Balta1701

I uh….what? just got an ESpN phone app alert about…Hitler and Michigan State. So this is both real and …yeah. I’m surprised I needed to say this, but I preferred having the number of ESPN alerts I’ve gotten about Hitler to be 0 and am disappointed that changed.

I really have been wondering lately how popular this team would be if it wasn’t for that scandal. Aside from them “always being good”, is there anything else to hate about them? Hell, in 2017 there was a part where the Rangers refused to play games in a different park in the series right after Harvey hit, people might even be cheering against Texas for that if not for this scandal.

Are you kidding? They had an attendance last year that was right with the rebuild years and I’m certainly hoping it goes lower next year. The last month of the season the number of people actually coming to games was probably in the 100s, the only reason they beat 2019s total attendance was they gave up and did a $1 ticket day. There’s a thread here about their already low ratings dropping by 40%, to one of the lowest in the sport. Anderson has become a tabloid issue for the team. The only benefit is that he occasionally takes the focus off of people being shot in the ballpark when his private life leaks out.

They were so desperate for defense last year that they had to trade a top 75 prospect for Marsh because they needed an OF who could catch the ball. If they didn’t have a top prospect to spare, this doesn’t work.

Stating that you are not interested in a free agent definitely affects the market for a free agent because it makes it fewer teams who might be bidding that we don’t know about. It is absolutely a market distortion, the most famous agent in the sport is legendary for his leverage of unknown mystery teams in the bidding process, that isn’t credible when people like Reinsdorf are allowed to flaunt the rules. Hete is a very similar example from Aaron Judge that if it happened was absolutely tampering, just as Reinsdorf’s was. https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/11/17/aaron-judge-free-agency-mets-yankees-tampering In this context, it is absolutely undercutting his newly hired GM, who should absolutely have the authority to make player personnel decisions himself. With their cleared payroll, Getz could have had an option where he comes in with a plan to offer Ohtani $400 million and aim for 2025 when his elbow is healed and it could be a real strategy. But this owner doesn’t respect his GM enough to allow him to work, and Ng is smart enough to see that- she just quit when an owner tried to pull that crap.

Remember how people were complaining about the lack of playoff drama? I don’t.

Now we know how they beat Indiana. We totes win that game straight up.

This just helps bring Kimbrel into our price range.

Every move you make - make with the idea that you’re looking towards the trade deadline. Pitching is often movable at the deadline, be cautious about bullpen money as middling relievers are getting 3 years now, but you have to add a few. Use the money you have to fill out a roster and then try to add talent at the deadline. Otherwise, keep the payroll under control, add guys on 1 year deals who might be tradeable -Rosario is a good example IMO, I can’t imagine him getting the same money as Anderson’s option, but if the market goes crazy then just settle for an Andrus or a DeJong.

But at least to me, it’s classic white sox safe thinking. There’s a remote chance they could get to 82 wins? Go for it! We got in this mess because we didn’t pinch every penny despite the certainty that we would have a spending problem. The 2019 offseason is my favorite example - trading for a closer, signing Herrera, they added like $50 million and traded away players for a 72 win team. That $10 million that is the difference between Anderson and Andrus or that was spent on Herrera - save that and add it to your offer to Wheeler or to the next version of him. This is not White Sox thinking, thats why I’d like to see it.

I mean. They will probably spend something, they need to convince themselves they have a competitive roster and they have only about $115 million in the payroll right now. The normal white Sox under Hahn would add $20 million for Perez, two $10 million starters, two $10 million righty relievers, a couple of utility guys and a swingman; and have a $170 million payroll or so. A little down from last year, probably enough to put them projected for 72 wins or something like that.

Nick Castellanos has produced 0.2 fWAR in 2 seasons for like $30 million. I agree he would be a perfect fit with the white Sox.

I’ve been thinking that the Anderson call is a great test of whether they will do anything different. If Rick Hahn was the GM, what would he do? I think we can all feel this, he’d declare that he thought they were right there and one player away, make a handful of mid level signings, trade for Perez and pay way too much, and hold onto Anderson. Gotta have him in that competitive 2024 roster and Hahn definitely will say he put that together. Hell, I can imagine him saying his team is one player away and will be right there at the end right now, while he’s unemployed. The odds of this team competing are low, not zero but so low that it’s not worth making moves aimed at being better next year. The odds of Anderson being worth a lot in a trade are very low, he’s not cheap, teams only trade for guys like him if they need an infielder, and he was worthless last year. For him to be worth a lot, you need him to be great, healthy for the first time in years, motivated and out of the tabloids, and you need a competitive team who has plenty to give up but a but middle infield need. Some team taking on $5 million of his deal and giving back a middling prospect is an optimistic view, but that’s precisely how things would go with Hahn. Let Anderson go, he probably won’t get $14 million as a free agent, no reason to overpay. Sign Andrus or maybe Rosario if his pride is low, hard to judge his market. Plan for Montgomery to force the issue at some point in the second half, save the money or use it in pitching, and at least show that you understand that “winning soon” takes more than talk. Make hard choices if they’re the correct ones. Do I expect the White Sox to make hard choices? I will believe it when I see it.

Houston still has to win a game at home. So far this is the 2019 World Series setup, the Nats won that because the Astros had home field advantage.

Was he asked about this or was this something he was clearly motivated to bring up?

I think that's the official trib account saying it although with that site...

Nearly everyone on the FA market should look vastly overpaid when they sign. That's the reality of the FA market. It is very rare where more than 1 team makes a comparable offer to a guy and he gets to choose without either team changing their bid. You want to get better on the FA market, you either need to be targeting literally only 1 or 2 guys, or you need to be ready to overspend. If the Yankees and Mets can't put playoff teams out there with what they spent last offseason, there is a lesson to be learned from that.

The "We need to win soon" and "Here is a CBA violation I am definitely not interested in Ohtani and the White Sox will not be bidding on him" statements in his press conference.

An owner is willing to disrespect their GM by publicly announcing personnel decisions and goals without consulting the GM, is generally a bad thing in every way possible. Chris Getz proved he was ok with this on the day he was hired. Kim Ng just resigned from a job because the owner decided to undercut her.

I’d say that it doesn’t really matter, honestly. The setup is precisely the same in both cases. You would need a massive improvement from guys who are currently here, for most of them beyond what they have done recently or ever, and you need to team that with everyone you bring in outperforming their contract, no real busts allowed. Finally, you need no one to run away with the Central, if there’s a 95 win Twins team and 2 87 win teams in Cleveland and Detroit, even serious improvements don’t make this team competitive. This is the case whether they spend $170 million or $140 million.

"That was the 99th pitch of this game. We are through 2 innings."

Kimbrel? Yup, sounds familiar.

I think the idea today is to use both Heaney as the starter and Dunning as the first reliever out of the pen, hoping to get a long enough outing to give their offense a shot. Dunning has a good amount of bullpen experience this year, more than Heaney, so throwing several innings might be a good idea, and it sets them up to do some lefty-righty maneuvering against Baker's lineup by putting Heaney out there first.