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Madrigal can't check the boxes at the top of the list, amirite

Based on Schillings' past racist remarks, he is without a doubt, 100% a scumbag. The irony is, thinking otherwise makes one the moron (or bigot if you prefer).

In this case the grass is greener because Engel sucks and Maybin is a passable bench outfielder and if Engel played for another team we wouldn't know about him because he never would have come up. So there would be no virtues to extol

Stop bunting then, dickhead.

?...Betts for Collins & Mazara? (yes I know that’s not happening)

Physician, heal thyself!!

Not always. Being a rapist or a wife beater is not subjective. Being an outright racist is not subjective. I personally think Schilling is a scumbag, but not sure what he’s done is bad enough to be banned from the Hall.

There is that EE guy, I think he will want to play sometimes.

What is this, the National League? 8 position players + DH = 9 starting players in lineup.

There are 8 starting players, not 9.

Racists are scumbags. Schilling has said a lot of racist shit. Racism isn't fucking subjective. I'm not going to get into this with you, because I already know your stance on the subject. I'm disappointed that in America in 2020, we still have to litigate whether or not racism is bad.

Cheating is objective, not subjective. Being a scumbag is 100% a subjective opinion. Someone might think schillings a scumbag. I consider anyone that thinks that to be an absolute moron.

First televised game a month from tomorrow.?

Having a several page debate about the 5th OF is probably the best sign that Spring training needs to happen yesterday.

If Castellanos became Mazara on Defense he's a 3+ win player at our field. Small sample size but so is his time in the OF, his UZR/150 was better than Mazara when he played games in Wrigley and not an airport of a field. He also improved his DRS from -19 in 2018 (his first year playing OF) to -9 last year. Will he ever be a good defender? No, but he seems capable of being slightly below average and giving you around 3 WAR, which is a huge upgrade from what Mazara is.

Funny thing is Covey has a ton of value to rebuilding teams. Guy assures you you're going to lose most of his games he starts.

Sterling write-up on Luis Robert as the #2 overall prospect. Andrew Vaughn is #30, Michael Kopech is #33 and Nick Madrigal is #48. They gave Robert 70 grades for power, speed and defense as a 70 overall.

Cliff Lee is off the ballot already I believe. Lee's problem is he didn't really get started until he was 30 years old. I think Buehrle checks a lot of boxes in the modern era; leading a decade in innings and wins would almost guarantee you a trip in past era's. I would need to do the research, but I don't think anyone who has done that has been left off. Here's a list of players who have led their decades in wins and finished top 3 in IP: 1900's - Christy Mathewson 1910's - Walter Johnson 1920's - Burleigh Grimes 1930's - Lefty Grove 1940's - Hal Newhouser 1950's - Warren Spahn 1960's - Juan Marichal 1970's - Jim Palmer 1980's - Jack Morris 1990's - Greg Maddux Every single player on that list is a HOF'er. Mark Buehrle would be the first one left out, and it would be a joke.

The thing about Schilling is this. Racism is not a political opinion. Sending out memes and tropes that disenfranchises and advocate violence against the media, muslims, and the LGBTQ community is not a political opinion. Doing that sort of behavior is morally wrong and against what freedom in America stands for. Yes, Schilling has the right to express his opinion, but racism and attacking various minorities is wrong, morally wrong. And there is a morals clause to getting into the Hall of Fame. Schilling should never get in.

Do you think that I think racism is good? You won't get into this with me, because you will not be able to find a single public statement from schilling that disparages another race or promotes the superiority of one race over another. Which racist remarks are those? If you say something this stupid (and it is a stupid claim), back it up.

What in the caulfield you tryin to say here?

Yes I do hate the Padres. But I hope they do this. Mortgage the future by trading their top prospects for a 1 year rental. And then Mookie walks next offseason. Is this the move of a maverick gm or a desperate gm?

It's big news because Hahn didn't have to be so blunt about Mazara. He could have said we believe in him and hope that he can make that positional need go away.

I am eyeing the idea of a bigger penis...but reality will set in. Wil Myers as part of the return makes this a laughable idea.

I love the idea of zobrist. He brings a lot to the table and always have loved his attitude.

Sounds like a guy that knows this roster still needs a finishing piece and RF next free agency is the way to do it.

I don't read it that way either. Mazara is only under team control for 2 years and therefore right now he isn't a "long term" option regardless of performance - even if he's been anointed as the starting option for this year.

Abreu may have been key to getting Edwin Encarcion, extending Luis Robert and may very well be important to Moncada deciding on whether or not he agrees to an extension. He is a leader on the team and a stabilizing force. Regardless of what we think of the contract that was Jerry's money, and he assured Abreu that he would remain with the White Sox. That said, it wasn't an isn't an issue. Let's just hope that Abreu's offensive numbers will improve this year in a much improved line-up. If Encarcion shows signs of regression toward the end of this season the Sox can bring up Vaughn next year and have him share 1B/DH with Abreu.

Did he suggest Zobrist is a target for the Sox or are you just connecting the dots assuming Madrigal won’t break camp with the team?

That's a real lot to say in a couple sentences. I would be FINE with Mazara as our 4th OF. Not as our everyday.

You must strip the titles for the integrity of the game. If they leave it be, they better reinstate Pete Rose tomorrow. And apologize for penalizing the Black Sox. This is as bad as any. To know what pitch is coming??? Cmon. Fathom could get hits that way.

