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I seem to be one of the few posters on Soxtalk who is gung ho and positive about the team. I just posted over at the Athletic something that came to me. Why am I so positive when so many Sox fans are so negative? I think it's because while the Sox have been wandering in the wilderness during the rebuild, I just tuned the team and MLB out. I have been a Sox fan since 1970 when I lived in the Chicago area, but I haven't lived in Illinois since 1976, so it's pretty easy for me to do that. Meanwhile, I'm guessing most of the fans who remain highly critical of the team have continued living through those painful years, and feel that team ownership and management owes them something for them having to endure those years. Is there something to that? For me, returning to the team as I did last year, all I see are good things and growth. Here are a few things that I really like (whether or not other Sox fans do). 1. The Sox have 9 players - tied with the Dodgers - on MLB's top 100 Players Right Now list. Only 4 of them are in their 30s, with Abreu 34. Lynn 33, and Grandal and Hendriks 32. 2. Of these 9 players, the young core is going to be here for 3 or more years. See my 3-5 year window article. Lance Lynn is only signed for one year, but could easily be extended. 3. Most of these 9 players are still improving -- Robert, Moncada, Giolito, Jimenez, Anderson. The other 4 should hang in there for another few years. 4. In addition to this top-100 core, the Sox are going to bring up three more young players with great upside - Andrew Vaughn, Michael Kopech, and Zack Collins. Some may think Collins doesn't belong on this list, but I think he just needs enough ML ABs to settle in and prove he'll be a very good offensive backup catcher and part-time lefty DH. Meanwhile, Vaughn and Kopech might join other Sox' players on that top 100 list soon. 5. The Sox also have a HOF manager, who has won far more games during the decades of integrated baseball than any other manager in history. He's won pennants and World Series with teams in both leagues. And he's bilingual. If he takes the Sox to the World Series and wins, he'll be the consensus best manager of all time. 6. I love the Sox new pitching coach Ethan Katz, and what I think he'll be able to do with the young Sox pitchers, especially Dylan Cease. 7. The Sox have one of the best, and perhaps the best, bullpens in baseball. This will help them win a lot of games, and will become of even more importance when the Sox make the playoffs. And that's without counting Garrett Crochet, the 100-mph man, who could be the ultimate bullpen weapon this year before he converts to being starter. 8. The Sox probably have the best offense in the AL. They can bash the ball with anyone. But they can do more than just bash. They have some great speed guys in Robert and Anderson, and some excellent bat control guys like Madrigal and Eaton. 9. The Sox have the reigning AL-MVP in Jose Abreu, who has won the RBI title the last two years. They have perhaps the best closer in baseball in Liam Hendriks. They have the 2019 batting title winner in Tim Anderson. 10. In Tim Anderson, the Sox have one of the best leadoff players in baseball. All he did in the short postseason was get 3 hits in each of his 3 games -- 9 hits overall. He is still getting better. He was the highest ranked Sox player in the Top 100, and he's probably underrated. 11. In Eloy Jimenez, the Sox have a budding superstar with the bat, who will probably take over Abreu's role in the middle of the lineup as Jose eventually ages out. He's also got a winning personality, keeping everyone uplifted and loose. He's smiling all the time. 12. In Lucas Giolito, the Sox have a big-game pitcher who rises to the occasion. He may not win the Cy Young (though he may), but I wouldn't be afraid to start him heads up with any Cy Young or other pitcher in baseball. I would consider us no worse than even in any matchup. 13. In Luis Robert, the Sox have a budding superstar. Who knows how good he'll become over the next few years. But it's going to be fun to watch. 14. The Sox went 14-0 against lefty starters last year. That should terrify opposing managers who will have to try to juggle their pitching staffs to avoid using lefty starters and relievers. The Sox are a young, hungry team who got a taste last year and now are ready to dominate. They have skillful and savvy vets to help lead them, several guys who have been on World Series teams, and a HOF manager who has seen it all and knows how to manage when the pressure is on. I'm really glad the Sox didn't go out and repeat the Encarnacion and Gonzalez mistakes, but instead decided to roll with young players who need to play to get them where they need to be by the postseason. I don't want to watch some dubious veteran with no future on the Sox take ABs away from a younger player who is expected to be part of the team's core for the next 5-6 years. I happen to really like the choices the Sox made in the offseason. I don't know if the Sox are going to win the AL Pennant or World Series, but I believe we're going to win the AL Central by a relatively comfortable margin. There may be ups and downs during the season, but I'm not going to freak out about it. I'm just going to enjoy the Sox this year.

