If past experience and career trends can be used to project future player performance, why can't past experience and recent trends be used to project team performance?

Sale has done nothing to make Sox fans think he won't continue how he has been and become a Hall of Famer.

The White Sox have done nothing that should make Sox fans think they won't continue on their current trend of being below medicore.

Why won't the White Sox be bad for 6 years in a row?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Because they won't be.

How about a $100 wager that the Sox win at least 84 games once in the next 3 years?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

84, huh? Not very confident in your organization?

You'd be satisfied with 84 once over the next three seasons?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

We are discussing them being bad for 6 years in a row. An 84 win team is not bad. I'm probably being generous with 84 wins but that is the kind of guy I am.

So, you accept the bet?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I want some action on this 84 win season in the next 3 years bet. I'll raise it to $1000.

I'm looking for an 81-85 win season next year

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

How about Cubs vs Sox first to 84?

If both make it in same season...draw or most wins wins?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

No. How about we stick with the discussion?

The Cubs may win 110 games the next 3 years. It still doesn't change the fact that the Sox won't be bad the next 3 years.

You seem to know this so you aren't going to accept.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I never said what I think the Sox are going to do over the next 3 years. The discussion is that your logic is inconsistent. My post pointed it out.

You want to ignore the last three years of White Sox baseball when discussing the next three.

Why can't do that for Arrieta, Sale, or any other player or team?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So no bet then. Got it. Even you understand the Sox won't be bad for the next 3 years.

I don't really understand your point. I don't know if Chris Sale is a future hall of famer. He certainly has a chance. So, that is the first flaw.

The other is that I don't think past performance is completely predictive of future success either. I think the Cubs will be around 84 games next year too.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Then I'd like America or the other Sox fans to respond to this. Chris Sale can never be bad because he hasn't been bad the last 3 years. Javier Baez can never be good because he hasn't been good in 6 weeks. Jake Arrieta can never be as good as Chris Sale because he hasn't yet.

So why are the White Sox going to be competitive over the next 3 when they haven't in the last 3, using that infallible logic America has presented as fact?

I don't subscribe to that way of thinking...therefore I do not need to accept this White Sox bet, nor defend why I am not accepting it.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So you moved the discussion to the Sox section to basically say "Why are you hating on the Cubs?".

It's not a crime to think that Sale is better, and will be better than Jake Arrietta. In fact, no one was willing to say otherwise even the Cubs fans. As for Baez, I just have major doubts that how he swings will be fixable. There is a reason no one else really does it how he does. I'd say Adam Dunn was probably a more skilled hitter and he couldn't do it.

Next time, don't call me out for thinking something unless you disagree with it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This is a non-trolling thread. What have the White Sox done this season or in the recent past to make you think they will suddenly make a turnaround? Abreu and Sale might be having career years. Do you expect this from both of them each of the next three seasons? Do you expect Reinsdorf to suddenly splurge on free agents? Will Rodon step up and immediately be a number two?

Let's not talk about the Cubs here - let's talk about the Sox.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

They fixed multiple holes in the past year and got younger/better. They also have more money to spend and won't have Adam Dunn.
Maybe. I think they'll still be pretty good.
I think they'll both be pretty good.
Yes.
No. He'll be a starter though which will help.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Fair enough. Minus Reinsdorf splurging.

Now I'd like responses to the same questions from others... or additional thoughts.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Players and teams behave differently. The White Sox clearly have been held back by a terrible bullpen and bottom of the rotation. Those are both fixable issues.

I laughed out loud at "Baez hasn't been good for 6 weeks", hasn't been good? Really? I would say he's been about as bad as a MLB player can possibly be. Let's try these words to describe his performance: hilarious, pathetic, fun bad and putrid. "Not good"... lol.

And yes, Jake Arrieta doesn't get to be as good as Chris Sale because he is not as good as Chris Sale. That is exactly my point. Your argument has been Jake Arrieta is better than Chris Sale because Jake Arrieta is not as good as Chris Sale. There are some minor faults with that argument.

The Cubs will continue to be bad because their future is hinging on bad ballplayers (Baez, Alcantara, etc.). The White Sox have a chance of being good because their future hinges on the performance of one MVP candidate and one Cy Young candidate.

So what you're saying is that you're opting out of the discussion? Gotcha.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I believe Chris Sale and Jose Abreu, barring injury, will maintain similar production to this season the next 3 years.

As Adam Eaton, Jose Quintana and Conor Gillaspie have shown us the White Sox do not need to splurge to find good players. Reinsdorf won't be a problem, he'll actually help us by preventing a disastrous signing of Scherzer or Lester.

Rodon probably will not immediately be a #2. I say probably because I said that about Chris Sale in his first year starting and he wound up being an ace immediately...anything can happen (including him busting out). He is definitely a superior option to any of the free agents out there because of his relatively low financial risk. If he fails it's not like the Sox are paying him $22m a year to suck.

The White Sox are trending upwards. They have the potential for a fantastic rotation, fixing bullpens is relatively easy and the lineup is all but set (probably need to find an OF). The defense will still be putrid, but the nice thing about Sale and Q is they get a lot of K's and if Rodon finds MLB success he'll strike out a lot of guys also. Hopefully that weakness will be minimized and bad fielding will only cost the Sox 3 games as opposed to 7 or 8.