I’m tired of these types of posts

[WestEddy]

42 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Have to disagree with you on all counts. Barring something unexpected JR is still going to be around and the upcoming labor impasse will throw the 2027 season into doubt.. 

Right now, even with the 5-14 run they've been on since 8/3, they're right at .400 since May 1, which I've been using as a line separating the dreck they brought into the season, and the prospects they've promoted, and Vargas/Sosa seemingly adjusting to the league. 

So, I think they're a .400 team, which translates to 65-97 over 162.

If these guys continue to develop, any of the starters step up, or any of Schultz/Taylor/McDougal crash the rotation, Robert plays more like the 2nd half, maybe they pick up an arm and bat - can you not see them adding 5 wins? That's a 70-win team. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

16 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

And here is notice me #2.  Maybe you just need your own safe space so you can reassure yourself how right you actually are all of the time since you don't get enough from everyone else and it makes you so darned mad all the time.

Keep defending the Empire, I will fight back.

How can I ever be noticed if you delete my posts ? This coming from the guy who had more posts than anyone ever in the history of Soxtalk  . Do you feel under attack from 2 posters ? How many posts of yours have been deleted by me ? There are plenty of poster here who see you as a dictator run amok. You cant make me feel as if I'm alone . You have a small black heart and I pity you. 

[T R U]

42 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I would expect the Sox to be winning somewhere in the 70's next season, clearing .500 in 2027, and "competing" in 2028. 

I would show my work, but every time I say where I think this team is per 162, the usual crew complains that I'm trying to make them feel good, or that I'm not prefacing every sentence with "Getz didn't deserve his job" or "the Sox will perpetually set the loss record every single year". 

I actually would love for you to show your work here, because this team probably doesn't even get to 60 wins this year so I am interested to hear the WestEddy plan that has them make a substantial jump next season with what will largely be the same roster. 

Ill go first. You can make the argument that the offense is completely returning. Benintendi isn't going anywhere, they love Tauchman apparently, and you would assume Robert will get his option picked up and at least start the year here. The rest of Teel/Quero, Vargas/Mead, Sosa/Meidroth, Montgomery, and Baldwin all return. We know they wont be signing a big fish, and there really isn't any room to add a Benintendi tier signing. So lets operate under the assumption that the whole lineup is back and only veteran bench depth gets added. Are you ready to assume every single young guy takes another step forward? Odds say probably not. Benintendi is worth 0. and Tauchman is likely to step back.

These guys desperately need Robert to get back to where he was in 2023 to either cash in on his value or build around him. 

The pitching needs a lot of work. They have an entire rotation of back end pitchers. The bullpen is not good. There are some returning players who are interesting, however, they will all be coming off major injuries and pitching for the first time in a while.

Here's my if. If Robert bounces back and is either traded for usable pcs or kept, if every one of Teel/Quero, Vargas, Sosa/Meidroth, Montgomery, Baldwin all take another step forward and Braden Montgomery arrives mid season and is as advertised, if Smith takes a step forward and is more of a front end starter and Martin, Burke, and Thorpe all improve while Schultz and Smith show up mid to late season and pitch like they think they will you can squint and see them winning somewhere in the 70's next season. That's a lot of ifs for an organization not well known for its development.

[southsider2k5]

21 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

It goes back way farther than that .The whole history of the franchise is terrible, so yea, if you dont expect things to go south when the owners literally act like they don't ever belong in 1st place then you have your head up your arse. But that doesnt mean I should refuse to enjoy and not express that enjoyment. This is what being a sports fan is. Sure there's always a logical part of your mind that says bad historical franchise + the odds of even the best franchises in any sport of the seasons not ending in disappointment with a heartbreaking loss arent very good . Again thats what being a fan is .. constant disappointment. So if you want to always be sour about it I'd say you enjoy the pain and we all know how misery loves company. Some of us just choose not to be miserable. That does not mean we are delusional nor do we want to stop those who prefer to wallow in their misery from doing their wallowing. Knock yourselves out. You're the ones with moderator powers doing a lot more damage to this board because you get to say anything you want without repercussion. This isnt true for the ones who speak up on behalf of the non miserable other side. Why is it the darkness always wants to crush the light but they turn it around that the light and hope is at fault ? 

