Lip Man 1

Don't worry, he won't be around after Memorial Day I think if the Sox get off to a brutal start again.

Until shown otherwise Santos is "iffy." Remember they shut him down with a forearm strain.

God knows Sox fans need something: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/andrew-vaughn-gives-back-to-community

November 21, 2019 - The White Sox announced to the baseball world that they were ready to move on to the next phase of their rebuild by signing All-Star free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal worth 73 million dollars, the largest in franchise history at that time. Grandal was that rare catcher who combined both offensive power and excellent defensive skills especially in framing pitches. Part of the reason the White Sox were so aggressive in trying to sign him was because of how he’d benefit a young pitching staff still trying to find their way in the game at the Major League level. In the 2021 season Grandal, despite injuries, would slug 23 home runs, drive in 62 RBI’s and walk 82 times in 93 games. He’d also tie the team record with eight RBI’s in a single game when he did it against the Cubs on August 27 at Guaranteed Rate Field. But his final two years would be very poor.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers also considers Eloy Jiménez likely to be traded. Entering his age-27 season, the former top prospect has missed considerable time due to injuries in his career but is a lifetime .275/.324/.487 hitter (118 OPS+) with 89 homers over 436 games. He is signed for $13.83 million in 2024 and has club options for 2025 ($16.5 million) and 2026 ($18.5 million). "[New White Sox general manager] Chris Getz has not been shy about the fact that he is open for business," Rogers said Tuesday in an MLB Network appearance. "I'd almost bet money that Dylan Cease and Eloy Jiménez are on the move."

From MLB.com: With the White Sox looking to turn the page after a disappointing 61-101 season in 2023, the club is willing to listen to offers for everyone on its roster. That includes Dylan Cease, who finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2022. Although it’s going to take a haul to acquire Cease, who has two years of team control remaining, MLB Network insider Jon Heyman still gives him a good chance of being dealt. “I do think Cease is likely [to be traded] … I think he’s 80% [likely] to be moved, they're already talking about potential packages going back to the White Sox,” Heyman said Tuesday on MLB Network. Cease was recently linked to the Dodgers, but Heyman hears the White Sox are engaging in trade talks with “many, many teams” about the right-hander. It's not surprising that Cease is receiving widespread interest on the trade market considering the going rate for starters of his caliber in free agency. One such pitcher just came off the board when the Phillies re-signed Aaron Nola for $172 million over seven years. Cease is entering his second round of arbitration eligibility after earning $5.7 million in 2023.

We aren't even sure if Santos will be able to pitch this year due to "forearm soreness..."

November 20, 1893 - The Western League was reorganized after a meeting in Detroit. It was the direct forerunner to what would become the American League in 1900. Byron “Ban” Johnson was elected President. The league started with seven franchises in Detroit, Sioux City, Toledo, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids and Minneapolis. The Minnesota franchise would eventually be moved to the South Side of Chicago by Charles Comiskey and take up play in 1900.

From MLB.com: What happened in 2023: Virtually nothing went right for Anderson this past season. With his strikeout and ground-ball rates spiking, Anderson homered only once and hit .245 with a .582 OPS over 123 games. His -2.0 WAR tally was the worst of all MLB position players. As a result, the White Sox declined Anderson’s $14 million club option for 2024, which once seemed like it would be a no-brainer. Reasons for optimism: Besides the .304 average he posted against left-handed pitchers, there's really nothing we can point to from 2023 that bodes well for Anderson moving forward. The best case we can make for a possible rebound is that Anderson is only 30 years old and put up a sterling .318/.347/.474 slash with 51 homers and 53 steals in 374 games across 2019-22, hitting over .300 in every season during that span. The underlying metrics were also promising as recently as 2022 -- he ranked in the 99th percentile with a .297 expected batting average, the 86th percentile with a 37.5% sweet-spot rate and the 84th percentile with a 15.7% strikeout rate. Additionally, the longtime shortstop is reportedly willing to move to second base if needed, which could allow him to improve his defensive value. It worked for Marcus Semien, who has gone from being a poorly rated shortstop to one of the best fielding second basemen in the game since making the switch.

