caulfield12

Don't say afternoon games with kids skipping school to stay home and watch or teachers allowing numerous classes to listen on the radio...

The potential revenue from the new stadium in Arlington made it a heckuva lot easier to go all in on Semien deGrom and Seager. That's probably more financial commitments to FAs than the White Sox have made all decade plus if you strip away Dunn Grandal and Benintendi. Heck...you probably could still include 1-2 of those aforementioned 3.

But at one point we had Steele Walker, Basabe, Luis Gonzalez, Rutherford, Alex Call, and he who shall not be named that slipped away and caused a panic two springs ago only to amount to nothing despite having the most potential but more injuries than Eloy. Then Tatis looking at a 50/50 shot at a RF Gold Glove as of today. Development again.

Should have gotten Breslow, lol...

Of course, conveniently/selectively forgetting to mention how TLR and Dave Stewart nearly managed to destroy the franchise in their abbreviated time running things. Well, at least SoxTalk almost traded for Ketel Marte 2-3 offseasons in a row. Actual Sox officials, not so much. But he would have been the perfect piece for the 2022 season.

So, could the White Sox travel that same path, coming off a 61-101 showing? Josh Barfield, the team’s assistant general manager who worked the past nine seasons with Arizona, believes anything is possible. “We have a bunch of talent already on this roster,” Barfield told me in a recent interview. “If we do things right, if things work out, there is a scenario where we can add and look to continue to build to grow toward the future but also in the short term be in the mix as well.” Nothing about Touki and our rotation ERA leader whose name already escapes me less than a month after the season finished...??? Notice there was also NO mention of the upcoming FA pitching class, hinting that it's going to be mostly youngsters and castoffs taking those spots rather than $15+ million guys. Also seems like they're putting Josh Barfield out there (or he's putting himself out there) more typically than you'd have seen with someone like Haber in past years. It's almost as if he's replacing KW from a symbolic standpoint. His name has been attached to interviews and articles just as frequently as Getz, almost.

We've heard for years now how 2B and corner outfield were both so easy to find on the open market. Not so much. And Muncy is too used to playoff baseball to go to a non contender.

Not to mention the proliferation of fantasy leagues and illegal and legal gambling that's helping to drive interest in younger/more statistically oriented fans. Interest in Asia and worldwide due to Ohtani. WBC with best ratings and excitement in ages despite loss of Edwin Diaz. Increasing interest in Mexico Caribbean and Latin America. Tennis and golf especially are under threat these days. NASCAR ratings have fallen dramatically. Soccer is crushing everything in its path worldwide and even the US is starting to catch up there. Women's college basketball set ratings and attendance records OTOH. It's not a singular story of MLB declining because revenues and profitability are still higher compared to NBA and LeBron is on his last legs.

Have you run for office?

Well you pretty much have to go back to Q Danks and Floyd for a starting pitcher at this stage in his development actually working out and blossoming for multiple years after being acquired by the Sox. (Rodon's singular season hardly counts and he wasn't an external acquisition.) And Jake's only two years older than Eder....and suddenly freaking out about Jake Burger not even making it to 30 lol? Likelihood is that his past workload necessitates a bullpen trajectory just like Crochet and quite likely Michael Kopech as well. At the rate they're going, it will take 3-5 years to build a competent starting rotation again.

Not to mention Seager Semien and now Jung and Carter jerseys. The World Series winning effect was always considered a full five year trailing bump in attendance for winning teams. At least 2-3 full seasons for the losing teams. Sox and Royals numbers bear that out quite well post 2005 and post 2014-15...KC fell apart in 16/17 so arguably lost one year as that team quickly broke apart except for Gordon and Salvy.

Don't forget that significant share in NBC Sports Chicago that was leveraged by co-ownership of the Bulls as well as controlling GRC parking rights.

After not playing for basically three years you expected linear improvement right away? Screaming that out while ignoring the Sox paid $75 million for Benintendi's 2022 season while surrounded by similar lineups in NY to what AJ Pollock enjoyed with the 2021 Dodgers (also ideal platoon matchups, comparatively)....shows that they completely overlooked AB's 2019/20/21 seasons as well as Pollock's defensive deficiencies. (Wouldn't want Rick Hahn picking my mutual funds, either. Last year's results are not EVER indicative of future performance for Sox FAs.) Or maybe they were overly impressed by KC's winning atmosphere and reputation?

