caulfield12

The Dodgers’ biggest bullpen dilemmas start in the ninth inning. The team could continue to share that responsibility, or it could look to Michael Kopech, who thrived after arriving from the White Sox at the trade deadline. Alternatively, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes could provide stability by adding an experienced closer. https://sports.yahoo.com/los-angeles-dodgers-2024-offseason-preview-will-shohei-ohtani-and-co-be-even-better-in-2025-035328294.html Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Walker Buehler are free agents.

Just shocked he was even willing to pay Pedro Grifol $1 million per season, let along guarantee three years.

So no correlation whatsoever with the Dodgers and Yankees having roughly half their bullpens comprised of former Sox pitchers, while the actual real-life White Sox, suffering from SEVERE VOLATILITY APPARENTLY and not just poor personnel choices, went through the worst collective bullpen year in over a century of professional baseball...just random chance, bad luck, all landing unfairly on the head of payroll-cutter extraordinaire Chris Getz. Okay, sure. And when we had highly-paid bullpen guys like Kelly and Graveman, they couldn't even stand being in the same room with each other (well, at least Liam Hendriks and his wife)...failing to allow even cancer to get in the way of righteous indignation. But I guess we just picked the wrong bullpen guys as well to invest JR's FA $$$ in...

Kahnle goes down as one of the primary causes of the loss, along with Cole. Treinen and Buehler the heroes. No Freeman homer but he probably wins MVP...or Betts.

Referring more to 2022-24...but we also have to consider the Astros just didn't lose during that stretch of eight consecutive until the ALCS or World Series.

Needed to score 2 runs there...best LAD reliever Treinen inserted early.

Source? That's shocking for JR...unless it was Francona or Bochy.

5 runs on just four hits...all unearned. Flaherty continues to lower his FA payout by the game.

Let's say by some minor miracle we struggled through the last three seasons around .500. Back to "mired in mediocrity." And then we wouldn't be in a position to have the 1-1 draft pick in 2026. Maybe not the embarrassing crash landing/bottoming out that generated national headlines, but still not sure the franchise's future actually looks THAT MUCH rosier. Attendance still would have been 22nd through 26th as a .500ish team. They still likely would have had similarly abysmal t.v. ratings as well. You're talking marginal differences in ratings points, like maybe 0.1 or 0.2 but well under 1.0.

It's just kind of ironic when you look at 2 of the biggest budget teams in baseball and half their bullpens are comprised of ex-Sox pitchers. And the White Sox had inarguably one of the worst pens in the entire 120 year history of baseball. What exactly are the odds of THAT? And that's not including the likes of Tommy Kahnle, Ian Hamilton and Daniel Hudson.

Seems like an entire bullpen right there, maybe not 25-26 relievers...only around 10. Aaron Bummer Atl dubious 5/1 trade of guys Atlanta needed off their payroll Tim Hill Yankees/released Jake Cousins NYY cash considerations J.Chavez Atl released in spring training M.Kopech LAD now one of best high leverage relievers in baseball Tanner Banks Phillies Brent Honeywell LAD released Declan Cronin Marlins waived, ends up with Houston, becomes solid contributor in Miami Bailey Horn to Boston for cash...not to mention Rome Gonzalez would have led the White Sox in OPS Brebbia released, to Braves, SSS

TV revenues down will be excuse...

The closest we had to dumping players when they actually became "good" was Burger and a whole slew of relievers turned over...that magically improved upon leaving the organization. (Then you have the unique circumstances with Crochet's career...much like Rodon's 2021 season. Or Gio's union representation. Or Lopez and Kopech not being much more than clay with "potential" upon leaving. Lots and lots of excuses why we won't ever pay pitching...) But you're pretty much doomed if you avoid all bigger pitching contracts out of fear... and can't time the newest pitching core and a hitting core coming together simultaneously. One major injury and the whole thing goes up in smoke.

Someone should ask JR if he regrets taking Ohtani off the FA board still... (He would probably argue that the Sox still wouldn't be profitable at their current location even on Shohei's original deal with the Angels...)

