caulfield12

It’s working well for that 27 year Burger King employee who got the insulting thank you appreciation package of movie tickets and a Starbucks cup, etc., after never missing a day of work or being late over all that time. Hahn has to be at close to 20 years if not longer, right? Btw, that particular GFM was at $300,000+ last time I checked…probably mid $300k’s by now.

Anyone that followed the team through this entire debacle of offseason (let’s pat ourselves on the back fir not signing an injured Conforto)…even going back further to the TLR move…and blaming fans for not supporting the team needs to have their head examined. The only rational thing to do for most middle or upper middle class families is to look at the current opportunity cost of attendance and weigh/balance that with hundreds of other competing entertainment options. Don’t forget Northwestern/Kellogg, btw. Hahn is the anti-Quin Snyder…except he maintains that squeaky clean image to continue his memberships in the good ‘ol boys C-suite club box.

The funny thing is that Kenny Williams always believed in developing relievers internally, or finding them on the cheap. If you look at all the closers or high leverage guys, like Howry, Foulke, Gordon, Takatsu, Hermanson, Jenks, Marte, Thornton, Crain, Santos…the only anomalies are Billy Koch (needed a classic fireballer) and the overreaction to 2007 led to Dotel and Linebrink after a slew of trades for big fireballing LHR’s and guys like Aardsma blew up. But even then, you still at least got 2008 and 2010 out of it. KW invested more money into starting pitching (see 2005-2010) than relievers…it was never such a pronounced imbalance or overallocation of budget like it has been under Rick Hahn. And that really started with David Robertson and hasn’t let up since, not to mention drafting guys like Burdi and Crochet so high in the draft…and then basically having a cycle of drafts focusing heavily on collegiate “big arms” that looked ticketed primarily for pen roles.

The White Sox one niche advantage remaining after Herm Schneider left (overall player health) was/is the Cuban Connection. And that has proven to be a vulnerability without the right manager to lead the simultaneously underachieving Moncada and Robert. Those were going to be the two superstar anchors for the heart of the window…the Sox equivalent of Buxton and Correa. They quite obviously now need a different voice to get through to them and push the right buttons motivationally or psychologically. TLR is definitely not getting it done. Then there’s Vera and Colas as well that were going to sustain the window past 2025. Nobody seems to be guiding them…or at least getting through on a consistent basis. The “smoke” around Colas is worrisome to say the least. And Chris Getz seems to be more of an organizational guy in over his head than the leader that position demands. We can blame the aging curve for Grandal as a catcher at that age, but the sad picture of a forlorn Abreu in the dugout after their fifth consecutive season loss to the Twins says it all. With Hahn, you need look further than the failed pursuits of Machado, Harper, Wheeler, etc. This a results-driven game, but there’s always an excuse or rationalization. The saddest thing is small market teams like the Twins and Guardians are even finding creative ways to keep and bring superstars into the fold while at three games under .500 in MLB’s weakest division we are now back to “mired in mediocrity” for the foreseeable future due to tapped out payroll and a floundering farm system with only two potential studs in Montgomery and Vera.

Are they even Chicago or Milwaukee’s team? There’s not even one state in the US that has more Sox fans…like the Cubs and Braves used to have due to the wide-reaching nature of WGN and TBS/TNT.

Better paid by Nebraska…

The Twins have done just fine without Nelson Cruz. And there's not quite the same fan connection with Abreu as Konerko due to 2005. Almost. I'm not sure a contract extension for anyone on the current team other than maybe Tim Anderson would move the meter much at all. That said, with Pito the bigger question is how important is the continued presence of Abreu to Moncada/Robert/Grandal and Colas/Vera to a lesser extent?

hit, hit for power, defend and/or bat left-handed to be more specific.

Are you still allowed to use a pitcher with a 9.48 ERA and more than 10 innings thrown?

Aren't we confusing him with Cooper and KW?

If it's not a younger guy like Jirschele but another TLR or Sox insider loyalist crony the fan base will revolt...by becoming even more apathetic.

Not even Craig Ironhead Heyward could pull that off.

Jay Cuba whoever the hell he is should be manager for one week just for shits and giggles.

You forgot Kyle McCulloch...

West Coast guys tend to go back home at some point...but time will tell. He won't stick around for a rebuild if we start trading Lynn Hendriks Graveman Giolito and Cueto. Vera is the only minor league pitcher worth a damn to work with. Maybe Mena. He will get poached by someone.

If you go back every season from 2001 to 2022, you can pinpoint an exact moment when the tide turned. There are only the 2005 2008 and 2021 exceptions over two decades now...by the same organization that was threatened with contraction in the early 2000's.

I think Katz will quietly leave when Giolito is no longer with the organization...but will attempt to remain loyal until then unless things just totally go south.

Can someone give TLR a fake Lopez baseball card showing he pitched for Cardinals instead of Nationals minor league affiliates...?

Just like playing the Tigers next. Or at Boston when they were sinking to nearly ten games under .500.

Feels like a morgue compared to buzz last night...big crowd and the opportunity to close to just 3 1/2. Feels more like a 2014-16 vibe again now.

That doesn't help as much when your 6th through 8th inning relievers can't hold leads.

Winder has been with the big league team over half the year and then ILed and lost his spot to Smeltzer and Ober returning. He's been really good for a back end guy.

Or Angels.

It's amazing how cancerous Donaldson's effect was...and how getting rid of him completely changed the atmosphere around the Twins' organization. (Yet in NY, they can easily get past his presence.)