WEBVTT - White Sox clinch season series vs. Kansas City 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.440 Hey, Howard, They're over eight million drivers in the state 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:08.320 of Illinois. With that many people on the road, accidents 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.440 are bound to occur. I'm Attorney Howard Ankin, and if 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:13.640 you or someone you care about who's been involved in 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:19.080 an auto rideshare trucking accident, I'm here to help. Call 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:22.000 my office for a free consultation at three one two 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:26.440 six million. I'm Hero when you need me. Injury Law 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.000 made Personal. That's akin law. 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:47.400 From your favorite source for Chicago White Sox talk, delivering news, interviews, 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:52.000 analysis and more. This is The Sox Machine Podcast with 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.320 your hosts Jim Margolis, James Began, and Josh Nelson. 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.280 Hello, everyone, welcome to you a new episode of The 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:03.279 Sox Machine. I'm your host Josh Nelson, and we are 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:07.800 recording this episode Sunday night, June twenty eight, twenty twenty six, 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.360 as the Chicago White Sox wrapped up another series win, 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.120 this time against the Kansas City Royals. As they go 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.880 forward to in this homestand winning both series against the 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.800 Cleveland Guardians and the Royals, the White Sox are now 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.800 forty three and thirty nine on the season, still tied 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.760 for first place in the American League Central. In this 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.480 show's rundown, we'll be talking about the White Sox twenty 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.720 two run rampage that they had on Friday. Miguel Vargas 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.720 had a big weekend Beyond just his Friday performance, he 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.120 also had another home run on Sunday. Chase Mydraft and 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.880 Jacob Gonzalez also had bounced back weekends, and Sir Anthony 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.960 Dominguez gets an easy runway. Joining me on the Sox 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.520 Machine podcast, The Sox Machines be reporter James Vegan and 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:57.800 managing editor Jim Margolis, and Hello gentlemen. The White Sox 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.560 had a successful home stand. Yes, it'd been great if 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.440 they would have found a way to sweep Cleveland, and 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.560 they had another opportunity to get another sweep against Kansas 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.400 City this weekend, but to go four and two against 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.400 the division foes be forty three and thirty nine and 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.200 still be tied for first place in the American League Central. 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.160 I still view these outcomes for the White Sox as 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.160 a positive. But James, we saw one of the best 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.720 offensive explosions, especially in the history that we've been doing 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.359 this podcast, and it looks like in our lifetime when 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:36.600 the White Sox score twenty two runs on Friday. Ten 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.680 of those came in the third inning, and it was 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:41.320 a lot of fun to be in the stands to 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.000 watch that one unfold. 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:45.920 What was it like for you, James? 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.360 Then going into the clubhouse to talking to the White 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:52.960 Sox players after they scored twenty two runs sounds. 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:53.360 Like another game. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.079 There were reasons like it wasn't like all the way 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:02.040 like jacked up, I mean more than like just normal 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:07.320 like Samlin one, he now has like gotten thirty seven 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.120 runs of support and two home starts, so this is 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:12.720 normal for him, but also like he probably had been 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.200 told or had indications that he's getting optioned already, so 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.880 he was happy with his outing, but wasn't like over 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:22.679 the moon overall. Chase Mydrath, who was like playing all 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.919 out on the final out, was very much like, yeah, 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.480 this is what we do. We played the final out 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.239 out and kind of still in his Chase my Drath 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.240 intensity mode rather than like, wow, what a super fun 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.800 like night. There are no rules, We're gonna live forever, 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.280 anything like some new tone that he doesn't usually speak in. 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.640 Tristan Peters was pretty like happy, but Tristan Peters was 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.760 like a subdue guy like him talking openly about hitting 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.600 for power and saying, like what was your goal and 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.840 that grand slam and just like hit it as hard 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.560 as possible. But I feel like that was even more 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.040 just indicative of what their approaches early in the counts 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.280 that they talk about. Then it was like, you know, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.360 them feeling their oats in some big way. And you know, 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.880 Jacob Gonzalez is pretty happy to like have gotten out 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:07.960 of like he had just snapped an over twenty eight 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.560 not too long ago, so he was kind of spent 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:17.400 some more time like explaining like a little like guys 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.200 kind of like slip in and out of the mechanics 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.640 over the course of the year. So as much as 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.599 like his off, his whole season is defined by how 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:27.760 he figured out how to rotate his hips since and 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:29.360 like keep his weight back and then in a way 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:30.200 that he wasn't able. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.839 To do before he had. 