Grading the 2022 White Sox pitching staff
To complete the grading process, which started with the previously-published position-player review, here are assessments of the 2022 White Sox pitchers. To reiterate some context from that post, these grades are more art than science due to the subjective nature of how much 107expectations for a player should affect their grade. My goal is to balance actual player performance against their expectations and probable role (both short-term and long-term) entering the season.
Per usual, I consider an average grade to be someplace on the C/C+ borderline. An ‘A’ is the highest grade and an ‘F’ is the lowest grade.
I’m using 25 innings pitched as the cutoff with the exception of a trade deadline acquisition. In ascending order of innings pitched….
Jake Diekman (RP): 26 G, 19.1 IP, 28.6% K, 12.2% BB, 4 HR, 6.52 ERA, 5.08 FIP, -0.6 bWAR, -0.1 fWAR
Sometimes, first impressions are not lasting impressions. Diekman opened his White Sox career with two sterling appearances, suggesting maybe Ethan Katz showed him One Neat Trick to Not Walk Everyone. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived illusion, and it didn’t take long for Diekman to unravel. The lefty struggled against same-handed batters to the tune of a .913 OPS-against, so there weren’t any situations where he could be relied upon. Grade: F
Aaron Bummer (RP): 32 G, 26.2 IP, 25.6% K, 8.5% BB, 2 HR, 2.36 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 0.6 bWAR, 0.3 fWAR
Looking at the above stat line, one might assume that Bummer was a stalwart in the bullpen when he was healthy, but that couldn’t be further from the case. His Win Probability Added (WPA) was -0.50 for the season, and to make matters worse, he did most of his best work after the Sox had been de facto eliminated. Bummer struggled badly with control in April, and while he only walked two batters the rest of the season, struggles with stranding inherited runners persisted. Nine meltdowns against five shutdowns isn’t going to cut it, regardless of your peripherals. Grade: D+
Dallas Keuchel (SP): 8 G, 32.0 IP, 12.2% K, 12.2% BB, 6 HR, 7.88 ERA, 6.18 FIP, -1.1 bWAR, -0.3 fWAR
Dallas Keuchel. Grade: F
Joe Kelly (RP): 43 G, 37.0 IP, 31.2% K, 13.5% BB, 2 HR, 6.08 ERA, 3.06 FIP, -0.6 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR
Kelly gave up five runs to the New York Yankees in his second appearance of 2022 and his season numbers never recovered. A look at his ERA shows a guy who let innings get out of hand quickly, but a look at his peripherals suggests there was plenty of bad luck involved. Kelly’s 64 percent ground ball rate was excellent, and he only allowed two home runs all season. The trouble is that a high walk rate and a .382 BABIP-against make for a bad combination, and Kelly was never the stopper that FIP or xERA suggest he was. All of this suggests that he could be a good bounce-back candidate, but Kelly did not get the job done in 2022. Grade: D-
Matt Foster (RP): 48 G, 45.0 IP, 21.8% K, 8.8% BB, 6 HR, 4.40 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 0.2 bWAR, 0.2 fWAR
Foster was one of the bullpen’s most dependable arms in 2022 until a particularly ugly four-game stretch in June that began with him losing back-to-back games against Texas and ended with him struggling in garbage time after Tony La Russa decided he could no longer trust him. The spin rate on his fourseam has dropped since his 2020 breakout and it doesn’t seem to play as well off of his changeup anymore. Foster’s a fine low-leverage arm, but so are a lot of guys. Grade: C-
Jimmy Lambert (RP): 42 G, 47.0 IP, 22.1% K, 11.8% BB, 4 HR, 3.26 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 0.8 bWAR, 0.3 fWAR
During the summer months, the White Sox bullpen was hit with injuries and guys drawing the mysterious “unavailable” tag. It felt like every night, La Russa was repeatedly sending underqualified arms out there to their doom in high-leverage spots. Amidst the chaos, it was Lambert who quietly settled in as a guy who was up to the task. There was nothing flashy about the performance, just a guy who avoided dangerous contact and seemed able to keep his wits about him in big spots. At the end of the season, Jimmy Ballgame finished second (albeit a distant second) in the bullpen in WPA. The legend continues in 2023. Grade: B+
Tanner Banks (RP): 35 G, 53.0 IP, 22.6% K, 8.3% BB, 5 HR, 3.06 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 0.4 bWAR, 0.3 fWAR
You might assume from the above stat line that Banks was yet another breakout star of the 2022 bullpen, but he wasn’t really given a chance to be. The lefty had the lowest average leverage of all pitchers used by the White Sox in 2022. You can’t point to struggles in high leverage (.396 OPS) or medium leverage (.599 OPS), or against opposite-handed batters (.531 OPS) as the reason why. It’s therefore a bit surprising the Sox didn’t let Banks challenge the Peter Principle, especially given bullpen attrition and how often they seem to let Jose Ruiz do it.
