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Unless he gives up two hits

2.9 million vaccines given today!

Don't worry I got you. I am able to do the difficult work of copy & pasting a twitter link.

Manfred sucks. Nobody likes Manfred. Not the players, not the owners, not the fans, etc. I don't know how the most traditionalist game in the world ended up with this Ivy League stiff who is constantly trying to change the game that has been played with the same rules for 100+ years.

Spring Training: the place where players like Pablo Ozuna hit .400 and busted prospects like Brian Anderson set the world on fire. Take all the Mike Wrights and Odrisamer Despaignes and so on out of there and tell the MLB pitchers the games are real and it's very different. Adam Eaton is absolutely a better pure hitter than Joc Pederson. I hope Adam's healthy because if so he is going to make more than half of this board look baaaaad.

This is going to be said all season I’m sure, so just to make sure it’s on the record - no we did not need to. There were sufficient outfield options that good ones were available in late January. If Adam Eaton signed somewhere else in December that would have just removed one option for outfielders to land at. The only reason why the White Sox couldn’t wait on that market to develop was that they were impatient, and frankly it probably caused them to spend more on Eaton than they would have had they just waited.

Both positive and negative impacts.

Whatever you think Mauer’s career dWAR tells you about his defense behind the plate, you’re still comparing Zack Collins to Joe Mauer. Just stop. You are being absurd.

Look at Ray Ray Run = Don Cooper finally confirmed!

Says the guy who claims he knows exactly what he was going through. Everything Lucroy is saying this year, he said last year, and he got 1 plate appearance.

I'm not sure if analytics has much to do with it. Analytics say to shift on defense when playing defense, and (probably) to try not to hit into the shift on offense by BBing, hitting the ball in the air, or going the other way, and maybe with a bunt depending on the type of player. The way I see it, the commissioners office for decades now -- at least-- has had a serious problem with pitching and defense. Nowhere in Manfred's bullshit is anything about raising the mound or increasing foul territory or pushing fences back, etc. It's all anti-anti-defensive nonsense. They want a faster game on clock time with more offense, more home runs, etc. . But a pitching and defense-based game, for me as a fan, is the most appealing form of baseball. I also have an attention span longer than a chihuahua which allows me to still pay attention even if the game exceeds 3 hours in length. I know I am not the only one. It seems, actually, that most hardcore fans -- not necessarily some idiot in a suit in the press box or a kid in front of the tv with a video game controller -- actually prefer pitching and defense-based baseball. With Manfred it's not "missing the forest for the trees" because there is no forest. He lives in the moment, cares only about $$$ now, and short-term objectives as they may be worked or completed now, and doesn't give a shit about the long-term best interests of the game, or the history of the game. He'll pay lip service to topics like minorities and diversity because he's looking for the cash that can come with it. But he's a morally and ethically-empty prick who doesn't know a thing about baseball and doesn't deserve his position in baseball or even being included in baseball any more than any qualified person in baseball history has ever deserved being excluded from baseball. He's a nitwick fuck who can go pound sand / lay face-down under a horny rottweiler and bite MyPillow. But yeah, it's been anti-defense for a long time. Manfred is just making it worse. He's trying to flush the game down the toilet faster than anyone else.

Clearly Lucroy is poised to return back to his form with the Brewers. Everyone knows it. That's why the Sox had to really pay up and sign him to a minor league contract.

I also predict Eaton outperforming Joc. They're not that far away talent wise. I'm unsure of the hate. There was a big hodgepodge of okay right fielders this year. Joc and Eaton were in that.

Grandal is a top 3 catcher in the league.

According to The Last Dance, JR did try to bring him back in the summer of 98, but that was after JR had allowed the situation in the organization to deteriorate over years to the point Phil wasn’t going to say yes, especially not to a deal that didn't include a long-term commitment. The best description is not that he was fired, rather he was reinsdorfed.

I would love it if we had a better defensive and pitchers catcher than Grandal. I still think the Sox blew it with McCann and also, they blew it not taking a real shot at Realmuto in FA (McCann's deal PERFECTLY set them up for a shot at Realmuto). But because they have Grandal, they need a much better backup regardless. Personally I think Collins has a chance to end up a much better player than he gets credit for being. I remember the way people talked about Tyler Flowers' defense, and yet defense turned into more of a strength than a weakness. I think some other team might get a bargain on Collins in a trade. The Sox have chosen their paths with certain players. There were always other options they could have called up in-house or acquired cheaply to take ABs away from the likes of Nicky Delmonico, Palka, that guy from the Astros who sucked, etc. Collins is one who got the shaft. But now they need to win and they need at least 1 of their C to be good back there. So Lucroy it is. If Hahn ever wants to trade Grandal out of here, I will be first to volunteer to pack his bags and take him to the airport.

