Since I asked for questions for this P.O. Sox mailbag, the White Sox keep making news that delays me devoting the time to produce valid answers.
In fact, I could've done it again today with Korey Lee's benching and Lenyn Sosa's relay lapse during one of the flattest losses of a flat-assed season. But if the White Sox get swept by the Tigers at home to start the Chris Getz era, everything will remain timely enough, so let's proceed.
If I made it through this, I can make it through anything with this team….right?
-- Alec S.
I think if you've made it through this, then it's not really about the baseball on the field. It could be about the people, because I root more for White Sox fans than the White Sox at this point. It could also be about the edification of intimate knowledge, like having a fascination with Iron Curtain automobiles or CRT televisions. Nostalgia drives that stuff, too.
Some fans can't look past the baseball anymore, and I get it. It's not just the losing, because baseball's a zero-sum game, and some teams get the shaft more than others. Specific to the White Sox in 2023, you can't ignore the prevailing sense that disposable income is going straight into a bored old man's pocket. If you're feeling like the White Sox are taking advantage of you, there's no need to let them. You're a diehard fan, not a never-die fan, and there are ways fandom can meet honorable deaths.
On the flipside, I still maintain that fans shouldn't scold other fans for buying tickets or supporting the team. Following the White Sox isn't a prisoner's dilemma exercise, even if everybody feels trapped. Leave the Trabi enthusiasts alone. They already suffer enough.
Who from this coaching staff stays for next season and how do the Sox fix their scouting and player development problem.
-- Scott M.
This question was asked before Pedro Grifol's status was guaranteed for the 2024 season, or at least the start of it. So I'd think the people he brought on all stay, assuming they aren't poached by other teams.
(waits for uproarious laughter to die down)
So I think Daryl Boston, Charlie Montoyo and Ethan Katz could all be on the block, depending on whose idea they were. If Boston stays, then it turns out that he wasn't just Kenny Williams' guy after all. Likewise, if Getz thinks that Grifol should've been able to pick his bench and pitching coaches, I don't think either has distinguished himself enough to keep his job on merit.
Regarding the latter question, besides sheer investments in technology and people who know how to act on what it tells them, if you hear Keith Law tell it, the scouting might improve simply with less meddling and fewer conflicting directives from the hierarchy. One advantage of Getz coming from the player-development ranks is that he might know what kind of talent is more fun to work with, even if it's not as safe, or can't be plugged into the 26-man roster by the end of the following season.
Is Stiever done? Any news on Davis Martin? How do you see the rotation for next season?
-- RayHerbert
And:
What's up with Garrett Crochet? Will he ever pitch again?
-- SoxOdyssey2031
And:
Do you think Jesse Scholtens or Touki Toussaint are viable options for next year?
-- MoSox
These questions are all related, because the most obvious obstacle standing in between the 2024 White Sox and contention is the pitching staff. It's Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and three other guys, and Cease and Kopech will be coming off very disappointing seasons.
If Getz decides to take it easy in 2024, let some bad money melt off the books and avoid branding any prospects with a specific timetable, then you could see Scholtens and Toussaint as viable first-five options, and you could see the Sox attempt to let Garrett Crochet explore his preference of starting in the minors, because it's not like they'll need him that badly in the bullpen. Davis Martin might be able to return to MLB plans by the second half, and maybe Nick Nastrini makes the leap or Jake Eder looks better in his second season after Tommy John surgery, and you really start to collect options to fill out most of a rotation.
If the Sox do make a push for 2024 -- and the free agent market is deep enough in starts to at least add one guy -- then I'm guessing Toussaint/Scholtens would be either/or for the fifth spot, with the other being relegated to Triple-A or swing work. I think Toussaint gets priority because his stuff is livelier and he can get by with less-than-stellar control, whereas Scholtens can't show up without command and expect to contribute. That would probably require Crochet to be part of the bullpen, which might be his future whether he likes it or not, because it doesn't seem like his shoulder will allow him to return this year, limiting him to 10 whole innings.
As for Jonathan Stiever, he was outrighted in April and hit the IL after two outings that month 12 days apart, so I think it's fair to assume he's not a factor.
While I certainly hope the nepotism hires will be done by the 2030s but if they aren’t: what otherwise unremarkable player on the 2023 roster will have a future gig somewhere in the org in the mold of Kenny Williams, Chris Getz, Nicky Delmonico, Danny Farquhar, Donny Veal, etc.
