caulfield12

Just included him for his 2.6 fWAR this season but obviously not the potential loss those other two represent. He'd plateaued after early career brilliance, playoff success then lots of injuries.

https://www.milb.com/player/evan-carter-694497 Vaughn had just 212 milb at-bats. Even Evan Carter at his young age of 21 had nearly 1000 as a raw high school athlete out of eastern Tennessee. And a second round pick...which the White Sox consistently miss on.

There's no way they can sign Bellinger and pay Soto $300+ million for an extension. It would just be a one shot deal.

In Game 1 of the series...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/sport/baseball-world-series-viewership-problem-spt-intl/index.html Yet another article on esports beating out baseball among young people before the first t.v. ratings are even released.

Except Burger and Muncy were VERY similar players in 2023 without considering age and price tag. But they would probably sign him to a two deal and he would collapse in 2025.

https://www.si.com/mlb/cubs/news/chicago-cubs-linked-potential-suitor-san-diego-padres-superstar They would have to trade a boatload of pitching which they don't really have...at any rate, PCA and a pitcher plus. They won't want Owen Cassie back in all likelihood as that make Preller look bad. Even before the rumors, it was reported that the Yankees, Cubs, Mets, Giants, Phillies, and even the Guardians would be interested, if Soto became available. Now we've seen the first two possibly inquiring about a possible trade. There will be likely rumors about the others, as GMs perform due diligence. Nothing will get serious until the GM meetings in November, after the World Series, and even that will probably be just discussing a preliminary framework for a deal. There will be deals before, during, and after the Winter meetings.

Imagine having both Garcia and Arozarena and letting them go... Sandy Alcantara, Zac Gallen and Michael Wacha on the pitching side. Go Cardinals! Already has broken the David Freese all-time postseason RBI record from back in the day culminating against Tex for StL in the WS.

Wow.

Torkelson another prime example too...although he had a much better second half.

Go Rangers!!! Semien/Dunning, AL, haven't won it before...drastically lost it, in fact. Downside...indoor baseball.

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?