South Side Hit Men

Jose was involved in three separate White Sox trades by three different GMs. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/jose-deleon-mlb-pitcher-from-1983-95-passes-away-at-63.html - Trade from Pittsburgh by Hawk for Rule 5 pick Bobby Bonilla. - Trade to Saint Louis by Himes for Lance “One Dog” Johnson. - Trade back to the Sox by Schueler in 1993 for Bobby Thigpen.

Expansion is several plus minimum years away, despite prior year comments by Manfred they would seek it relatively quickly after they “fixed” the Oakland and Tampa situations (they also “fixed” Milwaukee and Baltimore this off-season). https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2024/02/21/21034/mlb-expansion-not-imminent-may-depend-on-who-coughs-up-biggest-stadium-subsidies/ Per Jeff Passan’s owner sources quoted in the link above:

Have to hope Moustakas sits on .000 in camp to avoid the temptation and first impulse of this organization.

Jerry has been consistent since he bought the team his number is $0 or less (rent free stadium plus unlimited renovations whenever I snap my fingers), whether it’s the White Sox or for any other franchise. https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2004/12/19/798/leggo-my-ego/

It’s not about like or hate. It’s about assessing what the Sox need to do to build the first credible sustained core since Himes did and was shitcanned for his efforts. Dumping future solid prospects for players who at best can possibly contribute a couple wins on current and future 60ish win teams is not smart. I don’t care whether Jerry, Tony, Getz and Pedro continue to lie out of their asses about this not being a rebuild. This is a complete tear down and rebuild. If they want to improve the current team, find, spend some money on legitimate free agents. If not, stop doing stupid s%*# and spend your time efforts on building the future, not being a boarding home for senior league baseball or mortgaging the future for Grindy McGrinder and MLB Senior League tryouts.

Being a White Sox and Expos fan over the decades, I can tell you the cheering for the Nationals never entered the equation and they are among my most hated teams. Too bad this man wasn’t Governor thirty five years ago, or twenty four when the Soldier Field debacle was passed. Jerry should negotiate a short term extension and let an actual legitimate capable new owner, one willing and able to build both a new stadium and successful organization, work out a deal. The city and state can assess the level of infrastructure assistance required and beneficial to the impacted communities, plus the city and state as a whole when a credible ownership group enters the equation.

There is a reason he hasn't accumulated MLB service time. Adam Engel (4.9 fWAR) is his ceiling, and he would need to outperform expectations even if they hand him 1000 PAs. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/adam-engel/15082/stats?position=OF

I am totally fine if he was acquired as a FA signing, waiver claim or a throw in like the five guys received in the Bummer trade. However this is the 2017 White Sox in terms of talent and years away from possibly legitimately competing. They can't afford to piss away any prospect, let alone a SP, for some short term 26 year old prospect they could have easily found a dozen just like him for free on the waiver wire, free agent or NRI route.

The Dominic Fletcher vs. Adam Eaton comparisons are devoid of reality. Adam Eaton had over 900 PA at the same age, wasn’t a 5th OF platoon only guy with 102 PA entering his age 26 season. This trade wouldn’t be defensible if the Sox were actually trying to compete in 2024. It’s absolutely ludicrous in terms of where the Sox are today. It shows a lack of comprehension by Tony and or Getz in terms of what needs to be done over the next few years to try to get to a place they can even sniff .500 baseball.

I see about 20 games where they actually could get over 25K depending on weather. March (1): 28 vs. Detroit May (3): 24-25-26 vs. Baltimore (Memorial Day Weekend + Fireworks Night + Luis Robert Jr. Bobblehead) June (6): 6-9 vs. Boston; 24-26 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers July (2): 12 vs. Pittsburgh (Fireworks) & 26 vs. Seattle (Fireworks) August (7): 9-10 vs, Cubs; 12-14 vs. New York Yankees; vs. Detroit 24 (Football Jersey); vs, New York Mets 30 (Fireworks) September (1): 14 vs. Oakland (Halfway to Saint Patrick's Day)

