kitekrazy

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 13, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) Man I hate Robin-bashing. Just as much as you dislike Robin harkness. I'm more upset at the people who put in there. I'm more upset at the people who sign aging sluggers from NL who fail at DH. I'm more upset at an organization who tries to fix things by repeating the same mistakes. Most likely we will also feel the same way about the next Sox manager because experienced need not apply.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 09:27 PM) Remember though Mark Parent told the media "these are major leaguers" it's not up to the coaches to work with them every day...LOL Mark You have to put the blame on the scouts. Then the minor league instructors. Baseball instinct never seemed a priority.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 09:18 PM) It is funny to blame coaches and managers when major leaguers do so,ethimg stupid. They have been playimg the game their enitre lives now at the top level available. Yet so,e apparently think they still need to be taught the most basic thimgs about the game. That isn't your major league staff's job. If it is, you have a horrible team. an so they are..... I believe some instincts can't be improved upon when they get to minor league baseball.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 09:08 PM) White Sox just don't have enough "baseball smarts" to win these types of games. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won 24 one-run games this year. They still believe you can coach "stupid" out of the player. It's always been a weakness this century.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 01:49 PM) If Trace is the real deal, you trade Eaton. No brainer. We went down that road once. I can't agree.

QUOTE (SnB @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 03:20 PM) Teenage SnB would be hating life right now. Older, 30ish year old Snb is just envious that they did it the smart, right way. I don't really "get" the cub hate anymore. I'm not rooting for them, but I'm not exactly rooting against them either. Hell, I'll probably make my way to wrigley sometime this month/september just to feel some pennant chase baseball buzz again. The cubs fans in my office aren't obnoxious and I don't really hang out in bars anymore and have to deal w/ those type of fans. The people that know me know I'm not going to get into the cubs/sox thing so they don't either. Now get off my lawn. I would think real Cub fans would be more interested in knocking off the Cardinals.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 10:04 AM) I really would like to finish at .500, to know we did improve somewhat. But I know that getting top 10 protected pick would help us a lot more. gulp. Only if they are willing to risk it on position players.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 10:50 AM) We made a big trade and several big FA signings last offseason and then counted on rookies at 2b, and guys with limited track records of success in RF, 3b, and C, and many of those positions stung us all year. If we're going to play these guys again next year and hope they get better...great. They may very well do so. But don't go spending huge amounts of money on guys in their mid-30s or trading for guys a year from free agency if you're going to do that. Especially if they spent all of their time in the NL. They don't do well in this area.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) I'd let Sale finish this inning and then let the bullpen cover the last two. There's no need for him to go the 8th and/or 9th when there are fresh arms available. Lucky they didn't keep him in and a total of 144 pitches and then Coop defending that.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) I fill out surveys for the Sox year after year. They still haven't picked up Mike Trout like I have asked. Darn. I should have read this before I filled it out.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) Well, Ozzie is also terrible at making rookies feel wanted. Most of professional baseball didn't want them either.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 05:51 PM) The game tonight is pretty meaningless, so Sale should throw a gem. He only chokes in the big games. You are thinking of Jake Peavy. Not too many big games have existed during the Sale era. What about Smarj? I'm not sure what qualifies as a big game for an organization like this. Most of the guys they acquire are from losing organizations so they probably don't know what a "big game" is.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 03:51 PM) Given the way people rarely leave the organization let along get outright fired job security should be the thing they should be least concerned over. Marl I heard Hahn was paid well for an assistant because he was highly sought by other organizations. So I don't think he's worried.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) He and Sandy Alomar have been passed over so many times, you can't help but wonder what fatal flaw teams are seeing, that we aren't. It reminds of the Thibs situation to be honest. Maybe they are easy going and don't bench players for bad mistakes, working on fundamentals, ect. Sounds like a fit for this organization. Then again maybe they would want more control in philosophy of how the team plays. I think this is where managing in the MLB is so different from the other sports. If you have a different philosophy of how to win it's different than the organization it's hard to change that. I doubt they are asked on who to draft.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 01:44 PM) As a White Sox fan I found his opening campaigning for a contract extension with a year left on his deal and his team collapsing, then opening courting another job during the season WAY more troubling then any of his personal political views. His political views don't concern me nearly as much as his penchant for putting his own self in front of the team. I think he was disappointed when testing Reinsdorf playing favorites that Kenny won. Part of me also thinks Ozzie new how bad the organization is with player development and probably couldn't deal with this current mess.

