caulfield12

Haber went to Stanford like KW...he would be next up, lol. But it does accomplish something. KW and Paddy at least know how to identify and bring in new international talent, if nothing else. And nobody has a more horrific record in free agency than Hahn. Just KW's 2004-2005 combined trumps everything Hahn has done in free agency from 2012/13-2022. Rick basically has McCann, Rodon last year and Grandal/Hendriks. Oh, and the Friends & Family Fiasco.

Or most likely, double plays...with Josh hitting at the bottom of the lineup behind the boppers, unless TLR can turn back the clock to a decade ago when Harrison was actually a very solid #1/2 hitter.

Who is Conforto's favorite personal hitting coach? Just use the Giolito arbitration "savings" as a down payment on a retainer.

Sure, always be respectful. It's like arguing with or berating your Amazon deliveryman when your real issue is with Jeff Bezos and the entire proposition of the gig economy. Those delivery drivers and package handlers in warehouses deserve the utmost respect at all times.

And his fWAR from 2017 or 2018 through 2020? By your argument, Harrison will repeat his 2021 and not the three preceding years. You can't win championships with Vaughn and Sheets in RF. And Sheets has been protected by the most favorable matchups since Dayan Viciedo's rookie season. Conforto is a risk, but much likelier to pay off when combined with Nick Madrigal...players with track records of producing. Compared to Kimbrel and Harrison as the direct substitution we have been provided. No GM is going to trust Sheets to repeat his 2021 numbers as an everyday DH, per alone as a strong side platoon.

I don't know how Twins and Indians fans have felt the last two decades, but they have also (famously) voted with their feet, particularly in Cleveland and to a lesser extent in Minny. The one thing in common is the belief ownership cares more for profits and franchise valuation growth than winning championships. Also, only 30~35% of revenues are affected by ticket sales and sponsors. The teams are increasingly protected/insulated from fan revolts and protests. In the past, those ticket/concession/souvenir and parking receipts were roughly 60% and even 65% of net revenues each year.

The only leadership group doing worse than the White Sox the past month is located in Moscow. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for insular decision making, general hubris, and over reliance on subordinates who are afraid or unable to speak the truth...

See the quotes on page 4/5 of the arbitration thread.

Are you crediting Hahn with facilitating that somehow?

You and Ron883 need to join forces, lol.

Borrowing this from southsider2k5's post about TLR hiring...between Kimbrel, this year's current FA debacle and now the way Lucas Giolito was treated so disrespectfully by the White Sox (just like Black Jack McDowell, although Lucas is 10X the more mature and even-keeled individual in comparison)...don't know how to communicate how disgusted Sox fans actually are with the current state of things heading in what was once supposed to be one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. This feeling today is what we spent a decade building towards???? REALLY? It has already been self-sabotaged in a variety of ways. How do you go from last October to now selling LESS season tickets than you had at the beginning of the 2021 season??? If he was just carrying out Jerry Reinsdorf's orders to punish Lucas for being the team union rep and involved in MLBPA negotiations with Manfred, shame on him for doing so...that's not the type of GM that will ever lead the White Sox to the promised land, it's just not the right way to treat employees, whatever legal-ese nonsense he puts out there on social media about it not having affected the relationship one bit moving forward, yadda yadda yadda. You should know better with all those years of education at elite universities. Treat others how you would like to be treated, it's actually quite simple. Scott Reifert's email address is [email protected] Brooks Boyer is [email protected] Hopefully people feel free to let them know what people think.

Zobrist? Which super-utility player in his 30's are we going after now?

By the way, Rick Hahn HLS 1996, it's not "HAP," it's called a GAP.

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2022/03/23/the-white-sox-failed-to-come-to-a-deal-with-lucas-giolito-because-of-50000/

But still managed a 4.9 fWAR. You can say the same thing for Luis Robert, but pretty much the entire future of the franchise hinges around him and TA/Cease/Kopech to a lesser extent.

He lost his power....he was the coldest hitter in baseball for two months, the best hitter in baseball for two months and then tailed off with pretty much the entire offense the last 5-6 weeks of the season. But he's also a very bad defensive outfielder, to boot. Which you can hide in LF if he's going to hit like expected.

Well, that's essentially the bet that Hahn is making right now with all of his moves...especially for 2024 and beyond. Not sure what the Vegas odds are. Cease was top 10-15 fWAR, but still can't be trusted to start a big playoff game. The variability on Kopech possible/potential results is obviously all over the map, from out of baseball entirely to the 2024/25 Cy Young winner.

1922 Since 1922, Major League Baseball (MLB) has been exempt from antitrust law. While other professional sport leagues have a few antitrust exemptions, none of them are exempt to the degree that professional baseball is. It was actually challenged in 1953 and then again in the last 2-3 years, to little avail.

Devenski? Chris "Ranger" Rongey?

