5 minutes ago, joejoesox said:

I had Gemini analyze the Brewers and Sox Front Office Directories listed publicly on MLB.com and break down the differences in philosophy between the two teams:

What the f*** does a senior advisor actually do? Besides just get paid to hang out. Can I be a senior advisor, as a White Sox fan?

In all seriousness, I know that the Assistant GM who runs the R&D department used to work for the Rays front office. I think they are basing themselves off the Rays. It's much better then it used to be.

11 minutes ago, joejoesox said:

I had Gemini analyze the Brewers and Sox Front Office Directories listed publicly on MLB.com and break down the differences in philosophy between the two teams:

The special advisor thing isn't that big of a deal. To me it's more marketing than anything legit.

58 minutes ago, joejoesox said:

Tied for 2nd to last is a big improvement...

32 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Tied for 2nd to last is a big improvement...

Braves are really sticking out cutting back on both scouting AND R&D but still humming along...seemingly.

TB CLE MIL all Top Ten here.

So are the Dodgers.

Edited Wednesday at 02:04 AM2 days by caulfield12

1 hour ago, Colome's Hat said:

What the f*** does a senior advisor actually do? Besides just get paid to hang out. Can I be a senior advisor, as a White Sox fan?

In all seriousness, I know that the Assistant GM who runs the R&D department used to work for the Rays front office. I think they are basing themselves off the Rays. It's much better then it used to be.

Jim Thome.

Randy Gilbert.

Tony LaRussa etc.

The Rays offense hasnt done s%*# in this ALCS, if it wasnt for a Ramirez error they get shut out tonight. They have only scored in 3 innings so far.

I dont think the approach to hitting we have is wrong or bad by any means. We did better against this pitching staff. The 21k game is an exception obviously, but we never have to see that if we had any kind of pitching.

3 hours ago, wegner said:

My guess is you weren't a fan of the Szmarzjia special? Give up 5 or 6 early but still go 6 innings or at least that's how I remember him. And I am sure I misspelled his name but I don't care.

Considering what they gave up for him....that made it even worse.

3 hours ago, Texsox said:

This is one of the very few years in WS baseball that they could just stand pat and improve. @southsider2k5 brought up an excellent point about salaries potentially falling with the upcoming labor deal. Perhaps teams may not be spending like they have in the past. Hopefully, that brings some players into the market the Sox always shop at.

Just wondering. Not being snarky.

What's the fallback plan if (when) the owners position on a salary cap/floor is rejected by the union and after a period of time the owners fracture and their position collapses.

Just asking for a friend! 🙂

What are the Sox prepared to do payroll-wise?

Braden Montgomery in his first 100 PA against LHP… i am ready to move on:

184 AVG, 231 OBP, 263 SLG

Oh no wait, thats Elly de la Cruz’ first 100PA..

.202 AVG, .276 OBP, .298 SLG

Sorry that is actually Jose Ramirez’ splits against LHP in his first full season in 2015

.168 AVG, .211 OBP, .308 SLG

Did it again.. Cal Raleigh vs RHP (his vs LHP splits arent much better)

Braden’s 2026 was actually worse than the above, but im in for seeing how he develops with more experience. Id still want Getz to have a backup plan in place with a solid platoon bat vs LHP for if he doesnt however. Maybe thats Bonemer.

2 hours ago, reiks12 said:

The Rays offense hasnt done s%*# in this ALCS, if it wasnt for a Ramirez error they get shut out tonight. They have only scored in 3 innings so far.

I dont think the approach to hitting we have is wrong or bad by any means. We did better against this pitching staff. The 21k game is an exception obviously, but we never have to see that if we had any kind of pitching.

Or the prior 19 K game?

Wasn’t it better to learn that lesson now…or maybe this was the best chance of all to take down the Dodgers with a compromised Ohtani hitting much worse than Mune?

On 10/12/2026 at 6:14 PM, caulfield12 said:

Charlotte throws off all the numbers.

See Gonzalez, Jacob.

Not about a specific average with Bonemer, but the quality of at bats/contact.

Even 24-27 homers likely to be much more impactful than Braden's 2025.

Defense still a work in progress.

Huh? A season long BA IS the definition of "quality at bats/contact". Not all solid contact goes for a hit and not all soft stuff in an out. A season long BA takes that all into account and evens it out.

It's extremely rare that a player who peaks at .261 in AA ever has sustained MLB success.

He has to improve by quite a bit before any callup.

9 minutes ago, Rounding_Third said:

Huh? A season long BA IS the definition of "quality at bats/contact". Not all solid contact goes for a hit and not all soft stuff in an out. A season long BA takes that all into account and evens it out.

It's extremely rare that a player who peaks at .261 in AA ever has sustained MLB success.

He has to improve by quite a bit before any callup.

