Tony

No one is paying you to say anything. High level members of the front office, both in marketing and baseball ops visit the board frequently. If you don’t want to believe it, that’s your choice, but it would make you wrong.

They absolutely care about this message board. You have no idea what you’re talking about, but you established that a few thousand posts ago.

This is...a weird post. 1. Yoan Moncada was with the White Sox from 2017-2024, 8 seasons. Out of those 8 seasons, two of them would be considered "really good" and the other six can only be described as "really bad". His career WAR with the White Sox is 14.7 over 8 seasons. Not really what I'm looking for out of a 72 million dollar investment. 2. Incredibly small sample size, but in 31 PA's in the playoffs, he put up a .172/.226/.172 slash line, with no XBH. 3. Not sure how we really judge the "good teammate" comment. Were you in the lockerrrom and we just didn't know it? If you weren't, not really sure what you're basing that on. He didn't really leave his team in a good spot with his injury history (who remembers when he had his rehab halted last year for "anticipated soreness"?) 4/10/24 Abductor 6/15/23 Back 4/10/23 Back 8/25/22 Hamstring 7/6/22 Foot 6/17/22 Hamstring 5/28/22 Quad 4/7/22 Oblique 7/1/21 Hand 6/15/21 Illness 8/29/20 Leg 7/30/19 Hamstring 6/26/19 Knee 6/16/19 Back 6/10/19 Back 6/2/19 Leg Soreness 5/5/18 Left hamstring tightness 5/4/18 Left hamstring tightness 4/21/18 Sore left hamstring Not trying to be overly critical, and I have zero issues if you want to pull for him with LAA, that's cool. I just don't feel like his time should be remembered here fondly, he was a pretty massive disappointment and was a key reason why that "core' failed.

Here is the way I look at it. The Lions took Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall in 2023. He's been fantastic, the combo of him and Monty has been great for Detroit. But if the Lions kept D'Andre Swift lets say, but still added Monty, running behind the same OL in Detroit the last two years, how big of a drop off do the Lions have? It costing them multiple games? I'm not really sure of that. Now do the same exercise with someone like Penei Sewell, who was drafted 7th overall by the Lions in 2021. Replace him as your RT with a mid level FA (as Swift was for the Bears at RB.) How big of a drop off do the Lions have? I would say much more significant than the first example I gave. DO NOT SPEND SIGNIFICANT DRAFT CAPITAL ON THE RB POSITION

There is simply no way AK believes this. A basic fan can understand why the premise is flawed. There is a reason it feels so similar to what other FO's have said that have run the Bulls and the Sox. It's coming from upstairs. As already mentioned in this thread, this idea of having no superstar but a deep 9-10 man roster of "good" has worked once in the last 25 years. It's an antiquated way of building a team. You know who's antiquated and stuck in the past? Dude was bringing up Branch Rickey in a press conference in 2023. Both the Sox and Bulls are stuck on a road to nowhere until the Reinsdorfs are removed from ownership. It's not anymore complicated than that.

Waited to beat the Packers and said ✌️

Seriously, having an extra third could really help, allows them to get a lot more flexible (obviously have to hit on the pick, which is easier said then done)

Believe I already posted it in this thread a few pages back, but I'll say it again because I really thought it was spot on. The RB position should be considered a "gasoline" position. They're an accelerant. The OL and scheme are the wood and matches. Gasoline doesn't start a campfire, but it can turn a simple campfire into an absolute blaze. The Bears are still short a few logs. Go build the campfire first, then go get your gasoline.

You sign Trey Smith, and add Kelvin Banks, you're looking at: LT: Braxton Jones LG: Kelvin Banks C : Coleman Shelton RG: Trey Smith RT: Darnell Wright I think you can possibly get by with Braxton for another year (but not crazy about it) but still need a C. And it's still not a deep line. If the right guys are there, I'd just much rather invest in another tackle or center rather than a luxury item like a 2nd round RB.

I agree, and if the Bears offered their No. 1 and a 2nd, I'm not totally convinced another team couldn't beat it. And that's without question as far I would go if I was the Bears, and I'm not sure I could stomach a first and a second. If they were one DE away from being a SB contender, I'm totally for it, but not with as many holes as they have on both sides of the ball. Doing that trade makes it nearly impossible to truly fix the OL this season, and if Caleb is the No. 1 priority, you can't make that deal.

Kelvin Banks (OT) - Round 1 Omarion Hampton (RB) - Round 2 Tyleik Williams (DT) - Round 2 I really hope they don't go RB in Round 2. There is just too big of a need with both trenches, it should be OL-DL-OL.

