nrockway

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/braves-release-erick-fedde-place-aaron-bummer-on-15-day-il.html A twofer: Fedde released, Bummer to the 15-day IL with shoulder inflammation, seemingly a precursor to a more serious injury. I'd bring Fedde back. Why not?

6 pitches, 2 Ks jinxed the immaculacy, sorry Yo Yo

walk shmalk

Crochet goes 7 IP, 11k's, 1 BB, 1 ER (Stantonian solo shot) at Yankee Stadium and lowers his ERA to 2.38 in a 12-1 win. He leads MLB in innings pitched as well as K's and is 5th in qualified ERA. Let's see what Skubal does his next start against a hot hitting Sacramento Athletics team at their minor league ballpark. Cy Young race should be close between the two, they're jockeying for position on the K's, IP, and ERA..and some thought Garrett didn't have the durability to be a starter. Very fun watching these two lefties dominate. Love the guys we got in return, but it's a bummer he's not doing this with the Sox.

I think you're right about the identifiable part. He's a cool guy with cool haircuts and speaks out about Chinese issues. I bet he speaks to the millennial/gen z'er but isn't nearly as popular as Yao. He also wasn't nearly as good at basketball. I also think the difference is that Lin is born and raised in America and his parents are from Taiwan (I think...right?). An analogy might be Tony La Russa or Joe Torre not being popular figures in Italy even though they sorta like baseball there and those guys have that ancestry/naming convention. I wonder if the Bulls forthcoming star Matas Buzelis is popular in Lithuania since he's born in Chicago. We'll have to wait for him to take the next step to see. Probably depends if he plays for the national team. Those guys also don't have the label of having ancestry from a 'renegade province'. I think Linsanity was pretty popular in Taiwan even if he likely has no opinion on Taiwanese independence. Nothing he's said to the media anyway. Didn't stop him from having a basketball career on the mainland as well as Taiwan. I wonder how popular he actually was when he played in China besides just being very good relative to the competition, kinda like Stephon Marbury. Not so sure about the Christian part. I bet they don't care. Sun Yat Sen was a Christian after all. He was quite popular during the revolution and the atheist CCP wanted to claim his legacy. His widow, Soong ChingLing was also a Christian (Christian name Rosamund), and certainly popular or at least protected during the Cultural Revolution (on the 'List of Cadres to be Protected'). Her father was a missionary. And China is way more chill about religion than they were during that time period and certainly during the Qing dynasty. I feel like we've segued a little bit from banana ball 😆

Li Ning shoes! I've never seen them for sale anywhere in the USA. I didn't know (until googling it just now) Jimmy was their main athlete. Pretty funny. I guess he's been wearing them for a couple years...can't be any worse than the Big Baller Brand shoes.

Gordon Beckham sorry for 'gay' joke What a loser

That was strange. Beckham was so weird about it. It was a funny bit, I mean it was a giant hot dog, that Beckham made awkward for no reason. Schriff set him up perfectly to say something funny and he blew it and looked like a backward buffoon. Like c'mon dude, it's not that serious. Your "manhood" or whatever wasn't in doubt, it's just a silly bit. I think now it is. I like that Schriff kept pressing him lol. I can't help but think about "disgusting" Benetti whenever they bring food into the booth. I'm pretty sure Schriffen was eating it and the broadcast just cut away. Every other team brings food into the booth and they eat it, what is wrong with Brooks Boyer? Is he me? I don't like watching people eat either but I understand that's idiosyncratic and that nobody else cares.

Aww, the handshake is improving 🥰

I watched this Jomboy video the other day...wasn't really about the White Sox, but he showed some interesting stats that suggest the coaches are getting the most out of the players, at least on the base paths in terms of 'limiting mistakes'. Sox stuff starts at about the 7 minute mark.

"Pitching clinic" in Birmingham tonight. 0-0 going into the 11th. Nice showings from McDougal (put him on the top 100 list) and Schweitzer has been lights out since the demotion, 0 earned runs in 36.2 innings, absolutely nuts. Why does Coffey get tagged with the ER from the ghost runner? Same thing with the Trash Panda pitcher Yovan -- do they score it different in MILB? Or is the scorekeeper confused? Braden extends his hitting streak on an infield single (that probably should've been ruled an error). Nishida walk-off single! Missed the excitement in the MLB game, but this was a fun few innings to watch.

Seems like they love baseball in Taiwan (brought there by the Japanese) and the little league teams do very well in the LLWS. They have a 12-year-old throwing 80mph! Sooner or later they're gonna produce some MLB stars better than Yu Chang, Chien-Ming Wang, Fu-Te Ni etc. I don't think the mainland has produces a single MLB player. Woo, Kwan, Bichette, the Wong brothers don't seem to have any fame over there. Basketball has obviously become quite popular on the mainland, have to think Yao played a big role in that. Hard to see baseball as a sport taking hold there any time soon, but the fashion is popular everywhere in the world. Maybe the Sox could use some of that hat revenue and spend it on a player.

