South Side Hit Men

I said that more as an aside, doubt he would be legally even obligated to return to collect the rest of his salary. The two reasons I could think of if this was a serious proposition is what you mentioned regarding his personal stake in the players who admirably developed and didn't get enough credit for (and also the culture which appears to be much stronger across most players (screw you Keuchel) than Tony's, based on recent reports. The other reason is if Ricky was interested in working again for another team, this willingness to return would likely be highly regarded by prospective teams, being a true professional who went above and beyond even with this organization. Would love to be listening on the phone call if Jerry ordered Hahn to call Ricky to beg for his return, to save Jerry $1-2M.

A good part of this is Tony's mismanagement. He needs to pull starters at the end of an inning (preferably the 5th or 6th) and let relievers start an inning clean with no baserunners, it really makes a difference. They were also a bit cocky reading their press clippings of Jerry's paid for media hacks touting them as the greatest bullpen, when they are mostly inexperienced. The third issue is Tony relying on the bottom of his bullpen for high leverage situations, worried more about Hendriks getting a save than the team getting outs and a team win. White Sox Relievers 60 + MLB game season career totals (max games in parenthesis for those with zero): Two: Hendricks (75 in 2019, 70 in 2017) One: Jace Fry (68 in 2019). Zero: Bummer (58); Marshall (57); Ruiz (40); Foster (32); Heuer (21); Burdi (8); Crochet (5); Kopech (4).

He only needs 21 more wins to do what he primarily came here to do, can get this before the solstice and retire. Jerry's paying Ricky, so they can bring him back to finish the season, nearly all of the players would prefer him anyway. Didn't see Tony beating Ricky's winning percentage this year before the two injuries (35-25 .583), though thought Tony would outperform his own personal White Sox managing winning percentage (.506 entering the season). Rank Name Wins Losses Ties Pct. Pennants/ WS Won 1 Connie Mack 3,731 3,948 76 .486 9/5 2 John McGraw 2,763 1,948 58 .586 10/3 3 Tony La Russa* 2,743 2,377 4 .536 6/3 It's been a sad start, but if it means a fresh modern manager and healthy roster to start 2022, it will be worth it. Thought this was a development year coming in with all of the younger hitters (Madrigal, Robert, Eloy) and pitchers (Kopech, Cease, Crochet) working to play their first full season.

People have been jumping all over the White Sox training staff, but I'd like to share this from The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/2562755/2021/05/03/stark-what-we-learned-in-april-offense-is-at-1968-levels-or-worse-but-must-watch-performances-are-everywhere/

Rick Hahn promised a "Multi Championship window". Who gives a rats ass who wins the 2021 AL Central or wild card if they don't have the horses to advance in the playoffs? The AL Central winner may finish with 75 wins, that's how pathetic the division is this season. Cleveland was the last AL Central team to advance even one stinking round, and that was five years ago. The Sox aren't going far if they qualify unless Eloy and Robert are healthy and full strength in October, and that appears to be a pipedream at this point. Eloy was injured several times in his career, and wasn't on the IL when he managed two at bats the final series and short lived playoffs. He must never wear a fielding glove again, and he can still get hurt as he did jumping up and down after Lucas' no-hitter, or running the bases last September. They could have spent a little more, or spent a lot more wisely, but the Sox are the most dysfunctional team in MLB now that the Wilpons are gone, and you have their pathetic manager straight outta a time machine calling the shots, nearly all consistently wrong. Ethan Katz was the Sox' best acquisition the past four seasons, and La Russa had nothing to do with it. And if you haven't had enough Leury and Lamb before the injury, brace yourself because you're going to get a daily helping of Leury and Lamb, scratching La Russa's Veterans fetish until he passes or steps down, maybe this year, maybe in 2026, whenever he damn well pleases because this is a sorry ass Jerry Reinsdorf production and all of his cronies have a job for life, his or theirs.

And he had to hand Jerry one of his balls to consummate the deal.

Sadly, if this happened three weeks ago, there was a chance the Sox could snooker Jeff Bridich into giving the Sox Charlie Blackmon and paying most of the salary, which Jerry would sign likely sign off. Sadly, he stepped down last week. Can't see Feasel eating the contract, thus beyond Jerry's willingness to spend, by about $35M of his $40-50M deal + options.

It would be problematic both publicly and in the clubhouse to do anything but add at this point. However, if it’s bleak in July (at below .500 and bad prognosis for Robert Eloy returning), they could definitely get a few solid prospects and or one or two Major League ready contributors in 2022. GMs aren’t selling the farm like they did even a few years ago (like the Eaton Quintana deals), but between both pitcher’s solid performance to date and cost friendly contracts, you open up the potential bidding process for either of these two players and would get a much stronger return than say for a high priced but mediocre veteran rental, especially in these penny pinching times.

Have to give Hahn some credit. He has to say this for ticket sales, and to not insinuate panic or desperation with trade talks. Setting up blame on TLR is irrelevant. Rick has no say over Tony, not sure if he can even request he do something has any management authority. They could go 60-102, and Tony stays unless he wants to leave, or is asked by Jerry, which I don’t ever see happening as it would create “another regret” which “must be rectified”.

I’m not certain why there is a discussion of players with eight figure contracts. Hahn stated the team is on the floor, and did nothing when Eloy went down besides sign “LF” Jake Lamb. Jerry isn’t going to eat $15M-$25M contracts, even if Tony says pretty please with sugar on top. He MIGHT authorize a seven figure stop gap acquisition, but would prefer to send good prospects like the Dunning for Lynn deal than add 10-15% more to payroll. There is max 10k attendance currently, and no guarantee any acquisition will lead to the postseason revenue Jerry will want for his “investment”.