Same team as last year? I couldn’t disagree more. Our DH last year hit .153. Vaughn will hit 100 points higher at a minimum. Our right fielder hit one home run and batted less than .220 if I recall. Eaton will do better than that. Robert being a year older and more experience will help. Moncada not having covid, Lynn as 3rd starter huge improvement. Marshal, Kopeck, Crochet, Bummer and Hendricks looks like a lethal bullpen. I’m not embarrassed to say I’m pumped and this Sox team should be as good as anyone in baseball. This boards negitivity comes from the idiot talk of trading Vaughn, Madrigal and Crochet just for the sake of a trade. Talk about beyond exhausting and irritating and just plain moronic. And oh by the way we had Renteria as a manager. Larussa HUGE improvement there as well. Mic drop

To be fair, this is VAfans 1000th thread saying the same thing. I find it odd that blind optimism over and over again is fine according to you but people on the other side of the spectrum nauseate you. If VAfan isn't a relative of Reinsdorf or Hahn then I'm envious of his only-optimistic view of life. It is a bit tiresome to read over and over again though.

You are talking about probabilities all the time but you tell everyone that your opinion is a certainty pretty much every time. Why do you feel the need to piss on any optimism on this site? The only thing exhausting here is you. The season starts in a month and all you do is suck the life out of people discussing what they are looking forward to.

We do NOT "overall still look like the same team as last year." Here's 10 reasons off the top. 1. Yoan Moncada is over Covid. He went from a 140 OPS+ to a 94 OPS+. Maybe he doesn't get all the way back to 2019. Maybe he's better than 2019. He's going to be a lot better than 2020. 2. Luis Robert, year 2. Sky is the limit for this player. He could be a top 10 player in MLB in 2 years. 3. Lance Lynn. Having a workhorse #3 starter is going to be huge. In 13 starts last year, he gave up 0 ER 2x, 1 ER 4x, 2 ER 3x, more than 3 ER 2x (both to Houston). If you take out his 2 Houston starts, his ERA would have been 1.875. 4. Andrew Vaughn will be better than Edwin Encarnacion. Probably a LOT better. 5. Adam Eaton will be better than Nomar Mazara 6. Liam Hendriks is better than Alex Colome. 7. Aaron Bummer should be healthy 8. Garrett Crochet will contribute in some capacity. 9. Michael Kopech will contribute in some capacity 10. Tony LaRussa is a HOF manager for a reason. Ricky Renteria never will be. As for going beyond winning the AL Central, the playoffs are always a bit of a crapshoot. Just ask the Dodgers how many WS rings they've won in a decade of dominance in the NL. The Sox can compete with any AL team in the playoffs. Our offense is as good or better than any other AL team, including the Yankees. Our starting pitching can compete, and our bullpen might be the best. Adam Eaton may be considered by many naysayers as the weakest link in our lineup, but he hit #2 for the World Series winning Nationals just 2 years ago. Lighten up a bit and enjoy the season. We even have great announcers to help us enjoy the ride!

Knowing this now makes their lack of pursuit of starting pitching depth looks even more stupid.

Sale should always be used as a cautionary tale rather than a comparison. He was almost turned into a permanent reliever when he had arm problems in his first season as a starter, the team even announced they were permanently turning him into their closer when he returned from injury, and he had to have a screaming match with KW and co to be let back into the rotation . Not exactly the way you want to handle things professionally, and teaching Sale that the way to get what he wanted from this team was to have a giant tantrum also probably not great in hindsight. Thank goodness the team listened though.