So your counter argument is "shut up"? The argument was that a lefty hitting catcher that can put up an .850 OPS and be passable defensively is very valuable and I used Joe Mauer as an example...and embarrassingly used actual defensive stats showing he wasn't a very good defender. How about we say Darren Daulton. He's more like Collins than Mauer...I just thought Mauer was more familiar. DD had an elite batting eye, decent power and was not a great defensive catcher...and starting at age 28 put up an average of 3 WAR per year for 6 years. And for those that say Collins is a terrible hitter...1200 career minor league at bats with .840 OPS. 600 NCAA at bats with OPS 1.000. Career spring training OPS 1.000. Yes his first fifteen MLB games he was terrible...his last ten in 2019 he put up a .950 OPS. The skills of elite strike zone understanding and + Power play in the majors...and even with a low batting average could be an .800 OPS regular. I prefer taking that chance over the chance that 34 year old Jonathon Lucroy in the midst of a five year slump is the answer to some kind of question.

Give me every puff piece about Russ and his wife and life and everything he does. Inject every fake and made up "chip on my shoulder" declaration straight into my veins. I want every one of Jack's 1-15 predictions

It will really be up to your state, but this was guidance that all states should make all adults available by May 1st. Which is good, my county health board website of course still says they may not move up to 1c until late spring or summer still, so, yeah. I still think April is realistic for me, I still think states aren't sure what to do with J&J since they don't have storage problems with it and have built everything in their systems around 1 and 2 shots. Soon they'll get used to supply abundance rather than scarcity and we are gonna be at close to 4 million per day, and if states get to point where "eligibility" isn't hitting a high enough percentage, I think they should feel need to open-er up, and that may well be before May 1. My brother was complaining about the chaotic aspect of all this. It is frustrating, but I think that's inevitable with moving fast + supply shortages. But as of today I am the only adult in my family of 5 siblings, their partners, my parents and living grandparents who has yet to be vaccinated. It is March 12th. I know for a fact if you would have asked my whole group on New Years day when they thought we'd all be vaccinated I would have probably been the most optimistic in saying the elders would have been done by now, and even then probably only starting their vaccines.

Seriously change your name lol

Just want to point out Joc Pederson hit HR #5 today and OPS @2100. Oh well.

Here is your answer. “But the rise of analytics also has resulted in another massive shift: an influx of white, male graduates of Ivy League schools and other prestigious universities into teams' front offices. In a data analysis conducted by ESPN, the percentage of Ivy League graduates holding an organization's top baseball operations decision-making position -- which, depending on the club, could be its president, vice president or general manager -- has risen from just 3% in 2001 to 43% today; while the percentage of graduates from U.S. News & World Report's list of the top 25 colleges -- both universities and liberal arts schools -- holding the same positions has risen from 24% to 67%. This rise coincides with a drop in former players running front offices over the same period, from 37% to 20%, while the percentage of minorities running front offices has risen, but from just 3% to 10%. Additionally, no woman holds the top baseball operations position for any of the 30 major league clubs.” https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29369890/inside-rise-mlb-ivy-league-culture-stunning-numbers-question-next Manfred is simply an extension of what has been happening across MLB over the last 15 years.

I say we eliminate off-speed pitches too. Actually, just eliminate the pitcher all together. Put a pitching machine up there and letter-rip. What a bunch of bs. So if pitchers can't hold runners on does that mean no more steals? Or there will be a limitation as to how far the runner will be able to leadoff?

Lets be honest - maybe he isn't as good today as he once was or maybe there are better coaches today than before. But for a long time - Coop was amongst the best pitching coaches in the league. I will always stand by that.

Hope S&P don’t throw him any curveballs.

It would mean a lot of posters on this board would have been very wrong which is, let's face it, the worst possible outcome for this team.

Seriously. What an asshat. He needs to go

Looks like all the games Saturday to March 28 are viewable if that’s what you’re looking for. Flagship tomorrow. MLB Network on Sunday.

And why wouldn't they after all those years? The white Sox don't owe him anything as they paid him well and the game has passed by him but of course a guy who dedicated his life to baseball will feel bad if he loses his job and doesn't get a new one with another team. Baseball was his whole life and getting told he can't do that anymore is hard. I'm sure he understands that this can happen quickly but it sucks nontheless. I think he is a great pitching coach who knows a ton about pitching but in the last 5-6 years that field just evolved so fast that he just lost touch with it and the Sox needed to adjust to that.

