WestEddy

I thought it was pretty well established when Chris Getz came to the Sox front office that "assistant director of player development" was as close to entry level as one can be. Maybe Barfield was big on this guy, and saw him as someone to mold in his own image.

If Rick Hahn was made GM, took a garbage, gutted organization, and made the playoffs 2 of his first 3 years, yes, I would be impressed with that GM. He didn't do that. I think most expectations of nadir to contention timelines are 5 years. I believe Kim Ng is at least an average GM. She has a great resume, and yes, that is an accomplishment. I don't care that 40% of the teams make the playoffs. Making the playoffs and being out after 2 games is better than not making the playoffs. And doing it with the Marlins is impressive. It's not my job to make anybody admit that.

No, you moved the goalposts. She took a s%*# team and made the playoffs, with a final push of two acquired bats at the deadline. But somehow, now making the postseason bores you. She took over garbage, and turned it into a wild card in 3 years. Again, tell us who would have done better. Assuming, of course, that somebody is revamping the amateur and professional scouting departments, development, all of that, which again, I'm guessing all can be turned around in 3 years or less. Please tell us how that's done, and who in baseball could do it. I can't wait until girls are inspired by Kim Ng to post drivel on chatboards.

I thought the story behind that trade was that we needed a proven, veteran arm that the pitching coach could straighten out, it was still June, and most teams weren't sure what they were doing, yet. San Diego, with their sucky albatross, was an obvious mark. However, Tatis had just been signed, and Hahn had claimed he barely knew what they had.

So tell me, who is the baseball person you think walks into the White Sox job, and immediately turns this into a 100 win team 2 of the next 3 years that also wins (at least) the AL pennant twice by 2026? If you think anybody could have walked into Miami and did what Kim Ng did, you must think the White Sox can blow away the AL next year with the perfect configuration of moves. The Marlins were that kind of suck when she took over the job. And their owner isn't some Mark Cuban or Ray Davis, free-spending owner. He's a cheap-ass micromanager. I'm really curious.

While Mike Shirley's drafts seem to have produced players who are showing promise in their development, I can't imagine that Nick Hostetler missed on so many players. It seems to me that development took a leap forward in the last few years, with guys like Terrell Tatum (#16 - 2021), and Turner/Elko/Burke (#9, 10, 11 in 2022) making their year's drafts actually look deep. I really try not to get too deep into the "why did Hahn and KW get fired" discussions, but I wonder if complaints had been filtering up for years about the toxic environment that undermined any serious stab at moving the organization forward in scouting, acquisition and development.

Counterpoint: Getz had no experience working a trade deadline.

That's actually what I was thinking. Cover 2B & SS with Lenyn, Romy and Zach Remillard. Rotate Tim Anderson through, also. It's a rebuild year. Get the #11 pick and call it a season.

Nick Hostetler didn't have many deep drafts, in retrospect. The 2019 draft was one that looked like they had a plan, held off money to sign toolsy HS kids taken in the later rounds. I remember that draft being lauded by the pundits. Thompson and Dalquist, two HS pitchers, taken 2 and 3, haven't really developed. Neither has owned a level. Logan Glass, Chase Krogman, and Bryce Bush (2018) were all seen as nice, late round finds. None have developed. DJ Gladney (#16) and Chase Solesky (#21) seem to be the only bright spots, only for exceeding the low expectations of their slot. Both are rule 5 eligible this off-season. I hoped Getz would do a good well in his previous job. The 2022 draft class looks very successful, but that seems like an outlier, so far. Perhaps it took this long for his modifications to minor league development to bear fruit. It could be all of his good ideas were put on the back burner. They certainly churned through pitching coordinators and all. Maybe Vizquel and Helms were foisted upon him, and company man that he is, took the pie for those decisions. My only hope is that KW was the problem, the egotistical bro-dude who sacked Rick Hahn's 'genius', and now with a relatively fresh set of eyes (or at least not fogged over with resignation), and no multiple layers of hindrance from above, Getz could at least get out of the backfield. That's all I have, at this point. It's not like I can fire him.

I go back and forth on the option. There's probably a half dozen Elvis Andruses out there who could be had on a $4 million deal, or 2/$7, and would OPS .100 points higher than TA7. I doubt Tim Anderson's a -2.0 bWAR going forward. He put up 4.7 bWAR just 2 years ago. If he's even an average major leaguer next year, that has a lot of value. They're either going to tear it down, or pretend to compete. If they're pretending (which is all they've talked about), then they pick up the option on TA. If they're rebuilding, I don't know why they'd even hang onto Cease or Eloy.

