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Oh man come on. Let's use a little common sense here. Not only was it the injury in game 3 but he missed almost all of his last year in college because of shoulder pain. He also throws extremely hard and has no record of sustained starting pitching success in college. He is a long way away from becoming a reliable SP if we can agree that in a non Covid year a reliable SP should give you a minimum of 20 starts. Common sense else tells me that you cannot predict injuries so you have that on your side. But I would be willing to bet anyone that in 2022 he doesn't get 20 starts . And if he doesn't get 20 starts in 2022 how likely is it that he will get 20 starts in 2023 ? If the Sox can find a few GM's that think as highly as Soxtalk does of Crochet we should be looking to trade him ASAP. Everybody loves that 101-102 FB but who throws that hard as a SP for multiple years without a major injury ? That list is microscopic.

He's likely a potential BP piece maybe even a very good one and a major injury waiting to happen. If any team views him as a superstar SP why not take advantage of that right now?

Why wouldn't the Sox trade Crochet? Many consider him to be a ticking time bomb . My best guess at him becoming an effective starter if he ever becomes one at around 2+ years from now. Odds on a major injury 50/50 in 2021. Odds that he eventually ends up in the BP 2:1.

Gray , Jesse Winker and Tyler Stephenson for Crochet, Eaton , Marshall ,Collins, Engel, Mercedes and a partridge in a pear tree.

Ross had a very strange 2020. He looked very good at times that made me wonder where is the old Ross Detwiler ? His walks were down his K's were up. He wasn't giving up the long ball. Then he had a small rough patch and was basically ignored until they DFA him and Cishek at the same time while opting to use Crochet and Rodon and the outlook on Bummer was becoming clearer. Don't remember much about the thread after that happened. I think it was mostly like "it's about time" on Cishek and a bit of puzzlement on Detwiler. After the playoff loss to Oakland I found myself wondering if Ross over Rodon might have made a difference.

I'll believe it when it's announced " White Sox have signed Liam Hendriks" and not a minute before that.

Exactly which is why I was trying to tell Harold that his amateur career mattered when he said it didn't . Most of us know so little about how a pitcher prepares and even if some of us have pitched at high levels our situations are not comparable to Crochet's. Communication with him seems ultra vital. Building up innings is a tricky thing and there are no easy answers. You have seen up close and personal how things like this can be handled. It's not in his best interest to try to throw or pitch through pain yet you do have to keep throwing and using your arm be it long toss, short toss or side sessions but being very selective on how often and when to use max effort.

Which is exactly what I have been saying. He just needs innings and he can get innings either as a starter or as a RP but prepare him as a RP. We shouldn't get hung up on the terms starter or reliever right now as long as he is prepared in the same way for whatever he does. Don't pitch him on consecutive days at all this year. Get his legs strong. Maybe even pitch him every 5th day but allow him the chance to pitch multiple innings each time 2 innings, 3 , 4 or perhaps even 5 slowly over the year. It doesn't matter if he starts or comes into the game in the 2nd through 7th inning. As the year goes on at some point you let him pitch every 4th day but no more long outing maybe 2 or 3 innings max. Then maybe every 3rd day and shorter outings. Treat his year like a bell curve ramp him up to the top of the bell toward mid season then slowly ramp him down towards the end. when he might be able to give you an inning in some late season games and the playoffs. Is this a way they could treat a pitcher like Crochet ? Or am I way off base on a plan like this ? Maybe a slower build up to 5 innings and ramp him down past mid season ?

Well talking about ruining pitchers will certainly get you the sympathy vote. Poor Crochet is going to be ruined by the Sox the same way they ruined Fulmer and Rodon. Somehow Sale wasn't ruined. Other pitchers get treated the same way. Some make it some don't. Maybe it was that Fulmer and Rodon just didn't have what it takes to pitch at the very top of their chosen profession . Easy to point fingers when things go wrong and hindsight is 20/20 . So start him in Birmingham then what ? Do you just ignore that he can dominate big league hitters in short stints? Do you leave him starting in the minors until he reaches a comfortable innings limit and never pitch with the Sox in 2021 ? Is it all about his development ? What if he is itching to want to help the Sox in any role he can towards the end of season. Do you tell him no, we know whats best for you, and risk alienating him like an over protective parent ?

