oneofthemikes

It isn't RH's job to set a lineup or make calls to the pen. That's literally what Ricky was hired to do. RH gave Ricky the rope and Ricky hung himself with it. He proved time after time that he wasn't capable of being an effective in-game manager so the front office (correctly) made the decision to move on.

Those Diamondbacks teams weren't exactly Murderer's Row lineups and inheriting a "meh" team and then not winning with them doesn't paint a full picture either. Also, that was 2009-2010. After that job he went to San Diego and was VP of Scouting for 4 years before getting another managerial job. Not to mention the other seasons in Houston that occurred before the 2017 trash can season. Not excusing the scandal at all, but citing a .420 win percentage is a bit of a strawman.

That isn't necessarily accurate. Bauer said the following in September: "Again, I think it comes back to I just want a chance to win every year. I want to be in a situation where I feel valued and I have the chance to conduct my career the way I want to conduct it. So, pitch every fourth day, and stuff like that. I want to challenge myself and have a chance to do those things. So if there’s a situation where it presents itself where it is a four-year or five-year deal, and I feel confident that’s going to be a situation that’s good for me, I would consider it. I do think that in order to do the things that I want to do, I think I’m going to have to take on a little more risk than normal in those long-term contracts. …I’m not afraid of the one-year deals. I’m not afraid of the longer deals. It’s just going to be a case-by-case basis, and we’ll see what the situations look like." His whole MO is that he wants to be in position to win every year. The Sox are able to offer that as well as anyone right now because of the core they've built and the contracts that they have in place.

This is sorta what I thought yesterday too. No chance that RH contacted Hinch directly, but I'm near certain that the mutual interest has been communicated by both sides through some convoluted game of Telephone.

So I actually kinda love the idea of Hinch with AJP as a bench coach. This team already has some of that chip-on-the-shoulder, us against the world mentality and I think that having that coaching staff would immediately make us the heels of the ALC. I know that I'm about to get dragged for this and that's ok, but I think it'd be fun to be the bad guys.

Absolutely agree with this. Spots in the rotation are becoming limited but if a new pitching coach can find a way to get some life on his pitches again he might be a solid asset out of the pen.

WSD’s tweet is about a race horse that he’s a part owner of. Was favored in the race but finished 5th. Nothing to worry about.

Hinch. From what I've heard Cora had more to do with setting up and executing the scheme in Houston. Then he did it again in Boston.

Good Lord, the pearl-clutching on this board today is insane. Hinch tried to stop the cheating (perhaps not hard enough, but that's not my point) and he was fired and suspended for it. He lost his job and served his punishment. If Rick, Kenny, and Jerry are on board, count me in. As far as what you should tell your kids, try starting with "Sometimes people do bad things, and most of the time those people deserve second chances."

Whatever floats your boat, man. But if that's the direction you are wanting to take the franchise, we may have wanted to stick with Ricky.

Seems like he could do just fine with the White Sox lol

I thought the same thing

I mean, he's not wrong. EE hit .157 this season and drove in 19 all year and over 75% of his PAs came from the 4 and 5 spot in the lineup. That's not ok and that's all on RR.

SP - My head says that they will end up with Stroman, but my heart hopes that they go really hard after Bauer. He's the only TOR guy available and the Sox need someone they can trust in a big spot. Then they can let Kopech, Dunning, and Cease battle for the last 2 rotation spots. RF - I know that everybody is clamoring for a new RF but something tells me that they will stand pat. The Sox wanted him for a long time and I have a hard time believing that they will admit defeat after 60 games of Mazara recovering from COVID. Especially when he was having his best ABs of the season during the last week of the regular season and in the playoffs. Worst case, he sucks again and they can make a move at next year's deadline.

You guys remember last week when Carlos Rodon was asked to do something he'd never done before in a big, important spot and it went poorly and everyone hated Ricky for it? That's why I don't think Crochet starting today is a good idea. Let Dunning start and Crochet relieve. I know it's the playoffs, but why start asking guys to do new things now?

RF or DH, but his approach lately has been much better. He's been the victim of a couple of atrocious strike three calls.

Yeah, that's all I'm saying. I just saw some people talking about using an opener for him or capping him at 2 innings and I was just pointing out that he's capable of more.

I know that Dunning is coming off of a couple of non-stellar outings, but he's only 2 weeks removed from throwing 7 innings of 1-run ball against the Twins.

Truthfully, I haven't paid an exceptional amount of attention to baseball outside the Central this season. So I started looking into the A's a bit. It became clear very quickly that the West was dreadful this season. The A's played 54 of their 60 games against teams that finished below .500. And in the 6 games that they played against teams over .500, they were 2-4. I'm sure part of that can be attributed to the fact that the Dodgers and Padres were bludgeoning everyone all season long, but 54 is excessive. It feels like a just a couple weeks ago the White Sox record was being called into question for loading up wins against the Tigers, Royals, and Pirates, but all that only amounted to 28 games.

If the offense was actually coming alive in the last few days, I like our chances over a three-game series with the A's. But in the ALDS, pitching becomes a huge concern.

I actually kinda disagree. Giolito pitches really well against them for whatever reason and the bats seemed like they were waking up a bit yesterday. As insane as it sounds after last week, I'd actually take one game against Cleveland right now. **That's not to say I would prefer one game against Cleveland to three against Oakland**

Nah man, Carlos used to make bases loaded, late inning relief appearances all the time back in the day.

So half (or more) of the competitive window we’ve waited on for a decade will be spent watching this trash bag mismanage the bullpen and cost the team wins? Awesome.

Possible NL Cy Young tomorrow. This’ll be fun. Sox might not win again until 2021...