I would bet zero dollars one way or the other on Madrigal being on the Sox for opening day. Eloy signed an extension near the end of ST. Nicky could easily do the same thing. Because a Madrigal extension would not be huge...he might be brought up even without signing an extension. This will be one of the interesting things to watch in ST.

I don't believe it is an absolute that Madrigal doesn't start with the big club. Eloy's extension came late in ST.

sure but then people would complain about not not having a MLB 1B. 18mm and 3 years is a good price for a productive hitter. They could have signed other but no one appreciably better than Abreu.

Yeah and hes not a guy that will kill you if he needs to start for a stretch of time.

It would also take the Cubs sucking for a long while, and the generation that grew up on free superstation WGN games to become disillusioned + the Cubs network flopping, and Wrigley pricing itself out of being a cash cow tourist trap. I will be happy with a long run of Sox playoff appearances and being on post season television screens and Sox Park being filled every fall. There are enough eyeballs for the Sox to be a draw w/o having to overtake the daily wrigelyville frat party.

Unless 45% of their fans in Chicago can’t access their games and they’re eliminated from the playoff race before the ASB. Then things could change a bit more rapidly...especially if they trade Bryant for a sub-par return.

That's a lot of potential bandwagon fans for the WS. The stage is well set to become "the" team in Chicago.

This is one thing I will always like better about BA than some other publications- such as FG. It's bad enough that no one ever gets an 80 grade, but if you're not even going to give out 70 grades either thrn what's the point of having tiers like that? It's stupid. I understand scouting errors on the side of caution, but stick your neck out there for guys you really like and slap some 70's on them.

Am I crazy for thinking that if Sammy Sosa doesn't draw a walk, Mark Buehrle gets somewhere around 60% of the vote? Note: Not saying that's right or just, just baseball writers are dumb.

Definitely think Buehrle has a better case than Paulie. If the Hall is about the era you played in, then you’ll see pitching isn’t represented that much for guys that made their debut right around the height of the steroid era (98-03). By the time Sabathia gets on the ballot, I think he’ll be considered a no-brainer to vote for. I also would want to look at Tim Hudson more closely, and re-evaluate Roy Oswalt, Johan Santana, and maybe Cliff Lee.

You guys joking? Konerko wouldn't be a HOF'er if he was a Yankee; that's nuts. If you guys want to go to bat for someone who is ABSOLUTELY deserving, who will likely be overlooked, it's Buehrle. I've been pretty vocal that for a career, I use bWAR over fWAR for pitchers - for season to season, and projections I'd use fWAR. Buehrle falls right around 60-65th all-time, which is borderline and plenty haven't gotten in from that tier BUT, accomplishments really do matter. Buehrle was the best fielding pitcher of his generation, he threw a nono and a perfect game, had a dominant post-season run, and was the most durable pitcher in the modern era. He lead the league in wins and IP for a decade. Buehrle is a unique case, but imo he's a HOF'er based on all the intangibles and achievements.

Tino doesn't have 1/10th the class that Paulie has. Paulie also rocked a wRC+ of 118 while Tino had a wRC+ of 110. Paulie was a better hitter.

Exactamundo. Instead, Konerko is off after one ballot and Jeter is near unanimous because Jankees. I'm not even saying that Jeter isn't a HOF, because he is. He was a great offensive SS. I'm saying the near unanimous vote is ludicrous. Same with Rivera.

Paul Konerko makes the HOF if he is a Yankee, imo. The Yankee bias is crazy

Frank Thomas got 83% of the vote. There is no way in hell that Derek Jeter should get a larger percentage of the ballot than Frank Thomas. Frank Thomas>>>>>>Jeter as a hitter. Also, Jeter was a shitty shortstop so anyone that wants to bring defense into it can eat a bag of dicks. Every gold glove jeter won was a massive joke because he had the worst range out of any SS in baseball after like 1998. It's hard to make an error if most balls hit your way end up as hits. Tim Anderson is a better SS than Jeter ever was. Derek Jeter getting as large of a percentage of the vote as he did is insulting to my Intelligence as a baseball fan. If they had defensive metrics for the entirety of Jeter's career his WAR would probably be around Harold Baines. His reputation as a player was entirely undeserved and was a product of the Jankee hype machine. If Jeter played his career in Fucking Dallas or something and had the same numbers he'd be a borderline case. We have entered an age where there are no longer any magic numbers for entry into the HOF.

Schilling did not advocate violence against any group (except arguably as a joke towards journalists). Schilling tweeted that there are clear comparisons between EXTREMIST muslims and nazi's (which there absolutely are) and that many people are uncomfortable with laws that allow men into women's locker rooms which is not an avocation of violence towards either group, and further, is not at all morally wrong.

you cant throw out claims in a false virtue signal on a baseball message board and just assume people will accept your claims of schilling trying to incite violence. I on the other hand can call you brainwashed because I have proof based on the fact you think having American first opinions makes someone morally inferior to someone else. why do you care how rhode island spends its money? well deserved

With Schilling,PEDs have never been a topic as far as I can tell, but he did accumulate about half his WAR after age 34. I know a lot of his exclusion is his politics, but. Isn’t his career trajectory a red flag? He had good years prior, but not the kind of career you would think would be a HOF consideration.Obviously he isn’t the first to have that kind of success at that age, and he won’t be the last, but that was the middle of the steroid era. To have a clean pitcher suddenly kick it up a couple of notches at age 34 is at least a little suspicious.