Look at Ray Ray Run

Given how many playoff teams, this would be more than a bold prediction; it would be a catastrophe of injuries I'd have to imagine. Like 6-7 major injuries to stars. Even if they start slow, no one should run away with that division or extra playoff spot. Conclusion: Very Bold, the boldest of bold

I originally had him a little lower as my actual prediction but figured this is bold predictions. I'll add that I do think offense in general comes back a bit this year and we see a bit more power and league average offense is better than last year but still think he'll fit right in there in the top 20-24 hitters in the game. Vaughn sprays the ball to all fields. Last year he was a little off balance, but if he gets a little batted ball luck off setting the brutal stuff last year, he could be a lot of fun.

I'll say Vaughn drops a 320/395/510 slash line

Vaughn leads the team in average and OBP

cancelled.

Thanks, don't follow that stuff too closely. That's good to hear! edit: just saw him call it a false alarm lol.

Just out of curiosity, what news has Robert Murray ever broke?

I wouldn't invest that much of my money into a position that is extremely volatile. I don't think the expected outcomes between Collin Mchugh/Chris Martin and Graveman/Kelly are all that different, but the difference in price is 7.5 million a year versus 15 million. While I don't hate trying to make Velasquez a reliever, it seems they might even be stretching him out and in that case that money should have just been held onto because Velasquez has proven to be terrible in an extended roll.

The White Sox pitching staff had the highest fWAR in baseball last year. Their relievers had the 2nd highest. Their RF was 23rd in baseball. Their 2B ranked 23rd.

No one is arguing that a good bullpen isn't important to win in the playoffs. The argument is that no one had the Braves bullpen anywhere near the top last season; heck, no one even would have put them in the top 10 after the regular season ended last year. They were 12th in FIP, 13th in fWAR, 10th in ERA, 18th in K Rate. Then in the playoffs they got hot and carried. Trying to project and predict who is going to be great in a bullpen, and great in the playoffs, might as well be a crap shoot so investing heavily there doesn't move the needle enough to warran that substantial of an investment.

The problem is the Sox aren't all that "young" or "ascendant" at this point. Their core has played a substantial enough amount of big league games at this point to where projections become a bit more efficient and reliable. Last year I had the Sox as one of the better teams in the AL and winning their division. I'm not a big fan of Pecota in general and said it was less efficient then the win totals posted by sportsbooks who had the Sox all as the best team in their division. I did mention that the Sox should have done more last off-season as well to eliminate some of the if's. I feel that way pretty much every off-season though.

Lay out your top 6 bullpens for 2022 now, before the season starts. I'll lay out my top 6 offenses and top 6 starting rotations. I'd be willing to bet that I get more from both groups than you get from yours.

Best lefty bat on the market and a top of the rotation arm. I'd take it as a Sox fan. Obviously I'd rather have the White Sox whole roster though. Mariners pitching depth is just... real real bad.

This guy is an "independent reporter." I think this has been pretty transparent for quite some time so not all that surprising. Micker mania, boys! Micker is my guy so I wouldn't even be all that mad.

I'm not sure how the Sox could make a huge move at the deadline unless a couple players in their system take huge steps forward. That's a gamble in its own sense. I also think it's a bit of homer shaded glasses to say they have the best roster in the AL. They have the 4th most projected WAR in the league right now and by a couple outlets the 5th best projected record and they're in the weakest division. It doesn't mean they can't be the best team in the AL, but it does mean their on-paper roster isn't the best in the eyes of a lot of projection systems and models, so it'll take more "if's" for them to reach that ceiling compared to others.

The most Rockies thing I've ever seen. That extension is flat out hilarious.

I think it's actually more frustrating that they spent 47 million dollars and arguably got worse. Sitting on their hands would at least allow me to blame a tight budget and Jerry only; at this point it's as much on Hahn as it is on Jerry.

5 million dollars isn't changing you from building a "really good team" and a bad one. As we saw, 5 million dollars to the White Sox means Josh Harrison. I'd rather the Sox have less small money deals available to them; would probably make the roster better in general lol.

So you see the Sox releasing a lot of 15 million dollar players but not 20? If you are trying to get a "good deal" in marquee free agency then you're not getting any deal. It's really that simple.

You and Jerry gonna go out to some nice dinners when he saves that 5 million you won't budge on? I never understood why fans care if a FA is perceived to be overpaid. Conforto will be more entertaining to watch and better for the roster than what they have now. The 5 million isn't going to show up in your mailbox via an invoice stamped with past due. What do you care? and for those who say "well it might hurt the budget or their chance of signing a big free agent down the line." How about we get that first ever big free agent signing out the way before we start worrying about future ones.

I hope I'm eating a lot of crow within the next few days, but hard not to agree with pretty much everything bmags said in the past couple pages.

I couldn't handle two dogs; just Crede.

It wasn't quite a bobby knight tantrum but maybe a little bobby valentine! Finally a decent weekend day; felt like we were getting screwed with only the nice days during the week. Been awhile since we got over to the dogpark; pup refused to leave for like 1 hour. Excited for some baseball to start counting and for this terrible offseason just to wrap itself up so all the nonsense can stop and reality can be except... and for hopefully nice spring/summer weather. Hope you're doing well, pal!

"Dude go fuck yourself. Seriously. Keep my name out of your mouth." If you think I'm catching feelings there's nothing I can do to help you.

Nothing I said about James in my initial post that led to his outburst was out of line; i literally mentioned him in passing as an example because he was the most recent example. The post and details were partly a joke on how the front office operates. He threw a tantrum about it, end of story. Beautiful day out, will go enjoy it as it seems sensitivity on soxtalk is at an all time high.