To quote one of the great businessmen of our era, "Future looks bright" - Patrick Bet-David.

The team is 9-14 and only getting better. Mune is an absolute beast. Our offense seems to be getting better and better. Schultz looked like an absolute stud in his first start. Hagen Smith has been unhittable and will probably get called up soon. Maybe Braden Montgomery as well if he keeps demolishing AA.

The Panicans panicked too soon. This team is starting to put it together and is getting better FAST.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by ron883

9-14 = .391 win% which projects out to 63 wins. Nope, this is pretty much in their lane. But I guess as bad as things have been, the victory lap ceiling gets easier and easier to take.

We'll see how the year plays out. I had confidence that the Sox would improve this year almost as much as they did last year over 2024.

A 19 game improvement over 2024 when the kids started showing up was a promising sign.

The real test is can it keep rising ? I predicted a 17 game win improvement this year. That's ambitious but as I said in Multiple posts I thought there could be a chance that Murakami & Montgomery could be the White Sox modern version of Mantle & Maris.

Also the pitching has to hold up and get boosts from the free agent signings, rookies and guys returning from injuries. So far so good there. It's a roller coaster ride and we're seeing how fun it could be now. But I'm just going to wait and see how it looks when the season ends and let the usual suspects keep being kill-joys .

8 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

We'll see how the year plays out. I had confidence that the Sox would improve this year almost as much as they did last year over 2024.

A 19 game improvement over 2024 when the kids started showing up was a promising sign.

The real test is can it keep rising ? I predicted a 17 game win improvement this year. That's ambitious but as I said in Multiple posts I thought there could be a chance that Murakami & Montgomery could be the White Sox modern version of Mantle & Maris.

Also the pitching has to hold up and get boosts from the free agent signings, rookies and guys returning from injuries. So far so good there. It's a roller coaster ride and we're seeing how fun it could be now. But I'm just going to wait and see how it looks when the season ends and let the usual suspects keep being kill-joys .

Since the opening road trip, the Sox are 8-9, pretty much a .500 ball team.

looking better every game. there are plenty of ups and downs ahead. tell me, do the Sox have control over Murikami after this contract?

9 minutes ago, zisk said:

looking better every game. there are plenty of ups and downs ahead. tell me, do the Sox have control over Murikami after this contract?

They do not. He is supposed to be a full pledged free agent according to details published when he signed this deal.

Really happy to see Schultz doing well. If Schultz has a good rookie campaign and Smith gets called up and has success I'll feel a lot better about "the plan."

It's very early, but to look at their record and say that'll be their winning percentage for the season is short-sighted. Since the 1-5 start, they're playing almost .500 baseball. There will be plenty of ups and downs, winning streaks and losing streaks, and they most likely won't play .500 ball down the stretch. But 70+ wins is looking more likely than another 100 loss season.

The Sox are doing something they haven't done in quite a while - hitting a lot of home runs. They're 6th in the league, powered by Mune and Colson. On the flip side, they're 23rd in runs. And to remember that they've hit three grand slams means they need to score more runs in other ways.

The starting pitching has been surprisingly decent. Adding Schultz was nice, and to see him pitch well is refreshing. Both Kay and Fedde have been serviceable.

The bullpen stinks. On paper, this was one part of the team that didn't look terrible, and they've been...bad. I expect to see a lot of shuffling of deck chairs as the season progresses.

So, no I don't expect this team to contend or even finish at .500. I do think they're better than last year, possibly much better. They are definitely more fun to watch, and they should be more fun as other young guys are added.

12 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They do not. He is supposed to be a full pledged free agent according to details published when he signed this deal.

ChiSoxFanMike and a bunch of the Twitter weird food accounts are all marveling at how they all got a bunch of Japanese follows once the Sox signed Murakami. I would think throwing Pete Alonzo money at Mune to wrap him up for 10 years would pay untold dividends to the Sox. Like, this is him still figuring out American pitching, and he's on a 60 HR pace.

6 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

ChiSoxFanMike and a bunch of the Twitter weird food accounts are all marveling at how they all got a bunch of Japanese follows once the Sox signed Murakami. I would think throwing Pete Alonzo money at Mune to wrap him up for 10 years would pay untold dividends to the Sox. Like, this is him still figuring out American pitching, and he's on a 60 HR pace.

Are you referring to AAV when you say Pete Alonso money (5-years, $155 million)? Because that would be $310 million over 10 years. Murakami is 5 years younger than Alonso so if he continues hitting the way he is, that might not be an outrageous number. However, it would be for Jerry.

28 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

ChiSoxFanMike and a bunch of the Twitter weird food accounts are all marveling at how they all got a bunch of Japanese follows once the Sox signed Murakami. I would think throwing Pete Alonzo money at Mune to wrap him up for 10 years would pay untold dividends to the Sox. Like, this is him still figuring out American pitching, and he's on a 60 HR pace.

