Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

The White Sox are hosting the Royals after losing the first matchup in Kansas City a week ago. Michael Farina from Royal de Lux Podcast joined the show to talk about all things Royals: The Royals, they’re just like us! The lack of pitching depth in Kansas City Is this all just a perpetual rebuild? Thoughts on Pedro Grifol The biggest threat, and the keys to win Around the league Find Michael on Twitter, and check out Royal de Lux Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Barbee, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Dante Jones, Chrystal O’Keefe and Brett Ballantini took the lead of a recently-stoked Race to the Bottom series and took it a few measures farther: Impressions of a dastardly season, now one-quarter gone What makes this season different from 2018’s 100-loss season Does Burlington Coat Factory still exist? Of course Burlington Coat Factory still exists! You go in there with $645, you are literally a king Imagining how the next 120 games will play out ... it doesn’t look good for Pedro Is a full teardown/rebuild in the works ... and if so, what conditions need to be met for that to happen? White Sox Pride is now the Scarlett Letter ... W Only one of the five on the panel thinks this season will not end in significant firings/rebuilding Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox will be hosting the Guardians for their first meeting of the season. The Guardians are sitting just three games back from first, recently reclaiming second place from the Tigers. Jeff Ellis from Locked On Guardians joined the show to talk about all things Guardians: How a sluggish start from Josh Naylor and José Ramírez’s lingering thumb injury are affecting the team Triston McKenzie’s return Will the Guardians linger in the same spot all season in a weak division? The biggest threat, and the keys to win Around the league Find Jeff on Twitter, and check out Locked On Guardians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darren Black is back off of the IL, joining Brett Ballantini for a run through recent affiliate MVPs, with extra attention paid to a few players who seem to be taking a big step forward in the early going. We start in Charlotte, where Brett wonders why bigger bats like Victor Reyes, Clint Frazier and Oscar Colás were bypassed in favor of Jake Marisnick on the South Side A study of the the unique hitter that is Carlos Pérez Quick check-in on the foreboding news about Davis Martin’s injury A glimpse at the jaw-droppingly great start to Cristian Mena’s season, and how high his fortunes could find him this summer Who is having the more perfect and promise-fulfilling start to 2023, DJ Gladney or Terrell Tatum? (Answer: A tie?) Eschewing Kannapolis for this podcast, we return to Charlotte for discussion of Garrett Crochet, and his present and future prospects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Astros are coming to town, and it will be José Abreu’s first trip to his old stomping grounds. The White Sox will play a tribute video for Abreu, and I imagine it will be a mixed bag of boos, cheers, and maybe a few tears. The Astros sit 3 1⁄2 games back from first, sitting in third place in the American League West. Meanwhile, the White Sox are just a single game ahead of the last-place Royals — the team that just took three of four games in the last series. Injuries abound with some of the best players on the Astros José Abreu has not yet reached August Abreu level, and has yet to hit a home run Excitement around JP France The biggest threat, and the keys to win Around the league Find Andy on Twitter, and follow along at All Blogs Go To Heaven. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryiin, Dante Jones, Chrystal O’Keefe and Brett Ballantini looked straight into the eyes of great fortune (wins in five of seven games) and tried to imagine whether it could last. Pluse, what’s the deal with that home run celebration? Chrystal, fresh from a mini-trip to Cincinnati for the one loss of the weekend that ended in her not even scoring a Funko Pop for her aunt, gives us the skinny on the Great American Ballpark. Verdict? Great park for families, and an eminently decent park overall What do we believe, the team we’ve seen for a month that is REALLY LOUSY, or this one over the past week that is playing at a division-winning clip? We all managed to avoid inhaling too much laughing gas The injury train keeps rolling, and the group tries to cure what ails the White Sox. Unfortunately, that points more to the front office’s poor roster construction than anything the actual players are falling short over The White Sox turn back the clock to a time before Michael Jordan, deigning to have Chicago embraced again for Al Capone and organized crime, not dynasties. OK, while not overreacting to the “Gangster” celebration, we do think there are other directions the team could have taken And in a spontaneous final round, we speculate on what the sponsor patch (presuming any company ponies up the surely low, low patch rental price) will be once the White Sox adorn them. Four different answers, and not all of them are a down arrow! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How evenly matched are the White Sox and Royals? They’re currently the bottom-feeders of the American League Central, dealing with rebuilds and a rough April. Will this be a mid-off, or will we at least have a competitive series? I asked Kevin O’Brien from sites such as The Royals Reporter, SABR, and Pitcher List what his thoughts were on the Royals and the upcoming series. What on Earth is going on in Kansas City? The uncanny resemblance between the White Sox and Royals Royals prospects Lorenzo Cain’s retirement, and wanting to retire as a Royal after 13 seasons The biggest threat, and the keys to win How Andrew Benintendi will be good for the White Sox Around the league Find Kevin on Twitter, and again at The Royals Reporter, SABR, and Pitcher List. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox are fresh off a series win, the first of the season, against the Twins. With better vibes, the team heads to Cincinnati to face off against the Reds. Chrystal sits down with Wick Terrell from our sister site Red Reporter to chat about the road trip. Predicting the Reds season as a whole April and May without Joey Votto Extension talk about the young ace Hunter Greene The biggest threat, and the keys to win The Reds Hall of Fame Museum, and why those traveling this weekend should stop in Around the league Find Wick on Twitter and over at Red Reporter, and tune in to his podcast Walks Will Haunt, part of the Fans First Sports Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox are still pretty bad, and the Twins are atop the American League Central. In this episode, Seth Stohs gives a great breakdown of the Twins after nearly 20 years of coverage on the team. Predicting the Twins season as a whole and who has the best chance at MVP How great is a healthy Byron Buxton Carlos Correa and Joey Gallo are good, but what about the starting rotation The biggest threat, and the keys to win The depth of the Twins' roster A few White Sox compliments Around the league, and some Pirates and Dave Parker appreciation Find Seth on Twitter and over at Twins Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elated by the White Sox actually ending their 10-game losing streak, even if the win was largely thanks to a pitching gift from Rays manager Kevin Cash, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and temporarily downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, delve into the past but then leap into the possibilities in the