Bring back ______ and other nonsense.

Posted on by mysoxsummer

Happy 2017! The year the White Sox, as my Cub buddy put it, “Finally looked to the Cubs to see how to do it right.”  Of course the Sox have rebuilt before, but ya know nothing counts till the Cubs do it.  So thanks to the Cubs for legitimizing what teams have been doing for years.  I might have to write a blog about our conversation on NYE, I might not, we’ll see.  Let’s just say this, it included making fun of the new field name (deserved, but who cares if they win), what to do with the homeless population on 35th and Shields in the off season and some great “that damn Jew” talk.  It was ludicrous. OH NOOOOOOOOOO! The fight’s out / I’ma ’bout to punch yo…lights out.

So all the fucking time I see “Bring back Ozzie!”and “We should get AJ to play/manage us!” It can get me frustrated, I can get a little upset, but usually I write it off.  But in 2017, I take issue with it.  Let’s look at these claims.

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Ozzie is my homeboy.  Yep, he is.  I love Ozzie.  I thought Ozzie was perfection for a White Sox manager, as far as off the field.  Calling Jay Marriotti a “f@g”, making fun of Wrigley (and even buying a shirt that made fun of him) and overall just being the greatest type of person to represent the southside.  It was a great time…….when there was success.  2010 it ran a little thin and in 2011 it broke. Ozzie went down south, got PAID, and stunk up the joint.  You could argue that they really didn’t try down there, but Ozzie’s comments on Castro kinda showed he DGAF and was ready for some time off.  I can’t see the Blizzard Of Oz in the front office, and taking up his old position seems really lame.  Plus Kenny is a lifer, sadly.

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I’d blame Kenny Williams for the years of losing, but he is Jerry’s boy so ya know, that ain’t changing.  If you look at moves after Ozzie, thay have K Will written all over it.  The hiring of Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura (and now Ricky) just show that he was looking for guys who would take some direction.  But you might be saying “But MSS it is Rick Hahn who is making this rebuild happen” to which I would say correct, but only cause K Will has been failing since 2009.  I imagine a nice conversation over Cuban cigars and fine liquor.  Jerry having to talk down Kenny to make him listen to Rick.  Jerry saying “Now Kenny, you’ve done your plan and it doesn’t work, so let’s let Rick try”.  And the Cubs winning might have sealed the deal.  Who knows?  My line with Kenny doesn’t seem to be working at the moment, but next time I see him, I will ask him.

Ozzie had some experience before he came to Chicago to manage.  We tried to one up that and hire a guy with 0 experience and while it almost worked for a year, we had 4 more years of crappy baseball.  Ricky should be an upgrade, but only time will tell.  You know who also has 0 experience?  The #2 request for our new manager A.J..

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Listen, I get it.  2 of the most vocal players for the White Sox, hell any team they played on, are looking to continue their work in this fine game.  Yes, we gave Ozzie a chance and it worked out, no we shouldn’t bring him back.  Do we want to offer a job that we gave to RV with 0 experience to A.J. with no experience?  I don’t think so, I’d rather see him go up the ranks in the minors and see if he really wants to do it.  You don’t give dream positions to guys who haven’t paid their dues.  Not in Trump’s America. Just like our president elect did it, he created it all himself.  I feel giving him the reigns would be catastrophic at this point.  There are gonna be some lean years ahead of us, no need to burn out A.J. with that bullshit.  Ricky can handle it.  I have faith in Ricky.  I think so anyways.

I think A.J. would be a great defensive manager one day.  I’d point to the Sox defense in 2013, they sucked.  2012, best in the MLB.  Difference?  A.J. left and no one was there to yell at Alexi.  Or Gordon.  Or anyone in the infield.  From what I have heard he held guys responsible for their play on the field.  Something that has been missing for years and years.  I like to think that Ricky will change that, we’ll see.

We have some time before we really have to tweek the manager, if we even have to tweek it.  Ricky has something to prove after being shoved aside on the northside, let’s hope he makes his mark early and often.  So settle in, enjoy the cheap tickets while they last, and learn to enjoy baseball again.  It isn’t what the southsiders have been trying to quickie fix for the past 4 years, it’s watching kids grow, become the stars.  Like Tim Anderson last year, let’s hope we find a few more this summer.

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Happy New Year Fam!  Big things are coming for the 108 in 2017.  We have some t-shirts getting printed as I type this.  Look for us at SoxFest and maybe you’ll get a “108 Exclusive” shirt.  Follow us on FB here! We go live from time to time, mostly while drunk. We also have our Twitter that you can follow here!

 -MSS

@MYSOXSUMMER

Why hasn’t Chris Sale been dealt yet??