Venable chose to attend Princeton University, not for its academics, but for its tradition of basketball excellence. He respected their tradition of qualifying to participate in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Tournament.[12] During his time at the university, he was a part of two teams that qualified for postseason play: 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and 2002 National Invitation Tournament).[12] Princeton recruited him as a basketball player. He did not play baseball as a freshman, but his father had directed him to Scott Bradley (former Mariners/big league catcher), Princeton's baseball coach, during his recruiting visit.[13] Venable, who was a member of the class of 2005 at Princeton University, was the second athlete in Ivy League history (after his Padres teammate Chris Young) to be first-team All-Ivy in both basketball and baseball and he played on Ivy League Champion National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship tournament participants in both sports.[12] He played in two NCAA Championship tournaments in both sports and earned a B.A. in anthropology.[12] In basketball, he averaged over 10 points and over 30 minutes per game in his 2002–03 sophomore season through his 2004–05 senior season.[14] Bradley had left the door open for Venable to come take batting practice if he ever had the urge. As a sophomore, at the suggestion of his mother, Venable resumed baseball. He posted modest numbers in his first season, but in 2004, he hit for a .344 batting average, earned All-Ivy honorable mention,[12] and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 15th round of the draft (439th overall).[15] Bradley felt that Major League Baseball scouts undervalued Venable because he did not participate in the Cape Cod League for college baseball players. Thus, instead of signing and giving up his amateur status, Venable returned for his senior season and posted a league leading 9 home runs and runner-up .385 batting average while earning All-League honors.[13][16] Subsequently, the Padres drafted him in the seventh round (215th overall); he was signed by the Padres' Northeast Scouting Director, Jim Bretz.[13][15] He finished among the top 10 in the National League in triples four times and in stolen bases twice. He has the most MLB career hits and home runs of any Princeton alumnus. His brother Winston Venable briefly played in the NFL. "Wow, Getz actually followed through on hiring an external candidate that was in uniform this past season, and a pretty good candidate at that. I thought they would go full Reinsdorf lazy and hire Sizemore for the manager spot. This way they can retain Sizemore in other coaching roles and further his development alongside a more experienced staff that Venable hopefully brings from outside the organization. I just hope Reinsdorf stays out of this and all baseball ops decisions. He has already meddled his team to the very bottom of the league." Josh Nelson Admin Reply to IndySox 3 hours ago Sources: Jerry Reinsdorf was part of the interview process, but not deeply. Few questions he had for interviewees, and offered them to ask him questions about the org. www.soxmachine.com

Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz and Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable HAD emerged as finalists for the Marlins managerial job, sources told The Miami Herald. Both candidates are flying into South Florida this week for in-person interviews with Marlins president/baseball operations and owner Bruce Sherman. Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article294672179.html#storylink=cpy Venable, who impressed the Marlins in his Zoom interview, has been the Rangers’ associate manager the past two seasons. Venable, 41, was the Cubs’ first base coach in 2018 and 2019 and then served as their third base coach in 2020. After that 2020 season, he left to become the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox. On May 29, 2021, Venable managed his first MLB game, filling in for Alex Cora in a 3-1 win against the Marlins. Boston went 1-5 when Venable filled in as Red Sox manager in April 2022, when Cora was sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19. Venable hit .249, with 81 homers and 307 RBI in a nine-year career, spending the first 7 1/2 of those seasons with the Padres. He also played for the Rangers and Dodgers. In 2005, the Padres selected Venable in the seventh round out of Princeton, where he became the second person ever named All Ivy League first team in both baseball and basketball. He made his major league debut in 2008. Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article294672179.html#storylink=cpy Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article294672179.html#storylink=cpy