The odds of Lynn at his age repeating a 2.7ish ERA season are quite low, just like we saw with Keuchel last season. To replace Giolito's value, you're going to have to spend the equivalent of a Wheeler contract in FA to replace him...and the FA market for next season is pretty abysmal. Not to mention the fact that adding on even more salary for a "star" FA pitcher is going to leave the payroll tied up for the next 3-5 seasons, meaning you HAVE to be right. The Cubs were in a similar position when they added Darvish and Chatwood to get them over the top. That completely backfired, although Darvish eventually recovered (along with Kimbrel) and returned trade value, those years with them were largely wasted/"lost" ones. When's the last time that a team in the heart of their competitive window (with a Top 5 MLB payroll, not a small market club) traded one of their best pitchers one year before FA????? The Rays were trying to do it with Glasnow, but that's because he is expected to miss all or most of 2022 and a team acquiring him will try to do the same as the Padres with Garrett Richards where he rehabbed with them for most of one year...and bet on their being some type of synergy or chemistry.

I believe the majority of moderators defended that trade (at least in the beginning) because 1) it's not their nature, at least most of them, to be OVERTLY anti-Hahn and 2) the polarizing nature of Nick Madrigal as a player. There was at least a belief in the philosophy of creating a "super pen," if executed correctly, with the right pieces to fit together. Perry Minasian (Angels GM) was on the radio program pre-game this afternoon arguing essentially for the same plan Rick Hahn is attempting (or WAS) with their bullpen, and especially the fact that starters were averaging 5 1/3 IP in 2021 and it was expected to be under 5 the first half of this season. Of course, was Hahn "playing 4-D chess" knowing that the lockout would break the way it did, leading to an abbreviated spring training? If he was, and had 3 offers of ANY kind out there for Kimbrel, he should have taken the best one before the value of Kimbrel dropped even further or he got injured. (Arguably he's NOW worth more if he didn't pitch the entire season due to an injury and the Sox instead took the insurance payout, compared to having to recoup that money via another organization taking on his salary or partial salary in this case via the trade market.) https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/08/the-angels-need-more-than-just-new-pitchers-to-improve-their-pitching-staff.html https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33538122/los-angeles-angels-adding-archie-bradley-ryan-tepera-bullpen For example, they re-upped Raisel Iglesias, and signed Ryan Tepera and Archie Bradley, along with Aaron Loup...so a very similar offseason to the White Sox and also a Top 5-10 payroll team adopting a similar Hahn-ish philosophy. Bradley is eager to team up with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to provide part of what the Halos have lacked for years. "When you look at what they've added, you really start to turn your head," Bradley said. Tepera joins the Angels after spending last year with the Cubs and the White Sox. Bradley and Tepera were among the top free-agent relievers available, and the Angels made good on Minasian's desire to bolster a bullpen that has let down this franchise repeatedly for years. Los Angeles' relievers were 24th in the majors with a 4.59 ERA last season. Minasian added standout reliever Aaron Loup before the lockout, and he also re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias to a four-year, $58 million contract after his outstanding performance in 2021.

AJ Pierzynski and a 2005 WS. We also traded Eduardo Escobar to obtain him, lol. Then rejected him for Cesar Hernandez. Then rejected him again for Josh Harrison and Leury Garcia. In all seriousness, he's gone. That was Rodon. The closest is probably the young Cuban Vera, if you believe all the hype around him. And throwing those sliders with so much torque ended up being the death of Liriano and almost destroyed Rodon's career.

To be a great organization, you need to hit in FA around 60% of the time. Our rate is LUCKY to be 30%, if you go through all the Hahn FA contracts starting all the way back with Jeff Keppinger. It might even be as low as 20-25%. If they were to take that approach, they simply can't do it with Hahn or KW yet again. They need a completely fresh perspective from outside the organization. We saw what happened when Hahn tried to compete on the fly from 2013-2016, the bad trades and bad signings, despite "winning" a couple of off-seasons according to the prognosticators and pundits. You need to win with a younger or youngish/cost-controlled core...before they get too expensive or hit free agency. Buying at the top of the market, especially competing with the likes of Cohen and dealing with the Scott Borases of the world of the world is a recipe for 3rd-5th place finishes in even the AL Central. The only players with massive trade value right now are Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Giolito and Cease...I guess Vaughn would probably be 5th on any list. Some would argue Moncada, but it would have to be a large market team that could afford his future $23.8 and $25 million salaries. Jimenez is limited by his injury history and lack of a competent defensive position. But simply trading all those veteran deals like Hendriks, Lynn, Grandal, etc., is barely going to get you much more than salary relief. It's certainly not going to provide a young core of future stars like Sale/Eaton/Quintana provided back in 2016 and 2017.

And another tanking season to let Rodon at #3 go without a QO/compensation pick.

To get the so-called fireballer instead of the finesse guy. I remember Zobrist in particular torching Koch, or was it Carl Crawford? Someone on the Rays hit a game winning homer in the Trop Dome.