future. Anticipated guest star Berto from the west side had to cancel due to a workout injury (isn’t that so White Soxy?), but there is plenty of ranting on the show, though none of it done without going seven minutes without a pause to breathe. Among the topics: What the hell is wrong with Luis Robert Jr.? Is it hamstring, mindset, or the extra weight of having to lug two extra letters around on the back of his jersey? Has Ethan Katz outlived his usefulness (big disagreement on that one)? Now that the losing streak has been broken and the Sox have raised their winning percentage to a 45-victory pace, is the sky the limit? Or is fivethirtyeight.com’s projection of 71 wins as high as they can go? When Tim Anderson and Hanser Alberto are activated this week, who gets shipped out (no disagreement on this one, except maybe whether Romy González should be shipped all the way out to infinity and beyond)? How many of their next 10 games do the Sox need to win to be even remotely considered a real major league team? Can Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet save the incredibly awful bullpen? Which relievers go when they’re activated? Rick Hahn now has kinda sorta fallen on his sword and verbally accepted responsibility for the awfulness of the White Sox, mere months after saying if problems were his fault he’d resign. Can anyone believe anything Hahn ever says? Is there even the tiniest, teeniest, itty-bittyest, teensy-weensyest chance Jerry Reinsdorf would sell the team, or are we all just on death watch (bet you can guess the answer)? Important questions all, some of which may even be answered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malachi Hayes, Chrystal O’Keefe, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Adrian Serrano and Brett Ballantini took on the daunting task of immediately improving the White Sox by taking over the team on Friday night. We discussed changes major and minor, then predicted the next weird thing that will happen with the club. Not to give the whole program away, but our “immediate change” answers include revamping the farm system, selling off assets, position changes, demotions from the big club, DFAing the despicable abuser, chasing the most coveted free agent in the land, and burning the entire executive class to the ground Tweaks, mea culpas and fun changes? Restore retired player images to the outfield wall, bring back the Goose, make reparations via DV organization donations, free the 500 class, get the City Connects in greater circulation As for the Next Weird Thing that’s going to happen, predictions vary from a quick return for Liam Hendriks to a future .500 club We’ve got some fun shows to come as well, with a constant parade of Visiting Dugouts, Berto from the West Side guesting on Sharing Sox, and our Sox Populi Show-and-Tell, so keep tuning in — we’ll try to entertain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Without a series win, or even a back-to-back win, the White Sox once again face the best team in the league — the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are atop the American League at the moment with a record of 20-5, a cushy .800 winning percentage. Author and lifelong Rays fan Alicia Thompson sits in the Dugout this time around, to talk about the red-hot Rays. First things first — buy Alicia’s book Will the Rays crush our hopes even further? How Alicia feels heading into the series Wander Franco’s MVP race and Tyler Glasnow’s return The biggest threat, and the keys to win The depth of the Rays roster The best ’stache in the league? Dylan Cease Around the league Find Alicia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a week off due to technical (get rid of the duck!) difficulties, Darren Black again joins Brett Ballantini to talk about the best of the White Sox affiliates, addressing the first two system Players of the Week, Loidel Chapelli Jr. and Wilfred Veras. So, Darren has managed to turn around his coverage record — and the fate of each affiliate — early on in 2023. What’s his secret, and does it involve pep talks? Veras, our most recent POTW, is up first, and what’s additionally notable to the “givens” (mashing the ball, dominating at High-A after splashing into Project Birmingham with no hiccups in 2022) is some of his high baseball IQ and defensive play We’re a week late on Loidel, who continues to impress in his first Stateside year. Sure, he’s an older prospect and is roughly age-appropriate for High-A, but is making a massive transition to a new culture. What does the front office see in players like Veras and Chapelli beyond filling the box scores? Kannapolis POTW Tim Elko is such a fun watch. Brett throws out a completely blind (but not necessarily inaccurate) Ron Kittle comp, and The Captain should be so lucky to have that impact given his swing-and-miss-but-also-go-boom game Birmingham POTW Cristian Meña (we have the question now in officially to the White Sox, tilde or no tilde, we’re guessing tilde) continues to burn it up. With a hat-tip also to Davis Martin, Meña has established himself as the Fast Riser among starting pitchers in the system Charlotte POTW Nate Fisher is exactly the kind of pitcher that made sense to sign into the system during the contention window (yeah, sorry, window’s closed ca. 2023), and Rick Hahn failing to do so (kudos for this year, but whatever) remains a true “deep cuts” failure of his GM tenure Injury roundup covers some big names, but the news is actually not as bad as you fear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chrystal O’Keefe sits down with Michael Waterloo of The Athletic and Fantasy Pros to discuss the upcoming series in Toronto. The Blue Jays are sitting in third place in a tough division — but were the first team to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays. How will the White Sox fare against the team up north? Give a listen below, and find out. A rundown on the Blue Jays Where will the Blue Jays sit throughout the season Poutine hot dogs and ballpark updates Series preview The biggest threat, and the keys to winning the series Around the league How the season might just go Find Michael on Twitter and follow along on The Athletic and FantasyPros. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dante Jones, Chrystal O’Keefe, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Brett Ballantini sat down to pull the camera back a bit on our White Sox fandom, and reassess our purpose here. Yeah, there is some origin story background for each of us, but also equal parts sweetness and cynicism. There is a love for the White Sox and what (we feel) they stand for present in all. Joe Resis again tries and fails to catch on to the podcast, and his hunger for those green room snax is getting alarming. In the second half, we also bring back our Good Vibes (hey Jacki!) segment. It’s sad, and it’s a tough way to open the show, but the White Sox just don’t care. How to we stomach and play through that? There are a variety of reasons, and they keep us going That includes directly confronting the issue of an unsavory player in a prominent role — and making the very best of a horrible situation, as Chrystal and Colleen Sullivan are doing by donating to domestic violence organizations for each start Burying the lede because this was an overarching podcast that examines our fandom, Liam Hendriks is cancer-free! Other Good Vibes topics: Jake Burger, Reynaldo López, Chrystal’s Visiting Dugout podcast on Sox Populi, and some bright spots on the farm Only after the podcast did we run our show-and-tell gear segment, with Dante rocking Padres and White Sox, Brett in the SSS Juggling Vices Dick Allen tribute, Melissa repping the FAR