QUOTE (3GamesToLove @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 08:36 AM) lolwut PS it's only a season from hell if you are obsessed with the Cubs/Sox "rivalry." People act like the Cubs have won a spot already.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 09:38 AM) I wouldn't be surprised if two / thirds of the crowd this weekend for the Cubs series are made up of Cub fans. And I wouldn't blame Sox fans for staying away given the franchises performance certainly since September 2012. Something else I've noticed which should be troubling to the organization. On the on-line version of the Tribune the past two mornings, not one word, one story is about the Sox on the page that first comes up on the screen. As bad as the Sox are you'd think the "badness" would get some mention. It isn't. The Sox are becoming totally irrelevant in their own city. Not blaming the papers in one sense (although from a journalistic standpoint it shouldn't matter what the team's record is). My guess is that the majority of the season ticket holders who signed up this year after the off season spending spree on veterans in their 30's won't be back. Mark Badness has existed since April so it is no longer news. It's Bear season for the media. The Cubs managed to put a dent in it.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 10:08 AM) The Sox should've claimed him...SMH. This team is still in contention, why not go for it? Can he hit?

Lucky the Royals didn't acquire Smarj. Of course it would be fair since we've traded for some of their stink.

Waiting for the pen to go into mental midget mode and put the game out of reach.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 07:02 PM) That would help a lot but even then do you trust the front office to do any good with the extra $13M ? I'm sure they can find another over the hill NL player to take his place. After two tries maybe another career NL player to e a DH will work.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 07:07 PM) You're right, the structural problem with the White sox is "Terrible scouts + terrible decisions associated with that scouting." Problem is - giving up on Phegley, Semien, Bassitt - is exactly the "terrible decisions associated with that scouting." Josh Phegley is a backup C - like you say - and catchers never learn anything with additional work right? Players never learn better defense when given the opportunity. That's buried into the White Sox system. Rush guys up to the big leagues and make decisions on them as fast as you can because they never learn anything and never get better. So why not deal them for a pitcher 1 year from free agency, because Phegley will never do better in the next 5 years than he did in 2014. The reality is...if your players rush up to the big leagues and never develop...that's an indictment of your organization and your development more than anything else, because Phegley is already doing more than any other catcher in our Org is. Until this changes trading for "prospects" is a big risk.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 01:45 PM) Flowers sucks, but the difference between him and a typical catcher these days isn't enough to bring out all the disdain. He's not good, but look at the catchers in baseball. There aren't many who are. I was at a game vs. KC a couple Sundays ago, and the Sox were stinking up the joint. a guy a section over put up with everyone sucking except when Flowers struck out he couldn't help himself. It seems to be a theme in Soxville. If Flowers was the Sox biggest problem, Robin would be getting his rotation set for the playoffs right now. It's not the glamorous position it use to be. I'm assuming even talented kids in amateur baseball would be playing different positions.

QUOTE (Brian26 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:06 PM) It's smart philosophy around these parts to not want to pay players for past performance. Seasoned managers like Gardenhire are washed-up, out of touch, etc. So, I'm seriously wondering why a 60 year old guy who has been around the block several times, has made his money and hasn't necessarily shown any apptitude for new philosophies in player evaluation other than carrying his owner's checkbook around for the past nine years, would be the savior of this franchise. The trend in GM hiring seems in CHC, Boston, SD, etc is to hire guys in their early 30s. I can't really find much logic in this.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:46 PM) Balta's post is very, very, VERY good. I agree with him on many of the points he brought up. I think they went off the rails because Kenny simply couldn't wait. Many of these signing over the winter appeared to have his fingerprints all over them. (veterans in their 30's). Hahn appeared to want to be more patient but apparently he was over ruled as Kenny himself said anything Hahn and his staff want to do they have to run it by him first. The other factor I think was that even with maybe the best stadium deal in MLB (as outlined by the tribune) last year, attendance was dropping dangerously low. The franchise had lost fans from the previous year for eight consecutive seasons. They had lost 56% of the attendance since the end of the 2006 season. The decision was made in part to do something to bring back the season ticket holders. Obviously it hasn't worked on the field. Patience is a virtue, Kenny with his "football mentality," and his "go for broke" approach just doesn't have the capacity to wait three or four or five years so it's always "rebuild and contend" or "retool and contend" and that usually does not work. At least history shows it hasn't worked for this franchise for almost a decade. "It's time" for drastic changes at all levels in the front office. New blood, new ideas are desperately needed. Mark To me that would mean getting rid of scouts, instructional coaches and Buddy Bell. I believe at this level Reinsdorf has his favorites. I still believe getting players from losing organizations makes a difference. They've come from playing in non pressure situations.