I guess Kim Ng is one of those. Many people complained about Jake Burger's defense, injury history, low OBP - all until he was traded, and he suddenly became a sure fire HOFer. If a player has talent, there's a lot of teams who believe they can put him on a program, and work with it. We watched prospects who raked at AAA come up and OPS .550 over two months. A guy who has proven he can hit major league pitching is a commodity. He may not get an Adam Eaton package, but teams will want him.

I seriously don't see how Pedro Grifol makes it to Monday morning, oct 2 as Sox manager. This team has so quit on him.

This doesn't look like a good trade: Question: The White Sox have traded Dylan Cease to the Mariners. What possible package will the White Sox receive in return? Please give names. Answer: The White Sox could receive a package from the Mariners that includes outfielder Kyle Lewis, infielder Shed Long, and pitcher Taylor Guilbeau.

Or we take on the contract, and they give a prospect to shed the contract.

Okay, this just made me laugh out loud. Of course it's "predictable". Because it's the most obvious refutation of your argument. You're calling people "fascist" for not liking Mike Clevenger, and not wanting him on their favorite team based on descriptions of his behavior given under oath. I'm going to stop here, because it's not my job to make you admit you're wrong. "Believe women" is still a thing. Just because the emotional abuse didn't rise to the level of an MLB ban, or even imprisonment doesn't mean that everybody detailing it under oath was lying.

And OJ was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, right? "Due process" doesn't mean if a dozen parents said their kids were molested at a day care, you are still obligated to drop your kids off there because they were never found guilty in court. I find it really weird and abhorrent when a dude digs in on this and chides others for not openly liking Mike Clevenger because of "due process". From testimony given under oath, I think the guy's a rage-addicted scumbag who uses his money to continually harass his victims, even when they're no longer partners.

You're using language that betrays a lack of compassion for the victim. You are demonstrably wrong to say there's a lack of evidence. There was a lot of evidence. Emotional and mental abuse are actual things. MLB may decide they're not "there" yet on suspending a star over emotional abuse and grabbing her arm in an aggressive manner. That's their own business. Clevenger was also suing the victim for custody of their child, when he has no way to raise that child. The victim has described the situation he establishes with a new girl friend raising the child of his previous girlfriend, as she had done with the child of Clevenger's partner before her. To mock abuse by saying that Clevenger should sue WSCR for airing claims that were given in testimony under oath is bizarre. Our " incredibly huge problem when it comes to victim blaming" is only exacerbated by bro-dudes pretending that "there's no evidence" when an abused woman has provided loads of evidence.

No, you shouldn't have. Testimony under oath is evidence.

Wait, what?!? I'm always amazed at how dudes dismiss a woman's word as insignificant or lies, even when given under oath. He was "cleared" in that his abuse and harassment didn't meet MLB's threshold for suspension. The intro song shows immaturity. Colas stalking her social media is weird, but considering the allegations, could certainly scare a person under legal siege from a multi-millionaire. The claims of abuse were made under oath, and there's nothing to them that make them sound made up. A normal human being should have a problem with Clevenger's alleged actions, regardless of his ERA. I can't fathom how you see a person's disgust with that abuse and harassment to be "bizarre". Too many guys are way too comfortable with how hard it is for a woman to be taken seriously about abuse.

Aren't Robert, Abreu and Alexi the only Cubans who really panned out for this scouting troupe? Maybe Marco Paddy should pull up stakes and we should stop worrying about being top bidder for the next Cuban "phenom".

The most productive first rounder that year was Nico Hoerner, #24 pick.

The Sox could very well get a top 6 pick next year, which would preclude them from being in the lottery for 2025, so they might as well try to compete in that pathetic division. They're returning most of the same team, so unless Yoan, Timmy, AV and Oscar Colas have magic years, they'll be selling next July, again. Or they do play up to their abilities, and they make the post-season. I think Hahn needed a talking point to validate his position on Eloy, Cease, and Kopech. Nightengale also said there wasn't an offer on Cease that made sense to take.

Victor Torres already has stats on Baseball-Reference.com

Yeah, but what if they sign, then decide they don't want to play baseball anymore?!?!? What about that?!?!?

Rodondo Beach Union High School graduated its class of 2019 this afternoon between 3-4:30. I'm disappointed Hahn wasn't on stage to hand him a pen. Of course, I don't know that he didn't.