Lessons

[Sox-o-phile]

What are the lessons that the White Sox could learn from what the Nationals just accomplished?

[voodoochile]

Sign a metric ****-ton of great pitching and hope your opponent has one of the great playoff meltdowns in history...

[asindc]

Walk down the hall to the video archives and watch how a team performs when they peak at the right time (2005 Sox).

[kittle42]

Score more runs than your opponents.

[Marqhead]

Originally Posted by voodoochile

Sign a metric ****-ton of great pitching

This is the correct answer, the Nats have Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin signed to big contracts. If the Sox did that with say Cole/Strasburg to complement the existing starters and young core of hitters they would be in great shape.

[DumpJerry]

You don't need Bryce Harper.

[blurry]

Originally Posted by Marqhead

This is the correct answer, the Nats have Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin signed to big contracts. If the Sox did that with say Cole/Strasburg to complement the existing starters and young core of hitters they would be in great shape.

This team needs Gerrit Cole so badly.

[Jollyroger2]

Originally Posted by Marqhead

This is the correct answer, the Nats have Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin signed to big contracts. If the Sox did that with say Cole/Strasburg to complement the existing starters and young core of hitters they would be in great shape.

Meh. They were literally inches and a colossal Milwaukee mistake from losing in the wild card again at home and adding to their decade of misery and underachievement. They’ve had solid pitching for years and yet this season was their first playoff series win.

The Dodgers managed to average almost five runs a game on them too. Then they got the weak-lineup Cardinals. I’ll give them credit, they won the games they needed to and got some clutch plays, but given they’ve had World Series caliber talent for several years you wonder why it took this long for them to do anything.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by Sox-o-phile

What are the lessons that the White Sox could learn from what the Nationals just accomplished?

Not much. The Nationals were supposed to get to the World Series with Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. As I heard it, there was going to be more than one. Maybe if they had drafted better, and taken Mike Trout with their second pick of the 2009 draft, 10th overall after taking Strasburg first overall, they would have made the World Series sooner. Trout, of course, was taken with the Angels' second pick, 25th overall. That's not really a fair criticism, but fans here like to single out the Sox for bumbling idiocy in not taking Trout with their only first-round pick in 2009.

As it is, 10 years after drafting Strasburg, with Strasburg hitting the free-agent market, nine years after drafting Harper, who is now playing for the Phillies, the Nationals are in the World Series. The fact is, the Nationals had never won a postseason series until this year. They were sort of like the Minnesota Twins, who haven't won a postseason series since 2002. And while the Twins weren't really expected to win any postseason series since 2002, as opposed to the higher expectations of the Nationals, there is some irony considering that the Twins started out as the original Washington Senators.

You can look to the Nationals for the importance of pitching, which the White Sox don't place a high enough priority on anymore. But you can't look to the Senators for a winning formula.

[LITTLE NELL]

Originally Posted by Sox-o-phile

What are the lessons that the White Sox could learn from what the Nationals just accomplished?

Actually not much especially with JR running things. Every team has their own game plan on how to become a contender, some work and some don't. 2020 is going to be a huge year in the rebuild and how the Sox game plan works out.

As Voodoo said, the Sox in this off season will have to open up the checkbook and sign some top tier free agent pitchers and also a right fielder and a DH.

The Nats run this year reminded me a lot of the 1983 Sox, horrible first couple of months but turned it around and played the best ball of any team the last 4 months. Of course the Nats have done great in the post-season making it to the WS while the Sox faltered in their series with the Orioles.

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by blurry

This team needs Gerrit Cole so badly.

…...say the GMs of all 30 MLB teams about their respective teams.

[DumpJerry]

Another lesson:

A team can make it to the World Series without Manny Machado on their roster.

[LITTLE NELL]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Another lesson:

A team can make it to the World Series without Manny Machado on their roster.

I'm so glad the Sox didn't sign him.

[Paulwny]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Another lesson:

A team can make it to the World Series without Manny Machado on their roster.

Originally Posted by LITTLE NELL

I'm so glad the Sox didnt sign him.

I agree.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by voodoochile

Sign a metric ****-ton of great pitching and hope your opponent has one of the great playoff meltdowns in history...

The first part should suffice.

It would be lovely if we operated that way.