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/42083747/chicago-white-sox-hiring-venable-manager Like the fact that he's been around baseball/clubhouses for pretty much his entire life, due to his father Max, who had a 12 year big league career as well. Venable knows the Chicago baseball scene, having been part of the interview process for the last White Sox managerial opening when Pedro Grifol ultimately was hired prior to the 2023 campaign. He also served as a special assistant to Cubs president Theo Epstein, as well as the first-base coach for the North Siders during the 2018 and ’19 seasons and as their third-base coach in 2020. Venable worked as the Red Sox bench coach during the 2021 and ’22 seasons, before joining the Rangers as the associate manager to Bruce Bochy for the past two years. Texas won the World Series title in ’23 with Venable in that role. He replaces Grady Sizemore, who finished 13-32 as the team’s interim manager during the ’24 season after taking over for Grifol on Aug. 8. Grifol posted an 89-190 record over one-plus seasons at the helm, including a 28-89 record in 2024. ... The White Sox are coming off a ’24 campaign where they set the single-season Modern Era record (since 1901) of 121 losses and are amid a longer-term rebuild. Getz spoke of wanting someone with a similar vision to co-pilot this growth process toward success, with Venable getting the nod. https://www.mlb.com/news/will-venable-white-sox-manager

Honeywell officially jinxed...haha. 11-4 Yankees, we'll get Halloween Eve baseball now.

Keep forgetting Brent Honeywell was briefly White Sox property... +11 ERA with the White Sox 4.05 w/ the Padres in the same season 2.70 ERA w/ the Pirates this season, 2.62 with the Dodgers, including 1 SAVE in 2 opportunities, and a 1.11 WHIP. Tampa Bay ended up taking Honeywell in the second round in 2014 and he was on the taxi squad for the World Series in 2020. This postseason has been a different story because if it wasn't for his performance in Game 5 of the NLCS, the Dodgers might not have won Game 6. https://dodgersnation.com/brent-honeywell-brings-style-swagger-and-unfiltered-honesty-to-dodgers-world-series-run/2024/10/29/ https://pittsburghbaseballnow.com/brent-honeywell-jr-world-series-dfa-pittsburgh-pirates/

Thought this was interesting...well, fwiw. Comcast, by the way, has roughly 1.5 million households in the Chicago area. Keep in mind, this was coming off the 2023 season, one would expect numbers to be down overall based on two years of missing the post-season for the Cubs. Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney said that the Marquee Sports Network DTC option “beat their planned number of subscriptions by 20%” since it launched in July 2023, according to Meghan Montemurro of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Kenney said, “We saw growing subscriptions each month, and that’s the interesting thing with DTC as opposed to cable. Typically cable subscribers are not turning their cable service on and off monthly based on their programming choices. This is very easy to do (with DTC).” Kenney also was pleased that the DTC product encountered "almost no technical glitches." Montemurro noted the Cubs plan to include March spring training game coverage “at no extra charge for fans who sign up for Marquee’s regular-season DTC option.” Kenney also discussed other business plans and milestones: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/01/17/chicago-cubs-marquee-sports-network-direct-to-consumer-games By comparison, the team averaged a 4.5 rating on NBC Sports Chicago during its championship season in 2016. This year, Cubs games on Marquee fell another 25% during a second consecutive losing season, averaging a 1.57 rating.Oct 31, 2022 https://www.soxon35th.com/white-sox-see-largest-television-ratings-drop-in-mlb/ Did they even release these White Sox broadcasting numbers yet for 2024? Last year's 41% drop in the ratings "led" the majors...one would have to believe this year might have been pretty flat based on all the attention the last two months on finishing with the worst record in MLB history.

Is this the new Robert/s?

Never would have believed Tim Hill would be doubling up Freddie Freeman in the second most important bat in the WS back in April... Or not.

Aiken and Kolek? Delmon Young? Brien Taylor? Josh Hamilton until he got straightened out...

Obviously signing Lugo and Wacha and turning Aroldis Chapman into one of the ten best starters in the AL in Ragans...although he's already had multiple TJ surgeries, less overall wear and tear because of all the missed time and second surgery was a revision compared to complete reconstruction. They already had Brady Singer. Along with Witt Salvy Pasquantino.

Odds are higher Santander becomes another albatross contract at that age were the Sox to sign him for 3-5 years...you're certainly NOT going to see that investment from Baltimore. That's the whole point of having a productive farm system.