Did I…did I just become a Tanner Banks stan? Grade: B-
Liam Hendriks (RP): 58 G, 57.2 IP, 36.2% K, 6.8% BB, 7 HR, 2.81 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.7 bWAR, 1.6 fWAR
Hendriks was excellent yet again in 2022, exactly matching his WPA of 2.01 from 2021. Yet, it’s hard to shake the sentiment that he wasn’t doing enough. The large investment in such a premium closer caused the Sox to cut corners offensively, which contributed to low-scoring games that raised the demand for his services. Yet, the Sox remained conservative in their deployment of Hendriks, only using him three times prior to the ninth inning when not trailing. Given the frequent unavailability of Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman, saving Hendriks for the ninth was often a curious decision. However, this isn’t a knock on the closer; he’s not the manager. Grade: A
Jose Ruiz (RP): 63 G, 60.2 IP, 25.7% K, 12.5% BB, 9 HR, 4.60 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 0.3 bWAR, -0.1 fWAR
With these recaps, sometimes I get to write about a player and learn something new about their season or am reminded of an interesting nugget that was lost to time. And sometimes, I have to write an honest-to-goodness player summary of Jose Ruiz.
Opposing hitters in….
- Low leverage: .204/.300/.372
- Medium leverage: .313/.410/.500
- High leverage: .320/.379/.560
This is who Ruiz is every year. He’ll mow ’em down in mop-up duty and fool the manager into giving him a shot at some real work, only for him to quickly remind everyone why that’s a bad idea. Grade: D
Davis Martin (SP): 14 G, 63.1 IP, 17.8% K, 7.1% BB, 8 HR, 4.83 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 0.1 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR
If you think that season line doesn’t do Martin justice, you’d be right. In the last game of the year, Martin gave up nine runs in 1.2 innings to the Twins before departing with an injury. Before that, his ERA was at 3.65 and his FIP was at 3.83, which better resembles the value he had to the White Sox this season. The sixth starter for most of the year, Martin was asked to either start the game or serve as the “bulk” guy after an opener 12 times. He gave the Sox at least five innings in ten of those twelve games, with one of the two exceptions being the aforementioned injury-hampered appearance on October 5. Unintimidated by the major leagues, Martin generally threw strikes and pitched with confidence that outpaced the quality of his stuff. We’ll surely be seeing more of him. Grade: B+
Kendall Graveman (RP): 65 G, 65.0 IP, 23.2% K, 9.1% BB, 5 HR, 3.18 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.0 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR
The Undertaker had the highest leverage of any bullpen pitcher next to Hendriks, and while the overall numbers were strong, his season WPA was right about league average. Indeed, many of Graveman’s slip-ups were costly, including single-handedly losing a game in Colorado for one of the most frustrating losses of the year. Further complicating matters was his frequent “unavailability” with a typical amount of rest. He led the Sox in appearances, but had just the 37th-most in MLB. All of this made year one of the Graveman experience feel a little underwhelming compared to the good aggregate numbers. Grade: B-
Reynaldo López (RP): 61 G, 65.1 IP, 24.8% K, 4.3% BB, 1 HR, 2.76 ERA, 1.93 FIP, 1.5 bWAR, 2.0 fWAR
López’ second go-round as a relief pitcher was a wild success, as he built on the progress he made in the second half of 2021. His fastball velocity was the highest it’s ever been, but more significantly, the harder slider he’s been throwing since converting to relief has become a legitimate weapon. That’s the second pitch that López has been lacking for years, and now that he has two high-quality offerings to work with, he looks like he could be a stopper near the back of the bullpen. Grade: A
Vince Velasquez (RP): 27 G, 75.1 IP, 21.6% K, 7.8% BB, 11 HR, 4.78 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 0.4 bWAR, 0.4 fWAR
Nobody but a few people somewhere in the White Sox front office had any idea why Velasquez was signed. That said, the Vinny Velo experience was … not that bad? Velasquez began the year as a rotation stopgap before transitioning to mop-up work, but to his credit (and everyone’s surprise), he held his own. He wasn’t able to pitch deep into games, and his run prevention in the rotation was not great (5.26 ERA), but he kept the team in it more often than not. The Sox managed to win six of the nine games Velasquez started, so folks who were dumbfounded by the signing (myself included) will have to look elsewhere for scapegoats. Grade: C–
