The Athletic: Must Read article on Jerry Reinsdorf/White Sox

[Frank the Tank 35]

5 hours ago, Snopek said:

lolololol
 

This is what became incredibly apparent after their most recent rebuild and really cemented, in my mind, just how far they are from basically every other organization in terms of analytics and the applications thereof. Heuristics confirmed, and think about this to make your day sour:

We acquired many near-ready top prospects in the rebuild who mostly all came up and performed well in 2020/2021. Then THE ENTIRE TEAM REGRESSED. As asinine as the TLR saga was, the manager doesn't make every talented, individual player regress to that degree. Other teams scouted our players, developed ways to attack them, used that information and coached their players on its application all the while our players were told, "figure it out on your own," in hopes they had some fatalistic neurosis like Ted Williams. The same probably applies to training methodologies portending our inability to maintain health. The bottom line is that we had young CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT assembled, like some blind squirrel finding a nut, that was completely squandered by our pathetic analytics and support staff. 

[Paulie4Pres]

2 minutes ago, Frank the Tank 35 said:

This is what became incredibly apparent after their most recent rebuild and really cemented, in my mind, just how far they are from basically every other organization in terms of analytics and the applications thereof. Heuristics confirmed, and think about this to make your day sour:

We acquired many near-ready top prospects in the rebuild who mostly all came up and performed well in 2020/2021. Then THE ENTIRE TEAM REGRESSED. As asinine as the TLR saga was, the manager doesn't make every talented, individual player regress to that degree. Other teams scouted our players, developed ways to attack them, used that information and coached their players on its application all the while our players were told, "figure it out on your own," in hopes they had some fatalistic neurosis like Ted Williams. The same probably applies to training methodologies portending our inability to maintain health. The bottom line is that we had young CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT assembled, like some blind squirrel finding a nut, that was completely squandered by our pathetic analytics and support staff. 

The bolded is 100% accurate.

[Kyyle23]

1 hour ago, Texsox said:

f*** these guys if they can't play because they don't like the charter plane. Fly fucking commercial. Sorry if they aren't pampered enough.  How about win 63 games and we'll upgrade? 

Wow this sucks.  Anyhow 

[Green Line]

1 hour ago, Paulie4Pres said:

You know what's more comfortable for passengers? First class. You know what sucks? Flying coach. Have you ever seen how most professional athletes fly? 

The White Sox charter an Airbus320, a plane first manufactured in the 1980s. It features only eight first-class seats; the rest is coach.

The article isn't BS at all. It's as thorough a breakdown and evisceration of the worst organization in professional sports, and why they're the worst, as you will ever see. Perhaps you should read it instead of focusing on a minute detail of the article and immediately calling it BS.

I never fly first class, its overrated and not worth it.

[Quin]

1 minute ago, Green Line said:

I never fly first class, its overrated and not worth it.

You're a pro athlete that travels weekly?

[JoshPR]

15 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

Older? Just because the a320 came out in 87 doesn't mean the plane they use is that old. There is a new version of the a320. Now I get the point about it should have more first class

[Balta1701]

13 minutes ago, Frank the Tank 35 said:

This is what became incredibly apparent after their most recent rebuild and really cemented, in my mind, just how far they are from basically every other organization in terms of analytics and the applications thereof. Heuristics confirmed, and think about this to make your day sour:

We acquired many near-ready top prospects in the rebuild who mostly all came up and performed well in 2020/2021. Then THE ENTIRE TEAM REGRESSED. As asinine as the TLR saga was, the manager doesn't make every talented, individual player regress to that degree. Other teams scouted our players, developed ways to attack them, used that information and coached their players on its application all the while our players were told, "figure it out on your own," in hopes they had some fatalistic neurosis like Ted Williams. The same probably applies to training methodologies portending our inability to maintain health. The bottom line is that we had young CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT assembled, like some blind squirrel finding a nut, that was completely squandered by our pathetic analytics and support staff. 

One of the things that stood out the most over the past decade is the high ground ball rates. It’s not just one guy, it’s everyone, and the longer they’re here the worse it is. Eloy, Vaughn, Anderson - these are guys who should be hitting line drives and fly balls over the wall, but they gradually become more and more ground ball heavy.

Do we seriously think this is an accident, and anything other than the coaching staff telling them to hit the ball on the ground and put it in play?

Theres a line in the article about how Reinsdorf wants guys who get em over and get em in. LaRussa comes in, and these guys turn into ground ball machines. Thats a coincidence? Naw.

[Quin]

14 minutes ago, Frank the Tank 35 said:

This is what became incredibly apparent after their most recent rebuild and really cemented, in my mind, just how far they are from basically every other organization in terms of analytics and the applications thereof. Heuristics confirmed, and think about this to make your day sour:

We acquired many near-ready top prospects in the rebuild who mostly all came up and performed well in 2020/2021. Then THE ENTIRE TEAM REGRESSED. As asinine as the TLR saga was, the manager doesn't make every talented, individual player regress to that degree. Other teams scouted our players, developed ways to attack them, used that information and coached their players on its application all the while our players were told, "figure it out on your own," in hopes they had some fatalistic neurosis like Ted Williams. The same probably applies to training methodologies portending our inability to maintain health. The bottom line is that we had young CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT assembled, like some blind squirrel finding a nut, that was completely squandered by our pathetic analytics and support staff. 

I've repeatedly said that the 2020 core is racking up wins if they had a competent organization in charge of them.

[Quin]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

One of the things that stood out the most over the past decade is the high ground ball rates. It’s not just one guy, it’s everyone, and the longer they’re here the worse it is. Eloy, Vaughn, Anderson - these are guys who should be hitting line drives and fly balls over the wall, but they gradually become more and more ground ball heavy.

