The Chicago Shite Sox

[Eli]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

[SKO]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

Yeah holy shit does that trade look absolutely awful now.

[Saul Goodman]

Even after adding Brett Lawrie, Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro, GM Rick Hahn wants to continue to upgrade the White Sox' offense, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com writes.

Yes, more "upgrades." Hawk's gonna cancel his quasi-retirement again so he can watch this juggernaut all season long.

[SKO]

Even after adding Brett Lawrie, Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro, GM Rick Hahn wants to continue to upgrade the White Sox' offense, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com writes.

Yes, more "upgrades." Hawk's gonna cancel his quasi-retirement again so he can watch this juggernaut all season long.

Well, I mean, Brett Lawrie's .706 OPS is considerably better than the .622 they got from their combined 3B last year, so upgrade is technically the correct term

[Oleg]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

[SKO]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

[Oleg]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

I guess that's the thing...Kimbrell and Miller both got traded to FOs that seem to be more "old school".  Maybe there are really two markets that teams should be playing in?  I don't know.

Also, I think it's time to start evaluating trades that happen mid-season compared to off-season.  Different motivations and all that.

[SKO]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

I guess that's the thing...Kimbrell and Miller both got traded to FOs that seem to be more "old school".  Maybe there are really two markets that teams should be playing in?  I don't know.

Also, I think it's time to start evaluating trades that happen mid-season compared to off-season.  Different motivations and all that.

Yeah I think that's the problem. Theo and Jed have identified where the game is now and that young hitters should be the new currency of the game, but the majority of front offices still seem to value top pitching prospects over top hitting prospects. The Cubs were never in to trade for Price or anyone else because they didn't have a Daniel Norris to offer, which is dumb, because Daniel Norris is probably going to be a #3/4 type starter at best and those really aren't that hard to find, but Detroit wasn't going to give up Price without getting a "ML-ready starting pitcher" in return.

[SKO]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

I guess that's the thing...Kimbrell and Miller both got traded to FOs that seem to be more "old school".  Maybe there are really two markets that teams should be playing in?  I don't know.

Also, I think it's time to start evaluating trades that happen mid-season compared to off-season.  Different motivations and all that.

Yeah I think that's the problem. Theo and Jed have identified where the game is now and that young hitters should be the new currency of the game, but the majority of front offices still seem to value top pitching prospects over top hitting prospects. The Cubs were never in to trade for Price or anyone else because they didn't have a Daniel Norris to offer, which is dumb, because Daniel Norris is probably going to be a #3/4 type starter at best and those really aren't that hard to find, but Detroit wasn't going to give up Price without getting a "ML-ready starting pitcher" in return.

DPD, but this why I am hoping that some of the Cubs starting pitching prospects start to get some attention this year as they move into the higher levels of the minors so that the Cubs have some pitching bargaining chips to throw into talks with guys like Gleyber or McKinney if they really need to put together a blockbuster at some point without having to torture us every five minutes with another Soler/Baez rumor.

[Oleg]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

I guess that's the thing...Kimbrell and Miller both got traded to FOs that seem to be more "old school".  Maybe there are really two markets that teams should be playing in?  I don't know.

Also, I think it's time to start evaluating trades that happen mid-season compared to off-season.  Different motivations and all that.

Yeah I think that's the problem. Theo and Jed have identified where the game is now and that young hitters should be the new currency of the game, but the majority of front offices still seem to value top pitching prospects over top hitting prospects. The Cubs were never in to trade for Price or anyone else because they didn't have a Daniel Norris to offer, which is dumb, because Daniel Norris is probably going to be a #3/4 type starter at best and those really aren't that hard to find, but Detroit wasn't going to give up Price without getting a "ML-ready starting pitcher" in return.

I guess that's the thing...that Detroit FO is basically the same people in the current Boston FO that gave Price 217 and traded all those prospects for 70 innings of a $13MM closer.  Arizona is the FO that signed Greinke to 210 and gave up HOLY-SHIT-I-STILL-CAN'T-BELIEVE-WHAT for Shelby Miller and gave away Touissant last year just so someone would take 10MM of their hands in Arroyo.

