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You never know the Sox could do what the Mets just did and sign some more MLB talent from the free agents who went unsigned. Also good to see Dunning ,Rodon and Lambert among the previously TJ'd on the list.

A day after announcing their initial player pool for the start of summer camp later this week, the Mets on Monday supplemented it with a quintet of signings. Three of them -- reliever Hunter Strickland, infielder Gordon Beckham and outfielder Melky Cabrera -- came from outside the organization. The other two -- pitcher Erasmo Ramirez and outfielder Ryan Cordell -- came from within. All five are part of the Mets’ 60-man player pool scheduled to begin working out at Citi Field on Friday. 3 ex Sox Melky, Beckham and Cordell. I was only half joking the other day when I said sign Puig. Looks like they Mets are supplementing their 60 to include some veteran MLB talent also. 1st paragraph taken from MLB.com

You will not like this prediction. No Yermin ! So no Yermin now !? I'll just imagine you just made it a Top 5.

You definitely have the right attitude on this. In the end economic recovery is more important than peoples lives. What these governments fail to realize is that true economic recovery can't occur until people can move about again without fear. Short sightedness is the true enemy. Compare Covid to the story line in Jaws. The mayor and city council pressured the M.E. to change the cause of death of the 1st victim from shark attack to boating accident. Then they caught a shark and yay problem solved all for the sake of economics because it was tourist season. Very short sighted and foolish thinking and as we watch Jaws we all realized that. Covid is Jaws. It's Jurassic Park. It might not be as obvious or frightening to us as a Great White Shark or T-Rex but the devastation is just as tragic.

Glad you mentioned the Parrot trot.While I and most would give the obvious answers of Robert and the majority of young guys, the off season additions of Encarnacon Keuchel and especially Grandal will be huge , Too bad Hawk can't be around to tout the talents of the new Yaz.

I'd personally make that 3 or 4 years. Even in that time period there might not be any visual physical changes. He should be strong but flexible. While strength is important , we don't have to see him bulk up . Increase core strength and conditioning, flexibility. Everything branches from the core. Without essential core strength you may develop bad habits in other strength training . Violent motions such as pitching need a stable core to maintain balance and consistency /repeatability of motions. These exercises and conditioning programs are things that are not temporary. They should be done over a lifetime . They should be as ingrained as showering and brushing/flossing your teeth.

Really good podcast. Very impressed with Crochet . Very well spoken kid, Some things I found interesting. He had a growth spurt between freshman and sophomore year of college. He said he went from 6'3" 180 lbs. to 6'5" 215. He really hasn't pitched all that much with his current body. The mystery of his changeup and why reports may differ about it, He really never used it. He would have featured it more this year but obviously that never got a chance to play out. He seems to think it got much better. He said sophomore year It wasn't that good of a pitch, just something to throw over the plate to keep hitters off balance. He said the development of the changeup is what makes him see himself as a future starter. He said now it has good fade and good 2 seam action to it. He may just be starting to tap into his full potential. He basically has a newer body and better changeup and hasn't had much of a chance to use either very much yet.

Only you can turn something good into something stupid . Bossards kid isn't going to take the spot of a better player away. Get real . Didn't you say "he couldn't play dead in a cowboy movie". If your assessment of his talent is correct how is it possible to take a better players spot ? There is open competition on the field. He signed for a measly amount . Do you think his talent or whatever he signed for will cost the Sox some future superstar who couldve been signed for $20K if it wasnt for the Sox signing Bossard ? Jerry does something magnanimous and you turn it into a fight like most of us argued about signing Abreu costing the Sox talent down the road.. I am not the stupid one here . If you reply I am done regardless It's such an insignificant thing arguing about some gesture of goodwill costing the Sox any talent. It just won't because it's a pittance and if he is as talentless as you say he won't cost anyone spot in open competition either. Can you even imagine yourself saying a few years from now if any of these 20K signees turns into a quality major league player "see f it wasn't for the Sox signing Bossard the Sox could've had that guy" . I don't think so.

