Thad Bosley

Well, Nick Capra joins Coop and Ricky at the unemployment line. HE GONE! So what is the future for McEwing and Boston? Very likely McEwing stays because of his already well-developed relationship with LaRussa from back in their St. Louis days together. Boston is a different story. He’s a former White Sox, and we know how that plays with Mr. Loyalty Program. He was also managed by LaRussa at the beginning of his career back from 1884 - 1886, I mean, 1984 - 1986. So that history in and of itself could make his job safe. At the same time, you could easily see them just cut bait like they did with both Cooper and Capra, both of whom were with the organization a long time. So two big questions and ones germane to the logic of the LaRussa hiring: who fills the two current vacancies, and will there be any other vacancies coming? https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/10/31/21543553/third-base-coach-nick-capra-wont-be-part-of-tony-la-russas-staff

So wrong, and not one player, or anyone in the front office, would agree with you. You need to sit closer to your TV when watching the games from now on.

Can you name me one manager ever in the history of baseball who didn’t enforce playing hard? Also, Eloy has improved defensively - no less a critic than Steve Stone has acknowledged that, and he wouldn’t if he didn’t believe it. But there is no one other than you suggesting that any lack of improvement is due to a lack of effort - N-O O-N-E - so until a more reliable source comes in that suggests he’s not working hard enough, I’m going to set your trivial observation aside. No offense. Finally, you are right about something, that any article just stating that the players are working hard is meaningless if the results on the field don’t reflect any improvements. Couldn’t agree more! That’s why we have undeniable evidence right before our very eyes of the hard work this team has put in to go from the sub .500 team they were last year to the playoff team they were this year. The individual and collective hard work is paying off, it will continue, and bigger and better things are yet to come. That is going to happen whether Tony LaRussa is the manager or not. He’s more of a shiny hood ornament at this stage simply in place to placate the current owner.

Ha! I must be mellowing a bit because this move by Reinsdorf this week would have caused an aneurysm in me not too long ago, and yes, also would have resulted in a verbal fisticuffs with SS2K5. (Although don’t tell him, but I’ve enjoyed watching his ire come out in Reinsdorf’s direction. Vindication!). =D Now don’t get me wrong - I truly cannot stand Reinsdorf as owner of this team after watching 40 years of one frustrating incident after another, just like the one we witnessed this week. Oh, for Soxtalk to have been around since the day this guy became owner! I’m just at a point that even with this inexplicable decision to hire LaRussa, the days of Reinsdorf are likely numbered, and we just have to ride it out. But in the meantime, hey, for the first time in a very long time, we have an exciting team to watch and follow!

Is Eloy’s defense a result of lack of effort and/or lack of hard work to improve, or just that he doesn’t have the god-given talent to be a better defensive player? The video that was shared with you shares explains Jimenez’ continuous improvement efforts. Do you doubt his level of effort, and if so, why, and based on what? As for Moncada, can you provide a source to where his work ethic has been questioned even once since he came to the White Sox? There is story after story about how he looks up to Abreu and tries to model his approach for readiness after his. And why are you even questioning whether he at still the young age he is has peaked? Do you think he has, and why? Because he doesn’t work hard enough? And what, precisely (and I already know the answer to this) is fueling your questioning of the work ethic of this particular roster, such that you think the personal profile of the incoming manager is what they really need? “Loafing” and “sloppy”. Interesting choice of words.

Oh, 100% agree, this year’s team wasn’t the “crispiest”, and Madrigal was definitely more sloppy than any of us expected. But this other poster is acting like the team needs some strict disciplinarian to come in and whip these sloppy loafers into place, and that is NOT the kind of roster LaRussa is inheriting.

Huh? Have Moncada and Eloy shown a hard work ethic at this point? Of course they have. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Both have said they look up to Abreu as their role model from a work ethic perspective, and certainly Moncada doesn’t make the extraordinary improvement from 2018 to 2019 without working his ass off to make the adjustments he’s made. Same with Eloy. Stone has mentioned many times the hard work he puts into improving his defense. He obviously needs to continue to work on that defense, but if you remember where his defense was a couple of years ago, he’s definitely improved some. Also, can you advise us who on this team needs to be called out for loafing? Say what you will about Renteria, but these guys did hustle for him. And the sloppy play comment - what are you talking about? What sloppy play are you referring to? Is it In the field? On the bases? By whom? And who is making mental errors at such a clip that the team needs a manager nine years removed from the dugout to come in and fix the problem?