People get way too caught up in spring training stats. Here are the Sox stats last year after a similar amount of games. Carson Fulmer was a star. So was Cheater Cuthbert and Nomar Mazara. Not so good.? TA, the ALMVP, Eloy http://www.thebaseballcube.com/topics/spring/stats.asp?Y=2020&T=7

the Sox suck at prospect for ml talent trades?

At this point he is what he is: a guy that was playing Indy league baseball last year and away from the team for a long time. They are 100% rewarding him for working hard, which I don't begrudge them. But that said, his level is probably high A or AA right now. He's a year away from being a year away, if ever.

Baseball needs to do something to shorten games. Banning the shift doesn't really do that. Limiting throws to first sounds like it might but if it leads to a huge increase in steal success then probably not. I've heard the idea of making the 3rd foul ball after 2 strikes a strikeout to cut down on long at bats but that may be too far outside the box. I do like the rule limiting pitching changes to between innings or after 3 batters.

Why is it "reward" the guy was the #11 pick in the draft and by all accounts proving his worth then blew his Achilles twice worked his ass off and is now healthier than he was before the injury. Why can't he be the prospect he once was, he is not that old. It wasn't like he was a lottery ticket from day one that is now looked at to be the savior.

Vaughn, Collins, and Burger providing the offense and Gio with 5Ks and one hit through 3 innings. Sox lead 1-0 on an RBI infield single by Burger scoring Vaughn.

grandal's knee

injuries are really the only thing I care about in ST.. And so far.... don't we have 0?

pro tip: the only way spring training isn't pointless is from a lawn seat with a beer in hand. I'm serious. Just relax and get ready for opening day and hope nobody gets hurt.

I agree, but there's a point when the season is supposed to start, and if he needs to be in the 92-93 range to get the ball over the plate then he's most definitely not a MLB pitcher and should be left off the team because he does have that option year left. There's no way a shitty Lopez should make this team ahead of Cordero.

Baseball seems to evolve in eras. Every change to the game changes the way people approach it and ultimately the way youth instructors also approach it. I can see, over the long haul, maybe the shift results in the development of a different kind of hitter and a different kind of approach. Everyone playing now is in their 20's 30's and 40's. Baseball 20-40 years ago when they were born was a very different game. The reason I love the shift is because it is a natural defensive answer to the offensive challenge which doesn't involve changing the rules of the game. The sport should always be allowed to be played differently in different eras with different datasets so long as the core rules don't have to be adjusted. There's no good argument against the shift IMO that supports such rigid positioning rules. And just from a sports comparison / optics standpoint, baseball has long been chastised for what is really its fixedness, where people watching really have a hard time understanding how talented the athletes can be because they don't seem them moving around enough. People love movement in other sports like basketball and football and that movement is what makes defensive schemes so interesting and makes fans take such a deep interest. The idea of further restricting movement on the field in order to make baseball more "fixed" is a good idea why? It just adds offense, at the further expense of defense. And ultimately it does nothing IMO to make baseball look more interesting or requisite of strategy on defense.

You make is sound like he was clingling to life, and is lucky to ever walk again. He was well enough to play. Considering what constitutes reasons for taking some time off these days, his injury isn't as "harrowing" and you make it out to be. Miguel Cabrera played with 2 herniated discs and somehow managed an .850 OPS a few years ago. And he hasn't been out of baseball 2 years. He played in 2019 and couldn't make the Red Sox except for one game last season.

There's a reason Lucroy is on a minor league contract. He has sucked. As much as catching is so coveted, and guys who really can't do much get guaranteed contracts, he couldn't get one You want to say he's been hurt for 5 years, and that is the reason, and he isn't hurt anymore, that's fine with me. But chances are he is a replacement level player at best.

J&J efficacy timeline, in graphical form. really rising to the occasion

He is colossally overrated and unrelatable.

By the end of the season, the sox are going to look foolish with picking up Eaton over Pederson.

Katz is an upgrade, but Cooped was honest throughout the interview. Give him all the credit for 2005, and the development of several great pitchers during his tenure. I’m glad I tuned in.

I think it should be pretty clear to everyone that the front office was eager to pull the Cooper plug in hopes of fixing and/or further developing their young pitchers. I appreciate all Coop did over the years, but it was fucking time for a change and I think we see some quick wins this year due to how out of touch Don was with modern pitching. Hopefully Cy Lopez will be proof of that!

I would say that over the past decade the Cubs have strengthened relative to the other team in the city, rather than having waned a bit.