Tony

So when the Rangers come back and say "No, and Patrick Kane has made it public his only desire is to play for us." What do the Hawks do? Keep him while they are actively trying to have the worst record in the league, and let him walk for nothing in the offseason?

If there is only one team in the running for his services, what type of return was expected?

It's a double-edged sword for sure. Kane sort of screwed them by sayin NYR was the only place he would go. However, this team isn't going anywhere (obviously) and I don't think they have much interest in bringing him back. There is also an argument to made to grant the request in this case of your franchise icon. It could get ugly if the Hawks said they simply aren't moving him and he wants to compete for a Cup. Lot of layers, not a "right" answer but the Hawks simply don't have much leverage in this at this point.

Yeah, that's a solid deal and the Hawks using their cap space wisely. They are going to suck again next year so use the space to get more capital. I think Kane ends up staying

Probably by spending more money. THE HORROR!

I agree with this. Given where this team is at (whole other discussion) this isn’t a “bad” move but it’s just fine

And…there it is.

Ok, fine. This was all avoidable is the issue.

Exactly what you want during the first week of camp

1. Fans control 0% of anything about the game, so being optimistic isn't going to change anything either. Not saying you shouldn't be, but lets not pretend anything we do has any impact on anything. 2. What fans can control is their own time. I've been to over 400 Sox games in my life. I haven't been at the park since 2019, and have zero plans to go this year. It's not any sort of hard boycott, I just don't feel any desire to continue spending money, and honestly more importantly...my time, on a franchise that has very little interest in providing a winning product to its customers. Don't hold it against anyone who does want to attend, the ballpark is a great time. But I've found other ways to spend that time I'm perfectly fine with.

But that's not the hobby. Are we all baseball fans, of course. But you've got over 15,000 posts on a White Sox message board and I've got way more than that. If the White Sox went away tomorrow, my consumption of MLB would go down drastically, and I assume yours would as well. I would say for most, 75% of your excitement comes from YOUR team starting the season, not the start of the entire MLB season. Yes, I'm pleased baseball will be back, but am I excited for 2023 White Sox Baseball?

I think Zach is gone this offseason, pretty much regardless.

To me it comes down to very basic human psychology. You have an owner that has made it very clear in his actions winning is simply not anywhere close to the No. 1 priority. As owner, he's set an example that being mediocre is acceptable. Turn a profit and we're good. It's borderline unfair to expect Williams, Hahn or anyone else to rise above the expectations set by their boss. When you've been employed at a job for 15+ years, the pay is good, and you're very clear on what the expectations are to keep your job...why do any more than is expected? What percentage of the population truly would do that? It's why they've never made the playoffs in back to back years up until the COVID shortened season. You'll get lucky here and there, all the stars will align and you'll put together a solid 162, but as we've seen, it doesn't last. They're lazy. That's really what it is. There is no drive or passion with any of them. Davis Martin looks to be the 5th starter right now to open the year. There were plenty of options available to sure up that spot, but why do it? Why spend another 10-15 million when Davis Martin will be "semi-ok?" As long as the Sox are just "decent" that's good enough for the franchise.

It's still absolutely the wrong response by Hahn. One player is bigger than any sort of moral compass you would hope the organization has. To your point @ChiSox59, you're saying if Rick knew these allegations, he wouldn't have been signed. So Rick is saying "Yeah, we wouldn't have signed him if we knew this was hanging over his head, but I understand why he lied to us, and now we have to support him." Wrong answer. The correct answer is some version of "This is not what I want to be talking about on the first day of Spring Training. It's something I wish we knew about and obviously we have to re-evaluate our background process further. As it stands today, we're put in a position where we have to let the process play out and respect any decision MLB puts forward." Not "I understand why someone like Mike would lie to us"

I would assume the thought process is rather than have it drag out and make him off limits, get it out of the way now to make it less of a distraction. I don't go out of my way to defend the Sox but there is some logic to it.

Which has to mean they are sticking by him, moving forward with him. He isn't there if they are even giving thought to a release

Face of what?

That is a terrible, terrible bet. How about YOU do the drive, tell me the results, I'll give you a special prize if you're right. ?

I literally JUST put in Solider Field to Arlington Heights on my phone, it says 37 minutes. Also, those 90 minute drives are gonna be a real problem for all those 6pm Friday night Bears games...

If a team ever moves, be it 30 miles or 800 miles away, there are always going to be parties that get hurt by it. That's business. The Bears don't owe the city of Chicago anything, quite frankly.

This entire topic came about from a very un-educated person on the subject. As you said, this doesn't seem to be an issue for any other team that doesn't actually play in the city that's in their name, but for whatever reason, the Bears simply CAN'T MOVE away from the city of Chicago. It's meatball, old-world thinking. The Bears have made plenty of mistakes over the years, no one is denying that, but they have also been hamstrung by their stadium for years.

Correct. On top of it, the Bears would own the stadium, so concerts and other events the Bears weren't seeing of that money. This would change a lot of things for the better with the Bears

1. Arlington Heights is 35 minutes away from Solider Field. Let's stop pretending the Bears are moving to Calgary. 2. Anyone that has gone to a game at Solider Field the last decade (plus) knows how much of a nightmare it is to get there and leave, not to mention the stadium always having the worst field conditions in the league 3. Because of the location, there is very little room for expansion (the video the city created in a last ditch effort is a bigger fantasy than Star Wars) and Arlington Heights will allow them to create an entire entertainment district around the stadium, plus allow the franchise to actually own the building and make it a venue that can be used 365 days out of the year. Most Bears fans are excited/optimistic about the idea of the Bears finally leaving Solider.

I saw that this weekend and was kind of shocked. For the new manager of the White Sox to say that in 2023, after all the "World Series Window" lines by Rick these last 4-5 years is pretty amazing.

Because Sox fans have had it so good all these years?