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.640 He'd just like recently had some session with Ryan Fuller 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.000 where they had explained how he had kind of like 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.000 fallen out of his timing for it and corrected it. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.920 So he was like explaining that in terms of like 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.039 you know, obviously what we hope is, you know, a 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.400 recent upturn in the last couple of games that he's 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:54.640 shown or he hopes so it was not like super 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.960 like bouncy or like more aesthetic than any of their walkoffs. 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.440 I think they all kind of I had like there's 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:05.080 been a general line of positivity throughout and they all 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.039 had kind of like maybe their individual reasons to be 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.800 what they were, but they weren't like, oh Man, especially 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:12.680 Will Venible is like super even keeled in the kind 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.479 of mirror him in that way. They were just like, yeah, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.159 that was a good night. If anything, kind of struggled 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.839 to repeat the same offensive, dominant dominance, you know, throughout 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:22.320 the weekend. 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.600 Yeah, they could have bowled some of those runs. 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.159 A twelve to one victory would have been fine if 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.960 they could spread out the other ten runs over the 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.760 two games, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.039 But well, I asked Will about that a little bit, 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:37.599 Like is their point of just kind of spreading it 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:39.640 on a little bit just because like you made them 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.600 use so many relievers. They use eight relievers that night, 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:43.560 and like ideally it would have but just like their 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.960 efforts to basically have Michael Waka stretch and cover the 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.160 whole bullpen on Saturday, work, and then pretty much everyone 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.080 or a lot of guys got a little bit of redemption. 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.919 Maybe not Schreiber. I don't think he's going to be 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.440 looking at the series in any kind of fond way soon. 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.120 But you know, guys like Alex Laying and Beckway came 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.119 back to throw pretty well against them, and Stephen Cruiz 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:10.360 is pretty good against the Friday and Sunday So maybe 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:14.760 more some isolated guys having incredibly bad Friday nights more 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:17.560 than you know, total dominance of the Royals. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.000 Well, Jim. With this series win for the White Sox, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:23.320 they also win the season series against the Kansas City 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.200 Royals for the first time in six years. 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:27.760 The last time the White Sox won a. 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.120 Season series against Kansas City was back in the COVID 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.159 season twenty twenty, when the White Sox were nine to 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.200 one against Kansas City. And the White Sox now against 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:41.360 American League Central opponents, they're sixteen to ten, which is outstanding, 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.800 and I think it's getting pretty close to already matching 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:49.360 their win total against division opponents even last year. So 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.640 great start for the White Sox in the division, and 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:57.120 with this early season success against the Tigers the Royals, 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.000 the Twins and the Guardians. Does this give you confidence 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.640 ends that the White Sox won't fade in the second half. 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.080 Guess we'll see how the road record goes. You know, 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.560 it's been pretty uneven in terms of especially how they 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.320 pitch home and away to know exactly what their staying 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.320 power is over the course of a season, over course 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:21.280 of a whole slate of opponents versus just isolated weekends. 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.520 Or three game series here or there. 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:26.000 I will say that like they've with winning the series 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.760 against Kansas City, they've accomplished what they needed to and 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.400 that's like they have to topple their division opponents in 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:37.520 order to spring a surprise on the American League postseason picture. 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.200 And that, you know, baseball being a zero some game, 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:41.800 you got to win those games against the teams that 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.240 we're supposed to finish ahead of you. And basically the 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:46.360 entire Central was supposed to finish ahead of them. So 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.680 they are doing what they need to do to sneak 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.520 into a spot. Perhaps they won't even sneak into it, 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:56.560 maybe they'll win the division or you know, win a 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.240 second wildcard berth because right now the Ale West looks 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.120 like a mess. So I think it's a little premature 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:06.280 to say, like, yeah, beating the Royals means something greater 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.760 than just taking advantage of a bad team, while they're 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.720 clearly just trying to find anybody who can get out, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.200 you know, late in the games and figure out a 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.720 rotation work around Bobby Wits injury. But yeah, I think 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:24.320 coming up this this series in Cleveland will be I 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:27.800 think a better series to hang. 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:28.560 This conversation on. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.400 Okay, that's that's fair. 