The fact that you are still here pretending to be oppressed, despite going after people all of the time is the best evidence of all against you.  You hate it here, and everyone is apparently against you, yet you keep posting.   Weird right 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The fact that you are still here pretending to be oppressed, despite going after people all of the time is the best evidence of all against you.  You hate it here, and everyone is apparently against you, yet you keep posting.   Weird right 

And here you go doing what you do best telling me how miserable I am . Im not at all. I pass out thanks and likes and yes even love emojis all the time to some of the best Sox fans in the world on this forum. I have fun here. I joke around . When I laugh its not laughing AT people it's laughing WITH them. However just judging by post count and youre status as a moderator I will allow you to have the last word on this matter . I know you cant resist. 

[southsider2k5]

12 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

How can I ever be noticed if you delete my posts ? This coming from the guy who had more posts than anyone ever in the history of Soxtalk  . Do you feel under attack from 2 posters ? How many posts of yours have been deleted by me ? There are plenty of poster here who see you as a dictator run amok. You cant make me feel as if I'm alone . You have a small black heart and I pity you. 

Yes, you are such a poor, poor victim.  It has nothing to to do with fighting perceived grudges from years ago.

It has nothing to do with your inability to debate a topic without turning it into a series of personal attacks because someone dared to disagree with you last decade.

I even have avoided responding to most of your responses where you insert yourself so you can have a trademark meltdown about literally nothing, because you can't handle the anyone who doesn't parrot your opinion. 

So you keep tilting at windmills, thinking you are some noble crusade.

 

[WhiteSox2023]

I have a small black heart and I pity myself for being a Sox fan.  Jerry has made me this way.

[WestEddy]

29 minutes ago, T R U said:

I actually would love for you to show your work here, because this team probably doesn't even get to 60 wins this year so I am interested to hear the WestEddy plan that has them make a substantial jump next season with what will largely be the same roster. 

Ill go first. You can make the argument that the offense is completely returning. Benintendi isn't going anywhere, they love Tauchman apparently, and you would assume Robert will get his option picked up and at least start the year here. The rest of Teel/Quero, Vargas/Mead, Sosa/Meidroth, Montgomery, and Baldwin all return. We know they wont be signing a big fish, and there really isn't any room to add a Benintendi tier signing. So lets operate under the assumption that the whole lineup is back and only veteran bench depth gets added. Are you ready to assume every single young guy takes another step forward? Odds say probably not. Benintendi is worth 0. and Tauchman is likely to step back.

These guys desperately need Robert to get back to where he was in 2023 to either cash in on his value or build around him. 

The pitching needs a lot of work. They have an entire rotation of back end pitchers. The bullpen is not good. There are some returning players who are interesting, however, they will all be coming off major injuries and pitching for the first time in a while.

Here's my if. If Robert bounces back and is either traded for usable pcs or kept, if every one of Teel/Quero, Vargas, Sosa/Meidroth, Montgomery, Baldwin all take another step forward and Braden Montgomery arrives mid season and is as advertised, if Smith takes a step forward and is more of a front end starter and Martin, Burke, and Thorpe all improve while Schultz and Smith show up mid to late season and pitch like they think they will you can squint and see them winning somewhere in the 70's next season. That's a lot of ifs for an organization not well known for its development.

I posted my "work" 9 minutes before your post. 

My expectation is that the guys who were prospects, graduated, then had months of .500 OPS will hit better. Brooks Baldwin doesn't look like a star, but he can hit. Meidroth, Teel, Quero, Monty, Sosa look like they can aspire to average major league players next season. Will some tank and regress? Sure. I'm not putting money on it, or trading baseball betting tips for the lives of family members, so yeah - the nature of a fan is to root for the things you can see if you squint. I really don't owe it to anybody to act like the worse half of probabilities will happen when it comes to the entertainment equivalent of buying a ticket to a Pokemon movie. 

[Dick Allen]

8 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I posted my "work" 9 minutes before your post. 