Mike Moustakas was the fifth best 2023 hitter with regular at bats among those being considered for Opening Day. The more I've seen in February, the less I am confident they will play younger players over all the 30-37 year old guys (DeJong, Maldonado, Mendick, Moustakas, Pillar, Stassi) , with Stassi the only one who makes sense to even be here in 2024. I am no longer considering betting the Sox over 63.5 wins, even though it should be so easily beaten. Grifol and seemingly Tony and Getz will screw both 2024 and beyond up with this ancient veteran obsession. FanGraphs Projected lineup & 2024 OPS 2023 MLB OPS (Plate Appearances) .738 L Andrew Benintendi (29) LF .682 (621) .778 R Andrew Vaughn (25) 1B .743 (615) .810 R Luis Robert Junior (26) CF .857 (595) .734 S Yoan Moncada (28) 3B .730 (357) .812 R Eloy Jimenez (27) DH .758 (489) .671 L Dominic Fletcher (26) RF .791 (102) .658 R Paul DeJong (30) SS .613 (400) .632 L Nicky Lopez (28) 2B .633 (626) .582 R Martin Maldonado (37) C .606 (407) .648 R Max Stassi (32) C .648 (256) .720 L Gavin Sheets (27) 1B/"OF" .598 (344) .669 R Danny Mendick (30) INF/OF .509 (69) .690 R Kevin Pillar (35) OF .664 (206) Additional Reserves / Potential Callups .684 L Colson Montgomery (21) INF N/A .677 R Lenyn Sosa (24) INF .572 (173) .632 L Braden Shewmake (26) INF .000 (4) .615 R Korey Lee (25) C .281 (70) .647 R Jose Rodriguez (22) INF .000 (0) .697 L Oscar Colas (25) OF .571 (263) .667 L Zach DeLoach (25) OF N/A .660 R Peyton Burdick (26) OF .603 (37) .669 L Mike Moustakas (35) 1B/3B .685 (386)

I really haven't watched this thread or generally follow trade rumors, but would there be any interest by the Cubs, Toronto, Seattle or the Giants for Cease and Moncada with the Sox eating a good portion/most/all the (to the Sox a sunk cost) money and picking up a solid package Getz has not been able to get with Cease alone? I understand most of the board is down on Moncada, but he would be an decent upgrade for the teams listed, in addition to Cease. I thought there was a possibility this offseason, which may come to fruition in July, that Jerry would have Getz get what prospects he can pairing dead contract money (Moncada, perhaps Benintendi depending on what Jerry are willing to eat). Hopefully they will continue down the reported path of maximizing prospect return vs. maximizing profit return.

Sneak Preview!

Fan Graphs has the metrics about the same year over year, with Andrew Benintendi somehow getting better as the biggest improvements, and slight upgrades of Lopez over Elvis and Dominic a slightly below average defender over Sheets (and Colas) the other two changes. Maldonado is a downgrade over Grandal, and substantial defensive downgrade vs. Zavala. Hoping Stassi gets the most starts without a call-up. Bottom line, the Sox were 22nd in the league defensively last season, and there is little reason to believe they will substantially improve year over year defensively. If the Sox substantially improve their win record year over year, it will be because of substantial offensive turnarounds (Yoan, Eloy, Vaughn, Benintendi) and solid performances by the SPs brought in since the 2023 trade deadline (Fedde, Soroka, Flexen, Eder, Nastrini, Shuster). 2023 FanGraph Defensive Position Adjustment Metrics vs. 2024 FanGraph Defensive Metric Projections Sox player with most 2023 starts at each position (2023 Games Started & 2024 Projected Games Played): 7.6 Luis Robert Junior (CF 141) vs. 3.6 Luis Robert Junior (CF 149) 4.0 Tim Anderson (SS 117) vs. 4.9 Paul DeJong (SS 76) 3.9 Yasmani Grandal (C 79) vs. 3.3 Martin Maldonado (C 68) 2.1 Elvis Andrus (2B 60) vs. 4.6 Nicky "Three Strikes" Lopez (2B 86) 1.0 Yoan Moncada (3B 87) vs. 2.7 Yoan Moncada (3B 143) -5.7 Gavin Sheets (RF 61) vs. -1.0 Dominic Fletcher (RF 97) -13.5 Andrew Vaughn (1B 143) vs. -11.7 Andrew Vaughn (1B 146) -14.3 Andrew Benintendi (LF 142) vs. -7.5 Andrew Benintendi (LF 138)

I hope Colas gets a fair shake to make the team and start, rather than Getz handing RF to that AAA platoon guy to justify that pathetic trade or Pillar. This should be a clean slate.

I agreed with both of your posts generally over his entire ownership. My point was they need to have a more consistent baseline payroll / team talent so they don't rely on the whims of a fluke World Series, or the couple of mid 1990s years with Jerry trying to kill the union and make a point with the Belle signing over trying to create a sustained championship window with the core Himes built. They've averaged 16th payroll, but more recently Jerry loves tanking, with a single year blip to spite people opposed to his Tony hire. They drew over 2 million in the final season at Comiskey Park, knew from advanced ticket sales he would be drawing a lot of people in 1991, drew just under 3M and still rolled out a dead last payroll (1990), fourth from last in the first year at the new park, and 17th (9th from the bottom) in the league after falling just shy of 5M fans in two years,

Arizona Mound Visit Coach: "If you give up a hit to the White Sox, you will be DFA'd after the game." Result: Zach Remillard grounds into a force out. I don't recall a Spring Training No Hitter. LOL