You don't even know the amount of money he was signed for so don't make stupid statements. The Sox are going to sign who they want to sign . SIgning one to an unknown amount won't stop them from giving better players $20K. You think someone in the front office is going to say "wait we cant sign this guy , we gave Bossard all the money".

Maybe the signing was Jerry's way of giving the Bossards a reward for his many years of service. Roger Bossard might be the longest tenured member of the White Sox family, He's been working for the Sox in some capacity for over 50 years and he is probably the most recognizable and famous name in his profession. It was a nice gesture . The amount might never be known. Jerry is pretty loyal . I'm sure his employees are taken better care of than most teams'.

As the season goes along and some players get Covid maybe some teams will value a replacement for sick players much higher. Of course they also my not given that if they think a season can't be finished why even bother. This is totally unlike any season anyone has witnessed before. Throw every statement that you would make in a normal season out the window. We don't yet know who from the Phil and Jays has it . If we keep getting reports like that the season might not even start.

Imagine getting a walkoff hit to win a game, a playoff game or the World Series. Players are going to have to break some ingrained habits of camaraderie. No mob scenes at home plate allowed . no players doing silly hand shakes, no high or low fives rounding the bases. No everyone gathering on the pitching mound . You could go on and on.

Probably will need to cordon off a whole section and put a cage around it. If there are fans there will always be idiots who might spit on players or think they are funny doing fake sneezes and coughs at them or even spitting on them from above. I would imagine no autographs for those hounds too. Forget it no fans should be allowed.

I think I know where you are coming from. What exactly are the odds of even finishing a season and crowning a World Champ ? Is it 50/50 ? What does everyone think ? If there is no World Series it does make sense to rid yourself of guys you aren't going to have next year especially if you start the season poorly such as 7 or more games under .500 after 20-25 games. Too short of a season to expect to make up ground. Trouble is you have to play to win. We all wanted to see the off season acquisitions Grandal, Keuchel .Mazara, Cishek, Encarnacion and Gio Gonzalez, combine with our prospects like Kopech. Robert and Madrigal ,combine with guys on the rise (or not) like Anderson, Giolito, Lopez, Cease, Moncada and Eloy. This season was going to be wonderful to behold if it had been normal. Now will be still fun because guys like Dunning and Rodon might pitch from the start of the season. Play for the trophy if you are going to play.Besides there's no guarantee that 2021 is going to be any better .

Someone will always be in a slump . You play the best you got and hope for the best. That's what I would do In a short season. What would constitute a slump anyway ? If someone goes 0 for 10 or 15 they get benched ? The Sox didnt get the services of Encarnacion or Mazara to sit them. Just play match ups as best you can and do more pinch hitting according to match ups especially in situations where pitchers are forced to face hitters. The majority of Sox starters will be playing no matter who they face. Just about every position has some decent to good power except 2nd base. Some bombs come in real handy in late innings when you might be behind. If someone in the 3 hole starts slow you could move him down in the lineup rather than bench him. I might never take Robert out of the lineup even if he is struggling. There's no way I rather see Engel in CF or in the lineup over Robert. Sign Yasiel Puig !

Excuse me I was out of work 4 months due to a herniated disc in my back that affected my legs so severely I couldn't perform regular duties . I also have COPD , RA and cataracts in my right eye which means my immune system and lungs are also affected. I am also 62 years old. All those things combined puts me at high risk. Then my parent company finally found me work at the start of the pandemic. With all that's wrong with me what job did I get offered ? Custodial work. That's right cleaning up after everyone and being among my coworkers and the public . When everyone was at home and even the Los Angeles freeways were pretty empty I was on the front lines from the beginning. My first day on the job I got conjunctivitis in the same eye as the cataracts. SO don't you dare say I am living in a different world. I cannot live off past earnings. Even with all those things wrong with me, my age and being a custodial worker my health plan said I wasn't eligible for a Covid test. I only got a test after the hospital called me to say they had an opening to do my cataract surgery in 2 days so I had to get a test right away meaning I missed more work doing that then more after the surgery than a normal person would miss because the doctor knew the nature of my job and gave me more time off. Yes I and many common folks certainly are guinea pigs more so than the players. But if I die i'll just be a statistic . If some famous or even not so famous players dies it's big headlines and everyone questions why they didn't cancel the season and their methods to protect players. If I was a player good enough to live off past earnings I would opt out. Guess we will see if there really is a season that can be started and sustained without many casualties . Everyone is a lab rat. But only high profile people and companies get put under the microscope. I am now out of work again after 5 months doing that job because they filled the position i had with healthy person and I am still waiting for Workers Comp. to pay me for the 4 months i was off before that job offer.

