Tony La Russa named Manager

[Chisoxfn]

1 hour ago, hi8is said:

With the racism angle... no one has stopped to think that KW interviewed him... you’d think if he was racist that KW would have not been on board.

Really think that’s overblown but don’t know the guy. So... yea.

Yeah - I don’t know him either - But I’m largely in your camp. Plus I don’t throw that term around lightly - seems unfair the instant conclusions people are making.

[tray]

Hahn made some bad moves last year (EE, Mazara, Cishek, Gio Gonzo) and failed to make any player moves during the season. Also in terms of judgment about Managers,  Renteria probably should have been gone before the 2020 season.  I don't want to dwell on ancient history but where was Hahn when LaRoach's kid was in running around the clubhouse and the practice field?  Where was Hahn when Sale cut his jersey and refused to pitch?  KW had to deal with those situations.

Hahn is a blowhard who bragged that he could be a GM for the next 10 years.  Hahn continues to promise multiple championships ....an almost unattainable goal in the modern era of baseball.  The Yankees, Red Sox  and Dodgers even have a hard time doing that. Cubs have one in what might be a 1,000 year stretch.

Maybe Jerry no longer trusts Hahn to pick a Manager and wants to do what any good owner would do - consult with several people he knows and trusts - baseball people who have experience at various levels of management  Jerry is trying  to get this right.  His first instinct was to not trust Hahn. I applaud him for that.

Hahn is more of an accountant CFO type. OK good business executive bad baseball GM. Maybe the process should be to fire Hahn and bring in a new GM that Jerry has more confidence in moving forward.

 

[tray]

Maybe a  GM that knows how to pot the final pieces of a championship  team together should be considered. (Not a crew like (EE, Mazara, Cishek, Gio Gonzo) .

Time is of the essence. Dare I suggest Theo Epstein ? 

If Theo interviews with Jerry, Jimmy's balls might explode.

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by tray

[Vulture]

4 hours ago, Chisoxfn said:

nipping racism in the butt.  

The phrase is

[bmags]

Yeah we aren’t doing this.

[oneofthemikes]

This is a nightmare. JR just can’t help himself. 

[oneofthemikes]

The part of this that’s really gonna hurt is when the Tigers go get Hinch immediately after the White Sox shit down their leg. 

[Dick Allen]

7 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Sox leaks have been pretty bad the last couple years.  The only person I truly trust is Jimmy and he heard Hinch was Hahn’s guy.  Obviously he could have been overruled by Reinsdorf, but Jerry has never forced a manager on his front office and I can’t see any reason Hahn would want TLR after he described what he was looking for at the end of season press conference.  I’m sure I’ll look like an idiot tomorrow, but I still think the Sox are pushing this narrative to either gain leverage in their negotiations with Hinch or to mask their interest in Hinch from other clubs.

They are going to use Tony being associated with the Red Sox as his recent championship experience, and then go back to his managerial record, which was good when his teams were stacked. 
 

I am old enough to remember and comprehend most of Tony’s first stint. And my take is I thought we were rid of this asshole 34 years ago.  He will, assuming his brain hasn’t pickled, run a bullpen better than Ricky, but everything else?  I think his “genius” was more being with the A’s when they were as loaded as can be, and the Cardinals when they made no roster mistakes than out dueling the other dugout. It is one thing being a sour puss 40 year old with big personality players who are established. I just hope his being so dour doesn’t take the joy guys like TA and Eloy seem to bring everyday away. Hawk gets kidded for his child like qualities line. But he has a point. It is a game. It is supposed to be fun. I hope Tony doesn’t try to make Eloy and TA act like Harold Baines. It isn’t who they are.

[Chicago White Sox]

3 hours ago, tray said:

Hahn made some bad moves last year (EE, Mazara, Cishek, Gio Gonzo) and failed to make any player moves during the season. Also in terms of judgment about Managers,  Renteria probably should have been gone before the 2020 season.  I don't want to dwell on ancient history but where was Hahn when LaRoach's kid was in running around the clubhouse and the practice field?  Where was Hahn when Sale cut his jersey and refused to pitch?  KW had to deal with those situations.

Hahn is a blowhard who bragged that he could be a GM for the next 10 years.  Hahn continues to promise multiple championships ....an almost unattainable goal in the modern era of baseball.  The Yankees, Red Sox  and Dodgers even have a hard time doing that. Cubs have one in what might be a 1,000 year stretch.

Maybe Jerry no longer trusts Hahn to pick a Manager and wants to do what any good owner would do - consult with several people he knows and trusts - baseball people who have experience at various levels of management  Jerry is trying  to get this right.  His first instinct was to not trust Hahn. I applaud him for that.

Hahn is more of an accountant CFO type. OK good business executive bad baseball GM. Maybe the process should be to fire Hahn and bring in a new GM that Jerry has more confidence in moving forward.

