So What Do The Dodgers Do This Off Season To Get To Be As Good As The Braves?

[Soxsi75]

I know we are White Sox fans on here, but we are also baseball fans. So since the Dodgers were clearly inferior to the Braves this year getting their asses handed to them in the playoffs, just like our White Sox were lambasted for being so inferior because we lost a playoff series, and I've heard all this talk about all that needs to be changed with this Sox team because we lost a playoff series, what do the Dodgers need to do to get themselves to be on the same level as the Braves?..............

.........oh wait. The Dodgers were 18 games better than the Braves during the season? So they really were better? Well, they lost a playoff series to them. Which proves one thing boys and girls. THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A CRAPSHOOT!!

Now to begin with, I'm not ignorant enough to believe we don't have deficiencies to work on this off season. We don't have a right fielder, (actually we didn't have one before the season and didn't bother to get one,) we don't have a good every day second baseman and Kimbrel was a train wreck. But all I've heard since we lost the series to Houston is all that's wrong with us on here. I've even heard one idiotic comment on here that one of our problems is Abreu and Jimenez are too much alike so we need to get rid of one of them because of that. Now I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't let this ridiculously ignorant statement go. Maybe the Dodgers should get rid of Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor because they are all proponents of the "launch angle" theory, and therefore too much alike!! ( And yes, I know Muncy hits lefthanded so please, nobody comment on here that Muncy is different from Turner and Taylor being left handed. Because they all have something in common buying into the launch angle theory. ) But hey, they lost in the playoffs with these guys.....so I guess they aren't good enough.

I said in another post on here that only one team will win it all and everyone else will end up a loser. And the fact is that the FIFTH best team in the NL this year won the pennant!!

So let's here it everyone. We're number 5! We're number 5! We're number 5!! Is that a chant heard very often??

I guess my main point on here is the White Sox had a good year and won their division. And they will continue to be a strong team with this nucleus. What I feel proves this is we won 93 games without even being REMOTELY healthy. Do we have some work to do in the off season? Of course, as I stated two paragraphs ago. But to barbecue this team because we lost a playoff series? That's ridiculous. And if you believe we should, then you better to make sure you rip on the Dodgers, Giants, Rays and Brewers, all teams that won more games than we did, and also lost in the playoffs.

Playoffs are a crapshoot boys and girls. Pure and simple. If your team wins it, enjoy and celebrate it. If you don't, nowadays it doesn't prove a thing. 

And maybe I'm being a bit sensitive because an analogy I've always liked to use, is your favorite baseball team is like your little brother. You can rip and pick on him all you want but nobody else better do it. So hearing the White Sox get ripped on here so heavily makes me defensive. Even if it is by other Sox fans. 

And guess what? We may shore up all our weaknesses this off season, get back to the playoffs..........and possibly lose again in the playoffs next year. Because winning a championship is never promised and the playoffs are a crapshoot. If you don't believe me, than just ask the Dodgers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

Obviously the Braves are the best example of making the playoffs so many times with only one title over three decades to show for it.

That said, the Dodgers were just not hitting well late, were missing too many key parts of their team and starting Buehler twice on three day's rest caught up to them.

That and Matzek.

Roberts also made some terrible managerial decisions in this series...especially his usage of Urias.

In the end, the Braves did a great job shoring up their offense at the trade deadline and having a deep enough farm system that they could still overcome the losses of Soroka and Ynoa.  They've also been able to develop MVP caliber talents like Riley, Freeman, Acuna and Albies internally.

[SonofaRoache]

If I'm not mistaken the Dodgers have played in multiple WS' prior to this year. We haven't won 3 playoff games yet. 

[Snopek]

I get what you’re saying here and I agree with parts of it. The playoffs are definitely a crapshoot. That said, I think the whole ‘randomness of the playoffs’ thing has gotten a little carried away where we’re forgetting that the better teams still win a LOT of these series. The lesser team winning is still the exception to the rule, but it gets a lot of attention for obvious reasons.

