April 6, 20224 yr I will say anyone that worried about the Sox pitching depth should take a look around the division. The Guardiana staff is loaded with finesse unproven arms that are highly susceptible to regression. There's a general lack of pitching depth in the whole division. The Sox are still a major injury or two away from not being front runners, but most of the other teams are one injury away from aspiring to be competitive to competing for last place.
April 6, 20224 yr This thread is such an indication of why the Sox struggle to sell tickets, even when they're good. Opening day will not sell out this year. Our fanabse just flat out sucks.
April 6, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, reiks12 said: Tigers Twins Royals Guardians Yankees Brewers White sox In that order How could you forget the Celtics?
April 6, 20224 yr The rotation has its issues, especially the back end...but the pen and lineup is very very good. They are best in class and win the division and acquire a pitcher at some point during the season.
April 6, 20224 yr 2 minutes ago, HOFHurt35 said: This thread is such an indication of why the Sox struggle to sell tickets, even when they're good. Opening day will not sell out this year. Our fanabse just flat out sucks. If they had won a playoff series the last couple of seasons, you would have seen a huge uptick in interest. And a better off season, too. Compare to the Cubs starting out their contention window with three consecutive NLCS, 2016 World Series, etc., it certainly goes both ways. The Sox are a bit unrealistic expecting fans to spend before they have won anything. That's just the nature of professional (compared to NCAA) sports fanbases, except for the very best who consistently turn out in huge numbers no matter what. Winning is always reflected in the next season's attendance, like the 2006-2010 time period for the Sox. For a World Series title, you traditionally had a five year bump. Right now, we're in a similar situation to the Twins and Indians post-2016, where they would make the playoffs but the fans didn't really have much confidence that they had the teams to advance past the big boys (especially Minny with the Yankees.)
April 6, 20224 yr 36 minutes ago, mac9001 said: I will say anyone that worried about the Sox pitching depth should take a look around the division. The Guardiana staff is loaded with finesse unproven arms that are highly susceptible to regression. There's a general lack of pitching depth in the whole division. The Sox are still a major injury or two away from not being front runners, but most of the other teams are one injury away from aspiring to be competitive to competing for last place. Quantrill and McKenzie can run it up into the mid 90s. It's probably better to have that balance across the rotation, because the White Sox traditionally have feasted on pure stuff guys and had fits with Bieber, Plesac and the infamous Cy Civale. Espino promises to be more of a raw stuff guy as well.
April 6, 20224 yr 23 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: If they had won a playoff series the last couple of seasons, you would have seen a huge uptick in interest. And a better off season, too. Compare to the Cubs starting out their contention window with three consecutive NLCS, 2016 World Series, etc., it certainly goes both ways. The Sox are a bit unrealistic expecting fans to spend before they have won anything. That's just the nature of professional (compared to NCAA) sports fanbases, except for the very best who consistently turn out in huge numbers no matter what. Winning is always reflected in the next season's attendance, like the 2006-2010 time period for the Sox. For a World Series title, you traditionally had a five year bump. Right now, we're in a similar situation to the Twins and Indians post-2016, where they would make the playoffs but the fans didn't really have much confidence that they had the teams to advance past the big boys (especially Minny with the Yankees.) This team still has Giolito, Cease, Lynn (eventually), Kopech as starters. It also has Timmy, Pito, Eloy, Grandal, Moncada, Robert, Pollock, Andrew Vaughn/Sheets…do people realize how legit that list is. We complain about Moncada and that 4 WAR but he is like there sixth best player. Robert is MVP type of players, Pito is former MVP, TA is a superstar and regular contender for batting title, Grandal best offensive catcher in game, Eloy and Vaughn guys who are going to be no doubt .900 OPS guys, Pollock not much worse when healthy….like that is legit.
