Chicago White Sox

Relevant to certain discussions:

I went back and forth between the two of them. Just not sure they’ll have the financial ammo to sign Nimmo, but I’d be ecstatic if they did.

IMO, the Sox need two LH hitting OFs. One of those should eventually be Colas and the other should be a free agent or trade acquisition. Neither can be Sheets if we actually care about winning. Assuming Pollock exercises his team option, he should be the 4th OF and/or placeholder until we decide to call-up Oscar. As previously mentioned, I think 1B/DH should go to Abreu & Eloy. I just don’t see how we can improve the team by letting Abreu go and trading Eloy would be selling low IMO. I love Vaughn but he’s got the most value and can be used to land a 2B or SP. Sheets & Burger can be 3rd & 4th on the 1B/DH depth chart. For 3B I think we are pretty much forced to hold onto Yoan for many reasons. That being said, they need to come up with an off-season plan to add flexibility and I’d have Burger start the 2023 season in AAA playing 3B everyday to see if there is any hope of being playable there long-term just to be safe. Similar to Moncada, we are 100% stuck with Grandal. We are going to need a catcher who is an upgrade over Zavala and who can carry half the load. Perez should be waiting in the wings in AAA in the event we need to cut bait on Yaz early into the season. Not an ideal situation but don’t see another option here. 2B is tough because we continually go cheap here, but at the same time we have two legit prospects who should be able to take the job in the next 12 months and a semi-interesting option in Romy. The go for it move would be trading Vaughn+ for Jazz, but I’d probably prioritize using those assets toward a SP and go with an internal option to offset the insanely expensive bullpen and other dead money that are plaguing the roster. This all assumes that Tony & Menechino are gone and that a new staff will find a way to way to better utilize the raw power of this roster. Still far from perfect and you’re gambling on a lot of guys being healthier and/or improving, but the lineup has better balance and the OF defense is much improved. Unfortunately I don’t see a lot of better options given our sizable payroll commitments and many guys coming off horrible years. Anderson, SS Moncada, 3B# Abreu, 1B Jimenez, DH Conforto, LF* Robert, CF Colas, RF* Grandal, C# Sosa, 2B IF: Mendick/Romy OF: Pollock UT: Garcia# (barf) BC: FA/trade Cease Trade (Vaughn+) Kopech Giolito Lynn 9th: Hendriks 8th: Graveman 8th: Bummer* 7th: Lopez 7th: Diekman* 6th: Kelly 6th: Lambert LR: Martin

if he misses tonight’s game, I think that pretty much confirms he is out as a manager. Knowing our luck, he probably replaces KW as our EVP of Baseball Operations though.

Just one of the worst off-seasons ever. It’s almost impressively bad when you consider we’re in the middle of our contention window and Rick didn’t address any of our major needs with impact talent.

What’s payroll commitment to the bullpen next year?

I don’t see the point of letting Jose go when he’s our best player and will likely take a hometown discount. I also think it’s very clear that Eloy needs to be kept and used as DH primarily. If Sheets can’t return something via trade, then he can be a depth / insurance option, which is nice to have given Eloy’s health record.

Definitely seems that way.

Zero chance he’s non-tendered.

This team looks like they really it tonight

I think this is very clearly the end of Tony as Sox manager. To your point, he was fine at his press conference just hours before the game. Did he suddenly fall ill and was able to immediately see a doctor who told him to sit out tonight’s game? Seems far-fetched to me. Did he receive a medical diagnosis from a legit physical or medical test that took place prior to his press conference that requires him not to endure White Sox baseball? Possible, but still seems unlikely. This wreaks of a planned leave to save face from being fired, but even if it’s truly health related I can’t see him continuing managing at his age.

Yeah, I would prefer Katz stick around under the next manager.

That article is probably the most obvious proof that these clowns have no idea what they are doing. We all knew the ball wasn’t juiced anymore and that adjustments were needed ASAP. Unfortunately, Hahn & Frank stayed the course and punted away the season. Both guys should be banned from baseball for this gross negligence.

And a competent training staff too.

100% agree. And the worst part is they’ve done absolutely nothing to try and fix anything. Watching them hit a bunch of singles every night and still keep Frank as hitting coach makes my blood boil. Nearly everything about this product is boring and unlikable.

Yeah, not going to choose another team. This isn’t me jumping ship forever. But this season is beyond fucking cooked and I won’t be wasting my limited free time supporting this shit show. It is legit painful to watch these guys right now.

They’re not even trying anymore. Honestly, I hope they lose 1-0 today. I’ve tried my best to maintain optimism, but falling below .500 against the DBacks was the nail in the coffin for me. Fuck this organization and everyone who’s a part of it.

Bump

What a lineup tonight!

Can someone get Yoan a god damn Yoga coach

100% agree. I really hope we see the media do their job and create some level of accountability for this shit show. Usually Fegan is the only guy willing to ask the tough questions, but seeing a Sun Times columnist literally say “fire everyone” is a big step forward.

But realistically, this should be the end of the road for this group. This season is the biggest single failure in my 38 years as a White Sox fan. Everyone needs to go from KW on down and the roster also needs a major shakeup. Go give Mike Chernoff a President of Baseball Ops title and let him burn this shit to the seems.

You know things have gone really bad when the Chicago media is saying “fire everyone”… https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2022/8/26/23323627/trying-and-failing-to-imagine-jerry-reinsdorf-holding-white-sox-employees-accountable-tony-la-russa

Bump…can’t let this one slip past page 1

Honestly, my guess is our 5 man analytics department will figure out the ball isn’t juiced anymore and this offensive approach simply doesn’t work. They’ll just be 12 months too late and it will have cost us a season.