I guess my point is…Comparing the Sox/Astros series to the Dodgers/Braves series, which it seems like you’re doing, feels a bit like apples to oranges. Getting beat by legit good players like Altuve, Correa, Yordan and Tucker is very different than getting beat by an out of his mind Eddie Rosario.

I have no interest in rolling the random playoff dice and hoping for storybook hot streaks. Gimme the best team we can put together on paper and I’ll take my chances there.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Snopek said:

I get what you’re saying here and I agree with parts of it. The playoffs are definitely a crapshoot. That said, I think the whole ‘randomness of the playoffs’ thing has gotten a little carried away where we’re forgetting that the better teams still win a LOT of these series. The lesser team winning is still the exception to the rule, but it gets a lot of attention for obvious reasons.

I guess my point is…Comparing the Sox/Astros series to the Dodgers/Braves series, which it seems like you’re doing, feels a bit like apples to oranges. Getting beat by legit good players like Altuve, Correa, Yordan and Tucker is very different than getting beat by an out of his mind Eddie Rosario.

I have no interest in rolling the random playoff dice and hoping for storybook hot streaks. Gimme the best team we can put together on paper and I’ll take my chances there.

Yeah, it’s almost like we’re betting everything on rolling the 2005 “everything must go perfectly/stars must align” dice at this point…because the White Sox were never going to have a 6 year window like the Cubs, 7 years like the Astros and 9 like the Dodgers.

We get 4 years, and perhaps 5.  Two are gone already.   And the Cubs, Royals and Astros each experienced a lot more success than two total playoff victories in the beginning years of their respective windows.

[Sarava]

The Dodgers were kind of limping in to the NLCS. Honestly, both teams in the World series had somewhat easy runs

4 hours ago, Soxsi75 said:

I know we are White Sox fans on here, but we are also baseball fans. So since the Dodgers were clearly inferior to the Braves this year getting their asses handed to them in the playoffs, just like our White Sox were lambasted for being so inferior because we lost a playoff series, and I've heard all this talk about all that needs to be changed with this Sox team because we lost a playoff series, what do the Dodgers need to do to get themselves to be on the same level as the Braves?..............

.........oh wait. The Dodgers were 18 games better than the Braves during the season? So they really were better? Well, they lost a playoff series to them. Which proves one thing boys and girls. THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A CRAPSHOOT!!

 Now to begin with, I'm not ignorant enough to believe we don't have deficiencies to work on this off season. We don't have a right fielder, (actually we didn't have one before the season and didn't bother to get one,) we don't have a good every day second baseman and Kimbrel was a train wreck. But all I've heard since we lost the series to Houston is all that's wrong with us on here. I've even heard one idiotic comment on here that one of our problems is Abreu and Jimenez are too much alike so we need to get rid of one of them because of that. Now I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't let this ridiculously ignorant statement go. Maybe the Dodgers should get rid of Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor because they are all proponents of the "launch angle" theory, and therefore too much alike!! ( And yes, I know Muncy hits lefthanded so please, nobody comment on here that Muncy is different from Turner and Taylor being left handed. Because they all have something in common buying into the launch angle theory. ) But hey, they lost in the playoffs with these guys.....so I guess they aren't good enough.

I said in another post on here that only one team will win it all and everyone else will end up a loser. And the fact is that the FIFTH best team in the NL this year won the pennant!!

So let's here it everyone. We're number 5! We're number 5! We're number 5!! Is that a chant heard very often??

I guess my main point on here is the White Sox had a good year and won their division. And they will continue to be a strong team with this nucleus. What I feel proves this is we won 93 games without even being REMOTELY healthy. Do we have some work to do in the off season? Of course, as I stated two paragraphs ago. But to barbecue this team because we lost a playoff series? That's ridiculous. And if you believe we should, then you better to make sure you rip on the Dodgers, Giants, Rays and Brewers, all teams that won more games than we did, and also lost in the playoffs.

Playoffs are a crapshoot boys and girls. Pure and simple. If your team wins it, enjoy and celebrate it. If you don't, nowadays it doesn't prove a thing. 

