WBWSF

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 1, 2017 -> 03:26 AM) I don't think you quite realize how good of a closer David Robertson really was. Maybe not among the league's best, but you'd be hard-pressed to name 12 better in the game right now. Addison Reed will almost certainly sign a multi-year deal in excess of $12 mill per year. This is not a proposition I like. If $12 million dollars is accurate, there's no way JR spends that type of money. I wish he would but I know he won't. I like signing Addison Reed more than this.

Signing free agent Addison Reed makes a lot of sense to me. He's young(29 years old) and he sure is better than anybody the team has in the bullpen now.

I would rather have the White Sox sign Addison Reed and JD Martinez this off season.

I have a much better idea. Sign free agent Addison Reed. He's only 29 years old and he would help the bullpen tremendously. I realize it kills JR to spend money on decent players but still Reed would be a welcome addition to the White Sox bullpen.

I was at the evening show. After the second show the Beatles went for ice cream at Margies in Bucktown. Margies is still there on the corner of Armitage and Western.

Gonzalez pitched a good game for the win today. This will probably be his last start in a White Sox uniform. I thought we would get at least 2 more starts from him before the August 31 deadline. Now that Lester is on the Cubs DL , I figure Hahn will trade Gonzalez to his life long favorite team the Cubs. Older fans remember when Arnold Johnson owned the Kansas City As he traded numerous of his best players to the Yankees. It went on for years. It helped the Yankees maintain their dynasty in the 1950s and 1960s. I can't help but wonder if we're going to see the same type of situation with the Cubs and Hahn. He recently traded Quintana which should help them the next few years getting into the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gonzalez go the Cubs either.

The off season starts with Hahn trading Avi Garcia and Abreu for more prospects. This will be done in the name of a rebuild. I see it as more of a salary dump to get this team to have the lowest payroll in MLB. All this translates into more profits for JR. This leaves the team with the following lineup: 1B=Gillaspie, 2B=Moncada, SS=Anderson, 3B=Davidson, LF=L. Garcia, CF=Engle, RF=Delmonico, C=Smith. Starting Rotation Rodon, Shields, Lopez and Holland. (Hahn resigns Holland thinking that he'll have a rebound year) Bullpen= The same group who are in our present bullpen. After Rodon gets off to a good start Hahn will sign him to a contract extension. After the All Star break Hahn will then trade Rodon to the Cubs for more of their prospects. Nobody ever talks about this but Hahn is a life long Cubs fan. He never attended a White Sox game in his life until he started working for them. And finally for a job well done (Last place team with the lowest payroll=enormous profits) JR will reward Hahn with another contract extension,

The article is nothing but a bunch of bulls***. It must be nice for JR to finally give a interview to somebody in the media. And if you notice he gave the interview to somebody who is not a local writer. Anyways, what is that writer smoking when he said he expects JR to be inducted into the MLB Hall Of Fame? Also JR said the fans are the real owner of the team, the owner is just the custodian of the team. He thought so much of White Sox fans he came very close to moving the team to Florida. Last but not least he said Ventura can come back to the White Sox for a job anytime he wants to. I certainly hope he doesn't want to bring him back as manager.

1) Clippard was just moved to Houston. Another salary dump. The recent trades with KC, Yankees and Tampa Bay were nothing but salary dumps. The team traded Dan Jennings to Tampa bay for absolutely nothing. We now have Bummer as our only lefty in the bullpen. And he can't get anybody out. 2) I read yesterday that the White Sox are contemplating moving Avi Garcia and Abreu this off season. I have no doubt in my mind that both of them will be moved for prospects. More salary dumps. The team now has the worse pitching staff in MLB. Without Avi Garcia and Abreu we will have the worse offense in MLB And the lowest payroll in MLB.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2017 -> 01:41 PM) I have a sneaky feeling the Sox owners are going to fall in love with the fact our fan base is thrilled with the young players acquired and will soon fall in love with the idea they have an all-time low payroll. Why spend ANY money in free agency when it appears this team will be able to contend in 2019? There are enough young studs to fill a starting rotation and should be enough young players in 2019 ready to contribute that the team can contend in a weak division. So why spend ANY money in free agency if you are an owner? As long as the fans buy in, which they have, just go for it on the cheap. I could see them 'maybe' spending a little bit of dough on a reliever or two or maybe even one veteran starter in free agency, but that's it. Again ... why spend any money if you are an owner if you have the fans on your side not demanding anything of the sort and media not demanding anything of the sort? Try to win on the cheap and keep all that $$$$ for yourself? I unfortunately agree with you. I don't see JR spending any money on this team. The lower the payroll=more money in his pockets. I wish I felt differently but that's how I feel.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2017 -> 07:50 AM) Arrieta, you have to be joking. He's going to get $120-150 million and five years from someone...and won't provide any value to the 2020-23 teams. There's no simply rush to sign JD Martinez unless the market for corner infielders utterly collapsed and he then became a buy low guy that could be flipped. That's highly unlikely. 1) Who would you rather see in the 2018 White Sox rotation, Arrieta, Holland, Shields or Pelfrey? 2) Would you rather have our present Dhs in 2018 or J.D. Martinez? 3) I don't think JR is going to spend big money on any free agents but if he does he might as well start doing it this off season.