We will just have to disagree . If they evaluate him for his best chance to excel that would easily be as a RP. How he was used as an amateur makes a lot of difference. Yes he will physically mature a little more but if he has never shown the ability to pitch effectively as a starter as an amatuer why would anyone think he could do it as a pro ? Again Crochet has some say in this.He might even think that the Sox pulling him at the 1st sign of trouble in the playoff game was an over reaction. But even he doesn't know what best for his career but it should be his choice as long as he can be honest about himself. He may want to start . He may want to do exactly as the Sox say. Not you ,not me, not him, knows that middling him is the worst thing for him if one can even define "middling". Getz was not a pitcher. Perhaps what he said doesn't come to pass. I would be shocked if we see very many times that Crochet will pitch more than 3 innings at a time either as a starter or a RP this season. . I also highly doubt that he will jump back and forth between roles . If he starts a few he will be likely be treated and prepared much like a RP, only 3 innings max early in the season but more likely 1 or 2 innings. All these fears about how he will be treated or developed are baseless right now.

I don't know if that is the worst thing they can do for his development. Crochet has no history of extended success as a starter. Nor does he have any history of staying healthy while he is effective. Each pitcher's history should define what is best for his development. I'm not even sure if you can say he is being rushed. He has shown the ability to get big leaguers out and look dominant doing it but the sample size was ultra small . His arm is a mystery, his career to this point , an enigma. They are paying him to get value out of him. That's how it works . He is a laborer with a golden arm . He is no good to them if his arm blows up in the minors . If there is already a high probability that his arm will not last then you baby him and maybe he can help you win a World Series as a RP while you slowly build up his arm and do their best to keep him healthy. If his arm blows up it will probably make the Sox look bad no matter what they do. Also remember Crochet has some choice in this, unlike most laborers, and if he isn't convinced how the Sox are using him is in his best interest he can discuss it with them.

I don't think this is true at all. He needs innings, period . Using words like "never" ring hollow to make a point. However the Sox cannot just ignore that he may be able to help the team win a World Series this year. I highly doubt they would use him as a closer when they have Bummer and may get even more options for that role. I think the Sox will find a clearly defined role for him that best allows him to get innings while not over working his arm. They will probably have him start innings rather than come into games with men on base though that would be very tempting when you need a K . The Sox don't have a history of using an opener but that may change under Katz . LaRussa has no history of using an opener so we will have to wait and see on that. I do think that when he is in the minors this year and, I think he will be at some point, he will probably start with some kind of pitch count that slowly rises. Just remember that he is still young and not guaranteed to be a stud come playoff time . He just shouldn't be starting all year and then thrust into a relief role late in the season and make it look easy . If he is going to pitch in relief late in the season he is going to have to pitch in relief in the minors too.

How can they afford not to develop him as a starter ? Most of his value lies in him becoming a starter. The Sox want him to start. Crochet sees himself as a starter in probably much the same way Rodon does. A bunch of years and injuries later Rodon was non-tendered. He had plenty of chances to start in non Covid years and either couldn't perform consistently or kept getting injured. Carlos Rodon had 49 starts and 346 IP in his 3 years of college. Crochet had 36 starts and 132 IP. Rodon was a stud and consensus top draft pick. Crochet was a dud as far as his college stats go and his 3rd year he was injured after 1 start and was drafted high due to his stuff. Rodon's college WHIP showed that he could actually find the strike zone and while Crochet had a pretty high WHIP. Once Rodon became a pro all of a sudden facing more disciplined hitters his WHIP shot up and continued to plagued him throughout his career with the Sox. The Sox have very little information about Crochet compared to Rodon coming out of college. I think it is very easy to get excited about Crochet because of his blazing fastball and slider seen during his brief 6 inning stint with the Sox. But it was just 6 innings. He will have his trials and tribulations like any other pitcher and certainly will be tested by hitters who may just decide to wait and see if he can consistently find the strike zone. If it is your fear that he won't be given a chance to develop as a starter I think it's already pretty clear that they know how valuable he would be as a starter over being a reliever. However he also has immediate value as a reliever because he isn't close to becoming a starting pitcher due to inconsistent college stats and injury. Plan 1 is to build up his innings and see if he can throw strikes and stay healthy. He may do it in the minors or with the Sox. I think there is a high probability he will start the season with the Sox but that doesn't mean he won't be sent back down if he is ineffective. The good news is that he has pitched so little that Covid shouldn't have much of an impact on his early career unless the minors are shut down again. If he becomes a reliever it will only be because he just can't handle the workload or maintain his stuff as a starter. At that point it would be in his best interest to become a RP . The Sox will just have to find a balance between what's in his and the team's best interest. Right now his best interest and teams are aligned. He has to throw fewer innings and not be overused and that means just as Getz and myself have said. He will pitch as a RP and perhaps get a handful of starts in 2021 while we see how his arm responds.