November 19, 1913 – After playing a number of games in the U.S. spreading and promoting baseball the White Sox and Giants boarded the liner R.M.S. Empress of Japan to cross the Pacific and start the world portion of their tour. They played in Japan, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Australia, Egypt, Ceylon, France, Italy, the Vatican and England where they played before King George V. The Sox avoided disaster twice on the trip as when crossing the Pacific they ran smack into a typhoon and then in Italy a 20-foot section of train track was removed for repair over a river. The engineer barely saw it in time and stopped just short of plunging into a 60-foot drop into the water which would have killed everyone on board. The Sox would sail home on the Lusitania, a ship that would be torpedoed in May 1915 during World War I. For the tour itself the Sox won 24 games, the Giants 20 and there were two ties. November 19, 1996 - The Sox shocked the baseball world when owner Jerry Reinsdorf announced that he had signed slugger Albert Belle to the largest contract in baseball history. Sox fans were torn between being happy the Sox spent money on a star and being worried because of Belle’s sullen, moody reputation. Other baseball owners were furious with Reinsdorf, feeling that he deliberately signed Belle to the large contract to pay them back for agreeing to settle the 1994 labor dispute. Reinsdorf would be removed from the labor relations board, the body that advised the commissioner in all labor matters, over it. Belle would put up some monster seasons with the Sox especially in 1998 when he hit .328 with 49 home runs, 48 doubles and 152 RBI’s. He had a clause in his Sox contract that said he had to be one of the three highest paid players in baseball and when the team wouldn’t agree to give him a raise because other players passed him in salary, they let him go as a free agent. He signed with Baltimore, had two more excellent seasons then had to retire because of a bad hip injury.

That was Roland's and Chuck Tanner's philosophy for rebuilding the team in 1970-71.

https://www.mlb.com/news/non-tendered-mlb-free-agents-2023-24 I'd take a shot with Hudson, Heuer, Bush, Senzel, Meadows and Turnbull

Who cares? They are losing 95 games next year anyway. What difference does it make? And here is Getz's full comment about Eloy: “He looks motivated and determined,” Getz said. “He needs to maintain that. But Eloy’s potential with his bat, it’s just been lack of consistency mainly because of missed time. Teams are interested. It certainly just has to make sense on both sides.”

Cubs non-tendered Codi Heuer today.

According to Garfien's latest podcast which went on You Tube earlier today, the Braves proposed a deal for Bummer at the trade deadline and KW/Hahn said, "no." No idea what Atlanta was offering.

Apparently Getz went down to visit Eloy recently to see how he was doing. Speculation is that this basically was a "good bye and thanks for all you did" visit. Some feel he's the next to get shipped out.

November 17, 1977 – In the wake of free agent defections by Richie Zisk and Oscar Gamble, owner Bill Veeck signed infielder/DH Ron Blomberg to a free agent contract. Blomberg missed the previous two years with a severe leg injury but Veeck signed him anyway. On opening day 1978 he’d hit a dramatic ninth inning game tying home run but he did very little afterwards. Making matters worse is that Veeck signed him to a guaranteed multiyear contract. Veeck turned his sights on him after Gamble took a last-minute offer from the Padres after the Sox thought they had a deal to keep him on the South Side.

Soroka in addition to the Achilles injuries was shut down in September with "forearm soreness" and you know what that means.

He did not write that story...just saying,

Who says it still won't? (I don't think he will but if Brooks escalates this he very well could)

This is called addition by subtraction. Bummer usually lived up to his name. Good riddance.

It continues to hit the fan: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/11/16/23964326/jason-benetti-white-sox-brooks-boyer-mike-monaco-connor-mcknight-chris-stefan-chip-harry-caray Jason Benetti’s departure from White Sox hastened by contentious relationship with exec Brooks Boyer Multiple sources said the Sox’ senior vice president and chief revenue and marketing officer was at the center of the situation, particularly an inappropriate remark he made to Benetti.

They have video of Manfred speaking on it on the main page now.

November 15, 1972 - After accomplishing one of the greatest individual seasons in franchise history and barely missing the Triple Crown, Sox first baseman Dick Allen was named the M.V.P. of the American League by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He led the league with 37 home runs, 113 RBI’s, a .603 slugging percentage and 99 walks. He led the Sox with a .308 batting average, drove in 19 game winning runs, stole 19 bases, scored 90 runs and was only .0005 points shy of leading all A.L. first basemen in fielding. He was the leading vote getter for the All-Star team regardless of league. Allen garnered 21 of 24 first place votes for 321 points. Joe Rudi was second with 164 points.

More Benetti: “[The Tigers] want to have the best telecast in Major League Baseball. And they want to do it by, number one, making sure that fans who don’t understand analytics have the opportunity to, if they want to. But if they don’t, they get everything they want to out of the baseball show, as well. Stories about players, fun at the ballpark, strategy, whatever it might be. They want the ballpark to come alive, and they also want new age fans to have the ability to have the touchstone of analytics, too. “It’s very clear with who they have installed in the front office with Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg, and then A.J. Hinch is the manager — a guy who played baseball but also was in a front office and understands analytics very deeply, and mixed and matched lineups as well as anybody in Major League Baseball last year. “But they also want to have fun. They also want to enjoy the ballpark. They also want people to come every day and have a smile on their face. I do like to have fun. I do like to have a good time doing baseball, and sometimes you’re gonna miss and sometimes you’re gonna hit, but the stuff that happens in the ballpark is the most glorious part of doing baseball. And they want that. They didn’t say we’ll tolerate that. They said we want it.”