WestEddy

1) We enjoy the baseball. 2) Person responds to our posts, mocking us for enjoying said baseball. 3) We respond, saying, "dude, I'm not seeking out your approval", or reasonable facsimile 4) You scold us, telling us to shut up and take it, tell us we're "gas-lighting", moving goalposts, calling people names, getting personal. 5) Other people on board pipe up about the bickering 6) We feel bad and stop, you continue on Wash and repeat.

I think Quero goes down when Teel comes up, and that may not be until June. Acuña would have to be replaced by an infielder. My opinion was that the target OF coming into this year was Hays, Baldwin, Pereira. Now it's Ant, Peters and Pereira. Hill seems to be a team player they'd want to take care of. Maybe the order in which guys get jettisoned is Grichuk, Beni, Acuña, Kelenic, Hays, then Peters?

There are two different issues, here. First, people have railed on about every single move in the last 3 seasons regardless of whether they actually worked out or not. Every ball that wasn't fielded cleanly gets pages of people complaining about fundamentals, and incompetence, and how everybody sucks and should be fired. So yeah, when the team starts playing more consistently, you'll get it back. You set the table, I hope you enjoy watching my ass doing the victory dance after every win. The second one is the guy who feels the need to barrel in and tell everybody that what they're watching isn't real. He's found some underlying metric that supports his narrative. Or the kvetching about who's going to be our starting second baseman in 2032, or how can you be happy when the Twins might have a better CF in 3 years? Or basically that it's so funny that people derive joy from watching baseball when the team loses sometimes. What chumps!!! Same thing. I'll answer that BS back. This all seems to be much ado about bullies crying that they're getting back what they've been giving for years.

I'm not sure where to drop this. Apparently, the Giants have been gathering a small bunch of long-term contracts and now seem handcuffed by them. Rafael Devers, Willie Adames, Matt Chapman and Jung Ho Lee are all wrapped up 4+ years, and none of the 4 are exactly tearing it up. I'm kind of agnostic on whether JR should splurge in free agency or wrap up every rookie who has a nice 4 months. If they establish a pipeline of talent, they can pay market to keep the guys who look like true, generational stars, and let the others walk. But the Giants seem to be in a bind. The Giants' Long-Term Contracts Are Becoming A Big Problem - MLB Trade Rumors

I also like the people who try to constantly validate their own choices by declaring they only watch "good" TeeVee shows or listen to "good" music, like they're afraid of being criticized for liking weird things, or in your case, being a chump for following a loser team. I understand those of you who are so insecure you need to lash out at those of us who like to watch the team get built and grow into a competitive outfit. When you get older, other people's opinions won't matter to you as much.

It's a bit oppressive when our glum chums decide they're going to tell us what our reality is. This team is playing .500 ball. A breakout or two could leave them with a winning record at the end of the year. If only they weren't so desperate to make us believe that.

It's only like 4-5 teams that have not gone through a painful rebuild in the last 15 years. It's fanciful to pretend that 29 other teams win regularly, and the White Sox are the only team that has suffered losing seasons since 2018, or whatnot.

The White Sox opened the season with a "historically worst outfield in all of baseball history", and they're playing .500 ball. Can you explain how injuries this year are affecting previous seasons' records?

Randal Grichuk made the Yankees' opening day roster, for heaven's sake.

Right. Two players on the same team competing for the HR title would be a Mantle/Maris chase. Nobody's comparing them, just a label.

Some here, including yourself, stopped updating projections when the Sox started winning more consistently. All I ever predicted was 77-78 wins. I never said anything about attendance or the playoffs.

SoxMachine's post-game wrap, with a factoid some here have been avoiding: White Sox 2, Mariners 1: Finding a way on Mother's Day - Sox Machine *With one quarter of the season in the books, the Sox are on a 77-win pace.

https://youtu.be/ySXMB7m6yHM?si=63kdYFzxi1Z5gokL Hammerhead Mongo Santamaria Good game. It would be nice for the White Sox to reestablish having Seattle's number. Hald game up for the wild card on the M's.

It's funny that for as much as Randall Grichuk sucks, and how the Sox got fleeced for the very valuable Luis Robert, they have the same number of home runs on the season.

I'm sure somebody's going to dig out some metric that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt he's not all that, and that Getz should be fired. LOL.

To me, #1 is Tyler Skaggs and the drug-related negligence in the organization. #2 is that Moreno has meddled and signed a player or two to insane deals without the GM's coordination, seemingly, and then tightened the budget. Comparing this to the Sox, it seems like JR set up a hierarchy where KW and Hahn would be at odds and systems would stagnate without agreement on a way forward. That doesn't seem to be the case with Moreno. Maybe he's part of the conflict that has turned their minor league system into a problem. I agree with you that the Sox are in a much better position right now.

SoxMachine's Spare Parts column: Spare Parts: Not all contact issues are created equal - Sox Machine B. Monty, Murakami, and the emphasis on contact rate Sun-Times article recapping Pope Leo's 1st year as pope MLB article on walk-up music Athletic article on Angels' GM Perry Minasian Cleveland trades for another light-hitting catcher MLB recap of recent Twins/Guardians game sums up what they are eyeblack article on the aftermath of Clevenger investigation, or non-investigation Infield shift ban hasn't really increased offense - The Athletic analyzes

Kelenic is South Slavic, Croatian or Serbian. It would probably properly be pronounced with 3 syllables. Americanization, I guess. The blonde woman's a trainer.

More pre-game, morning reading. I always come to a lot of this list when people call JR the worst owner in all of sports.

Ryan Blake at Lookout Landing takes an in depth look at closer Andres Muñoz's troubles and underlying metrics: On messing with perfection | Lookout Landing

Happy Mothers' Day

FanGraphs had this to say: Chicago White Sox Top 40 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball 22. Tyler Schweitzer, MIRPDrafted: 5th Round, 2022 from Ball State (CHW) Age 25.4 Height 6′ 0″ Weight 185 Bat / Thr L / L FV 40 Tool Grades (Present/Future) Fastball Slider Curveball Changeup Command Sits/Tops 45/55 45/45 45/50 40/40 45/50 92-94 / 96 The former MAC Pitcher of the Year started his 40-man platform season humming in 95-mph fastballs with cut-ride at Double-A Birmingham. He carved with a five-pitch mix, with a shorter slider being Schweitzer’s most reliably located secondary. Even if being Grant Taylor’s piggyback partner did his stuff few favors, it was still kinder than how the left-hander’s heater played when he got bumped up to the launching pad that is Triple-A Charlotte, this at the same time that his velo regressed to the 92-93 mph band. You don’t see splits this stark everyday. To wit, at Double-A: 49.2 IP, 32 H, 0 HR, 1.27 ERA. At Triple-A: 50 IP, 61 H, 13 HR, 7.92 ERA. Yikes. Schweitzer leverages his plus arm speed to reliably be on time at foot strike and offers starter command of fringy stuff. He ended the year as a multi-inning reliever in Birmingham, dominating again, and that’s where his skill set projects if he can ever weather the horrors of Charlotte.