WEBVTT - White Sox team preview w/Chuck Garfien 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.440 The previous season when they lost one hundred and one games. 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:04.480 People ask me, Okay, what's gonna happen next year? And 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.160 I would say, it's not gonna get any worse. It can't, 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:08.479 And sure enough it did. 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:14.560 Here we go, all right, let's let's get all the 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:16.680 funny business out of the way here first, because then 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:18.680 we're gonna try and get serious for like five ten 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:23.320 minutes with Chuck Garfin are for friend from the Chicago 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.840 Sports Network shop, Great to see you. How are you? 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:27.440 Do you have a prop for a j. 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:29.600 I do. 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.559 One of a few copies left in the world of 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:34.159 the Hawk us. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.559 I'm I am transfixed by this. I cannot stop reading 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:40.840 about Hawk Harrelson. All right now, I'm at the point 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.879 where he's talking about how he arm wrestled a guy 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.280 who was six foot nine and beat him. It was 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:47.600 in Brunswick, New Jersey. 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:50.680 Yeah, real life for us. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.640 Go look at this man. 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.360 What Scott looks like in the offseason. 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.120 Scott Scott has said it you should talk about that book, 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.640 and he said he would. He said Knerico would pull 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.199 out a pull the book out in a rain delay 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:12.480 and he would read from it. Is that true? He 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.959 would read just like an outlandish story from the book. 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:19.200 He would just open it to any page. It was 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:20.880 like the Bible. You can open it to any page 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.959 and find a great story. Now, were they all true? 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.480 I don't really know, but they were made for a 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.400 great book. And listen to someone that's own Hawks since 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:32.280 he was in high school and he still lives around 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.720 the corner from me, I can't argue with him. But 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:41.640 he also dressed great, smelled great, and you know, revolutionary 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:43.360 did a lot of cool things. 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.280 How many players do you know put their nickname on 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.360 the back of their jersey just as Hawk. 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.960 That is cool. He is the definition of a renaissance 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:58.040 man to me, Yeah, got the story. You're right, You're right. 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.000 I gotta ask before we dig in here. I do 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.400 have to ask, are you with the Chicago Sports Network? 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.640 I am oh, I didn't know if you Ozzie automatically 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.200 got transferred over. Because I will admit this, and I 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.000 talked about this this weekend with Scott and the people. 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.120 We went out to dinner Friday night, Mark and I said, 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.040 I don't care how the White Sox do, but watching 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.160 you and Ozzy after they lose every game is must 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.160 watch TV. I would stay up and watch it, just 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.640 so I could see what kind of antics that you 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.360 and Ozzie would pull off. And you, I mean, your 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.760 hair looks great because it was gray. So the off 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.280 season has done you well, Chuck. So it's getting ready 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:37.040 to start up here in a couple of weeks. But 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:39.519 I'm just saying, like your antics with you, and I 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:41.720 know when you know Frank would be on, he wouldn't 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:43.600 get into as much. I love pods, but you know, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.320 Ozzy's just a different level of ridiculousness. So between the 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.560 two of you guys, watching you guys every night was 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:50.200 worth it. 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.480 Yeah, we had a great season for the show. Unfortunately 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.760 it was the worst season in modern baseball history. I 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.400 did have a procedure in the off season. I removed 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:05.400 every single brain cell in my brain from what happened 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.320 last season. So if you asked me anything about the 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.760 one hundred and twenty one losses, I have magically forgotten 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:10.079 them all. 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.200 Oh you got the Men in Black? That little clicker 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.560 that yeah, kids, look it up. It's a little clicker. 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.239 It just makes you forget everything. And they just put 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.640 the time period in. Okay, so we're gonna relive some 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.560 of that magic and re educate you. So let's hit 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:38.480 the twenty twenty five storylines for the White Sox. Homework 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:44.480 is four storylines. Number one. It can't get worse, question mark, right, 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.360 So we'll go over what twenty twenty five looks like 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.480 and if there's going to be a Luis Robert audition, 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.760 and then trade around the deadline, what about the five 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.560 year plan and some of the prospects like Colson Montgomery, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.360 No Schultz and new edition Teal and then the veteran 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.360 mercenaries that were signed to this offseason like Josh Rojas, 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:09.280 Mike Takman, and Martine Perez. So I'll go first, nice 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:13.360 and simple, Chuck, they were really bad last year, worst team, 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.520 Just to re educate you, of all time in terms 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:21.080 of the record. They traded away their ace, Garrett Crochet. 