And maybe I'm being a bit sensitive because an analogy I've always liked to use, is your favorite baseball team is like your little brother. You can rip and pick on him all you want but nobody else better do it. So hearing the White Sox get ripped on here so heavily makes me defensive. Even if it is by other Sox fans. 

And guess what? We may shore up all our weaknesses this off season, get back to the playoffs..........and possibly lose again in the playoffs next year. Because winning a championship is never promised and the playoffs are a crapshoot. If you don't believe me, than just ask the Dodgers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be careful about assuming the Sox will be better with better health next year. This team built their lead and won their division in the early part of the season when half the lineup was out. When they got mostly healthy, they played mediocre ball for the most part. And yes, the starting staff largely pitched over the heads to prop this team up while injured. I know that's a big part of it.

IMO, if the Sox continue trying to build a team full of a bunch of OPS mashers and ignore baseball fundamentals, hitting cutoff mean, stealing bases, occasional bunts to get a runner over, defense, etc. the same results will keep happening over and over. The kind of player they need is Nick Madrigal, but that ship has sailed unfortunately.

What really sucks for the Sox, if they had been good enough to get past Houston, facing the Red Sox and then the Braves is not a daunting task. This could of been the year. And that also shows how you need to be lucky to win the World Series, in addition to being good.. Get a few things falling in your direction. Regardless of who wins the World Series, and I'll be surprised if it isn't Houston, but both have had favorable matchups for the most part.

Houston will of faced a talented but flawed team in the White Sox. They then face a good but unspectacular Red Sox team. And then a good Braves team who's best player is out. Or if the Braves win, they faced a very good Milwaukee team who got cold at the end of the season, then a Dodger team that limped in to the NLCS, and now Houston.

The good news for the Sox is, I think the kind of moves that can fix this team are generally cheaper moves. I just wonder if they see the flaws? That they felt Madrigal was so expendable worries me for what their intentions are for building the team.

[35thstreetswarm]

7 hours ago, Soxsi75 said:

I know we are White Sox fans on here, but we are also baseball fans. So since the Dodgers were clearly inferior to the Braves this year getting their asses handed to them in the playoffs, just like our White Sox were lambasted for being so inferior because we lost a playoff series, and I've heard all this talk about all that needs to be changed with this Sox team because we lost a playoff series, what do the Dodgers need to do to get themselves to be on the same level as the Braves?..............

.........oh wait. The Dodgers were 18 games better than the Braves during the season? So they really were better? Well, they lost a playoff series to them. Which proves one thing boys and girls. THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A CRAPSHOOT!!

Now to begin with, I'm not ignorant enough to believe we don't have deficiencies to work on this off season. We don't have a right fielder, (actually we didn't have one before the season and didn't bother to get one,) we don't have a good every day second baseman and Kimbrel was a train wreck. But all I've heard since we lost the series to Houston is all that's wrong with us on here. I've even heard one idiotic comment on here that one of our problems is Abreu and Jimenez are too much alike so we need to get rid of one of them because of that. Now I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't let this ridiculously ignorant statement go. Maybe the Dodgers should get rid of Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor because they are all proponents of the "launch angle" theory, and therefore too much alike!! ( And yes, I know Muncy hits lefthanded so please, nobody comment on here that Muncy is different from Turner and Taylor being left handed. Because they all have something in common buying into the launch angle theory. ) But hey, they lost in the playoffs with these guys.....so I guess they aren't good enough.

I said in another post on here that only one team will win it all and everyone else will end up a loser. And the fact is that the FIFTH best team in the NL this year won the pennant!!

So let's here it everyone. We're number 5! We're number 5! We're number 5!! Is that a chant heard very often??

I guess my main point on here is the White Sox had a good year and won their division. And they will continue to be a strong team with this nucleus. What I feel proves this is we won 93 games without even being REMOTELY healthy. Do we have some work to do in the off season? Of course, as I stated two paragraphs ago. But to barbecue this team because we lost a playoff series? That's ridiculous. And if you believe we should, then you better to make sure you rip on the Dodgers, Giants, Rays and Brewers, all teams that won more games than we did, and also lost in the playoffs.