South Side, and Chrystal going all Sky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Without a series win, or even a back-to-back win, the White Sox face the best team in the league — the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are atop in the American League at the moment with a record of 16-3, and way better than .500, at .842. Elizabeth Strom of fellow SBN site DRaysBay sits in the Dugout this time around, to talk about a magical start to the season. How far will the Rays go? Postseason? Devil magic and Cash How Elizabeth feels heading into the series Will there be a pitchers’ duel on Saturday? The biggest threat, and the keys to maybe just sweeping the White Sox Thoughts on the pitch clock Around the league Rules, rules, rules — stealing bases IS FUN How the season might just go Find Elizabeth on Twitter and over at DRaysBay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent Will (shameless plug — in town to perform in The Cherry Orchard at the Goodman Theatre), wander into the world of mysteries surrounding the 2023 White Sox, many of them mysteries that have baffled Sox fans for many years, to whit: Why do the White Sox year after year have the worst plate discipline in the majors (well, OK, this year next to worst, thanks to Detroit, but do the Tigers even count as major league?) despite multiple changes of hitting coaches, bench coaches, and managers? Why do the White Sox year after year have the least efficient pitching staff in the majors, consistently awful in how many pitches it takes to get through an inning? If you always walk a passel of opposing hitters, is that really baseball, or just bad slow-pitch softball? If the player meant to be your star designated hitter is very much not hitting anything at all, designated or otherwise, and his substitutes are hitting really well, how do you decide on your lineup? And how long do we get to enjoy Jake Burger’s hitting before the league figures out how to pitch to him? Even Cats has finished its Broadway run. Is the horribleness of White Sox pitching a sign to end its own Ethan Katz run? Is there a way out of this mess? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the White Sox finally be evenly matched as they head into a series with the Phillies? The two clubs sport identical records heading into this week’s series, so listen to Kevin Seamus as he breaks down Philadelphia’s season thus far with Chrystal O’Keefe. The 1993 team and Kevin’s love for the Phillies Bryce Harper rumors Where does Kevin see the Phillies sitting by midseason, and again in September How does Kevin feel going into this first series Keys for the Phillies to take this series, and will it be another 4-0 ballgame? The biggest threat to the White Sox right now Rules, rules, rules — stealing bases IS FUN How the season might just go Find Kevin on Twitter and check out his blog on the 1993 Phillies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A couple of weeks in and finally shedding some of the preview/pregame/postgame podcasts for a bit, it’s time for the mothership to take off again — this time, with a weird duck stowing away throughout. Darren Black, Malachi Hayes, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Brett Ballantini got together for a gut-check on where the team’s at. Hang around, because while you might not see Joe Resis, you may catch some Good Vibes (hey Jacki!) by the end of the show. The lineup: Darren in old-school Intimidators cap, Malachi rocking the ’59 Sox cap, Brett donning Bob Marley but with just one operating ear, and Melissa in self-professed Friday the 13th gear chosen especially for the fan-murdering nature of this early Sox season Yes, Joe Resis was also inked to appear on this podcast, but he either got locked in the green room, or was just enjoying the snacks so much, he never arrived. Darren even left a few times to try to go find him Yes, there was some chuckling over David Roth’s Defector piece that pretty well captures the demolition derby nature of this White Sox team, even after we’d been told that fundamental play — the basics of baseball, if you will — were drilled throughout Spring Training Injuries. Yep. Well, we talk about ’em. Guys won’t be out forever The yin-yang of this year’s pitching rotation does have us stumped. On one hand, it has the potential to lead a team to the playoffs (Malachi) or be hot-cold for 162 games (Darren) LUIS ROBERT. Brett gets simmered down a bit from the MVP talk The Positive Vibrations portion of the podcast brought it all home Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you believe the White Sox are heading to their fifth series already? Time flies when you’re not having fun. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Dream from FTNBets about the super-fun Baltimore Orioles. Where does Dream see the O’s sitting by midseason, and again in September How does Dream feel going into this first series Keys for the O’s to take this series The biggest threat on the O’s right now (hint: it’s my favorite baseball name) Rules, rules, rules — are we in favor? How the season might just go Find Dream on Twitter, and follow along at FTNBets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a sort of test podcast and video feed, we switched over to a new format for the Sox Populi family of programs, to considerable success in spite of Darren Black losing his camera for a sec and Brett Ballantini not knowing where to look to engage with viewers. But that backstage nonsense aside, Darren and Brett sat down to talk about the hot (?) Charlotte Knights, who have seen some breakout performances early and, let’s face it, simply have an actual pitching rotation this year. Lenyn Sosa mania! Darren tracks the ascendant middle infielder’s early work in 2023, and what he’s done and needs to keep doing to take the step forward into impact major-leaguer After considerable consternation the Brett’s part, the Knights seemingly have five or more starters — not going deep into games, mind you — but not just an assemblage for bullpen games, as in 2022. Darren traces that evolution, and also finds time to talk a bit of Davis Martin, the best of the Charlotte starters so far Lane Ramsey is also making a bullpen impact, taking the opportunity the White Sox have given him and making the most of it despite being outside the 40-man, looking in The curious case of Loidel Chapelli Jr.’s assignment, and why it was absolutely the right move (correction: neither of us, no one, yet has a clue whether it’s the right move) However, Brett is quick to point out that if not the Luis Robert Jr. track, Chapelli’s assignment to High-A could at least end up being an Oscar Colás track to the majors Mostly, we just want some games below the Triple-A level to not be rained out, for a fuller Sox Pop on the Farm experience next week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you believe the White Sox are heading to their fourth series already? Time flies when you’re having fun. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Ben Jones from Fans First Sports Network’s Twins Talk and SB Nation’s Twinkie Town to talk about his team. The Twins are leading the American League Central at 6-3, two games ahead of the White Sox. Where does Ben see the Twins sitting by midseason, and again in September How does Ben feel going into this first series Ben’s keys for the Twins to take this series The biggest threat on the Twins right now Rules, rules, rules — are we in favor How the season might just go Find Ben on Twitter, listen to Twins Talk Pod, or check out some of his work over at our sister site Twinkie Town. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout the season, I plan to preview our upcoming series with a fan from every team the White Sox face. We’ll chat about our game expectations, players to watch, and much more. For the third episode of Visiting Dugout, I sat down with Graves to chat about the upcoming series in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. The Pirates are back at PNC and ready to welcome the prodigal son, Andrew McCutchen PNC is awesome, and Graves talks about some of the best things the ballpark has to offer Fresh off a sweep in Boston, Graves speaks on the keys to winning, and the biggest threats the White Sox might face. Who might have a good season, and thoughts on the new rules — love them or hate them? You can find Graves on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is a very interesting group of players at Low-A Kannapolis, and by interesting, well, note the word used isn’t intriguing. But the two most interesting arms from the 2022 draft will be Cannon Ballers, so hey, Darren Black hopped on with Brett Ballantini to discuss them, and some of the other, more imperfect, prospects: Darren defends Noah Schultz from the immediate Randy Johnson comps, while Brett admits he’d be terrified to face a pitcher of Schultz’s size And then, there’s the sneaky 1a draft pick from 2022, plum-pick-until-injury Peyton Pallette. Pallette has been drawing raves already this year, and Darren explains why There is a core of intriguing bullpen arms, including a pair of promising pitchers who aren’t yet sure to be starters or relievers The offense? Well, nine guys per game will go up to hit, that’s for sure Deep thoughts, driven by dummy Brett. The White Sox still have, in technical terms, a really lousy farm system. How long before we can expect to see better records from the affiliates — or is that even important? Brett insults the White Sox front office and has to run off of the podcast to address its hate mail. How they were listening live to this podcast, though ... Also, programming note, Brett had Opening Day down as Thursday for AA-A, then double-checked and somehow found a source that had it wrong. So all the talk about the season opening on Friday, well ... OK, let’s face it, Brett’s a little dim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unlike a year ago, the clear bevy of Single-A talent in the White Sox system resides in High-A Winston-Salem. And that’s not only due to matriculation from the 2022 Low-A Kannapolis team. With so many promising players starting the year at Winston-Salem, Darren Black hopped on with Brett Ballantini to discuss all of the promise residing in High-A this year: But first, Brett initiates a mini-rant about a player no longer in the White Sox system, but who last played there in 2021 with the Dash and was just moved up to the Philadelphia Phillies, McKinley Moore OK, on to the actual Dash players, leading off with two exciting starters who (for different reasons) will need to flash health and reach the 100 IP mark, Norge Vera and Kohl Simas A positive dive into Jonathan Cannon, and a worried one into Jared Kelley Brett brings up Brooks Gosswein, and Darren makes Brett wish he didn’t Shout-outs to Trooper Galactus for his Wilfred Veras stan ... but seriously, what were you Top Prospect Voters thinking by not only keeping Veras from winning a round in the first 20, but finishing low on the ballot itself, throughout? Brett attempts to place a claim on Jacob Burke, but stymies himself when realizing that any mildly-promising center fielder captures his heart. Darren provides the actual reasons why, yes, we should be optimistic about where Burke can move in our system Some “bonus time” talk about the otherwise-overlooked Wes Kath, and in fact, we unearth a way that the way-premature assignment Kath got to Project Birmingham in 2022 could in fact work out really well We recorded before the wild news that Loidel Chapelli Jr. (yes, Brett has placed a claim on his Cuban brother) would be starting the season here. WOW We also were fighting (well, Brett was) some real technical issues that apparently stole a minute or so out of the podcast; apologies for the very strange lack of commercial intro and outro midway through the program Also, programming note, Brett had Opening Day down as Thursday for AA-A, then double-checked and somehow found a source that had it wrong. So all the talk about the season opening on Friday, well ... OK, let’s face it, Brett’s a little dim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, were just settling in for their first podcast of the regular season when the White Sox announced that Eloy Jiménez is headed to the IL with a theoretically minor hamstring issue. Not good. On the good side, the praise is for the Cuban contingent, especially Luis Robert Jr.’s incredible fielding and Yoán Moncada’s hot start at the plate, with plenty left over for the start of Oscar Colás’ White Sox career and the (at least temporary) resurgence of Yasmani Grandal’s bat, if not his defense. Further praise goes to Dylan Cease for his great first start (the podcast was recorded before No. 2), with reserved kudos for the other starting pitchers in Houston, who took a whole lot of pitches to get through a depleted Astros lineup, with FIP showing Lance Lynn and the new guy getting a whole lot of luck and Lucas Giolito getting ill-treated by fortune. That, of course, doesn’t include whatever happened to Michael Kopech on Monday, which both agreed could not just have been a matter of pitch-tipping. As for the bullpen and its 9.90 ERA, both agreed the best reliever far and away in the young season has been Hanser Alberto, though Will disagreed that Hanser should be handed the closer’s job, at least until Liam Hendriks is back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Project Birmingham didn’t ensure it, the roster heading into 2023 sure does: The Barons are the centerpiece minor league organization for the White Sox. With so many promising players starting the year at Birmingham, Darren Black hopped on with Brett Ballantini to discuss all of the promise residing in Double-A this year: Cristian Mena and Matt Thompson may be starters headed in a different direction; the former has his sights set on the South Side this summer, while the latter faces a make-or-break season in the rotation The heart of the bullpen has been injured over the past few seasons, as well as Spring Training invitee Edgar Navarro The offense is really where it’s at, with Colson Montgomery, of course. But we talk at length about Bryan Ramos, and how his success would be a rare, non-high pick win for the White Sox José Rodríguez shouldn’t be long for the Barons, but he does start here, and needs not only to mash, but to stay healthy We struggle through technical difficulties, making this a rare audio-only podcast Still to come, previews and podcasts on both Single-A clubs, leading up to Opening Night for AA-A clubs on Friday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the most brutal home opener we can remember, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Kristina AIrdo and Brett Ballantini got together right after the final out to review a sad trombone of a 12-3 Sox pasting by the San Francisco Giants. Kopech, Kopech, Kopech, he went from lights-out early 2022 to whatever ... this ... is. Funny, we don’t discuss “tipping pitches” but we do mention leaving hittable, straight meatballs over the heart of the plate There was a small amount of fight in the club — was it what we needed to see after getting down so big, early? Positives to be taken from this very negative game How is Pedro Grifol shaping up as a skipper in this early going? How do we see the first block of 12 games this season shaping up and what should the 12-game record be then for us to feel like, yeah, this team is on the right track? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Ballantini invites some of his SSS friends, including Tommy Barbee, Jordan Hass, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Dante Jones and Brian O’Neill, to chat about what is looking to be a damp Home Opener against the Giants on Monday: Wow! Two of four in Houston, leading in every game, potent if inefficient offense, solid starting, some speed and defense — who are these guys? Can the momentum of some early season success down south translate to a series win or sweep this week hosting the Giants Focus on Michael Kopech’s season debut, as it seems he could be the most “all or nothing” hurler in the rotation Our favorite Opening Days include a 1990, a couple 1991s and 2006s, and an almost-2020. See which panelists were at the games together! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Home Opener! Throughout the season, I plan to preview our upcoming series with a fan from every team the White Sox face. We’ll chat about our game expectations, players to watch, and much more. For the second episode of Visiting Dugout, I sat down with Britt of Willets Pen to chat about Chicago’s first homestand against the Giants. Britt shares her thoughts on the not-great, but not-bad Giants Saying goodbye to our old friend Carlos Rodón, and why he can’t be replaced Britt shares her key to a series win and the biggest threat to the White Sox The O’s might just be a fun team to watch this year, according to Britt Chrystal’s sleep agents that might just go pretty far this season You can find Britt on Twitter, Pitcher List, and Willets Pen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s another season in Charlotte, and hopefully a good for a Knights team that wasn’t just bad in 2022, but embarrassingly so, as just one-third of Charlotte starts were made by legit starting pitchers. Darren Black hopped on with Brett Ballantini to discuss the highest level, yet somewhat AAAA status, of the Chicago minor-league system: The biggie: Will the Knights start actual starting pitchers this season? With Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Jonathan Stiever and John Parke, it appears so. Maybe not 100% of the time, but we’re hoping for 80%. Brett immediately carves out an exception to the 100% goal — if Davis Martin or Sean Burke need to be called up immediately to take the spot of our fifth starter, [redacted], all good Between Gregory Santos and Franklin German, there are two MLB-ready arms in Charlotte, and on the southpaw side, it’s Tanner Banks. All in all, not the worst way to break camp Darren was forced into an altogether-too-long segment on Yolbert Sánchez, who has seen his star fall right off of the map — especially once José Rodríguez is promoted from Birmingham At some point, Darren goes from intermittent Zoom camera to gone for good, so forgive the 30 seconds of tech failure ... just cue up the Yakety Sax, please Given just three true outfielders on the South Side (or 2 1⁄2 , or just two, depending on how you feel about your corner outfielders getting caught in the fishing nets) are the Knights stocked with ready band-aids? More so than in 2022, says Darren Next week, with the rest of the minors opening on April 7, we’ll run our other three affiliate previews Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wow, way to make us all (oh please, don’t you shake your heads at us, this season was scaring hell outta you, too) feel like negative nellies, White Sox. Well, finally a fun postgame podcast for our crew, as Brian O’Neill, Malachi Hayes, Dante Jones, Allie Wesel, Jacki Krestel, Chrystal O’Keefe, Ryiin, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Brett Ballantini got together right after the final out to review a thrilling, 3-2 win. Dylan Cease. Seriously, you want more than that? Well, how about his ruthless, intense attack of the strike zone and the pitch clock. Remember when we were concerned the pitch clock was gassing him? Pfft A round-robin of delights we all took from tonight’s game The offense was not efficient — but then again, efficient enough. There are two takes on this, and we present both How do we see the series shaping up the rest of the weekend? What were our reactions to seeing José Abreu in enemy garb? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Ballantini invites a half-dozen SSS friends, including debut podcaster Ryiin, Jordan Hass, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Malachi Hayes, Chrystal O’Keefe and Brian O’Neill, to chat about Opening Night in Houston: Did Brian’s terrific essay render this entire podcast moot? Suppose not — we didn’t stop recording after reading Starting it off on the sunny side, we discuss the things we are most excited about as the 2023 season dawns — including the likelihood and tolerance of José Abreu hitting a massive bomb against a former teammate at least once OK then, what about the White Sox still gives us the willies? Among many possibilities, a thin rotation and the possibility that Rick Hahn will control this team on the field by remote come to light Speed round: How likely are the White Sox to pull a Baines ’89 and retire Abreu’s jersey immediately upon his return to Chicago with the Astros in May? At least two dog and one cat cameos on-screen We wind up our longer topics trying to find anything redeeming about the Houston Astros. Aside from Malachi’s rec for a book that strips that insipid organization bare, we didn’t Final speed round finds us discussing the player we are most looking forward to watching in 2023 Also: Tune in to tonight’s postgame podcast, up somewhat shortly after the end of the opener Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Opening Day! I heard everyone wanted another podcast, and I’m here to provide it. Throughout the season, I plan to preview our upcoming series with a fan from every team the White Sox face. We’ll chat about our game expectations, players to watch, and much more. For the inaugural episode of Visiting Dugout, I sat down with Ben Zeidman of Pitcher List and Apollo Media to break down the opening series against the Astros. Ben shares his post-Justin Verlander thoughts, with insights on Houston’s “weakened” starting rotation Astros season predictions Chrystal tries to move on from José Abreu Ben shares his key to a series win and the biggest threat to the White Sox The White Sox are winning the AL Central??? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In what we’ll consider our semi-official Fans First Sports Network and Sox Populi coming-out party, part two, a half-dozen (Chrystal O’Keefe, Tommy Barbee, Adrian Serrano, Dante Jones, Joe Resis, Brett Ballantini) of our 22 prognosticators got together to discuss the differences and similarities we feel about the fortunes of the coming 2023 baseball season. It’s been roughly 43 mothership podcasts since our last MLB prognostication pod, and in that time — you may have noticed — some things have changed. We now represent the Fans First Sports Network and record under the umbrella of Sox Populi. And we soon will be debuting a new program, hosted by Chrystal O’Keefe: Visiting Dugout. Chrystal will be previewing upcoming opponents, with enemy team guests from inside and outside of the FFSN. Tune in, you’re gonna dig it You got some ’splainin’ to do, part one: Tommy Barbee (again) picks the Angels to win the AL West. There’s a support group for that, Tommy — but it’s not us (OK, Darren picked them for a Wild Card) You got some ’splainin’ to do, part two: Dante Jones picks the Cubs for the playoffs, again one of just two writers (Trooper, NLC