Michael Kopech (SP): 25 G, 119.1 IP, 21.3% K, 11.5% BB, 15 HR, 3.54 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 2.2 bWAR, 1.0 fWAR
Kopech got pretty close to 120 innings, which is right around where it felt like he might sit coming into this season. Through the season’s first two months, Kopech was virtually untouchable, but injuries and (likely) fatigue started to get to him as the season wore on. His fastball velocity fluctuated a great deal from start to start and noticeably dropped from the 95-96 mph range he averaged when he was at his best. Still, this is as predictably uneven as the experiement was going to be. It’s a step forward, and hopefully something he can build on after recovering from knee surgery. Grade: C+
Lance Lynn (SP): 21 G, 121.2 IP, 24.2% K, 3.7% BB, 19 HR, 3.99 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 0.8 bWAR, 1.9 fWAR
Lynn rejoined the White Sox in mid-June after recovering from knee surgery and for quite some time, he looked rough. His ERA was a stomach-turning 6.42 through July until things calmed down and he looked like his old self in the last two months (2.43 ERA). Homers were a real problem, but Lynn mitigated the damage with a miniscule walk rate. It’s not the season the Sox expected out of Lance, but his performance down the stretch was encouraging that a healthier version can find success next year. Grade: C
Johnny Cueto (SP): 25 G, 158.1 IP, 15.7% K, 5.1% BB, 15 HR, 3.35 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 3.5 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR
Signed as some vague form of Keuchel insurance, Cueto surpassed virtually every expectation one could put upon him at age 36. By varying deliveries and staying around the strike zone, Cueto never gave anything away and provided quality starts all season long. He pitched deep into games and even completed the eighth inning four times in 2022. The entertainment, leadership, and veteran presence were all gravy on top of that.
Thanks for everything, Johnny. You did the best you could, but the White Sox weren’t good enough for you. Grade: A
Lucas Giolito (SP): 30 G, 161.2 IP, 25.4% K, 8.7% BB, 24 HR, 4.90 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 0.4 bWAR, 1.5 fWAR
Giolito’s fastball velocity and spin rate took a concerning turn for the worse in 2022, and his results went right along with them. He looked great through his first five starts until COVID interrupted his season. He recovered to throw two strong outings, but things unraveled after that, and there’s been plenty of speculation as to whether the aftereffects of the virus hampered him. Regardless of the cause, Giolito’s performance puts him on the uncomfortably-long list of guys looking for bouncebacks in 2023. Grade: D
Dylan Cease (SP): 32 G, 184.0 IP, 30.4% K, 10.4% BB, 16 HR, 2.20 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 6.4 bWAR, 4.4 fWAR
What a season. Those who preached patience with Cease (you can count myself among the skeptics) had their faith rewarded in a huge way. Dylan laid the groundwork for this year in 2021 when his slider turned into a premium out pitch. In 2022, Cease threw the slider even more often than his fastball, a plan of attack that proved to be an absolute nightmare for hitters. He was able to command his elite stuff in ways we’ve never seen before. The coolest feature of his season was throwing 14 straight starts in which he allowed one or fewer earned runs. He won’t win the Cy Young award, but he’s put himself on the short list of frontrunners for 2023. Grade: A
The Class Rank:
- Dylan Cease – A
- Johnny Cueto – A
- Reynaldo Lopez – A
- Liam Hendriks – A
- Davis Martin – B+
- Jimmy Lambert – B+
- Tanner Banks – B-
- Kendall Graveman – B-
- Michael Kopech – C+
- Lance Lynn – C
- Vince Velasquez – C–
- Matt Foster – C-
- Aaron Bummer – D+
- Jose Ruiz – D
- Lucas Giolito – D
- Joe Kelly – D-
- Jake Diekman – F
- Dallas Keuchel – F
(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports)
Author
Great Write-up. I am much more aligned than the Position Player one. I hope that is just because we were thinking along the same lines, and not some response to the feedback on position players.