My expectation is that the guys who were prospects, graduated, then had months of .500 OPS will hit better. Brooks Baldwin doesn't look like a star, but he can hit. Meidroth, Teel, Quero, Monty, Sosa look like they can aspire to average major league players next season. Will some tank and regress? Sure. I'm not putting money on it, or trading baseball betting tips for the lives of family members, so yeah - the nature of a fan is to root for the things you can see if you squint. I really don't owe it to anybody to act like the worse half of probabilities will happen when it comes to the entertainment equivalent of buying a ticket to a Pokemon movie. 

The issue I have is it's hard to imagine Quero and Teel keeping their current pace, especially the OBP. Colson has been Aaron Judge. Hopefully, the average and OBP go up, but you have to figure he isn't going to keep up his current HR pace. Meidroth is a guy who could  put up bigger numbers Personally, i believe the offense will go a little backwards, at least from what weve seen the last month, unless they sign or trade for some more offense, and that doesn't seem too likely. And I still won't believe they will pay Robert $20 million next year until they actually do.

Edited August 25 by Dick Allen

[almagest]

50 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The issue I have is it's hard to imagine Quero and Teel keeping their current pace, especially the OBP.

Why? Quero's career minor league OBP is .399. .350 (his current OBP) doesn't seem out of reach for him longer term. Teel's is .401 - .375 might be a bit high but I wouldn't blink at .350+ for him either.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 hours ago, Tony said:

I'm prefacing this post by saying I know it will never happen because it's impossible to do with a sports fan base, but with that out the way...

These discussions about Getz/overall performance will never end, not at least things get turned around and there is actual winning happening on a regular basis. 

But I feel like a lot of these discussion revolve around timeframes. Those that are "defending" Getz or in the more positive camp, cite the improvement from last year, growth from younger players, etc. Which is all true. 

But my question is how do we somewhat align on expectations? We know Getz inherited a bad situation, don't think many argued a full demo job wasn't needed. And that takes time. But how much time? 

What is an appropriate enough time to actually see a winning record from the Sox? We'll be heading into the 2026 season and the Sox haven't had a winning season since 2021. We know when Getz took over (Late August of 2023) so 2024 and 2025 have been full "Getz years" The 2026 season will be his third full year on the job. At what point in the process do we expect the Sox to be actually competitive? 

 

Maybe I'm the oddball but why have expectations at all ? You have no power to change anything. Its not like its you 're kid who you raised with your partner so you have significant imput through your genes and parenting skills to have certain expectations. 

The Sox and any sports team does what it does regardless of if we rip each others throats out arguing about hopes and dreams or expectations for a better tomorrow. We align ourselves and get emotionally involved because we liked playing sports and enjoy competing and winning is so much fun and usually prevents us from finding more negative activities and winning unites us while losing divides us.

Plenty of good things about sports and of course there's downsides too seeing as were humans and bad comes with everything good.

I dont expect anything from any Chicago teams who I have enjoyed and kept loyal to despite not being a geographical Chicagoan for many years. I like sports but its a soap opera that is filled with constant disappointment.I just cant get wrapped up in the disappointments. I know I play no part in the story.I either chose to find pleasure in it and hope things provide good memories or chose to be bitter about the usual unhappy ending to most seasons.

Having great or even moderate expectations of sucess will just make you judgemental of people you know very little about or judge them differently than others do which is why we rip each others throats out. 

If I enjoy the good parts of the story while the overall outcome is somewhat tragic well that just means sports is a refection of life. I can chose to look at it a lot of different ways. Some will put a bullet in their head and others despite knowing life is tragic just chose to have hope. And even though I may follow the team religiously I try very hard not to have that religious zealotness that makes people so self righteous or feel as if they play an important role in the story. 

 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

Right now, even with the 5-14 run they've been on since 8/3, they're right at .400 since May 1, which I've been using as a line separating the dreck they brought into the season, and the prospects they've promoted, and Vargas/Sosa seemingly adjusting to the league. 

So, I think they're a .400 team, which translates to 65-97 over 162.

If these guys continue to develop, any of the starters step up, or any of Schultz/Taylor/McDougal crash the rotation, Robert plays more like the 2nd half, maybe they pick up an arm and bat - can you not see them adding 5 wins? That's a 70-win team. 

At the time you started saying that, it was .420 since May 1st. It's going in the wrong direction if youre trying to yell progress.

[T R U]

13 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

At the time you started saying that, it was .420 since May 1st. It's going in the wrong direction if youre trying to yell progress.