champs) to see the ivy bumblers in the postseason Because who really cares about the other divisions (aside from, apparently, the AL West), we dive in a bit more to how the AL Central will wrangle out. Warning: there are some seeming inconsistencies in some of our writers’ bold stances We run through our World Series picks, with special guest and late addition to the podcast, Willow O’Keefe Does Brett enjoy the Tomahawk Chop? Related: Brett will not be invited on any Mets podcasts anytime soon, while both he and Tommy (who picked New York, by the way) anticipate actual Steve Cohen crimes in order to secure a title Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In what we’ll consider a semi-official Fans First Sports Network and Sox Populi coming-out party, a half-dozen (Chrystal O’Keefe, Tommy Barbee, Malachi Hayes, Dante Jones, Joe Resis, Brett Ballantini) of our 22 prognosticators got together to discuss the differences and similarities we feel about the fortunes of this White Sox team. Representing the 11 of 22 writers who see the White Sox in the playoffs, Malachi, Joe and Dante discuss how such a thing could be possible: Malachi can see Chicago clicking to as many as 95 wins, Joe foresees an unbelievably crazy finish to the season, and Dante feels the AL Central is bad enough that the White Sox claim a wild card Conversely, representing the 11 of 22 writers who think there is something very wrong with those 11 other writers, Chrystal, Tommy and Brett try to stifle their laughter. Although to be fair, Chrystal envisions what is possible an even weirder ALC race than Joe Because Lucas Giolito came up as the choice of a few SSSers as top pitcher for the squad this year, we again play the quick speed round of: Will Lucas re-sign with the White Sox? And in a bit of our bonus time, given that even the sunniest prognosticators on the podcast had to admit this team is a little rough at the moment, we went around the room to discuss what could happen early with the White Sox that would get us excited and revising our low expectations Tomorrow’s podcast and story: MLB predictions, including somewhat Soxy discussion of the AL Central race Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, celebrated the fact the regular season will soon be here. In their final preseason podcast, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, were ready to rejoice that Leury García will no longer be on the White Sox (OK, unfair — it’s just the absence of Leury’s bat we were ready to rejoice about, we like him just fine) until we learned the replacement appears to be Romy González. Yes, that Romy González, he of the career (albeit brief) of .196 BA and .482 OPS vs. righties Gonzálezes. That is so very, very White Sox. Word is the Opening Day roster will also include Hanser Alberto, who has had a magnificent spring to start his age-30 season and has always hit lefties well, but has never hit righties worth a lick when it counted (.590 OPS). And you thought the Sox lacked depth before now. After wondering who will play what and how badly when any regular gets hurt, the duo move on to predictions for 2023, both their own and those from people who actually know what they’re doing but don’t think the Sox do. Finally, a paean to great baseball — meaning the World Baseball Classic. But speculation time is nearly at an end — the season starts Thursday, so it’s time to Play Ball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the most fun any of Adrian Serrano, Dante Jones or Brett Ballantini can remember having during Spring Training, so it fits that we again converge for a postgame podcast, discussing Japan’s 3-2 win in the WBC title game over the U.S. Will this Quick notes on an amazing ballgame, not quite befitting the Japan-Mexico semifinal, but a terrific finale nonetheless And yes, that includes Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout playing in a game that meant something! Continuing this podcast’s discussion of the logistics of what time of year the WBC should be played — and how making this an October tournament could really work well Where does the WBC go from here ... has 2023’s stellar play and breakout stardoms truly turned the tournament into a “world series?” A detailed discussion of where MLB, and even the WBC itself is missing opportunities to grow the sport, particularly in African countries ripe for a baseball explosion Will this loss motivate the United States to bulk up the pitching staff for a next go-around, in three years? Will Yoán Moncada’s placement on the All-WBC team propel him to great things right away in 2023? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talked late, after Team USA’s blowout win over Cuba to advance to the WBC title game, so we’ll call it a Postgame Podcast. But really, with two staffers (Hannah LaMotta and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach) in attendance at the World Baseball Classic able to join Brett Ballantini for the podcast, we broadened the discussion to the game experiences and future fortunes of the tournament. Some rote (power!) details of Sunday night’s win, although not including any speculation about Yoán Moncada’s collision/injury in the game (thankfully, seems more incidental-contact bruising than serious injury, and we’ll see Yoán in action this week at Camelback Ranch) 10-run rule? The U.S. don’t need no 10-run rule to win! The Whirlwind Last 48 Hours of Hannah LaMotta ... including White Sox coverage, plane delays, and the wave (see below) More glimpses into the park experience at the WBC, completely unique and unlike anything you’ve experienced at Sox Park — even a playoff game Further details on the budding Fans First Sports Network and Sox Populi’s significant role in it ... including our plans to provide additional coverage on Sox Pop A do-or-die baseball choice: To wave, or not to wave? Wave-hater, Papa LaMotta, did give a blessing to Hannah to participate — and his Konerko jersey did the wave! Logistics of moving the WBC to another time of year A look ahead to the U.S.’s title game vs. Japan or Mexico Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re still a day or two away from our logo being ready — and let me tell you, it’s going to be worth the wait. But for entirely “legal” reasons, our podcast is no longer associated with/owned by Vox. (I only — almost — slipped up one time while recording!) On Friday when we recorded, the South Side Sox podcast had dulled itself into Chicago Baseball Podcast on Megaphone/Apple/Spotify et. al. That’s such a goofy, generic name, I figured this should be the one time we use it! Anyhow, we’ll have a post soon describing a little bit more of what the new podcast vision/network/goodies are. But the important thing for you to know is what you have already discovered: Nothing materially changes for you as a listener, viewer, reader, consumer ... the change has already happened, and you hardly noticed, right? It’s Melissa Sage-Bollenbach’s third trip to White Sox Spring Training and, after Sarasota and Tucson, her third ST venue to watch the Sox. This time, she’s brought along the son who has inherited her fervent South Side fandom, Sage. Both mother and son were kind enough to join me to talk about the up close and personal Camelback Ranch experience, and the eye-opener that was the World Baseball Classic. Right off, both Melissa and Sage agree that this White Sox team has a different vibe. Sure, that’s the optimism of March talking ... but only to a degree. As reported in both of Melissa’s stories, the White Sox are drilling (with Pedro very much present and engaged as manager) and prepping in a way we haven’t seen in at least the past couple of years Melissa