caulfield12

Gio had better than just one good season...

Going from Crede/Uribe in 2008 to Moncada's 2019 at third base leaves a similar trail of carnage. And the funny thing about RF is that Eaton did have that one high value 2016 that eventually ended up with one of the three key rebuild trades. Avi also had ONE now clearly anomalous season statistically...but almost always inconsistent and/or injured. Adam never did all that well in CF... his RF arm was always a lot more accurate and took better routes off the bat typically. Then there's not developing our own front line starting pitchers or catchers either. Also, for a long time after Danks (technically a Ranger for McCarthy), Daniel Hudson and Hector Santiago were the only starting pitchers produced internally and Jesus Pena the best Dominican player for at least a decade...Eloy doesn't count there as he was an external add and not original signing.

Wasn't the DH spot from Dunn through LaRoche through Alonso a net negative during most of Hahn's tenure? Also had to be bottom quintile in the majors offensively, along with RF, 2B and maybe 3B.

No Nick Williams, lol? Guess that was 2021... Luis Gonzalez at least put up two positive fWAR months with SFG last season...before fading and getting hurt.

Marisnick and Victor Reyes are close to the end of their opportunities...if you can't make it in DET, not sure what's the remaining option other than Oakland or KC. For Reyes, already 1200+ big league at-bats. Same with Bryan Shaw being on his very last legs.

Also, Oscar Colas WASN'T actually on a Birmingham or Charlotte active roster when you typed that...well, let's just say he wasn't SUPPOSED to be in the minors already if he hadn't been playing so poorly. And if they revoted for MiLB Top 100 based on the first month of the season, he'd been in the 120's range again.

How much of that is a reflection of the fact that there has to be a #2 prospect in the Sox system....whereas he'd be somewhere between 6th and 10th in virtually every other organizational Top Ten? Chicago sees some Mark Buehrle in Heath Phillips. Ray Liotta won back-to-back minor league ERA titles before an off year in 2006, which the club attributes to trying to help his family cope with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Prepare For Takeoff: RHP Adam Russell. He has come out of nowhere to put himself in the running for the fifth-starter job. He had a 6.28 ERA in three years at Ohio, but the White Sox liked his size (6-foot-8, 250 pounds) and mid-90s fastball. His secondary pitches have made strides this spring. At A Crossroads: C Francisco Hernandez. He has the tools to be a big league regular, but he has yet to make a successful transition to full-season ball, hitting .241 over the last two seasons in low Class A. He needs to get stronger and to stop letting his offensive struggles affect the other aspects of his game. That 2007 Top Ten list (ranked one of the worst in the game) had Josh Fields, Jerry Owens, Andy Gonzalez, etc. The one who arguably had the biggest impact was Ehren Wasserman, who was on the outside of the Top Ten looking in. Hernandez made 2-3 organizational Top Ten lists and never even sniffed the big leagues with the Sox.

Well, you've been under attack for seemingly defending Hahn, lol...thought it was an earnest attempt, although it's definitely stretching it to the level of absurdity. That armchair GM's comment riled up the barbarian hordes.

You're barking up the wrong tree, Stone Pony. Btw, time to eat a salad (with no dressing)! No Ruth's Chris/Morton's steak and potatoes for you.

Not sure that relying on those depth pieces says much of anything positive about Rick Hahn. Hamilton was great in 2021, in a very limited role...as the last man on the roster. NOBODY clamored for Mark Payton. Madrigal at least would be MUCH cheaper than any veteran negligible replacement value middle infielder. Heuer would be useful down the line, as well. Not sure WHO wants Leury over anyone but Sosa/Romy/Andrus/Alberto....the lesser/least of FOUR evils there? Rick Hahn finally got one right with Abreu...or two times, because the 3 year extension was fine until it blocked Vaughn and retarded his development as a 1B. McGuire at least hustled and did a much better job at controlling opponents' running games...and Diekman was only traded for due to the complete lack of depth in the system behind Bummer and the injured Crochet. Yermin at least was FUN and ENTERTAINING...something the White Sox and pretty much any professional baseball club are supposed to be in the business of providing to fans.

Yoshida was a solid move...but the problem is that it's a win-now move, like Jansen as closer. They clearly decided to prioritize Devers over Bogaerts, with Xander already at age 30 (and likely being unable to sign BOTH). Jaren Duran's been on a tear. Btw, Yoshida now well into the 900's for OPS. Story has been a disastrous signing. Sale's struggles and contract extension are well-documented. Red Sox fans got spoiled and came to expect a competitive team year in and year out...not so easy in the AL East, with Baltimore finally rising from the ashes like a Phoenix. All that said, hard to expect much more than 17-14.

Pretty sure the record without Anderson was something like 2-15 or 3-14 this most recent stretch. Obviously the recent ten game losing streak didn't help matters much. Engel makes sense as he usually came in defensively to preserve leads or in close and tight games...or used as a pinch runner late.

Everything went extremely well with the performance, with the caveat that Mr. Lincoln was killed at the end...which pretty much overshadowed all of the positives of the evening combined.

Boomer Humor...I can say that at 53 1/2, lol. You almost knew that Colome was going to get touched up. The shocker was the unheralded guys like Santos and Middleton holding up in high leverage situations.

Probably reminiscing with Konerko about 2005 and that last out WS game ball...

Well, 5 and 8 games back is a heckuva lot better than how things were looking trailing by 5 runs late on SUN.

Hamilton and Colome....not recreating 2021 and 2020 magic, exactly.

Tightrope act coming here in 3, 2, 1....

BONUS SAVINGS!!!

OOops, forgot no Kelly availability. Lopez, too.

Assuming no Lopez...who the heck will Grifol go to next? Graveman and Kelly seem pretty obvious. Bummer, just because his "stuff" always seems like it will pay off at SOME point in a positive way. Lambert has to be running on fumes even with the off day.

Robert desperately needed that hit...was headed straight towards the Mendoza Line.

Somehow, we're going to get a segue way to Home Alone. Benintendi led directly to three runs tonight....Correa robbery and then keeping Jimenez out of LF and off the field except the basepaths and batter's box.

And Middleton arguably #2.

Not quite as bad as the Lynn post no-hitter implosion. Progress of sorts?