The We ShOuLD PaY hIm BiG mOnEy ThAt WiLl ShOw ThEm meme is played out. The defense of the White Sox as the cheapest franchise in baseball is one of helluva flex.

3 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Are you referring to AAV when you say Pete Alonso money (5-years, $155 million)? Because that would be $310 million over 10 years. Murakami is 5 years younger than Alonso so if he continues hitting the way he is, that might not be an outrageous number. However, it would be for Jerry.

I would think Ishbia has a little say in what's going on right now. You can't agree in principle to sell a business, and in the interim, turn the branding into Nazi glorification, or NAMBLA or something. Mune's like Abreu, but from a market with money. 10/310 is probably a hometown discount for the Sox believing in him.

25 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The We ShOuLD PaY hIm BiG mOnEy ThAt WiLl ShOw ThEm meme is played out. The defense of the White Sox as the cheapest franchise in baseball is one of helluva flex.

I can only hope that one day you can conquer these voices in your head that keep saying these things nobody in the physical world is saying.

11 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I can only hope that one day you can conquer these voices in your head that keep saying these things nobody in the physical world is saying.

Sure buddy. You keep on fighting that fight. Look forward to the next THEY WOULD SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A BAZILLION DOLLARS post.

"Hey buddy, your favorite team finally isn't embarrassing themselves anymore for the last few games. I bet you feel really stupid huh" - yeah, you really got me there lol

15 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I would think Ishbia has a little say in what's going on right now. You can't agree in principle to sell a business, and in the interim, turn the branding into Nazi glorification, or NAMBLA or something. Mune's like Abreu, but from a market with money. 10/310 is probably a hometown discount for the Sox believing in him.

Ishbia can’t take over as owner until 2029 at the earliest and potentially as late as 2034. Murakami will become a free agent after the 2027 season.

The press release said, “As part of the agreement, Ishbia will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations.”

I didn’t see any mention of Ishbia making capital contributions beyond 2026 or until he actually owns a controlling interest.

I guess it’s possible Jerry offers a large contract to Murakami with the idea that it will mostly be Ishbia’s to pay off in the near future, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Sure buddy. You keep on fighting that fight. Look forward to the next THEY WOULD SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A BAZILLION DOLLARS post.

I don't look forward to the next I AM ATTACKING YOU FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T SAY post. Maybe do something more productive like fixing the site so I can log on without a VPN?

2 minutes ago, T R U said:

"Hey buddy, your favorite team finally isn't embarrassing themselves anymore for the last few games. I bet you feel really stupid huh" - yeah, you really got me there lol

It definitely beats the alternative, but I long for the day where mediocrity over 17 games isn't worth an end zone dance.

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I don't look forward to the next I AM ATTACKING YOU FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T SAY post. Maybe do something more productive like fixing the site so I can log on without a VPN?

Funny, it was more productive here until you figured out your VPN.

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Funny, it was more productive here until you figured out your VPN.

Productive.

Man I have a wicked case of Deja Vu, I can SWEAR I've seen this thread before.

23 minutes ago, DoUEvenShift said:

Man I have a wicked case of Deja Vu, I can SWEAR I've seen this thread before.

Yeah, remember last year I believe there were two different threads started that almost immediately derailed the momentum the team had almost as if it really did jinx them.

Either way, I still think this teams sucks but I will happily enjoy them playing a stretch of good baseball. We're all fans of the team, totally weird flex but whatever.

5 minutes ago, T R U said:

Yeah, remember last year I believe there were two different threads started that almost immediately derailed the momentum the team had almost as if it really did jinx them.

Either way, I still think this teams sucks but I will happily enjoy them playing a stretch of good baseball. We're all fans of the team, totally weird flex but whatever.

I always find the "My reaction to this sports team is the exact perfect reaction that everybody else should adopt" flex to be weird.

32 minutes ago, T R U said:

Yeah, remember last year I believe there were two different threads started that almost immediately derailed the momentum the team had almost as if it really did jinx them.

Either way, I still think this teams sucks but I will happily enjoy them playing a stretch of good baseball. We're all fans of the team, totally weird flex but whatever.

Fun watching some actual big leaguers! Obviously this team still sucks, but it's fun to see Colson, Mune and the Ant Man do some work. Schultz was always going to be a stud, never a concern there.

I still find it fascinating that even when things are going well, they're still making bone headed decisions like constantly playing Colson at a position that isn't short stop despite him being an elite defensive SS.

Feel better about my 68 win prediction than I did a couple weeks ago where it looked like maybe that would be a pipe dream.

Our positive group hiding and covering their eyes and, apparently, keyboards during tough times and then coming out of the woodwork after a couple wins is kind of sad!

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by Look at Ray Ray Run