-- Mark H.
Fun question. I'm going to go with Declan Cronin and Trayce Thompson. Cronin already works for a pitching training facility in the offseason -- and he checks his company email in-season -- so he seems like somebody who might naturally be brought on to establish some practices with the team. As for Thompson, he just keeps showing up.
USA Today is reporting that if the Sox move, they are looking at three potential spots; The United Center, Soldier Field, and Arlington Heights. What is your ideal resolution after their current lease ends?
-- WaldoWolf
I'd be nice if they could stay in the current neighborhood for the clean, geographical South Side ties. It's by transit lines, there's ample parking, and Josh lives right there.
If that's untenable for one reason or another, then the West Loop makes sense in a way that Soldier Field doesn't. I'd love the Soldier Field site for the drone shots alone, but it doesn't seem like the easiest place to draw 25,000 people 81 times a year, instead of a half-dozen Sundays and the occasional Monday or Thursday night. It's not even that convenient to get to Soldier Field from the Loop. The United Center has far more experience in absorbing those midweek crowds.
Arlington Heights could work in the way Arlington, Texas, does, although I wonder if that ventures too far north for the Cubs' liking. It'd also take a different owner. The Sox already struggle to draw in a densely populated area, so moving to where fewer people live doesn't seem like a recipe for success once the initial curiosity wears off.
Was Project Birmingham a complete failure that they did not try it again? Or did they just quietly do it with more standard promotions (Womack, Veras, Elko, Tatum, Cannon, Kelley) and holding guys there (Jose Rodriguez).
-- Wayne R.
This was sent before Rodríguez received his deserved promotion to Charlotte, but the rest of the point stands. I think the current state of the Birmingham roster simulates a lot of what they went out of their way to achieve last year, and most of the current Barons could use all the playing time possible, rather than sharing it with less-than-qualified players over the final month of the season. Everybody involved is old enough to where the five-month grind is the goal, and they're better off playing as much as they can play, wherever provides an adequate challenge.
As for whether it was a failure, I don't think it rises to the level of failure if it didn't seem to amount to anything. I think it's more meaningful to rate it on a scale of gimmick/not a gimmick. I'd rate it as "kinda gimmicky."
Is "buffoon" the most apt word to describe Jerry Reinsdorf? What phrase sticks in your mind?
-- Asinwreck
I think I said it above: "Bored old man." The way he describes owning the White Sox because he has nothing else to do reminds me of Hawk Harrelson's final year. People asked him what he was going to do in retirement, and he couldn't think of anything besides watching "Walker: Texas Ranger" and turn Smirnoff into urine (his words, not mine). Baseball is the only way they know how to pass the time, so they continue owning the team or calling the game, not really caring whether the millions people watching care how they do it. So I guess you could throw "selfish" in there as well.
While YOU might(??) enjoy the Nashville Sox being so close (under current ownership), does it even make any sense that Jerry would even try to leverage this maneuver given the apparent desire to move on from the team (sell) sooner than later? This just doesn’t seem add up, including being the ones to try to get a new stadium built in the next 5 years if looking to divest. MLB backfills with a second team here anyway, correct?
-- Mark J.
In 2030 when I visit Nashville to watch the team, what else can I get up to in town? Any great food joints or rock bars?
-- English_Sox_Colin
Believe me, I wouldn't be celebrating the White Sox moving to Nashville. It'd be a helluva consolation prize, but consolation would still be involved. I wouldn't mind following an MLB team from Day One, but I also love being in a Triple-A city, especially with a toddler who can't stay for a whole game. I'm in no rush to upsize.
Neither Reinsdorf nor anybody else tied to the White Sox have mentioned Nashville or any non-Chicagoland location in follow-up articles, so I'm wondering if the original report included idle speculation or leading questions. Kinda like the way Jon Heyman supposed that Pedro Grifol could be one-and-done by ... (gestures at everything) ... it makes sense to ask about Nashville or another market since Milwaukee just dangled the idea, and maybe somebody said "Sure, that might be a possibility."
The White Sox would lose so much value by moving to a much smaller and untested market, which is why it's never made sense why the league would approve it. But if anybody does happen to visit independent of the White Sox, there are a ton of great restaurants beyond hot chicken. I'm also finally getting in the habit of finding all the useful resources for smaller rock shows at venues I've not yet been to. Next up: Speedy Ortiz later this month at venue that pretty much looks like a room. I'm looking forward to it.