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:36.120 They are halfway through their division games for the season 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:41.040 and being sixteen to ten. I think that again, it's 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:42.920 another good sign for the White Sox and it's a 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.920 big reason why there are already four games above five 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.800 hundred this year. Hopefully that trend continues for the Chicago 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.440 White Sox. Now, Miguel Vargus had a huge weekend. There's 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.400 so many players to highlight, and if we did the 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:00.040 highlight on everyone that was successful offensively this weekend, this 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.400 would be a two hour podcast. But Miguel Vargas went 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.480 six four eleven against the Royals. He had two homers, 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.920 seven RBIs, he walked three times, he only struck out once, 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.800 and James, you have asked Miguel many times this season, 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:16.960 now that he has nineteen home runs in the year 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.920 about his power production, and he's been consistent. He has 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.640 said that he's not aiming or looking to hit for 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.679 home runs. He's just trying to make the best contact possible. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.160 But Miguel Vargas is now on base at thirty seven 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:34.400 home runs this season. Is this just Vargas figuring out 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:38.320 his own hitting zone or knowing his spots to maximize 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:39.280 his a swing. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:42.560 Yeah, I mean he's not hitting for home runs in 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.520 the sense that like no one just like swings and 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.800 like thinks home run please, Like what it's. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.679 More like who's got thirty now? 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:50.920 Right? 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.000 Yeah, Like I'm trying to drive the ball in the 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.280 air and like hopefully good outcomes will happen. Like he's 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.400 clearly taking like times, like a lighter rip that's like 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.920 entered into his game in early incounts and you know, 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:07.200 seeing his aggressive swings where like his bat speed spikes 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:08.960 over like maybe more two strikes where he's trying to 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.800 put them all in play like he's. 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.679 Trying to sluck. Now. 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.800 He doesn't like want to define his success that way, 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.920 and that's something that he says has been like actively encouraged, 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.400 like from you know, Showman and the Company for like 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.200 the whole season, So like there's certainly approach element to it, 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:30.000 but obviously he also added like a ton of bat 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.520 speed in the off season was a result of, like 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.760 he thinks, mostly the conditioning and getting stronger, but you know, 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.800 that was something that clearly was intentional and he's clearly 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.480 like seeing the results of that's given him just like 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:45.160 more capability to make more out of like the contact 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:46.960 that he you know, we obviously saw him starting to 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.360 make a little bit last year, and his approach has 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:50.080 only gotten better. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:50.760 He's chasing. 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.200 He was already like a good like play discipline guy, 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:56.440 but like he's been top ten with the lowest chase 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.040 rate in baseball like all season. I don't know if 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.800 it's like exactly there now, but I bet it's probably 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.160 in that area. Like everything to him has like gotten 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.520 a little bit better and made him more capable. Like, yes, 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:12.040 he's a he's his approach has maybe shifted to maximize that, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.040 but that's because these skills have grown up where there's 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.840 something to maximize, Like if he did this in twenty 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:20.320 twenty four, when it produced results, it's like building on 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.400 top of like the pillars to his game that he's 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.200 strengthened over the past two years. 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.320 And I think the White Sox if Vargas it's another 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.600 home run, Jim, I believe that would give him three 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:34.800 players with twenty or more home. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.160 Runs before the All Star Break. 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.280 And last time they did that was back in two 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.360 thousand and six, so that's pretty special. As far as again, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.760 what's helping fuel this White Sox turnaround is the offense 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.440 and especially especially in the slugging side. And I guess 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.480 even from my perspective, I'm a bit surprised that Vargas 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:53.920 already has nineteen home runs. 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.280 He'd be great if he did get to thirty seven homers. 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.800 I didn't even think that was even a possibility for him. 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:01.559 And he's breaking all of the. 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:05.720 Preseason computer projections. But at the preseason we were a 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.920 bit unsure about Vargas's future with the White Sox. This 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.880 was a big season for him for everyone to gain 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.800 some confidence that, yeah, you can count on Vargas being 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.680 part of the twenty twenty seven to twenty twenty eight plans. Now, 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.199 after the first half of the season, and even after 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.520 this big weekend against the Royals, are you more confident 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:30.520 to write Vargas's name in pen for future roster construction. 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.280 Oh certainly. Yeah. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:38.120 Before the season, he was a good player, like a 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:42.000 solid player. I would call him a second division regular, 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.520 and that like if he's starting for you, it's not terrible, 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.840 but you could easily upgrade. And also he's hard to 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.040 compliment on a roster, like he's not obvious platoon candidates. 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.080 He's not especially strong defensively. He's you know, good at 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:55.840 first base, I would say, but maybe doesn't hit like 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:56.559 a first baseman. 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.960 He was below average a third base and maybe didn't hit. 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.920 So he's just kind of this like ordinary player who 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.040 is a major leaguer in some fashion, but maybe not 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.040 somebody can plan around. And like you said, like he's 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.160 blowing away projections, even like the ninety ninth percentile projection 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.959 in Pakoda nowhere close to what he's doing with the 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.920 White Sox. So really their best case scenario did not 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.119 see this coming. And that's one reason I think why. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.359 You know they're they have a winning record in first. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:30.280 Place when they had a single digits low single digits 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:35.440 percentage of making the postseason according to projections. You know, 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:39.120 with the White Sox probably likely drafting a shortstop of 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:42.240 some kind number one overall, you know, you have some 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:44.400 idea of like the infield might get crowded. But like 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.839 as I wrote about the Minor Keys a couple of 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:49.200 days ago, Caleb Bonomer is having a really rough defensive season, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.839 both at shortstop and third base. Like he's already matches 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:56.120 air total with forty games fewer than forty games fewer 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.160 than he had last year. So it's case of maybe 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.880 it's like you know level or body, you know, athleticism, 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.400 et cetera, that's uh, or maybe just you know, could 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.120 be in defensive slump. But if he moves to first 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:10.720 base or outfield, and all of a sudden, like there 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:12.240 is an extra a couple of years where you need 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:16.080 a third baseman and Vargas fits that bill. Uh, you know, 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:18.640 Murakami only under contract for another year and we'll see 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.360 what happens with that. But like you know, DHD first base, 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.720 there's opening there so lots of room for him that 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.600 maybe didn't anticipates even before you get to his production 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.680 being you know, maybe the most valuable of the production 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:32.800 of the White Sox, you know, not only in terms 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.960 of war, Like maybe maybe Murakami's up there in terms 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.160 of his impact on power when he's healthy, but right 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.840 now he's not healthy, and Vargas is healthy and playing 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.960 damn near every day. So yeah, he's got the case 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.120 for the most valuable White Sox. And it's really interesting 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.000 that like his name hasn't really come up when it 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:50.560 comes to extensions. Like you hear all about, oh, they 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.560 got to sign Mooney, they got to make sure they 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.000 keep him around, like Colson, you know, what's his price, 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.720 And you really haven't heard much about Vargas, but you 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.200 look at the stat cast age and it's basically like 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.960 all red aside from like some you know, fiftieth percent 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.320 fortieth percent el for like defense, which is fine, like 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.120 you know, otherwise he's killing it offensively. 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.480 It's like really sturdy the way he's built this offensive profile. 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:19.040 Certainly a personality that James has spoken about that people 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.280 seem to gravitate around. He's like, guess, one of the 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.320 centers of the clubhouse and kind of a bridge guy 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:26.360 in the clubhouse given that. 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.400 He's bilingual, so he's got that going for him. 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:31.840 So, like, I'm surprised that you don't hear much about 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:34.080 like extend Vargas the way that you do about a 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:36.200 couple other guys and maybe just kind of snuck up 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:40.480 on everybody. And it hasn't quite overwritten the kind of 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.200 ordinary he was last year in the disaster he was 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.800 yea two years ago that you know, it's you know, 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:53.040 you have to update some priors, but yeah, it's he's 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.400 you know, it's rock solid the offensive production, and now 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.760 it's just a matter of like, is anybody gonna challenge him? 0:15:58.800 --> 0:15:59.560 And you have to get to. 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:04.480 The point where you're teaming with shortstops in triple A, 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.680 probably in order to consider moving Vargas off third base 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:09.600 and figure out what to do with them or what 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:10.520 to do with anybody else. 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.440 Yeah, because with Vargas and Montgomery, to your point, Jim, 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.720 they continued to raise the bar at the beginning of 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.720 the year, Like when the White Sox won the draft lottery, 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.640 it's like, oh, yeah, Rock Scholowski's got an easy path. 