Lip Man 1

Regardless of whether they are 30-0 or 0-30 to start the season, STAY WITH THE PLAN. Mark

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 08:17 AM) May 10th. I know, because I was there and it was my birthday present. There was a long rain delay, they came back, Avi cleared the bases with a double to put us up 10-5. It was late and our 1 y/o needed to get to bed, and I figured it was over, so I agreed with my wife that we could leave. Our season ended a few minutes after we walked in our front door. Yep. It was all downhill from there. Reality set in. Mark

I asked a source a few days ago, about the situation with the front office and the rebuild and they got back to me this morning. Just wanted to pass along a few of their comments for what it may be worth: "Sounds like KW is showing a little more faith/support in Hahn." "Also, I'm hearing Nick Hostetler now has the ear of Hahn and is more assertive." Mark

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Dec 9, 2016 -> 12:28 PM) How long will Hawk stick around through the rebuild? As long as JR owns the team he will work. Mark

I'm curious what the general impression is here from those who closely follow the Sox minor league system, regarding if they got enough for Sale (Rabbitt for example) I saw this in the Tribune today and it made me wonder: "Red Sox President Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday that when Hahn asked last weekend if he still had interest in Sale, he told Hahn it depended on the price. "Well, we're going to get away from some of the things we have asked for in the past," Hahn told Dombrowski." Let the discussion begin (and if I'm late to the party on this topic I've been on the road the last week with games against Utah State, Colorado and Wisconsin. (Whom ISU actually beat last night at the Kohl Center) Mark

I understand the reasoning behind the trade, and it had to be done. The franchise simply can't take being "mediocre" (at best) anymore but it's also a sickening feeling having to trade the best pitcher in the league, a generational talent because the front office wasn't smart enough or ownership wasn't willing to spend the money needed to make the team a real contender. What can you do? On paper it sounds like they got a nice return for Chris...but they need a lot more so start dealing guys and get back as much talent as you can. Go for a full rebuild and hope these guys pan out. Mark

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 5, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) Hahn wanted to rebuild before 2013. He wanted to sell off Samardzija in 2015 and he wanted to trade off guys in July. You'll complain all day and everyday about the Sox but you're not actually saying anything of substance. Right now, we're barely in the offseason. The CBA just signed into agreement on Thursday. The Winter Meetings started a less than a handful of hours ago. Would you at least wait until January before your continue your routine? I am not sure how you're not annoyed by yourself parroting the same stuff over and over again. Doesn't it get old? Nobody around here is happy with the way things have gone. Nobody is arguing they've gone well. If you have gripes, say it specifically. Your constant general complaining about what "many said" or "everyone thought" is beyond trite at this point. It's a shame because unlike others who do something of the same, you are capable of being a great contributor to the forum. Instead, you choose to fear monger and overreact to the first few hours of inactivity. Rabbit: Guess you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I'm simply repeating what I read on these exact forums this trading deadline when many "experts" including some here were saying the Sox will be better off waiting. That may turn out to be the case. But IF the report I quoted is true simple logic says that the number of interested suitors is dropping. Personally to me it is "typical" Sox luck that despite having one of the best trading assets in recent memory they may not be able to move him at all to start the rebuilding process. I mean that's so White Sox isn't it? I don't have a dog in the hunt...either way the Sox won't be going anywhere for the next few seasons regardless of what direction they take. I'm just hoping to outlive current ownership and hope for better days down the road. Mark

Normally I'd be concerned with the additional work / innings but hell he may not even be with the Sox by then. Mark

Normally I'd be concerned with the additional work / innings but hell he may not even be with the Sox by then. Mark

Joel Sherman tweeted that neither Houston, Washington nor Boston are willing to give the Sox the "anchor player" the Sox are insisting on in a Sale trade. If that's the case then f*** them all...you keep him. Mark

QUOTE (spiderman @ Dec 4, 2016 -> 09:11 PM) Even if the White Sox make what is considered to be a great deal for Chris Sale, it really sucks knowing that a primary reason for the trade is that the organization has been unable to find any positional talent of their through the draft which has led to the free agency moves that have mainly done little to nothing, to where we are now, where the only way to 'fix' the team is a half-way rebuild centered around their best player. Just sucks to be a Sox fan right now with the struggles of the front office to add to the talent of the rotation. Very, VERY true. Mark

