MiddleCoastBias

Agreed here. Guessing JR offered a token 1-year contract with the interest to play it year by year going forward, and Houston's 3-yr guarantee was too good to pass up.

Does that graphic list the second base depth chart as "No Garcia, please?" Incredible and I love it

Start the clock on when someone writes the first "Best Shape of His Life" puff piece this off-season, Grandal being the early favorite.

With everyone saying he's toast and physically can't play, what latitude does a team have to void a contract for health reasons or force IL stint and collect insurance to offset the salary? I wonder if this Murphy rumor is because the team knows his health is so bad that he physically can't play and they have a way to get out of the contract (without selling the farm).

Oh god the Dodgers are going to get Judge, aren't they. I would love me some Lux, though. I don't have trade option thoughts so I'll hang up and listen.

I don't know how his name is pronounced and I really don't care: I'm calling him Bernie Tosar.

*Obligatory "better than taking shots WITH Tony!" joke*

Interview from last year. At 5:40, he's asked about the Royals' identity and success with bunting. His reply - "at the end of the day, your team has to hit homers. You have to put the ball in the seats to win games. You need that timely 3-run HR." https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-7-pedro-grifol-kansas-city-royals-bench-coach/id1561838258?i=1000522536832

Some good, positive stuff in here. But the reference to him failing as a hitting coach was an interesting tidbit. Fire Frank and being in someone with a proven track record and it won't be a big deal, but something to follow.

Maaaybe, if you squint? The timing just seems off on that, like news of Grifol would've leaked if his decision was made before the Royals hired Quatraro.

And also sets up the actual manager to fail. Too much pressure when you have another powerful voice like Ozzie vying for attention or maybe not singing the same tune. That sounds like a disaster that no manager would want to take on.

Hedge your bets by taking the over on Eloy injuries. Money, please!

Could be, but timing is also suspect. I'm sure Ozzie is ALSO seeing these rumors that we're going with Espada on the day it's announced he's getting an interview next week. Seems pretty easy for him to be like "hey, did you already hire someone and are just dicking me around here?" I can't imagine any front office would put themselves in a position to be embarrassed if the answer is yes and Ozzie finds out and publicly blasts them. Even this FO has to be smarter than that.

Completely controlled by the FO, you say? *Jerry Reinsdorf liked this*

DJ and Beckham in the booth, Ron Washington in the dugout, and the same team on the field is a perfect storm of awful that would totally turn me off as a fan next year.

Rick Renteria, because he's the manager rebuilding teams bring in before they're competitive.

The idea that we should sign another SS and move Tim to 2B and just blindly hoping that works out sounds eerily similar to trading our starting 2B for Kimbrel and assuming he'd be a great 8th inning guy. We saw how well that worked out. Don't do this again, you guys. Just don't.

This is best-case scenario re: Tony and the Sox. Make it official, then onto the next move with Hahn/Kenny/Cairo/whoever else needs to go.

This is where I am (and I think a good many other are as well), but it's going to set us up for another upsetting off-season because as you say - it needs to happen but I don't expect it to happen. After years of going into an off-season with clear needs (sign Harper or Machado, sign a RFer, sign a lefty hitter, sign a 2B), and then the subsequent failures to do so, I expect more of the same this year.

Exactly. Speaking of turning on fans, haven't seen Steve Stone's Twitter recently, wonder if he's walked back rhetoric. Doubtful.

And another thing I've noticed with how everyone is now coming out with all of these articles blasting the Sox for things we've all seen all year, but where were they to ask these questions or raise these issues when they had the chance all year? They've lobbed softball questions all year and just gobbled up the party line, then turn around with this crap at the end of the year when it didn't work out. It's so disingenuous and they don't deserve credit for raising the issues now when it's too late.

I've thought this for a while. Tony seems like the kind of guy that would be yelling "cut those sideburns, Mattingly!" at Yoan.

Pfft, why wait until May when you can win the off-season ever year!

I appreciate you being on tap to start these White Sox winner threads with quick highlights every night, Cali! Here's hoping our Sox keep winning and give you more opportunities for game winner threads.

Except now they can still make the decision for him ("hey bud, seats taken"), and Tony can choose to publicly say he's stepping away for health reasons, not mentioning that he wasn't invited to return. Everybody wins!