At some point, everyone will realize that two (or four or whatever) FOs aren't going to be able to set the whole market, right?  Just because The Braves found that deal, doesn't mean that Cleveland will find a similar deal for Carrasco or Salazar.

[Quality Start Machine]

Starting to think Rick Hahn might be a complete moron.  Remember when he was a candidate for the Cubs job?  Good God.

Yeah, that awful spending spree from last year is going to haunt them for years to come.

Wha' happened?

They spent $40 million last year to get a combined -0.1 fWAR from Robertson, Melky, LaRoche, and Duke. They supposedly would need to move LaRoche in order to make any significant moves that cost actual money, but no way in hell anybody will bite on that. They're pretty much just stuck being the same team again next year, but now with Brett Lawrie!

Yeah I know what happened last year; I just didn't know they acquired the great Brett Lawrie.  lol

Tangential LOL -- Lawrie was a key piece in what the A's got for Josh Donaldson, MVP.

*Key* piece?  They did get pretty damn good prospect (as prospects go) and a pretty decent pitcher.  No a haul by any stretch (especially compared to what Kimbrell and Miller fetched) but it's probably not *that* much of an LOL yet.  I mean, still an LOL but The A's got some probably useful pieces.  Oh shit, whom am I kidding?  LOL away.

Trades just don't seem to work the way they should right now. Offense is harder than ever to find, and yet the guys who have been traded for the best returns in the last two years are almost all pitchers (Snork/Hammel, Price, Miller, Kimbrel, etc). You'd think people would realize there's more Shelby Millers than there are Josh Donaldsons but apparently not.

I guess that's the thing...Kimbrell and Miller both got traded to FOs that seem to be more "old school".  Maybe there are really two markets that teams should be playing in?  I don't know.

Also, I think it's time to start evaluating trades that happen mid-season compared to off-season.  Different motivations and all that.

Yeah I think that's the problem. Theo and Jed have identified where the game is now and that young hitters should be the new currency of the game, but the majority of front offices still seem to value top pitching prospects over top hitting prospects. The Cubs were never in to trade for Price or anyone else because they didn't have a Daniel Norris to offer, which is dumb, because Daniel Norris is probably going to be a #3/4 type starter at best and those really aren't that hard to find, but Detroit wasn't going to give up Price without getting a "ML-ready starting pitcher" in return.

I guess that's the thing...that Detroit FO is basically the same people in the current Boston FO that gave Price 217 and traded all those prospects for 70 innings of a $13MM closer.  Arizona is the FO that signed Greinke to 210 and gave up HOLY-SHIT-I-STILL-CAN'T-BELIEVE-WHAT for Shelby Miller and gave away Touissant last year just so someone would take 10MM of their hands in Arroyo.

At some point, everyone will realize that two (or four or whatever) FOs aren't going to be able to set the whole market, right?  Just because The Braves found that deal, doesn't mean that Cleveland will find a similar deal for Carrasco or Salazar.

Depends on whether they can sucker Stewart into giving up Goldschmidt.

[SKO]

So many Sox fans saying "yea we won the off-season last year look how that turned out" like there's not a difference between overpaying Adam LaRoche and Dave Robertson to save a 73 win team and adding a 26 year old 6 WAR OF to a 97 win team.

[Bort]

So many Sox fans saying "yea we won the off-season last year look how that turned out" like there's not a difference between overpaying Adam LaRoche and Dave Robertson to save a 73 win team and adding a 26 year old 6 WAR OF to a 97 win team.

"Sox Fans Being Delusional" is not exactly a hell of a lede.

[CT III]

So many Sox fans saying "yea we won the off-season last year look how that turned out" like there's not a difference between overpaying Adam LaRoche and Dave Robertson to save a 73 win team and adding a 26 year old 6 WAR OF to a 97 win team.

Did anyone really say that the Sox won the offseason last year? I need names.

[Bort]

So many Sox fans saying "yea we won the off-season last year look how that turned out" like there's not a difference between overpaying Adam LaRoche and Dave Robertson to save a 73 win team and adding a 26 year old 6 WAR OF to a 97 win team.

Did anyone really say that the Sox won the offseason last year? I need names.

I'm pretty sure no one has ever accused the Sox of winning anything.