FT35

Always hiring from within on high-level/FO/decision-making roles can easily cause secret rooting for failure to permeate throughout an organization. “If we don’t make this work, I’m next up to be in charge,” has a much different effect than “if we don’t make this work, I might be gone too.”

I disagree here. For the first few years he was here, I just thought he was young, immature and unlucky. When that carries over into 5-6 years, you start to look at a guy differently. He was the face of the franchise’s future—and that goes both ways. He had the talent, but in the end—his immaturity took over. He and Eloy were the source of the hope but also the face of so many failures—including the most damaging…they contributed mightily to the destruction of the White Sox culture. Their poor work ethic, bad attitudes and immaturity combined with a newfound love of ritz and money and they both worked a system that allowed them to do absolutely nothing and still cash massive checks—all while avoiding the catastrophe of associating with a disastrous on-field product. They were content living it up with their lives in their rehab facilities rather than being with the team. That absolutely burried an already weak franchise who was counting on them—and PAYING them to play. I think they deserve the crap they get. I’m glad Eloy is gone and I can’t wait to see Moncada get cut off from his free ride with us. There are players with better talent who actually want to play baseball who work for those paychecks—let’s focus more on them.

They can take their pick! It’s probably another reason why more guys didn’t get moved yesterday. Everyone knew the whole roster would be put on waivers today and they can just claim anyone they want (in the odd case of a team actually wanting any of our players currently).

Westburg broke his hand. Please oh please put Moncada on waivers so maybe Baltimore can claim him—Eloy misses his friend already. Such a great duo to have on your team!!

This might not even happen—counting on free agents to even sign to play here. Shoot—even the guys who HAVE agreed to play here don’t actually PLAY here (Moncada, Eloy, Robert etc). I’d be really cautious if a FA did agree to play here—either we drastically overpaid, something is wrong with him, or as in 10D’s case, both.

I just hope we don’t lose a full season as opposed to hiring some competent “outsider.”

Speaking without Sox bias, if I were the O’s—I’d go after Skubal before Crochet. With Detroit closer to contending than the Sox, you’re still gaining an high quality pitcher, but also setting back another AL team who, with Skubal, could be a couple key pieces from contending along with you. That gain is definitely valuable.

Crochet is interested in an extension because he knows his value has never been higher and if he bets on himself for 2 years, there’s a high probability it could go lower than it is now. People are viewing him as elite now (as they should). So I think it makes sense for him to cash in on “elite” money.

Hopefully they change their logo too. The giant red arrow pointing down was a sign of things to come for the Sox.

Selling low? Yes. However, Robert still has a ton of value as one of the top young players in the game. He’s hurt a lot—but it’s closer to a player like Acuna getting hurt…not Eloy. If they move him, it will be a haul.

“Money to spend” doesn’t translate to the White Sox actually spending money. Anyone worth $ won’t sign here. Anyone worth $ isn’t even considered by management. We get sloppy 7th’s and pay them with opportunities to play their way out of town at the deadline. “Money to spend” makes me chuckle. I’ve hoped, I’ve been burned, I've learned. It ain’t happening. And if the “money is spent” it’s on the Benintendi’s of the baseball world so it’s more like they have money to “lose” not “spend.”

He meets the Sox profile for a signing: Old, washed, DH-type, historical White Sox ties, completely lost the ability to hit, recently cut by a sub-.500 team, not picked up by any other MLB team. I like the guy. Not saying he couldn’t miraculously figure things out and produce some unmeaningful stats again for a bit. Just saying he meets the profile. If he appears anywhere on any KC Royals marketing material (background included), I think the Sox sign him.

A good indicator of bad management is when them team finds themselves selling off pieces early because they are always out of the race…but then you realize the team somehow has so many “good pieces” to sell. How can they have so many good pieces but never win with them?

I do not understand the long pattern of there being an extreme tolerance to losing yet as soon as someone gets good, they’re jettisoned out. Then someone (players & coaches both) has to totally fail in a bad organization to get a shot with the Sox. 15-40 and zero changes made. 15-40 is showing an extreme failure tendency even in a rebuild. Pedro should have been gone a long time ago. He’s clearly not the one. So why not start the search to find someone who is? Unless they have completely embraced being a terrible losing franchise and Pedro IS EXACTLY the direction the Sox want to go. No one tolerates losing like the Chicago White Sox.