Thank you very much and I think I speak for the rest of Soxtalk in hoping that they caught it early enough to give you hope. I pray that you and your family are given the strength to endure.

Don't think this comes close. The Cubs were obviously targeting up the middle position players. High level international young prospects with athletic ability and baseball abilities. I don't know the Sox system very well but doubtful we have 4 of those types of positions players. The Sox haven't exactly been a breeding ground for signing younger international CF's and SS's.

I don't have much of an opinion about Bauer's antics . I would think his agent might tell him he's costing himself money by screwing with Heyman. Or perhaps he doesn't care about costing himself a few million here and there. I'm pretty sure the video of why he only wanted 1 year contracts is no longer available but below is some quotes from it : https://www.redlegnation.com/2020/04/08/reds-pitcher-trevor-bauer-on-why-hes-only-signing-1-year-deals/ “I want to be able to be happy playing the game that I love. So I want to end up in situations that make me happy and make me fulfilled. That can be situations like the Reds have, where there’s just a really great group of people that just make me fulfilled as a person,” said Bauer. “That can be situations like jumping into a team that’s going to go on a playoff run and hopefully win a World Series. That can be a team that would let me pitch every 4th day or treats me with respect in a way that no other team has. Or whatever the case is – there’s certain things that are more important to me than money. And I want to be able to control where I play and when and the situations I’m in so that as I change too, and things become more important to me, or less important to me as I evolve that I can tailor fit my situation to reflect that.” Winning certainly seems important to Bauer, as it is for nearly every high-level athlete. “I want to be on a contender every year because I love competing at the highest level and the highest level is the World Series,” he said. “So I want to have a chance to go to the World Series every single year. And the way baseball is currently structured, there’s not many teams that go into spring training trying to win the World Series that year.” I don't think anyone can say for sure what Bauer is thinking. Surely he realizes his free agency is the chance of a lifetime to have mega bucks but makes his earlier stance about the 1 year deals seem naive at best or idiotic at worse. He knew before he made those comments that he would be a FA one day and a great year pre- Free Agency would set him up for a great multi- year contract. I would suppose that once he is signed he can say all the right things about about winning and feeling wanted and appreciated like most free agents do to let us all know it just wasn't ALL about the money. He may think he is a different kind of dude but in the end he most likely ends up being like all Free Agents. and takes one of the highest offers combining a high amount of money with a high amount of years , with opportunities to opt out. If Bauer is truly the cat he thinks he is, then there is a small chance he chooses to be the maverick and stick to his nonsense about 1 year deals, how important winning is to him, pitching every 4th day or being treated with respect in a way that no other team has. The story will continue to unfold but most of us can guess the outcome or can we ???

Now that's how you do it.

Thank u and same to you.

Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.

So you're basically Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire yelling for La Stellaaaaaa.

No he's just not in love with Madrigal so pokes fun at his appearance every so often. Fathoms a good guy as you probably know.

Is everyone happy now ? 6 players mentioned. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/video/tony-la-russa-on-white-sox-depth

The answer is probably yes . But it should be noted that Colas' status hasn't been cleared up and MLB hasn't declared him a Free Agent so far. So as of now he is unsignable. It's pretty hard to gauge how the industry feels . Cespedes is the better known quantity with his appearance in the WBC and has loud tools but hasn't got much field action lately. Colas played in the minors in Japan so at least he's been on the field and got that Cuban Ohtani label put on him because he can pitch a little bit but didn't do it in Japan.

Oh good I can still comment on you self righteousness without expecting self righteous comments back. Thank you. Talk about a troll.. pot calling the kettle black. And yes I can easily admit that I don't know everything about baseball economics or most things for that matter because I am not as arrogant and egotistical as you. I am not defending LaRussa as much as I am questioning you. This ceaseless, sanctimonious charade to parade your righteous indignation is pathetic.

LOL ,no, I was commenting on Fathom taking shots at Madrigals height good-naturedly.