4 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Robert has been put on the IL already (big surprise)

Glass Joe was more durable

30 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

I will play Devil's Advocate, if it is meaningless why is Venable making the moves?

Because it's just one of those things baseball teams have always done. I ask again, how often does a defensive upgrade in the OF actually impact the game? Can you think of a single instance where the team would have lost instead of winning if not for the replacement? Because I cant.

9 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Because it's just one of those things baseball teams have always done. I ask again, how often does a defensive upgrade in the OF actually impact the game? Can you think of a single instance where the team would have lost instead of winning if not for the replacement? Because I cant.

Didn't Hill literally win us a game this year as a defensive replacement? He hit a pinch hit go ahead homer and made 2 big plays in the 9th in RF to get us the win against the Royals.

https://soxmachine.com/2026/05/white-sox-6-royals-5-a-hill-to-die-for

This ended up being one of Venable's best managerial moves all year.

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by chw42

17 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

But even you didn’t think the Sox would have this record or be in contention for first place, so you are full of s%*# for what you are trying to call everyone else out for.

He's just dancing around a simple question with more word salad bull crap. It's not worth arguing with him. We didn't think the sox would be this good this year so we're upset . Yada yada bs.

33 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Because it's just one of those things baseball teams have always done.

I agree

It didn't change the winner but "The Catch" was a pretty cool result of a defensive sub.

1 hour ago, Falstaff said:

It's actually LF that gets the defensive upgrade. Venable has been taking Sam out for defense in LF and moving Peters over to LF and Doyle to CF.

Doesn't Doyle have a much better arm than Peters, also?

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Doesn't Doyle have a much better arm than Peters, also?

Doyle has one of the best arms in the game. The problem is that I don't think he's got more range than Peters in CF.

46 minutes ago, white sox 80 said:

He's just dancing around a simple question with more word salad bull crap. It's not worth arguing with him. We didn't think the sox would be this good this year so we're upset . Yada yada bs.

No, I have no need to declare a trade "bad" this early, Getz s%*# the bed, etc. I've explained my reasoning. The FO said what they were going to do, then they did just that. If you're mad they didn't change their minds and do something else, I'm not sure how that makes my reasoning become word salad crap.

I refuse to buy into the narrative of "this guy had a bad outing. Bad trade".

1 minute ago, WestEddy said:

No, I have no need to declare a trade "bad" this early, Getz s%*# the bed, etc. I've explained my reasoning. The FO said what they were going to do, then they did just that. If you're mad they didn't change their minds and do something else, I'm not sure how that makes my reasoning become word salad crap.

I refuse to buy into the narrative of "this guy had a bad outing. Bad trade".

I would bet that no matter what happens you won't admit it's a bad trade.

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

No, I have no need to declare a trade "bad" this early, Getz s%*# the bed, etc. I've explained my reasoning. The FO said what they were going to do, then they did just that. If you're mad they didn't change their minds and do something else, I'm not sure how that makes my reasoning become word salad crap.

I refuse to buy into the narrative of "this guy had a bad outing. Bad trade".

We know. It doesn't fit your narrative.

3 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

No, I have no need to declare a trade "bad" this early, Getz s%*# the bed, etc. I've explained my reasoning. The FO said what they were going to do, then they did just that. If you're mad they didn't change their minds and do something else, I'm not sure how that makes my reasoning become word salad crap.

I refuse to buy into the narrative of "this guy had a bad outing. Bad trade".

The FO said that they were going to trade for a project starting pitcher and a project CF that may not actually help them in a playoff hunt this season, but it’s okay because they said that’s what they were going to do? Huh?

Also, Castillo has had 5 bad outings out of 6. It isn’t just one bad outing. And he’s running out of outings for this season and playoff hunt.

Edited 20 hours ago20 hr by WhiteSox2023

54 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

I agree

I think a defensive sub changes the field. Does Tristan Peters make a catch, then we all run over to statcast to see if Antonacci would have made that catch? No. But I think when you weigh positioning, ground coverage, experience, fundamentals, maybe Peters is able to pick up a ball in the corner and hold a guy to a double that Ant-Man would kick around and give up the base. Maybe Vargas scoops a throw a bit cleaner than Mune does. But those small additions allow other players to cover their own positions better if they're not cheating over to cover Ant-Man. Vargas at 1B maybe allows a quicker bounce throw with the confidence Vargas will trap it.

19 minutes ago, white sox 80 said:

I would bet that no matter what happens you won't admit it's a bad trade.

I've already said I thought all 4 deadline trades seemed like overpays, and I was underwhelmed with whom we got back. That said, I understand the premise of the Castillo and Doyle trades. Castillo hasn't been good. If it turns out he's injured, we should have seen the injury before executing the trade, and he's hampered by that injury, then yeah, maybe it was hasty. I understand people being mad he's not shoving. I don't think they expected him to walk on the mound, throw more change-ups, and deal 7 scoreless each time out.

Pretty much none of the 2024 moves Getz made worked. That doesn't make something like Fletcher for Mena a bad trade, we either just didn't have the infrastructure to bring him along and support him, or it was a huge misread by Barfield. I'd bet on the former. Fletcher just hit .300 in 64 games at AAA.

