caulfield12

Getting rid of Ordonez Caballo and Valentin for a cast of unknowns was treated quite skeptically. Nobody knew what to expect out of Contreras El Duque AJ Dye Everett Jenks Iguchi Pods etc. They had sacrificed a ton of offense going into the season...and then Thomas was on the shelf too. Ofc the bullpen going through three closers while winning nearly every close game and manufacturing runs with Pods and Iguchi early season to get leads was one of the biggest keys to how that team excelled.

Hahn fans used that whole "the rebuild prospects were certainly solid/impressive, the process was usually sound...it just didn't work out because his hands were tied by JR" excuse for years and years. Now we see the exact same thing with Getz...especially now that the farm is ranked 4th or whatever. But KW hardly had any message board "stans" and yet had one of the best runs as GM from 2000-2012 of any Sox GM since the late 80s/early 90s and going back to the 50s-60s.

OSU vs. ND on Monday, Jan 20th

How is he on those jump throws deep in the hole like Anderson perfected? Range up the middle? Throwing against his body moving left? Ability to quickly get back to his feet and get rid of the ball on diving plays? Turning double plays?

Yermin next?

Ultimately the Sox draft picks with the most natural swagger...him and Brian Anderson, couldn't ever recapture their original confidence levels coming out of college when they hit walls offensively.

And rumors of a back injury...slowing down his bat speed against FBs.

He throws 84 mph on the infield...average is 78 for high schoolers. 82% percentile arm but definitely elite. HS QB. 6.91/60 yd profiles more typically at third.

"Montgomery continues to add strength without losing speed, though he's merely an average runner and some evaluators wonder if he'll outgrow shortstop. The White Sox have no such concerns, pointing to his quick first step and athleticism, and Seager has remained at short despite hearing the same questions. Montgomery's agility and solid arm strength should allow him to make an easy transition to third base if needed, and his bat should make him an All-Star wherever he plays." https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/colson-montgomery-695657?stats=career-r-hitting-milb "Because he has fringy speed and figures to slow a bit as he matures physically, most scouts believe Montgomery will outgrow shortstop. He moves well for his size, however, and the White Sox will give him a chance to stick there. If he has to move to third base, he projects as at least an average defender with a solid arm." https://www.milb.com/news/scouting-report-chicago-white-sox-shortstop-colson-montgomery

Either Passan/Law will be right...or Colson. We will know quickly enough in Spring Training if he's 100% physically or not.

Clearly a first ballot Hall of Famer is a reasonable expectation for Sox fans to place on Montgomery lol.

Because all of the focus on whether he can play SS or not is going to bleed over into his offense psychologically. Cue the....well they were never strong enough mentally in the first place for the big leagues storylines. See Andrew Vaughn in the outfield.

If Passan is right and the industry consensus is that Montgomery ends up at 3B or 1B...then the Rojas move was really dumb. Because you simply end up blocking your young players...just like Vaughn is also doing. They need to know from Vargas Ramos Baldwin Meidroth...who is actually a viable part of the big league plan for 2026 and get all those guys as many at bats as possible. I'm to the point where you dump Benintendi for best offer on the table and stick Vargas out there. I don't think Baldwin or Sosa can handle SS either ... so back to the HaSeong Kim option and making that your first $100 million contract. You just have to establish stability at that position for the next 3-5 years. Teel and Quero can rotate between catcher 1B and DH by no later than mid season. Hopefully you trade Vaughn and starting giving at bats to Meidroth at 2B or 1B. Try Baldwin in the outfield as well...he has more upside than DeLoach Julks Fletcher...heck, so does Vargas. Trade Robert as well and set every Sox scout with the task of finding your next everyday CFer. And Braden Montgomery is your RFer by some point in 2027. Wolkow might be one picture for left field by then. Finally, Ramos and Colas need to impress in the minors or you move on...Ramos gets at least this year and half of next to make a better impression defensively or be traded to address other needs. Moving him to the outfield is a fool's errand.

Three straight NFC South titles...four counting Brady.

He might be better than Chuckie Robinson, realistically.

What's the max they could trade to the Dodgers or Padres? Is there any overall max/ceiling LAD or SD can accumulate from other teams in order to pay off Sasaki...including the posting fee to Chiba Lotte?

Doc Moonlight Graham?

Balta should be happy.

Right...good cop/bad cop routine.

Merkin, mlb.com "Some pundits view the anniversary celebration as a misdirection from the 222 combined losses suffered by the team over the past two seasons and a 2025 campaign in which the White Sox are unlikely to be prime contenders. This year is focused on watching the prospects in action, then seeing where the team needs to fill in around them. But the 2005 team should be recognized as one of the most underrated, dominant champions in Major League Baseball history. White Sox fans simply don’t want to wait another 10 or 20 years for another celebration. “I’ve never been on a team where it seemed like from the owner down, everybody was pulling on the same end of the rope,” Rowand said. “If you open up a dictionary and look up ‘camaraderie’ or ‘winning environment,’ there would be a picture of the ‘05 White Sox. … That group was probably closer than any other group of guys that I’ve ever been around. “There was never a dull moment one day of that entire season. … But we never let any outside distractions derail us from what we were trying to accomplish on the field every day.”

The Royals hardly scored either...both games were incredibly tight.

Was considering going until I saw no Rojas Perez or Slater appearances... Uribe's probably pissed they already dumped his son. Would also be nice to see Crede or Rowand, but maybe they're not getting around very well physically after getting beaten up so much over their careers...heck, would take Carl Everett at this point.

This is like dinging Frank Thomas for the 2000 playoffs against the Mariners. Witt was terrible against the Yankees, for example. It happens to even the best players, like Judge as well in the WS...or Soto. Or when Edman and Lux might outplay Betts and Ohtani enough to...

Kremer Povich Suarez as fifth for now...they did lose Irvin and Means, but doing the traditional KW Deadline flirtation seems to be the preference, rather than ocercommitting money before the season has even started. All depends on keeping Rodriguez healthy across a full season...and him taking that next step like Skubal or Crochet last year.

The Hangout is convinced Pablo Lopez, Framber, Luis Castillo, Cease or a Pirates starter not named Skenes is there for prospects that they are shockingly overvaluing again. Or counting on Sasaki...but even most Padres' fans seem to be scared of the Dodgers at this point. I'd suspect it would require Dean, Mouncastle and Povich. That'd be a lot to give up but Pablo is a very solid Top 2 in your rotation guy.