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I posted this last year but to no avail. I can't seem to find any information online about how to audition/send a tape for the National Anthem. I just recently sang for the Pacers and would be a dream come true to sing for my favorite sport and sports team (WHite Sox).. Anyone know of any information... or even a contact?! I'm totally tagging people who have sources because I have no shame.. @raBBit @Y2Jimmy

10th in power jajajajajaja I mean, I see regression, but going from the most prestigious HR hitting team in MLB history to the 10th best power team in one year, after adding Josh Donaldson, is really really stupid.

13 probably a little low, but perhaps fair due to question marks and lack of track record. But real curious to see which teams made the list above the Sox. edit: yeah, that list is real bad.

The Bulls have a better chance of winning a championship in the next 3 years than the Sox signing Betts. It ain't gonna happen. Not a chance.

Twins being 12 just totally invalidates this list lol...how in the hell is that lineup worse than the Cubs??? Or Angles or A's or Braves even. Set an MLB record for HRs and added Donaldson. Preposterous.

One thing he needs to stop doing is guess hitting. He's way too good of a hitter to be doing anything but sitting dead red and adjusting to off speed. No more 2-2 and 3-2 fastballs taken or weakly fouled off or whiffed on because he's looking for off speed. Now I think the injury had a role in that, as you noted. It's hard to get hurt midseason when everybody is already well match fit. Easier to come back in say May or June.

This list is bad and the author should feel bad. With that being said I feel comfortable putting the Sox in the upper single digits. Moncada and Tim will regress a bit but the lineup overall is very strong and is going to face a lot of bad pitching staffs.

Ergo...Grandal / McCann are the ideal battery mates for a young & developing staff.

I am hopeful that Grandal will contribute greatly to the development of our young pitchers including the guys you mention. Having the strong catching that Grandal and McCann provide is a huge plus. They both do a good job of controlling the game. Pitchers don't need to overthink it. The catcher puts down the fingers and you throw the pitch he is asking for.

I swear, there's a very small group of fans on this board that are obsessed with the idea of a perpetual rebuild lol

We don't believe we have any stud players we would lose in 2021 or 2022 do to failure to extend. I think 2024 would be the first year of that possible situation. Not really a factor for a few years. Most people would agree with the assessment that the Orioles got hosed in the lopsidedness of that trade IMO. Yeah...I agree they got about as good as you are going to get for a two month player. That's exactly my point...don't wait until you have only two months.

By waiting until the 11th hour they received 5 no name minor league players from the Dodgers. I sure hope we don't mishandle any of our studs if they refuse to reach extensions. Not very worried about it since RH is the best at this phase of his job.

If I had to guess - there is no fair system by which "readiness" can be judged other than the current setup because there's no clear way to evaluate that in every case. There's no means by which service time manipulation can be avoided. So, what will the players push for? They'll push for a shorter time to qualify for a full year, which they'll probably get - that way teams can't just keep a guy down for 2 weeks, but it won't be a huge difference. Since this issue is so complicated though, the players won't dwell on it, instead they'll push for a higher revenue share coming back to them and fixes to free agency such as a weakened luxury tax and/or payroll floors, which is more important for the current union.

They will have to give up a lot to to allow players to enter FA earlier. If they somehow change the arbitration process it may be as much. In your example, you need to define WAR. Which version? Can the owners come up with their own version. There is no way the owners will agree to something that will accelerate the FA timeclock without substantial sacrifices from the players. Maybe a cap on a % of salary for the RFA. I don't disagree the the RFA concept is a good one I like it, however the players will need to give up something.

Brooks is amazing and has been highly responsive in the past via email. He once offered to take my father and I through the executive office and onto the field three hours before a home game just because I had asked him if we could do anything special for my dad to offer gratitude for him supporting my life long White Sox obsession from California. So my Dad and I visited Chicago, saw 8 home games, and for the last one Brooks treated us like White Sox family. Amazing.

Maybe try Brooks Boyer? He's the head of sales and marketing. Don't know if it's still the same or not but his email used to be bboyer@chisox.com. That used to be a running joke on WSI. Every time someone came up with a suggestion it was "email Brooks!"

Agreed. They will have Grandal and Madrigal for OBP with that roster, hopefully Vaughn will be another.

I don't necessarily agree with the rank but I understand why they did it. "Experts" really value walks and patience. This lineup has a weakness there. They have power but the contact/patient skill is low.