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.839 Is it possible that they could be worse in twenty 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:26.440 twenty five? 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.679 All right? So at the end of the previous season 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.000 when they lost one hundred and one games, people ask me, Okay, 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.440 what's gonna happen next year? And I would say it's 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.599 not gonna get any worse. It can't, and sure enough 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.600 it did. But as someone and it's funny, how all 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:42.120 these memories are now coming back to me. I guess 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:46.039 the surgery didn't work. As someone who watched every single 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:47.880 game last year, I can tell you it will not 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:52.800 be worse. And there are many reasons why. And you 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.200 know they get rid of Crochet and you think, how 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:59.320 can they be better without Garrett Crochet? Well you look 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.760 into it all right. The second half of the season, 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:03.960 the White Sox were limiting his innings. He was going 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:07.919 three innings four innings at a time or less. And 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.680 when you do that, that means you have to use 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.480 your bullpen for the final five to six innings. Every 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.240 time that Garrett Crochet pitched, that's not good for your 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.920 bullpen that day or the next day. So even though 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.000 it was great to have Gerrit Crochet on your team 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.200 in the second half, he went zero to six and 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.360 they were not really in a position to succeed in 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:33.279 those starts the entire second half of the season. And 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:35.520 what were they doing. They're trying to market him so 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:36.960 they'd be able to trade him, and I think that 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.359 was a good trade for the White Sox. They lost 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:43.599 fifty one games by two runs or less. They were 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.960 in a lot of games with the worst offense I've 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:49.800 ever seen, certainly with the White Sox and a bullpen 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.240 that really struggled and was gassed and using a lot 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.359 of young guys. This was not a team that was 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:59.080 just absolutely defeated. They did all they could, but it 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.000 was one of these storms or imperfect storms where everything 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.080 went against them. They're not gonna lose one hundred and 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.080 twenty one games. You heard it right here. I'm saying 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.320 it on camera to the world. And if they lose 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:11.800 one hundred and win one games or more, you can 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.360 play this from here to eternity and I will eat 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:14.920 my words. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.559 Chuck Garfinkel, always the forever optimist with the White Sox, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.920 but let me ask you this and this same topic. 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.800 They're not really nice. They could lose one hundred and 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.000 ten games and there's still eleven games better. So everyone's 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.719 gonna be like, man wanted improvement. We only lost one 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.640 hundred and ten games. So the better question is how 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.440 big of improvement is the jump? But we're gonna get 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.560 to that, okay, because Cratz is that's the five year 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.000 plan thing. But I want to know about lou Bob Luis. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.000 Robert Jr. Has all the ability in the world. Two 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.400 years ago was incredible. Last year banged up, it never 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.800 really got going, had an awful year. There was a 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.480 lot of things that happened with him. Can he bounce 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.240 back and can he gets shipped to a contender, possibly 0:06:57.680 --> 0:06:59.800 in the middle of the season and get back More 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:04.039 suspects for this five year edition plan that Chris gets 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:05.000 in the front office has. 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.240 I don't know if it's five years. Are you putting 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:09.080 five years on this? 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.360 It's always five year plan. It's a five year plan. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:14.360 It's a five year plan. So you know we're in 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.840 the seventh rebuild in the last six years. Check what 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:17.800 I mean? What do you want for me? 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.320 All right? So to answer your question about Luis Robert Junior, 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:27.200 can he become the player he was? Yes? Will he? 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.559 I can't answer that he had a one to thirty 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.560 OPS plus in twenty twenty three and went down to 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.880 eighty seven. Your best player, there's another reason why you 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.280 lose one hundred and twenty one games when your best player, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.000 first off, loses I don't know. He was missed most 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:42.760 of the first half of an injury and then comes 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.000 back and is a subpar player in the eighty seven 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.680 ops plus, batting first, second, and third, and you're going 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.200 through that line of time and time and time again, 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.200 and you're not getting the kind of production that you 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:57.840 need in OBP under three hundred, you're gonna lose a 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:01.560 lot of games. And so I really hope he can 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:06.040 turn it around. He sure certainly can. And if he does, yeah, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.280 there'll be teams, they'll be interested. Are there teams interested? 