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That's a shame you couldn't enjoy three Stanley cups in a six year period because of something that happened decades ago

In other news, the sky is blue. He never had a chance.

I'm not sure Madrigal should even be called up let alone given an extension. He can barely get the ball out of the infield and consistently hits the ball weakly into the ground. Doubt he will get all those weakly hit balls through the infield, and ducksnorts over the infield, that he has relied on in the minors. He's got some of the weakest contact I've ever seen as a mlb prospect. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he put up numbers similar to Yolmer in the future. He's no Eloy or Robert that much is clear. Maybe he develops into a Carew type hitter, but it's going to take a few years of development regardless. Either way I'm not holding my breath.

.280/.340/.540....maybe WRC+ around 130 or so would be a good year 2 at the plate. Ideally instead of being worth -10 runs in the field if he could cut it to -7 that would be nice.

As long as we are correcting grammar, the word you were looking for is "moot", not "mute".

Is this the new thing on SoxTalk, to insult someone's intelligence for misreading something that was terribly written and was difficult to understand? "Reading is hard" seems to be the go-to bullshit insult on this board any time someone can't understand poorly written posts.

I honestly see so point in giving Madrigal an extension at all. Nobody really knows what his offensive game is at the MLB level. He could be a slightly better offensive slightly worse defensive version of Yolmer. Let him hang in the minors for a bit and if he is doing well, promote him. It's not like he would be that expensive to extend anyways since his ceiling doesn't seem to be really high.

Im a pretty big Madrigal fan, but there is really very little incentive to sign him right now. I cant see why he would sign a small deal, which is the only thing the Sox could really offer.

Why call a whambulance? Players should always fight for their money, and this directly affects his

You consistently said $4M in at the least 5 posts and also a 3 yr. extension between $12-15M one time and $4.5 per year for 2 years. But I did see one where you said between $3-4M.

If he won, a huge can of worms would open up. Anyone who gets hot for a week or two could conceivably have a case. The only way to "fix" it is to change the service time rules, which I am sure will be done.

Just for the record...I said that I expected to resign Yolmer in the 3 to 4 million range and that his skills would translate well for our needs.

You’re linking his hair style to potential attitude problems? Good god man you need to get with the times because you constantly come across as some whiny curmudgeon.

Do you have any legit sources??

It's a file that has documented events of your performance. Normally the only thing a former employer can answer is, "Yes this individual worked here and for this long." If they say anything negative that could affect you getting a position with another company, you can sue them for libel.

Yeah...never bothered me. Maybe I'm wrong but we as fans give our hearts to these teams and I expect a certain return on that emotional investment. I expect loyalty from the players as well. That's why I don't care especially for Bryant type players that announce right up front it's about the money.

Good post, but if Cubs had tried to extend KB, which they very well might have, his agent would have turned it down. Not that I am trying to defend the Cubs. I personally believe that Cub fans of any age should be distraught. I also love the extensions.

He's our stud. Put him at #4 in the lineup and fill in around him.

I agree with you on the starting depth. I'm still hoping Cade McClure returns and pitches like he did 2 yrs ago before all the injuries.

I still think Altuve uses other methods of cheating. He looks innocent through this study but I'm curious to see how he performs moving forward

When I read the thread title, my first thought was, “I’m expecting a huge offensive season...something like 45 bombs and a .900 OPS.” Then I read your post and saw you had the exact same prediction. Great minds.

I'm gonna hate doing this prediction game this year because the first question in reply to any of them is "What's the ball like"? The MLB jumped by nearly 20% last year - if the whole league went down by that much because they stop using the Happy Fun Ball, then you're talking a 34 home run pace instead of a 40 home run pace over 162.

Cubs played by rules of CBA, Bryant had no chance of winning.

I am swayed heavily by the belief that when a kids favorite player is lost to free agency...a part of that kids fandom is lost forever. My brother and I were both huge Blackhawk fans when we lost Bobby Hull do to Wirtz being an idiot. Neither one of us has ever bought a Blackhawk ticket since. The Cubs absolutely sucked but they had Ernie Banks. Now this Bryant situation will undoubtedly lead to many distraught kids who don't care about any of the money issues. I love that the WS have shown a willingness to try to lock up good players with extensions. Extensions will be good for the future of the ballclub. The occasional John Danks suckage is the price you pay.

Rick Hahn will want the team firing on all cylinders from opening day. I believe RH will work his extension magic sometime during ST.

I see twitter has blown up about the Cubs trying to get Arenado for Bryant

You turned an innocuous light spirited comment about a player's hair dye into a vengeful; personal attack against a poster. Instead of responding in kind I will simply ignore any future comments by you. Fine by me if you do the same.