I have a hard time believing that this team is winning 70+ games.

C - Teel/Quero

1B - Vargas/Mead

2B - Meidroth

SS - Montgomery

3B - Vargas/Mead

LF - Benintendi

CF - Robert

RF - Tauchman

DH - Sosa

Starting Pitching - Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Insert 5th Guy Here

Bullpen - 🤢

Can we at least get to 60 wins first? They will need to go 13-19 the rest of the way to hit 60, which means they need to start winning slightly more than they have been recently to do so. While possible, im not sure its likely.

[Snopek]

3 hours ago, JoeC said:

1. This team sucks.

2. This team is better than last year’s team.

3. This team shows some form of future upside in some areas, whereas last year’s team was 100% hopeless.

4. This team still sucks.

I am still enjoying this season based almost solely on #3 above.

"This is a 100 loss team and you want to extend Getz?!"

 

Did I do it right?

[caulfield12]

27 minutes ago, T R U said:

I have a hard time believing that this team is winning 70+ games.

C - Teel/Quero

1B - Vargas/Mead

2B - Meidroth

SS - Montgomery

3B - Vargas/Mead

LF - Benintendi

CF - Robert

RF - Tauchman

DH - Sosa

Starting Pitching - Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Insert 5th Guy Here

Bullpen - 🤢

Can we at least get to 60 wins first? They will need to go 13-19 the rest of the way to hit 60, which means they need to start winning slightly more than they have been recently to do so. While possible, im not sure its likely.

Plus seven of those are Yankees/Padres.

2-5 or 3-4 seems likely.

Leaving 11-14 or 10-15 the remaining task to get to 60-102.

KC also still on the periphery of WC hunt.

1-2 there leaves 10-12/9-13. 

Going to be really close unless a couple of other teams like the Rays and O's just mail it in.

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

At the time you started saying that, it was .420 since May 1st. It's going in the wrong direction if youre trying to yell progress.

Somebody would have to actually say that if you're going to pretend to quote them. Maybe you responded to the wrong post?

[bmags]

46 minutes ago, T R U said:

I have a hard time believing that this team is winning 70+ games.

C - Teel/Quero

1B - Vargas/Mead

2B - Meidroth

SS - Montgomery

3B - Vargas/Mead

LF - Benintendi

CF - Robert

RF - Tauchman

DH - Sosa

Starting Pitching - Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Insert 5th Guy Here

Bullpen - 🤢

Can we at least get to 60 wins first? They will need to go 13-19 the rest of the way to hit 60, which means they need to start winning slightly more than they have been recently to do so. While possible, im not sure its likely.

Team really needs a masher, and it will get like a Josh Naylor maybe. Pitching, eh, sometimes guys show up. I'd imagine they put money in bullpen. If you get the offense they've had last 2 months, and better pitching/a Starter in offseason, and then KC and MN regress more...I could see 70.

[WestEddy]

39 minutes ago, T R U said:

Can we at least get to 60 wins first? They will need to go 13-19 the rest of the way to hit 60, which means they need to start winning slightly more than they have been recently to do so. While possible, im not sure its likely.

You just said this:

Quote

Here's my if. If Robert bounces back and is either traded for usable pcs or kept, if every one of Teel/Quero, Vargas, Sosa/Meidroth, Montgomery, Baldwin all take another step forward and Braden Montgomery arrives mid season and is as advertised, if Smith takes a step forward and is more of a front end starter and Martin, Burke, and Thorpe all improve while Schultz and Smith show up mid to late season and pitch like they think they will you can squint and see them winning somewhere in the 70's next season. That's a lot of ifs for an organization not well known for its development.

I'm not sure what your issue with this is. If the bottom falls out, they might scrape for 8 more wins. (That's one win each v.KC(3), v.Yanks(4), @Min(4), @Det(3), v.TB(3), @Cle(3), v.Bal(3), and then win 2 of v.SD(3), @Yanks(4), @Was(3)). That's 55 wins. (A .420 pct from May 1, btw.) If they rally, win 2 v.KC, 2@Min, 2.vTB, 2v. Bal and maybe 3 in those last 10, that's 60 wins. 