Very good summary, Patrick. To me, the biggest disappointment was Graveman, who seemed to have bad outings at the worst possible time. We needed a lot more than average from such a high investment. But no need to worry, Rick will probably add a couple of more overpaid relievers this winter.
Joe Kelly getting BABIP’d to death makes sense considering how terrible the defense was.
I feel like F- and A+ should exist for Keuchel and Cease specifically. Can’t argue with any of the other grades.
I know this has probably been discussed elsewhere, but what are the chances we resign Cueto? It seems highly unlikely he meets this year’s results again next year, but having him back at the back end of the rotation seems to add value beyond his numbers. As you noted, his entertainment and veteran presence would be great to have back.
The performances of guys like Kelly and Diekman just have me wishing that we could more easily make room for the cheaper AAA guys like McClure (2.84 ERA, 49K vs. 11BB after 7/1), Muckenhirn (2.12 ERA away from Charlotte), and Schryver (3.09 ERA when you exclude his 2HR final outing). One of the few strengths of the Kenny Williams/Rick Hahn era has been their ability to develop useful bullpen pieces and it makes me wonder how much influence TLR had in pushing the level of investment in pricier, “proven” bullpen arms….
Seeing he raised his value this season and didn’t seem like the happiest person on the White Sox roster (and rightfully so), I highly, highly doubt he has any desire to return. And it’s not like the Sox FO is going to throw the kind of contract at him that’d make him change his mind.
I didn’t see anything that indicated he was unhappy enough to not return. He very much raised his value though and will probably be priced out of the Sox market. The same can also be said for Q, if we want someone who’s going to push Giolito to the 5 spot it’s probably going to cost the Sox $10 mil or more.
I’d agree that I didn’t perceive him as being unwilling to return. I assume it’ll be a question of money (as it generally is for any player).
A guy who calls out his team for not having any fire doesn’t sound to me like a guy eager to return. He never said as much, so it’s pure speculation, but I never got a sense Cueto was thrilled with his tenure here. Throw in the fact he’ll surely be lowballed, if offered anything, and it’s a safe bet he’ll find greener pastures.
(Though maybe that’s a product of the general sense of Misery that clung to the 2022 White Sox…)
When I watch MLB games, I’m almost always more in awe of pitchers than hitters. But when Joe Kelly is on the mound, it’s the opposite. How in the world does anyone hit this man? Yet here he is, getting shelled.
No way an A for Hendriks. More like a B. Too many brutal losses attributed to him and in trouble far more often than not.
And last week’s grade for Vaughn was awful.
One of our more clutch hitters who as well documented played out of position. While I agree he struggled I feel you over exaggerated it and made no acknowledgment that he also made some nice plays.
When I approached grading Hendriks, my first reaction was like yours, that he was pretty good, but maybe not deserving of an “A”. That’s why I dug into the win probability statistics, because he added just as much to winning this year as last.
His average leverage index this season was far higher than last year, meaning he was leaned on even harder to deal with high pressure situations. As such, he had more failures. But he also had more critical successes.
2021:
-WPA: -6.31
+WPA: 8.33
WPA (net): 2.01
2022:
-WPA: -7.05
+WPA: 9.06
WPA (net): 2.01
Considering Hendriks threw 11 fewer games in 2022, that says a lot about how hard the Sox leaned on him. I could see an argument for A- or B+, though.
The two blow ups I remember most weren’t entirely Hendriks’s fault either. The Buxton home run came after he hurt his back in the clubhouse and TLR was talked into letting him go back out there. The Baltimore game happened after Engel dropped an easy pop up that should have ended it.
Both of those sound like excuses that the highest paid closer in baseball shouldn’t need.
Oh.
Maybe you’re overinflating his 2021 then which was certainly a much easier year for him. I had him at a B maybe B+.
Fair enough. You all have talked me into thinking I should have at most gone with an A- instead.
I think I’d have to give Hendriks a B based on how other elite relievers, who should be his peers, outright laid waste to the league while he was ‘merely’ excellent. He was signed to be a top-10 if not top-5 reliever in the league, so 20th by fWAR is a small disappointment.
