHP Alex Young to the Giants. They even looked at dealing Plesac and Civale. No additions of any kind. This was supposed to be their season just to get to .500 and above, like 2013 for the Royals. Already arrived.

Funny someone from Bettendorf and two more (Steve Swanson played at Burlington HS in the post Charles Cannon Era) Midwest kids ended up at GSU. For me, it was so late after GRE, got a full ride and Ohio Univ, UMass and our program were the three best for sports admin at the time, early 90s. Btw, this is undoubtedly the worst football season for Bett since the 1970's. Things are changing, and not for the best. Pleasant Valley dominates now.

Hahn is so bad he has roughly 1/2 the fan base advocating for a third rebuild as this competitive window was so uniquely disappointing. Not even the Indians/Guardians pulled the plug so quickly.