[T R U]

7 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

You just said this:

I'm not sure what your issue with this is. If the bottom falls out, they might scrape for 8 more wins. (That's one win each v.KC(3), v.Yanks(4), @Min(4), @Det(3), v.TB(3), @Cle(3), v.Bal(3), and then win 2 of v.SD(3), @Yanks(4), @Was(3)). That's 55 wins. (A .420 pct from May 1, btw.) If they rally, win 2 v.KC, 2@Min, 2.vTB, 2v. Bal and maybe 3 in those last 10, that's 60 wins. 

Yes, I said if everything goes perfect they could get to 70 wins. Everything is not going to go perfect, you know this, I know this. It's just how it works.

[WestEddy]

27 minutes ago, T R U said:

Yes, I said if everything goes perfect they could get to 70 wins. Everything is not going to go perfect, you know this, I know this. It's just how it works.

But that's not really true. Everything doesn't need to go perfect. My contention is that if you roll this same group back, they win somewhere in the mid 60's. That's no improvement from where they've been playing the last 4 months. Now, out of Meidroth, Sosa, Vargas, Mead, Baldwin, Monty, Teel, Quero - some improvement may be wiped out by regression, but everything doesn't need to "go perfect" to gain a couple of wins from this group. Baldwin playing 1-2 positions more adeptly. Sosa and Vargas getting a little better at 1B, 2B, and 3B. A couple of these guys ironing out the stretches of OPSing .400 for weeks. 

Then you're looking at another wave of pitching that will challenge next year. Some won't be good enough to take or keep a major league job, but then they get replaced. 

And now we're at the point of the discussion where I say that I'm not trying to convince you to believe they will win 70 games next year. My expectation is that they win 70+. I get to think that. I've laid out that this team is playing at a rate right now that is most of the way there. If you don't want to think that - wonderful...don't. 

Nobody here is under any obligation to "prove" a 2026 win total. The people who wailed that this team wouldn't cover the newsworthy over/under line set in March or even surpass last year's 41 certainly aren't starting threads explaining how it was that they could have possibly been so wrong. All anybody does is shrug and say that it was reasonable for them to say the Sox wouldn't win 40 games this year when some of us thought that was preposterous. 

[T R U]

4 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

But that's not really true. Everything doesn't need to go perfect. My contention is that if you roll this same group back, they win somewhere in the mid 60's. That's no improvement from where they've been playing the last 4 months. Now, out of Meidroth, Sosa, Vargas, Mead, Baldwin, Monty, Teel, Quero - some improvement may be wiped out by regression, but everything doesn't need to "go perfect" to gain a couple of wins from this group. Baldwin playing 1-2 positions more adeptly. Sosa and Vargas getting a little better at 1B, 2B, and 3B. A couple of these guys ironing out the stretches of OPSing .400 for weeks. 

Then you're looking at another wave of pitching that will challenge next year. Some won't be good enough to take or keep a major league job, but then they get replaced. 

And now we're at the point of the discussion where I say that I'm not trying to convince you to believe they will win 70 games next year. My expectation is that they win 70+. I get to think that. I've laid out that this team is playing at a rate right now that is most of the way there. If you don't want to think that - wonderful...don't. 

Nobody here is under any obligation to "prove" a 2026 win total. The people who wailed that this team wouldn't cover the newsworthy over/under line set in March or even surpass last year's 41 certainly aren't starting threads explaining how it was that they could have possibly been so wrong. All anybody does is shrug and say that it was reasonable for them to say the Sox wouldn't win 40 games this year when some of us thought that was preposterous. 

You don’t need to try and convince me, all I asked for was to hear your opinion on it. I’ll think what I think regardless of what you say. 

[Dick Allen]

2 hours ago, almagest said:

Why? Quero's career minor league OBP is .399. .350 (his current OBP) doesn't seem out of reach for him longer term. Teel's is .401 - .375 might be a bit high but I wouldn't blink at .350+ for him either.

Very few major league catchers consistently put up those numbers. To think 2 on the same team will IMO isn’t realistic. But if they can, great.

[almagest]

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Very few major league catchers consistently put up those numbers. To think 2 on the same team will IMO isn’t realistic. But if they can, great.

I think having them alternate between catching and DH will help them stay consistent.