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:08.560 Now? 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.160 You know at the deadline winter meetings Chris gets said 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.480 there there were teams interested. I'm sure there are teams 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.840 interested in them. But will they give the White Sox 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.440 what they feel like they need for him? If he 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:23.520 has a comeback first half of the season, then yeah, 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.400 he will be traded. I'm putting at fifty to fifty. 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.440 How can you say you can rely on Luis Robert 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.240 Junior to have a comeback season or half of the 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.560 year that we hope that he can do when he 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.080 hasn't consistently shown it either with his results on the 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.200 field or staying healthy. It's a mixed bag. I'd love 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:42.400 to see it. I know it's all in there. He's 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.240 by far their best player, and they keep him and 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.440 they don't trade him before opening day, and he has 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:49.320 a big first half, which I know he can do. 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:51.760 They'll get a lot for him. 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.560 We saw your soul get hurt a little bit when 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:56.160 AJ said the five year plan. 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.360 You're like five years? We said, have four more. 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.840 I still got deal with this, but it is going 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:05.320 to be year two already. Okay, job like year two 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:10.120 of this in the tanking program, tanking formula, what do 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.240 we need to track, what do we need to follow 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:16.600 with Colson Montgomery, with Noah Shultz, with Kyle Teel. What 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.439 can we expect as White Sox fans that we are 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:20.800 here at FT. 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:25.120 Well, Fortunately I do have experience covering a White Sox rebuild. 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.840 I covered the last one, and I saw how that 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:35.199 actually quickly turned around. The rebuild started in twenty sixteen, 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.000 and by well actually believing more, it was the twenty 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.079 seventeen season and then that's really when it. But it 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.079 didn't fully go through until twenty eighteen. And in twenty 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:46.800 nineteen you're like, okay, we see where this is going. 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.040 In twenty twenty they were a really good team. Unfortunately 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.319 with the pandemic, they didn't make it into the postseason. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.600 What I'm looking for this year is not so much wins. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.040 You want to see the wins, but you want to 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.280 see the guys who are a part of their future 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.440 having good seasons. And you're gonna see six or seven 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.960 of the Socks top prospects be called up to the 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.480 major leagues. I believe many, if not all, of them 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.160 will be up here, and so for Socks fans, you're 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.040 gonna see the future on the field and we'll see 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.200 how they do. But I think that's really what you 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.160 have to look at. How many years is it going 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.000 to take? I don't know. The payroll is really really 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:27.880 low by design, and i'd like to think once they 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.400 know what they have, who they have, and when they 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.480 know what they don't have, they'll go out and spend 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:35.040 the money. But you don't do it right now because 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.439 you're still trying to figure that out. What prospects are 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.920 gonna be big? And I'm yeah, Colson Montgomery, Noah Schultz, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:46.160 Kyle Teel, Hagen Smith, etc. They're gonna be on the 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:50.199 major league team this year and I'm excited to watch them. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.080 Chuck. This leads into the last storyline, Veteran Mercenaries that 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.079 we're calling it. Mike Talkman Martin Perez, who I love, 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.720 He's a X seaman, of mind, Josh Rojas, some of 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.200 these Austin Hayes, not Austin Haes uh ge sorry later 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.920 Slater as Hayes t today, so he got me off 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:11.120 of Austin Slater. Why go sign these guys other than 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.240 trade pieces? Like, what does it mean for them? Because 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.079 why not have Colson Montgomery play every day? Why not? 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.679 You know, Bradon Montgomery's obviously a little bit younger, but 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.480 why not have Kyle Teel and Corey Lee be or catchers? 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.720 Why why not let another starting pitcher instead of Martin Proz. 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.679 I know you need some veteran guys around, but what 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.000 is the White Sox plan for these veteran guys? Is 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.280 it to have them play, see how they do, and 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.840 then possibly trade them and get more pieces and then 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:36.640 have the young guys come up. Or are they really 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.000 counting on these guys to lead them to a better season, 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:41.480 which again, in the history of baseball, there's never been 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.000 a worse season, so they got to be better. 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.520 Yeah, I think the answer to your question is almost 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.160 everything that you just said, which is they bring these 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.280 guys in to help, you know, solidify the team, bring 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:58.040 some veterans into this situation and other than the catcher situation. