Timmy U

Good for Burr. He's been lights out for the last two months. Sox have some interesting bullpen options coming up in Hamilton, Burr, Ruiz, Johnson, and (eventually) Burdi.

I can't imagine any package that any team is willing to pay that I'd trade Carlos Rodon for. If you're serious about starting to compete in 2020, having a solid TOR guy already set makes all the difference in the world. I think the next two guys up are Kopech and Cease and that both those guys will have some growing pains because of control. (Strangely, I have more faith that Cease is going to have average to above average command eventually than Kopech) The absolute last thing I'd be doing right now is getting rid of a 25 y.o. lefty with premium stuff. I almost don't care what you get back. At a certain point, you have to stop tearing down and start building up.

Yeah, probably. Although to me, this is what Cease has looked like most of the year. I'm shocked when anyone hits him.

Kittle was a weird, under-the-radar prospect. He had been released by the Dodgers, I believe, after he broke his neck, and he went to work in a steel mill. Sox signed him more as filler and then he exploded. I’m pretty sure they didn’t believe the results. Also, this is before the era of 3 true outcomes. He simply didn’t have the skill set of ideal outfielders in that era. Remember, the White Sox we’re trying to build a dream outfield out of power/speed guys just a few years before like Chet Lemon, Claudell Washington, and Thad Boseley. Harold Baines was a rookie in ‘82 and he was their priority prospect. Kittle was like a giant softball player it took them a while to warm up to.

I meant '76

My Dad had season tickets to the 1977 Sox when I was a kid. Starting rotation was like Gossage, Forster, Jesse Jefferson, etc. But I flew into town last year for the rainy second doubleheader game last year where Fulmer gave up all those homers. Horrific. Really the sense of "they're never going to be good again." Still fun to see my brother and his kids, though. Reasons I'm still watching: Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, rooting for Giolito to turn it around, and looking for progress on Moncada.

Kopech looks like he's done 11K's. Dealing.

Nice article on Zangari. Seems like a great kid. https://www.milb.com/milb/news/chicago-white-sox-prospect-corey-zangari-launches-three-homers/c-285735548

This is a huge problem for baseball right now. Deserving players are kept down to game the system. The next CBA should adopt something similar to hockey -- a fixed number of years of control, say 8, maybe 10 if you sign as a 16 year old, and it accrues the same minors or majors.

Tyler Johnson is intriguing. Are they developing him as a multi-inning reliever? I've watched him a few times on MiLB-TV. Stuff looks filthy.

I gotta say, birthday or not, anyone who would ever boo Robin Ventura is not much of a Sox fan. He might not have been a great manager, but the talent was poor. I don't think the Angels in the Outfield could have won with those clubs.

Maybe we can flip Rondon to the Orioles so they're guaranteed to have the first pick.

Now I’m sad. I guess it’s up to Chance the Rapper to hold the Sox accountable.

Birmingham lost 1-0. That team is really slumping offensively. On the bright side, in addition to a good start by Hansen both Burr and Ruiz are throwing extremely well. I could imagine both going to Charlotte by the end of the year.

Interesting question: if Dunning were healthy, would Birmingham have a better rotation than the mlb club? I am not talking potential in the future, I mean right now.

What famous folk are Sox fans? Barack Obama? I think he’s busy. Whoever is dating Kopech?

Really encouraging start. He’s a key guy. Also, a personal favorite.

Hansen done 6IP 4H 1R 1BB 5SO

He just walked a guy, but through 5 now and throwing a lot of strikes.

Alec Hansen may be rounding into form, after a lead off homer, he’s been dealing. 4IP 4H (two super cheapies) 1R 4SO 0BB

The blame for Shields is wishful thinking on the part of the front office. They got off to a blistering start, then they gave it all back similar to this year’s Mets. They chose to believe that they could somehow contend rather than looking at the evidence that the team just wasn’t that good. Even if Shields had been good, the trade would have been disastrous. The fact that he was bad is just the cherry on top. I remember that the details of the trade leaked out and Keith Law was like “Nooooo!” He had scouts from other orgs telling him that, were he eligible for the draft, He Who Shall Not Be Named would have been picked 1-1. We ought to hire those scouts.

Saw that someone posted Madrigal not playin in yesterday’s thread, so bumping it up.

The problem with the Sox in those years was they had like 5 good players and everyone else suuucked. I saw an article on ESPN back then asking seriously did the Sox have the worst collection of position players in history! Hard to sign enough free agents to make up for that, especially when players are aging faster and a lot of Free agents fall off a cliff right after you sign them ala Adam Dunn. You can’t seriously expect them to sign like 10 guys. Now they have committed to building some depth. Hopefully some of those guys turn out to be stars. If so, they’ll have enough quantity to build around them.

I like a ton of the guys we got, it’s just a 19 year old who’s gonna hit 25-30 homers in AA and can play shortstop? Pretty darn good player. Hooefully it’s the last of the really terrible moves they made trying to compete unrealistically.

If he sticks at short and Eloy is a left fielder? Kinda.