I'm torn. Selfishly happy there's apparently going to be a season. However baseball players are no different than other humans except that they are much better paid. Playing makes them guinea pigs or lab rats. Players could get the disease and die . The country can manage without any sport , Being bored at home isn't the worst thing in the world. Players and staff getting seriously ill or dying would be terrible. Would love to talk just baseball. I haven't chimed in much on the pandemic or negotiations because it all just sucks. It also sucks to pretend just because baseball is back that I can discuss baseball normally. It's impossible.

This thread should be on page 10 by now. Having a Field of Dreams game this year would be ridiculous . There was no world wide pandemic making attendance ( if you build it they will come ) practically impossible nor threatening the health and safety of everyone involved during baseball when the movie was made , The title "Field of Dreams" itself becomes a cruel joke on the current state of baseball this year. It's more a nightmare than a dream .

Can someone change the title to reflect that he is signed now ? We didn't need a signing tracker this year due to the low amount of draft picks but the Sox Talk populus should probably be made aware of the signing in a headline.

That's certainly possible, Catcher,DH and 1st base among Abreu, McCann, Grandal ,Encarnacion Collins and Mercedes . I suppose Vaughn isn't in serious consideration. So if it's 30, 3 spots go to pitchers ? Madrigal gets a spot ? Who is most likely of the 5 extra spots assuming it is 5 which might not be the case when you talk about owners paying 5 more guys.

So where did he play college ball ?

Not sure if you're being facetious or flippant but you can say good things about him without comparing him to Sale even if there are a few similarities between them. I'm sure Coop was a part of the process that resulted in the Sox taking him. Taking one quote from Cooper where he is trying to take pressure off the kid from those comparison doesn't strike me as a shit attitude. I'm sure he has many good things to say about Crochet. It seems pretty odd to form an opinion based on that quote which leads me to believe you are just being facetious about it.

So those are the 2 choices ? Either compare him to Sale or say he's not Sale to protect the kid from unfair and often misconstrued comparisons and it becomes showing no confidence in the kid ?

I think an expanded roster makes the most sense since there will be no minor league seasons That way you give some of your higher ranked prospects a chance to play especially guys like Mercedes,Collins, and pitchers since we have no idea if Rodon and Dunning can now pitch. Nice choice to have between Gio Gonzales and Kopech for the starting or bullpen roles. I'm sure Gio didn't come here to pitch in the bullpen. Who knows how it all that works out . Besides Giolito and Keuchel you could realistically start or bullpen Cease,Lopez, Kopech, Gonzales, Rodon and Dunning since it's doubtful pitcher go that many innings in their starts then as the season progresses the guys that do best in their roles become the starters. Hell you could even take a long look at Crochet.

There were 160 players drafted this year. Previous years 1200+. That leaves a lot of guys out there. I suppose one would have to look at the good players in the majors today and see how many were drafted after the 5th round to realize there are some All Stars who were not drafted. Who finds them? What do the Sox do ? If they plan on going heavy into IFA do they make a token effort to sign the UDFA's out there fora a pittance ? If you can sign 50 guys that's only $1M isn't it ? Sox need to go full bore after the best UDFA's unless since they are actually free agents and 2 or more clubs want the same player can they actually negotiate for higher than the 20K ? Seems like they should be able to otherwise it's not free agency . There isn't a cap on what you can spend on UDFA 's ? Isn't it that you can sign an unlimited number of guys at 20K ?