Tag / Bruce Bochy

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The Will Venable Era Has Begun

The White Sox have hired Will Venable to be the 44th manager in franchise history, and the sixth since 2020.  Venable, who was the associate manager under Bruce Bochy for the Rangers these past two seasons, had previously been part of the coaching staffs for the Red Sox and Cubs and was a special assistant to Theo Epstein with the Cubs.  Prior to that, Venable spent nine years as an outfielder, mostly with the Padres.  When former manager Pedro Grifol was fired back in August, general manager Chris Getz said, “I think it’s important to bring in a new voice, a fresh voice, perhaps that’s been exposed to areas of this game that we don’t currently have in our organization.”  Venable does seem to check those boxes.

Venable takes over a team that set the modern major league record this season with 121 losses and is not expected to spend much money to improve the on-the-field product in 2025.  Given that the White Sox appear to be in a slow-moving, long term rebuild of the entire organization, Venable looks to be the manager for today and also for the future, when the team should be competitive once more.

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2023 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Shohei Ohtani, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien

Shohei Ohtani should run away and hide with this award.  But, an early end to his season and perhaps some burnout from voters picking the same name every year may open the door a bit.  That said, these awards were voted on prior to the post-season, so the Rangers World Series win won’t move the needle at all, so I’m going to guess Ohtani still gets it.

Cy Young Award: Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, Sonny Gray

Gerrit Cole seems the obvious choice here.  He leads the three finalists in nearly every category and managed a WHIP below one in over 200 innings.

Manager of the Year: Bruce Bochy, Kevin Cash, Brandon Hyde

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  If voting took place after the World Series, then Bochy would be a shoo-in.  However, since the early playoff exits of the Orioles and the Rays don’t get taken into account, Brandon Hyde should win this award after leading the Orioles to an AL East title.

Rookie of the Year: Tanner Bibee, Triston Casas, Gunnar Henderson

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Gunnar Henderson will win, since he in the only one of these three that I have heard of previously.

National League

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by admin

The Tony LaRussa Era Has, Once Again, Come To An End

White Sox manager Tony LaRussa, who has been out with a health issue since August 29th, announced his retirement today, ending two years of controversy and underachievement.  In a written statement, LaRussa admitted to a second health problem, one he had been putting off until this offseason. and the necessary recovery time as to why he would not be returning.  His two-year stint, following a ten-year retirement, ends with one division title, one playoff victory, and a possibly one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of the franchise.  LaRussa, who turns 78 tomorrow, leaves the game for a second time as the second winningest manager in Major League history.

The announcement officially starts a new search for GM Rick Hahn, who had his plans for a new manager kiboshed two years ago when owner Jerry Reinsdorf insisted on LaRussa, who the team had fired in 1986 and which Reinsdorf considered one of his biggest regrets.  Among the likely candidates to be considered are current bench coach Miguel Cairo, who has been the acting manager in LaRussa’s absence, former big league managers Bruce Bochy, Joe Girardi, or Joe Maddon, the hot bench coaches of the moment, and, based on past history, former White Sox players with no professional coaching experience like A.J. Pierzynski, Jim Thome, or Paul Konerko.

by jim

BBWAA Award Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Michael Brantley, Mike Trout, Victor Martinez

Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, and I think, for once, I might have gotten one right.  With Miguel Cabrera out of the picture, thanks to an injury-plagued campaign, Trout should bring home the award that many thought he deserved the past 2 seasons.

Cy Young Award: Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber

My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut.  While Chris Sale is the sentimental choice around these parts, smart money says that Felix Hernandez will take home the prize.

Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter, Mike Scioscia, Ned Yost

Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  Normally, I would go with Ned Yost, who led the Royals to the post-season for the first time since 1985, but if there is one thing the national media agrees on, it is how bad Ned Yost is as a manager.  My guess is that the award will go to Buck Showalter, who lead the Orioles to their first division title since 1997.

abreuRookie of the Year: Jose Abreu, Dellin Betances, Matt Shoemaker

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  This one should be a no-brainer.  I would expect Jose Abreu to bring the award back to the south side for the first time since Ozzie Guillen in 1985.

National League

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