35 minutes ago, chw42 said:

Doyle has one of the best arms in the game. The problem is that I don't think he's got more range than Peters in CF.

I don't have a problem saying a defensive whiz can be a help, but I hope we didn't give up Mason Adams for a defensive replacement. That would be the very definition of losing a trade.

26 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

The FO said that they were going to trade for a project starting pitcher and a project CF that may not actually help them in a playoff hunt this season, but it’s okay because they said that’s what they were going to do? Huh?

Also, Castillo has had 5 bad outings out of 6. It isn’t just one bad outing. And he’s running out of outings for this season and playoff hunt.

Oh, well. Then maybe they bump Hagen Smith up to 4 innings, and they have a playoff starter. I'm thinking Imma gonna trust the guy who took a team everyone here assured me would lose 90 games, and most probably another 100 - and has them on the precipice of the playoffs.

32 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

We know. It doesn't fit your narrative.

No, your narrative doesn't fit my narrative. I'm sorry SoxTalk told you that upon becoming a moderator, everyone would fall in line and think what you want them to think.

7 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

No, your narrative doesn't fit my narrative. I'm sorry SoxTalk told you that upon becoming a moderator, everyone would fall in line and think what you want them to think.

Yes, which is why I spent the last day telling everyone who disagreed with me they were wrong in this thread. No wait, that was you.

23 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Oh, well. Then maybe they bump Hagen Smith up to 4 innings, and they have a playoff starter. I'm thinking Imma gonna trust the guy who took a team everyone here assured me would lose 90 games, and most probably another 100 - and has them on the precipice of the playoffs.

That's not even true.

Majority were at 66-72 win predictions, hardly "most probably 100 losses again"

Did you predict Mune signing/impact, Davis Martin shoving the first two months and the Vargas breakout as well?

Those are/were the 3 biggest seasons for the hot start.

Generally, there was more/morning optimism due to how well Colson and Teel played in the second half.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by caulfield12

2 hours ago, chw42 said:

Didn't Hill literally win us a game this year as a defensive replacement? He hit a pinch hit go ahead homer and made 2 big plays in the 9th in RF to get us the win against the Royals.

https://soxmachine.com/2026/05/white-sox-6-royals-5-a-hill-to-die-for

This ended up being one of Venable's best managerial moves all year.

Ok. So, it happened once and wasn't just his defense. He also wasn't a defensive replacement. He was brought in as a pinch hitter. I find this distinction pretty important. I don't think defensive replacements ever really win you a game.

2 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Ok. So, it happened once and wasn't just his defense. He also wasn't a defensive replacement. He was brought in as a pinch hitter. I find this distinction pretty important. I don't think defensive replacements ever really win you a game.

2006 Brian Anderson vs. Mackowiak

2008

27 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

That's not even true.

Majority were at 66-72 win predictions, hardly "most probably 100 losses again"

Did you predict Mune signing/impact, Davis Martin shoving the first two months and the Vargas breakout as well?

Those are/were the 3 biggest seasons for the hot start.

Generally, there was more/morning optimism due to how well Colson and Teel played in the second half.

Prediction thread. Half of respondents had the Sox with at least 92 losses. 8 with 100.

Official 2026 win prediction thread. - Page 4 - Pale Hose Talk - Soxtalk.com

me:

While Shane Smith could be looking at an adjustment year, I think Davis Martin is primed to settle in and become the guy he's going to be this season.

They're going to start out slow. April's schedule is kind of brutal. I'm going to go with James Fegan's 77 wins.

Looking through and being slightly pessimistic, I'd say 13-18 coming out of April. [they finished April 14-17]

you:

Voted for just below the median at 64-65-66.

@southsider2k5 Did you lock the prediction thread for a reason? Can you reopen to bump it?

3 hours ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Because it's just one of those things baseball teams have always done. I ask again, how often does a defensive upgrade in the OF actually impact the game? Can you think of a single instance where the team would have lost instead of winning if not for the replacement? Because I cant.

You bring up a good point. I wonder what the winning percentage increase would be for replacing Antonacci with Doyle? It has to be minute. You also need to factor in that the other team may come back, and then you have Doyle's bum ass batting instead of Antonacci.

12 minutes ago, ron883 said:

You bring up a good point. I wonder what the winning percentage increase would be for replacing Antonacci with Doyle? It has to be minute. You also need to factor in that the other team may come back, and then you have Doyle's bum ass batting instead of Antonacci.

Sometimes the minute matters. Ask Rangers fans about Nelson Cruz

29 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Prediction thread. Half of respondents had the Sox with at least 92 losses. 8 with 100.

Official 2026 win prediction thread. - Page 4 - Pale Hose Talk - Soxtalk.com

me:

you:

@southsider2k5 Did you lock the prediction thread for a reason? Can you reopen to bump it?

Still not the majority predicting 100 or more losses lol.

8%?

Where's your original prediction?

It was around 72-74...then you changed it to 75 or 76-78 when James Fegan predicted 78.

Nobody in Sox blogosphere/Twitterverse was higher than that unless it was later revised upwards.