There is no way Madrigal would have a legitimate case staying in AAA for a bit. He was good last year in the minors but he wasn't exactly destroying the plate.

There is no way this should have taken 5 years.

Look again what I said. I'm saying if he won the case he would have less control meaning less trade value. But reading is hard.

Eh I kinda would have preferred he won, not that I believe he had a chance. One less year of control if he stays with Cubs and also less trade value if they move him.

Good luck in Atlanta, Kris.

I don't think they'll be one of the final bidders personally. If Jerry is signing anyone to a $300+, long-term deal, it will be someone already in house like Moncada. Dude is loyal (sometimes to a fault).

First things first, the White Sox aren’t trading for Betts. Second - the Sox will certainly be one of a handful of teams that will be interested in Mookie next winter. I don’t think he’ll get $420M, but could see 10/$350M type deal. I do think the Sox are and will remain a long shot to actually sign him, but we should be in a better position than at least like 75% of clubs. That’s a start. If things go mostly according to plan this season, but Mazara is the dude he’s always been, RF could legitimately be the only hole to hole to fill with an approximately $100M payroll after arb. The money will be there on an AAV basis. It’s the years that obviously will concern Jerry. I wouldn’t necessarily bet on the Sox signing him, but I think they’ll be a real bidder and a finalist for Betts.

Hopefully he can find his heart. He left his bat in Charlotte and has never been able to find it

Hey, present company excluded. I'm old, but I'm not "whiny," nor bad-tempered. All of these very young multi-millionaires are prone to ill-advised behaviour. Awarding tens of millions of dollars to young men, in their early 20's, in our current social culture, what could possibly go wrong? Hopefully, Abreu will provide some positive role model suggestions, minus the tobacco chewing. At any rate, I'm glad that Puig was not added to this likeable group of players.

Yeah, not sure I’m going to overreact to an old man not knowing proper social media etiquette.

Why would you be surprised ? It's well known you liked Yolmer but also that plenty here told you he wasn't worth $5M or even $3M. You had to be clinging pretty tightly to that Yolmer belief to be surprised the Sox want more than just a glove for a backup. 2nd base was the most crowded infield position available in Free Agency. There are just too many left for all to get good offers, The Sox still have a choice among some decent options for a 2nd base/utility guy. When you move into a new house some things get thrown away and the Sox are moving from the outhouse to the middle class housing at the least.

Of course “you can beat the yankees” without the big FA’s. It may never be likely, defined as greater than 50% probability, but it is definitely possible. It’s baseball, and part of the beauty is the uncertainty.

I honestly don’t think Steve Stone is a bad guy, he’s just a bit of a curmudgeon at times who comes off the wrong way over Twitter.

Take your pick. Outside of Russell, can anyone honestly say they would rather have Yolmer over some of the remaining 2B bench options? Brian Dozier Wilmer Flores Scooter Gennett Brock Holt Jason Kipnis Jordy Mercer Brad Miller Addison Russell Ben Zobrist

I love Leury, but I don't want him playing SS. Sox need a more capable back up SS/3B IMO.

And also I don't think the Sox FO should be ashamed. Yolmer should be ecstatic he got that long of a shot to play so many games over a dreadful period for the Sox. He wouldn't have had that shot with many teams. He made a good amount of money. I think everybody can walk away somewhat satisfied.

I think they will. He had a ligament injury and has 16 months of rehab already. His muscles just need to improve endurance. It's fairly standard. However, they have been extremely conservative with him, including not returning last year so you may be right.

Kobe Bryant, far too soon. RIP. One of the all time greats.

Aren't all of his bats "barely contacted" ones?

Interesting thoughts here. With the pitching trend the wat it is now, there will always be high pitch counts early in games for pitchers like kopech. He has never thrown more than 140 innings in a season regardless of the UCL surgery so his limit is probably about that number. I really don't like the idea if wasting his development and innings in the minors but the service time may be worth it. I could see a kopech/rodon combo for the season as one spot in the rotation. As far as the rehab goes there really isn't much variance in UCL protocols. Unlike the shoulder where different muscles or parts of the cuff can be involved, the UCL is pretty much the same across the board. Burdi had a medial patella femoral ligament reconstruction due to a dislocated patella. I'm not surprised he had difficulty with his return as he must have list a great deal of leg strength. I think he will surprise people this year.

Look, Reinsdorf and/or Hahn/KW may very well fuck things up this offseason, but we should have more money to spend than any other team. There is no legitimate excuse for failing to land what we need. And the fanbase should fucking riot if it doesn’t get done. Potty training time was the Machado pursuit last offseason, now they need to get serious and drop that heat square in the bowl. Misses are no longer acceptable.