Ken Rosenthal tonight tweeted that the Astros and Rangers are now out of the mix for Sale. If true, it appears the market for him is drying up, not expanding as many said it would if the Sox waited until the off-season. Mark

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 29, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) Cespedes is not worth $27.5M a year and not many players are IMO. I for one am glad we aren't out there even thinking of throwing that kind of money around. Cesepdes wanted to stay with the Mets anyway A player is worth what someone is willing to pay him. Period. MLB is rolling in money, they basically are printing it hand over fist. One of the reasons the Sox are in the position they are in is because they haven't been willing to go maximum dollars for players who become available and are difference makers. I thought I read somewhere last year where the Sox are one of only three teams in MLB to have never given out a 100 million dollar deal. Instead we get the Austin Jackson's, Jeff Keppinger's and Adam LaRoche's of the world usually. Mark

I have no idea if any of this is true or not. I will say though, that IF it is...it represents a significant and radical change in "philosophy" for JR. For decades the Sox have openly said they are not in competition with the Cubs. Remember "we're Chicago's American League team?" to cite one example. I've always strongly felt and said the Sox ARE in direct competition with the Cubs and by doing nothing for decades basically giving the city and home market to them they are partially responsible for their own irrelevance. Mark

And with that the Sox are now "officially" going to rebuild since there are very few players worth a damn left on the open market. Let's just hope they don't screw this one up. Mark

Given the state of the franchise and front office, it is hard to argue with anything that was written. The numbers speak for themselves on the field and in the stands. Mark

Dodgers now contesting tonight the reports of their financial issues with MLB. We'll see where this goes. Mark

Rosenthal tweeted a few hours ago that the owners "concession" on the compensation issue hasn't made progress with the MLBPA. Mark

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Nov 28, 2016 -> 04:13 PM) Bulls***. They'll get it done or get an extension. Winter meetings are going to happen. Maybe but I'm reading that unlike the past 21 years when the MLBPA basically gave the owners everything they wanted, this time they have some core points they aren't willing to move off of without the owners giving some significant concessions. We'll see. It would be "typical" Sox luck though that in an important off season for the future of the franchise a labor disagreement would seriously screw things up. (See: 1981, 1994...) Mark

One of the issues I think over the last 15 years or so concerning the lack of development by Sox minor leaguers is how capable in fact, the Sox minor league staff is overall. Can someone more familiar with the minor leagues try to answer the question of basically how good are these people? Can they actually teach the game? Remember years ago, to cite one example, the one season Hawk Harrelson was GM, he insisted that all Sox minor league instructors be former major league players...I don't think that's the best way to assemble a staff, especially if they can't teach. So I'm just curious what the minor league experts at Sox Talk thinks about the staff in general and do they think this is a better overall staff then in years past? Mark

I thought about this a few days ago when I heard about the issues. My concern should there be a lockout is that, like in 1995, when it is resolved teams will only have a very short window to make trades, signings and so forth. Any organization, especially one as limited as the Sox front office is, needs as much time as possible to evaluate, compare and think about what they want to do. I can't imagine Kenny Hahn having to make snap judgments and rushed trades. That won't end well to be sure. Mark

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Nov 22, 2016 -> 08:06 PM) Lol, such a typical comment from you. Ranaudo is nothing special, this isn't really a loss, but you continue to fail to recognize that depth is your friend. When the depth is bad in the first place and the temptation to use him is there because of the whims of the front office, its best that said "bad depth" is as far away as humanly possible from the organization. Mark

Good. Don't want him anywhere near the organization. Mark

I guess the way I'll feel when it happens (and now that McCann and Reddick are off the table it will) is that only the White Sox could be forced to trade a generational type talent because ownership and the front office were to stupid to put a successful team around him. Mark

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Nov 9, 2016 -> 02:01 PM) The Sox cater to geriatrics now? No wonder the organization is failing. The Sox cater to millennials now? No wonder the organization is failing. Mark