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Remember when he asked Moncada to bunt and then Moncada almost broke his hand before he roped a double into the corner? Yea, that "cast has changed" excuse doesn't hold much water.

Perfectly positioned for years of 2nd place finishes.

I love this site....where else can "fans" rip on a potential stud as being fat. I guess the team photo is photo shopped. Mercy.

Anyone calling Eloy fat (ridiculous) should be forced to post a picture of their obviously chiseled selves

They've already spent a TON of money. There isn't much else out there that's a non-controversial upgrade right now. I'm fine with them waiting until the ASB or next offseason to augment. There are still a lot of unknowns on this team right now.

What an insane take based on that picture lol.

Good to hear that JR is still not fully 100% committed to winning.

I've heard similar from other beat writers privately FWIW. This is a Reinsdorf problem. Don't displace your rage toward Bruce in this case.

If b****ing and moaning for not spending money on bench pieces is where we are at, things are looking very good for the Sox this season.

Japanese team could let him out of his deal. They could also post him. The problem is, the posting date has passed. They could post him again in December. At that point, a tean would have to have enough international bonus pool space to sign him or wait until July 2nd 2021.

I just listened to the new Mazara interview, on the NBC podcast. What a terrific, likeable young man. He was more personable, intelligent and articulate than most of the American ball players, whom I've heard interviewed, especially considering that English is not his native language. I'll be rooting very hard for him and love his potential.

I worked at Party City with a guy named Less Bunting.

Agreed. The Sox need to know what they have prior to spending money on much else. They have a bunch of young kids and who knows where they will need to augment going forward.

So you're saying that the Sox are going to max out a payrolls of ~$120-125M moving forward? Because if that is the case, this whole rebuild was for nothing.

Man, some of you need to show some humility. The guy is probably working his butt off and your ripping on him. The guy doesn’t look fat, he just looks like he bulked up a little during the offseason.

The latest piece by Fegan about the pitching staff, technology, Cooper and more importantly Giolito was fantastic. Cease changed his delivery and looks a lot like Giolito; as he spent all off-season working with Giolito to fix his spin and balance issues. His grip issues and etc. His glove being far from his body through him off balance. Lopez, who had turned down Giolito's offer last off-season (to which Giolito said he felt he'd never come around) and worked out in DR, took Lucas up on the offer this off-season. He also went to learn about maximizing his spin, command and etc with modern new-age tech that Lopez wasn't a big believer in prior. Giolito also made changes; to his slider grip, and he worked all off-season to find that old 12/6 hammer's release point to throw it for strikes. And Carlos Rodon has been using all the new Sox tech to learn how to use his lower body more (he always stood so tall) to tech stress off his legs. This is obviously a spring training fluff piece in a way, but players believe when other players have huge turnarounds like Giolito. They bought in, and who knows how well it may benefit the team going forward.

Good for Timmy. Plays the game the right way, plays the game hard, is honest, came from humble beginnings. How can anyone not like him? Hope he hits a few line drives right at Verlander’s knee caps.

People here have been overly negative about Mazara. I think there is a plan that can work.

I know I was saying it all last season. He was playing the hand he was dealt, a bunch of below average hitter who had a better chance to execute a bunt than get a hit. If he has better hitters he won't feel the need to bunt as much. This is really the first time in his entire career he has a good team. I have no idea if he going to be a good manager but I don't think we've seen the "real" manager either.

Moncada is the only guy that really makes sense as a lead off guy from a numbers perspective, but you're right, he doesn't seem comfortable with it. So I'm content with putting the batting champ there to start. Have a feeling I'll be saying this a lot, but as long as Mazara and Garcia aren't batting in the top of the order on a regular basis I could not give less of a shit what the lineup looks like.

Huh, imagine that. Who could have foreseen this?

They desperately need position player depth if they're serious about making the playoffs this year, and as we've seen, such players are signing for peanuts (such as Brad Miller for $2 million). I think the frustration/disappointment is warranted, even if the offseason was largely a positive

I wouldn’t worry. If the Sox are kicking ass at the ASB I guarantee they make a push for relief help.

