I dont know. He got moved a lot for a great player, but I think that might be because he's gay.

Wow.

That is a pretty harsh take.

I agree with some of it. Not sure about Viciedo or Beckham though

Sox have been on a winning season-losing season cycle for almost a decade.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I like Beckham. I don't mind him at all. But he's not a building block guy. Maybe a .280 10 HR, low OPS, good defense guy. And his value window is about up too.

Viciedo is worthless. He's had enough time to show improvement.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I would trade Sale for a combination of very highly-rated prospects for several reasons: 1)I have almost no faith that he will stay healthy over the course of the next few years; 2)the Sox minor league system and major league roster suffer from a dearth of talent; 3)following from point #2, the Sox are not likely to become serious contenders in the near future, meaning Sale may very well be worn down or seriously injured by that point.

It's better to trade him (and anyone else who can bring something of value in return) now and infuse the minor league system with talent that could make an impact in the major leagues quickly than it is to hang on to him and struggle to be mediocre with a talent-depleted roster.

The problem with this scenario is that the same people who have been in charge of talent acquisition for the past several years would also be negotiating with other teams to determine the compensation for Sale. I have no faith in their ability to judge talent.

By the way, one of the most frequently repeated shibboleths in Chicago sports media is that "Rick Hahn is a really smart guy." What evidence is there to support this view?

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Thank you. This has always been my reaction when I've heard it suggested.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That is a great question and we are about to find out some answers to this question over the next few months.

Some Sox fans give Theo & Co a lot of shit, but I would take Theo over Hahn all day.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

A poor division has allowed that to happen.

A team of David Dejesus's will get you in wildcard contention every year and those guys are always around.

Patching a team up every year with those guys can even "catch lightning in a bottle" and win a world series if you get lucky enough.

Of course then you tell everyone it wasnt luck and it was baseball IQ and you will prove it by winning another WS and you end up with 1 Playoff win since your World Series, you kind of proved the theory of your critics for them!

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Hahn is a REALLY smart guy! Yes... New Trier High (Good guys go there), Univ of Mich, Harvard Law and Northwestern Mgmt MB, sorry, but that is a smart guy. (d Hahn has been handling the contracts for at least 8 years now, he knows his shit.

Funny thing is less than 6 months prior to him becoming GM, Rongy tried to tell me Hahn wasnt ready. Uhmmmm?

The issue I think Hahn will have is that he needs some serious support and backing to do what he wants to do and I dont think he is going to get all that he asks for.

Theo, is a smart guy as well, plus he has got everything he could ask for, Ricketts is giving him NO excuses, none.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

You'd take a 2 time World Series winning GM over a first year one?

Way to go out on a limb.

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Alomar and Joe Carter for The Crime Dog and Tony Fernandez.

I think you're confusing education with intelligence. I know plenty of people with advanced degrees from Michigan, Harvard and Northwestern, not to mention faculty members at all of those schools as well. A lot of them are erudite, well read individuals, but they're hardly what one would call stellar intellects.

Your post raises another difficult question about the White Sox hierarchy: Why is a career contract negotiator overseeing talent acquisition for the club?

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Good question. Maybe because the last guy was a baseball player and he fucking sucked at talent evaluation.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I knew someone would try to tell me the difference between Education and Intelligence.

But if I am betting on a guy to be Intelligent.

Guess what, I am betting on the guy with degrees from NU, MICH and HARVARD!

Plus, I know the guy, he is a REALLY INTELLIGENT, even if he does suck at Wiffle Ball!

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Why can't this organization actually find a guy with a reputation for finding/developing talent and hire him? I'm so tired of Reinsdorf's culture of advancement through incestuous fealty.

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They had one his name was Ron Schuler.

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Elections have consequences.

Please dont confuse me knowing him with Larry doing 4 TV shows with "Sopes" and then calling him his friend.

Had plenty of mutual friends in HS and hung with the same people.

Even went to Sarkis with him. (that was for Good Dolphin)

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

They had one and his name was Larry Himes.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

KISS THE RING! KEEP YOUR JOB. ITS A SIMPLE FORMULA.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Refresh my memory as I am getting ode. Himes or Schuler drafted all the glory days Sox Frank-Carlos Lee?

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Elections have consequences.

Himes drafted McDowell, Ventura, Thomas, Alex Fernandez and then got fired.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Genius

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Elections have consequences.

Himes drafted Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, and Fernandez.

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Go ahead and make that bet if you like.

But when you do so, please note that all of our public/economic policy leaders for the past 50 years have had degrees from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Chicago, etc. You know where that got us? Fucked for a lifetime. But hey, I'm sure they're a bunch of "really smart guys." Just ask them. The only problem is that they've collectively articulated and championed some of the worst ideas in the history of human civilization--beginning with neoliberalism and working down from there.

Personally I'd rather have a proven baseball talent evaluator with a track record for winning than a "really smart guy" who sucks up to the right people, doesn't rock any boats, and doesn't know anything about anything. I'm sure his diplomas look real pretty on his office wall, though.

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I'm with Tall Midget.

Enough of the smart guys.

Hire some baseball dopes.

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KW had 9 1st round picks. Nailed one with Sale. Modestly with Beckham. Missed on the other 7. HE got promoted.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

And draft some baseball players who are actually, you know, good at baseball. The organizational philosophy of privileging athletic potential over baseball performance is an abject failure.

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With this philosophy it is amazing they took Sale with their pick.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

That would seem like a good idea.

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You understand that most of the best players in baseball were athletes who were developed into ballplayers, right?