I've always said they are a small-market team. But it has been the owners who have consistently forced them into this. At least since I have been alive. The owners either lacked money or refused to spend it, and coupled with demographic shifts and godawful management...they became a small-market team.

I think they embrace that anti-hero sort of sentiment, too, but for the wrong reasons (they're cheap and dumb, not hip).

_________________

Do you honestly believe that Milwaukee, Minnesota, Detroit, Cleveland, Arizona, Cincinnati, Kansas City all have more money to spend and that the Pirates have just as much? I understand calling the Sox mid market, but this?

_________________
Wattabout Kodak Black?

I really wish they would institute a floor that teams must spend every year.

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

I think they earn like a big market team

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

No, but if you act like a small-market team, then you are a small-market team.

And when they have "won the offseason," they've usually spent stupidly.

_________________

Except the Sox have a free ballpark which gives them a huge advantage.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

They scapegoated Lee. I don't think he was the problem.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The 2005 team found themselves (by complete accident) defensively upgraded. Carlos Lee was a butcher in LF. Not Eloy bad, but not good. Podsednik was defensively adequate. Crede, Uribe, Iguchi, Rowand, Dye....all competent defenders. AJ couldn't throw out attempted base stealers, but he could catch and was masterful with the pitching staff.

...and they hit a lot of Home Runs.

....oh yeah...the pitching staff was very good and they all pitched out of their minds when it mattered most.

I liked Carlos Lee, but his HR's were well covered by the others.

_________________

I don't think Detroit and Arizona should be on your list. I would consider both of those places to be mid market, just like the Sox.

Don't most of these owners have sweetheart deals from their municipalities? The Sox deal is an advantage, but probably not a huge one.

They had four big sluggers on that team: Thomas, Ordonez, Konerko, and Lee. Lee was the worst of the four. I was not sorry to see him go. Ordonez on the other hand....

Mags sealed his own fate after he went to Vienna or whatever to have his knee operation. IIRC he also turned down a contract offer that at the time was the largest in Sox history which was still on the table until the Sox found out about his surgery. Great hitter, but Mags was anything by a team first guy.

Jose Valintin was also a perennial 20 home run guy...and a 20 error guy.

2005 Sox were clearly going to be built around pitching and defense. As soon as they went back to trying to mash the opposing teams-- a mere one season later-- they missed the playoffs.

_________________

Until Reinsdorf dies and new ownership come in, the White Sox are done. The last three years have finally convinced me finally.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

I think they have an excellent chance to win the division next year.

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

They’re largely the same team we thought would dominate the Central. I’ll guess 92 wins.

_________________

Nope. They lost their best player. They have the worst defense in baseball. They lost their best defensive outfielder which isn't saying much. They have only four proven major league hitters in their entire line-up. They have no future. What they should do is to give their young kids a chance, Burger, Sheets, and every prospect in their minor league system and give them away to some team which has a future.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

Abreu is gone. Their best player and the team leader. 75-87. Last place in division.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

But LaRussa is gone. That's an instant 10 win improvement

And Buehrle sucked.

_________________
Wattabout Kodak Black?

can we stop with Abreu's leadership?

He was supposed to be the cuban whisperer and they were the biggest underperformers.

He did set a good example.

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

Really? So 200 homeruns and 741 runs scored is better than 236 homeruns and 868 runs scored?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

So 90 wins is better than 99 wins?

_________________

The Sox made Reddit's frontpage simply by doing nothing!

_________________

Jorr I hardly remember any of those guys. That is the point I guess?

_________________
Elections have consequences.

The offense wasn't the problem.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

You're right in that pitching and defense (not to mention timely hitting) were the real reasons why the Sox won that year.

You're wrong, though, to say their offense wasn't the problem. It was. The Sox were feast or famine, and everyone hated those teams. Some days, they just could not hit. Coupled with bad pitching, if the Sox were down 4-0 after four innings, the game was over. Could not win close games, either.

_________________

It's not like the 2006 White Sox were scoring ten and zero with nothing in between. They had a powerhouse offense that was better than that of the previous year's team. A homerun is better than a single and a stolen base. It just is.

The Sox pitching was worn out after going deep into the season in 2005 and that cost them in 2006 with what was, at least on paper, a better team than the one that won the World Series. 2006 was really the only bad year in Buehrle's career.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

B

The entire staff was mediocre at best. Went from 1st in ERA in 2005 to 10th in 2006.

The Sox were worse the next year. I don't think the starters were worn out; they just did not have good years in 2006. Contreras got off to a fast start before fizzling, Buehrle had one of his many so-so years, and Vasquez sucked. The middle relief guys (Politte, Cotts) were bad, too. The 2005 starters were also fresh enough to dominate the playoffs. Also, Brian Anderson was a black hole on the 2006 team. Even if they had Thome, Brian Anderson was memorably ineffective.

I get the feeling that you don't believe what you are arguing.

_________________