April 6, 20224 yr 12 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said: This team still has Giolito, Cease, Lynn (eventually), Kopech as starters. It also has Timmy, Pito, Eloy, Grandal, Moncada, Robert, Pollock, Andrew Vaughn/Sheets…do people realize how legit that list is. We complain about Moncada and that 4 WAR but he is like there sixth best player. Robert is MVP type of players, Pito is former MVP, TA is a superstar and regular contender for batting title, Grandal best offensive catcher in game, Eloy and Vaughn guys who are going to be no doubt .900 OPS guys, Pollock not much worse when healthy….like that is legit. Well, we have had different variations of this same argument for the past 10-15 years. The White Sox (like 75-80% of fellow professional sports franchises) tend to be a "doubting Thomas" fan base where the team's expected to win something before the fans will "prove/validate" their support by spending on the product. KW has likewise tried to cajole the fans into spending with his famous you can't spend a dollar when you only have 50 or 75 cents. The White Sox and JR are cheap! The White Sox and JR aren't cheap anymore, they're just not allocating their resources efficiently or prioritizing the rights areas to spend. You guys should actually have someone from the Sox (Boyer/Reifert/Merkin) do an interview with ST and see what insights they could provide about this phenomenon. Let all of the SoxTalk members submit questions without censoring them, but pick five "difficult/probing/annoying" ones and five "puff/PR" sounding questions so there's a balance. You can even give them permission to look at how their answers come off in black and white before "publishing" online. Maybe something positive would come out of it. Ask how ST could be used as a vehicle to better promote/market the White Sox...? How you can collaborate with them more directly, so to speak, without becoming "corporate shills" and still maintaining independence/objectivity? Clearly, complaining about the fan base, denigrating their support or directly calling them out (naming and shaming) are not successful PR strategies. The Blackout Games from 2008 and from last year's Game 2 against the Astros prove that Sox fans would love to get behind a winning team. Edited April 6, 20224 yr by caulfield12
April 6, 20224 yr This division would have been a perinneal cake-walk to the post-season for CWS with the right ownership.
April 6, 20224 yr 4 hours ago, caulfield12 said: Well, we have had different variations of this same argument for the past 10-15 years. The White Sox (like 75-80% of fellow professional sports franchises) tend to be a "doubting Thomas" fan base where the team's expected to win something before the fans will "prove/validate" their support by spending on the product. KW has likewise tried to cajole the fans into spending with his famous you can't spend a dollar when you only have 50 or 75 cents. The White Sox and JR are cheap! The White Sox and JR aren't cheap anymore, they're just not allocating their resources efficiently or prioritizing the rights areas to spend. You guys should actually have someone from the Sox (Boyer/Reifert/Merkin) do an interview with ST and see what insights they could provide about this phenomenon. Let all of the SoxTalk members submit questions without censoring them, but pick five "difficult/probing/annoying" ones and five "puff/PR" sounding questions so there's a balance. You can even give them permission to look at how their answers come off in black and white before "publishing" online. Maybe something positive would come out of it. Ask how ST could be used as a vehicle to better promote/market the White Sox...? How you can collaborate with them more directly, so to speak, without becoming "corporate shills" and still maintaining independence/objectivity? Clearly, complaining about the fan base, denigrating their support or directly calling them out (naming and shaming) are not successful PR strategies. The Blackout Games from 2008 and from last year's Game 2 against the Astros prove that Sox fans would love to get behind a winning team. Please. They have Spin Master Hahn. There will be daily travel to Uranus before you get a straight answer out of that organization.
April 6, 20224 yr Removed cleveland stuff because we've had this take over three threads and its changed we can move on.
April 6, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, GradMc said: This division would have been a perinneal cake-walk to the post-season for CWS with the right ownership. This division would have been a perinneal cake-walk to the post-season for (fill in task name here) with the right ownership.
April 6, 20224 yr 5 minutes ago, Texsox said: This division would have been a perinneal cake-walk to the post-season for (fill in task name here) with the right ownership. "Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” "Perennials are flowers that eventually fade, while division championships are memories that will remain with us for a lifetime." Edited April 6, 20224 yr by caulfield12
April 6, 20224 yr All it takes is the right (owner/GM/etc) and anyone can win continuously in baseball.
April 6, 20224 yr 4 hours ago, GradMc said: This division would have been a perinneal cake-walk to the post-season for CWS with the right ownership. So, it was a cakewalk for this team just last season. So maybe it already is a "perinneal" cakewalk?
April 6, 20224 yr 3 hours ago, Texsox said: All it takes is the right (owner/GM/etc) and anyone can win continuously in baseball. Except Cohen in NY…
April 6, 20224 yr 14 hours ago, Jack Parkman said: Sox Twins Tigers Guardians Royals flip KC and Cleveland if Ramirez gets traded This is how I see it. DET might take 2nd if Buxton does his usual 50+ games IL stint.
April 6, 20224 yr 11 hours ago, Chisoxfn said: The rotation has its issues, especially the back end...but the pen and lineup is very very good. They are best in class and win the division and acquire a pitcher at some point during the season. So does virtually every other MLB team. There simply isn’t enough pitching to go around for any team to line up 6 healthy, reliable starters and then 1-2 more dependable emergency starters.
April 7, 20224 yr 1. White Sox 95 2. Tigers 82 3. Royals 80 4. Twins 79 5. Cleveland 72 Edited April 7, 20224 yr by Squirmin' for Yermin
April 7, 20224 yr Sox Twins Tigers Guardians Royals Sox end up winning the division by a decent margin, but it's close for most of the season.
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