Team Breakout Article

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

“Great off-season” is a stretch. I’d say it’s like a B or B- offseason as of now. Still have massive holes in the rotation and all the outfield spots.

They're not defending A.L. Champs, or something. They're a rebuilding team with a clump of prospects primed to graduate to the big team this year. "Massive" holes? They're 9 weeks away from opening day. They need one starting pitcher, and maybe a part-time OF as training wheels for Baldwin, Acuña and Pereira/Kelenic. Austin Hays would be an expensive Mike Tauchman, who is still out there. 

Sean Burke can be that one starting pitcher. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

6 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

You said nothing about the actual baseball team in that vomit. You should try getting into baseball instead of spread sheets. The game is much more fun off paper. 

Huh? There's nothing fun about not being competitive. These are professional athletes. This isn't amateur sports. I'll give you this, you certainly have watched much more white sox baseball than me the past two+ years. I've also likely watched and followed way more other (non-white sox) baseball than you in that time, I'd guess. 

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The worst part of Murakami is if he's great

You should really assemble and submit these nuggets to become America's Poet Laureat. 

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

You guys are all really kind.

The Sox have signed four players. 2 relievers, a guy who signed for less than Jorge Polanco, and a possible SP.

They came in with a bottom 3 payroll despite not being a bottom 3 market or revenue team, and they still have a bottom 3 payroll. I'm not sure how anyone can give this teams offseason a positive grade given their payroll and general investment in the roster. We are just so desperate for something good or positive...

They've lowered the bar so low, and it's somehow worked on many fans.

 

18 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

You said nothing about the actual baseball team in that vomit. You should try getting into baseball instead of spread sheets. The game is much more fun off paper. 

Good lord man, this is literally all about the team.  I know you don't like it, but don't gaslight the man.

And this team is way better ON paper, as the results of the game are the biggest problem.  The optimism is all on paper because it is all about if this goes right, and these guys are ranked here, and  if this goes right, and if Ishbia spends, and if this goes right... the actual results on the field have been some of the worst in baseball history the last 3 years. (2024, most losses in MLB history,  2024-25, 2nd most losses in MLB history over 2 seasons, 2023-25 3rd most losses in MLB history over three seasons)

[WhiteSox2023]

19 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

You should really assemble and submit these nuggets to become America's Poet Laureat. 

If you cut out that small excerpt from his post; you are completely hiding his entire point.

Yes, we all hope Murakami is great.  But if he is, let’s be honest, he’s likely playing for another team in two years.  Like I said earlier, the timing of Freddie Freeman’s contract is pretty terrible considering the Dodgers sign everyone at any cost.

So do we expect the Sox to win big within the next two seasons?  Hopefully Ishbia takes over sooner rather than later.

Edited 15 hours ago by WhiteSox2023

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

Jorge Polanco is 32 years old and a known commodity. Is he a good player? Yeah. But he also is what he is at this point and will never be a star.

Murakami on the other hand is only 26. Is there a possibility he doesn’t translate to MLB? Yeah. It’s a risky signing for sure. But the Sox are in the position to take risks and opening up the Japanese pipeline again isn’t a bad thing. As far as if he’s good, I’ll worry about that in 2 years. 

Seriously, how TF does Polanco, a guy who just put up a 132 wRC+ and hit 26 HR in Seattle become something to be depressed about? We're not talking about baseball teams, here. We're pretending that Colson Montgomery is a huge, gaping hole in the lineup because he's making the league minimum. 

Murakami is a great signing. Yeah, they have to work with him. That's the case with every single Japanese position player. Until Japanese pitchers start throwing 95+ regularly, that will be the case going forward. Some internet dude proclaiming that he's going to withhold judgement until the guy puts up numbers is meaningless. 

For a team coming off of 100+ losses, this was a great off-season. They signed 2 starting pitchers, signed/traded for 2/3 of an OF, and built up their bullpen. And the off-season's not even over, yet. Turn that frown upside-down. 

[Y2Jimmy0]

The Sox have nothing on the books going forward. If Murakami is good, I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t sign him. It’s still a 1B/DH. You’re looking at inflation on a deal like Pete Alonso possibly. I think Sox will do stuff like that from 2028 on etc. 

[WestEddy]

58 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

In the recent Getz interview, Getz said that signing Murakami to a 5-year deal at this point wasn’t realistic.  Kaplan blurted out, “you could just extend him if he’s good!”  Really?  So you can’t afford to give Murakami a 5-year deal when he’s an unknown quantity but you can afford to extend him in 2 years if he’s breaks out?  Yeah…

More like they didn’t want to give an unknown a 5-year deal and likely won’t be able to extend him in 2 years if he’s breaks out.

Or they just paid the price and terms that the market dictated. It's a great contract. They got him in house. If he's good, they extend or trade him. If he isn't, no great impingement on the future. 

[WestEddy]

22 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Huh? There's nothing fun about not being competitive. These are professional athletes. This isn't amateur sports. I'll give you this, you certainly have watched much more white sox baseball than me the past two+ years. I've also likely watched and followed way more other (non-white sox) baseball than you in that time, I'd guess. 

