Lip Man 1

South: I can tell you from the Sox media guide that last year they were slightly above the major league average in times using the DL and a lot higher than league average in days missed to injury for what that may be worth to you. The second point means that the injuries they were getting weren't just bruises or ankle twists, they were of a more serious nature.

It's actually been longer than that although the past few seasons that has gone up dramatically for them according the Sox media guide.

The two main issues are worthwhile discussing since they seem to be impacting the rebuild: 1. Is the same front office that drove the franchise into the ditch it is now in capable of fixing the damage they did? 2. Given the past three seasons worth of injuries at the major and minor league level is there something that may be missing now from a training / conditioning standpoint? If you can't keep the guys you are counting on to anchor the rebuild healthy at all levels (including the major leagues) you have a serious issue. It is still to early to call the rebuild a success or a failure. The next two years, I think, will help determine that. If at the end of the 2020 season the Sox are still floating around the 60-65 win mark, then ownership (whomever that may be) is going to have to make a decision on the future of the front office and the direction this team needs to go in, in my opinion. I had hoped for some real improvement in the won/lost column in 2019, not contention, not a winning season but real improvement. I'm afraid now that doesn't seem like a real possibility.

A while. (Assuming Dunning and Hansen are actually healthy)

It's been cloudy for over a decade now with no end in sight apparently.

Shocked. Nothing much to say. Typical White Sox luck. Injuries have gutted this organization now for three straight years. I think the only thing that turns around the bad "karma" is to can the front office (since the owner isn't going anywhere), start over and hope for the best. Just sick right now hearing this.

Different ballpark I'd assume...different league certainly and perhaps most importantly a different pitching coach. Or it could just be blind luck.

Given the weather this game either should not have been played at all of the kid shouldn't have been brought back out there even though the first delay wasn't to long.

Speaking of Dodgers, don't know if anyone saw this. There was a tweet out over the weekend that I caught where Machado said he'd be willing to move back to 3rd base next year depending on the needs of the team he signs with.

Not saying he does. My point is no one knows anything about what is going on. Sox aren't saying, much like Rodon's issues over a year and a half. Turned out he did need surgery. I was just hoping he could pitch so the Sox would know one way or the other if surgery is actually needed. With him not pitching the Sox really don't know his status until he gets back on a mound I'm assuming next February. And I recall a post from PTATC where he said (paraphrasing) that the majority of these injuries progress to the point where surgery is usually necessary. Don't recall the specific comment but that was the gist of the post as I recall.)

Hahn at his press conference today said Dunning is making progress and no surgery is being discussed at this point. That's all I saw, he didn't elaborate on what exactly there were doing or what he was doing. It appears he's not going to be pitching for awhile. We'll see what happens in the spring, if they are wrong it will cost them about six months of potential rehab by not doing the surgery immediately. We'll see.

Nice to see them play well on a big day before a very nice crowd. If I recall correctly they lost on Konerko's day, Buehrle's day, Thome's day and the 10th anniversary celebration for the 2005 team.

Nate Jones NEVER seems to be healthy, that's just the way he is historically. I'd rather give a kid a shot or sign someone myself.

And with that the Sox now have officially recorded their sixth straight losing season and ninth in the past 12 years. Franchise record is seven straight, 1944-1950. And the last time they have had this bad of a stretch for this long was 1968-1980. 10 losing seasons, two winning ones, one .500 season in those 13 years. The good news is that they have shown signs of life since mid-July especially some of the kids being counted on to be the linchpins of the rebuild. You hope it can carry over to the start of the 2019 season, unlike this past year where they looked good in September 2017, had a winning record in the spring then went right down the toilet when he season began. It will be an interesting off season to be sure, if nothing else to see what the organization may be able to do to try to speed up the rebuild or continue to take a 'wait and see' attitude. I just want them to show progress, I'm tired of losing, of bad baseball.

Unfortunately you really can't even rely on him to get on the field let alone stay on it.

It turned out that tweet from bar stool Dave was right (I think it was bar stool Dave) right after Jones got hurt he tweeted that someone asked him in the locker room if he was done for the year and he supposedly said, "probably." Guy can't stay healthy, time to move on from him.

Floyd Bannister was also huge for the time. The Sox outbid 16 other teams for him. Steinbrenner was so pissed he publicly said he regretted not voting to let DeBartolo by the Sox.

I would expect they do so, not the premier guys, they'll probably have no interest in the Sox at this point but some solid guys to help keep moving things forward.

Lillian: With Rodon's agent (Scott Boras) his M.O. is to take his guys to free agency and try to get he most he can for them. I understand his point of view, that's his job. I suspect unless the Sox were to offer a deal so amazingly high that Boras couldn't say no, he would turn down any overtures especially if Rodon continues to pitch "lights-out." And I don't know if the Sox would even make an approach like that in the first place as far as offering such an incredibly high contract deal. Anything is possible but I can't see this happening on both sides.

Wanne: Because going there and actually pitching (or trying to pitch) helps remove some doubt about the status of his arm. At least it would give the Sox a better idea if he is good to go for the spring. Not pitching, or trying to pitch, means the Sox really won't know much until February. That's six months from now. If he's hurt and needs surgery you've lost six months of recovery time.

Hansen has to work out some major issues and with Dunning, not going to Arizona fall ball, who knows what his physical situation is and if he needs surgery that will delay his development.

No Dane Dunning. Interesting. Would have liked to see his situation become clearer one way or the other (healthy vs. surgery) before heading into spring training. Now, nothing but question marks remain and if he has to have surgery they've blown several months.

Very, very frustrating to see the bullpen garbage on an almost nightly basis. 14th time now the Sox blew a lead and lost when leading in the 7th inning or later. Giolito looked very slid again with nothing to show for it. I repeat, I don't think the Sox will get any superstars, they won't be interested but they can help stabilize the bullpen and perhaps be more respectable in 2019.

Was referring to the general way some players have been treated gong back to guys like Carlton Fisk and Jack McDowell with this organization, not specifically on "service time." As I said they are not breaking any rules and are within their rights but it looks bad from a PR standpoint and right now with them about to have their sixth straight losing season (Last time 1944-1950) they should be trying to get as much positive press / PR / fan goodwill as they can muster. And this could bite them on the ass down the road...we'll have to wait and see.

I see both sides in this and as others have said the Sox are playing within the agreed rules of the game. But given their history and reputation this is not a good look for them and could have very serious consequences down the road. They are between a rock and a hard place in this one with no real "good" solution.