Chicago White Sox

Very excited to see what this first LatAm class looks like, assuming the signing period actually happens. I thought someone here said that it may not.

Boys, it’s do or die time tonight. I went into the home games feeling we had this series locked down, but for many reasons we failed to take advantage of a great opportunity. Attending the two home games, you could feel the momentum quickly shift from us to them. The pitching staff is clearly gassed and the bats are now pressing. The magic feels like it’s starting to wane and as a diehard fan waking up & getting through these past few days has been brutal. You can tell the fan base is starting to lose hope as we head into a game five on the road. But you know what, f*** Cleveland. There is nothing more in this world than I hate than the city of Cleveland and its mouth breathing inhabitants. I went to college in Ohio and was constantly surrounded by these arrogant douches. These assholes have an entitlement that is not even remotely deserved. They also live in the armpit of America. Their river literally burned on fire. Their NFL team jump shipped and went to Baltimore of all places. A recent study had Cleveland as the worst place to raise a family out of 150+ large cities in the US due to general suckiness . Their most famous and adored celebrity is Drew fucking Carrey. How such a shitty place came to be is almost unfathomable. And yet here we are, one game away from losing the ALDS to the scum of the Earth in a place worse than Hell. I refuse to accept that outcome and I know the Sox refuse to accept that outcome. We just went into this shithole and took two on the road…no reason we can’t take one more. Sean Burke is one of the most bad ass motherfuckers around. I sat next to his grandma and several other family members at Fenway when we played the Red Sox earlier this year. It became clear to me during my conversations with them that this dude only cares about one thing and that’s dominating on a fucking mound. He wants the ball in the biggest moments and on the biggest of stages. And there is no bigger stage than a must win game #5 on a Saturday night on primetime TV vs. a much hated divisional rival. If there’s one dude on this team who could give two fucks about momentum and who will win or die trying it’s Sean Burke. I stand with Sean Burke. I stand with the bats who led the AL in runs scored. And I stand with my Soxtalk brethren who are some of the biggest diehards I know. None of us deserve s%*#…we aren’t like those entitled Clevelanders and expect a free handout. But I do know this…no one wants this more than us. And when everything is on the line, it’s the ones who want it more that usually come out victorious. Our boys are going into this game tonight hungrier than ever and aren’t leaving Cleveland without a W…you can book that s%*#. Let’s fucking go!!!

That‘s my guess and hope

Getz had an awesome offseason and a terrible trade deadline. As much as I hate the Castillo deal and lost my mind a few weeks back demanding Getz get fired, that was an incredibly stupid take. Right now, Getz has done enough over the past 12 months to remain GM of the White Sox. Whether he is the long term answer remains to he seen and the Castillo trade was so egregious that I think it’s ok to have some doubts. This coming offseason will be critical for Getz as he has to take a talented but flawed team and make them far more complete. And he has to do that now with Luis Castillo eating up $24M in payroll space. He also has to fix the pitching developments woes of the organization and start building up a pipeline of minor league arms. His success or failure as GM goes well beyond the major league results and there is still more work to do in fixing the foundations.

I’m not being rude. You were either trolling or just straight up lying. You said you’d rather have one of the worst hitters in baseball be our starting catcher in a do or die playoff game over our young stud catcher because we win more with him behind the plate and his catcher ERA is better. And despite your “check the stats” post, that’s factually untrue. Kyle Teel’s CERA is 0.25 points better than Drew Romo’s on the season. The stupidity of the post itself and the arrogance behind the false “facts” justifying reflect an all time low for this message board. If you aren’t a troll, which I am certain you are, then god bless your soul. Honestly, I am going to be rude now because I think you suck either way as a poster and bring the quality of this message board down. I have one poster on ignore because he is also a blatant troll, but looks like I must have two now. At least I can watch my team in the playoffs without your s%*# posts ruining the vibes. And guess what, you can enjoy jerking off in your mom’s basement to your rage bait posts riling up a Sox fan. Looks like we both come out as winners! f*** trolls. f*** Green Line. f*** Cleveland. Go White Sox! White Sox in 5!

This is some of the worst trolling I have ever seen in this board.

They didn’t want him on the roster. I’m not justifying the trade, just what I assume to be their logic. I am one to believe in sunk costs and would have just taken the loss on the Dominguez deal. Jerry is going to Jerry however.

Why Jerry won’t let them DFA Dominguez? Because he’s refused to do this for years.