No way the Sox and Twins are behind the Angels, Mets, Nationals, and Padres. Good thing this article is behind a paywall so that less people get dumber from it.

You are correct, but he is a marginal talent thus far, but he did get the benefit of the doubt. We don't have really good balance, we have the best. I actually agree with this as we have power, speed, handedness, youth, veteran, contact, etc. My only concern is that we don't walk much or steal many bases just yet.

Just so you all know, there were 7 categories they used to rank the lineups, and they ranked teams by those categories. I included our MLB rank next to the category. Lineup holes is not a rank, but they are saying once Magical comes up, we have no holes, although Mazara is very marginal. Sox Contact - 16 Patience - 26 Power - 9 Speed- 7 Balance - 1 Core Hitters - 3 Lineup Holes - 0

1. Astros 2. Dodgers 3. Mets 4. Angels 5. Cubs 6. A's 7. Braves 8. Red Sox 9. Yankees 10. Padres 11. Nationals 12. Twins 13. US 14. Brewers 18. Indians

Welcome, I think #13 is fair because there are still question marks. Nobody should expect Robert to be putting up his minor league numbers in his rookie season. Mazara could very well be replacement level. Nobody has any idea what Madrigal will do. 1/3rd of our lineup is a mystery right now. The article is behind a paywall so I can't see who is listed ahead of us

Ring -- and basically all Amazon hardware products -- are an IOT security nightmare. Their security is either (almost) non-existent, implemented poorly, or relies too much on user knowledge in order to thwart bad actors. In addition, when security flaws are reported to them, they often let them sit far too long before patching, etc. I don't use and do not recommend the use of Amazon products in any household, and will not until Amazon begins showing they're taking a stronger security focused posture behind their products.

The Cubs have not expressed much interest in extending Bryant post-grievance. Has Bryant himself commented about this?

It really depends on how Moncada Eloy and Robert do this year or even Mazara . There's alot of slightly proven but mostly unproven power but such high ceilings that Betts may not be needed but an upgrade like Springer might be great. If Mazara shocks the world and hits 35 bombs they might try trading him or try extending him. I'll wait til the end of the season to make up my mind.

I would be livid if the Sox gave him anything in the neighborhood of what Trout is making. He's great, but he's not exactly defining a generation of baseball like Trout is. His 2018 season was unreal, and 2016 was pretty damn impressive, too. His other seasons were very, very good but not 'break the bank' good, imo.

Unfortunately, there always be racism/bigotry. There always going to be people who need to blame others for their issues whether its race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or religion. In today's environment you can even throw political party in there.

I'll be bummed if he isn't an all-star and MVP candidate

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.

I’m thinking 40+ HRs for Eloy and Edwin, and they’ll be lighting up that scoreboard at GRate often!

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'm not saying right now. Just saying he could be that guy eventually.

ahhhh. that makes sense. Then let's pull a NHL. Sign him for 20 years and $360mm.

I am really excited to watch Gavin Sheets in Charlotte this year. With the short porch in right field, I think he will put up some pretty incredible power numbers.

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.

The luxury tax CAP goes by AAV anyway so it doesn't matter if he is paid significantly more one year and then significantly little the next.

Which makes sense that the Red Sox would trade him now, right? He has more value now. If they wait until the trade deadline to deal him, no supplemental pick is attached to Betts going into free agency?

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.

Steve wasn't exactly wrong about Yolmer....

Steve Stone’s thoughts on Yolmer...

Tin foil hat theory: Mookie countered with those figures because he's dead set on testing FA. He threw out some Trout figures that if Boston agreed to pay him that, he'd be fine with staying. Asking for Trout money is ambitious, but I'd wager he doesn't quite crack that.

I agree they’d say no but that’s the kind of package I’d entertain- none of the top prospects.

I do. Don't give away any assets for a rental player that doesn't put you over the top, especially when all three assets have suppressed value due to injuries or poor performance. Regardless, the Red Sox would laugh at that package. Look at the Machado trade to LA for a rough estimate of where to start, and that was for only 2 months. It isn't worth it for our Sox to go down this road.

I'm against training away Dunning with so many other question marks around the pitching staff.

Adolfo, Rutherford, and Dunning for Betts. Who says no? Not a big return but decent B prospects for a rental.

Betts is a real option two contracts from now.

Likely true. I’d love a Moncada extension + Pederson signing, for example.

How about remove them all because they all suck equally