caulfield12

Twins, mostly. Almost 100% as a reliever. I was actually at that game. After the shoulder/labrum problems…he never seemed to have the dominant stuff they claimed when he ascended to #1 status level.

If that strategy was actually effective Trout and Ohtani would actually have a series of playoff wins to add to their resumes.

Yes, it was put out there a couple of weeks ago and is now being regurgitated due to the lack of timeliness that’s becoming more and more readily apparent with Fegan off the daily beat. Team is in suspended animation…still too close to completely give up on but fatally flawed simultaneously.

Theo Epstein’s lack of athletic history is often mentioned as well. That said, being a sports agent is relevant…it led to Sale, Q and Eaton extensions, and rebuild trades. As well as Anderson and Robert (partially KW and Paddy and Abreu). Those five players being willing to sign “team friendly” deals at those places and times in life are the reason Hahn still has his job, ostensibly. But all the other extensions and drafts and FA moves have pretty much added up to nothing at this point in time…negligible trade value or fWAR/replacement value or however you want to categorize or characterize it. And the Hahn negotiating legend has disappeared with the second wave in guys like Giolito, Cease and Kopech who haven’t been nearly as easy to negotiate with for a number of reasons. Whether Hahn was lucky before or is unlucky now, it all points towards being one of the most challenging spots to rebuild from in White Sox history…the only franchises who might have bigger obstacles being the Royals and Rockies across the entire sport.

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/how-will-white-sox-approach-2023-trade-deadline The last half of the article is classic Hahn bullshit…taking the middle course of only trading Gio Grandal Middleton and maybe Lynn since all could be or are in their last years with the Sox. Even that would be a little shocking since there’s zero depth to replace two holes in the rotation, let alone three with Clevinger. Then your other two starters can never give you much more than 5+. That’s just never going to work without the best bullpen in the history of the game and best team defense and running game to take advantage of the new style of play like the Orioles or Guardians or Rays. The only thing the Sox actually possess is the most expensive bullpen in history…but certainly not the most effective.

Leave it to the White Sox to have two #1 groups in the past two decades to make the least major league imprint. That’s not easy to do at all. It’s a big part of the reason they have come to rely on so many Tier B/C free agents, unfortunately…not even having the ability to sustain the contention window with replacement level players.

Also had a Top farm system in 1999-2001. The best of all those guys were Buehrle, Garland, Crede and Rowand…but almost all of the pitchers busted, guys like Ginter, Barcelo, Stumm, Wright, Baldwin, Biddle and Myette. Parque and Snyder fell apart. Borchard and Rauch became synonymous with bust. Reed and Morse and Olivo the core of the Garcia deal that became the heart of the rotation with Contreras. Fogg and Wells had decent careers. But the main reason for the 2005 title was trades (Cotts Pods and Everett yet another), FA and waiver pickups (Jenks) and all those KW buy low specials that hit one after another…undoubtedly more those 3 seasons than Hahn in an entire decade.

I don't recall saying he was the best ever...but I don't think many can make the case he's not one of the 5-10 most impactful players in baseball again this year. BTW, procure connotes eventual ownership of something with a theoretical value...but I guess someone will argue the Sox are better off with Benintendi because there's less attendant risk involved.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/diamond-sports-files-motion-cut-184910890.html

They gave Benintendi a lot more money and more years despite a cumulative 3.1 fWAR of production for 2 1/2 seasons from 2019-2021. Melky Cabrera, Mazara, Pollock, Eaton second time around...we almost always misread previous track records.

No more than Jared Kelenic will save the Mariners... I have noticed the Tatis criticisms have quieted down with him almost back to his previous form...especially after such a long layoff and playing GG level defense at a completely new position.

https://sports.yahoo.com/rays-bench-star-wander-franco-for-at-least-2-games-for-not-being-the-best-teammate-205229398.html

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hern-ndez-shohei-ohtani-wont-120054097.html

The Bulls and Sox are pretty much identical, except the Sox fans are not dumb enough to support a terrible product...versus one of the best-attended teams in the business. Not even having a new toy/draft pick to play with is even more disheartening.

It would be a lot like when the Rangers offered ARod that massive deal. No way in hell the Sox could build a team around him. And Sox fans would quickly grow weary of supporting a team with just one or two superstars. The novelty would wear off quickly and then all the talk would turn to potential trades...same issues the much better financed Angels have been dealing with for 2-3 years now. They actually have a GENUINELY tough call deciding what to do in LAA land compared to any decision tree/matrix that Hahn faces.

That's almost spending as much as the Padres did on Machado Tatis and Bogaerts to get Ohtani and Giolito. That's even crazier, actually, with the volatility of pitchers with one TJS behind them and then the added risk of pitching well into their 30s.

They already have #4 whether he wants it or not.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2023.s HTML The Cleveland Guardians used 12 different starters last year...and 11 already in less than half a season in 2023. Imagine how ugly the results would be right now if the White Sox were missing two starters... let alone trading Gio and/or Lynn? They would truly be looking at 66-74 wins in that scenario. In what's supposed to be years 4-5 to basically complete their competitive window. Complete and utter failure.

It goes all the way back to Sale, Ring and Poreda. Sale worked out for the Sox, obviously...but that's five relievers drafted in the first round to fill immediate needs at the big league level. I bet there's not a single other team to draft that many (collegiate) relievers that high in the draft...over such a time frame.

The ONLY thing that would work is bringing in Garcia, Contreras and all those 9-10 buy low free agents and Bobby Jenks after dumping three big salaries like the 2004-05 cycle. Sox simply don't have the prospects to dream of pulling off the equivalent of a Freddy Garcia trade unless it's moving core pieces off the current roster that would cripple the depth.

No those were the biggest one year improvements in baseball history. There's not going to be a clear answer because you haven't previsely defined solid system or high priced free agents. The 1997 and 2003 Marlins tend to fit one of each, for example. But you should specify Top 5 Baseball America farm system or Top 10 and free agent spending in inflation adjusted dollars with a base year at least. Let's say the equivalent of at least $150 million in future contracts for one offseason? $500 million in new spending over 3? It's way too vague.

Brooks Boyer and Hahn would love for more than 2-3% of the fan.base to believe in something so farcical they would buy season tickets just based on the possibility of it happening... like with Machado.

Pretty sure Baseball America didn't exist until the early 1980's... But the answer seems to partially be steroids.

+35 - 1998–99 Diamondbacks (from 65 wins to 100 in their second MLB season) +33 - 1935–36 Boston Braves (from 38 wins in Babe Ruth’s last season to 71) +33 - 1945–46 Boston Red Sox (from 71 wins to 104 - seems like they might have been missing an important player in 1945, Ted somebody. Of course the whole league was different in 1946 as the “wartime players” left the game and the likes of Williams and DiMaggio returned.) +33 - 1988–89 Baltimore Orioles (from 54 wins and an 0–21 start to 87 wins)

He had a pretty middling start for the Guardians...or whatever team had just recently claimed him this year. Pretty sure if they were absolutely in love with him after watching firsthand they wouldn't have let him go to bring up Gavin Williams, with Triston McKenzie already out another 4-6 weeks and possibly the entire season. Has been with three teams the past 1 1/2 seasons.