Sox Machine Live: White Sox Fire Hitting Coaches
The stream starts at 7:15 PM CT. You can watch in the player below or on the YouTube channel.
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The stream starts at 7:15 PM CT. You can watch in the player below or on the YouTube channel.
Josh Nelson is the host and producer of the Sox Machine Podcast. For show suggestions, guest appearances, and sponsorship opportunities, you can reach him via email at josh@soxmachine.com.
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Josh Nelson is the host and producer of the Sox Machine Podcast. For show suggestions, guest appearances, and sponsorship opportunities, you can reach him via email at josh@soxmachine.com.
Okay I take your all’s points about timing and tone, but I otherwise love Dipoto’s comments. Even at the start of the rebuild, I was stumping for something like this: the goal should be sustained success rather than a three year spurt of dominance. I know you all are saying this is not how fans talk and, again, fair enough. But generally I think that’s changing. Fans are more in touch with analytics and data-heavy approaches.
Sure, he could say, “90 wins is our goal” but that’s just not true. After enduring the FO dishonesty from the Sox FO, wouldn’t you prefer they clearly state their goals? Their real goals?
The reality is a .540 win % over a decade doesn’t translate to a .540 % every year. Some years that’s going to trend closer to .500 or below, other years closer to .600. What’s wise about the goal of putting a good team out there every year instead of “going for it” in a short window is so many contingencies are out of your control. Two star players could get hurt, another team in your division also turns into a juggernaut, etc. And vice versa: pedestrian teams sometimes click and win the whole thing. For that reason, the Cardinals—with their plodding, sometimes boringly predictable success—should be the goal rather than the 2010s Cubs. Plus, you can still be aggressive when the team is better by hiking up the budget a little more or making a deadline acquisition.
I also like a GM thinking in 10 year (or more) increments. Why? Because I will be here in 10 years. Sure maybe Dombrowski wants to come in, spend spend spend, and leave us paupers in 5 years—that’s better than being only paupers, which we are now, so sure. But there’s something Barnum & Bailey about this approach, too. I certainly think GM’s feet should be held to the fire, but a good general manager should set a team up for long-term, as well as short-term, success. Myopically focusing on the next 3 years is a fireable offense, I’d say.
Whatever their stated “goals” are does not matter. They always aim at nothing, and they always hit it.
The past 10 full seasons they are 167 games under .500, averaging almost 90 losses. It all starts with Jerry and his character. No changes in rhetoric or philosophy will mean a thing until he is gone.
Yes, I would appreciate honesty.
Well, the objections are all about timing and tone, and Dipoto had to apologize for it. If he took over the White Sox right now and said “My goal is to have a .540 winning percentage over the next 10 years,” everybody would consider that hugely ambitious because of where they’re starting. Likewise, if he tried to push for a World Series with the top-end salary restrictions Reinsdorf puts in place, it’d be laughable.
But here, Dipoto is saying it when he hasn’t shown the ability to clear .540 by a division-winning degree over eight seasons, so it really is weak.
I’d rather have the owner thinking in 10-year increments. GMs of any team with credible postseason hopes like the Mariners shouldn’t think beyond five. Otherwise, they handcuff themselves like Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams, where they refrain from meaningful improvement because of what players presently earning six figures might cost in four or five years.
I think it was after the 2016 trades that Hahn indicated he wanted to build something sustainable where they can think about contending every year. I believed him and I agreed with him. Then he half-assed it,
You want to be in a position where you’re developing enough of your own talent and signing quality free agents to fill the gap. Then you can trade good players who are getting expensive but have a couple years of control for young guys with lots of cheap control. That how you afford to splurge on Harper or whatever it is you need.
What you don’t do is hang on to guys too long. Imagine what Timmy could have returned 2 years ago. To do that, though, you have to have the guts to do it (not worrying about what Howard Ankin might say) and you have to have the replacement ready. Sox had neither.
I’m down with .540 being the median. That gets you to the playoff 4-6 times in a decade.
You bring up a good point about the TV contract, I don’t think JR can afford to just take it on the chin in 2024 with that TV contract expiring. He may not like the idea of spending at the high end, but he stands to lose $100s of millions if things don’t turn around drastically and the only way to turn it around drastically is to spend.
There is no way to drastically turn this around. Even with a good owner/GM, it would take several years. They have a bad farm system and are starting with literally almost nothing. The only way to right the ship is how the Astros did, which is to take their lumps for the next 3-4 years, make good draft picks, get good returns for Robert and Cease, and spend on actual QUALITY players when it matters. Any notion of Jerry “spending drastically” is laughable, although it is quite possible to waste surprisingly large amounts of money on half ass, turd level players on 1-3 year deals, as they have proven in recent years. And will likely do to some extent in the short term, while losing between 95 and 110 each of the next 3 years anyway.
Jerry needs to die for there to be any real reason to have hope, pretty much.
Appreciate the pod, the 108 and Sox Machine line up makes the night fun. As far as Dipoto goes, probably something a regular fan base would struggle with despite the idea of what he is saying being what an owner would want to hear. This talk to ownership through media thing we see from GM’s/Execs seems to be the way of the world but ultimately fans don’t want to hear that stuff, so makes sense that it would become a polarizing topic. Other than that, the Mariners have things to work on and could very well be a powerhouse in the AL if guys progress further and additions are made to bolster their core. IF Dipoto is saying that to avoid the Ohtani sweepstakes then it will probably not go over well with fans more than it has already.
… but they only got a year to know the hitters!