Greg Hibbard

Moncada is 2-4 with a homer today, batting over 1.000 OPS with a K rate of 26.1% and this thread is about how the rebuild has failed. Okay.

Call me crazy, but I still think Michael Kopech might be a star.

Hottest. NOT best.

Kopech's injury - I'm sorry, but that was just bad luck. He was looking phenomenal. I refuse to blame that on systematic issues - it would have happened at the minors if it didn't happen here. We lost a year of control, but I refuse to blame that on anyone. It just sucks. This rebuild doesn't really totally center around pitching. It's built quite a bit around Moncada and Eloy being elite players. We'll see how that pans out.

Also, we hit a buzzsaw with this homestand with literally the two hottest teams in the American League AND last year's Cy Young winner. We were gonna be 2-4 / 1-5.

I guess my perspective is that I would be much more worried if Moncada was 4-35 with 13 Ks right now and Eloy wasn't hitting, but the team was somehow 6-4.

Plugging Machado in the middle of this lineup, considering Moncada/Eloy/Anderson/Abreu, and subtracting a hole would have meant we might be 4-6 or 5-5 right now instead of 3-7. That feels a lot different to me because 5-5 feels like 85 wins isn't out of reach. 3-7 with this pitching as it is - our lineup as constructed just can't catch up unless we stop having three black holes. Also, are we blaming things like Kopech's injury on Hahn's ability to rebuild? What about Carlos Rodon's loss of command/velocity? Is that also Hahn's fault? What about Giolito's or Lopez's issues in taking the next step? All of these assets were universally lauded as great pieces. There really wasn't anyone who wasn't high on these players.

I just don't understand the point of jumping off of a bridge 10 games into a season. I'm thrilled that Moncada is making progress, Anderson is raking, Eloy is apparently not a bust, Abreu is as solid as ever. That's all I want from the lineup anyway - who cares if placeholders like Palka, Engel, and Yolmer can't hit? I don't. They gone. Yes, our pitching staff largely appears to be a dumpster fire, but I think Rodon had a bad start yesterday and will round into form and we saw some flashes that Giolito is potentially making progress. We also KNEW our pitching staff was largely gonna be a dumpster fire this year.

I'll be there to watch the dual

One of the cool features is apparently you can sit with friends who also have it!

Gonna be at the game today in my Road Grey #22 Josh Fields. Pretty sure I’m the only guy in the park with that jersey.

Anderson green light on 3-0 is kinda surprising

So it’s gonna be a 400 combined pitch day at the ballpark huh

How hard is it to just throw strikes with a 5 run lead

Maybe Palka should legally change his name to Rock Raines at this point?

TWO days off between April 12 and June 2nd (2 days off in 52 days) and then TEN days off between June 3rd and July 11th (not including the All Star game as a day off- 10 days off over 39 days) Anyone else think this is really really weird? Especially as August and Sept are really "normal" Dog Days of May, anyone?

I park exactly there as well. Plenty of parking - especially because nobody's at the games.

$300 for 76 games is a really, really good deal, even if it's random seating.

Your characterization of 2004’s approach is a bit of an oversimplification. It was a great blend, but a lot of people they acquired happened to have career years (Contreras in particular was a generational outlier in terms of his mid 2005-mid 2006 dominance). A lot of things went right at exactly the same time. The problem with this organization is that everything post luckboxing 2005 is results-oriented. It’s like the White Sox had the hottest run of cards in a poker tournament and became convinced they were a really skilled poker player.

Who is this team

About what would Eloy have made in 2018 dollars his first six years assuming .850 ops each season / solid numbers?

Does the Designated Hitter also sicken you, mr. traditionalist?

I don't disagree with your points. However, I truly wonder if the organizational belief is that Fulmer for example can be rebranded as a reliever (I disagree, I think he's done), he might be a candidate for this role, too. The silver lining about missing out on Machado and Harper is that we have 2019 to try some truly wacky things to see where people might thrive, rather than fit them into some pre-ordained mold. If we could find something that works as a 4th-5th starter type of role as a hybrid, it's less pieces we have to get later.

I heard on the Score this morning someone discussing that Tampa (and possibly Oakland) are allegedly again going to attempt some version of the "opener" - IE a pitcher who pitches the first couple of innings or so but doesn't have a traditional starter's role. Usually it's more of a relief type of role. So based on how young this staff is, and based on certain data points from last year (such as Dylan Covey's success the first time through the order in many of his starts), outside of Rodon, is this something the White Sox should also experiment with and maybe be effective with, particularly with the back end of their rotation?

I'm going to contacting Sox Marketing and tell them that I would have bought season tickets had they landed Machado, but with the debacle as presented, and with KW's awful spin on this, I am not planning to attend a single game because I'm so angry with the level of contempt with which KW is treating the fans.