You are shortchanging our young players and the awesome leading by example that Jose Abreu has demonstrated the past several years. This business that the team needs this 76 year-old to come in to “show them how to play the game hard all the time” and without him there to “demand their best” it won’t happen, just spits in the eye of the hard work ethic that Abreu exhibits each and every day, and how the other young players like Moncada and Jimenez were influenced and inspired to work just as hard. As for the “they let up off the gas and wilted” wasn’t because they lacked the wisdom of Tony LaRussa in the dugout. It’s because they were collectively a young team getting their first taste of success and experience in a pennant race and a postseason. It is that experience they will learn from and what they will build upon that will be the primary reason they take things to the next level, and not simply staring at the World Series rings on LaRussa’s fingers.

Racking my brain here, but can’t think of one guy on the roster who appears to be in need of a “grandfather figure”, That may be a first - a MLB manager described as a “grandfather figure”. Maybe Jack McKeon was as well back in ‘03 with the Marlins, who knows. Lol

This. This whole decision comes down to Reinsdorf prioritizing clearing his conscience on what he feels was his worst regret as owner of the Sox (snicker) over what was truly best for this team and organization as they head into this competitive window they’ve worked so hard to get to. It’s really no different than when Reinsdorf prioritized his hard-line, personal agenda in the labor negotiations back in 1994 over what was best for the White Sox organization and its fans. He got the strike he wanted, which was more important to him than a rare but potential White Sox World Series championship that season and how much the team’s long suffering fans would have loved and appreciated that experience. So as usual, the White Sox franchise finds itself trying to win in spite of having an owner who constantly makes it tougher, not easier, to do so.

I don’t know how anyone can question the brilliance of Jerry Reinsdorf’s decision here, after his 40 years of excellence in making franchise-advancing decisions. Just look at his track record! Pure genius every step of the way! ?????

Jerry Reinsdorf has been the owner for 40 years now, and his record and the narrative over those four decades is not good, not good at all, on and off the field. His overall legacy as owner of the White Sox will end up having to rely on the success of this current team team that was rebuilt on his watch. He needs this team to do what no other team in the past 40 years has done (or ever, for that matter), which is to go on a sustained run of success that hopefully results in a championship or two. In the meantime, he’s obviously hoping that a feel-good bromance story of he and LaRussa coming back together after all these years and winning those championships together will soften how history eventually looks at and assesses his time as owner. Probably a little too late no matter how things turn out in these next few years, but it would appear Reinsdorf is anxious to give it a shot.

I wasn’t a fan of Tony LaRussa the first time around for a variety of reasons, and was happy the day he was let go by Hawk. In fact, at the time, I thought his successor, Jim Fregosi, was a far better manager. Unfortunately for Fregosi he presided over a really lousy White Sox team in his short time with the organization from ‘86 thru ‘88. That said, if we have to live through this twilight bromance between Reinsdorf and LaRussa at the end of their respective lines, it becomes passable IF Reinsdorf spends cash like a major market owner for once, to put the finishing touches on this rebuilt roster, and IF LaRussa surrounds himself with the right coaching staff that can help bridge the generational gap between him and the players. That’s why I was glad to hear the other dinosaur, Dave Duncan, would not be the new pitching coach (or old new pitching coach). Get both a younger pitching coach (maybe two pitching coaches - Stone has been making a lot of noise on this front) and see where a change could be made with the Nick Capras, Joe McEwings and/or Daryl Boston’s of the world to bring in someone more relatable to our young Latin players. It probably won’t be McEwing, though, as he and LaRussa were very close during their time together in St. Louis, speaking of bromances.

Grandal isn’t going anywhere. How many future big name free agents would the Sox be able to attract if the player knew that one year after the player has committed to coming to the team and city for the long term, the team might turn around and trade them away? Maybe the team can find a way to bring McCann back, but it won’t be because they’ve traded Grandal away to open up a spot for him. Not going to happen.