 

Lol...it’s amazing how you build these insane anti-Hahn narratives in every single thread now.  If Jerry hires La Russa, it has nothing to do with not trusting Hahn and everything to do with wanting his buddy in the manager’s seat.

[Chicago White Sox]

3 hours ago, tray said:

Maybe a  GM that knows how to pot the final pieces of a championship  team together should be considered. (Not a crew like (EE, Mazara, Cishek, Gio Gonzo) .

Time is of the essence. Dare I suggest Theo Epstein ? 

If Theo interviews with Jerry, Jimmy's balls might explode.

 

Yeah, definitely ignore the Grandal & Keuchel additions.  And obviously Theo has never made a mistake in free agency right?  Jason Heyward was worth every single cent of that mega contract?  How about Tyler Chatwood?  Edwin Jackson?

And you know what, it doesn’t even matter because Reinsdorf isn’t going to fire Hahn after he just built a team that should have won the division last year.  It’s fine if you don’t like him, but demanding he be fired in every thread suggest your issues with him are bizarrely personal.

Edited October 29, 2020 by Chicago White Sox

[bmags]

10 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

They are going to use Tony being associated with the Red Sox as his recent championship experience, and then go back to his managerial record, which was good when his teams were stacked. 
 

I am old enough to remember and comprehend most of Tony’s first stint. And my take is I thought we were rid of this asshole 34 years ago.  He will, assuming his brain hasn’t pickled, run a bullpen better than Ricky, but everything else?  I think his “genius” was more being with the A’s when they were as loaded as can be, and the Cardinals when they made no roster mistakes than out dueling the other dugout. It is one thing being a sour puss 40 year old with big personality players who are established. I just hope his being so dour doesn’t take the joy guys like TA and Eloy seem to bring everyday away. Hawk gets kidded for his child like qualities line. But he has a point. It is a game. It is supposed to be fun. I hope Tony doesn’t try to make Eloy and TA act like Harold Baines. It isn’t who they are.

This is right.

As for your second paragraph, I agree. OTOH, he was part of two extended runs of successful teams and was never thought of as a piece holding them back. Probably best you can do as a manager.

[Sarava]

It would feel weird to me to hire Tony La Russa when he's almost 80. But eh, if they do, they do. Hopefully big spending comes this winter with whatever managerial decision is made. That's the more thing here

And if they do hire TLR, man that will bring me back to my childhood. I was 11 years old in the right field upper deck on the day they clinched the division in 83. Those are some great memories.

[Dick Allen]

6 hours ago, fathom said:

Nightengale listed Tony as the prime candidate a few hours after the conference call. This didn’t come out of the blue. My theory is JR wanted Tony and Hahn preferred Hinch. Tony would be given an interview to see how everyone would mesh. Tony aced the interview and Hahn supported Jerry’s decision.

A lot of this makes sense. I just think firing Ricky after making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade is so un White Sox. What would be bigger un White Sox is hiring a guy who is serving a season suspension for cheating to replace him. Maybe that was the ultimate plan but KW and RH threw out TLR to JR to get him to approve, thinking there is no way he would take the job, He did mention last year he was offered a job but turned it down because he couldn’t get Duncan to come back. They knew Duncan couldn’t do the job and Tony was a year older. 

Or maybe it is as simple as being overruled by your boss. Everyone with a boss has been there many times.

[bmags]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

A lot of this makes sense. I just think firing Ricky after making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade is so un White Sox. What would be bigger un White Sox is hiring a guy who is serving a season suspension for cheating to replace him. Maybe that was the ultimate plan but KW and RH threw out TLR to JR to get him to approve, thinking there is no way he would take the job, He did mention last year he was offered a job but turned it down because he couldn’t get Duncan to come back. They knew Duncan couldn’t do the job and Tony was a year older. 

Or maybe it is as simple as being overruled by your boss. Everyone with a boss has been there many times.

And if you getting overruled in one place buys you favor in another, I would take getting overruled on the manager position if it meant getting more money for FAs.

That said, I don't want this to be construed as supporting how JR is pushing this. 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

A lot of this makes sense. I just think firing Ricky after making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade is so un White Sox. What would be bigger un White Sox is hiring a guy who is serving a season suspension for cheating to replace him. Maybe that was the ultimate plan but KW and RH threw out TLR to JR to get him to approve, thinking there is no way he would take the job, He did mention last year he was offered a job but turned it down because he couldn’t get Duncan to come back. They knew Duncan couldn’t do the job and Tony was a year older. 

Or maybe it is as simple as being overruled by your boss. Everyone with a boss has been there many times.

If Rick Hahn recommended the Sox hire La Russa then he’s single dumbest GM in the sport.  You never want the owner or bosses’s friend or family member working directly for you.  Not only does it make replacing the guy next to impossible if he ends up being ineffective, but it also means that said guy has a direct line or communication with the one person who can veto your decisions and ultimately interfere in your processes.