Playoffs are a crapshoot boys and girls. Pure and simple. If your team wins it, enjoy and celebrate it. If you don't, nowadays it doesn't prove a thing. 

And maybe I'm being a bit sensitive because an analogy I've always liked to use, is your favorite baseball team is like your little brother. You can rip and pick on him all you want but nobody else better do it. So hearing the White Sox get ripped on here so heavily makes me defensive. Even if it is by other Sox fans. 

And guess what? We may shore up all our weaknesses this off season, get back to the playoffs..........and possibly lose again in the playoffs next year. Because winning a championship is never promised and the playoffs are a crapshoot. If you don't believe me, than just ask the Dodgers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make no mistake:  the finely-tuned Soxtalk negativity machine, if turned loose on any of the other playoff losers, could eviscerate them just as easily as it does our own team on a daily basis.  The Braves do give me hope.  They put together a good squad through a rebuild,  kept plugging away, had success but were up and down and frankly kind of forgotten this year until now.  We just have to keep pushing, make the playoffs regularly, and our time will come.  Who knows—our big chance may well come when we least expect it. 

[WBWSF]

Paul Sullivan has said that  the Dodgers are going to sing Kris Bryant.

[Dick Allen]

3 hours ago, Sarava said:

The Dodgers were kind of limping in to the NLCS. Honestly, both teams in the World series had somewhat easy runs

Be careful about assuming the Sox will be better with better health next year. This team built their lead and won their division in the early part of the season when half the lineup was out. When they got mostly healthy, they played mediocre ball for the most part. And yes, the starting staff largely pitched over the heads to prop this team up while injured. I know that's a big part of it.

IMO, if the Sox continue trying to build a team full of a bunch of OPS mashers and ignore baseball fundamentals, hitting cutoff mean, stealing bases, occasional bunts to get a runner over, defense, etc. the same results will keep happening over and over. The kind of player they need is Nick Madrigal, but that ship has sailed unfortunately.

What really sucks for the Sox, if they had been good enough to get past Houston, facing the Red Sox and then the Braves is not a daunting task. This could of been the year. And that also shows how you need to be lucky to win the World Series, in addition to being good.. Get a few things falling in your direction. Regardless of who wins the World Series, and I'll be surprised if it isn't Houston, but both have had favorable matchups for the most part.

Houston will of faced a talented but flawed team in the White Sox. They then face a good but unspectacular Red Sox team. And then a good Braves team who's best player is out. Or if the Braves win, they faced a very good Milwaukee team who got cold at the end of the season, then a Dodger team that limped in to the NLCS, and now Houston.

The good news for the Sox is, I think the kind of moves that can fix this team are generally cheaper moves. I just wonder if they see the flaws? That they felt Madrigal was so expendable worries me for what their intentions are for building the team.

Acvording to this board,, payoffs are all random except if it's the White Sox.  That's why 4 WAR in 93 games catchers actually suck. It's why the Sox RF issue was easily solved by getting an injured Eddie Rosario if the front office had any brain. 

In the end, the playoffs are so random anyone can win. The 2005 White Sox were 11-1, but if a ball doesn't go through Tony Grafininos legs and ElDuque pitches like he did the rest of the season, they probably lose in the ALDS.

Try to shore up the deficiencies, but every team has them. Just hope the team is hot and things  break your way in the playoffs.  It didn't happen this year. But they should be a playoff team for at least a couple more years.

[Flash Tizzle]

The Astros have made five straight ALCS championships; three of which have led to WS appearances. It’s not random anymore, guys. When we suggest to improve the ballclub to compete with Houston, it’s not just a reactionary response to losing. They have to be counted on as being there, in the playoffs, every season until proven otherwise. All roads to the WS go through Houston. 

