tray

How does Hinch have a job as Manager ? Might as well reinstate Pete and put him and Shoeless in the Hall of Fame without any asterisks.

I would tell Hahn GFY and get anther GM, Then let that GM hire a new Manager subject to owbership approval. As far as Hunch he can GFH as well. RaBBit: Yes, in fact, Hinch absolutely knew about the cheating. That was the finding of the Commissioner. "Hinch attempted to signal his disapproval of the scheme by physically damaging the monitor on two occasions, necessitating its replacement. However, Hinch admits he did not stop it and he did not notify players or Cora that he disapproved of it, even after the Red Sox were disciplined in September 2017. Similarly, he knew of and did not stop the communication of sign information from the replay review room, although he disagreed with this practice as well and specifically voiced his concerns on at least one occasion about the use of the replay phone for this purpose. As the person with responsibility for managing his players and coaches, there simply is no justification for Hinch’s failure to act. If Hinch was unsure about how to handle the situation, it was his responsibility to bring the issue to the attention of Luhnow. Hinch expressed much contrition both to me and my investigators for allowing the conduct to continue. Although I appreciate Hinch’s remorsefulness, I must hold him accountable for the conduct of his team, particularly since he had full knowledge of the conduct and chose to allow it to continue throughout the 2017 Postseason." Manfred considered banning Hinch from baseball, and IMO he should have. The conduct that he knew about was on par or perhaps worse than what the 1919 WSox did. https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2020/1/13/21064270/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfreds-full-statement-on-the-houston-astros-sign-stealing-investigation a

i agree with so much of what you post here but I disagree with the narrative about Rick Hahn being ham-stringed by JR and KW on decisions about Managers. If he was, what self-respecting GM would hang around for years as a mere figure head and even a patsy? Let's take it back a bit - Did Hahn have ANY say on hiring Ventura and Renteria ? Did he have any input on whether and when they should be let go? What did Hahn do about the LaRoach, Eaton, and Sale insubordinations? Did he confront the players or even Ventura to deal with it? No, waited for KW to handle it. Did Hahn ever consider Hinch as Manager and openly support a possible decision to hire him? Hinch is a guy who many feel should nave been banned from baseball? If Hinch was Hahn's choice, I am glad he was overruled. Did Hahn have any say on trading Madrigal and Heuer for Kimbrel? Or was that JR's decision to go all in for one year? The trade was and is indefensible IMO. I hope JR turns the reins over to his children or another ownership group and they reorganize the Front Office. Clean house, including Rick Hahn.

What are you whining about now? I left nothing out intentionally with some alleged ulterior motive as you snidely suggest.

Boston should not have been allowed to remain as first base coach. That is on Rich Hahn and Kenny Williams, and Reinsdorf, if he knew about the rape allegations. At the end of the day, the GM is ultimately responsible for the day to day operation of the team. Hahn presided over years of ineffective Managing by Robin Ventura who had no business being a Manager in the first place. Hahn also knew about LaRoach having his kid in the dugout , on the training field and did nothing about it. He then sat by idly as KW finally confronted LaRoach man to man and cleaned it up. Hahn also shirked from confronting Chris Sale and Adam Eaton for their antics. Hahn proved himself to be a coward and a blowhard. Multiple championships? OK.

There are unwritten rules in baseball. We will see if that move by Rodriguez has implications in the upcoming ALCS games.

Hinch should have been banned from baseball for life for managing a team he knew was cheatiing. That is potentially worse than gambling on baseball. Gambling, if one bets to lose and throws games, as was the (unproven) allegation in the Black Sox scandal, is worse, but what the Astros did was outrageous. Hinch and Cpra should not be in the league. The investigation into the Astros cheating should have been turned over to the FBI given that baseball now involves legal gambling and the implications for that cheating were far greater than they were in 1919. How about all the money law lawfully bet on games by sports betters who had no know;edge that the Astros had a decided edge from cheating? LaRussa did as well as any Manager would have given the circumstances - prominent players injured (Robert, Eloy, Madrigal, Grandal), and a pitching staff that under-performed based on expectations. That entire episode where LaRussa was upset when Mercedes ignored a take sign to show up an opponent was overblown and people who chided LaRussaa were wrong, dead wrong. Compare what Boston Manager Cora did when Rodriguez mimicked Carlos Correa last night. He . like LaRussa, did not countenance conduct by a player who took it upon himself to show up the opposition. Mercedes was actually more blatant given his refusal to obey a take sign to embellish his own statistics.

Madrigal is a career .317 BA in 303 AB Vaughn hit .235 with 15 HR in 417 AB. Sheets had 11 HR in only 160 AB. Vaughn regressed in the last few months of the season even as Tony tried to protect him by not starting him against RH pitching. Sox don't really have a spot for him in the 2022 line-up as we saw in the play-offs. He is kind of surplusage.

Are you on here stalking me 24/7? LOL.

How about Vaughn and Burger to the Cubs for Madrigal and Ed Howard ?

and throw in Collins or Seby to sweeten the deal.

LOL.