This right here is why everyone argues with you and thinks you’re an absolute dick...you always lean on “I see no issue with having a civil discussion that doesn’t result in name calling, it’s beneath me..” but in the majority of your posts you call some ignorant or blind if they don’t share your same viewpoint. The high horse game only works if you actually ride the high horse, something you’ve NEVER DONE.

If I had one, I'd live in it.

Saying someone's range is from the worst hitter in baseball to one of the five greatest in the history or the game is ridiculous and nonsensical but you know that. No way to be wrong when you cover all bases though. I know you only defend optimistic posters and love squashing those who show dissent to that optimism though, so this is nothing new for you. Projections are about statistical probabilities, not vafans made up thoughts.

Vera officially signed with White Sox this morning

No I absolutely noticed that last night you took accountability and were contrite, and then this morning you doled out another variation of your "how can you possibly be this dumb to feel positive about this team" so yea you can kind of understand why I decided not to give you credit for it. Also, being excited for the team isn't rainbows and sunshine. It's too bad you don't see that This is you. Frequently. Look at how you talk down

You know what is speculation? Everything you and everyone else here says. The difference is your speculation is always negative. There is a range of potential outcomes for Vaughn this year...EE .627 OPS from last year would be the ridiculously lower bound. Frank Thomas's rookie season...roughly same age, same path, same hitting style (high average, high walks, plus power) OPS of .987 would be the upper bound. I'd be happy to bet you any sum of money that Vaughn's OPS will be better than .627. It is absolute speculation that 30 year old Bauer will be the Cy Young TB of 2020 and not the TB with the 4.5 ERA of 2019. It is absolute speculation that the 31 year old George Springer will be the amazing 2020 GS and not the meh GS of 2018. When you look at young players you SPECULATE on how they will evolve...we saw Robert destroy the minor leagues, we saw him destroy MLB in his first month...and then he was TERRIBLE his last month. If you want to look at that body of work and say...he'll probably continue to be terrible...ok...that's a position to take...no one can refute that. I just think you are the guy that sees pictures of your co-workers new baby and says...she'll probably turn out to be ugly. You might be right, you might be wrong but you are always unlikeable.

PSA: someone else's opinion about how the season will go doesn't have to match yours and as of right now everything is 100 percent speculation. Thanks

I disagree with this. The amount of money they’re allowed to spend is definitely the biggest issue

At least 7 of the points you made are 100% speculation. Not to mention you completely ignored the actual point that was made (AGAIN). I rest my case.

“Meanwhile, I'm guessing most of the fans who remain highly critical of the team have continued living through those painful years, and feel that team ownership and management owes them something for them having to endure those years. Is there something to that? For me, returning to the team as I did last year, all I see are good things and growth. Here are a few things that I really like (whether or not other Sox fans do)...” I can just imagine every loss bring blamed on TLR, just like previously with Renteria...but it’s going to be even more polarized. Because lots of fans who have been dormant for the better part of a decade are going to come back to the fold. Expectations are high...the most interest/excitement in fifteen years now since the 2006 team. That’s half a lifetime for quite a few posters here, or at least covering high school through mid to late 30’s. Many posters have left the bachelor lifestyle behind and now rank the Sox in their list of priorities well behind family, friends, work and Covid concerns. Personally, I tried to find other reasons to follow baseball (see Puig or Tatis)..but still followed most of the games on a daily basis until that mid 2016 collapse up to the Moncada debut and then Kopech in 2018 and in and out through 2019. What doesn’t sit too well with me is judging other Sox fans when you deliberately avoided following them for so long. You can argue or assert you’re not judging or preaching or carrying JR’s water or seeing everything White Sox through rose-colored glasses...but you can’t suddenly reappear and suddenly anoint Mr. Collins as a potential everyday player without having watched his at-bats the last three seasons. That will not be well received, certainly. So this relentless, new thread each day or even multiple threads cajoling everyone into being more optimistic are just going to start a war after every loss. If the White Sox were running a $140-150 million payroll out there for Opening Day, I might be convinced they actually were aiming to win a World Series, or at least advance in the playoffs or even to the ALCS. The Royals went from 20th to 17th to 9th in MLB Opening Day payroll from 2014-2016, but they at least set a new franchise high every year from 2013 through 2017, increasing for five consecutive years. The Cubs went from 19th to 13th all the way up to $184.5 million at the start of the 2016 World Series with the Indians around $95 million. The odds of teams not in the Top 12 payrolls advancing in the playoffs over the last four seasons is basically limited to the Rays and A’s over the White Sox. 90% of the frustration is that unwillingness even in the second year of the competitive window to spend at least in that $140-150 million range....it’s even harder to take when you see the Padres spending $162 million with the best team with the deepest pockets the team in front. It feels like if we were in the NL West we would simply aspire to 3rd place and maybe a wild card, but that would be the extent of it. And that self-satisfaction without having really accomplished anything yet is pretty galling. We had the division and coughed it all away the last two weeks...and the main reason we were there was beating up on the worst teams in baseball, particularly the Royals, Tigers...we only went 10-10 versus the relatively weak NL Central, too. We were 7-13 against Cleve and Minnesota, but 18-2 against Detroit and KC. 17-23 is closer to where we really were against the majority of MLB, but the unbalanced schedule and 16 team playoff field saved us.