[caulfield12]

4 hours ago, bmags said:

Team really needs a masher, and it will get like a Josh Naylor maybe. Pitching, eh, sometimes guys show up. I'd imagine they put money in bullpen. If you get the offense they've had last 2 months, and better pitching/a Starter in offseason, and then KC and MN regress more...I could see 70.

Why not CLE falling with Bieber also gone, Kwan likely dealt in the offseason?

Their minor league system's strength?

Edited August 26 by caulfield12

[nrockway]

11 hours ago, bmags said:

My point is you are holding other teams to a higher standard than you hold the white sox to.

But, of that group, Mattingly and Fenstermaker and Minasian aren't key baseball decisionmakers so they don't count. I don't real

Over 2.5 years, aside from being unable to scout waiver wire and vet min free agent talent to avoid the worst record of all time, there are 2 points where you can look at now and say "did Getz set us up for success more than these GMs?"
- The 2024 draft, especially the 1st round, where Getz drafted Hagen Smith at 6th overall, who now is struggling mightily with command, instead of multiple top hitters including #1 overall prospect.
- Farm System: 18th
- Major League Team record


- Jeremy Zoll Twins: 

- 2024 First Round Draft Pick (#21) took Kaelen Culpepper who has a .900 OPS in AA
- Has the 4th best farm according to BA
- 82-80 record last year
Would I take Jeremy Zoll over Getz? Yes.

Peter Bendix Marlins
- 2024 First Round Draft PIck (#16) PJ Morlando - least impressive of stats, but holding head above water in A ball with a .750 ops
- Farm System: 13th
- MLB Record Last Year: 62-100 (21 games above white sox)
- MLB Record This Year: 61-69 (14 games above white sox)
Would I take Peter Bendix over Chris Getz? Yes

Craig Breslow
Obviously yes.


David Stearns
First - in David Stearns first rebuild with the Marlins he created a near playoff team with waiver wire pickups and scrubs, they didn't lose 120 games, so just with that resume I'd say yes.
Farm System: #9
Record in 2024: Made Playoffs with 89 wins
Record in 2025: 69-61 (2nd place)
2024 Draft: Drafted Carson Benge (19th overall), hitting .900 OPS in AA
Would I take David Stearns? Yes

Brad Meador
Farm System: 10th
Record in 2024: 77-85
Record in 2025: 68-63
2024 Draft: Drafted Chase Burns, a top pitcher that actually dominated minors and is pitching in majors this year.
Would I take Brad Meador? Yes

The weird Giants set-up, is one you could argue could struggle. Yet with a worse draft position, took a player they parlayed into Rafael Devers. Their farm system, still better than the sox and surging at lower levels. 

Getz has done some good things, but tearing things down to the studs and then having some young players in year 2 playing like potential starters is not really out of the ordinary for baseball. 

Getz has been here for 2.5 years. This draft looks solid. Last looks like it was a huge miss for no reason. The Cease trade was a huge miss.

As a result, we have the 18th ranked farm despite the worst record in the AL. 2.5 years in. And if it's because all of these guys that have graduated, you'd still want better on field results than we have, there's a LOT more team to build yet we have the 18th best farm. 

It's just not good enough yet, and Getz showing an inability to find passable talent to avoid catastrophe last year is a warning even for a 'built up' team.

I don't want to do a whole thing, I think it's a fair perspective, and I'd echo Tony's post (if I think he's saying what I think) and say that "it's hard to tell at this point" but I'll make a few points in response.

I don't think I'm holding teams to a higher standard per se, I just think there are other factors at play. Namely the owner. Also the geography. Also the position they started from. I feel like the Mets should be better than they are with an unlimited budget and the fact they play in New York City. Not only is is it the most important city in the country, it's also close to the Dominican Republic and has a large Dominican diaspora. I think the Sox should've been better for the last 60 years because Chicago is an important city and media market too. I'd hold JR accountable and pretty much every other previous owner before the GM in that regard. I think I'm holding the GMs to the same standard when controlling for other factors (not very mathematical, just my opinions as I see it). I think I try to be objective about the two teams I like, the Sox and Bulls, and I think the Sox have a better front office than the Bulls do regardless of the winning percentage. Sometimes losing and being bad is the correct strategy compared to treadmilling. I'd rather they be terrible this year than win 70 games by signing a bunch of veteran stopgaps. More opportunity for the young guys and another opportunity to draft high and potentially get a real difference maker compared to picking at 15. I pretty much hated the Hagen Smith pick and liked Konnor Griffin, JJ Wetherholt and Braden Montgomery specifically. Sox selecting Smith with his profile seemed like a previous front office sort of move. Still not a big fan of Jac. It's not like Hagan is a bust though, he's just not moving as fast as anticipated and his control issues are concerning. Jury is still out on him and Schultz. This year's draft seems a lot better.

