hogan873

70% chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. Rain is forecast to stop in the afternoon. My guess is that they will delay it and try to get it in.

If Moncada, Lopez, Giolito, and Eloy do well, losing games will be a lot more tolerable. It is annoying that they're losing games, especially one like on Monday, but I've already starting looking at the "bright side" of each game.

He looks a lot more comfortable and confident at the plate this year. The double yesterday was sweet. Last year, after going down two strikes from the right, he didn't get a hit. I know it's early, and we can't make wild predictions based on five games, but I definitely like what I've seen so far both offensively and defensively.

You haven't watched any games yet I assume? Moncada has looked very good at third; better than he did at second.

Fun game to watch. Giolito looked liked a different pitcher. I think the hits and runs after the no-hitter was broken up were more mental. As Stone said during the broadcast, this happens a lot. Otherwise, his location and speed were great. His change-up was very effective. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of this Lucas this year. Offensively, Abreu and Alonso look good in the middle of the lineup. Moncada seems so much more confident this year, offensively and defensively. His approach at the plate is much improved. Let's hope they continue their winning ways today.

I'm liking the positive Greg. I think the starting pitching is going to give us the most problems. I feel pretty good about Lopez and Rodon. I need to see A LOT of improvement from Giolito. And we need Nova and Santana to be effective innings eaters. Too much can go wrong there, though. However, the bullpen looks pretty good, and they'll most likely cover much of the starting pitching's badness. Agree with you about the OF. Infield defense has the potential to be very good. However, with Moncada getting used to a "new" position and Tim's over-aggressiveness at times, there could be some rough errors that will have us shaking our heads. Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty good about the season. I don't know if I see 88 wins, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a near .500 season.

Things certainly could go well. A lot of stuff would have to go right, but it's certainly possible. I like the optimism. I'm excited for the season, and especially so about the offense. The starting pitching may very well let us down (a lot), but an improved bullpen could dampen the overall suckiness.

Awfully optimistic there, Greg. Or are you being sarcastic?

74 wins in honor of Eloy's jersey. For 2020, the Sox will ask him to change his number to 90.

16-14. We're going to be somewhat optimistic at the end of April.

With the season starting Thursday, it's time to talk predictions. What do we see happening this year...good or bad? Any surprises? Moncada has a much better season but still has plenty of room to grow. Bats .260 with 25 HRs and 28 SBs. Plays a solid 3B Abreu has his best season since his rookie year. .307, 34 HRs, 105 RBIs Giolito struggles early but slowly pitches better as the season goes. Still ends up with an ERA close to 5. Leury stays healthy and impresses. Bats .265, steals 25 bases Eloy has an up and down season but overall does well. Sends 30 baseballs into the seats. Surprise: James McCann outperforms Castillo.

I'll admit I'm looking forward to the season. Aside from Lopez and Rodon, I'm not excited about the starting pitching, although I'm very reservedly optimistic that Giolito can rebound. The offense has the potential to be fairly exciting, with Eloy, Yoan, and Tim being highlights.

I'm not surprised by this thread devolving into another argument, but I am surprised that the argument is over whether or not Machado is an elite player. I'm further surprised by one of the determining factors or being elite is where he signed to play.

Wait. Are you saying JR and other owners don't read this message board and base decisions based on what they read here?

My wife and I did the Ancestry DNA thing a while back. The results for me weren't a huge surprise. I knew I was Irish, German, Welsh, and Polish. The results pretty much showed that, except the percentage of Irish was higher than I thought. I used the 30-day free trial to build as much of a family tree as possible. I did so for my wife's family and mine. It was really fascinating to dig way back and see when our ancestors immigrated from Europe. I was able to go back as far as the late 1600s on my dad's side of the family and as far back as the mid 1700s for my mom's. I've been tempted to pay for another month and do more digging, but I'd have to dedicate a lot of time to it to make it worth the cost.

No. Even if he performed well enough in the minors for us to think he deserved it, there would be no reason to call him up. Eloy was destroying baseballs last year, and he probably deserved to come up, but he didn't. If they're serious about Madrigal being the 2B of the future, he needs a full year of development. No reason to rush him.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the improvements in guys like Moncada, Anderson, and Lopez. I'm very hesitantly hoping for a bounce-back season from Giolito. Other than that, I'm excited to see how some of the prospects develop. There's a lot of talent in the minors and some real potential. Them doing well will help ease the pain of a likely rough season.

So much for Harper recruiting him to the Phillies in a couple years. Looks like a great deal for both sides, especially the Angels. He's worth more than that, probably.

Jimenez has said he intends to wear number 74, as he does in spring training. In an interview last year he stated that he liked the number because no one else wears it, and he wants to "create that number". https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/eloy-jimenez-on-his-white-sox-future-and-the-first-hell-accomplish-on-day-1/

Billy Koch, Rob Mackowiak, Nick Swisher

Yeah. Spot on, and he never backed down from what he said. I'm not sure about the Eloy rumor. It could still be true but not entirely accurate as he's stating it. Options, etc. could ultimately make it a 10 year/$100M+ deal.

I used to fish a lot more than I do now. I grew up living within walking distance of the ocean in NC and spent two years in Juneau, AK, so I would spend nearly all of my free time fishing. I've made it a goal each year to get out fishing more, but my busy spring and summer schedules (kids' activities, coaching baseball, etc.) limits how much I can get out. Plus, I haven't found many great fishing spots. I've been looking for spots SW of Chicago, and I've found a few that are okay but nothing real exciting. I'm making it a goal again this year to get out as much as I can. Hopefully I can actually do it this year.

I believe we've hit bottom. The problem is that we may spend quite a while at the bottom. 2019 looking better and 2020 and beyond being competitive years currently hinges on all or most of the prospects living up to their potential. It was shown this off season that the team cannot compete in the big FA sweepstakes, so there's no reason to believe that they will be signing a big name next off season. I was thinking at the end of last season that the Sox could be a surprise contender in 2019. Now I don't think it's a possibility until 2021 at the earliest...and that may be a stretch.

In my opinion, Anderson is underrated. His defense is improving, and he's already shown that he can make some very difficult plays at SS. He was a 20/20 guy last season, I don't see any reason why he won't be a perennial 20/20 guy. I'm not a big WAR guy, but it you want to look at it, he was at 2.5 last season. As you pointed out, is he ends up being a 3+ WAR player year after year, he'd be exceeding expectations...at least expectations of folks other than rabid fans who demand he be the best SS in the game. He's not a concern for the Sox right now. I believe that as the team around him improves, he will be even more valuable.

King Kong Bundy, 61. He was one of the best wrestling heels in the 80s.