Special K

I'm just advocating for making some smart moves to get top caliber talent. I don't see us obtaining that through FA and we will need it to win. Brewers just did it. You can't tell me everything about the rebuild has been right so far. It's okay to criticize the FO. We haven't been to the playoffs in a decade. It's better than blindly defending every move. For example, if Kopech doesn't come back, and Moncada is a bust, the Sale deal is probably one of the worst trades in MLB history. No matter how good the deal looked at the time to the White Sox, Boston was comfortable letting Moncada walk. Their FO seems to have known better. Things could definitely turnaround, but as of now, this FO does not get the benefit of the doubt.

The FO seems to get a lot more wrong than right lately. They need to turn it around. Jake Burger a bust. Carson Fulmer a bust. Zack Collins, meh. Moncada, meh (so far).

Obviously Jimenez is off limits. But I don't necessarily have a problem with trading away some of the young organizational talent for a return like Yelich, so long as it pans out. As we've seen, these prospects are certainly not guarantees either.

We only get Machado if we outbid every other team and by a significant amount. I just don't see the Sox doing that. I hope I'm wrong, but, history says otherwise. Our best chance of getting that kind of talent is through a trade. I sit here and see how the Brewers acquired the NL MVP (Yelich) and wonder why the Sox didn't make that move. Smarter front office is the only answer that comes to mind.

He's in incredible shape, so I imagine he'll do everything he can to stay healthy. Let's just hope team manages him well.

Then with the understanding that most pitchers eventually undergo Tommy John, it may not be the worst thing in the world that Koepch is getting it over with now. Sucks we lose a year to him as far as service time and, more importantly, development, but on the flip side we likely weren't going to be competing next year anyways. Let's get him back and strong and be ready to play .500 baseball or better in 2020.

Without knowing a ton about TJ surgeries, can we expect him to come back with full arm strength and velocity and even less injury prone? Stephen Strasburg seems to be in pretty good shape.

Good problem to have. At some point, it would be nice to have a crowded outfield so that we could be in a position to trade away some talent for pieces that will help us compete now, e.g., Cubs being able to trade away Torres / Jimenez for win now pieces.

Wholeheartedly agree with this. I figured Pollock would be a stopgap until some of the younger guys are ready to take over. But we need to go big or go home. I think we need a catcher though. Not sold on Collins. Don't know enough about Zavala other than the fact that he's having a nice year.

Signing middling and aging free agents has been the Sox M.O. for the past decade. We've had zero playoff appearances during that run. It doesn't work. They need to go big or go home. Sign Machado, Pollock, and trade some talent for Realmuto.

It's more of an indictment on the FO if Moncada and Kopech bomb. Would be pretty pathetic to not get at least 1 above average major league player for one of the best trade chips I can think in the past 5-7 years given the level of talent, years of control and affordability Sale had...

Even if they get a top 5 pick, I have zero confidence they will get it right at this point. Their track record is abysmal with selecting offensive talent with this most recent Burger injury. All of our offensive talent was obtained through trades (or signings if you count Robert), which is great. Just no confidence our staff can pick and develop offense at this point. TA is really the only respectable offensive selection they’ve had, and jury still somewhat out on him. Will be (pleasantly) surprised if Collins turns out to be anything other than average, which isn’t saying much given our the expectations the FO set. But Collins could very well just bust too now, but I’ll let this year play out. Not sure where Sheets is at. But if you start thinking about the Hawkins, Mitchell’s, etc. the Sox have drafted in the past, this is downright brutal. Need to get this one coming up right - but am losing hope they can, which is frustrating when you see teams like Cubs, Houston, Colorado get it right with ease.

Yes, let's cool it down with "casual racism" remarks. People often criticize baseball players in terms of baseball IQ, particularly young players with lots of talent who make errors that seem unbecoming of their talent. It doesn't mean they are racist and casually throwing those remarks around when you have no idea who the person is you are accusing is probably not a good idea. I can recall similar remarks made of young players such as Brian Anderson, Joe Borchard, Tyler Flowers, and others. I'm sure there are other examples I'm not remembering....

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 07:42 AM) They had a pitcher who was definitely a star, and a HOFer behind the plate. This. I suppose the Royals would qualify but it don’t happen often.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 07:46 PM) Some of these guys have to become stars for this to work. Rarely does a roster full of above average players win the whole thing. You need star players surrounded by average-above average players. As a very brief aside, is the ‘05 team the last World Series team to win a championship without a bona fide star?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:13 PM) Fine...since when have the White Sox ever been in the business of "buying" a couple of superstars at max peak value? Waiting for an answer. The Royals are relevant because they built their WS winner without any superstars. The Astros and Cubs are most definitely NOT an example of that. I'm perfectly happy to talk about any team, but the White Sox SEEM to be emulating at least one of their niches, which is building a SUPERPEN. That came into vogue with KC, the Indians, Yankees, etc. If you're talking NFL, it's the Patriots, Patriots, Patriots...etc. NBA, obviously Golden State. Who else should we be talking about as relevant comps, especially since we operate as a "mid market" franchise? You're right in that Belle might be the last star they bought at peak value, which is sad. And they haven't really traded for any offensive stars either (sans Thome, if that even counts). But they have so much space on their payroll, and have also shown a commitment to the rebuild, which makes me think things might go differently this time around. Because frankly, they need to buy a star or two for this to work.

When we say bring in, we talking trades too? I'd say David Wells and Jake Peavy count as stars they brought in.

It's notable for the purpose of judging the FO on how the rebuild goes. If he turns out to be a star and the rebuild is mediocre, we can gauge that trade as symptomatic of meaning this FO doesn't know what they're doing and therefore they need to go. But I'm not angry about it anymore, we've certainly gotten the better end of some trades. And the rebuild looks to be coming along nicely. If we sign Machado to play 3b, I'll definitely stop caring about that trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 26, 2017 -> 07:07 PM) This. And it isn't close. Todd Ritchie (1); La Roche (2); Teahen (3)

QUOTE (hi8is @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 01:38 AM) Dude... the jury is still out on ALL of those players. Try harder. Agreed, though I don't think there's any chance Fulmer is a starter at this point.

Are you two the same person?

While I disagree, I can see where he's coming from. It is conceivable that deals that make a competitor in your market better may not be best for your bottom line as far as losing fans, sales, etc. So why would you want to contribute to that? He's running a business.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Jun 21, 2017 -> 08:16 PM) 26.0 K%, .666 OPS, .120 ISO, -21.9 UZR/150 ...... time to worry or no? I'll go ahead and add 16 errors to that list.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 3, 2017 -> 09:59 AM) What is this post? Bad sarcasm

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 28, 2017 -> 08:40 AM) For the record, I would still trade drive Avi to Wrigley. I am not about to let a two month sample size change that. Yeah but what about for Schwarber like you said above.