Jake

I hope these slow 4-seamers from Burke are just mis-classified cutters

Baseball is a game that requires very large sample sizes to really know what's what, but it's been a pretty rotten 10.5 innings thus far. Striving to get the least out of a questionable amount of talent

Sox haven't made an announcement, but the team website's 40-man roster shows Gilbert as in the minor leagues.

I'm satisfied with the Houser trade. It's not clear that any team was willing to give up anything for him. I don't regard Mead as untalented and I would gladly have him over Peters or Hill in a vacuum. I don't think it's crazy to give up on him considering the handedness and position he plays. The Sox also got more than Mead in the deal. I think the market inefficiency that interests Getz is 26-man roster spots which he expects/expected to have in spades and can use as a place to try out players who are out of options. That said, willingness to walk away from a player who he no longer thinks is worthwhile is probably something to be commended in general even if we would prefer that every acquisition pans out.

Until I hear otherwise, I am operating on the assumption this is frivolous and/or testing the interpretation of that new law in Illinois. Strongly doubt the Sox would user player likenesses all willy nilly.

Ultimately, I think if Chris Getz goes against the grain with his pick, it would be very surprising if he went for someone whose key limitation is questionable swing decisions. Seems to me that Getz prioritizes approach very highly in his acquisitions, perhaps because he (rightly) thinks it is hard to develop.

Crazy to look at Roch's game log and then hear people acting like he's in a slump

I don't really care about Lee, I'm just confused about this level of investment for a catcher that would seem to be the third MLB catcher within a month. And if that's not what he is, then I am very curious about which of the other two won't be among the MLB catchers and why that is.

I still don't really know what to make of it. It's true that Quero still hasn't shown much propensity to hit from the left side so the "complement" piece works there. But Teel is a lefty who is coming back in April. What then? If this was a vote of no-confidence in Quero, then I don't know why you'd grab a guy who doesn't complement Teel very well. And of course I don't know why you'd pay a player an above-minimum guaranteed deal to play for a few weeks.

Lee with a little sabotage challenging that last pitch

Welp, not sure I see the vision here but I suppose it will become clear soon enough. Paying him above-minimum on what I presume to be a guaranteed deal is the part that has me scratching my head more than anything.

Generally speaking, the data shows that ST stats are about as predictive as regular season stats of similar sample size. So basically, it tells you something but not a lot just because nobody gets that many innings/ABs in the spring.

Brutal game

I agree that this looks like the probable opening day lineup.

Well Shane Smith's last two outings have each been an unmitigated disaster

Seems to me that if Drew is physically up to it, it's very very likely that he will have an opportunity to pitch in the rotation. All 5 of those guys being both healthy and effective by then seems unlikely. And I'd assume the Sox may use a Thorpe rehab assignment to give themselves some wiggle room on exactly when he would rejoin the big league club. I don't think it makes a lot of sense for either party to have him pitch in the bullpen. And again assuming that this rehab is successful, it's one of the higher upside guys we have hanging around. Given how control-oriented Drew was, I do worry a bit more for him than some others about what effect the various subtle post-surgery changes will have on his overall effectiveness. Lots of guys report slightly different ranges of motion, newfound prominence of pronation or supination, things like that. Could really upset the apple cart for him. Not to mention that the shape of his changeup was so unusual.

Surprised by how many times I saw Antonacci whiff on pitches in the zone the last handful of games (insofar as I thought that never happens)

Saw a tweeter claiming they saw Vasil long-tossing in Arizona today

Can't put it past the White Sox to pat themselves on the back for exceeding low expectations

Wonder whether Antonacci should have been throwing to second on that game-tying play

Not a good game for Antonacci

Some talk that Sox wanted to hold him in Arizona to start the year until they felt like his swing was in a good spot. So by that metric it's a nice development

Don't make me argue in the Sox Machine comments ever again

I like Vargas but I can't imagine the Sox offered him very much money at all. I'm not sure if it would have been even in the double digits of millions in guarantees. Probably just a gesture to buy out a year of arbitration or something. Hopefully he plays well enough to earn a more substantial offer.