Isn’t b/war a better measurement for pitchers?
I also can’t believe how lacking in balance pnoles was in talking about Vaughn’s defense. pnoles made it seem like Vaughn was really bad in the field and didn’t mention the great defensive plays Vaughn made to save several games.
I wish pnoles was completely fair and balanced in his coverage like charlie was in commenting about Moncada this year. (It’s true that charlie never said a single positive thing about Moncada but that is only because Moncada never did a single thing at bat or in the field that wasn’t horrific.)
Have you always been a creepy stalker or is this something new?
what in the wide world of sports is going on here
Wish I knew Patrick.
A couple weeks ago this person began using my name putting a dot at the end and is trolling me.
LOL I literally did not notice the dot until now.
I’m done listening to charlie.
Glad you put a dot at the end of that
I think it’s called a period.
Go get some exercise.
Well, we’re gonna find out whether Kelly bounces back and whether Diekman can figure out One Weird Trick in the offseason because I doubt Jerry lets them just get cut with the money they’re owed (same with Pollock).
There’s no reason to cut Kelly or Pollock, they’re just expensive for their spots. Cutting them doesn’t make them cheaper. Diekman on the other hand should have to compete for his spot or just let go.
And that’s the pain of being a White Sox fan – the unwillingness or inability to just move on from a financial mistake. With payroll already at a franchise high, they won’t be taking on any meaningful contract to replace Kelly or Pollock. Unless you can trade away key prospects for a good, inexpensive player (or to facilitate a salary dump of those guys), they’re not going to be able to make an upgrade over them for next year.
I mean, based on every comment for the past year we shouldn’t be spending much on bullpen pieces anyways so a replacement for Kelly would be cheap by default right?
Not sure I follow – whose comments?
You almost got me. Good job.
Eh, Kelly himself is likely to be the upgrade. Relievers are usually volatile creatures prone to big fluctuations between dominance and slumps, and Kelly embodies that more than just about any RP I can think of. The problem with his signing was giving so much $$ to a guy that was presently hurt, which torpedoed most of his 2022 season. Cutting back on walks a lil and a normalized BABIP will have him bouncing back massively; despite everything, he recorded career highs in K% and GB% last year, and he’s got a ton of postseason experience.
I can agree with that – there’s a good chance Kelly bounces back next year. I’m always nervous about banking on a guy in his mid-30s bouncing back (entering his age 35 season), but he definitely should be better than his awful 2022.
It’s just health that’s the issue. He’s certainly not losing any pep in his stuff, which remained world-class despite its meanderings.
Exactly. In an ideal world, Diekman has to compete for his spot coming out of spring training–Leury, too. If they show you more of the same, a smart front office lets them go (well, a smart front office doesn’t make those deals in the first place). It doesn’t make them cheaper, but it does open roster spots for someone, anyone, who could at least make some kind of valuable contributions to the team.
Oof. The amount of money spent on the C- and below pitchers this season should be Exhibit A in the case for Hahn’s termination.
Great write up!!
Not sure what drives me the most insane about Diekman:
A) His terrible performance
B) His salary and commitment for 2023
C) The fact we gave up McGuire for him, who immediately became a very good catcher for Boston (although it did give Seby an opening)
D) Him being the only acquisition at the trade deadline
E) Him being the only acquisition at the trade deadline despite Hahn constantly reminding us about the 2021 Atlanta Braves who came from nowhere to win a WS while not mentioning and pretending he didn’t remember their FO acquiring like 5 guys that basically turned their season and won them said WS.
Good grief
FanGraphs had him at -0.5 fWAR BEFORE the trade, so:
A) Should not be surprising
B) Is beyond infuriating
C) Isn’t really anything to get upset about given he couldn’t be optioned
D) Again, infuriating
E) It was a buyer’s market in many respects and Hahn is responsible for the team having no real value to trade from in their system, so again, infuriating
For me, the worst part is B. Bad enough he added a demonstrably terrible pitcher as his only deadline move, but he hamstrung the 2023 squad to boot (which could describe most of his 2022 maneuvers).
The Diekman situation is Pure Hahn.
