caulfield12

Interestingly...the one pitcher left over right now is the one with the most parallels to Cease career-wise in John Flaherty. It's a lot more complex than a binary yes-no.

I think if he had it to do over now..reflecting back on holding Crochet and the eventually resolution, he also would have had the additional confidence of his convictions to hold Cease as well. Ofc that wasn't the situation he was presented with...so yet another hypothetical. He knew the returns supposedly offered by the Dodgers were not sufficient or franchise trajectory altering. Otoh if the cash crunch on the White Sox is really as immense as some are speculating...it's going to require 2023 Robert's return AND crazy tight division and races involving all the big market teams at the deadline to get the types of returns many are speculating about recently for Luis Robert.

https://www.truebluela.com/2025/2/1/24356345/dodgers-tickets-2025-bobbleheads Dodgers announce 21 separate bobblehead giveaways and ten other huge promotional events for season.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/yankees-interested-in-enrique-hernandez-yoan-moncada.html

2019...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/2024-25-mlb-free-agents.html By my count 29 that played for the Sox at one point or another...oh and looks like Daniel Hudson finally retired with another WS ring.

His baserunning/fundamental mistakes...overestimating his speed and range, lack of arm strength, lack of power/pull ability as a hitter, all those signs were evident pretty quickly.

"Rays owner Stu Sternberg said on Monday that the team is still deciding what to do regarding a new ballpark. Schnorf said he had taken numerous calls about moving the Rays from Tampa Bay to Orlando while securing verbal commitments totaling $450 million from local and institutional investors." https://www.fox13news.com/news/could-tampa-bay-rays-become-orlando-dreamers-one-group-aims-make-happen&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjoz--G2aKLAxUGFjQIHRz4Ma8QFnoECAEQAw&usg=AOvVaw3YBGufqI6YDOHViW79Nevh https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/29/barry-larkin-pat-williams-tampa-bay-rays-orlando-dreamers-baseball-mike-bianchi-commentary/ "Meanwhile, Jim Schnorf, who co-founded the Dreamers effort with Pat Williams, says he has already secured verbal commitments of nearly $500 million from minority investors. Not only that, but he also may have a majority owner ready to join the effort and commit half the money to build a privately funded domed stadium. Schnorf says the Dreamers are seeking a 50-50 public-private split on building the proposed stadium on a 35.5-acre plot of land next to the Aquatica water park just across International Drive from SeaWorld. The team would fund half of the proposed $1.7 billion stadium project while the other half would be funded by Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax." Already way ahead of JR...who still hasn't pledged any of his own money for a new Chicago stadium.

Not so fast. It's falling apart by the week. https://www.si.com/fannation/mlb/fastball/news/tampa-bay-rays-get-horrible-news-new-stadium-deal-could-be-dead-leading-to-future-uncertainty-possible-relocation https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-pinellas-county-negotiations-new-stadium-deal "The approval comes two weeks after the City Council voted to delay their vote on the stadium bonds when Rays Co-president Brian Auld explained a previous bond delay from the county and an additional delay from the city would push back the timeline for the new stadium even further, making a 2028 debut less likely. Auld added that with the county’s deferral of the bond resolution, the Rays “couldn’t keep contracts” with partners and had to stop the bleeding as the team has already invested $50 million towards the plans. City Administrator Rob Gerdes asked the Rays for their letter officially terminating the deal." https://stpeterising.com/home/st-pete-approves-bonds-for-new-tampa-bay-rays-stadium-and-gas-plant-district-development&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjd4-7O2KKLAxX3MjQIHWP8PFEQFnoECAEQAg&usg=AOvVaw1KS2zWAvCwE5-v--dEfXfs

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/barry-larkin-joins-group-attempting-to-get-mlb-franchise-in-orlando.html At this point...makes more sense to move the Rays there and concentrate on two new expansion markets.