He bumped payroll in the mid 1990s and post World Series, but not much since beyond a blip Tony 2022 season. Spending isn’t a guarantee to enable attendance increases, but they need to establish a credible baseline spending / team, tabs Jerry hasn’t done that for most of his tenure. TV and ballpark decisions, and public alienation via Jerry and Eddie’s words and deeds have shifted Chicago from a 50/50 split to a 2/3 Cubs 1/3 White Sox split. It will take decades of competent to good new ownership to begin restoration of the prior split, but can be done simply by being good people and respecting and accommodating new and current Sox fans over a sustained period of time. MLB Payroll Rank (11) Top Third 3rd: 1997 4th: 2006 5th: 1995, 1996, 2007, 2008, 2011 7th: 2010, 2022 8th: 1994 9th: 2013 (17) Mid Tier 11th: 2012 12th: 2009, 2023 13th: 1993, 2005 14th: 2001 15th: 2004, 2021 16th: 2016 17th: 1992, 2020 18th: 1998, 2002, 2015, 2024 20th: 2014, 2017 (10) Bottom Third 21st: 1992 22nd: 2003 23rd: 1991 24th: 1999 26th: 1988, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2019 29th: 2018 Notes: Comiskey Park II opened in 1991. There were 26 teams until 1992; 28 until 1997; and 30 since 1998.

Kansas City has been active for what they have been, but here is a scenario where you spend several million to bring back a long time beloved player by fans. Helps with PR, especially when your trying to finagle taxpayers with an enormous bill and an April 2 ballot referendum on whether to approve their tax scheme to pay for it. Wish we had a referendum here, at least they have some level of respect for citizens and taxpayers. They can consider themselves to be a turtle, but that doesn’t mean they are a turtle. Nine teams have spent to field competitive teams. San Diego’s owner died, so they can’t spend. Twenty teams aren’t doing everything within reason to improve their respective clubs. QFT

The AAV was near expected. Never thought he'd get a 12 year deal like the MLB Trade Rumors Projection, but with player opt outs over the next two years, he locks in $80M if he's severely injured, but gets to explore Free Agency when the there should be more teams competing vs. what the remaining four players faced with ST underway. Teams with plenty of resources and no excuse including the "luxury tax" for sitting out on the three remaining primary FAs: The Tanking Twenty MLB rank & Current Payroll 10th Saint Louis $176.6M 11th Los Angeles Angels $173.2M 12th Boston $172.1M 13th San Francisco $167.3M 15th Colorado $145.5M 16th Arizona $142.9M 17th Seattle $139.0M 18th Chicago White Sox $132.2M 19th Washington $129.6M 20th Minnesota $126.1M 21st Kansas City $118.2M 22nd Milwaukee $107.6M 23rd Detroit $103.4M 24th Tampa Bay $98.3M 25th Cleveland $98.0M 26th Baltimore $96.4M 27th Miami $96.2M 28th Cincinnati $89.8M 29th Pittsburgh $83.6M 30th Oakland $60.9M MLB Trade Rumors Top 50 FAs + Honorable Mentions Remaining MLBTR 2024 FA Rank / Position Player Age / MLBTR Projected Contract / 2024 Fangraphs Projected fWAR #2 CF/1B Cody Bellinger 28 ($264M/12) 2.4 Signed by Chicago N. L. for $80M/4Years with Player Opt-Out options over the next two years. #4 SP Blake Snell 31 ($200M/7) 3.3 #6 SP Jordan Montgomery 31 ($150M/6) 3.2 #7 3B Matt Chapman 31 ($150M/6) 2.6 #20 DH J. D. Martinez 36 ($40M/2) 0.5 #30 SP Mike Clevinger 33 ($26M/2) 1.4 #34 SP Michael Lorenzen 32 ($22M/2) 1.2 #38 3B/1B/SS Gio Urshela 32 ($20M/2) 0.9 Signed by Detroit for $1.5M/1Year + up to $0.5M in incentives. #45 1B Brandon Belt 36 ($15M/1) 0.5 #50 SS Tim Anderson 31 ($12M/1) 1.5 Signed by Miami for $5M/1Year. HM CF/LF/RF Adam Duval 35 ($8M/1) 0.2 HM LF/RF Tommy Pham 36 ($8M/1) 1.0 HM RP Ryne Stanek 32 ($-) 0.3 HM CF Michael A. Taylor 33 ($14M/2) 0.9 HM 1B Joey Votto 40 ($-) -0.1 NL SP Domingo German 31 ($-) 1.1 NL SP Zack Greinke 40 ($7M/1) 1.0

Love to see Lee and Quero behind the plate into the 2030s! Sox Win!

Len's Player of the Game Previous to the HR:

DJ and Len all over the two bad choices by Shewmake, between the error and then throwing behind the runner at 3B, trying to make an impression.

DJ says with the correct turn, Colas could have caught, though not a routine play. Nice to see Sosa playing and cutting down the runner at home.

"Sox Fest, Baseball's Best." -1984 Sunshine Boys Ad Campaign "74-88" -1984 Jerry + Tony La Russa led White Sox Final Record