shares a couple of easy tips for those who still might be planning on making the trek to Arizona, or want to get in on the fun next year On to the World Baseball Classic, and the absolutely unique experience that rooting for your country (the pair caught Team USA vs. Columbia last week), alongside fellow MLB fans of other clubs you’d never be sitting next to and cheering at the same time during the regular season It’s tougher to catch the WBC given it’s not an every-year event, but this tournament comes even more highly recommended from both Bollenbachs than the Camelback Ranch/White Sox experience — it’s that special Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five months after we wrapped up the 2022 MiLB season with a review of Triple-A Charlotte, Darren Black and Brett Ballantini are back with their promised offseason podcast — OK, barely still offseason — taking a look back at Project Birmingham. Plus, saying hello to 2023 — and goodbye to Vox! Yes, a shockingly seamless-seeming transition from South Side Sox-Vox podcast to Sox Populi-Fans First Sports Network is afoot, meaning this podcast you are now listening to may be the LAST one under the Vox umbrella. Or, maybe not. These things do change However, not to worry, you will notice nothing but a new podcast logo — all our SSS podcast programs on the feed will remain with us at Megaphone (and all the assorted podcasting outlets like Apple, Spotify) While Darren and Brett don’t see 100% eye-to-eye on the merit and execution of Project Birmingham, there’s probably 95% overlap. And the main agreement comes from: Why in the world are Low-A (or even fresh High-A) players seeing action in five or more games a week in DOUBLE-A? The longer second half of this program takes a look ahead to the 2023 bevy of prospects: The depth in the middle infield, dearth of outfielders once you matriculate Oscar Colás to the bigs, and the still-dicey setup of the Charlotte rotation Clear breakout (“Davis Martin”) candidate for 2023: Sean Burke Wildest wild cards to see Chicago in 2023? Kohl Simas, or even Cristian Mena Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, celebrated the fact the regular season will soon be here, Mother Nature demonstrated her counterpoint and set off a brief ice and snow barrage across Chicago, a small warning about playing baseball in Chicago in early spring. Naytheless, they discuss numerous key points: Can the Kansas City Royals, sitting at 14-2 in the Cactus League, continue the pace and win 140 games this season? Should you bet the over or the under? Isn’t it nice the World Baseball Classic provides March games where teams are really trying to win, not just keep from getting hurt? And isn’t it nice White Sox players are doing well in the WBC so far? Can we trumpet the great success so far of players like Oscar Colás, Jake Burger, Hanser Alberto, Eloy Jiménez, Andrew Vaughn, Yasmani Grandal, Elvis Andrus and Michael Kopech without acknowledging the struggles so far of Andrew Benintendi, Dylan Cease — and virtually every player except Burger who might be needed for depth this season? Speaking of depth, is the White Sox depth thicker or thinner than a sheet of regular typing paper? And speaking of Kopech, will he be made the fifth pitcher in the rotation so he starts the home opener, or will the White Sox be even more tone-deaf than we already know them to be (which is really, really tone deaf) and keep he who must not be named in the fifth spot? Only The Shadow knows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mothership is back, after just a week this time, and Kristina Airdo, Hannah LaMotta, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Malachi Hayes meet up with Brett Ballantini to discuss the good and bad of Spring Training 2023, plus some thoughts on the spectacular World Baseball Classic. A rundown of the goods and bads about halfway through Spring Training sees Jake Burger and Yasmani Grandal singled out for plaudits — and the White Sox offense and basepaths-burning Billy Hamilton getting a tsk-tsk On to the World Baseball Classic, and when we aren’t applauding Italy for their crackerjack club of homegrown talents, we’re citing the otherworldly Shohei Ohtani and the killer Japan club. It is shaping up to be a barnburner of an Elite 8 The lost sleep crew is headed by our WBC scribe Kristina, as well as spring-breaking Hannah If not because Team USA is not the favorite, then will our U.S.-centric eyes be opened by the outstanding play of other countries in overall play? In the next week or so, we’ll have Melissa on the ground in Arizona, checking out both White Sox Spring Training and the WBC game vs. Colombia, while right as time ran out Hannah confessed considering a jaunt to Miami to catch WBC play there. Stay tuned Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, delve into matters on and off the field, beginning with Will answering the survey the White Sox send out every spring about fan attitudes, after which the front office apparently deletes the answers without ever looking at them. Also in an off-the-field segment, the elephant in the room raises his trunk and blows a huge raspberry at the world, as MLB uses the old ruse of issuing its decision about Mike Clevinger on a Sunday afternoon so no one is available to take calls from reporters. The question now is how being forced to keep Clevinger on the team will impact the clubhouse, one which mild-mannered José Abreu recently said was already in total disarray last season, and not all because of the HOFBP. Then it’s on to actual baseball matters, including praise for Pedro Grifol for getting the team to work much harder, at least so far, and for the veteran non-roster invitees who are putting it all out to show they belong on the team. And Will relates the video where Sox pitchers speculate over which of their brethren will have the most trouble with a pitch clock. As for individual players, the preseason isn’t at the point yet where stats matter, but one has to take note that tied for the top batting average on the Sox are Eloy Jiménez and — get this — Hanser Alberto. Alberto has actually been a .272 hitter over his career, though only .244 last year, but there’s a piece of data that sure makes you wonder what Rick Hahn was thinking when he signed him to a minor league contract. That’s because Alberto has some of the biggest platoon splits you’ll see, clobbering lefties and clueless against righties. And he considers it unmanly to take a walk. Ever. Maybe Hahn forgot which kind of pitchers the White Sox already hit really well and how they were 29th in MLB in walks last year. Seem to be the kind of things that tend to slip his mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a February break, the mothership is back to take on the good and bad of Spring Training 2023 — right after a couple of words from the top. We have not made a formal post because there are still details to be addressed, but no later than the end of this month, the South Side Sox family of podcasts will become Sox Populi, our new mothership podcast and podcast umbrella. Mechanically, nothing will change for you as a listener/subscriber. Materially, the podcast and network (Fans First Sports Network) is going to deliver much more to you. More details will follow And while we’re at it, a reminder that the mothership, and daily coverage, is not attending to criminal enterprises on the White Sox, so the elephant in the rotation this season will remain unnamed and under-attended Get this: The pluses portion of the podcast was twice as long as the minuses! Plaudits are issued to Oscar Colás, the bullpen, basepaths aggressiveness, Yasmani Grandal, and more White Sox SB