I find watching a rebuilding team do the things they're supposed to fun. The board becomes one big demand for the team to acquire and play young talent. That's what they did. Now people are yelling for the team to block that talent with dead cats like Harrison Bader. I'm looking forward to the White Sox building an OF out of the handful of post-hype dudes they've gotten into the org. And if they don't progress, churn through. 

[DoUEvenShift]

53 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Exactly.  Murakami jerseys will sell well regardless but it’s probably realistically the worst jersey to buy outside of any other vet the Sox sign on a 1-year deal.

If he sucks, you won’t want the jersey.  If he’s good, you have a cool jersey for two years until he replaces Freddie Freeman.  Freeman’s contract just so happens to expire after the 2027 season, right when Murakami becomes a free agent.

Don't tell that to @Chicago White Sox's kid

[WestEddy]

14 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Good lord man, this is literally all about the team.  I know you don't like it, but don't gaslight the man.

And this team is way better ON paper, as the results of the game are the biggest problem.  The optimism is all on paper because it is all about if this goes right, and these guys are ranked here, and  if this goes right, and if Ishbia spends, and if this goes right... the actual results on the field have been some of the worst in baseball history the last 3 years. (2024, most losses in MLB history,  2024-25, 2nd most losses in MLB history over 2 seasons, 2023-25 3rd most losses in MLB history over three seasons)

1) The Sox have signed 4 players. Well, that is one descriptor of the off-season. "The White Sox are a baseball team that participated in the off-season" is about as descriptive. Reducing the offseason moves down to robot commands is the actual gas-lighting. 
2) A guy who signed for less than Jorge Polanco. That's a meaningless sentence. Yes, when I go to FanGraphs to evaluate baseball players, the main, high-lighted column on their stats page is their salary. Gas-lighting. 
3) 2 relievers. This is bad, now? They lost, what, 26 leads after the 7th inning last season? Why is it bad to sign relievers?
4) possible SP. If Sean Newcomb pitches his way into the rotation, that's great news. If he doesn't, that adds to a strong bullpen. Again, not sure why this is bad, or how this gets downplayed. More gas-lighting. 

This is a team that is coming off of 102 losses. They're rebuilding. You even argue that it would be foolish to trade prospects for established stars. It would be foolish to sign 30-something stars to block the prospects. I don't want Ray Ray to believe in the off-season. I'm not trying to cheer him up and make him positive. I am answering his regular "I don't see it. They acquired players. Why should that get me excited?" gas-lighting. 

[WestEddy]

26 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

If you cut out that small excerpt from his post

He plays the same game regularly. You don't seem to have a problem when he misrepresents. 

[Dick Allen]

16 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I find watching a rebuilding team do the things they're supposed to fun. The board becomes one big demand for the team to acquire and play young talent. That's what they did. Now people are yelling for the team to block that talent with dead cats like Harrison Bader. I'm looking forward to the White Sox building an OF out of the handful of post-hype dudes they've gotten into the org. And if they don't progress, churn through. 

i hope it all works out, but is there a prospect now that was as highly ranked as Moncada and Eloy and Kopech, and Cease and Robert? that didn' work out. Hopefully this one does, but i have my doubts. 

[southsider2k5]

9 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

1) The Sox have signed 4 players. Well, that is one descriptor of the off-season. "The White Sox are a baseball team that participated in the off-season" is about as descriptive. Reducing the offseason moves down to robot commands is the actual gas-lighting. 
2) A guy who signed for less than Jorge Polanco. That's a meaningless sentence. Yes, when I go to FanGraphs to evaluate baseball players, the main, high-lighted column on their stats page is their salary. Gas-lighting. 
3) 2 relievers. This is bad, now? They lost, what, 26 leads after the 7th inning last season? Why is it bad to sign relievers?
4) possible SP. If Sean Newcomb pitches his way into the rotation, that's great news. If he doesn't, that adds to a strong bullpen. Again, not sure why this is bad, or how this gets downplayed. More gas-lighting. 

This is a team that is coming off of 102 losses. They're rebuilding. You even argue that it would be foolish to trade prospects for established stars. It would be foolish to sign 30-something stars to block the prospects. I don't want Ray Ray to believe in the off-season. I'm not trying to cheer him up and make him positive. I am answering his regular "I don't see it. They acquired players. Why should that get me excited?" gas-lighting. 

So there you go.  You just proved yourself wrong, and tried to move the goalposts to achieve it.  Good work.

[WestEddy]

3 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

i hope it all works out, but is there a prospect now that was as highly ranked as Moncada and Eloy and Kopech, and Cease and Robert? that didn' work out. Hopefully this one does, but i have my doubts. 

That's fine. Noah Schultz reached #10 on BA, Colson Montgomery #9 on MLB. Bonemer could be top 10 in time. Their 2026 first rounder could probably top out in the top 5. 

I'm not very concerned about rankings, as you named 5 guys who have never won awards and have put up three 5 bWAR campaigns in a combined 33 seasons. 

