20 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

You nailed it. The emperor was exposed during the Harper/Machado offseason. The Sox showed then and there that they would never ever go all in on a top tier free agent. 

TLR was a bad hire, but the dude did win us a Central Division Championship. No manager in the history of the game was getting the Sox past Houston the last two years. 

He didn't win us jack s%*#. The division was garbage and the team was loaded. They should have been better than a 93 win team that got throttled in its only playoff series. 

2 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

He didn't win us jack s%*#. The division was garbage and the team was loaded. They should have been better than a 93 win team that got throttled in its only playoff series. 

Considering the number of significant injuries it was a miracle they won 93 games.

21 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Considering the number of significant injuries it was a miracle they won 93 games.

No it really wasn’t, that division was terrible.

9 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

No it really wasn’t, that division was terrible.

lol with all the money being spent and new schedule the 4ALC is really going to live up to it's name next season. 

51 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Considering the number of significant injuries it was a miracle they won 93 games.

They had according to FG the best pitching staff in baseball. That always counts for something.

Since then they let their best pitcher walk as a free agent, one guy got old/had a knee break down, their most effective reliever got a little less effective, and Giolito had whatever the hell that was. Big difference.

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

The 2021 Astros were beatable enough that the Braves beat them. We had a serious lineup weakness in that they could throw righties against us to beat the White Sox’s righties, but that team was beatable. From there they added Verlander and upgraded their bullpen, plus Javier and Valdez grew up into stars, so yeah in 2022 they were just better.

The Astros destroyed the Sox in the 2021 playoffs so yeah I would say they were the better team. A severly injured Lance McCullers completely dominated the Sox hitters that series. Hard to blame the manager for that.  The 2021 Braves would have destroyed the Sox as well. Put Terry Francona, Connie Mack, or Joe Torre as the manager in that series and it wouldn't have mattered. Sox didn't have the horses to win anything significant. 

28 minutes ago, pcq said:

lol with all the money being spent and new schedule the 4ALC is really going to live up to it's name next season. 

The extra 26 games within the division probably aren’t going to be a difference maker in overall records. MLB is really setting themselves up for an under .500 team being gifted the 3-seed if they keep this format. They should just play without divisions and have the top 6 qualify for the postseason. 

2 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Astros destroyed the Sox in the 2021 playoffs so yeah I would say they were the better team. A severly injured Lance McCullers completely dominated the Sox hitters that series. Hard to blame the manager for that.  The 2021 Braves would have destroyed the Sox as well. Put Terry Francona, Connie Mack, or Joe Torre as the manager in that series and it wouldn't have mattered. Sox didn't have the horses to win anything significant. 

Bear in mind that the Sox probably faced the best version of that Astros team. The Sox didn't hit that poorly outside of McCullers' starts. And Astros pitching after he got hurt wasn't exactly good outside of a couple of starts against the Red Sox. 

3 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Astros destroyed the Sox in the 2021 playoffs so yeah I would say they were the better team. A severly injured Lance McCullers completely dominated the Sox hitters that series. Hard to blame the manager for that.  The 2021 Braves would have destroyed the Sox as well. Put Terry Francona, Connie Mack, or Joe Torre as the manager in that series and it wouldn't have mattered. Sox didn't have the horses to win anything significant. 

I'm not rewriting it but here's the list of managerial disasters your memory edited out from that series.

 

1 minute ago, chw42 said:

Bear in mind that the Sox probably faced the best version of that Astros team. The Sox didn't hit that poorly outside of McCullers' starts. And Astros pitching after he got hurt wasn't exactly good outside of a couple of starts against the Red Sox. 

We should also keep in mind that the ball almost certainly played a role in that. 

2 minutes ago, flavum said:

The extra 26 games within the division probably aren’t going to be a difference maker in overall records. MLB is really setting themselves up for an under .500 team being gifted the 3-seed if they keep this format. They should just play without divisions and have the top 6 qualify for the postseason. 

If that happens, then MLB gets talked about on sports radio more, people reference the Cardinals all the time, and so on. That's not a disaster for MLB.

Win your bloody division, I have no problem with that being a straightforward path to the playoffs. 

3 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

We should also keep in mind that the ball almost certainly played a role in that. 

You think MLB used a different ball for certain starts? 

Just now, chw42 said:

You think MLB used a different ball for certain starts? 

