Tony

I don't disagree here. It's why I believed Bowman was safe. If you believe the Wirtz side, they let this private firm handle everything and didn't get involved. Fine, but there was enough information made public to know it was very possible things were going to get ugly. Not only did they let him sign a player like Jones to a massive deal, but they promoted him this summer....

You can throw all the "research and data" you want at it, and convince yourself you know better than everyone else. But if we're having an argument and I say "Erik Neander is a very smart baseball man that has made incredibly good decisions that have led his TB Rays to 3 straight playoff appearances, one of which resulted in a World Series appearance, all on a shoe-string budget in a brutal AL East." and you say "It's all just luck, he isn't smarter than anyone else or deserve any credit, eventually his luck will run out and then he'll be considered a bad GM..." I'll take my side any day of the week, as would about 98% of other people. You being in the other 2% doesn't make you smarter than everyone, it just makes you wrong.

And the Astros going to 5 straight ALCS are what? What does that do for your variance argument? You're the same Jack as always. You feel like life didn't go your way but you worked just as hard as everyone else....so anyone with success must just be lucky, has nothing to do with being skilled. Because if skill = success, in your mind you'd be much more successful than you currently are. But as we've gone round and round before, just because you haven't been successful doesn't mean others with skill aren't talented and impactful. It's an argument devoid of any logic or substance, but here we are. So happy to have you back on the site.

But....it did happen. I mean what a bizarre argument. He gets credit because it did happen. Why did it happen? Because he built a team and core that performed consistently in the playoffs, which gave them the opportunity to compete for a World Series Championship. Stop buying into this "the playoffs are a total crapshot, anyone can win, it's all equal" bullshit narrative. Not all playoff teams are created equal. Additionally, you used the 2005 Sox as an example. So now having well over a decade to examine that, it's clear that team was in fact lucky. They didn't make the playoffs in 2004 or 2006. That was proven to be a great run in one season. The Cubs went to the NLCS consistently during their run. There is a large difference.

Let’s say this is true. Then he still deserves a ton of credit for turning those franchises around. It wasn’t just luck. He’s very good at his job and got results..in two unique locations. That’s the point.

I feel like you’re trying to once again to be smarter than everyone else and “look at things differently” but it’s another instance where it just makes you look silly. Mike Smith was a bad GM overall. Made a lot of bad moves. He absolutely deserves credit for drafting Seabrook, Keith, Crawford and Byfuglien. The same can basically be said about Tallon, but he was responsible for really putting together and developing the core of the Stanley Cup run. Again, deserves a bunch of credit. I know you’re “theory” has a lot to do with your own life, and I’m sorry for whatever issues you’ve dealt with or are still currently dealing with, but just being real…Just because you feel like you’ve put in work and “life” hasn’t worked out the way you wanted, doesn’t mean Theo Epstein doesn’t deserve credit for winning championships with two separate franchises. He didn’t just get lucky.

So then I’ll ask you again. Does anyone in sports deserve any credit?

We absolutely haven’t had this discussion. And even if we had..you’re the one that “re-hashed” this position/take. But we haven’t, and all I asked is more clarification on a stance that clearly I don’t understand in the slightest.

There is like a 1000 things wrong with this post, so not totally sure where to start. But using this logic…when does anyone in sports (or really anything in life) deserve credit? The Penguins and Kings clearly don’t deserve any credit for their runs, it was just luck. Patriots? No good, just a hot streak. Am I understanding your logic here?

What does this mean?

Two things can be true at once. The Braves have gotten incredibly hot at the right time. We've seen that happen before, and it will happen again. That's great for the Braves, it's made a great story. The team they are playing in the World Series has been the absolute class of the AL for the last 5-6 years and it's not luck or coincidence that has gotten them to 5 straight ALCS appearances (cheating however, has played a role lol) Yes, getting hot and "luck" can and do play a role in the playoffs. But the idea of just building a playoff team and hoping for the right breaks to happen to your team once you make the dance is short-sighted and lacks an understanding of the game. The Sox have shown us in back to back seasons that at this point, they have not reached the "elite" level of teams of which there are only a select few. Does that mean they couldn't still win a World Series with his collection of players? No...they absolutely could. But there are absolutely improvements they can make that will help their chances in October.

I know, it's really hard to figure out why so many here would like a player who bats LH, plays solid OF defense and slashed .292/.401/.437 in 2021 and is still cost controlled. Bunch of weirdos.

Fuck this entire franchise.

The first season of Ted Lasso may be my favorite season of TV in a long time. I just love that show.

Emily Kaplan is reporting everyone is safe over there, this is all part of the plan....it's unreal.

Stop bringing up "Abreu" and "Trade" Sorry to single you out, but I've seen it multiple times already this offseason. He will NEVER be traded from the White Sox. We need to stop mentioning it.

I don't know what really happened. I also don't really care (this isn't a shot at you, you're point is valid) But if @tray believes the Astros cheating is that severe, I'd have serious pause giving my support to Tony La Russa, who has allegations of cheating against him from former MLB players (not to mention the juice heads out in Oakland, but that's a different issue)

Interesting. https://elitesportsny.com/2020/01/17/jack-mcdowell-says-the-chicago-white-sox-cheated-in-the-1980s/

Well said. We are in rare times when the Sox make the playoffs, lose, and we're still all very hopeful for the future. They just need to continue being aggressive and improving.

Additionally, @Balta1701 is using a premise that with a different manager, every button would have been pushed correctly. That doesn't happen with any manager, ever. Coaching staffs can make an impact for teams, no question. The idea that a starting pitching staff put up an ERA collectively over 10 would be cut in half (or more) simply with different coaching is ludicrous to me. Players need to be held far more accountable for their performances on the field. TLR didn't ask Lynn to throw with his left hand. Yes, the Astros were a bad matchup...but tough shit. It's the playoffs. This is coming from a guy that hated the TLR hire and still hates it. But LaRussa wasn't the main issue in the playoffs. The players on the field were.

Nah, I just think you're an asshole for not being able to comprehend why a male can't root/enjoy women's sports other than being "woke" If that's me being a "White Knight" then so be it, I guess? But you've gotten significantly throttled in this thread already, so not sure what you think about everyone else. But we'll be done with this convo. It's clear it's not going anywhere.