I just want to point out that Puig is working out wearing white socks on his latest instagram story post. Signing imminent.

That other picture must have just been a bad angle. He looks like his usual size in the upper-right picture. He’s basically built like Jermaine Dye in his later years. He will likely always be tough to watch in LF but he will hit 40+ bombs. Hopefully, he can avoid the nagging injuries from here on out.

I'd rather not make Eloy look bad

Yeah I just read that someone else was granted an extra year and I was surprised (didn't know Micker was granted one either). Forgot what team though.

Dude just looks beastly. I think 40 bombs is a minimum this year if he plays 150 games.

Yea what a fat ass.

We got lucky we were granted another option for him.

Micker just needs to stay healthy. He’s shown real signs of progressing but has lost a ton of development time.

As a wise man once said, "lady, I ain't no athlete, I'm a baseball player." If he hits 40 HR no one will care.

The good news is... no matter how you line these guys up...looks pretty good.

No news regarding Kopech, but I just wanted to say that I think this guy is going to be a stud in the big leagues. He seems to have some of the best work ethic on the team, and from what I can tell, the injury has brought new perspective when it comes to pitching. I personally hope they start him in Charlotte just to get him used to facing live batters again, but when he comes up, assuming he starts in AAA, I think he is going to make a tremendous impact on this ball club.

Eloy is going to press the issue, but I think the handedness may lead to Grandal there followed by EE. I'd rather Eloy hit 4th, and I don't think handedness is as important anymore with the 3 batter rule. With Moncada 2nd, and Grandal 5thish, you could bat Eloy 4th and not have to worry about 3 consecutive righties.

Fairly confident the standard lineup template to start will be Anderson Moncada Abreu Grandal EE Eloy Mazara Robert 2B

Fine w me

If the Sox are maxed out then this is awful news going forward. Puig be damned.

I’m pretty sure he said they’d have money for mid-season acquisitions, so zero reason they couldn’t afford Puig on a one year deal.

Eloy has a narrow upper body and shoulders, wide hips, and a belly. He is not exactly the ideal athletic outfielder. He is big, slow, and lumbering. How is that an insane take?

You think that’s in good shape for a professional outfielder? I predict 40 bombs but a lot of errors. He’s a DH and his body matches that.

He's not. This is all stupid talk and a waste of time. The fact that this conversation is even happening just shows me how much I want the season to start so we can talk about important things like the games themselves and not stupid B.S. like this.

Western burb pizza joints: Salerno's on the Fox, Riverside Pizza & Pub. Definitely two of the finest pizza joints you can find in the far west burbs that I am aware of. Don't get to the city as much as I'd like for food, but I've had awesome pizzas at Pequods and Piece. Been to Burts Place, too. Other random food: Heaven On Seven has some really good food. I was sad when their Naperville location closed. Also Popeye's chicken sandwich destroys Chick Fil A's and its not even close. I'll probably be making a list of must-go to places for city food based on the commentary in this thread.

Scary thought- if the Padres go down 3-1 in the NLCS is he going to pack it in there too? Whatever, not my problem

Means nothing relative to baseball. I know plenty of people who are great in the community or with their family and are complete assholes at work.

I hope they cease to exist

Was actually cool to see him so relaxed in an interview for once

Interesting theory, but you have to wonder how much of that is Jack's fault. Jack used to write a column for Yahoo, and several years ago he wrote something regarding Gordon Beckham (I forget what it was about). Anyway, Hawk ripped him on the air over it, saying "I've lost a lot of respect for Jack McDowell." That's the worst thing I've ever heard Hawk say about any Sox player. IIRC, Black Jack did a couple games with Hawk before this incident. McDowell was invited back for the `93 reunion... he threw out the first pitch that day. He's very opinionated and not afraid to speak his mind... just Jack being Jack.