[WestEddy]

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

So there you go.  You just proved yourself wrong, and tried to move the goalposts to achieve it.  Good work.

This must be a bot account. You keep saying the same 2-3 things no matter the convo. Gas-lighting. Moved the goalposts. 

[WhiteSox2023]

19 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

He plays the same game regularly. You don't seem to have a problem when he misrepresents. 

Sorry, I’m not tracking every post everyone makes, but I was in this thread reading your responses.  And you just did it to me as well.  Cutting off quotes is lame.  Unless it is due to length like a @caulfield12 post that takes up an entire page of a thread.  🤣

Edited 14 hours ago by WhiteSox2023

[southsider2k5]

3 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

This must be a bot account. You keep saying the same 2-3 things no matter the convo. Gas-lighting. Moved the goalposts. 

You literally said he didn't talk baseball, and then put up 4 bullet points about his talking baseball, and then tried to disqualify them because you didn't like his points.  But I am impressed how many of your accusations are confessions here.  

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

39 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Seriously, how TF does Polanco, a guy who just put up a 132 wRC+ and hit 26 HR in Seattle become something to be depressed about? We're not talking about baseball teams, here. We're pretending that Colson Montgomery is a huge, gaping hole in the lineup because he's making the league minimum. 

Murakami is a great signing. Yeah, they have to work with him. That's the case with every single Japanese position player. Until Japanese pitchers start throwing 95+ regularly, that will be the case going forward. Some internet dude proclaiming that he's going to withhold judgement until the guy puts up numbers is meaningless. 

For a team coming off of 100+ losses, this was a great off-season. They signed 2 starting pitchers, signed/traded for 2/3 of an OF, and built up their bullpen. And the off-season's not even over, yet. Turn that frown upside-down. 

The Sox have zero major league caliber starting outfielders right now but you're singing the praises on them acquiring 2/3 of an OF this off-season.

Me and you have very different expectations and views of what a big league starter looks like.

[WhiteSox2023]

4 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Sox have zero major league caliber starting outfielders right now but you're singing the praises on them acquiring 2/3 of an OF this off-season.

Me and you have very different expectations and views of what a big league starter looks like.

I can admit this.  They really don’t.  But I also think the guys that they have should get a shot.  I realize you would probably disagree, and that’s fine.

Edited 14 hours ago by WhiteSox2023

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

21 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

1) The Sox have signed 4 players. Well, that is one descriptor of the off-season. "The White Sox are a baseball team that participated in the off-season" is about as descriptive. Reducing the offseason moves down to robot commands is the actual gas-lighting. 
2) A guy who signed for less than Jorge Polanco. That's a meaningless sentence. Yes, when I go to FanGraphs to evaluate baseball players, the main, high-lighted column on their stats page is their salary. Gas-lighting. 
3) 2 relievers. This is bad, now? They lost, what, 26 leads after the 7th inning last season? Why is it bad to sign relievers?
4) possible SP. If Sean Newcomb pitches his way into the rotation, that's great news. If he doesn't, that adds to a strong bullpen. Again, not sure why this is bad, or how this gets downplayed. More gas-lighting. 

This is a team that is coming off of 102 losses. They're rebuilding. You even argue that it would be foolish to trade prospects for established stars. It would be foolish to sign 30-something stars to block the prospects. I don't want Ray Ray to believe in the off-season. I'm not trying to cheer him up and make him positive. I am answering his regular "I don't see it. They acquired players. Why should that get me excited?" gas-lighting. 

Two relievers will participate in about 130-160 innings of 1500ish pitching innings in a year. Relief pitching is something you spend money on when you are looking to maximize the margins while competing. If you want to churn any position during a rebuild, as you stated in another post, you want to churn a bullpen. 

 

[southsider2k5]

8 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Sox have zero major league caliber starting outfielders right now but you're singing the praises on them acquiring 2/3 of an OF this off-season.

Me and you have very different expectations and views of what a big league starter looks like.

At best you can say we have some potential starters, and we have Benintendi who is pretty much cooked.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

8 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I can admit this.  They really don’t.  But I also think the guys that they have should get a shot.  I realize you would probably disagree, and that’s fine.

I think Acuna probably deserves a shot to start, but just understanding that he's a pretty limited offensive player.

The other guys shouldn't be "given a shot" or handed a starters job anywhere. 

[WhiteSox2023]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

At best you can say we have some potential starters, and we have Benintendi who is pretty much cooked.

A weak-hitting DH butchering LF who will hopefully be at DH more often than not.

[WestEddy]

25 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

You literally said he didn't talk baseball, and then put up 4 bullet points about his talking baseball, and then tried to disqualify them because you didn't like his points.  But I am impressed how many of your accusations are confessions here.  

Shooting down a player as being paid less than Polanco doesn't talk about a player and his attributes. In this case, every prospect and rookie is a non-starter until they're getting real paid. Breaking down actual acquisitions to "obtained 4 players" just to pretend they're not exciting team-building moves is silly.