Lip Man 1

They completely screwed up Robert's season, just a complete clown show.

David Haugh tweeted that they interviewed Andrus this morning on the radio show and he said he wants to return to the Sox and is willing to play any position. Even if the Sox wanted to I can't see it happening because the GM felt Garcia was worth a three-year contract for some bizarre reason.

I think Cairo isn't watching the same team as we are: “We got 12 more games. We got to finish strong, too. Just because we lost three in a row [to the first-place Guardians], that don’t mean we weren’t playing good, and I know those guys are capable of playing hard and playing good baseball.”

This is just embarrassing.

I know Dave very well, he's a good friend and I can tell you as long as JR owns the franchise he wouldn't be interested in returning. He's very happy in Tampa. I've asked him about this possibility before.

He's written extensively on TLR's bizarre moves and regarding Hahn's lack of moves and calling out players, here's what he wrote: "Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams should be held to equally high standards for fans who waited patiently through a rebuild and have enjoyed all of three playoff game victories since the 2005 World Series championship." While Hahn and Williams added Elvis Andrus on Aug. 19, the lone addition of lefty reliever Jake Diekman at the trade deadline wasn’t enough to make a difference, especially for a roster scoffing at the notion that defense matters, and one that often left its baseball smarts on the bus."

Your last line is very true and compounding the issue is that it appears (based on what happens when the player gets here) the major league evaluating staff isn't very good at their jobs either.

Can't argue with that but I'll also point out when it was brought up by fans that Hahn and/or Kenny should have resigned when TLR was shoved down their throats, the counter to that was that they weren't going to sacrifice well paid jobs to do something like that and that most people in any profession wouldn't quit their jobs because of something their boss did. I remember reading that opinion. Same situation with the media especially if they have families. How far are they willing to go and potentially put their jobs on the line? That's an individual decision with no easy answer. Not saying that's right...it isn't and I agree the media should be held accountable. I'm also saying like with the Hahn/Kenny situation that's not reality.

Just curious what you wanted him to write. He pointed out the injury excuse, the lack of fundamentals et al. and how the Sox simply can't let this bizarre situation go on with TLR. (Even though you and I know that they certainly can...) And if you've read DVS this season he's been doing that for months now, not necessarily overtly but reading how he is wording things and issues; he was getting his point across at least in my opinion. And know this, he is a big time Sox fan, one of the few in the Chicago mainstream media. I've read occasionally where fans have posted they need more Jay Mariotti's. The issue with Jay wasn't the fact that what he was writing was wrong, in fact a LOT of what he wrote was correct...his issue was he made it personal and lost credibility. It got to the point where he was even alienating his fellow media members like Rick Telendar and Roger Ebert. And JR didn't help the situation when he called the owners of the Sun-Times trying to get him fired. Mariotti found out about it and that inflamed the situation even more. That's not the way to be a professional in my opinion.

Heard something interesting this afternoon, don't usually listen to the Score radio (bunch of clowns) but after listening to Holmes going off on the Sox I've been listening more. This afternoon Dan Berstein asked Steve Stone directly if he could say who was really running the White Sox. Stone said that honestly he didn't know. That ties into the previous comments about the manager telling the front office who he wants on the club (i.e. signings) and of course we remember Kenny's quote about how when JR wants to know something he calls him and not Hahn. Like I said this is an inept, dysfunctional and incompetent organization that doesn't even know when to put guys on the IL or give an update on the health of the field manager.

Theo Epstein

Professionally I have been wrestling with this question/issue for 40+ years since I'm in the sports media. There's no easy answer for it because basically there is a conflict of interest. It just depends on the nuance. For guys like Garfien and Merkin who basically are employed by either the Sox (who own most of the rights to NBC Sports Chicago) or the web site, are they willing to risk their jobs if they go to far? The newspaper folks have it a little bit easier because the Sox and/or MLB don't directly have any say in their employment but they can make things very difficult for them if they choose (things like player availability for example) I have the same issues, I'm paid by Idaho State and I understand they have certain requirements, after all they are paying me but at the same time I have an obligation to the listening audience and to my profession to be truthful. It is directly a conflict of interest and I'm always walking that tightrope and frankly have gotten into trouble at times for being to truthful. ISU like most places wants to control the information and put it in a positive light. At the same time I know there are certain members of the Chicago media that have to cozy a relationship with certain people like Rick Hahn and won't ever do or say anything negative because they don't want to jeopardize what is a friendship and it impacts their reporting. That's where I'd draw the line myself. I guess basically what I'm saying is that I'm glad some of the media have taken to pointing out the extreme issues with this dysfunctional organization, even Garfien has taken off the gloves more than once. Better late then never.

And it all starts with an owner who honestly thinks he knows and understands baseball like his business dealings. They are two separate entities.

The "Kenny Williams" approach to drafting. As far as baseball IQ I completely agree, they are simply "baseball-stupid". The blame for that falls on the players and the coaching staff. Both are at fault in this area.

There is a lot of truth in your statement.

Interesting post. I've always felt for a long time the Sox organization is more reactive than proactive.

I've been hearing that from people for over a year now. That's part of the reason Cairo joined the staff, that he was "next in line" after TLR. If he truly is the right guy, that's fine. But it wouldn't hurt to conduct a thorough actual managerial search with interested candidates not automatically connected to "the family."

It's a combination of both. Made worse by an organization that in many areas is simply inept, dysfunctional and incompetent.

Cairo after the loss tonight pulled out the "injury card." Get ready fans to hear a constant refrain with that excuse from now on.

DVS of the Sun-Times tells it like it is with the White Sox: https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/2022/9/22/23367801/plenty-of-blame-to-go-around-for-white-sox-calamity-of-a-season

That was Kenny and neither of the players in question were stars if memory serves.

The Sox won the last nine straight that season but the Yankees had built up and three and a half game lead with a few weeks to go so they had enough of a cushion.

Maybe the Sox feel since God doesn't appear to want to help them they can turn to the "dark side." ?

Sad but true unfortunately. That's why I keep stressing to fans, take care of yourself, outlive JR and see what new ownership can do because his family will sell the team (and keep the Bulls as per JR's instructions to them.)

There are so many things that impact an organization many that aren't seen. Just read a story in Sports Illustrated on the Mets and this caught my eye: "When the Mets returned from a 10 game West Coast road trip in June a gift was waiting for them: a pitching machine that can replicate any pitcher's exact delivery and repertoire. The device costs in the low six figures annually for a three year license. The team had already expanded the batting cage, offered bat fittings, began measuring players' grip strength and installed devices in the weight room to track players explosiveness and to identify when they need to rest." "The front office increased to 57 people in the spring from 32 in 2020 before the pandemic. It includes 20 analytical staffers." I bring this up simply because I've been told that when it comes to things like keeping players healthy, nutrition, sleep schedules et al the White Sox "play checkers while other teams play chess..."