The McGuire saga never ceases to amaze me:
Collins was a bum that Hahn was actually able to get a useful piece back for in trade but it became a terrible trade the second Collins had the smallest bit of success (even though he faceplanted hard after that). McGuire comes in and does pretty much what was expected of him with some bad luck mixed in. Everyone bitches and moans about McGuire being a waste of a roster spot so Hahn trades him for a relief pitcher and now that McGuire had a successful stint in Boston, it was such a horrible trade and Hahn has no idea what he’s doing.
Can’t give Hahn too much credit for successfully dealing a bum like Collins when it was his regime who drafted him 10th overall, ahead of fellow catchers Will Smith and Sean Murphy.
Also, if Hahn is truly executing trades due to external bitching and moaning, then he’s even more pathetic than I thought
Smith was the 32nd overall pick and Sean Murphy was a 3rd rounder. There was obviously are large difference in perceived talent otherwise they would have been drafted higher given the importance of the catcher position. Teams whiff on draft picks all the time and Hahn turned a player that had no value to this team into a potentially useful piece. There’s no shame in giving him credit for that.
Nowhere in my entire comment did I say that Hahn made the trade because of fan bitching.
Youre right in that Collins was more highly valued and mocked than Smith and Murphy. But why on earth are we giving the White Sox and Rick Hahn any benefit of the doubt? Diekman sucked prior to Hahn’s acquiring. And now they’re on the hook to pay the man 3/4mil to suck, walk ppl and not even get same-handed-hitters out. You should tone down your defense of RH imo
Everybody sounds like the worst.
“Everyone bitches and moans about McGuire being a waste of a roster spot so Hahn trades him for a relief pitcher”
I truly don’t think many ppl bitched ab this at all but idk maybe you heard a bunch of bitching and moaning
We really ought to give Rodon a Qualifying Offer for next year. Is it too late for that?
Agree!
I think Rodon and Abreu will both be in Chicago next year. I also don’t think they will be White Sox.
Rodon maybe but Abreu? Why would he want to wind up his career with a team worse than the Sox unless it’s out of spite? He could possibly go to the Yanks or Cardinals. I’d love Rodon on the Sox again but then the jinx strikes and he gets hurt like so many other times when he was with them.
He wouldn’t have to leave town, they might offer him more money than anyone else, and they can guarantee him a starting job at 1B. Spite has nothing to do with it. If they spend like everyone is saying they are going to, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be worse than the Sox, either.
Great list once again. I agreed with pretty much all except for Graveman and Hendriks. I do not see how Graveman deserves a B-. He was very disappointing and blew some key games. If he was a scrap heap project with no expectations, maybe. But he was basically our #1 off season acquisition and disappointed in that regard. C-
Hendricks was pretty darn good, most of the time. But to give him the same top grade as Cease he needed to be better. He gave up only 1 fewer hit than ’21 despite having pitched 13 fewer innings, leading to many stressful moments, and blew two huge saves, including the infamous Engle Game v. Baltimore and the key first game in that September Detroit series right before we wet the bed against Cleveland. B+ for him
I know this is a big IF but IF the Sox can make a good decision on the next manager then I think a lot of pieces fall into place. I still feel Kelly can be pretty good. I do not feel the same about Diekman. Hendricks, for as good as he can be, always scares me when he enters. Hoping Graveman settles down but he also scared me. I felt alright with Lopez in relief but now he wants to be a starter.
I’m going to assume that Katz gets to come back though ideally the new manager will have a strong say with any staff changes.
We can also hope that if Hahn gets to pick the new leader and the Sox are a shit show next season, that he will be gone.
Anyone know about his contract, how long it is? Is he in Reinsdorf’s will?
The worst thing is that unless the Sox rehire Ozzie, the new manager will have absolutely no institutional perspective on any of these guys. Sox fans will have the joy of the relievers and Gio making absolutely the same mistakes as last year. And new Sox manager Jim Thome will roll with it given his well-known kind personality. But Jonny Cueto will enjoy watching it all as an SP for the Twins.
What if lacking institutional knowledge is a good thing?
How does Jim’s reply of
not have 100 up-votes?
How does Jim Thome not have institutional knowledge? I’m not saying I want him as manager but that would certainly be one of his positives. For that matter Miguel Cairo, who I can definitely say I don’t want as manager but he still has the job so he’s not ruled out. Echoing what Jim said, is lacking institutional knowledge a bad thing?
Cueto to the Twins is almost a painful given.