Remember a few months ago when posters like us and a few others were questioning the stars and scrubs roster construction and depth issues heading into the year, and being roundly criticized for questioning the wisdom of the “Executive of the Year”? As a Sox fan, I’m sad my second worst fear (career ending injuries to core players being the worst) came to fruition a month into the season. Would like to think this is a chance to develop Vaughn, see if Engel can play regularly, see if Yermin can catch at least 30-40 games a year, stretch Kopech up here and Crotchet in the minors, and come back strong and healthy next year with 3-4 FA bargains, with a few hopefully panning out and complementing the core.

If they sign a free agent or assume a contract, I’m fine with it. If they trade key prospects and/or give away significant international bonus signing money slots, I’m not fine with it. If they are still within playoff striking distance in July, stay the course. If not, I’m fine selling pieces like Lynn Rodon or other short term pieces, as they will likely have limited ability to load up if they are good the next few years.

Tony got aroused reading those names. Add Molina and Wainwright, perhaps intentional walk God Pujols and he may personally write a seven figure check to “get er done”.

Same level of lucidity.

The FO and Manager are not aligned. The manager and team are not aligned. The owner and FO were not aligned. This is what dysfunction looks like.

He brought good karma to the team and clubhouse?

He held a conference call from the airport. You can hear a replay of pwhat was aired later this evening for the 5PM hour of Speigel Parkins. Would also check their flagship who may have the full call.

They need to not rush this, target a fully healthy return next year, assuming the postseason is a consideration in August. Same with Eloy. The next three years is more important to any short term consideration. I don’t see a Karma improvement until La Russa is gone.

I’m taking this as a “teal” assessment of the situation. Well played, sir.

DJ mentioned Luis Robert works daily pre-game with the strength and conditioning coach on elastic resistance training equipment to strengthen his core and range. Ptatc has always been on point with his assessments as usual, but I was also grateful to hear DJ's immediate assessment (same as ptatc's) and input in terms of what players in general and Luis in particular due to work on their strength and flexibility. When I played football in my teens and 20s, I'd show up and play. Once I hit 30 and into my early 40s when I gave it up, my stretching and other pregame measures increased each year and time allocated about 5 minutes more added every year or two. Nearly a decade later, I currently don't stretch pre-walk (target 4.0-4.2 miles per hour over two hours in Summer, usually hit 3.4-3.8 miles/hour in Winter with the added clothing), but imagine I should and hopefully will begin working on stretching and light weight resistance training as well.

I agree with this. If you look through my post history, my criticism of Jerry has been on the dysfunctional management, cronyism, his anti-player sentiment when he was powerful / controlled Selig, and interference in decisions three-four layers removed from his purview (White Sox Manager current and past). The team's budget is reasonable for the revenue they generate, when the team exceeds expectations and variable revenue increases, he has increased player payroll accordingly. My criticism of Hahn is he knows the budget, but has shown throughout his entire tenure a poor ability to spend it wisely on external free agents, and also has a history of poor roster construction. Kenny won in 2005 by spreading thin FA money across several seeds, hitting big with Dye ($3M), Iguchi ($2.3M), AJ ($2.5M), Everett ($4M), and three core veterans to complement the staff Contreras & Garcia ($8M each) and El Duque ($3.5M). This is what I advocated both pre and post rebuild. Hahn hasn't spent wisely for the most part on external free agents during the three stages of his tenure ("competing", spending unnecessarily during tanking, and then his big contracts during the "multiple championship window"). You won't ever find a single post from me advocating for Bauer or any $25M-$40M external FA under the current ownership, because it severely hamstrings your flexibility. Spending 30% of payroll on two guys with limited upside, and performance decline / concerns hitting their mid 30s is not a prudent use of a known budget. It's why the team is left with NRIs filling key depth positions, exacerbated by La Russa's proclivity to overuse veterans and devalue quality rookies.

Has any Chicago media mentioned or discussed Tony's "Ebonics" Joke aimed at a black man as disclosed in the lawsuit filed in April against his animal welfare organization? An organization so tainted both Tony's wife and daughter left not wanting to have anything to do with that mess, a mess Tony continues to defend. https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/24/family-divisions-explosive-allegations-engulf-tony-la-russas-animal-rescue-foundation/

Understood. Abreu's deal is $50M for 3 years, Grandal ($73M) and Keuchel ($75.5M if he vests). They're both decent players, just tied up to too much payroll (30%) on a mid-market team, whereas if they spread the money broader, you're not at major risk for a mid-30s expected production drop off, or an injury. Sox do better signing their internal players they know best, including Abreu, or their extensions to Eloy and Robert, or even going back to Konerko's post WS extension. Also why I want them to not overcommit to veterans beyond the current deals (including Lynn), to allow them to sign Anderson/Lucas/Robert/Eloy for a reasonable (market, not discount, but not $200M-300M deal which the current ownership won't fund). A change in ownership before 2024 could prove a major bonanza in terms of having a solid team throughout the decade.

Not mentioned or inferred in my post.

Have to think if Hahn is going to emerge from the bunker and speak to the media on zoom before the start of the Reds series, he'll want to have his story straight in terms of who the Sox bring up, who is traveling to Cincinnati, Engel's status, and also try to reach some type of agreement or understanding with La Russa, so Hahn doesn't yet again say one thing, and Tony go in a completely different direction.