[poppysox]

8 hours ago, SonofaRoache said:

That is bad because he has all of the achievements TLR does and is a better manager. He is also much better at handling a clubhouse. 

I am not a fan of the TLR hire and I was an early fan of Bochy for the job.  However, TLR has forgotten more about baseball than most of us ever knew.  The world will not end if he gets the job.  

[hogan873]

So, let's say the Sox hire LaRussa (which seems likely now).  What would we want to see to make us feel better about it?

Who they hire as supporting staff?  Bringing in a bench coach to learn under LaRussa and take over after a couple years?  Promising to spend this off season?

Essentially, what's the silver lining?

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, hogan873 said:

So, let's say the Sox hire LaRussa (which seems likely now).  What would we want to see to make us feel better about it?

Who they hire as supporting staff?  Bringing in a bench coach to learn under LaRussa and take over after a couple years?  Promising to spend this off season?

Essentially, what's the silver lining?

For La Russa to make any sense we would need Justin Jirschele or Sam Fuld as bench coach and Matt Zaleski as pitching coach.  From there, we need a commitment to expand payroll.  If those were to happen, I wouldn’t be that upset about La Russa being manager for two years.

That being said, I’m still going down with the ship on A.J. Hinch and that all this La Russa “smoke” is simply misdirection.

[bmags]

4 minutes ago, hogan873 said:

So, let's say the Sox hire LaRussa (which seems likely now).  What would we want to see to make us feel better about it?

Who they hire as supporting staff?  Bringing in a bench coach to learn under LaRussa and take over after a couple years?  Promising to spend this off season?

Essentially, what's the silver lining?

Yes, I'd feel better if we see sox PD guys get onto the field so there is some greater connection between our PD/analytics and on field development.

Really had dreams of getting the UMich pitching coach, that ain't happening. Worst case scenario: a bunch of TLR buddies come back.

And the spending, hoo baby that'd be nice. Really starting to think if sox were given greenlight to expand payroll this offseason it could be like buying up the loop after the chicago fire (that said, feel terrible for the players that are FA this year, but better sox spend for them than not)

[Sarava]

7 minutes ago, hogan873 said:

So, let's say the Sox hire LaRussa (which seems likely now).  What would we want to see to make us feel better about it?

Who they hire as supporting staff?  Bringing in a bench coach to learn under LaRussa and take over after a couple years?  Promising to spend this off season?

Essentially, what's the silver lining?

Signing Trevor Bauer would be a nice silver lining.

[bmags]

17 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

If Rick Hahn recommended the Sox hire La Russa then he’s single dumbest GM in the sport.  You never want the owner or bosses’s friend or family member working directly for you.  Not only does it make replacing the guy next to impossible if he ends up being ineffective, but it also means that said guy has a direct line or communication with the one person who can veto your decisions and ultimately interfere in your processes.

There are three areas of concern for me:

Number 1) The drama and conflict that follows TLR teams

Number 2) The prospect of TLR going around Hahn / Scouting to make player requests

Number 3) Tim Anderson's thoughts. That dude should have been able to hand pick the manager imo.

Numbers 2/3 I think can be mitigated and we'd hear pretty soon. but we are definitely going to live with #1.

[bmags]

La Russa to Danny Mendick in spring training

[poppysox]

4 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

For La Russa to make any sense we would need Justin Jirschele or Sam Fuld as bench coach and Matt Zaleski as pitching coach.  From there, we need a commitment to expand payroll.  If those were to happen, I wouldn’t be that upset about La Russa being manager for two years.

That being said, I’m still going down with the ship on A.J. Hinch and that all this La Russa “smoke” is simply misdirection.

I agree with Jirschele as a bench coach for LaRussa and think it would be smart for Hinch as well.  If we hire Hinch and don't show Jirschele some love...he is probably gone.

 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, bmags said:

There are three areas of concern for me:

Number 1) The drama and conflict that follows TLR teams

Number 2) The prospect of TLR going around Hahn / Scouting to make player requests

Number 3) Tim Anderson's thoughts. That dude should have been able to hand pick the manager imo.

Numbers 2/3 I think can be mitigated and we'd hear pretty soon. but we are definitely going to live with #1.

Yeah, #1 is terrifying no doubt, but I’ll be honest I’m greatly concerned about item #2 as there is precedent for it in a Reinsdorf run organization.  The rotating DH was a 100% something Guillen wanted and Jerry acknowledged he wanted to give him his type of roster.  The one decision proved very costly and and as spotty as Hahn’s track record has been in free agency, I don’t want La Russa getting to “push” for guys just cause he likes them.

[bmags]

6 minutes ago, poppysox said:

I agree with Jirschele as a bench coach for LaRussa and think it would be smart for Hinch as well.  If we hire Hinch and don't show Jirschele some love...he is probably gone.

 

Just a reminder Jirschele is a 30 year old manager of an A ball team. There aren't many places he'd do better than here.