This is an overly pessimistic take. Teel put up a 103 wRC+ on the season and a 136 wRC+ in September as the rust wore off. He looked good behind the plate to me and is a huge piece of the future. Not sure what’s not to love about him. Antonacci put up a 122 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR this year as rookie despite not being called up until April 15th and being brand new to the OF. Yes, his routes were bad but there is zero reason to believe he can’t improve with more reps. If so, he has more than enough speed to at least be neutral in LF with time. His bat is 100% legit and he can be a weapon in the leadoff spot for years to come. Peters may regress some with the bat next year, but he can still be a valuable CF due to his defense. And while he looked a platoon player earlier this season, his bat improved as the year progressed. Regardless, he’s a key part of the OF mix moving forward whether he platoons with Doyle or not. Braden is a 23 year old rookie who was rushed up to fill a major league need. He had an issue elevating the ball in AAA and predictably wasn’t addressed during his stint with the Sox. That’s going to be his offseason project, but am willing to bet he makes significant strides in the coming years. He’s a special talent with an impeccable work ethic, so the expectation is he should get better.

I think it’s as simple as Jerry wasn’t going to let them DFA Dominguez, so this was a way around that. I don’t think it suggests they are capped at a $100M payroll.

First decision is what do you do with Taylor, Hagen, & Schultz. Do any of them move into the rotation to start next season? Honestly, I think you keep Taylor & Hagen in the bullpen and continue using as high leverage weapons. Neither has installed any confidence in their ability to handle a starter’s workload. Schultz is a different matter, but I’d be ok with him starting the year in the major league bullpen working as a bulk reliever to build up his confidence. If that’s the case, then I agree we should go out and add two SPs. Burke is the only guy I am confident in right now. Castillo should be brought into camp with the intention of being part of the rotation, but he can’t be more than your #5 to start and he should have a short leash. Martin & Kay are legitimate options, but you can’t bank on them and Castillo capably filling up 60% of your rotation and feel good about your chances. Honestly, I’d probably have those three compete with Sandlin & Thorpe for the last two spots. Losers either go to the major league bullpen, our AAA rotation, or are traded.

He took the test when he acquired Luis Castillo and his $24M salary. It was his big move and one of the worst trades (from an impact standpoint) in baseball history. I hope they’re doing a post audit on their evaluation process of that move, because even us couch GMs could tell it was bad the day it happened.

You’re over-estimating. If there is any sort of offseason before a lockout, most free agents won’t be signed until after it settles.

Ride or die with Sean is our only hope

Ok, you think the Sox are going to rock a $100M payroll next year after making the playoffs and seeing a huge increase in attendance and fan interest? Just for perspective, the median payroll in baseball this year is $175M. And MLB is pushing for a minimum payroll of like $170M. But yes, the White Sox will break all historical precedents and rock a bottom payroll after making a playoff run.

Zero chance of this happening unless you think they are rocking a $85M payroll next year.

Hitters were definitely trying too hard yesterday

Agree!!

Awesome…thanks for confirming.

Clearly someone wasn’t a Sox fan back in 2008. The original blackout game was incredible and brought an energy unparalleled to anything I have ever witnessed in person. You have already declared defeat so not surprising you are trashing an actually awesome thing.

We doing a blackout again today? Will actually work at night unlike the joke that was yesterday.

We beat the Guardians in the head to head series in the regular season. We have an incredibly favorable schedule that helps us overcome some of the pitching disadvantages we face. We entered game #3 with one win needed to wrap up the series with two consecutive home games. The crowd and energy level of our fanbase is insane. The pressure should be on Cleveland. No idea why people are suddenly trying to down play expectations for the rest of this series. I am not optimistic about our chances against the Rays, but the Guardians are a team we can and should beat. There are no excuses at this point. Last night was brutal but not reflective of who this team is. The Sox need to play confident and smart tonight and get the job done. The fans need to make Cleveland press at every high leverage opportunity. I will be there tonight doing my part. I am confident so will Will’s boys.

I would not pitch Fedde multiple times through the lineup in a playoff game. I think he’s a guy you cap at 2 or 3 innings depending on matchups. Stuff looked much better last time out in that short stint. I try to keep that version of him.

He was sort of rushed into that situation last night without a full warmup. I think you ride or die with him for one tonight. There aren’t exactly a ton of other options at the moment.

Hagen is opening. Fedde, Hicks, & Taylor seem likely to pitch two or more each. Guessing that one of Kay or Newcomb fills in somewhere between to break up the righties. My guess is they go with Kay for an inning or two and save Sean for a potential game #5 to open for Burke.