I didn’t realize Bochy has been public in signaling his desire to return to the dugout. I hadn’t given his potential candidacy much thought up until now, what with all the noise surrounding LaRussa and Hinch. But if he’s interested, I think he checks off every box we could want as it relates to hiring a manager with the experience and ability to take this team to the next level. I’m hoping he’s the next manager of this team. https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/bruce-bochy-hasnt-talked-white-sox-could-see-mlb-managerial-return

The Gio/James bromance began during each other’s breakout seasons in ‘19, before Grandal arrived. So is it really a matter of people just liking McCann and not necessarily meaning they don’t like Grandal?

That’s not true at all. We just saw Zach Wheeler sign for less money last year for reasons that were more important to him than money.

So with Hinch, was he once-upon-a-time thought to be this super, up-and-coming managerial talent that, despite the cheating episode, he is the envy of Rick Hahn? I’m trying to understand why the Sox or any team would be interested in him at all given the seriousness of the cheating scandal.

I’m not in favor of hiring Hinch for the reasons stated several times already - that his non-cheating record is pedestrian at best, and there’s nothing in his body of work that suggests he’s somehow a great manager. With that said, however, one thing the Sox would have going for them is there wouldn’t be any cheating going on with the team if he were in charge. Because part of the league’s punishment was the stipulation that another occurrence like with the Houston scandal results in a permanent ban of him from the game. That should be a decent enough deterrent, I should think.

In other words, finally realizing the team’s place as the major market team that it is. Sign me up for that!

Oh, at the end of the day I don’t think they do, because I find it hard to believe Crane was not in the know at all that the cheating was going on. Nevertheless, he removed the optics of the organization somehow being ok with employing cheaters by getting rid of Hinch. And now less than a year removed from Houston letting him go, the Sox want to bring him on. Too soon?

Jim Crane, the owner of the Astros, did not have to fire Hinch when he did earlier this year as MLB already punished Hinch with the suspension, but he did anyway. He said he wanted to have “higher standards for the city and the franchise”. Shouldn’t Jerry Reinsdorf have similar standards for the city of Chicago and his White Sox franchise?

Until I get the official memo that the Jerry Reinsdorf Loyalty Program has come to an end, the Reinsdorf/LaRussa 40 year bromance makes LaRussa’s hiring a real potential of happening.

Lol - I’m trying to be a good boy these days, so don’t tempt me with a quote from this owner that he thinks the firing of Tony LaRussa was his BIGGEST regret. He has quite the laundry list of franchise-crushing decisions during his 40 years as owner that eclipse the firing of LaRussa decision, believe you me. Anyhoo, when Reinsdorf/Einhorn brought on Hawk to be the GM back in the mid-80s, it was to try and grab some headlines away from the Cubs who, at that point in time, had become immensely popular with Harry Caray at the helm broadcasting all their games for free on WGN, while Sox games were buried on the failed pay TV option known as SportsVision. The Cubs also had a big personality as their GM in Dallas Green who was routinely on the media promoting the Cubs, while the Sox had the competent but not media savvy Roland Hemond as their GM. Bringing on Hawk and his bravado was a way to counter Green and, as I said, compete for the headlines. So the cowboy hat-wearing Hawk comes in with his vision on how to do things, and he did make headlines. They did achieve that objective. However, the incumbent manager LaRussa and his pitching coach Dave Duncan weren’t buying into the ideas and approach he was bringing forth, and that’s where all the trouble started. They publicly resisted, which gave the Sox no other choice but to can LaRussa, because optically they couldn’t fire Hawk three months into it, or else look like morons for hiring Hawk. I think the passage of time made both Hawk and LaRussa realize both could have handled things better, which is why they eventually made peace with one another. But it took a long time to get there.

I actually thought Jim Fregosi was a better manager than Tony LaRussa at the time. LaRussa was a rookie manager with the Sox and was always trying to prove himself as somewhat more cerebral a manager than the likes of Sparky Anderson, Earl Weaver, Billy Martin and the others during that era. But he overdid it. The next thing you know you had the left handed first baseman Mike Squires playing third base. It was unbelievable! He didn’t like to play the percentages back then but rather tried to show people he was smarter than that. Needless to say, it didn’t work out during his stay with the Sox. That’s why he got so criticized on the air by Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall, and then Don Drysdale and the Hawk as these seasoned professionals watched him do these crazy things back then. Luckily for LaRussa, and for reasons still unknown, Reinsdorf backed and supported him, which led to the exodus of Caray & Piersall, and eventually Hawk.