Posted on by mysoxsummer

I keep hearing lewd claims by most of the local media as well as some boisterous fans about how the White Sox hold all of the leverage with regards to any potential Chris Sale trade and how they should hold out for a kings ransom for the fiery left hander.  I’m here to tell you why that line of thinking doesn’t resemble reality in any way……so pour a stiff drink (I prefer a Tequila neat, or a Zin of your choice from Turley) and throw another log on the fire and let’s get started……

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First a definition….Leverage
“use (something) to maximum advantage”
 
This is a tough position when trading a top player is your best option, as is the case with the White Sox who have failed to win with the current core…….due to the fact that you never get full value for a top player being traded in their prime………think someone like Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Walt Wesley for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman…….Babe Ruth traded for $125,000 and a $300,000 note……….Patrick Roy and Mike Keane for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and Jocelyn Thibault……..Charlie Sheen for Ashton Kutcher…..I know what you are going to say, Chris Sale isn’t a star like these stars……he is for this trade market.  As you can see, you never get full value, why?
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White Sox current position (Leverage) – Teams that end up in position to trade a top star in the league have no leverage whatsoever…………most situations are more dire than the White Sox, which is to mire in mediocrity.  Some situations, like when Charles Barkley was traded, are sort of forced trades by the star.  This case isn’t quite that bad, but its pretty obvious to the other 29 teams that the White Sox have to do this.  That will drive his price down.  The White Sox aren’t completely backed into a corner, they could theoretically go for it, but they really shouldn’t and everyone knows it.
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The commodity is scarce (Leverage) – I have heard a lot of talk about Sale’s contract being a big boost to his value in this trade market, but its really not.  The teams we have heard about vying for Sale’s services can all afford a market rate starting pitcher if need be, so the cost savings doesn’t really factor in much………..I know, I know, you say, a penny saved is a penny earned or some such bullshit, but you just aren’t going to squeeze additional prospects out of any team for his market friendly contract.  The big market teams give as much a fuck about that, as the wetback making dollah fitty an hour when you stealing from the boss.  The White Sox might get one of these teams to take a bad contract of theirs, which is probably what ends up happening (possibly Shields, but more likely Robertson).  The only way the contract matters is that it could potentially add additional suitors, small market teams like the Pirates or Cardinals who have potentially enough prospects to get him.  If you are following the news, I don’t think any small market teams (save for the Braves) are even sniffing around.
I have heard there aren’t other top pitchers available in this market, but this  is clearly also untrue, as Justin Verlander is very available and he had as good a year as Sale last year (if one were to believe the buxom Kate Upton, it was better), except he’s right handed, which might be more to the liking of certain teams.  Again, the Bostons and LA Dodgers and Houstons of the world might just prefer to take on Verlander if the demands in return are lower.  Chris Archer is also “available” per many rumor sites, not to mention Jose Quintana on this very same roster, so I won’t say that Sale is fungible, but he’s not a unique commodity and his lower salary doesn’t matter very much.
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The commodity’s future value (Leverage) – We have a declining asset folks, no matter how you slice it…………with every pitch, he’s a declining asset.  His value will decline faster than Mona Lisa Vito’s biological clock was ticking.  Think about those beautiful avocados you bought this morning to make some guacamole, if you wait too long, they’ll be brown and gross and getting Tommy John surgery, or worse, they’ll have a bad year and damage their value permanently (in this sense, since the trading window is small).  It’s risky to hold Chris Sale any longer as he has almost zero upside pitching for the White Sox and infinite possibilities being dealt…..psss…if we realize this, then for fucksake the other 29 teams can piece it together, even the fucknuts team that is still employing Tony LaRussa in their front office.
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Your trade partners position (Leverage) – Boston and the LA Dodgers are not in dire need, they have unlimited (basically) resources and might find it more valuable to try and post for Shohei Otani and keep their prospects, or trade for Verlander or sign Rich Hill.  They could also both stand pat, they were division winners last year, returning their cores (BoSox need to replace Papi).  These are not trade partners backed into a corner and forced to pay your price.  These trade partners are like Trent and Sue, they’ll get those digits and wait 6 days to call their beautiful babies.  Let’s look at Houston……they are closer to really needing “a Chris Sale” ($1, Mike North), their pitching staff was rough last year, they have the position players in place and have traded/signed more reinforcements this winter.  That’s a team that has more need than the others, but are they really dressing up like Santa Claus and planting drugs on Billy Ray Valentine desperate…..I don’t think so…………looking at the rest of the pile, you need to find teams that are coming to the end of a playoff window, teams that are more desperate……the Washington Nationals come to mind, would they leverage their future for this?  I could see them being Cousin Eddie kidnapping Frank Shirley desparate……..then again, if I were them I would probably just sign Edwin Encarnacion to take over for Ryan Zimmerman‘s corpse at First Base and run with it.  The truth is, I don’t see a single trade partner that looks like Marcellus Wallace during the gimp scene…………not a one!
I know what you are thinking, WTF?  What we gunn do now BeefLoaf?
Let’s pour us another drink and look at a picture of 108 fave Alexandra Daddario
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Now……….
The Climax
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The White Sox aren’t going to get a kings ransom for Chris Sale, but they are going to get a nice package of players, sort of like the year you wanted Castle Grayskull for Xmas, but only got Snake Mountain……….they just aren’t going to be 2 top 10 prospects from the Red Sox, okay?  The White Sox don’t have leverage over anyone, they have a good trade piece with which to work out a deal with another trade partner that might like that trade piece.  Then the White Sox will trade several other players that will get little pieces here or there, then Rick Hahn will sign several low cost free agents, some will work out and be traded for even more young talent………..and it will snowball from there…….this isn’t going to work overnight and the Sox aren’t going to get all stars from the Chris Sale trade, it will just be the first and most valuable part to starting over.

– BeefLoaf

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