Closer to a 1.9 out of 10.

We all hope for success. That’s what burns us because Jerry will ultimately kill the momentum—and thus our hope.

I know it’s just a small drop in the bucket at this point and they could easily lose their next 20, but it’s ALWAYS good to see wins!

Exactly. Why not? It’s not like if you cut ties with Pedro now other teams will be knocking at the door for his services. Say he miraculously finds a way to manage his kid’s little league team to a .400 win %—giving you hope that he has the shot at sniffing a .300 win % in the big leagues down the road…you can pick him up again with zero competition at pennies on the dollar if the new guy isn’t cutting it.

This is exactly it. The fans who are angry were once the same ones who believed enough to actually emotionally attach to the point of getting burned for trusting so much. The frequent burn has now turned into anger. They were the die hards who stuck by the team through much more thick than thin. It’s their money that was wasted when they were the ones who received big fat middle finger after big fat middle finger from the owner. Now they get called out when a win puts their team at 5-22 as though those same people didn’t support them through all the losing seasons. Instead, the voice of the Sox essentially says, “We’re 5-22 now—you should have believed in us! You lost faith and got mad after getting burned by our lies for decades on end, now look at us flying high at 5-22—we don’t need you!”

IMO, calling out the fans after moving from 4-22 to 5-22 just further alienates them. They’re 5-22 and all of a sudden the angry fans get called out as though they’ve been wrong to be upset about this team who is nearly on track to be the worst team of all-time? Classic Jerry’s White Sox. It’s always good to see a win. But how about we save the call out for when they win at a 70+% clip from here on out and actually accomplish something—then continue that accomplishment year after year proving again that they care about winning and the fans. You can’t go 5-22 with a roster expected to do just that without making fans angry. Pretty reasonable.

Yes. The rate in which the bad decisions are happening would cost a High School Athletic Director a job. It’s completely stunning to see this happen at the Major League Baseball level (or any pro sports team).

Yep. They are conditioned to not only losing but justifying losing. They have devalued winning and become non-competitive as a result. Rewards are given (continued involvement/employment) despite habitual underachieving and habitual losing. Long leashes are on individuals who have zero history of success or even recent accomplishment. From a fan standpoint—what is left to buy or consume from the Chicago White Sox at this point? They have no product and can’t even sell “hope.” “Remember when we took things seriously 30 years ago” only gets you so far today.

Exactly. This is bigger than the team on the field—the brand has been completely destroyed beyond repair. This is a product of not a few bad decisions, but decades of bad decisions. The Sox logo—once endeared—literally angers people now. It’s a symbol of total betrayal as far as baseball and sports “fanship” goes. I do not believe ownership/upper management understands either. We’re still throwing the Nicky Lopez’s of the world at this problem. No one respects what this organization has become. It’s built on endless spins and elusive narratives that turn out to be blatantly false—straight lies. Because of this—any possibility of positive intent is met with disbelief. It will take decades of sustained success to rebuild what these people have done to the White Sox brand.

Best part of the Sox not being able to hit baseballs is we don’t have to watch much of the super dumb HR celebrations that teams do to desperately try to appeal to fans. Such a strange time for MLB—all those acts are ultra awkward. I don’t mind genuine emotion after a big moment & I understand a handful of people might find the grossly immature HR side shows amusing—for me it got old fast and the game is becoming unwatchable. I watch these same guys slobber all over each other after a HR skit then proceed to ineptly fiddle fart around defensively the following inning like a bunch of amateurs. Let’s have fun in a way that keeps focus. The moment this team accidentally connects on a long ball and tries some goofy adolescent mosh pit ritual in the dugout that’s only funny to them (as if HR’s are a regular thing)…I’m out.

I think it will ultimately hurt Getz if he doesn’t. By not firing him, he’s already communicating to the organization that results don’t matter. Not just losing, but performing poorly is “OK” now “in the big picture” way. That is why their culture has been in the tank for so long. Hahn and Williams justified SO MUCH LOSING, going through repeated tanks and rebuilds. Justifying losing for any reason—whether it’s to tank or save money, whatever it may be, is difficult to get back. The person who justifies it is usually the person who has to leave before winning matters to everyone again. To think a team conditioned to justify losing for someone for so long will just all of a sudden be able to win for that same person is nonsense.