He's also impressed enough scouts to get a 25-35 milb Top 100 ranking as a lower round pick.

Nobody thought Peters would come close to his milb numbers either, or they wouldn't have dumped him for a nominal fee.

Without pitching you need to load up the lineup with guys who provide the most opportunities to score runs...Braden with the exception of that two run double wasn't much of a threat at all down the stretch.

Plus the White Sox haven't expressed that much concern about Kolson and MuraKami hitting .197 and .212 or whatever it was.

Finally, Sox always push prospects who light up the AFL.

Edited Wednesday at 11:37 PM1 day by caulfield12

23 hours ago, joejoesox said:

To be honest, the size of the R&D department won't even be the most important thing in the coming years. It's going to be more and more about how well your R&D department can utilize AI to crunch the numbers, find patterns, and come up with new ways to think about the game more efficiently. A lot of teams were trying to use AI to call pitches from the dugout. MLB outlawed that, but you can see where things are heading. Players all have tendencies and it's much harder for people to see the patterns over a course of a guy's entire career than it is for some AI model to do it.

I'm not sure what teams already have, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see teams with models that can suggest pitch sequences based on a pitcher/batter strengths weaknesses and not just is he good against a cutter, but things like, how well does this guy's swing cover a cutter in this location with this kind of pitch shape? With how much raw and accurate data is out there with Statcast, the possibilities really are endless.

Edited yesterday at 12:00 AM1 day by chw42

7 minutes ago, chw42 said:

To be honest, the size of the R&D department won't even be the most important thing in the coming years. It's going to be more and more about how well your R&D department can utilize AI to crunch the numbers, find patterns, and come up with new ways to think about the game more efficiently. A lot of teams were trying to use AI to call pitches from the dugout. MLB outlawed that, but you can see where things are heading. Players all have tendencies and it's much harder for people to see the patterns over a course of a guy's entire career than it is for some AI model to do it.

I'm not sure what teams already have, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see teams with models that can suggest pitch sequences based on a pitcher/batter strengths weaknesses and not just is he good against a cutter, but things like, how well does this guy's swing cover a cutter in this location with this kind of pitch shape? With how much raw and accurate data is out there with Statcast, the possibilities really are endless.

Which is how you end up with a collective .199 BA and all those whiffs in the four divisional series.

One other aspect that the Sox underutilize is the steal. Sos have some fast players. Couple this with more contact and we could make a nice jump.

48 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

One other aspect that the Sox underutilize is the steal. Sos have some fast players. Couple this with more contact and we could make a nice jump.

But not all have the instincts/techniques for basestealing.

(Baldwin will be another next season, along with Peters Vargas Doyle Acuna Antonacci.)

That used to be Grady Sizemore's job.

On 10/14/2026 at 6:32 PM, caulfield12 said:

He's also impressed enough scouts to get a 25-35 milb Top 100 ranking as a lower round pick.

Nobody thought Peters would come close to his milb numbers either, or they wouldn't have dumped him for a nominal fee.

Without pitching you need to load up the lineup with guys who provide the most opportunities to score runs...Braden with the exception of that two run double wasn't much of a threat at all down the stretch.

Plus the White Sox haven't expressed that much concern about Kolson and MuraKami hitting .197 and .212 or whatever it was.

Finally, Sox always push prospects who light up the AFL.

The Sox aren't going to publicly express concern about Colson or Murakami failures in the 2nd half when they each batted around .160 (Mune Aug-Sept). Both had very little to do with the Sox 2nd half success; they were just along for the ride. We all know this, except you, including the White Sox. They'll attempt to improve both in the offseason or will eventually let them go or minors for Colson before the end of the 2027 season. Colson might not even make it out of spring training. Mune will because of his contract even if he's still not hitting.

Hilarious that you single out Braden as a non-threat who hit roughly 50 pts higher than Colson & Mune "down the stretch".

Sub .200 hitters seldom contribute to a championship and are rarely even on a successful postseason team. Hopefully they won't make the same mistake with Bonemer (or others) that they did with Colson and rush him to the majors before he deserves it.

And hopefully both Colson's & Mune's careers have not been ruined and are recoverable.

No, you add good pitching before you retain sub .200 hitters. Unreal that you think the opposite is a better solution that does not "provide the most opportunities to score runs". Too funny!

46 minutes ago, Rounding_Third said:

The Sox aren't going to publicly express concern about Colson or Murakami failures in the 2nd half when they each batted around .160 (Mune Aug-Sept). Both had very little to do with the Sox 2nd half success; they were just along for the ride. We all know this, except you, including the White Sox. They'll attempt to improve both in the offseason or will eventually let them go or minors for Colson before the end of the 2027 season. Colson might not even make it out of spring training. Mune will because of his contract even if he's still not hitting.