[Soxsi75]

10 hours ago, SonofaRoache said:

If I'm not mistaken the Dodgers have played in multiple WS' prior to this year. We haven't won 3 playoff games yet. 

Not relevant. I'm talking about this year and proving that each year, the playoffs are a crapshoot. 

[Soxsi75]

3 hours ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Make no mistake:  the finely-tuned Soxtalk negativity machine, if turned loose on any of the other playoff losers, could eviscerate them just as easily as it does our own team on a daily basis.  The Braves do give me hope.  They put together a good squad through a rebuild,  kept plugging away, had success but were up and down and frankly kind of forgotten this year until now.  We just have to keep pushing, make the playoffs regularly, and our time will come.  Who knows—our big chance may well come when we least expect it. 

Well put. Thank you. 

[Soxsi75]

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Acvording to this board,, payoffs are all random except if it's the White Sox.  That's why 4 WAR in 93 games catchers actually suck. It's why the Sox RF issue was easily solved by getting an injured Eddie Rosario if the front office had any brain. 

In the end, the playoffs are so random anyone can win. The 2005 White Sox were 11-1, but if a ball doesn't go through Tony Grafininos legs and ElDuque pitches like he did the rest of the season, they probably lose in the ALDS.

Try to shore up the deficiencies, but every team has them. Just hope the team is hot and things  break your way in the playoffs.  It didn't happen this year. But they should be a playoff team for at least a couple more years.

Exactly. Well put. 

[FoxForce2]

Did Turner even play against the Braves? Muncy was out of the entire post-season. A healthy post-peak Kershaw had at least a shot of making a contribution had he been on the roster. Roberts didn't exactly handle Urias and Scherzer very well in this series.
Injuries. And MORE injuries. Even a team as deep as the Dahjahs couldn't suffer the short fused losses of two of the foundational pieces of their lineup.  I don't know that Houston would do any better were they to lose any two (pick 'em) of the heart of their lineup on short notice.
I don't know if the playoffs are a crapshoot - but there sure are a basket full of variables for any team to contend with.
 

[Soxsi75]

10 hours ago, Snopek said:

I get what you’re saying here and I agree with parts of it. The playoffs are definitely a crapshoot. That said, I think the whole ‘randomness of the playoffs’ thing has gotten a little carried away where we’re forgetting that the better teams still win a LOT of these series. The lesser team winning is still the exception to the rule, but it gets a lot of attention for obvious reasons.

I guess my point is…Comparing the Sox/Astros series to the Dodgers/Braves series, which it seems like you’re doing, feels a bit like apples to oranges. Getting beat by legit good players like Altuve, Correa, Yordan and Tucker is very different than getting beat by an out of his mind Eddie Rosario.

I have no interest in rolling the random playoff dice and hoping for storybook hot streaks. Gimme the best team we can put together on paper and I’ll take my chances there.

"the better teams still win a LOT of these series."

I hear you and I THINK this is usually true. But I'm not sure. Boston beat Tampa in the playoffs. Now, someone can argue that Tampa Bay is built more for the regular season then a short series. But they did win what 8 more games than Boston? That tells me Tampa Bay was better over the course of the long season. Same thing with Atlanta beating Milwaukee. Brewers had the better record. 

I guess I'm a bit defensive about this in saying the team that had the better record is usually better because of the White Sox history. Are people aware on here that the White Sox in the years 1963, 64 and 65 won 94, 98 and 95 games respectively? And all they got to show for it were 3 second place obscurities? But do you think the Yankees and Twins, the pennant winning teams of those years, would have liked facing a pitching staff of Gary Peters, Joe Horlen, Juan Pizarro and Hoyt Wilhelm out of the bullpen in a short series? You don't think we could have won a short playoff series with those guys? We might have had a dynasty in those years and we might have had a statue of Gary Peters in our ballpark. Instead, many people don't even know who he is. Or even still, what about our teams throughout the 50's, which in my opinion were even stronger overall then these teams in the 60's, that would have made the playoffs today but didn't then?  So instead, we here all this bullshit about how the White Sox have only won one pennant since 1959 and won one World Series since 1917. And not just the White Sox. It's amazing how much history could have been re-written if things were always the way they are now. 