Abso-freaking-lutely. Go look at the box score for that Red Sox/Astros series. I bet you can pick the games out.

Just now, Balta1701 said:

Abso-freaking-lutely. Go look at the box score for that Red Sox/Astros series. I bet you can pick the games out.

Is a ball change enough to have games go from blow outs to low scoring nailbitters? Also, wouldn't MLB want the Red Sox to win since they're the bigger market? 

8 minutes ago, chw42 said:

Bear in mind that the Sox probably faced the best version of that Astros team. The Sox didn't hit that poorly outside of McCullers' starts. And Astros pitching after he got hurt wasn't exactly good outside of a couple of starts against the Red Sox. 

Problem is that it was only a 5 game series so you really can't just remove the McCullers starts. Also, didn't McCullers get shut down like immediately after the ALDS for close to a year? I'm sorry but a World Series caliber team has a killer instinct and should have pounded McCullers into the ground. 

4 minutes ago, chw42 said:

Is a ball change enough to have games go from blow outs to low scoring nailbitters? Also, wouldn't MLB want the Red Sox to win since they're the bigger market? 

It's a conspiracy theory that doesn't make much sense. 

1 minute ago, chw42 said:

Is a ball change enough to have games go from blow outs to low scoring nailbitters? Also, wouldn't MLB want the Red Sox to win since they're the bigger market? 

Yes. It's that big of a difference. 

I think the White Sox and Astros played the whole series with the Happy Fun Ball, then MLB decided to use the different ball for the first few games of the next series, then changed back. Maybe they thought the Astros offense could be slowed down by the dead ball? Houston had the best performing lineup in baseball in 2021.

1 minute ago, LittleHurtCG said:

Problem is that it was only a 5 game series so you really can't just remove the McCullers starts. Also, didn't McCullers get shut down like immediately after the ALDS for close to a year? I'm sorry but a World Series caliber team has a killer instinct and should have pounded McCullers into the ground. 

He got hurt in game 4. It's not like he was already hurt in game 1. 

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

Yes. It's that big of a difference. 

I think the White Sox and Astros played the whole series with the Happy Fun Ball, then MLB decided to use the different ball for the first few games of the next series, then changed back. Maybe they thought the Astros offense could be slowed down by the dead ball? Houston had the best performing lineup in baseball in 2021.

The Yaz and Tucker homers in game 3 did feel very very cheap. Leury hitting it 435 also seems sus now. 

15 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I'm not rewriting it but here's the list of managerial disasters your memory edited out from that series.

 

LMAO. I'm sure your plan of pulling every single Sox starter after two innings and starting Dylan Cease in game 2 would have made all the difference. 

 

Edited December 21, 20223 yr by Whisox05

Vientos is 1B/DH…nope

 

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 60 | Run: 35 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50

The Mets took a 17-year-old, bat-first shortstop in Vientos in the second round of the 2017 Draft. After signing him for $1.5 million, the organization put him on the slow road with stops at Rookie-level Kingsport in 2018 and Class A Columbia in 2019. He showed classic signs of a power bat waiting to bloom before the 2020 pandemic forced him to continue his progress at the alternate training site and fall instructs. His big breakout came at last in 2021, when he hit .281/.352/.581 with 25 homers over 83 games at Double-A and Triple-A, and he was added to the 40-man roster as a result.

It’s scary to think what kind of heights Vientos’ home run total could have reached in 2021, had he seen a fuller season that wasn’t so impacted by coronavirus delays and cancelations. He’s slugging above .500 again in 2022, making the most of his significant strength at Triple-A, but he’s also striking out more than 30 percent of the time again while also posting a groundball rate close to 50 percent, a regression from previous trends. The raw power will always make Vientos a middle-of-the-order threat, but his overall hit tool could limit that impact.

Vientos’ plus arm works at third base, but his glove and actions aren’t nearly at the same level. The Mets worked him out in left field in 2021, and as of now, early reports aren’t encouraging that it’s a solid fit. He has gotten more looks at first base this season, and that’s his likeliest defensive home if and when he isn’t DHing. 

5 minutes ago, Whisox05 said:

 

Any chance we can get a third team involved in this that is rebuilding and is willing to take Grandal along with a prospect or two?

5 minutes ago, fathom said:

Vientos is 1B/DH…nope

If they do a deal just to do a deal, more fuel to the fire to be mad at this team. Deal isn't worth doing without a helpful prospect like Mauricio at least.