He hustled. Great with fans. Resilient/perseverant. Strong family man. Figured out ways to overcome Sox development issues. Improved considerably on defense over time with practice. Attempted to improve his hitting with the help of his own tech as well as his wife's interventions. Not associated with club's nightlife/attitude issues. Always cheered on his teammates. Actually seemed to have fun playing the game and appreciated the opportunities and responsibilities that came with it. Also wouldn't have been one of those players grumbling about Sox fest or offseason PR events/hospital visits/events with children involved. Unselfish.

Only an AL Central team winning it would have any impact...which would undoubtedly only provide further support for his argument you don't have to spend $200+ million on the roster to claim a title, or even $175 million. But the days of fighting that year to year battle with the Tigers and Illitch died out with the father's passing, the loss of Verlander and the diminishment of Miguel Cabrera as a player. Well, that and the disappearance of KW's braggadocio.

Should be closer to 3-4 years for elite high school players..

Daniels is ahead. Penix for sure. Oregon and Nix will have far better team results at the end. Gabriel lurking with a cupcake schedule. Travis with FSU. Marvin Harrison might even be ahead of Williams. Don't doubt he still gets an invite ... but USC is going to have 3-4 losses and that won't be easily overcome. Plus Lincoln Riley isn't exactly beloved in a lot of circles...media included.

As a senior at Yale University, where he majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, he led the Ivy League with a 2.56 ERA. He was drafted in the 26th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, and debuted in the Major Leagues with the San Diego Padres in 2005. Breslow was called the "smartest man in baseball" by Minneapolis Star Tribune Twins beat writer La Velle E. Neal III. The Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Turbow wrote: "Judging by his résumé, Craig Breslow is the smartest man in baseball, if not the entire world."[1][2][3][4] The Sporting News named him the smartest athlete on their top-20 list, in 2010.[5] After the 2018 season, he ranked fourth of all active left-handed MLB pitchers in career appearances. He stands 6' 1," and weighs 185 lbs. Yeah, Hahn was under educated in areas that really mattered...lol. But especially biomechanics/pitching development. Or judging ANY talent that wasn't spoon fed to him by KW and/or Marco Paddy.

Too many guys like Gabriel out there lurking. Maye might have been eliminated, but no way USC doesn't lose at least one more game, if not two. Last year, he had the advantage of getting all the focus being a Top 10 team the entire season and national championship contender until the 2nd Utah losss.

Huge outs there from the DBacks' bullpen. If there was ever a "hero inning" opportunity, that was it. We'll see if Harper gets another shot bottom of the 9th against Sewald.

I think a lot of scouts would argue Luis Robert is just as naturally talented...more power, not as dangerous on the base paths as Carroll and both possessing strong but inconsistent arms. Carroll gets the advantage there, too, but natural ability there's hardly any daylight between them. Carroll's certainly the more complete player and more fundamentally-sound but even he throws to the wrong base at times trying to make the highlight plays. In some ways, finding a catcher like Moreno has been just as challenging, if not moreso. Ketel Marte's name comes up (or came up practically every year since 2019, but that ship has obviously sailed along with Jazz Chisholm for OF/2B. Of course, the other hit that stings a bit was NOT going after Alek Thomas when it should have been a slam dunk...but the timing with his father and management was not meant to be apparently. At the very least, he would taking Colas' spot in RF.

The cost was going to be something like $800K per start (if you added in the buyout/mutual option situation)...and he'd only had that ONE start before the deadline to make a judgment upon, not to mention the PR hit and/or clubhouse and media distraction for a playoff contender. Opportunity Cost. Not worth it.

A decade of terrible performance and just two pretty good seasons mixed in can't be all written off as "bad luck." That's only 25% of the equation, at most.

Santos was fine but probably not as closer...they're certainly not going to pay Josh Hader $15-20 million for a 90+ win team, that's guaranteed...as much as working out some type of "incentive-laden deal" to retain Liam Hendriks for another 2-3 years down the line. Nor will they pay Snell/Nola "win now" $25+ million salaries, you can just forget about that.