Hilarious that you single out Braden as a non-threat who hit roughly 50 pts higher than Colson & Mune "down the stretch".

Sub .200 hitters seldom contribute to a championship and are rarely even on a successful postseason team. Hopefully they won't make the same mistake with Bonemer (or others) that they did with Colson and rush him to the majors before he deserves it.

And hopefully both Colson's & Mune's careers have not been ruined and are recoverable.

No, you add good pitching before you retain sub .200 hitters. Unreal that you think the opposite is a better solution that does not "provide the most opportunities to score runs". Too funny!

Too funny that you think pitching grows on trees, apparently.

Like they can just snap their fingers and magically it will appear.

Colson will still be with the Sox or another major league team in April.

He's definitely not going to Charlotte, and you have no way of knowing how much his back/disc problems contributed to his struggles.

If you're not starting Colson, you're moving Antonacci to the infield and Meidroth to SS, worsening the defense at two positions. And where are you going to going to find an additional 30-35 homers?

The Sox have 1 1/2 starting pitchers for 2027 as it stands...even if two are coming internally, you're going to have to sign one legit middle of the rotation guy and one back end 4/5 insurance policy.

Who and who are they?

If you argue Hagen or Taylor should start, how exactly are you replacing them in the bullpen?

Otherwise, it's Burke Martin Kay and Shoulder Impingement Castillo/an uncertain recovery process.

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Too funny that you think pitching grows on trees, apparently.

Like they can just snap their fingers and magically it will appear.

Colson will still be with the Sox or another major league team in April.

He's definitely not going to Charlotte, and you have no way of knowing how much his back/disc problems contributed to his struggles.

If you're not starting Colson, you're moving Antonacci to the infield and Meidroth to SS, worsening the defense at two positions. And where are you going to going to find an additional 30-35 homers?

The Sox have 1 1/2 starting pitchers for 2027 as it stands...even if two are coming internally, you're going to have to sign one legit middle of the rotation guy and one back end 4/5 insurance policy.

Who and who are they?

If you argue Hagen or Taylor should start, how exactly are you replacing them in the bullpen?

Otherwise, it's Burke Martin Kay and Shoulder Impingement Castillo/an uncertain recovery process.

Who knows if Kolson will ever hit 31 home runs again.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by The Mighty Mite

5 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Who knows if Kolson will ever hit 31 runs again.

depends on his health

he takes one of the most violent swings

see Rendon Crede David Wright

8 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Too funny that you think pitching grows on trees, apparently.

Like they can just snap their fingers and magically it will appear.

Colson will still be with the Sox or another major league team in April.

He's definitely not going to Charlotte, and you have no way of knowing how much his back/disc problems contributed to his struggles.

If you're not starting Colson, you're moving Antonacci to the infield and Meidroth to SS, worsening the defense at two positions. And where are you going to going to find an additional 30-35 homers?

The Sox have 1 1/2 starting pitchers for 2027 as it stands...even if two are coming internally, you're going to have to sign one legit middle of the rotation guy and one back end 4/5 insurance policy.

Who and who are they?

If you argue Hagen or Taylor should start, how exactly are you replacing them in the bullpen?

Otherwise, it's Burke Martin Kay and Shoulder Impingement Castillo/an uncertain recovery process.

There're these 2 really cool things called; Free Agency & The Trade Market, you should check them out. OMG!

If Colston can't learn to hit, particularly to the opposite field, he will NOT be in the majors; traded or not. His RISP & late game performances were also among the worst in baseball along with his strikeouts.

It's amazing how you don't understand that bad hitters don't stay in the majors.

I'm done here.

4 minutes ago, Rounding_Third said:

There're these 2 really cool things called; Free Agency & The Trade Market, you should check them out. OMG!

If Colston can't learn to hit, particularly to the opposite field, he will NOT be in the majors; traded or not. His RISP & late game performances were also among the worst in baseball along with his strikeouts.

It's amazing how you don't understand that bad hitters don't stay in the majors.

I'm done here.

How many eminently affordable 25 or 26 year old above average fielding SS's in mlb history with 30+ homers and Colson's rbi numbers have been sent to the minors or at least not traded to get something else of value in return?

I thought so...crickets.

And how can you be sure his back wasn't compromised...just like Ohtani's knee biceps shoulder the last two months?

Colson Montgomery despite his struggles was still 16th out of 33 SS’s.

Considering his low salary cost, that's still a huge win for a low payroll team.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?stats=bat&lg=all&type=8&season=2026&month=0&season1=2026&ind=0&pos=ss&qual=350&pagenum=2&pageitems=30

2.8 fWAR would cost $21-25 million in the FA market.

Money the Sox aren't able to spend since they need to focus on pitching.

Move Meidroth to SS and Antonacci, you downgrade two important infield positions to potentially improve one of the least important corner spots.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by caulfield12