chitownsportsfan

56 games. Seems like they are just being smart and probably a small favor for Samurai Japan team.

Said it many times Spring Training is 100% worth it if you've never been. Even for a bad Sox team.

There's like 100k people watching a SK national team against Samsung Giants game on various streams.

I like Will, but managers don't usually make or break baseball teams, talent does. I def agree he's the right man for the job right now and he is a good motivator and leader.

It has a lot of flaws (mostly the author would readily admit tbf) but ZIPS has exactly one WS and pitcher in the top 100 of projected fWAR: Teal at 2.6 (98th), Smith at 2.1 (59th). There just isn't much bankable talent on the roster. There's some good promising young talent, but it probably adds up to around 65-75 wins this season. 77 seems a bridge way too far, even as an error bar imo. Assume the young position players gain 10 WAR as a group, that's still around 75 with our pitching. If we win 75 on the backs of the kids I'll give Getz a parade honestly.

Knock on wood seems like we are as healthy as we've been as an org to start camp in a few years.

Somewhere in the valley but it's a little like a mini camden yards. not a "lower deck lawn" type park it has an amazing concourse with a kids area field adjacent. https://saltriverfields.com/ Last time I was there it was pretty much new iirc which is why we hit it up. Think we saw Diamondbacks Athletics or something.

Talking Stick sorta blew me away as a facility.

I've been to Talking Stick, Camelback and Peoria Complex. Of those three Camelback is the most isolated and also the most basic. It's also one of the older training facilities in the valley now I believe. All that said, Camelback is completely fine as a fan experience. The parking is much easier than Talking Stick for example. The brown is a little ugly but it's also the desert.

largest total contract Jerry has ever given out.

He's like half a win below average at 2nd with the glove. I think he might be 3 wins above average with the bat at 2B. We'll see how he does. My thoughts on him at third are based on my own scouting of him on the 2024 Seattle trip. He played there that night and was a disaster. His arm just won't allow it imo.

So stupid. Should just eat Beni's salary and ship him to some team that needs a lefty platoon bat. Also, Sosa does not have the arm for 3B. We've been over this. He can hide it at 2nd. He can't at 3rd. He's a perfectly fine 2B defensively other than the brain farts, which aren't going to go away at 3rd.

Or score a zyn.

An extremely likeable vet with a pretty lefty swing. Hope he has a nice season for the Mets and he can get some playoff ball.

Holy hell I lasted 5 minutes listening to that guy. Not my style. I kept waiting for his co-host to interject thinking surely there must be another voice.

Did they put that rule in recently?

Baldwin is 2 years younger than Kelenic and had a 92 wRC+ compared to Kelenic's 47 last year. The idea the Sox are hoping Kelenic wins the job seems farfetched to me. Baldwin is the better player, regardless of (now long gone) draft pedigree.

Thank you and a thank you to @Autumn Dreamin for all the updates. Doing a great job.

The games don't count fellas.

To me it suggests he's already strained something.

we def have some dudes.

One thing I've taken from watching and reading (translated) WBC Asian prep is that they take injury prevention quite seriously. Perhaps more seriously than NA based players who have a "win a job" mentality sometimes. Most of the comments on a KBO spring game are basically just "avoid injury, go through the motions otherwise". It's an approach I wish more US pro teams would take, although I get it's a fine line.