Tony

I don't have a solution for the how you change the draft structure in pro sports, someone way smarter than me would have to come up with something, but I've long believed it's a completely unfair process that needs to be addressed. Yes, no one is holding a gun to anyone’s head to play a professional sport, but being a fan in Chicago, we've watched all of our favorite teams select players in the top part of multiple drafts that I’m 99% sure would have prospered if a different team would have selected them. The Sox have had more players than I'd like to remember that were taken high in the first round, rushed through the minors, and you can just see a lack of development at the major league level. It’s happened too many times for it to be coincidence. But the issue is those players don’t have a choice on what team is in control of that development. How many millions of dollars have they cost athletes that already have an incredibly short career span? I will not hold it against Carl Williams, or any parent, to ensure their son/daughter is put in the best situation possible.

Courtney Cronin was on ESPN Radio today and mentioned that Wickersham spoke to Caleb multiple times to confirm quotes and stories, so it 100% came from Caleb and Carl. I don’t think he’s doing it to harm the Bears, I’m sure this book Wickersham has written was in the works for quite some time, and Caleb was honest (in his view) of what transpired. I also don’t think it needs to be a large distraction this upcoming season. It will be talked about at OTA’s I’m sure, but then people will move on and Caleb playing well will make everyone forget about it that much quicker

With everything we now know and have seen, there were a lot of things working against Caleb in 2024. That’s not the case in 2025. While the roster isn’t perfect, no team is and he has the tools to take a huge leap forward. It’s on him in 2025. Go time.

This post is SUCH a good example of the culture we live in. Father has concerns that his son is being put in a bad position, and because of the unique nature of sports, it’s a situation that players don’t really have any control over. Those concerns are rooted in objective facts based on the results the Bears franchise has had historically at the QB position. There is also historical precedent set by Eli Manning where a player (and father) have forced the hand of the team picking No. 1 overall, and Carl and Caleb decided not to go that route. These were concerns BEFORE Caleb was drafted, and what transpired over the course of the 2024 season was probably worse than Carl and Caleb could have predicted, with both Waldron and Eberflus being canned mid year, with the HC being called out by multiple players of his team for a lack of accountability and leadership, and Caleb wasn’t one of the players that went to the media. So with all those facts out there for everyone…you still come to the conclusion Caleb and Carl Williams are prima donna’s. Incredible.

He was proven to be 100% right. Poles/Warren should be embarrassed. Better hope Johnson and Co. can fix it, and fix it fast.

I believe it's an overall function of lack of player development, not scouting. Gordon Beckham had an amazing College World Series, remember watching him play for Georgia after the Sox had drafted him and can understand completely why Reynolds would have put him on that list. He was pretty great in a short stint in the minors and that rookie MLB season in 2009 he 100% looked the part. Then the next season came, scouting reports from other teams were developed, and the results quickly diminished. There just hasn't been player development at the MLB level. Sure there have been guys here and there that have found success, but looking at the collective over the last 15+ years, the results speak for themselves on highly touted prospects not adjusting to the ML Level. And it's because other teams invest more resources in it, allowing for more player success.

You are correct on this, by the way. Believe it was a MLB TV segment from like late 2009 where they created their "All-Decade" team for 2010-2020, and Harold Reynolds had Gordon Beckham as his 2B of the next decade. Whoops.

A few months ago, I probably would have taken this bait. I just don't care enough to even muster up a fake argument at this point. You win.

1. Say a business was trying to find 5 new employees to add to their company. They hired people, and they didn't work out. The training/onboarding was insufficient, they didn't know the right questions to ask in the interviews, the business simply didn't know how to identify talent. So they fire those people. They hire another 5 people. Same thing happens. At what point do you start to wonder if it's not about the people they are hiring, but the business might simply not really know what they're doing? 2. I don't really follow the team. I'd have to look up what their record is right now, I honestly would be guessing if you asked me who they last played, and have no idea who is on the schedule today for the Sox. I follow what is happening from a larger scale with the White Sox, because I've been a fan my entire life, but I used to watch probably 85% of games in a season, and attend between 15-20 games a year. I haven't been to a game in 4 years. So I've absolutely replaced White Sox baseball with other hobbies. However, said this before and I'll say it again. Jerry Reinsdorf isn't the White Sox, and he isn't why I root for the team. I'll still be a fan of the White Sox long after he's dead, and ideally my favorite baseball team finally gets an owner that has a marginal interest in fielding a competitive team. Until that time, the White Sox will receive very little attention from me, and judging by attendance and viewership the last 2+ years, I'm far from alone.

Don’t let historical evidence get in the way of blind faith!

When Jason shared the news with some of us yesterday, it was a very weird feeling, and hard to explain for others. But at the end of the day, it was someone you communicated and talked to for over 20 years. Thought about it a lot over the last 24 hours, just a terrible loss. Gone way too soon.

I’ve known Heads since 2003, when I joined this board. Insane it’s been that long, but with the absolute tragedy that occurred, it really makes you look at time a whole different way. Alex was a great guy that I had the pleasure of meeting, and was just a positive, caring individual. Absolutely senseless he went this soon, and it bothered me all day, thought about him a lot. Going to miss him dearly. 🍻 Heads

The logical response is somewhere in between. This is obviously a bad thing and continues the trend of the Sox seemingly unable to develop hitting prospects at any consistent level. I view the move to send him to AZ at least thoughtful, instead of just taking the "Well hopefully he figures it out at AAA, lets just continue to do what we've been doing this entire time and hope it works." But I don't think the Sox deserve any roses thrown their way for what is seemingly a failed top prospect.

Seems like they went BPA for them which, if evaluated correctly, can sometimes be the best path forward. But they still aren’t showing a commitment to draft in the trenches, which is concerning

You can look at in two ways. 1. Bears could have gotten a really good player that other teams we're also high on.... 2. There probably was a market for the Bears to trade down

Kmet also most likely isn’t long for the organization. If they cut him after the season, believe there is only about 3 million in dead money. A few weeks ago BJ met the media and spoke on a bunch of different current Bears players, but when Kmet came up, his reviews weren’t as glowing. It was a specific topic on sports radio that day, as they found it somewhat telling the choice of words Johnson used when describing Kmet. Not saying it justifies the pick, but it’s clear BJ works the TE position into a lot of his offensive packages and I’m going to roll with him for now. Opinions can change quickly, however.

I also think overall it was a poor use of draft capital

Think this is well said. We also don't know what trade down options they had to play with, and if Bears fans are going to be all in on Ben Johnson right now, it certainly seemed like he had a heavy influencer on this pick...so I'll roll with him (for now at least)

Yeah, dont love that a 10. But I also want to see how Friday goes down and where they go

Yeah, don’t love the way this is trending.

And this is why you argue with most of the board. That is NOT the point everyone is trying to make, but you're either being purposely obtuse, or you have a severe reading comprehension issue.

So you're explaining in six points how you reached your conclusion of endorsing Dalbec to start at shortstop, and you reached that conclusion because of the other names you listed have been so bad, like Amaya, Palacios, Tauchman, Maton.... I think you're sort of missing the bigger point that Ray, and others have been trying to make. The issue is those are the choices they have to make. These are the players and roster decisions made by Getz, and because of those decisions, the 2025 White Sox are starting a 30 year old at SS with a career -0.7 WAR, who in over 2000 MLB innings, has played 26 innings at the position. Yes, we know this a "rebuild" so you can save that reply for another day. But after setting the major league record for futility last season, most us feel some slightly better options would be appropriate.