The Mets have been second fiddle to the Yankees forever, but that's changing somewhat, arguably because of the cash infusion from the owner, and it was happening before Stearns was hired. Maybe he did a bunch to persuade Soto to join the Mets over the Yankees, if so he should be credited. I bring him up because he's been super hyped for years and I'm not sure what he actually did that's so great. Maybe he turned the Brewers organization into a really good one and it's still paying fruit under a new regime (this is the obviously best they've been though as soon as he left. Many seem to be holding Getz to that same standard relative to Hahn/Kenny). I just don't think he's made a bunch of great peripheral moves with the Mets and they should be better considering the other factors. Mets have 4 top 100 prospects per Pipeline, but Stearns FO only picked one of them. 4 of the 5 White Sox top 100 were selected under Getz (or traded for in the case of Montgomery, maybe we just say 3 of 5). Antonacci is probably going to be on the top 100 soon enough. There might be a few other guys like Fauske and Lodise who could be end up there. McDougal has taken HUGE steps forward and looks like an ace this year when he looked pretty marginal the previous two years. There is a ton of depth in the White Sox system if we're paying attention; that didn't exist with the previous front office. Jeral Perez, from the Fedde trade could be there. The Fedde signing and trade was big and I wonder why the Mets or any other team didn't do that. That's an example of creating something out of nothing.

I'd quibble specifically with the Red Sox and Twins. Twins had a fire sale and didn't get much of anything in return. Maybe that's pressure from the owner, but I bet they could've made smarter moves and set up their 'rebuild' better. I like our rebuild better than theirs, frankly. Really early to tell though. The Twins are headed to the dumpster and I'm not sure how they'll get out of it. They might transcend the Rockies/Sox in terms of all-time bad. This just seems like a general trend in MLB as it was in NBA, the 'middle class' of the league is falling out. All of their top prospects were picked by the previous regime besides Culpepper and they seem to be on the same path they were before the new GM took over. 

I think the Red Sox should also be better. Completely alienating Devers and getting pennies on the dollar in a 'win now' move doesn't seem to be working out because they're not winning now. Toronto shouldn't be the clearly best team in that division. The Crochet trade was a win for both teams, but Crochet's injury concerns are still a question. Payton Tolle is the #28 prospect in baseball but I don't think he's measurably better than Schultz or Smith. He's walking fewer guys to be sure, that's going to be the thing to address with our lefty prospects. Schultz just had a real nice outing after coming back from injury, Smith walked a bunch of guys but his K rate is great. I still think it was the wrong pick. 

Anyway, that list I posted is only to suggest that Getz is not actually doing a bad job, and to give him no credit is just pessimism for the sake of it or otherwise not paying attention to anything but the MLB team. The system is genuinely exciting. Sox management is doing things that we weren't doing before. As stated, I only really pay attention to the Sox and Bulls and Getz is way better at his job than Karnisovas is. Pretty much every trade or free agent acquisition has been a loser. Every draft pick that he didn't trade (most of them) have pretty much been a bust. Re-signing bust Patrick Williams to a giant extension was the last straw for me. I'm all, "fire AK" (I post about it on RealGM all the time) and I'd be consistent and say, "Fire Getz" if there was actually a reason to suggest he was worse than his predecessor. The Major League record isn't the end all be all in this case. Once more, I think it's time to start adding MLB talent and not prospects, so we'll see what he does in that regard. I'd change my tune if the team isn't performing reasonably well by 2027. I hope the front office makes intelligent trades eventually that trade 'prospects' for actual performers. If they sign another Benintendi, I'd rationally be annoyed by it. I am a "homer" in the sense that I am supportive of the team and my glass is half full, but I'm not a fool.