Chicago White Sox normal supervisor Rick Hahn made a shocking admission Tuesday throughout a Zoom session with the media.
“Earlier today, foolishly, I was on Twitter,” Hahn mentioned.
If anybody ought to have been avoiding Twitter, it was Hahn, particularly on the day José Abreu was becoming a member of the Houston Astros. No good might come of it, as Hahn certainly knew.
Hahn has made some extent previously to tell us that Sox Twitter is a poisonous stew of bitterness, but he can’t assist studying these tweets and getting all riled up.
The tweet that foolishly acquired his consideration Tuesday included images of former Sox stars sporting uniforms of the groups they wound up with after leaving Chicago: Mark Buehrle with the Miami Marlins, Frank Thomas with the Oakland Athletics, Joe Crede with the Minnesota Twins and Robin Ventura with the New York Mets.
All Sox greats, all ended up with new groups, identical to Abreu with the Astros.
“It all looks weird and feels uncomfortable, and I guess some solace I take is the fact those four guys are still part of the White Sox family and obviously Jose’s place in the White Sox family will remain secure,” Hahn mentioned earlier than throwing in a quote from his boss, Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, for good measure.
Left unsaid in Hahn’s response to Abreu signing elsewhere was the actual fact three of the 4 former Sox stars he talked about didn’t actually should go.
Crede was the one one whose return would’ve been a significant threat. The true MVP of the 2005 World Series champions had two main again surgical procedures in his closing two seasons in Chicago earlier than signing a one-year cope with the Twins in 2009.
But Ventura, Thomas and Buehrle all might have ended their enjoying careers on the South Side if the Sox had dealt with issues a bit in another way.
Ventura left after the 1998 season, signing a four-year, $32 million cope with the Mets. His agent mentioned the Sox supplied a three-year cope with an choice that assured solely $18 million. Ventura interpreted that as a take-it-or-leave-it contract from GM Ron Schueler.
“It was just one offer,” he instructed the Tribune’s Phil Rogers. “‘Here’s the offer, and if you don’t take it, that’s it.’ I rejected that one and (Schueler) said that was basically all he could do. You can’t force them to want you.”
Thomas, a Hall of Famer, was pushed out by administration after being injured and lacking many of the 2005 season. He thought he was returning for his seventeenth season, however GM Ken Williams had different plans.
When Thomas criticized the best way his state of affairs was dealt with in an interview with the Daily Southtown, Williams, now the crew’s government vice chairman, gave a profanity-laced interview by which he referred to as Thomas “selfish” and an “idiot” and instructed him to “stay out of White Sox business.”
Buehrle left for a four-year, $58 million cope with the Marlins in December 2011 after 12 seasons with the Sox. He mentioned he gave the Sox a closing likelihood to signal him and was promptly rebuffed.
Ventura, Thomas and Buerhle all loved varied levels of success after leaving the Sox, and the crew later retired the numbers of Thomas and Buehrle and employed Ventura as supervisor. Perhaps it was higher for each the gamers and the crew that issues didn’t work out. Maybe we’ll quickly be saying the identical about Abreu, who’s becoming a member of the reigning champions, and the Sox, who’ve Andrew Vaughn able to take over at first base.
Abreu mentioned at his introductory information convention Tuesday in Houston that the Sox made a “really good” provide. But he didn’t elaborate, and Hahn declined to debate the negotiations. Whatever provide was made, it wasn’t sufficient to maintain Abreu, who has mentioned he doesn’t play for cash.
It’s tough to maintain gamers for his or her total careers, and when it occurs these days it’s often a shock. Abreu might’ve been the anomaly however assuredly will likely be a part of the “Sox family” after his enjoying profession and will even get his Sox quantity retired.
Still, it could be good to see Reinsdorf attempt to hold one of many faces of the franchise round after letting so many depart through the years. Will it ever occur?
Tim Anderson and Luis Robert are most likely the most effective present bets. The Sox maintain a $14 million choice for Anderson in 2024, after which he’ll little doubt money in like different premier shortstops. The crew’s advertising division has referred to Anderson as “the face of baseball,” so it is sensible the Sox would attempt to hold him round so long as potential.
Robert is below contract via 2027, together with two crew choices at $20 million apiece in ‘26 and ‘27.
But who is aware of what’s in retailer for both participant?
The Sox household comes and goes. And generally the relations come again once more.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com