"Getting beat by legit good players like Altuve, Correa, Yordan and Tucker is very different than getting beat by an out of his mind Eddie Rosario."

You're right about this and I agree with you. Maybe it was our bad draw getting Houston in the first round?  Maybe we would have beaten Tampa Bay? I definitely think we were better than Boston. But I guess in the end it doesn't matter. Because it still would have gone through Houston, and I do feel Houston was the best team in the AL this year. So I guess I have to say to you point well taken. 

"I have no interest in rolling the random playoff dice and hoping for storybook hot streaks. Gimme the best team we can put together on paper and I’ll take my chances there."

I 100,000% agree with you there. Well put. That's all we can do. But I'm just afraid that because of the randomness of the playoffs that it might not matter? That someday in the playoffs we'll run into another "out of his mind Eddie Rosario?"  In essence, the reason I did use the Dodger/Brave series as an example is because LA had the stronger team. There is no way to dispute that. They won 18 more games than Atlanta. But in the playoffs...... But you are absolutely right in what you saying "Gimme the best team possible and take our chances." That's all we can do and hope for.

[Snopek]

22 minutes ago, Soxsi75 said:

Not relevant. I'm talking about this year and proving that each year, the playoffs are a crapshoot. 

I don’t think I understand your overall point because how is the Dodgers making it to the World Series 3 of the last 5 years not relevant? Is the Astros making it to the World Series 3 of the last 5 years also not relevant? Are those not random enough for the crapshoot thing?

Teams that are seemingly underdogs can win playoff series, yes. Teams that are clearly the better team can also win playoff series.

[Snopek]

5 minutes ago, Soxsi75 said:

"the better teams still win a LOT of these series."

I hear you and I THINK this is usually true. But I'm not sure. Boston beat Tampa in the playoffs. Now, someone can argue that Tampa Bay is built more for the regular season then a short series. But they did win what 8 more games than Boston? That tells me Tampa Bay was better over the course of the long season. Same thing with Atlanta beating Milwaukee. Brewers had the better record. 

I guess I'm a bit defensive about this in saying the team that had the better record is usually better because of the White Sox history. Are people aware on here that the White Sox in the years 1963, 64 and 65 won 94, 98 and 95 games respectively? And all they got to show for it were 3 second place obscurities? But do you think the Yankees and Twins, the pennant winning teams of those years, would have liked facing a pitching staff of Gary Peters, Joe Horlen, Juan Pizarro and Hoyt Wilhelm out of the bullpen in a short series? You don't think we could have won a short playoff series with those guys? We might have had a dynasty in those years and we might have had a statue of Gary Peters in our ballpark. Instead, many people don't even know who he is. Or even still, what about our teams throughout the 50's, which in my opinion were even stronger overall then these teams in the 60's, that would have made the playoffs today but didn't then?  So instead, we here all this bullshit about how the White Sox have only won one pennant since 1959 and won one World Series since 1917. And not just the White Sox. It's amazing how much history could have been re-written if things were always the way they are now. 

"Getting beat by legit good players like Altuve, Correa, Yordan and Tucker is very different than getting beat by an out of his mind Eddie Rosario."

You're right about this and I agree with you. Maybe it was our bad draw getting Houston in the first round?  Maybe we would have beaten Tampa Bay? I definitely think we were better than Boston. But I guess in the end it doesn't matter. Because it still would have gone through Houston, and I do feel Houston was the best team in the AL this year. So I guess I have to say to you point well taken. 

"I have no interest in rolling the random playoff dice and hoping for storybook hot streaks. Gimme the best team we can put together on paper and I’ll take my chances there."