I’m just tired of having the same “debate” over and over again, and hand up, that’s on me more than anyone. But when I look at the state this city is in right now across the sports landscape, seeing an owner like Jerry have actual “fans” come to his defense with “Ugh, no matter what he does, you guys will always be unhappy with him!” Just boggles the mind. And I suppose in some ways, the statement is correct. No matter what Jerry does with his two teams, fans DO find a way to be upset…. Since end of the 2014-15 season… Bulls have 330-428 record (.435) 25th in NBA. Sox 666-851 record (.439). 2nd worst in MLB ahead of only the Marlins at .435. Jerry’s teams are a combined 996-1279 But the fans are the assholes.

But that’s just it. And what MANY of us have tried to explain to you. You THINK you’re smarter than everyone here, but we all have eyes and brains, and have come to conclusion that’s simply not the case. See, in your post defending Jerry, you listed out signings like Adam Dunn, Andrew Benintendi, Grandal, Kimbrel…there is a pretty common theme there, which I’m sure even you could spot. Grandal was probably the best one, and he produced a total of 2.5 WAR over 4 years. 73 million for 2.5 WAR. Now, Jerry isn’t the one acquiring the players. But he is responsible for employing the FO who have the job of player acquisition, and has a nasty little habit with both his teams of keeping executives FAR past their expiration dates. But you used the term “willful misrepresentation” in your last post, which again seems fitting given this notion that fans will be upset at Jerry for anything, even if he signs a player to a $100 million dollar contract. Again, this narrative the fan is in the wrong, not Jerry & the White Sox. A franchise that set the MLB record in futility in 2024 and currently, Vegas odds have the Sox O/U set at 51 wins for 2025, by far the lowest win total in the league. Oh, and 2023 saw them post a robust 61-101 record. If the Vegas odds come true, from 2023-2025, the White Sox will go 153-333. And I really don’t think anyone needs a history lesson on the last 15 years of White Sox baseball. So maybe fans do have a little more to gripe about with the owner of the White Sox than just contract value. But I’m just guessing.

Like with any JR team...it's a road to nowhere

The fans are really unfair to him, just ask some on Soxtalk.com

That’s a lot of words to say your comment was wrong and you do, in fact, give a s%*#.

1. You have no idea what the response of the fan base would be if they signed a prime Bryce Harper, or Aaron Judge, or Juan Soto. Partly because there is literally no history of it to speak of. 2. Conversely, there is a TON of history, on this site, of you caring very much what people think, and turning them into 12 page threads with the same arguments about Getz, Jerry, Donald Lucy and a host of others. So when you puff your chest and say “I couldn’t give a s%*# about how much people b**** about Reinsdorf and this team” I’m absolutely going to call bullshit on that one, because it’s objectively false, as much as you want to tell everyone it’s not. If your statement was true, you’d have about 1/8 of the post volume you have here.

lol, who are you trying to fool here? Yourself?

He may start to win people over when he signs a player to a contract over $100 million, you know, like every other franchise

I think it's a good hire by the Bears, but it's insane the fall from grace he's had, seemingly for no reason (that I'm aware of) He was a hot name for HC just a few years ago, now he's a RB coach for the Bears?

Yeah, this seems like a fairly simple equation, and I'm sure it's an exercise the FO has gone through. They have a threshold of what they would move Robert for today. If there isn't a team meeting them at that threshold, they are holding onto him. At that point, there are basically two directions you take it. 1. Robert bounces back in the first half of the year, stays healthy, and is a soon to be 28 year CF who is raking and has two more years of team control after 2025 2. Robert puts up a similar performance in 2025 that he did in 2024, and his value either stays the same or goes down even further. At that point, you either lower your threshold of what it will take to move him, or continue hoping he unlocks his tools.

Jesus, when are these coaches going to learn? Lol

I think it's sort of level setting. Vibes are high the last 10 days with them landing Johnson (want to be clear, doesn't mean it will translate on the field, vibes are high on hiring the big name out there) There have also been a lot of names thrown out there in the rumor mill, and most importantly, Dennis Allen, Al Harris, were both really well-respected names and hires. When Declan Doyle was announced, it sort of came out of nowhere and wasn't a big name that has history to look at. I think that's where the "frustration" came in with people. But right now, BJ deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I watched about 8 total innings last year, and I expect that number to be significantly lower in 2025. Go Go White Sox!