WestEddy

Oh yeah. That's ridiculous. Baldwin's a great asset. I think they don't want to nail him down in one single position. And yes, they're stocking up on OF options, the same thing they did in the infield.

The team isn't run by a consortium of commenters. The Sox have a small bunch of 2-year contracts that could roll over into next year if this team plays around .500 ball.

I suppose I give more weight to the way the Sox rolled out Kelenic's signing, and the way they're talking about him. I don't disagree with your take that Kelenic should start the season in AAA and get his mind right out of the spotlight. I just think he's got a real shot to make the team with a strong spring and an air of maturity.

No. You argue that everybody on the Sox is trade fodder, but guys with less control on the Twins aren't. "We know how Reinsdorf operates" and "decades of precedent" are meaningless code for "I have no argument, so I'll keep deflecting". The point, which you seem to want to obscure, is the Sox don't have to experience unprecedented luck in order to get their win total into the mid-70s.

Buxton, Bell. If Kelenic with 3+ years of control is surely trade fodder, then Larnach with 2 years of control must be, right? I'm not sure what you're even scoring, and how it matters. That makes for a nice pre-series writeup, but the games are played on the field. I don't see how comparing position players against each other affects the eventual White Sox win total. You think 75 wins means nothing at all went wrong all year. I've laid out multiple times how I feel that just a better bullpen and a little growth that outpaces the regression could get the team into the mid-upper 70s in wins.

The team wasn't buoyed by pitcher health. Beyond Houser and a very short stretch by Civale, Smith was the stand-out, albeit with a rough stretch in the middle, and Davis Martin got close to major league average production. If a couple of these guys get more consistent, you have a better staff. If you don't, they're probably replaced by better options.

What are you even comparing? Sox are still rebuilding and the Twins seem to be teetering on a complete teardown. Twins will most likely be trading a bunch of those guys this July. I'm not sure how assuming Baldwin would produce at a level he just did for two months in the bigs is crazy talk, but writing an 18-year-old A-ball catcher (Tait) into a lineup and grading him over two 2nd year catchers is perfectly reasonable.

"Track record for decades" is deflection. They have a development staff in place now that had nothing to do with the mis-development of Jason Dellaero and Scott Ruffcorn. Not sure how development in the 1980s impacts anything going on in Arizona this month. That said, I don't care about the Cardinals or Rays. Both have fallen on a lull, and maybe we shouldn't talk about them until they have their systems humming again? Nobody's saying that Baldwin should have his eventual results erased and .300/.400/.500 written into his stat line at the end of the season. Of course the games need to be played. But if we're going to "calm down" and wait until the Sox develop players for 30 years before we can speculate, maybe that goes for assuming failure based on what happened "decades ago".

"Let's have an entire season play out before we even begin to speculate on it" is odd. Nobody really gets on the people predicting a 4th 100-loss season or resetting the loss record to hold their horses until things play out. Why is that? Guessing that a bat-first utility guy will hit isn't really "getting crazy". This same team just played at a 70-win clip from the ASB on, last year. That was a team with injuries, slumps and losing streaks. I'd expect some development, and some regression. 75 wins is based more on a stronger bullpen and development out-pacing regression by a bit.

Baldwin's hit everywhere and just turned in a strong two months in the bigs after mashing at AAA. It's silly to play the "there are no givens" game. If we're speculating, we have to make some assumptions.

Fegan's sox notes: White Sox notes: Chase Meidroth wants to stay grounded, but not his contact - Sox Machine - Meidroth working on leg kick - Lenyn wants to be more aggressive earlier - Burke happy with slider - Mune speed-learning 1B - Bergolla respects dad's game, but wants more "pop"

Yeah, Baldwin and Hays for Wade and Kelenic. The Brewers look like their top 5 starters are all RHPs. Lefty loosie lineup.

If you're reading down to see who is pitching today for the Sox, Jacob Heatherly and Rylan Kaufman are two free agent LHPs signed in January. Heatherly is a Reds' product who looks to be returning from injury. Kaufman is from the Royals' organization, and I surmise the same.

Merk's Sunday Night report White Sox have blueprint, winning vibes for rapid turnaround - Best start since 2004 - Royals turned it around w/pitching - Marlins w/swing decisions - Shoman - guys believe they can win Leigh Allen points out, over on SouthSideSox, that the fireworks were really Sox studs beating up on Brewer A-ballers: White Sox debubble the Brewers, 5-2 | South Side Sox LaMond Pope summarizes some quotes from Murakami, Antonacci and Chris Murphy at the Trib. It's a mixed Sox/Cubs report w/some Mo Ballesteros updates. Cactus League report: White Sox's Sam Antonacci makes impression

SoxMachine talks about the first weekend and parses the hype on Antonacci and McDougal. Podcast: White Sox Impressive Start to Spring Training - Sox Machine

Baldwin and Hays will hit. Out of Acuña, Pereira and Kelenic, only one has to blossom, and they have a passable group of OFs. I feel the same about the rotation. The weak links will be replaced by better starters. The bullpen could be sneaky good. I've said a bunch of times I could see the Sox winning 75+ games, and 81+ wouldn't surprise me. Yeah, if Mune is real, and Colson continues to develop, it could be a fun summer.

Rant? I figured my response triggered your strange reply, so I started over. I felt you were attributing our convo to the front office.

Kelenic is 3 years, 3+ if he spends a month in the minors.

I don't understand your answer, so I'll start over. I think like in the IF, Getz is accumulating post-hype dudes. Kelenic, Acuña and Pereira are all highly touted. If they can figure one of them out, they have an outfielder for 5 years. And then you have Baldwin who can hit. I don't think they're trying to "replace" Baldwin. They see Baldwin as some uber-utility guy who can get 450-500 PAs all over the field. They need bats.

Where did you get this from? We're just fans spit-balling. I'm pretty sure none of us work in the front office.

I would too. But everything has to play out. Will the Sox be competitive? If Kelenic's tearing it up, he plays. If they're not in it, they have a trade piece on their hands. If they're suddenly in the playoff picture, they have 2+ years of control after 2026. A Baldwin option wouldn't be a commentary on his play, it would happen because other factors make him the best guy to send down.

And going to AAA with his mind right, knowing what he has to do to get consideration for the big club. Apparently, that was a problem with the Braves, where he sulked and thought he was being punished.