LVSoxFan

Sorry, while Renteria is better than RV (and that's setting the bar pretty low), all we've done is hire the next captain of the Titanic. As long as KW is running the show, enjoy your 2016 White Sox... in 2017. 'Cause that's what we're going to get.

You can arrange the deck chairs all you want but nothing changes as long as KW is president, and unfortunately, probably while JR is owner. He can talk about winning NOW all he wants, but the people tasked with assembling that winner have been to the playoffs exactly once in the last 11 years, where they were dispatched easily in the first round. The people whom their #1 player clearly doesn't respect, and who've made bad decision after bad decision, this year's winner being Shields. Boy that was worth it. Sadly, I think like the Bears with the McCaskeys, you can expect indefinite mediocrity as long as JR himself owns the team.

I don't see JR selling the Sox while he's still alive--he's obviously making money, hence the decade of fail. Just like the Bears, when nothing changes and you wonder why the operation defies all common sense, it's because somebody's making money off the status quo. I read somewhere this summer that JR gets a big tax break if the Sox don't hit a certain attendance number, so that explains why there's no urgency with regard to our pathetic attendance numbers. The Bears sell out regardless so it's no wonder the McCaskeys have offered up fail after fail for years--they have no financial incentive to win and obviously it's not important to them. Clearly the Ricketts weren't fooling around, as they spent the cash and made the moves to turn around the Cubs and turn around they did. Rocky Wirtz also did the same thing. And now you have the two most promising franchises in the city, one with three Stanley Cups and the other set up to be contenders for years. Here we have nothing but failed experiment after failed experiment to go with all the horrible trades/acquisitions that were supposed to be game-changers, skippered by a previously no-experience manager and a president who, as the years stretch into more than a decade, seems more and more like he just got lucky in 2005. What worries me is that the more we suck and the more attendance continues to fall, the only way somebody could be enticed into buying this team is if they got to take them somewhere else.

QUOTE (Sleepy Harold @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 09:06 PM) Bravo! This hits the nail on the head. I couldn't express my feelings towards the current situation the White Sox are in any better than this. Yup, that summed it all up perfectly.

I knew something was up when Sale lit in to KW on-air after the LaRoche fiasco. I've never seen a player go after a team president like that while still playing for him. That's when I knew something was quite wrong. A great April of course makes everything disappear--until it stopped being great. Sale even took a shot at Ventura recently (after the jersey thing)--what that shows me is that the elite players (all two or three of them) know that they're surrounded by incompetence and it's harder and harder to tolerate it anymore. I feel for Sale--he's spending his glory years on a team that has absolutely no chance to do anything. I'd be mad too. As for nothing happening at the trade deadline, not a shock. A blowup would mean management admitting failure--something they have never done. There was no big splash to be made to make us instant contenders, so they basically just sat there and made some meaningless trade. Pathetic. If this team goes away because of this mismanagement, I will always blame JR--I don't care if we won in 2005.

The way Sale reacted to the LaRoche thing back in April showed the fuse had been lit between Sale and management. I think some are missing that the uniform incident could have been anything, it just happened to be THE thing; i.e., a symptom not the cause. It was clear back then that he hated KW at least.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: nothing improves as long as KW is president. I firmly believe KW gambled--and won--in 2005 (and we thank him for that) but then became convinced he's on a par with Theo Epstein. 11 years and one losing playoff appearance later, here we are. More like Juan Epstein. But yes, KW is there because of JR so things may never change as long as JR is owner. Someone here once said that JR's M.O. is that he won't pay big bucks for management or unproven talent. While the latter might make sense, how's the former workin' out for ya, Jer? I mean FFS after Ozzie the big splash was "Hey, Robin: here, put on this hat, you're a manager now!" I'm sure Robin didn't cost much. We need to do what--gasp--the Cubs did and the Blackhawks did. Start from the top down. That said, might as well load up on prospects now with a fire sale--until you think: do we trust these guys to even do that right?

Is anybody really that surprised? After that free-fall in June it was pretty clear we have some fundamental, critical problems with this team and after a sleight rebound--just when you think maybe they'll really, really turn it around--they reverted to form. Losing form. It's a 100% lose/lose situation because while I'm 100% behind the whole BIAU (blow it all up) idea, with current management I don't trust them and they'd probably just end up selling off the few good players we have for a crappy return. I see no end in sight as long as JR continues to own the team and continues to employ KW. Hahn I don't know enough about or if he even has any autonomy. The fish rots from the head down, as the saying goes, so as tempting as it is to do a BIAU, I would almost hold off on that until we have management in place who has demonstrated some competence. I feel bad for Sales though. How much it must suck to be such an elite player yet stuck on a go-nowhere team.

On a related note, could those All-Star jerseys BE ANY UGLIER? Christ on a cracker, those are awful. I can't remember the last time we had a decent All-Star jersey. Oh wait: I have one. 2004.

Yikes and here we go--a three-game winning streak that will now put a halt to any urgency for change. Soon the announcement will come that we're "all in" for 2016. Sigh.

I really, really don't think RV is getting fired. That would mean doing something KW is loathe to do: admit failure. If I had to guess, KW's spin would be something like: while this last month has been bad news, the first month was amazing so, taken as a whole, there's no need to panic. Then some variation of "stay the course, they've got to work it out, keep grinding," etc., etc. Which goes back to my theory: after 2005 KW decided he was a genius and a master team-builder. I can't see him eating crow and firing RV. I could see him throwing Hahn under the bus, though.

While that's correct, if it were just a matter of good players living up to their ability, we wouldn't need managers/coaches. I think you realize how important management is when you hit a bump like we did in Texas, from which we never recovered--apparently. I'm totally on board with the need for players to produce but our management issues are so deep-rooted and in such decomposition at this point that I can't even begin to address the players on the field. Somebody mentioned the last time we made the playoffs being 2008. While technically correct, we basically stumbled into that appearance (after the admittedly awesome Blackout Game) and then got smoked first round, predictably.

QUOTE (Coach @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 06:01 AM) My son and I are going to the Sox game this Saturday. There is no way I am paying $40.00 per ticket. I can go on stubhub and get $7.00 and move to where we want. That's how bad the Sox are. No one comes. Why should they? We've declared that for the rest of the season we're going to find the best seats possible and sit different places every time... for the cheapest price possible. I'm not going to pay any significant price to watch this anymore, but I do still enjoy the live game experience, even if we suck. This weekend, we're enjoying first row UD down the 3B line for $10 each. Can't wait to see what $10-or-less seats we'll have for the next one. That's about all it's worth now--and even that might be high.

I appreciate the thought put into how we sell off/trade the players to get something better on the field but with respect, nothing changes as long as this is our management, from KW down. They created this debacle, year after year. Sadly I think nothing changes as long as JR is the owner because he either doesn't care or is delusional. I don't know what could effect a top-down change. Season ticket-holder revolt? Because clearly awful attendance has not motivated JR. Thoughts?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 18, 2016 -> 06:14 PM) Except for Sale, Q and Anderson, yeah, pretty much. Eaton gets a pass, too. Probably Tyler Saladino. Yup.