He's been so good. 1.000 OPS the last month, I'd like see him at AA before he turns 21. Albertus is no slouch either, but out for the rest of the year. Vargas might end up being the worst player in that trade.

Yup, good point. Big win for all teams. My optimism thinks the Sox could produce a team like the Orioles did...the pessimism is it could turn into a team like the current Orioles. Rubenstein is already/ will be a bad owner and had the track record to suggest he'd be cheap. I dunno if the grass is greener with Ishbia. He has less of a track record as Boobenstein.

The girlies like going to baseball games regardless. Anecdotally, I like it as a date (cheap date because I'm a Sox fan) and we have fun even if it's just sitting in the ChiSox bar or walking around the park. The energy at a baseball game is fun regardless if you like the sport or not or even if the team is any good. My chauvinistic impression is baseball is a better sport for it than any of the others. Bulls games are less fun for this since it's non-stop, action-packed sports (also more expensive). No organ, no fireworks, no time to chit-chat or wander around. Football might be different but I've never attended a NFL game. Hockey is much like basketball in this way except the other fans yell at you when you stand up and walk around. But I'd ask the question: are women showing up to banana ball in significant numbers by themselves/with their girlfriends, without their husband/boyfriend? I kinda doubt it. I'm interested in more female fans being into the game and I think MLB could take a page out of the KBO (Korean League) playbook. Looking at this article from last year, "women accounted for more than half of all ticket buyers in the first half of the season." A more recent article suggests 38.3% of spectators are women. I think it has something to do with the singing and "cheer culture" more than the sport itself, but what do I know. I don't think it's because the players are sexy, I think it's just a fun environment to be yourself and is culturally-relevant. MLB should take notes.

None. I wouldn't extend any young player as long as the arbitration system exists (look how well it's working out for ATL and previously the Hahn Sox) unless they're Juan Soto. We'll see how it goes for Basallo, Anthony, Chourio, whoever else. Doesn't seem worth the risk. I wouldn't extend Colson at this point. I'm not sure extensions was the discussion anyway, but rather free agency. I'm simply replying to the percentage of payroll point. I think one just looks at the flat amount in this case. $3.5mil is practically nothing for a free agent. It's obviously an overpay for Rojas, it's double what Tauchman is making, but it's not like it hamstrings the team in the same way a Benintendi-esque contract does. SFG is clearly keen on spending money and look how it's working for them. Adames is not a bad player, but the Sox would be totally screwed if they signed him to that contract when you can pay Meidroth, Montgomery, Billy Carlson combined 1.2% of the price. Nobody is going to be thinking about Rojas next year. Maldonado signed for more money than Rojas did and it's dubious to think that affected JR's intention to spend money. Sure didn't stop 'em spending on Rojas...who was probably worth the risk if he could've produced 2-3 WAR (as he has in the past) at that price. The Pirates, a notoriously cheap team, paid considerably more (roughly x1.5) than we did on Rojas for Tommy Pham, and they didn't trade him despite being better, or roughly the same, this season as he was with the Sox. Is that gonna change the Nutting logic? No money was being spent regardless and they'll probably spend next year on a bunch of $2-5mil guys who may or may not produce. Slater returned something, Fedde returned a lot more than he's actually worth (which MLB teams clearly noticed). All in all, the Getz position player free agents have not generated any trade interest while the pitchers have, but signing them also did not cripple the team in any meaningful way. I think we're getting past the point of trying to sign guys to trade for prospects and we should start building a winning team. At the same time, what other teams are signing position players for that amount and then trading them for great players/prospects after half a season? I'm trying to find some examples and not seeing any. I'm thinking about Tommy Edman vs Miguel Vargas. one guy is 30-years-old, OPSing .677 and is being paid $74mil dollars; the other guy is 25, making $770k (more if you extend it out 5 years as with Edman, obviously...maybe it's more like $17mil vs $770k) and is OPSing .704. Both are exactly the same bWAR and one guy is getting old and the other is just starting his career. Erick Fedde doesn't even look like he belongs in the MLB once again, he has an even worse ERA (7.11) than he did with the team who DFA'd him. Sox also got some prospects in return. It's clear who won that trade. To your other point, it's a good point but we'll see. More revenue is generated if the team is actually good in the case of the Sox. If there's a free agent who fits a need on a winning team, they might sign him, and it likely produces more revenue than whatever the expenditure is. It totally depends on the talent evaluation. They signed Benintendi, didn't they, when a cheaper option like Teoscar Hernandez or Cody Bellinger was available and both are simply better at baseball. It was an issue of player evaluation, not money. Not expecting them to spend this coming free agency, I'm also not sure who they would spend it on...outside of Tucker who fills a need but could very well turn into Benny. As I said in a different post, Getz will actually be put to the test in 2027 and I dunno how to speculate on that.

ya know, at least the Sox can pick higher than 10 this year

great question. if you watched it, you wouldn't have a better idea.

Punish this guy. can't throw a strike

easy strike to call...

🤯

Julien is primed for something big...hope it isn't now.

did Jirschele send him? that was the dumbest thing I've ever seen

wtf?