aggressiveness begs a discussion of whether a first-time manager like Pedro Grifol is more apt to push the envelope with strategy or lay back and play cautious; the panel is unanimous with their hunches On the negative side ... yes, we had to get to negatives ... the defense, the initial offense (at least to start Cactus League play), Romy González, and Tim Anderson’s relative lack of power all fall under scrutiny Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A couple of games into the exhibition season, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and, for a few months, downtown Chicago correspondent, Will, start a cast of bits and pieces by looking at the impact of the new rules on games so far. Which is to say, so far, really not all that much. There have been a few cases of pitch-clock violations, one ending a game, but only one in a White Sox game, and that minor. Though it’s too early to tell, Steve Stone thinks the clock will work to the advantage of pitchers, even though it gives them less time to recover from the strain of the previous pitch — a point worthy of discussion. There has not been a surge in stolen bases resulting from the limit on pickoff attempts, or from the slightly larger bases — though maybe players are taking it easy on that front pending being more stretched out, and in one White Sox case, the goal of eliminating over-slides went for naught (yes, that was you, Romy). On one weighty matter, the duo discuss the poundage of Lance Lynn (yuck!) and Eloy Jiménez (nice!). On another, they shudder at comments to the media made by Mike Clevinger (when the hell will MLB finally deal with him?) and Tim Anderson, who was waaay too sensitive about past criticism. As for what happened in games, two hits by Oscar Colás were praised, and the continued appalling lack of defensive fundamentals by the Sox scorned — pop-ups in front of the plate aren’t really supposed to be a challenge beyond T-ball, guys. But the duo agree it is very early, so there should be plenty of time for Pedro Grifol to teach the team what a cutoff man is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate having reached the 100 mark, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, welcome the boss, Brett Ballantini, to the show, because the only way to celebrate big occasions is to invite the boss over, right? After a little nostalgia (OK, a lot, but who’s counting?) the trio notice the elephant in the room has gained weight, and launch into the Mike Clevinger situation and the incredible stupidity that got the White Sox into this mess — a mess for which heads would normally roll. But this being the White Sox, they won’t. Then it’s on to the thrill of Spring Training starting and baseball being back, even if the thrill is definitely muted by said elephant, and the way the White Sox interviewed so far have gone all Gordon Beckham and announced they’re in the best shape of their lives, a surefire ritual of spring. That’s followed by a return to reality and a look at the grim prognostications for the Sox from the professional predictors, with some guesses from the three on how the team and individuals will perform in 2023. Is the outlook terrific? Well, uh, no. But baseball is back! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final Sharing Sox before pitchers and catchers report for spring training, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, ponder the question of how incredibly incompetent the commissioner’s office has to be to have not yet completed analysis of domestic abuse complaints against Mike Clevinger that were filed last summer, and then ponder what the heck the White Sox are to do if Clevinger reports to camp. Aside from that small matter, discussion includes possible injury impact on the seven White Sox playing in the World Baseball Classic; team shill Scott Merkin’s prediction of the Sox Opening Day lineup (including some scary parts); the just-announced minor league contract for Chris Shaw, one of baseball’s biggest failures of recent years; how that signing somehow didn’t alter the plethora of ratings that have the White Sox offseason the worst in MLB and the team now mediocre at best; the team depth that is more bathtub than ocean, in the outfield, infield, and rotation; and the unsurprisingly large number of Sox fans who think Rick Hahn is a failure — but the surprisingly relatively small number who want him gone. But, heck, that’s all just talk. Real baseballs flying through the air will soon be coming to a field near you — provided, of course, you live in Arizona or Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poor Jake Marisnick. Here we are, in a week where the journeyman outfielder getting signed to a minor league contract by the White Sox should be the big news, and some guy named Clevinger steals the headlines. The new accusations against a pitcher already well-known to be a total, absolute, unmitigated *$&hole are disgusting. SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, launch into a diatribe about Clevinger’s past horribleness, which even someone as abysmally ignorant as Rick Hahn should have realized set off red flags as big and hefty as fire trucks, while wondering why the hell the commissioner’s office has taken months to decide whether the latest domestic abuse allegations are true and, if so, what punishment they require. One new question, though — how much did Clevinger’s Cleveland teammates have to hate him to not only not try to protect him when he pulled his COVID stunt in 2020, but instead not just throw him under the bus, but get into the driver’s seat and put it in gear? (Hint: a lot.) With fewer than three weeks left before Spring Training begins, is there any chance under the MLB protocols that the White Sox will be able to cut the piece of crap before then? Or will he become the story of the spring instead of the new manager and players trying for comebacks? As for the pitching staff, is there any chance the Sox will sign one of the two remaining good free-agent starters, Michael Wacha or Zack Greinke? (Insert laugh track here.) There’s time also to delve into the 2023 prospective lineup, including Eloy Jiménez and his strong desire not to DH, and the strong desire of all fans never to see him in the outfield again. Plus the fact the new rules will mean solid defense at second base will become much more important — a fact completely ignored by Hahn and company. But, hey, it’s not all bad news — at least Jason Benetti and Steve Stone have new multiyear contracts, so there will be intentional humor in the TV booth in addition to the accidental humor on the field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the news of Liam Hendriks’ devastating diagnosis still sinking in, Brett Ballantini gathered together Chrystal O’Keefe, Malachi Hayes, Dante Jones, Joe Resis and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach to discuss his situation, and gather up other White Sox news of the day. First and foremost, our best wishes to Hendriks, as this is a chilling reminder of how fragile life is. Among our discussion topics are Dante’s poignant story breaking the news and Melissa’s dose of perspective, which points readers toward Liam-approved ways to pay it forward The White Sox don’t have any arbitration cases! Yay! Yay? Brief interlude: An appreciation of the Carlos Rodón/Dylan Cease basketball card video series, Back Room Breaks An extended discussion of whether or not the White Sox have done enough this offseason, whether Rick Hahn has another plus-WAR player addition in him, and how different our staff predictions for 2023 are going to look from 2021-22 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices