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True, they are a well-run franchise.

He did not. Another L

Someone you don’t want your kids to ask for in school

Good god, “Con O For” is the most embarrassing hater nickname I have seen in my entire life. Truly fucking pathetic.

He's huge, that's all I know

Robert looked like the best player on the planet last year year and Eloy was amazing during 2020 (SSS). Your pessimism knows no bounds.

It's not just him. Robert only played 2 months and people forget his September 2020 and Eloy has zero plate discipline though the power is huge. Neither player has played 2 full seasons worth of baseball yet and both have looked terrible at times. Assuming both are what they've been at their best is premature.

A 98 wRC+ against RHP isn’t solving our needs.

Oh come on man

Good players cost money. The money will keep rising for good players.

I'm guessing our off of 4/75 didn't move the needle.

Yes I do think something something is imminent.

I will slice and dice for you. First the guy has had a HOF career. At the time of the trade this season he had pitched 36.2 innings. He gave up 13 hits and struck out 64, and had an ERA of 0.49. While I would say that is a pace that would be almost impossible to maintain, he certainly was the most dominant reliever in the game. To expect that to suddenly become a below average set up man is giving yourself or whomever way too much credit. But on message boards bei g wrong is easily forgotten or answered with a glad I was wrong, not the mess Hahn has. I loved trading for Kimbrel. I just hated Madrigal was included because I think he is pretty good. Same career OPS+ as Semien. And his low salary was beneficial to the rest of the roster. Replacing him will cost the White Sox big money they did not have to spend.

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Why do the Sox have to continue to trade assets (they're running out of ones of value) to supplement the core? Why do we continue to pretend that it's exciting that the Sox insist on trading assets to fill holes instead of just spending money as they promised?

Kenny WIlliams: We were caught off guard. Had no idea any of these guys would sign before the deadline. Didn't expect it. We had all their presentations set up for after the New Year - decorated the United Center, the whole nine yards. We had the biggest offers on the table, we just didn't slide them across yet. It hurts.

Your guy Harold told us the Sox were going to be in on Scherzer and spend like a big market team. Kind of running out of options to do any of those things. Sox going to end up with Danny Duff, Jonathan Villar, and Eddie Rosario.

Feeling very trade deadline-y. Let’s get Conforto, Ray, and trade Kimbrel for Segura.

That Gausman deal is super fucking reasonable.

Moving of what goal posts? I’ve always said I felt that Conforto has been the priority. And lol at “inconsistent” Conforto. You realize Semien has been an above league average hitter two years right? When has Michael not been good except for 2021? Like now you’re just making shit up to be angry about.

You know what bothers me. We keep getting all kinds of arguments who has the potential to be great,among Robert, Eloy, Moncada and now Vaughn and every year Abreu and Anderson turns out to be our best hitters. A couple of those dudes have to step up and stop getting injured. No one would be freaking out over missing out on a few players to make the team better if those guys start playing like we think think should. People last year didn't want to trade Vaughn, Kopech and Crochet. We are waiting on an awful lot of potential. I know they haven't been around long and are still young but someone please step up.

Pretty hilarious that people thought the Sox were suddenly going to spend money this off-season. THIS ONE was going to be different.

It's unclear why JR would make truly transformative investments in the team when he can take the money to his grave instead.

Good for Avi. Had bet on himself the last couple of years and looks like it’s going to pay off this time

No one was ever thinking that would get it done since his supposed publicly known asking price was 200M. but… Welcome to Soxtalk!

Wtf? This guy has been in the MVP conversation the past few years he was never getting the white sox special deal

For those who wished for board freak outs, well merry Christmas, happy Chanukah

7 Years is insane for Marcus. This has nothing to do with shopping at the dollar tree for FA. I wonder what happens with Story now?

Not all hero's wear capes

Ah yes, this insider is also plugged in with the Angels as well. What a well connected guy.

We are due for a Cishek tweet after that Harold post.

Just canceled family Christmas decorating with the kids and told them to go to their rooms for the night. Al geared up and ready for take duty.

You didn’t have to “know it was coming” to judge the deal, even when it happened. It was a bad deal because relievers are wildly inconsistent over half seasons, and the difference between elite ones and merely good ones over half season is very small. It was a bad deal because they traded a core piece of their team for a luxury player that was only ever going to be marginally better than more affordable alternatives, and had a high likelihood to bust all along. It wasn’t about Craig Kimbrel specifically. You can’t expect anyone to predict the future, but you should expect them to know how to play the odds.

I would be absolutely floored that the Sox would rather spend 100+ million on Conforto than Semien. Regardless, the can will continue to be kicked down the road with this team. We heard they were in on top SP's and top IF's like Semein but what they'll likely walk away with is a middle of the road FA and some high risk SP. They can never just outbid someone for a top talent. Always some excuse.

Shared with a couple on here that last night I got a text that a big name was pretty much signed (not with the Sox) and that a lot of pieces would fall into place today. Seems like solid info. Same person says Kimbrel deal close, FWIW.

What exactly have you been expecting?

Hahn is sleeping at the fucking wheel. This is ridiculous!

He was going to get paid, but his cost just wasn’t something I wanted the Sox to pay with their needs. Not upset about the lack of pursuit myself.

Huge ballpark also

Also, yes goes without saying McNeil (and many of Mets position players) is a fantastic fit for Sox. LH, great contact, good at GB%, 130 wRC+ career vs Righties. And a positive defensive player at 2B. Please Mets, pay Baez 180 million ?

You’re right that elite relievers are worth more at the deadline. But my point is that ALL relievers are. Already having an elite closer, the Sox were not in a position to extract the maximum value from Kimbrel as a top of the line closer, but we’re willing nonetheless to pay an incredibly steep price to buy one and absorb all the risk with it, instead of paying a much lower price for a good middle or setup man, who was nearly just as likely to produce a similar value or bust. Was it possible that Kimbrel would have settled into the setup role well, and performed peak Kimbrel feats in huge moments in the playoffs, making all the difference? Yes. But it was very nearly just as likely that someone like, idk Kendall Graveman would perform just as well in the same situations. The aggressiveness of the move wasn’t the problem — if Hendriks had been lost for the season, for example, the Sox could have made the same trade and it would have made sense even if Kimbrel ended up sucking just as much. Because the Sox would have been in a much likelier position to benefit from the difference between Kimbrel and the next best thing. But in the situation they were in, they made a massive gamble to acquire an asset in which there were simply many more scenarios where it either busted, or it wasn’t going to make a meaningful difference compared to other available, and quite frankly more appropriate options that cost less. It was a desperate move in a situation that did not require a desperate move. Anyway I don’t know if the point I’m making is the one you’re arguing with Balta against, and if so I apologize for derailing (I know how frustrating that is), but it does sound to me like he is arguing more about the logic than about Kimbrel himself.

Hopping into an Adam Frazier thread only to see more “I knew the Kimbrel trade would backfire” posts

Sounds like someone is gonna need to get used to you blogging for at least a bit.

among other teams = White Sox ?

The Sox have "won" the off-season twice in like the last 10 years and it's gotten them shit. Just like the Padres.

Was a shit trade from the beginning, now trade his ass to get the taste of shit from all our mouths before baby Jesus day!