Scared me a bit lol...saw this and wondered why you were looking up my hometown church's namesake but it's actually St. John Vianney (that was included for reasons unknown at the bottom of your post)...maybe in an attempt to be mocking, but who knows? Are you okay? Did some research for you, you're welcome! https://soxmachine.com/2023/09/podcast-how-chris-getz-can-help-turnaround-the-white-sox-with-keith-law/ "Kenny and Rick were incredibly hands off with the farm system. Kenny worked about 10 hours a week and all Rick did was talk with agents about free agents and other teams about trades, he left the day-to-day operations of baseball ops to Jeremy Haber except for Player Development which he left to Getz. So Getz had all the decision-making power in player development already, except for the budget, which he still won’t control."

Tarik Skubal...we could have cornered the market, along with Crochet Skubal eventually Schultz and Smith.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10122254-re-drafting-elly-de-la-cruz-and-the-2018-mlb-draft-including-international-prospects This lumps international together with 2018 drafted players...the White Sox still only end up with Jeremy Pena lol. Elly de la Cruz and Skubal the new top of that draft class, Stephen Kwan 3rd, Logan Gilbert 5th.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/michael-cunningham/braves-are-part-of-the-pack-chasing-the-big-spending-dodgers/FDIEAFLKIJFRVHIGLOSL45ERFQ/ https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-the-undisputed-champ-of-mlb "There is this notion -- especially the further you get away from Dodger Stadium -- that the Dodgers continuing to try to turn themselves into a superpower-type team and continuing to show the baseball world that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to do that, are bad for baseball. But I happen to think they’re great for baseball. And not just if you’re a Dodgers fan."

So why even talk about it lol? And Law was probably being sarcastic...if it has anything to do with the White Sox. The Twins have/had Jenkins, E.Rodriguez and Brooks Lee that were 100% untouchables to them last summer, along with Royce Lewis, Miranda and Wallner.

AL Central -- Luis Robert Jr., White Sox To dethrone Bobby Witt Jr. as the top player in the AL Central, you need to find someone else who can be an elite power-speed-defense triple threat. Robert can be that player. He's just a year removed from a 38-homer, 20-steal season with +13 Outs Above Average in center field, where he was one of the stars of the Central. Robert's never been the best player in the division, but he's been close. That means there's a path for him to get to the top. Say Robert bounces back with a 30-30 season and Gold Glove-caliber defense at a premium position in 2025. That would put him in Witt's category. Robert might be a boom-or-bust player, but if he booms, it will be a big boom. https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-breakout-star-of-each-division-2025

please let me know the first time Dominican efforts have resulted in a 2 fWAR player...it's now 16 years and counting., unless you're going to count Tatis, Jr. as "SOX/Getz development"

Sox sites have probably lost 50-75% of active membership the last two years. The easy riches are long gone lol. JR has cut off the gravy train for a lot of related enterprises. In all seriousness...labors of love like ST are not nearly as appreciated as they should be. WSI is a perfect example of what can go awry. It's admirable to me that SoxMachine was able to find a new home for Fegan. JR has also hurt the sports media field, too.

I worked for a SAL team for two seasons in the 90s...pretty sure I understand why having a High A and Low A team is QUITE important. JR was one of the first to cut here, by the way. The White Sox had Bristol in the Appalachian League and Great Falls MT and also cut short season team budgeting as well. Cutting scouts etc...then look at the Dodgers adding teams to accommodate all their prospects. Not to mention how difficult it is for the Dominican kids to even get off the island to the US with fewer minor league teams

It hasn't worked nearly as well with Chelsea FC. That said...deferrals and payments in Bitcoin (Odell Beckham) are becoming increasingly common around pro sports. Apparently, Ohtani is also avoiding a huge chunk of CA state tax designing his payouts in this fashion.

If you burn the front office repeatedly, your inside sources will unsurprisingly disappear.

Thorpe Zapata, Eder, Gonzalez, Colson sliding, Fletcher Berroa Vargas Colas Ramos....if a lot more of those broke the right way. Mixed bag trending uo. for sure.

Kaz Okamoto at third?

Bohm the previous pick hasn't set Philly on fire exactly...

Hopefully that's not an omen of the eventual signing class ranking.