Chicago White Sox

For La Russa to make any sense we would need Justin Jirschele or Sam Fuld as bench coach and Matt Zaleski as pitching coach. From there, we need a commitment to expand payroll. If those were to happen, I wouldn’t be that upset about La Russa being manager for two years. That being said, I’m still going down with the ship on A.J. Hinch and that all this La Russa “smoke” is simply misdirection.

If Rick Hahn recommended the Sox hire La Russa then he’s single dumbest GM in the sport. You never want the owner or bosses’s friend or family member working directly for you. Not only does it make replacing the guy next to impossible if he ends up being ineffective, but it also means that said guy has a direct line or communication with the one person who can veto your decisions and ultimately interfere in your processes.

Grandal fWAR = 6.9 in 199 games McCann fWAR = 3.8 149 games Even if you increase McCann’s fWAR by 33% to account for the difference in games played it would only be sitting at 5.0. That means Grandal has provided 40% more value over the past two seasons. I’m guessing you are using bWAR which doesn’t account for framing in any capacity and is more or less useless for evaluating catchers. I literally can’t wait for McCann to sign elsewhere so these “trade Grandal” ideas and the “McCann is better than Grandal” comments can end.

Yeah, definitely ignore the Grandal & Keuchel additions. And obviously Theo has never made a mistake in free agency right? Jason Heyward was worth every single cent of that mega contract? How about Tyler Chatwood? Edwin Jackson? And you know what, it doesn’t even matter because Reinsdorf isn’t going to fire Hahn after he just built a team that should have won the division last year. It’s fine if you don’t like him, but demanding he be fired in every thread suggest your issues with him are bizarrely personal.

Lol...it’s amazing how you build these insane anti-Hahn narratives in every single thread now. If Jerry hires La Russa, it has nothing to do with not trusting Hahn and everything to do with wanting his buddy in the manager’s seat.

Gotcha thanks

I think he already told his kid to take his shares of the Bulls and that the Sox will be sold.

Very true...I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Thanks for confirming. I’m still holding out hope for Hinch then.

Don’t put that evil on us.

Is La Russa all but official from what you’re hearing or is it still somewhat up in the air?

Nothing Jimmy has said isn’t true. He said Hinch would be the guy because that’s who Hahn wanted and blatantly described at his end of season press conference. How would have known Jerry would supersede him and give his buddy the job as part of some late life crisis? It’s literally never happened in his career as owner of the Sox or Bulls. Furthermore, there is no one on the internet who has a better track record when it comes to inside information relating to the White Sox. If Jimmy says that Hahn got overruled here when at the same time all logic suggests a La Russa hiring would not be ideal for Hahn, I think it’s pretty easy to believe what’s he saying. Jimmy literally has no agenda here, he’s simply sharing what he knows.

Lol...guess I was wrong about the reaction of casual Sox fans. I know my 70 year old father will be happy about this though.

Just cause of the money?

I was only saying that if Rick was somehow was on-board with this, but I don’t believe that for a minute. But fuck, this will be even worse if he brings back a lot of his old crew. Much more manageable if they force some younger guys like Jirschele & Zaleski on him.

It’s cowardly if you’re afraid of the backlash and that’s the only reason you’re not bringing the best guy in.

Usually that’s what happens, but given Hahn has a job for life if he doesn’t do something criminal, he’ll probably tuck his tail between his legs and go with the flow.

Yeah, that’s pretty sad but Jerry’s “morals” have been fucking us for years between the refusal to go over slot or unwillingness to pursue young LatAm players. I actually thought he was starting to let the front office operate free of some of these restrictions and allow them to make the best baseball decisions possible, but apparently Jerry is going to continue interfering with our baseball operations until the day he dies.

I agree that it seems unfathomable, but from a business perspective hiring the owner’s buddy to be your direct report is not a smart move. Throw in all the other factors we’ve all discussed here and it just doesn’t make sense why Hahn would want La Russa as manager. The only path I can see is if Jirschele is considered the real deal, but they want to give him a couple years to grow under an experienced manager. Even then, hiring Bochy would make much more sense if you’re Rick Hahn.

Wow, that’s either the nail in the coffin or Stone just has a dark sense of humor

I have no idea what you are talking about. It’s pretty clear Hahn had a specific type of manager in mind and since then (if rumors are true) Jerry has pushed for La Russa. I will wager large sums of money Hahn did not have TLR on his short list for the job when he had his end of season press conference. Now, he may roll over and take one on the chin here, but there is zero reason to believe he’s complicit in this decision if it ends up happening. Not sure why you think he’d be ok with La Russa hiring when it’s literally the worst possible outcome for him.

You think Nick Madrigal is not a good defender based off what exactly?

Who you got in mind?

This is definitely a SoxTalk member

Ray, I really enjoy your contributions to the board, but you have no idea if Hahn is on board with a TLR hire. And based on what he said at his end of season press conference, he would not be on board with this hire.