Thus far, this thread is the perfect encapsulation of the hyperbole coming from both sides of White Sox fandom. And it’s exactly how we treat politics in this country right now as well. If you’re on the right, you a Qanon loving, racist idiot and if you’re on the left, you must be a socialist loving commie liberal that hates America. Of course 95% of Americans aren’t either, but that’s how the “other side” is defined because of a very small vocal minority. Like most things.....there is nuance to the conversation. Most Sox fans are NOT negative about the upcoming season. But being “positive” about the Sox in 2021 doesn’t mean you should ignore the very real concerns that could haunt this team. I’m very excited for White Sox baseball in 2021. If you aren’t, in my opinion I don’t really understand why you would cheer for a team. They are a young, likable bunch on the come up and should provide us a ton of memorable moments this upcoming season. I was also disappointed with how resources were managed in the off-season. I wish they spent more money, and the money that they did spend should have been used in different areas in my opinion. I don’t like the idea of the season resting on Dylan Cease turning into a solid MLB pitcher. The point is...you can feel both things! So please...stop with the hyperbole on both sides.

We have an all star at every position but RF for the next 5 years. And in some cases, arguably the best player in the league at said position. This is going to be an absolute juggernaut the likes the league has never seen before.

I made its own thread because it has been an ongoing question and he is awesome so why not.

There's a lot fo stuff to criticize but Grandal's number of games caught and Keuchel....with last years performance....really don't make sense. Who gives a shit if he can't hit 90? Grandal was exactly who he was supposed to be and I'd say Dallas far outperformed expectations.

Picking on Greg is not humorous though. It's more bullying than anything. It's like everyone picks on that kid so I will too because he's a character. Then the bully laughs about it.

That’s what happens when there was no attempt at national or Federal coordination for a full year, contracts were simply given to pharmacies and public health departments were left out of the loop...to the previous administration, just coming up with a vaccine itself was the victory that would theoretically allow for a second term. But there was no to no thought given collectively or collaboratively on how to distribute it effectively. It was more like a political prop or tool.

Anderson doesn't work in PR he plays baseball and plays it damn well. He's always got a chip on is shoulder for whatever reason and there was some serious disconnect between Ownership-Hahn-Players about the manager process leading to TA's initial comments about TLR. At the end of the day though, Timmy plays baseball and he wants to win. The Sox team is awesome. Obsessing over TLR is already tired. TA wants to win and be the best that he can. TLR doesn't change that. Great username.

Personally I would start with Kopech in the minors but I am not going to be upset about having his arm in the pen. Our bullpen should be of the very best in the league.