The Sox won the Division handily. They missed getting Home field advantage narrowly to Houston, a team that proved that they had a demonstrably superior pitching staff. McCullers started two of the four games and had little trouble with the Sox line-up. Meanwhile, the Sox starters looked like they were worn down or worn out. That was something that LaRussa, Katz, Cairo and McEwing and no doubt, the Sox training staff had concerns about. So did the fans after seeing some of their final starts which foretold their poor performance in the playoffs. Meanwhile, some fans wanted the Sox to go all out for home field advantage. That was simply not possible given a pitching staff with several pitchers with marginalized arm strength/ and health/durability issues. . Kopech seemed like he was always a question mark as was Rodon . Giolito and Cease had less than stellar outings leading to the play-offs. Keuchel did not even make it to the finish line. Not enough bullets in the holster at the end and a glaring lack of the one big gun that could do what McCullers did to us. Scapegoating on management is baseball fan's version of Monday morning quarterbacking. Some blame LaRussa for ignoring his coaches, scouting data, and positioning algorithms but we don't know exactly what Tony knew, what data he was given, or what advice his managers provided him with. Defensive positioning is never set in stone. All teams have access to spray charts for hitters but defensive positioning can easily be foiled by hitters or by pitchers who miss location. Anyway, I hope Tony retires or takes a position in the Front Office, but I do not blame him for the Sox losing to the Astros. They are just better than the Sox as are the Dodgers. The biggest discrepancy is starting pitching. The White Sox need to make at least one trade to obtain a true Ace or they may have the same results next season.

A good discussion here with the exception of a ridiculous suggestion that Eloy has lost his power. Valid points made otherwise, but I think there is a larger issue revealed by the DH conundrum . I question the collective judgment of those who decided to Draft Vaughn and Burger, players that did not and do not fill any need that the Sox have or will have in the near future. There was no need for another 3B/1B/DH RH hitter at the time they were Drafted. Then the Sox follow up by Drafting Madrigal who actually did profile as a player who could fill a needed role. Then trade Madrigal based on some ill-conceived notion that Kimbrel would make the bullpen invincible and almost assure success in the playoffs. Then award Hahn with Exec of the year and blame LaRussa for every on-field decision that did not work out. Now no second basement, no RF, but a boatload of one tool RH hitters. The Sox are lucky to have Gavin Sheets or they would have lost 10-0. If Sheets excels in Spring Training, perhaps he starts the season as the full-time DH. Who starts in LF and RF in 2022? IMO, Eloy in LF and Vaughn in RF, unless a trade is made that changes the mix. Second base - possibly Romy Gonzalez or trade for someone. All of this may not make a difference if the rotation ends up being as weak and unreliable as it was at the end of this season.

Altuve and Correa with key bombs in that game. Looked like maybe they both knew what pitch was coming.

That would be even worse.

RE Jeff McNeill - Sox don't have much young prospect capital unless they are willing to let Vaughn go, just like they did with Madrigal. Have to something though to plug the holes at second base and RF.

Vaughn hit .235 and LaRussa kept him out of the lineup against good RH pitching. Neither Sheets nor Vaughn are fast enough to be an everyday outfielder. They could form a DH platoon, if the team could afford a roster spot for two DH's. Sox need a RF, preferably one who hits RH pitching in order to balance the line-up. They also need a backup catcher, a second basemen, and a couple of starting pitchers. That is too big of a list for Rick Hahn.

A lot of fans would have started Vaughn instead of Leury in Game 3, and the Sox would have been swept. Astros have been dominant under different managers. 10 - 1 loss is not the Manager's fault. I do not want Hahn OR LaRussa to return, but scapegoating on them does not seem to be impressing the people that matter. Cubs won once in 100+ years. What about their organization and Manager? Where are they at now? When is the last WS that the Rays won? Look, the Sox lost to a better team, primarily because of their pitching staff. Sox got taught. It is what it is. OK, let's hear a few more LaRussa drinking jokes if that makes you feel better.

Vaughn did not prove that he can hit RH pitchers. He is too slow to be an everyday outfielder. That is why he wasn't used much in the playoffs. He got a hit against Raley who is a garbage pitcher for the Astros. Sheets is probably a better hitter and a candidate to become the Sox DH.

Yea "man"

Kopech would be as effective as Liam Hendriks as a Closer. Get rid of Kimbrel and Hendriks and Close by committee until Kopech takes the throne. Then you pay him handsomely and he forgets about being stretched out as a partial season starter. Trade Vaughn for a starting pitcher.

I understand why Kopech wants to start and that a starter generally makes more money than most bullpen pitchers. I also understand that Sox fans want a stud in the rotation . However, Kopech also profiles as an all-out 100 mph max effort pitcher that could be even more effective at the end of games rather than at the beginning. . He could easily develop into a premier Closer and there are several advantages to that, the most important being potential career longevity ( recall the career of Goose Gossage) . I have always thought that the best path for Kopech was in the bullpen with the ultimate goal of being a lock-down Closer. That would pretty much resolve virtually all the issues about his innings usage. It would also have made it more clear that he should have been the 8th inning guy moving forward and thus, no need to give up another top reliever prospect plus Madrigal....to get an 8th inning guy. Now Hahn has an 8th ninning guy (Kimbrel) plus a guy who they want to start games in 2022, but not sure how many or for how long.

Probably right but I hope not.

I think LaRussa will be offered the GM job. I doubt he wants that and I doubt he wants to Manage next year. Assuming that is the case, will Hahn be brought back as GM? I sincerely hope not. I have grown tired of Hahn promising "multiple champioships. Talent evaluation prior to Drafts has been horrible. The Sox could have had Trea Turner and players other than Madrigal and Vaughn, who may not end up being all he was cracked up to be. I know that is heresy among Vaughn fans but time will tell. I think the Madrigal and Heuer to the Cubs for Kimbrel debacle probably sealed Hahn's fate. Not sure about potential GM candidates but there are several , maybe even including Theo. So no LaRussa and no Hahn. Make them scapegoats (deservedly or not) and move forward.