I 100,000% agree with you there. Well put. That's all we can do. But I'm just afraid that because of the randomness of the playoffs that it might not matter? That someday in the playoffs we'll run into another "out of his mind Eddie Rosario?"  In essence, the reason I did use the Dodger/Brave series as an example is because LA had the stronger team. There is no way to dispute that. They won 18 more games than Atlanta. But in the playoffs...... But you are absolutely right in what you saying "Gimme the best team possible and take our chances." That's all we can do and hope for.

Thanks for elaborating. I understand your point a little more, but I still think we shouldn’t ignore sustained success in the playoffs from teams like the Dodgers and Astros, even when they get knocked out some years by seemingly inferior teams.

[FoxForce2]

11 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Obviously the Braves are the best example of making the playoffs so many times with only one title over three decades to show for it.

 

Playoff appearances - long term: The Braves and Boston. Shorter term: The A's and TB. If you make the playoffs, you have a shot. And to beat the dead horse further - you have to make the playoffs to have any shot at all.
The dysfunctional Sox organization just doesn't get it and seemingly hasn't really wanted to - get it. By the time the Sox get in the habit and practice of making the playoffs - we might very well be out of this so-called 'window'. What happens then?

[Dick Allen]

13 minutes ago, FoxForce2 said:

Playoff appearances - long term: The Braves and Boston. Shorter term: The A's and TB. If you make the playoffs, you have a shot. And to beat the dead horse further - you have to make the playoffs to have any shot at all.
The dysfunctional Sox organization just doesn't get it and seemingly hasn't really wanted to - get it. By the time the Sox get in the habit and practice of making the playoffs - we might very well be out of this so-called 'window'. What happens then?

They have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons . Is the window closed?

[FoxForce2]

8 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

They have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons . Is the window closed?

Any realistic look at the 2021 season has to take into account the collapse of the rest of the Division. Put the Sox into the East or even the West and you have a very different picture. I didn't say the window was closed. I just don't see that we've gotten it open all the way. Old windows can be hard to get sliding up and down when used infrequently. They get stuck.

Edited October 24, 2021 by FoxForce2

[South Side Hit Men]

The answer is to reward the two or four best teams in MLB, not to hand out 10, likely to increase to 14-16, and render the regular season a glorified 162 exhibition season.

Contract Tampa and Miami due to a complete lack of fan interest, return to four seven team divisions, and hold a legitimate playoff format (ALCS and WS, both best of seven 2-3-2 Format).

Wild card teams are garbage. Five game series are garbage. Expanded playoffs are absolute garbage.

The added benefit would be baseball would complete their postseason by early October if they also switch to an 156 game season (12 games vs. 13 intra-league opponents), with the World Series and, if they “must” hold it, the silly ASG, serving as the lone “inter-league” contests.

Opening Day April 1, 2022

Final Day September 18, 2022 (170 days)

League Championship Series September 20-28, 2022

World Series October 1-9, 2022.

 

[SCCWS]

20 minutes ago, FoxForce2 said:

Any realistic look at the 2021 season has to take into account the collapse of the rest of the Division. Put the Sox into the East or even the West and you have a very different picture. I didn't say the window was closed. I just don't see that we've gotten it open all the way. Old windows can be hard to get sliding up and down when used infrequently. They get stuck.

Look at the NL East. That was just as bad a division as the AL Central. Yet the Braves survived and are in the Series. 

[Soxsi75]

4 minutes ago, SCCWS said:

Look at the NL East. That was just as bad a division as the AL Central. Yet the Braves survived and are in the Series. 

Actually it was worse. Two teams in the NL East lost more games than any team in the AL Central. 

[hi8is]

“The question should be: What do the Ashoes, Dodgers, Braves, etc have to do in order to compete with us.” -Kenny Williams

[FoxForce2]

4 minutes ago, SCCWS said:

Look at the NL East. That was just as bad a division as the AL Central. Yet the Braves survived and are in the Series. 

The Phillies at least gave the Braves a run. No one in the AL Central gave the Sox a run. The Braves are not the Braves of the Cox years - but they are still head and shoulders above the Sox WRT organizational competence. This WS appearance is at least something like a proof of that.