Seems like Timmy has his blinders on and can't see the cons on this team

It’s a puzzle to distribute 1460 innings. Kopech and Crochet can both get 100 innings out of the pen/spot starting and be fresh for October too.

They haven't even gotten in the bullpen long enough to be stuck in the bullpen so let's not worry about that yet

I'm concerned that neither Kopech nor Crochet will ever get out of the bullpen at this point. If that's the case, then why blow your wad on Hendriks? This is just really stupid. Both guys should be in the minors starting.

It’s not tough at all to give an answer where you compliment rather than criticize the people paying your salary. Hell, Rick Hahn is often fine at it. 90% of the time he gives a fine non answer, but 10% of the time he gives a real answer and puts his foot in his mouth. ”if we keep playing like this we’ll be right there at the end (July 2015)”. ”we expect to add middle of the order hitters” (2018 Soxfest) ”The money will be spent” ”I look forward to conducting a number of interviews as it will help me learn about how to make this team better from a variety of perspectives” ”How dare people be mean on Twitter of all places!” Here’s a better one, one that isn’t dripping with entitlement and acknowledges that the fans are demanding but also pay his salary. ”Oh we understand the fans are frustrated, they have a right to be, it’s been a tough few years for this team. But we believe we’ve put an excellent team on the field this year and we look forward to rewarding their patience”. Doesn’t insult or call out his customers, acknowledges their frustration, keeps the response focused on the team and is positive in its reaction rather than negative. If that’s so hard for him, the White Sox employ one of the best public relations teams in baseball and I’m sure they’d be happy to provide him some media training.

I prefer to civilly engage than this crap. I encourage you to. Like I said, I all but retracted my comments about the Yankees comparison. Wish it had been noticed. What have I misrepresented? Most of your responses to me have been insults, so... All your "100%" assertions of me are hyperbole and are false.

Perhaps, but we’re losing a potential additional year of team control with Kopech and are not yet committing to Crochet as a starter. Those guys are both critical to extending the window beyond the three years that we have Giolito for. I worry these moves are being made with the single goal of giving La Russa as many weapons for the 2021 season.

The countdown to real games gets louder every day for me

Yuck.

Then please lodge your complaint with the general manager who is paid 7 figures to run this team and who still has time to whine about how unfair it is that people are being mean to him on Twitter, and even by using his own words!

This roster is better than last year's, there's absolutely no doubt about that. But just because it's a better roster doesn't mean they're going to be better than last year's squad. I think some people tend to forget that last season was only a 60 game season where the team pretty much fell apart at the end. Was that just a bad stretch or did they over achieve for a month and a half? I have no idea. I also don't think you can just say hey Vaughn will be better than EE was while saying Hendricks is better than Colome(which he is), while ignoring the fact that he probably won't be better this year than Colome was as a closer for the Sox last season. Look, I'm extremely excited for this season as well and I respect everyone who just wants to enjoy it for what it is but that doesn't mean I'm just going to forget and be pleased with the shortcomings of management here.

Some things are more likely than others and can be quantified/have higher probabilities. What a concept. Strange position on a forum full of people who love to crunch numbers. Selective thinking, I guess. For instance, a few of those points, such as what he said about Hendriks (that said, Colome was great last year so that needle is not likely to change much this year) and LaRussa being a better manager than Ricky, I'd say are pretty safe bets and I fully grant those. I thought I was too stupid to argue with? You've said that to me about 5 times now. Might wanna pick a street, buddy. I'm a little tired of you insulting me and running away when arguments are presented that you apparently can't counter and then picking the ones you think you can and attempt a serious argument only then (which you eventually run away from anyway). It makes you look silly. Either consistently attempt intelligent posting or consistently make an ass of yourself on purpose. If you have nothing to respond with then maybe just don't respond at all instead of throwing a sucker punch out of bitterness and then running away. Kid stuff. I'm here for sensible and reasonable discussion (notice how consistent I am with responding and taking arguments seriously?), not to play games.