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.560 He might be able to join the White Sox. Before 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.200 the end of the twenty twenty sixth season, we have 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.720 no idea what the White Sox have at shortened third 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.400 and now it's like, oh, we have a very good 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:35.320 understanding of what the White Sox have at short at third, 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.880 they could have potential All Stars, like every year, could 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.760 be part of the All Star conversation. Every year they're 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.320 gonna hit thirty or more home runs. And to Colson's case, 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:48.840 you know he's been playing. He had a tough series 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.520 against the Royalist defensively, I thought this weekend, But for 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.480 the most part, he's been very good defensively. And do 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.480 any of us want to envision a future of the 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.640 White Sox without Munataka Murakami And he's still got Sam 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:04.879 Antonacchi and Chase my draft that second, Yeah, Jim, the 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.840 bar continues to get raised for all these White Sox 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.680 prospects with how well Miguel Vargas and Coles Montgomery have played. 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.200 I just now I feel like Jim. If Fargas doesn't 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.520 make the All Star team with the players voting, I 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:18.720 then I'm going. 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:19.360 To be angry. 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.720 I am going to be angry about the All Star 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.160 Game if Vargus is not on that team. Fair enough, 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:29.280 I'll be angry if the White Sox just only have 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:30.600 one representative period. 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:32.280 But I'm sure many. 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.800 Of you as well podcast investment reasons for that or 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:35.840 oh I do not. 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:36.560 I do not. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.040 Do not have any prop bets. I'm going to lean 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.600 off that because the Players Association doesn't want to James. 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:46.720 To travel budget expends. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.600 Yes that, yes, it'd be great if James could talk 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:50.119 to someone. 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:51.880 You took it to level. 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.320 That's true, I'm not crooked. 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.359 Oh well, in our previous episode, when we previewed this 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.879 series to the White Sox at Royals, we had a 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.800 segment about guys who needed a big weekend against the Royals. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:10.000 So let's recap that. 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:12.480 And this is a great way to set up the 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.040 stage for Sir Anthony Domingus. 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.720 James did. The White Sox didn't really need Domingus. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:22.399 On Friday, they didn't need much on Friday. Saturday, Grant 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:26.600 Taylor was awesome. That's from the best we've seen Grant Taylor, 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:27.119 I think. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:28.520 And yeah, Sean. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:30.760 Newcome gave up a run. But you know that whole 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.040 bridge from Davis Martin, Sean Newcome and Grant Taylor. I 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.560 think it's probably the White Sox a game plan in 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.679 closing out games. So on Sunday, Dimingus comes in, the 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.919 White Sox are already down and he does pitch a 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:47.720 scoreless inning. How did you feel about the way that 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.440 he pitched on Sunday, And how did dimingus feel about 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.480 that particular situation that he pitched in. 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:55.160 Well, I mean he looked a bit better. 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:59.600 He certainly wasn't falling behind as much, but yeah, it 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.399 was more that I mean, he in some sense he 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:05.040 pitched certainly as well as he had you know, over 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:09.560 a week he struck up Bobby wit So that looker, 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:11.399 and he certainly feeled uppy about that. But obviously the 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.679 noteworthy part of it was that he came in the 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:17.360 sixth inning. There's really no dressing it up as even 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.440 like even medium leverage of what he entered into. And 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.480 Zach Bob kind of said it before the game in 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.560 a way that like we weren't sure, Like we asked 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.119 like could he appear in lower leverage and he didn't 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.240 like say like, yes, that's what's going to happen, But 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.720 he's like, eh, maybe in a way that we're like, well, 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.439 it was that kind of a wires cross thing. But 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.000 then he appeared in the sixth and Will Venables said 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:41.359 postgame like, yeah, we told him was coming earlier in 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.399 the week, and Sir Anthony was around down with the 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:50.760 you know, basically the same he confirmed the same version like, yeah, 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.639 I got told it. It seems like I think like 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.920 certainly anyone seen like the closer kind of complained or 0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:59.639 the reliever kind of complained at all about like I 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:01.919 expect to be the closer as he did, though I 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:03.879 thought he did it like an even handed fashion, like 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.119 it was a surprise more than like I'm upset or 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.040 like I demand making demands to be back. He like 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.159 said multiple times like I'll do whatever it's needed for 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.480 the team. He just kind of I thought was honest 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.359 about being a little miffed, which I thought was like 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:19.159 he's reading the situation correctly. He's not being used as 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.240 a normal closer for this, I think, especially with the 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:25.040