The amount of noise that has surrounded the White Sox during Rick Hahn's supermarket sweep over the past month has been alarming for a fan base that has seen its expectations go from "Win Now" to "Win In A Few Years" over the past few moribund seasons.
Read MoreDespite the fact that the Royals squeaked past Oakland in the Wild Card game and then rode their elite bullpen into the World Series, the 2014 Tigers were objectively the best team in the division. Detroit would win the division and boasted a run differential of +52 as opposed to Kansas City's +27. In fact, they have won the AL Central every year since 2010. Their core has gotten older and slipped some, Dombrowski finally messed up a major trade last offseason, and the window looks like it may be closing. But, like the White Sox, they have had a very busy winter so far. How do they look at the moment?
Read MoreAfter having a day to ruminate, Collin, James, and Nick joined forces to mull over the recent pitching additions, and what it means for the franchise.
Read MorePlease let me know if you also think this would be a great title for a children's book. Regarding baseball, apparently while I slept the White Sox made two rather huge additions (and possibly some significant subtractions) in trading Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, and a third, unknown player for Jeff Samardzija from Oakland and signing David Robertson from the Yankees. Here are my initial reactions:
Read MoreWithout fail, any time a player with any kind of name recognition signs a minor league deal someone will overreact to it. Another phenomenon in the baseball world is that anyone who is really, really fast will get more attention than they likely merit, because people figure all it takes is a little bit more baseball skill and all of a sudden they are Rickey Henderson and Ichiro Suzuki just waiting to happen. Another type of player who gets outsized attention is the Undersized Scrapper - David Eckstein became the poster boy for these guys for a while. The White Sox just signed a guy who has all of these attributes to some extent in Tony Campana. My initial reaction was an old one - fear. And then I remembered that Rick Hahn is in charge now and my fear went away.
Read MoreZach Duke was added for 3-years and $15 million, and Adam LaRoche joins the White Sox for 2-years, $25 million. Yes, these are mid-level free agents that address areas of need. The lineup needed patience and power, a left-handed bat, and there was room at 1B/DH. The bullpen was very bad last year, and there are very few internal options when it comes to lefty relievers in particular, so Duke makes sense there. But both of these signings have a lot in common, and I think they make a strong statement about where the front office thinks the team is.
Read MoreThere's a lot of trade rumors and important development for next year's roster going on right now, but it goes without saying that when a veterinary student from a school that recently was ranked 24th out of 25 schools in student satisfaction offers to assign dog breeds to pitcher types, you have to run it.
You have to sit on it for a day, then run it.
Read MoreLast offseason, Rick Hahn made a decision that made a lot of sense, even if the results didn't pan out on the field.
Lost in the mix of signing Jose Abreu to a monster deal and making crafty trades for Adam Eaton and Matt Davidson was Hahn's decision to rebuild ... sorry, RESHUFFLE ... the White Sox's bullpen with a series of cheap, low-risk signings.
Read MoreThere have been stories about how Alexei Ramirez is drawing interest from various clubs in need of a shortstop. This is unsurprising, seeing as he is one of the better shortstops in the majors. However, I have seen people throw in as a corollary that the White Sox might do it because Tim Anderson is on the way. This is a dangerous line of thinking.
Read MoreThe first two parts of this offseason series have focused on free agency - but that's not the only way to improve a roster. Last winter we saw two major White Sox trades. One worked out gloriously (Adam Eaton!), and one had a very disappointing initial return (Matt Davidson is still young, but 2014 was a huge step backward). Perhaps the White Sox can take advantage of another dysfunctional organization this offseason.
Read MoreThe Yankees have made a qualifying offer to reliever David Robertson, but evidently that hasn't stopped six teams from expressing an interest and calling regarding his services. Normally one would expect a qualifying offer to absolutely torpedo the market for a reliever - the only teams that should be signing high profile relievers are playoff contenders, and the only teams that have their first round pick protected are the ten worst teams from the past year. As Brandon McCarthy was traded mid-season last year, he was not eligible for the qualifying offer, so all it takes is money. Are either of them worth it for the White Sox?
Read MoreAlthough the conclusion of the World Series is always a drag - winter is here, no more baseball, etc. - for teams like the White Sox, it means they are going to start having activity again after being told they weren't good enough to play in the month of October. We have learned that the "Golden Era Committee" (formerly the Veteran's Committee) may give us some new Hall of Famers, most notably among them for White Sox fans would be Minnie Minoso and Dick Allen. A flurry of other activity has kicked off: Adam Lind being traded to Milwaukee for Marco Estrada, and qualifying offers being extended to various players - including David Robertson, Victor Martinez, Max Scherzer, and Melky Cabrera. Declined options have meant that Billy Butler, Nick Markakis, Chad Billingsley, and Rickie Weeks, among others and now free agents. As of Tuesday, November 4th, free agents can sign anywhere they like. So! What's going to happen? This is only the first in what will be months of speculation and analysis here at the Catbird Seat, but I'm an impatient guy and I want to start talking about roster construction.
Read MoreIt's a rare situation for players to be both bound enough to their current team to re-sign within the five-day exclusivity window while also being good enough for anyone to actually care what they do. Mostly we have teams cutting ties with undesirables at breakneck speed, and that's what we have here.
Read MoreI had an extremely cynical idea for a post-World Series post, where I would pretend to have filed before the game started so I could freely watch and enjoy, and write up a list of lessons that the winning team had taught us about how to build a winner...and write up the wrong team.
Get it? The constant affirmation of the Royals approach would suddenly ring hollow as positive results.
Somewhere around the Royals losing in Game 7 with the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth, did this start to feel like an unduly cruel treatment for a miracle run that was instructive.
Read MoreI've seen them.
I've seen your off-season plans, filled with free agent third baseman acquisitions.
Have no doubt I have tabulated these blasphemies against CONOR and taken them into account. Dreams of Chase Headley's defense, fantasies of Pablo Escobar panda hats with increased lining for 40-degree temperatures in June. Crackpots schemes of moving Hanley Ramirez to third.
Read MoreBy and large, we want two mutually exclusive things from the playoffs: high-stakes drama, and a process that bears out the best team in the sport. Drama is usually only interpreted as the top teams being threatened and challenged, but if they never truly have an advantage because the process is chaos, the premise of the drama starts to erode. A random team emerging from a chaotic churn is dramatic if a lottery drawing is dramatic.
Read MoreThe Royals are an obviously incredible story. Just what they've actually done.
Read MoreSo, using context, it's hard to understand what the motivation would be for the White Sox to use Carlos Rodon out of the bullpen next season, as they were reported to be considering back, oh, two weeks ago; back when there was White Sox news worth commenting on.
Read MoreThis is a pretty quiet time for the White Sox. While their 2014 season is done, the offseason hasn't quite begun and - J.J. Hardy's extension notwithstanding - the hot stove hasn't been turned on yet. But right now, fans of the Dodgers, Nationals, and Angels are all grieving after experiencing something that White Sox fans know all too well.
Read MoreLast Wednesday night Mark Buehrle shut down the Mariners and in the process eclipsed 200 innings on the season, the 14th consecutive year that he has done so. In fact, Buehrle has not thrown fewer than 200 innings in any season of his career since a late season call-up in 2000, and has won at least 10 games in every single one of those seasons. Given the recent tributes to Paul Konerko, it seems fitting to give a nod to a guy that I would deem to be his pitching foil for their era of White Sox baseball.
Read MoreThe Catbird Seat is a White Sox blog by White Sox fans that focuses on intelligent and humorous baseball commentary. Brought to you by ESPN's SweetSpot Network.
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