The massive gears of the offseason’s machinations have begun to turn, slowly picking up speed. The Astros signed Josh Reddick to a four year, $52 million contract. As he was traded midseason, Reddick doesn’t cost Houston a draft pick, and they have purchased his solidly average services for $13 million AAV. They also added Brian McCann‘s […]
Author: Nick Schaefer
White Sox Year in Review: Carlos Sanchez & Leury Garcia
For a long time, the White Sox farm system was really bad. Addison Reed was their No. 1 guy at one point and that was in the era of “All Non-Mariano Relievers Are Fungible.” For a long time, Carlos Sanchez, Trayce Thompson, and Erik Johnson were the top three. I think Scott Snodgress was up […]
Mike Napoli is Good and That’s Bad
Sunday night, Mike Napoli went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, providing the bulk of Cleveland’s offense en route to a 3-0 lead in the ALCS. And while it is reductive, in many ways Napoli’s season (along with Dexter Fowler‘s) has served as one of the more condemnatory examples of how the White Sox failed […]
White Sox Year In Review: Charlie Tilson and Zach Duke
The White Sox won 78 games this year and 76 last year. On July 31 of this year, they were 10.5 games out of the division and below .500. I suppose that was a modest improvement on being 11.5 games out of the division at the same time the previous year. Despite being so situated, […]
The Perils of a Rebuild
As a general matter, I become extremely suspicious when the White Sox are, inevitably, compared to the Cubs. More often than not, it is done to force a narrative rather than to provide any meaningful analysis as to what is occurring on the field. Of late, the comparisons have proliferated but, mercifully, they have at least […]
White Sox Year in Review: Failed Fifth Starters
Coming into 2016, the White Sox did not seem to be under any illusions about the back of their rotation. After Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and Carlos Rodon, there was a staggering drop off to the fourth and fifth options. They started with John Danks and Mat Latos, one by inertia, and the other as […]
Blaming The Fans–Again
After a fashion and given the circumstances, the White Sox feel like they’ve been ending the season on a pretty good note. They’ve won five in a row, guaranteeing that their win total will be higher than 2015, and keeping the hopes alive that they’ll make it to .500 for the first time since 2012. […]
White Sox 7, Rays 1: This Team Is Clearly Unstoppable
The White Sox kept tacking on incrementally throughout the game, such that a close pitcher’s duel gradually morphed into a laugher. James Shields of all people pitched six innings allowing only one run while striking out six and only walking two. Shields entered the game leading the majors in HR/9 allowed, surrendering over two per […]
These Are The Bad Kind of Excuses
The expression “no excuses” has always vexed me. After all, if you would have won a race, but someone snagged you in a net before you hit the finish line, that’s a pretty excellent excuse. I also understand the expression as something athletes say when a star player gets hurt, because you have to maintain […]
The One That Got Away
I will not pretend, now long after the fact, that I hated the Jeff Samardzija trade when it happened. I was never a fan of his, and I thought he was always prone to being overrated due to his college football history and his high-profile signing with a high profile team out of the draft. […]