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:11:59.880 I could see why, well, you know, why don't you 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.000 have Kyle Teel give them a runway to maybe make 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.400 the team out of spring training. I just think like 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.920 what they're having behind the plate works for now, but 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.719 they want to just make sure Kyle Teal and Edgar 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:14.199 Carrow are ready and I think you'll see them in 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:16.240 the major leagues at some point. But they didn't want 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.079 to just rely on all their prospects right out of 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.880 the gate when you're not one hundred percent sure if 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.480 they'll be ready. Mike Tauchman, you know, here's what I 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.080 see with a lot of guys. They brought in veterans, 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:33.040 veteran leadership, defense, Martin Perez, one of the best defensive 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:38.600 pitchers in the game, OBP, a lot of like Talkman Slater, 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.120 and I think what they're doing, they're just they're putting 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.160 some band aids certainly on this team for the first half, 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.679 so it gives them a chance to win games. So 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.840 you're not just relying totally on prospects. I think there's 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.839 a good balance here and if they have good first halfs, 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.360 then they're traded they get some more prospects. These are 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.120 one year deals. They're payroll sixty six million dollars or 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.040 something like that, So I mean, if you didn't even 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.040 use these guys, their payroll would be sixty million dollars. 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:09.560 I see nothing wrong with these one year deals, these mercenaries. 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.839 I think they need some mercenaries on this roster, and 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:13.920 I don't have a problem with what they're doing so far. 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:16.839 I'm actually going to take the other side of what 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.000 AJ's talking about and say, why didn't they do more 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:24.120 of this in the offseason. There are rules to curb 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.559 how you can rebuild these days, right, the White Sox 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.079 should have the number one pick coming up? What pick 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:30.520 do they have? 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:34.800 Oh, you're talking about next season? Yeah? 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.120 Ten, they have ten, because you can't do that. If 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.360 you're a team like them in a bigger market, you know, 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:44.959 you get punished for being bad in consecutive seasons. So 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.280 my case here is very simple, because it's a team 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.800 in the league that did this. How come the White 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:51.959 Sox are at sixty six mill or whatever and not 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.319 at least closer to one hundred plus, which they can 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.120 easily handle so that they can do a signing like 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.160 a Raldist Chapman from a couple of years ago go, 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.160 which the Royals did for like ten million bucks and 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.160 turned him into Cole Reagan's. It is much harder to 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.640 rebuild now. So why didn't we see them involved for 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.880 some of these one year contracts? This is where they 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.079 can play catchup so much quicker. They could have done 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.839 three or four of these in like the five to 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.840 fifteen million dollar range on these one year contracts, especially pitching, right, 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.280 you can never have enough pitching. Get a few good starters, 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.720 get a reliever or two, and then flip them at 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:27.280 the deadline. 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.560 Good question. I don't have the answer to that one. 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:32.680 You're right, that's another way they could have gone about 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:38.600 doing it, spending more money. What's crazy and what might 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.720 have something to do with why they did this? It's 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:45.600 just me theorizing this. Who had the highest payroll in 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.120 the American League Central last year, and if not first, 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.840 they were definitely right behind the first place team, the 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.400 White Sox. So they had one hundred and twenty seven 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.680 something million dollar payroll and they had the worst record 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.360 in baseball. But in modern baseball history, that's not going 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.240 to look good on the bottom line, and they clearly 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.800 are not trying to win the division. This year. So 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.160 the way they're going about doing it, let's give a 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:15.280 lot of opportunities to the young guys, and let's surround 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.720 them with one year guys who can help mold them. 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.040 And these guys can have comeback seasons. And I think 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.560 there's a lot of guys so, like you know, Austin Slater, 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.600 Mike Takman actually had a pretty good year with the Cubs. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.120 I was surprised he was available, but I understand why 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:31.760 he was available. I just think that this was what 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.160 they decided to do, the route they decided to take. 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:35.880 But I see it from both sides. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:41.040 Okay, gosh, you're such an optimist. You are just I 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:41.520 mean you are. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:42.160 You know what you are. 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.960 You're a fan at socks Fest this past weekend, Chuck. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.760 Just you were with fans, sitting there in the middle 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.600 of the socks Fest, cheering on everybody. Weren't you? 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.160 Oh, were talking to me. I'm sorry, Aja, I was 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:53.960 reading the Hawk book. 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:56.280 I am. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.640 You know what I am. I'm an optimist slash realist. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:01.520 I'm not a pass in that. 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:04.440 I'm not as either. I want them to do good. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.440 I want the White Sox to do well. Are they 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:09.040 gonna be good? This year, though, I'm a realist. No 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:09.800 they're gonna snap. 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:11.880 I'm not, and I'm not saying they're gonna be good. 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.560 I think the goal for this team should be, Okay, 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.600 let's try to lose less than one hundred games. I 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:20.160 mean that would be a humu. 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.560 That'd be the biggest jump of any team in baseball 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:25.280 if they did not leave one hundred games. 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.920 I do think it's possible because watching how this team 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:35.280 lost so many games, how they happened. This last year's 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.560 team was a one hundred lost team. I mean, like, 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.120 in theory, they should have lost anywhere between one hundred 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.880 and one hundred and ten. There is no reason why 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.600 they lost. They should have lost one hundred twenty one, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.400 and yet it happened. So I think just what I like, 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.880 I mentioned all the craziness. I haven't even gotten into 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:52.960 all the craziness. I mean, they lost twenty three games 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:56.800 when leading after six, they were in position to win 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.360 so many games. And if it wasn't the bullpen, it 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:02.880 it was the offense. It was craziness. It was happening 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.719 just they just had seemingly everything against them. I am 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.680 not making excuses for them. I'm just saying how it transpired. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:14.080 This team can lose ninety nine games. I hope it's 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.879 something in the double digits, not triple digits, but I 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.119 would not be shocked if it was over one hundred 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.080 because there's just a lot of guys you're relying on 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.480 who you know, are are coming up to the major 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.520 leagues or trying to find themselves. And but I see 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.320 two different scenarios. I see them losing between one hundred 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.480 and one hundred and ten and I see them losing 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:35.119 between ninety and one hundred. 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.600 The best way to go from bad to really freaking bad. 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.720 It's not that much of a bullpen. Could have signed 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.560 some veteran relievers to flip at the headline, So we'll 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:45.520 see what opens. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.080 But anyway, what they've got, maybe there are some relievers 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.760 who they feel good about. I clearly they do. But yeah, 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.640 I hear what you're saying, But I think maybe that's 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:56.320 coming in and. 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.119 Didn't get better. Their bullpen didn't get better from last year. 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:00.760 I'm just saying it get proved. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:02.920 Yes, I don't know who's close. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.200 I'm looking at the names. I mean, I'm just saying 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.119 a lot of these guys were there last year, and 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.720 it didn't wasn't very well. He got a competition in 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.160 camp a lot. That's great. That's a lot of competition. 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:14.879 They want to I want to see what they have 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.480 in the bullpen, but they don't want to see what 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:18.719 they have in position players. 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.240 Yeah, if you're an indie ball pitcher and you think 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:25.000 you've got to show up to Glendale, Arizona and see 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:25.520 what happened. 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.200 Okay, that's why he's that's that. 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:31.199 Yeah's been a great sport. You got, Chuck. We got 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:32.840 to remember these times so in a few years you 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:34.639 can come back and be like, hey, remember when you 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:36.720 just picked on me, And now you know, Ozzie and 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.280 I can actually have a good time here on the 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:39.080 postgame show. 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:41.439 Yeah. But you know what's funny is that when they 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.280 went through the last rebuild, what do they spend a 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:47.680 lot of money on and didn't work? 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:49.159 Bull bullpen? 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:51.160 Bullpen? That's true. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:51.920 That's true. 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:53.960 I I see, like, you know, you could spend a 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:55.720 whole lot of money on the bullpen. Hey, look at 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:57.840 this guy was great last year. Oh no, it's twenty 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.000 twenty five. We got this crappy version of him. No, 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:03.879 let's go with an unproven guy. Maybe he's got something 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.800 that we can use that's cheaper. He's already in our system. 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:09.800 We know him more than this guy who was playing 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:14.680 for Texas or Atlanta, whoever it might be. So I 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:19.280 know you want some definitive hot takes from me, but 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:23.200