WestEddy

There's also about 8 teams in playoff contention for whom Sosa would be a definite offensive upgrade at 2nd, if that's a thing being bandied about.

Oh. I read the wrong line in Baseball-Reference.com. Drinking after 60, and all. But my main point still stands. Well beyond the situation of the TDL coming up next week, 4/40 is a strange, in-between number that doesn't hit anything that Robert might be. And Robert would have no reason to tear up the existing contract and replace it with something worse, especially with a team that seemingly has him drained and pressing. Robert taking 4/40 would tell me that he knows he's not worth 10/300 anymore, in which case, you can just keep signing M.A.T.'s and Austin Hays to 1-year deals the next 4 years and get better value.

I find this confusing. Who's offering this 4/40? The White Sox or another team? If it's the White Sox, Scott Boras would say, "We already have a contract. Let us know if you're picking up the $20M option, or buying it out." If the White Sox buy him out, then he hits the free agent market. Robert falls into one of 3 boxes: A) He's "that dude", and everybody knows it B) He's "that dude", he just needs to prove it for a full season C) He's not "that dude", but he's a great platoon CF, or a below average bat, above average glove If he's A, the Sox are picking up his next 2 option years. If they don't, he hits the market and gets 4/150, or 10/300. If he's B or C, he hits the market and signs a one year deal to prove himself. Probably for $10-15M. That 4/40 number you keep trotting out is just a weird, in between offer. It's too cheap for too many years. Or too expensive for too many years. If Robert were to jump at your 4/40, that would mean that Robert thinks he's C, and wants to grab whatever's being offered. Austin Hays was a productive (2.5+ bWAR) OF who was non-tendered after a down year due to injury. He signed a 1 year deal for $12M to rebuild his value.

And even calling it a "problem" feeds into the game here. My guess is that veterans take a rookie when they see a slump developing and go talk to them. It's not a clubhouse problem. It's the normal course of life. Coming out of the All-Star break, a couple of vets stepped up and decided to focus the team on some feedback Venable talked about recently. There's no problem, it's not bad, and to frame it as such is silly.

The picture looks like the cover of their 3rd album, Moon Rage Candy, an electronica departure from their previous work.

And Kopech probably could have been thrown in with a minimum of whining on their part.

Veteran leadership is no joke:

That, and moving the schedule of the rookie leagues up. There's also the elimination of the short season leagues that would be the catch-all for the college draftees.

They say that drinking over the age of 60 is even more deleterious. Go figure. fixed. Thanks

The White Sox would have to go 47-15 just to finish above .500, and they just knocked off their 3 easiest games of the third hardest schedule of the 2nd half.

We're looking at Baz, Rassmussen and Bradley. A step up from Falter, Heaney and Burrows.

Looks like the Rays just turned the O's into deadline sellers. A 4-2 road trip would be nice. 5-1 great, and 6-0 will make me insufferable.

Winnah!! First road sweep since 2022.

And our record in 1 run games remains unchanged.

Slater and Taylor definitely have value, too. Tyler Alexander could be a guy that a team who has missed out on every bullpen lefty gets with some DSL arm. And I really don't know if the Sox see Eisert as a dude going forward, or just a fix and flip candidate.

Is Connor McCullough a thing?

Dare I say it, Cruz looks as goofy as Eloy playing outfield.

1) I guess I meant that of the guys who will be available to play 2nd base next spring, Sosa would be the worst, defensively. 2) That was probably a gross over-ask by the Mets, just to move a convo along. It does say to me that Sosa is on other teams' radar, now.

I think Vargas has a higher ceiling as a hitter than Sosa. Even when slumping, Vargas draws walks. Sosa is a shortstop who has ratcheted down the ladder to 1B/DH, which is fine, if he hits. I don't advocate "dumping" Sosa. I believe the Mets mentioned him as a sweetener for Robert (maybe to get close to Getz' desired package), so there is interest. Sosa would be an offensive upgrade for a good 3-5 teams in playoff races. But looking at our drafting for the last few years, middle infield is going to be a strength, soon. While Bergolla and Gonzalez look like utility guys as soon as next year, Antonacci, Perez and Bonemer (maybe even Lodise and Shelton) are going to be crowding him out in a couple years. I've expressed that Sosa could very well be a league average place holder for 3 seasons while those guys develop.

Dude's from Gary, IN. I'm sure he shops at "the Jewels".

SoxMachine pregame notes. Pregame notes: Latest best chance for the first sweep of the season - Sox Machine of interest:

Or that Baldwin has a pretty clear split disadvantage against LHP this year.

Pittsburgh was part of last year's big losing streak around the All-Star game, so this is doubly nice.

You have a whole free agency market. There will be guys like Tauchman, again.