GreenSox

Amen!

That may be, but you still need high quality prospects to trade or a front office that can scout and has trade negotiation skills. The Brewers may not have a great system, but they leveraged a spent Lucroy plus some so-so prospects into Christian Yelich. They got Hader and Domingo Santana for a broken down Carlos Gomez and the replaceable Fiers. The Soria trade was likely more of the Sox scouting (or lack thereof). Sox are lacking in scouting/development (both in effort/energy and in skill) and in trade negotiation. And the premium may be on trading the prospects; but you still have to hoard the elite prospects. And that involves knowing which are really elite and which just have the rep but aren't elite.

That makes sense for Renteria, but it seems to me that you need more from your instructional coaches than babysitter.

As per above, I think it would be different if there was a sense of urgency in the org. But when they let the same people who screwed up from 2013-2016 conduct the rebuild, don't make any management/coaching changes for 2 years in a row, they aren't exactly sending the message that fixing this on a timely basis is the top priority. They have to earn the trust.

I can't disagree with the analysis of the hitting above, but what about the pitching coach? How have Giolito, Lopez and Rodon progressed? Only Lopez really made progress (in contrast, only Moncada is really a top prospect on the hitting side). The bullpen isn't much better, with Fry having a nice year and that's about it. Overall, guys like Leury, Davidson, Palka, Yolmer could make the back end of a contender's 25 person roster. Who on the pitching side can say that beyond Lopez, Rodon (who is a 4/5 instead of the 1/2) and Fry? Yes, the win/loss total isn't really important in a vacuum, but the lack of development is; and the lack of development contributed to the win/loss total. Renteria needs to be replaced once the team is ready to win, but he's not really at the top of the list. And firing him would give the impression that the FO was displeased with the season, and that is a message that they do not want to send. Because it implies accountability and a timetable, and they seem to act above all that. Similarly, replacing the hitting coach and/or pitching coach will send the message that the FO isn't pleased. In the long run, that hurts the franchise...serial losing is bad enough on attendance and interest, but the people in charge acting like they aren't bothered by it and have an indefinite timeframe with no accountability is corrosive and exacerbates the problems.

Yes, if the price is some Rule 5 guy, then yes, by all means.....but the Sox rarely seem to pay that price even when it's the market. And no Shields under any circumstances.

Is this a recent diagnosis? Anyway, it's very treatable, unless the treatment is banned. Thought his D at 2b was pretty good. Liked the way he turned 2. I guess this means they'll go after Harper.

What the White Sox need is a high OBP, high power, low strikeout hitter. Doink hitters rarely have high OBP year over year. The Sox need him to be Altuve.

Sonny Gray was never that great to begin with. He was very good his first 2 years . He never improved, but he had the rep as if he had and was an ace. He never was. And while Yankee Stadium may be a bandbox, Oakland Almeda assuredly isn't. Plus he's a rent.

Exactly - it never happens. It's like the "we acquired him in early July to flip him in late July" scenarios. That 2nd flip does not happen.

Of course, but when do teams just give productive players in their prime away like that?

That would be silly, but far less silly than Cutch and a bevy of others.

Yep I said that a month ago - it would be just a classic William/Hahn move. Their kind of player. Their kind of move. All of this, of course, would be ridiculous. What would it do - steam the team to 68 wins? Maybe 71? This team isn't going anywhere until they develop a core of young players who produce. When that happens, then sign a few FAs to supplement.

Good point. Although I wish there were just a little more raw talent in that group. Re Rondon, if that's CF, I'm interested.

Avi's not worth $8 mill; but they aren't spending much money anyway, and he's a better flip potential than some stiff marginal FA they could sign. And it's a one year deal, which is an advantage in these situations. Abreu is questionable at $16 Million, but the same thing applies as per Avi. Farquhar - if they just want to be nice considering the circumstances. Otherwise, no.

They still aren't drafting and won't draft ceiling relievers, particularly college relievers, in round 1. I will also point out that the Sox have traded 4 really good relievers in the last 2 years (the 3 traded in 2017 were having exceptional seasons) and got basically Rutherford for them. Now part of that isn't the value of the relieves but FO skill (or lack therefor).

That would be a justification, but they drafted him for the 2016 bullpen - they were still under the foggy spell that they were in the race. The same delusion that brought Shields aboard. Drafting ceiling relievers in Round 1 is inane.

If Abreu w/glove is the ceiling, then the most likely outcome is less than that. Plus, for whatever reason, we used our first 2 picks on 1B/DH in 2017. Unfortunately, neither looks particularly imposing.

Not a particularly high ceiling for a #3 pick.

It's hard to say which of the pitching coach or the hitting coach had more to work with, but the results of Cooper's crew were as equally as dismal as Steverson's: Pitching OBP 28th OPS 24th K 23rd WHIP 28th ERA 26th Hitting OBP 26th OPS 23rd K 30th See little reason to single out Steverson.

That was no screw-up; that was shrewd thinking and planning. Who should they have picked - Rodon, the obvious? The one they screwed up was passing on Bryant. They've made several screw ups...but far more brilliant moves.

I believe it. They get all geeked up about some system and follow it. Very little nuance from this bunch. Rebuilding involves a lot of art as well.

Benetti's fine; Stone is fine. Farmer, on the other hand...

Using the Lip list: Keep Bummer, Covey, Fulmer (yes, I know), Ruiz, Castillo, A Garcia, L Garcia Dump Farquhar, Gomez, LaMarre, Tilson, Shields, Scahill, Minaya The rest can go either way, but do not protect if it leaves a decent youngster unprotected. Hope you feel better, Lip.

Forgot he was on the roster. How did Lip miss him?