Do we seriously think this is an accident, and anything other than the coaching staff telling them to hit the ball on the ground and put it in play?

Theres a line in the article about how Reinsdorf wants guys who get em over and get em in. LaRussa comes in, and these guys turn into ground ball machines. Thats a coincidence? Naw.

Sir, are you implying that the 1940s Dodgers style of play is no longer applicable?

[Balta1701]

3 minutes ago, JoshPR said:

Older? Just because the a320 came out in 87 doesn't mean the plane they use is that old. There is a new version of the a320. Now I get the point about it should have more first class

A quick search suggests that the average age of an A320 in United’s fleet is 25 years, and this one seems unusually low in the size of the first class area.

[JoshPR]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

A quick search suggests that the average age of an A320 in United’s fleet is 25 years, and this one seems unusually low in the size of the first class area.

No I get that but people posting that the aircraft is from 1987....

[Tony]

7 minutes ago, Quin said:

I've repeatedly said that the 2020 core is racking up wins if they had a competent organization in charge of them.

I 100% believe that there are multiple guys that have totally different career trajectories on other teams. I cite Andrew Vaughn often. I really believe he was just wrecked by the White Sox. 

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, Texsox said:

f*** these guys if they can't play because they don't like the charter plane. Fly fucking commercial. Sorry if they aren't pampered enough.  How about win 63 games and we'll upgrade? 

Weren't you just posting that no one would want to play here if other people found out they treated their players badly?

[Green Line]

8 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

A quick search suggests that the average age of an A320 in United’s fleet is 25 years, and this one seems unusually low in the size of the first class area.

The age of a plane has literally no bearing to the interior and comfort.  There are tons of old United planes that have been refurbished recently and you would never know how old it is from the inside.

 

rosenthal needs to retract

[Dick Allen]

4 minutes ago, Green Line said:

The age of a plane has literally no bearing to the interior and comfort.  There are tons of old United planes that have been refurbished recently and you would never know how old it is from the inside.

 

rosenthal needs to retract

Yeah, the jet, who cares. It would be nice to all get first class seats, but there are what, maybe 70 or 80 in the traveling party. They each can have their own 3 seat area. If they players are upset about the jet, maybe they should look at their stats. They belong in a bus.

 

But all the other stuff is quite damning. I'm still holding out some hope JR gives his power to someone competent. 

Edited yesterday at 06:56 PM by Dick Allen

[southsider2k5]

13 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

One of the things that stood out the most over the past decade is the high ground ball rates. It’s not just one guy, it’s everyone, and the longer they’re here the worse it is. Eloy, Vaughn, Anderson - these are guys who should be hitting line drives and fly balls over the wall, but they gradually become more and more ground ball heavy.

Do we seriously think this is an accident, and anything other than the coaching staff telling them to hit the ball on the ground and put it in play?

Theres a line in the article about how Reinsdorf wants guys who get em over and get em in. LaRussa comes in, and these guys turn into ground ball machines. Thats a coincidence? Naw.

It sure as hell explains how so many guys come here and have career worst years, BY FAR once they do.  We are the 1950's Brooklyn Dodgers, while the rest of MLB is 70 years in the future from us.

[Rowand44]

4 minutes ago, Green Line said:

The age of a plane has literally no bearing to the interior and comfort.  There are tons of old United planes that have been refurbished recently and you would never know how old it is from the inside.

 

rosenthal needs to retract

Quite the strange hill to die on.  New players were literally making fun of the damn thing when they walked in it.  Don't really need to say much else.

[JoshPR]

4 minutes ago, Green Line said:

The age of a plane has literally no bearing to the interior and comfort.  There are tons of old United planes that have been refurbished recently and you would never know how old it is from the inside.

 

rosenthal needs to retract

Funny thing is and I'm not defending the Sox is that all these people claim older plane than the a 320. The 757 many teams use ..

[FloydBannister1983]

4 hours ago, Jake said:

Nothing too shocking here, but I'm seeing a theme this season that it seems Getz is not philosophically a company man. He doesn't seem to have been aligned with a "side" of Kenny vs. Hahn, seems to highly prioritize staffing up with outsiders, and seems to want the Sox to operate like the teams reputed to operate well. I hated the process that led to his hire and his baseball judgment is clearly suspect. But if he's the Jerry whisperer, and can hire the right people, that could be our way out of the wilderness.

Sorry, Getz isn’t leading anything out of any wilderness.  He’s a bumbling idiot.

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, Rowand44 said:

Quite the strange hill to die on.  New players were literally making fun of the damn thing when they walked in it.  Don't really need to say much else.

Which is really all that matters.  If MLB is mocking them for it, they are obviously missing something here.

[Paulie4Pres]

It isn't the age of the plane. It's the fact that it sucks and is worse than the rest of the league. Seriously. Eight first class seats?

[bmags]

9 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

That's gotta be burger.

[Tony]

2 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

It isn't the age of the plane. It's the fact that it sucks and is worse than the rest of the league. Seriously. Eight first class seats?

99% of people understand the issue, there are a few dolts that are seemingly argue to argue. 

[FloydBannister1983]

4 hours ago, Jake said:

Well I didn't write "Getz is cleary a great judge of baseball talent"

But if you're looking for reason to hope, I think you'd look at Getz's apparent vision for how an organization should be run. It doesn't seem to be the Reinsdorf way. Hopefully that might result in him hiring some smart people who give him the kind of advice that leads to better trades, signings, etc.

The only reason for hope is Reinsdorf’s age.  There is no positive at all surrounding Getz.

[hi8is]

Best article on this team that I have ever read. Hands down. Give that dude a raise.