WestEddy

I believe both James McCann and Tyler Osik are right. McCann probably did see Vaughn hitting the cages regularly, and Osik probably didn't. I'm not going to make pronouncements about Vaughn's "makeup" and whether he's officially a bust or not based on that. I didn't want Vaughn on this roster, and I'd be happy with a Vaughn for Elko swap, but I also understand it's all not that easy. They have guys on the roster for reasons. They can't just cut 6 guys and promote 6 others. Vaughn's probably got until Memorial Day, or whatnot, to go on a heater. It's frustrating to watch Palacios and Vaughn in the lineup every day, but that's most likely their plan. Palacios has until Tauchman returns, then he's gone.

I think it's tough to cut bait on a 1:3 draft pick. Dude has a ton of untapped talent. I don't think the Sox will get to it, nor any other MLB team.

The Bummer trade wasn't a bad trade. Bummer sucked in 23. Soroka wound up being a good bullpen piece. Gowens is still a prospect (if he did well in his 5 starts, you'd consider that too small a sample size - LOL). Shuster doesn't seem to be working out. He went for quantity over quality. You keep making wild arguments about how guys suck and shouldn't be playing baseball because they passed through waivers. Weird how you won't take ownership of any of the BS you spout.

Just to be on the record about this, I didn't want Vaughn to make the club. The bullpen is what it is. If I were GM, I would promote Elko and Fletcher, cutting Maton and Palacios. When Workman comes off the IL, cut Amaya, and trade Thaiss when Lee comes back. Adisyn Coffey and drop Shuster. I think a lot of people mistake me understanding the reasoning behind a move or non-move as support. I want Vaughn, Palacios, Maton and Amaya as gone as everyone else. I'm not going to make up wild conspiracy theories about why they're being kept on the team.

I tried.

I understand that you're shown to be wrong so often, it gets boring to you.

I always laugh when someone makes up things to crow about during losses. * Michael Soroka signed a $9M contract with the Nats based on his bullpen work with the Sox last year. He's 27, Bummer's 31. By your own definition, that alone makes Soroka more valuable than Bummer. * Nicky Lopez is a utility infielder for the Cubs. By your own definition, that makes him a very valuable player. * Braden Shewmake was taken off waivers by the Yankees, and is still on their 40-man. By your own definition, that makes him a very valuable player. Riley Gowens is a starting pitching prospect who could end the season at AAA. Shuster was another arm they took a shot on. Some come through, others don't.

If all three catchers hit better than your 1B, it would be a great move.

And hey, We got a Chicago-born pope. What better day to break a losing streak?

Well, yeah. Any roster math leads to the conclusion that Vaughn is holding Elko's spot. I really think they're giving Vaughn to Memorial Day to get on a heater of some sort.

While Maton doesn't play any position "exceptionally well", he still plays them. Elko is a 1B. Korey Lee's going to be back, maybe as soon as after the weekend, it seems. They're not going to bring up Elko for 3 games then option him back to AAA, and I wouldn't think they want to burn Lee's last option. I'd guess that when Lee comes off the IL, they DFA Maton, again, and carry 3 catchers. Or they're working on a trade of Thaiss.

Horrible news. RIP. In the middle of the normal back and forth, here, it was always nice and calming to see a heart, or "love" emoji on a post from him. Condolences to everyone here, really. He seems like a guy who made every area he interacted in better.

Booser induced two pop-ups and a weak grounder. He should have a save.

Murfee Outrighted, Dalbec elects Free Agency

Drury's not hitting right now at AAA, but does he complicate any of this? He probably resigned on the promise they'd fast track him to a roster spot, and Vaughn's probably keeping that one warm.

They'll lose tonight 4-2, bullpen blowing the game open. Tomorrow will be a 10-4 blowout against Burke, they'll win the Cannon game 7-3 (no save), and lose the Martin game in extras 3-2.

I seem to remember that part of the reason the Brewers were ready to move on from Jose Valentin were his errors. He led the league twice with them. Turns out all the advanced models credited his range, and he got to a lot more to make those errors.

Then he's not. Odds are he registers negative WAR, and goes away to coach HS baseball, or something. Dude still has power, fields well, and knows the strike zone. Miguel Vargas isn't killing it at 3B, but his meager output could have him around 3 bWAR at year's end. Sure, he can't thread that .5 WAR career needle you've set, and he either falls above or below that mark. My point is that if he's an average major leaguer (2 WAR per season, on average), that's a big win for his draft slot. Go on and worry about whether people who read a listicle 2 years ago will be disappointed if he holds down SS or 3B for 6-7 years.

He is not. He's AAA depth, at this point.

Batters expecting a kick change getting some weird knuckleball.