Catchers= Smith, Narvaez. infield= Abreu, Moncada, Anderson, Davidson, Saladino. Outfield= Delmonico, L. Garcia, Avi Garcia, Hanson. Dh/Outfield= J.D. Martinez Starting pitchers, Rodon, M.Gonzalez, Lopez, Shields AND Jake Arrieta. Bullpen=Clippard, Petricka, and???? 1)I should point out that if it was up to me Shields, Clippard and Anderson wouldn't be on the team. But due to the fact that these guys have long term contracts, we are stuck with them. 2) I keep reading that Hahn says when the time comes JR will open up his wallet for some free agents. If that is true why not do it now. Both J.D. Martinez and Arrieta would help this so called rebuild a lot quicker.

1) This is the 27th season the White Sox have played in the present stadium. I find it interesting that fans are still complaining about attendance and the stadium location. If JR had done it right when the new stadium was built we wouldn't be complaining about the attendance and stadium. All he had to do was build a nice stadium in a good location, which he didn't do. 2) For what it's worth I think the next White Sox stadium will be built by the United Center when the present lease runs out.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 30, 2017 -> 08:42 AM) Do you have a link to the South Loop offer he turned down? I do know there was some sort of preliminary plan to build a stadium the Sox and Bears would share but the Bears said no. Southside Sox has had numerous posts about the South Loop offer. Bruce Levine wrote a column about the South loop offer also a few years ago.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 30, 2017 -> 07:55 AM) 1) "I'm told". Lmao. I'm sure 2) You don't get rainouts in Arizona. You act like it's bad for a guy to want his team to play on land he owns. Oh the horror! Now the Sox share a fairly new facility with the Dodgers and don't have to worry about crappy Florida spring weather, weird. JR would have never wanted to move to Addison and Tuscon if he didn't own the land. He should get a kick in his rear end for passing up the South Loop offer that the City of Chicago made. I've never met anybody who thinks the franchise is better off at its present location as opposed to the South loop location. Also when the tax benefits ran out in Tuscon he moved the team to Glendale.

1) I'm told that a new stadium could still be built in the South Loop at Roosevelt and Clark. Keep in mind that the City of Chicago offered to build a stadium at that site in the mid 1980s and JR stupidly rejected the offer. JR wanted to have a stadium built in Addison. Just by coincidence the stadium would have been built on land that he owned. 2) Nobody ever talks about this but for many years the White Sox did their spring training in Sarasota Florida. Out of nowhere JR announced that the team would be moving to Tuscon Arizona for their spring training games. It was somewhat of a head scratcher. Tuscon wasn't really close to the other teams that trained in Arizona. Turns out JR owned the land that the stadium was built on. More tax benefits for JR.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 18, 2017 -> 03:05 PM) By the way, if the rebuild is just a smoke screen to lower payroll, then why in the world did the White Sox pay $50 million to acquire Robert? That would make zero sense if they're only concerned about making profits. That one move completely shatters your entire theory. The $50 million dollars given to Robert is mostly deferred money. Robert gets most of the money in the future. JR won't be owning the team when Robert receives the money.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2017 -> 11:44 AM) No. Can't assure that for any team in the history of baseball. This is just garbage. You're right, my statement is garbage simply because the White Sox team, ownership and front office are garbage.

