Tony

Who can fill in the blanks...

I'm out. Firing no one after the last three weeks is absolutely unacceptable. They are an unserious franchise. Their No.1 focus is not about the team on the field. They don't deserve our attention or time, just like every other franchise in this town.

We got two months to go, but can’t wait for someone to post the final 2024 W-L record for the calendar year in this city. It’s going to be UGLY

I just don’t see how you sit in a Halas Hall war room and argue for keeping him, without money being a huge part of the equation

They have no choice, honestly. You lose at home, to the 2-7 Pats..how much more do you need to see? What are you going to see against the Packers, Lions and Vikings that is going to change your mind? lol They honestly don’t have a choice if they care at all. If they don’t, it’s just more proof there isn’t a “serious” organization in the city

Doesn’t matter what happens the rest of this game, how does Poles think this is moving forward correctly? Your No. 1 Overall pick and franchise QB is totally lost. There is a ton of drama around this team. They need to make a move tomorrow, I’m out on Poles if it doesn’t happen

I have never seen a team have worse series to open a game than the 2024 Bears. It’s like they’ve never played football. WTF do they do all week?

I actually agree with this, but it also goes against what you're arguing with me on Jerry. If the Sox wanted to, they could absolutely find a way to sign Crochet to a long term extension. They won't do it, because they don't want to spend the money.

What's the common theme in all of these? They didn't sign the player. Instead of offering the most money for Machado, they signed his brother in law. Close doesn't count in baseball, close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades.

Kenny and Rick had a lot of faults, but they also identified bringing in Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Blake Wheeler, among others. They wanted to add them to the team. Why didn't any happen? Money. Is that a Kenny/Rick problem, or an owner and his budget?

You're leaving out key details to help paint the picture you want to paint. The Sox and the "Wherever" A's are the only two franchises not to hand out a $100 million dollar deal to a player. They've dipped their toe in the water on big name FA's, only to be left shocked when a player doesn't sign with them because someone else offered more money. JR may "want to win" but he wants to win his way. 2020 and 2021 was the first time in franchise history the organization went to back to back post seasons, and 2020 was a 60 game season. That same Oakland team I mentioned, have gone to the playoffs 11 times since 2000. The Sox have gone 5. And since 1917, there has only been one year in which the Sox have won a playoff series. Once. In your second post, you say "You sign one big contract" like history is on the Sox side to just sign this big name, franchise altering player. What historical evidence or data are using to come to the conclusion that is what the Sox will do?

They really should try and trade Keenan.

Not every decision carries the same weight, but there has been more good than bad with Poles. He's brought in a good amount of talent via the draft, and while there was luck involved in getting the No. 1 pick from Carolina, there is an element of good fortune or "luck" with most moves GM's make. At the end of the day, luck or not, he hit it right with the trade, one of the best, most lopsided trades in sports history. His two biggest whiffs have been the Claypool trade, and not bringing in a new staff around Caleb during Year 1. I actually didn't even hate the Claypool trade as on paper it was done for the right reasons, they just simply didn't do enough homework on Claypool the person.

It's the one trait truly all the owners share in this town. No one is willing to be aggressive. They make moves only when they are forced to, not when it's simply the right thing to do. There isn't a single fan in this city that would have taken issue with Flus getting canned in the offseason, but they stuck by their guy, and we're seeing the results. Now they'll be forced to make a move when the win 7 games this season, and fall into the same trap every Bears team before them fell into, and wonder how it happened, or why it's not working.

It’s just so fucking exhausting to do this every 3 years. It’s the same thing over and over and over again.

So to be clear, the argument you are making is the World Series Champions had no impact on Michael Kopech, but instead the success he found in LA can all be attributed to his learnings from the 41-121 White Sox? Just want to be on the same page.

The Royals signed Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. Both were very good for the Royals in 2024. The Royals made a 30 win improvement over their 2023 record. If the White Sox make a 30 game improvement in 2025, they'll be 71-91. The White Sox also don't have anyone in the same stratosphere of Bobby Witt Jr, who coincidentally was drafted 2nd overall by the Royals, after a season where they are bad and "rebuilding"

I could, you're right. I choose not to. I terms of your second paragraph, I really don't think any fans lowered expectations themselves. The Sox have done more than enough to lower expectations to a point where it literally can't get any lower. THEY are responsible for the low expectations, not the fan base.

I know it's your bit to take things to the extreme, but it just makes you look like a clown. Will Venable may be a good hire. Maybe he won't. None of us really know. I agree it's a positive that it isn't a former Royal or someone with close ties to La Russa, but as Ray was pointing out, it's sad the bar is low enough that excitement comes from the Sox not doing what they always do. But that's what happens when you've turned into one of the worst franchises in sports. Expectations become so low, that anything slightly different feels like a huge win. Everyone on this board hopes this is the start of a new chapter of Sox Baseball. But it's absolutely asinine to look down or judge a fan for having doubts about this organization putting in a real effort to turn this franchise into a perennial winner.

Waddle and Silvy had ESPN Stats and Research run the numbers, based on those 4 games and where the win percentage was in the 4th quarter. I don’t totally understand the equation you would use, but the stat guys came back with the odds of that happening were well over 1 in a million.

He added a lot of fuel to the fire in the last 24 hours with what he said postgame and on Monday, along with what others said. Not only did he take no accountability for really anything, but he now has players coming out in the media actively questioning his coaching decisions. Then Jaylon Johnson went on The Score yesterday and said this: Now that's also on the players, but it doesn't reflect well on the coaching staff either, and you add on the absolute unforgivable mistakes Flus made on Sunday...the vibe TOTALLY shifted.

Jesus your arms must be tired.

But it should have never gotten there. Caleb was getting beat up early and often. Why were there not more designed plays to the TE’s and RB’s? Kmet had one catch today, and the entire RB grouo didn’t have a reception today. You cut the only FB on your roster on Friday. On the biggest play of the game, you used a backup OL to run a FB handoff. Then, on the final drive of the game by the Bears, they used AWFUL clock management to allow WSH to hold onto timeouts and gave them enough time to make a drive down the field. This team has shown over 7 games they can hang with most teams. So then it comes down to putting your team and players in the best position for success. That is NOT happening.

They deserved that