caulfield12

But even then they might have to blow up the whole thing with Tua Hill and McDaniel after next season...last year felt a bit like the White Sox 2020 season as they collapsed down the stretch and got run over by PC in the cold...and this year like the Sox 2022 season. Lost too many key pieces on defense and the team salary structure became untenable without Tua on a rookie deal.

Otoh they kept Bieber...still have that bullpen and Manzardo might yet put up better numbers than Naylor. Ofc they also wormed out of the Gimeneto early extension that turned out to be ill advised.

They had the tagline/motto of first consecutive Sox playoff appearances since the 1900's or 1910's or whatever the heck it was...which somehow seemed even more depressing. There's a good reason KW, Hahn and Haber have basically disappeared or haven't found jobs related to MLB months and months later. https://champsorchumps.us/team/mlb/chicago-white-sox Just download this and you'll get a full feeling of the frustration...39 years without a playoff appearance from 1920 to 1959. I guess it was their first back-to-back (barely, as noted, 2020 team was fading badly down the stretch, and based largely on beating up the weaker Central teams) appearances, and just 11 playoff appearances in 124 years, or less than once a decade, on average. Teams: White Sox Fandom Started: 1979 Championships D+ Regular Season Success F- Playoff Success F Suffering Excessive Current Trajectory Freefall Overall F-

Well, there you go. The PTAC response about baseball for the pure enjoyment of the sport, and not the emotional attachment and correlated high's and low's of winning losing. But for die hard White Sox fans, those that give up season tickets, don't renew the Sox tv package/MLB.com, don't give Sox-related gifts at Christmas, don't have the next generation of kids growing up as Sox fans, it will definitely affect the fate of the franchise...unless they can find an owner willing to invest $2 billion plus another $500 million to $1 billion into a new stadium development in Chicago.

NYM/NYY together as a metro? At least it has shifted from just Yankees and Red Sox. And Toronto has been outspending Boston the last five years.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/marlins talk about a perpetual rebuild lineup...they do have the makings surely of a nice youngish rotation, but Alcantara another guy who eventually gets traded when he gets too expensive in all likelihood Eury Perez's health one of the keys to that team's future Burger trade a head scratcher to Marlins' fans as well not much fun competing with NYM Philly and Atlanta

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/12/former-red-sox-catching-prospect-reveals-unusual-naked-pre-game-routine.html How did we miss this? With the arrivals of Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson...along with Brennan Bernadino already on the roster, Boozer was suddenly the odd man out an the fourth lefty on the depth chart.

Awesome 1980 Strat O Matic card.

https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/244059/ Why haven't we heard much at all about this SS who the Phillies traded for Tanner Banks and was their #11 prospect and hit well over .300 in Adv.A ball for the Sox??? Is he even on the Top 30 list?

The fastball has touched the mid-90s and the slider sits more in the low-80s with late bite. It’s a raw profile, but Fajardo already touches the mid-90s and should be able to add a tick or two more to that as he fills out his 6-3 frame. At 17-18 years old...not 32. Also REALLY good control for a LA pitcher at that age. Unless they're going for "The Rookie II" Disney-like feel good story.

https://www.sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/cam-booser-to-white-sox-for-yhoiker-fajardo.44618/ Looks like they simply had to open up a spot for Patrick Sandoval on the 40 man...who won't even pitch until the second half. https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2024/8/20/one-underrated-prospect-from-every-american-league-organization Chicago White Sox - RHP Yhoiker Fajardo Fajardo has been a standout 17-year-old arm in the DSL this season. He throws primarily a two-pitch fastball/slider combination. The fastball has touched the mid-90s and the slider sits more in the low-80s with late bite. It’s a raw profile, but Fajardo already touches the mid-90s and should be able to add a tick or two more to that as he fills out his 6-3 frame. The two-pitch mix has generated a ton of strikeouts in the DSL this season. Across 50.2 innings of work, Fajardo struck out 64 batters. He pitched to a 2.50 FIP and walked just eight batters in the process. He commands the strike zone well with an easily repeatable delivery but will have to round out the pitch mix to find more success stateside. He allowed a .256 BAA and will have to improve that in the Complex League once he makes his way there.

Will this guy be part of their next playoff team? We traded Burger when he was "too old" at 26/27 but now our niche is suddenly thirty something veteran relievers? Almost Feels like Fajardo is now guaranteed to one day break out with the Red Sox, just like Romy Gonzalez last year...

That's what we heard about Leasure...closer upside the Dodgers didn't notice. 96 Is just a pedestrian FB these days from a reliever.

"Fajardo, 18, made his professional debut in 2024, posting a 3.91 ERA (22 ER/50.2 IP) in 13 starts for the Dominican Summer League White Sox. The right-hander struck out 64 batters while issuing only eight walks and allowing only two home runs. Born in Venezuela, Fajardo signed with the White Sox as an international free agent in February 2024." mlb.com Shouldn't a conpletely rebuilding team be making the exact opposite move...trading any vets for youth?

But then turning around and signing Santana at his age is puzzling at best. At some point he will fall off a cliff like Abreu did.

Always getting hurt and must have been concerned about his conditioning…but production-wise, yuck. Depends on Manzardo taking the next step.

Chiraq?

Thought it was Carlos Boozer's son and a basketball player but alas. Maybe the plan is turning over bullpen 100% every year.

uh oh...

But wanting to be on a winning team from the beginning with superior facilities and crowd support...and having no reason to believe they're suddenly going to start supplementing the roster in FA? Why not a team that has never won a World Series? I would feel the White Sox main motivation would be to acquire him in order to flip him later for a boatload of prospects.

Bama Miami SCarolina and Ole Miss are going to be furious...

Why has moved around to so many teams and never found a long-term home?

50-112 would be a major accomplishment? That just means losing another 10-15% of the fanbase unless someone really breaks out and has a legit run at RoY. And even if Schultz or Smith was as good as Crochet in 2024...the narrative is stuck on "well, they might have a chance to not lose 100 games again in 2026 but that's going to require spending money in FA to fill in some of the holes." So then we're all the way to 2027 and coming off five more disappointing or losing seasons to go along with 2014-2019. And what progress...if any...on the stadium issue? They absolutely have to nail that 2026 1-1 draft pick. That's the only light at then d of the tunnel on the position player side of things.

You've got to compete for RoY with Mayo Jobe Dominguez and Jacob Wilson, A's SS.

Schoenle...had to look him and Coffey up again. They both sounded vaguely familiar.