1) I read in todays Sun Times that the team is not expecting much in return for Frazier and Robertson after they're traded. You have to see how this plays out but I don't doubt that we will receive next to nothing for them. This only confirms to me that this isn't a rebuild. Its simply a salary dump by JR. I figure by Opening Day 2019 the team will have a payroll of somewhere around $30 million. Considering that the team grosses over $260 million every year, JR is looking at making more serious money. This team will be so bad by then I wouldn't be surprised to see the team have a Turn Back The Clock day with the players dressed in the uniforms of the St. Louis Browns.Hopefully sometime around 2019 this team will have new ownership in place to turn around this train wreck of a franchise. 2) I've always been a fan of Hawk Harrelson as a announcer. I wish this was his last season. It's time for him to go. One of his constant remarks the last 2 seasons is that JR is not going to let the Cubs take over the city. After this Quintana trade I wonder if he's going to use that same comment.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 01:07 PM) Not a bad post, but in a debate, you would lose because of the Robert signing. That was a big-buck signing. I am sure it is easier for the owners to stomach a rebuild if they are saving money in the process. Your post is interesting as didn't the Miami Marlins do what you suggest after winning it all and they never really started spending money again, did they? But as far as this just being a salary dump. IF that was true and I don't think it is true (it is a nice part of the rebuild for the owners, though, making it less painful if they are making tons of $$$), then this rebuild would totally prove interesting. Cause if their sole purpose is lowest possible payroll, then as the young guys advance and make the minimum possible dollars, the Sox would have to dump all of the ones who pan out as they near free agency. Interesting post, but I think the Robert signing proves they want to win. Because they didn't have to get involved with him if they wanted to only reap huge profits. They still would be seen publicly as a team rebuilding step by step even without the Robert $$$s being spent. Another benefit of a low payroll is you have very little on the books in terms of long term contracts. Its easier to sell a team when you a team with a low payroll and no long term contracts on the books. When JR bought the team from Veeck in 1981 he walked into a situation with a low payroll and no long term contracts. Both of my sources tell me that JR will sell the White Sox within the next 2 years. There are at least 2 groups of people who want to buy the team. They will be buying a team with a low payroll and no long term contracts.

This is not a rebuild. Its simply a salary dump. The main objective is to have the White Sox with the lowest payroll in MLB in 2018 and 2019. When you have income of over $260 million a year and a payroll less than $50 million, you're looking at some enormous profits for the owners. JR did the same thing in 1998+1999. The team barely drew 1.3 million in attendance each of those years but they were 2 of the teams most profitable years with the low payrolls. If the so call rebuild works out, fine. Either way JR and his investors will be making some serious money. I realize that the White Sox are a business. The objective of any business is too make money.Still, I would rather have the team making money with a winning team than what we're going to be subjected to the next few years.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Jul 13, 2017 -> 08:02 PM) I spoke with several Sox and Cub fans around town today and to a man, every cub fan liked the trade and every so fan was madder than he11. Why make a trade that helps the cubs...in any way shape of form? Hahn had other alternatives. Hahn grew up a Cubs fan. The Quintana trade gets the Cubs into the 2017 Playoffs. I figure after a couple of years of 100 losses the White Sox will show Hahn the door. He will then be hired by Epstein working for the cubs.

Maybe 2021. Hopefully we have a new owner by then.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Jul 3, 2017 -> 02:13 PM) Complaining about the ballpark is a fruitless endeavor. You're never going to change that. Chicago won't fund another stadium for decades and the downsides associated with moving to the suburbs far outweigh the benefits. I don't agree with you about a new stadium. Just a couple of years ago the Village of Rosemont wanted to build a stadium for the Bad Guys on the Northside. The White Sox lease runs thru 2029. I feel in another 6-7 years we'll probably be hearing talk of a new stadium for the White Sox in the Chicago land area.

I was at the game yesterday. It looked like they had more than the announced crowd of 22,000. With the nice shirt giveaway I thought they would have a bigger crowd. The Yankees series didn't draw that well and this Texas series has averaged 20,000. Last year the White Sox drew 1.7 million. I wouldn't be surprised to see the attendance below 1.5 million this year. a shameful number for a franchise in a big market.