Some of your criticism is fair...we optimists should not be dunking on you pessimists...but it just can be exhausting on Soxtalk where it seems 3/4 of the regular posters are so negative...and yes not 100% negative...it generally starts out as "I'm excited about this team but..." and then we have to hear some tirade about Tony LaRussa being a drunk or JR being cheap. Why is that interesting reading? Giolito had an interview the other day where he said "Bummer has the best pitch in all of baseball". That's so interesting especially compared to the 1000 time we have to read where we are idiots for having traded Tatis. As for the "not spending money" constant concept...I get bored re-writing this but JR HAS had top 5 payrolls in the 2000's, 90's and 80's when the team was good. If the plan is to have a long window part of that is not handing out bad or un-necessary contracts. Dodgers and Yankees can get away with that...but being the second, and somewhat unloved, team in a market is always going to make that hard. If you think spending money is the way to win...the Phillies, Rockies, Angels, Mets, Giants etc would like to say hello. You win by talent evaluation...which I'm pretty pleased at right now (and was very unhappy with for decades before). You sustain winning by sensible budgeting. Right now we are in a great position to be vultures...when the Brewers season crashes...ask them about Yelich. When the Bosox season crashes go after Sale. When the Phillies season crashes go after Harper or Wheeler. Right now the Padres have $100 million committed in 2022 to four guys that are in their 30's. I'm ok watching this play out.

VAfan ...Bravo !!! - for speaking up to all the negative posters on this site. You listed things so well. I couldn't have said it better myself. So many reasons to be thrilled with this team. I am so excited and can not wait for the season to start. In the lock down cancel culture times we are living in some( and I hope many) of us have something so positive to look forward to.Thanks for the great post . Lets enjoy what we have . Go Go Sox !!!

I am going to completely agree with you. I will not get caught up in game threads or hung on pitches , this is the best team I have seen in a long time . Very excited about the young players and pitchers and how they handle things . Very bullish on the season and I will admit as I age I try to enjoy things more than being a bitter whitesox fan calling for the heads of people whether owners or managers or players. I think they did a nice job getting this team aligned and although they have A few gaps I believe if someone significant goes down with a year end they will go for getting someone if they are in it , of course this board will always protect their precious minor leaguers thinking all will come through. I am really going to enjoy and root for success.

Any time I see these kind of announcements my 1st thought is nothing is written in stone. That's how we all should view it. We don't really know if Kopech or Crochet will start the season in the bullpen. The bullpen isn't bad without them. It just doesn't matter what they are saying now. Seems just as likely they start in the minors depending on how they look in the spring.

battle between sox and cards for a new Cuban free agent, where have I seen this before.

The state PD is putting like 12,000 people a day or something absurd like that through McCormick place. It’s insane.

I also have 3 Samsung TVs and they have all been really good for me. I'd definitely recommend the brand to anyone.

Well, after a week of this I unfortunately think we can call this a trend. We got down to under 70k cases a day in the moving average, but this week it turned around and it has gone up every day this week, now up to 77k. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html The drop off over the last month was almost certainly a combination of the vaccine and people not gathering as much after XMas. An increase this week could be one of two things - the Super Bowl leading to gatherings, or the B.1.1.7 variant taking over the trend. Based on the data from January, this is right about when that variant should be reaching 20-40% of the total cases, so if it is growing rapidly then we could actually be seeing its effect in case numbers.

The Cubs are televising 28 games while the Sox only six. Seems like a missed opportunity to create a buzz for our new and exciting team while the Cubs get so much more exposure.

You're the man.

Wait!!!!! How is this possible?? How could the White Sox possibly have this much talent? Having more than any team in the American League? How can this be? If you read most of the comments on this forum . . . . Our owner is a total cheap ass who won't pay for talent. Our GM has no idea what he's doing. No other organization would ever want our GM. He screws up every trade, every one. He can't convince the owner to sign the necessary washed - up pitchers we need for depth. He has no idea how to assess and draft talent. We have no idea how to develop our talent. So there must me some kind of mistake. I know there must be a mistake because pretty much every other post on this forum tells me how worthless our management is.