chitownsportsfan

The rare "bold prediction" that is actually bold.

Like Giolito the proof will be under adversity, can he maintain his composure and mechanical changes? Frankly Gio surprised me with his mental toughness. Maybe Dylan will too.

Can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

Interesting thanks.

Lopez has literally been the worst pitcher in baseball most of the last three years and has also had attitude issues. the guy should be a fan pinata.

He's fast in a straight line. Problem is his hips are horrendous and so is his natural ability to judge fly balls. I've said it for awhile now just literally park him 10 feet off the line, 10 feet in front of the track at the Cell. Tell him to catch everything behind him and to his right and to not give a fuck about anything in front of him or in the gap to center. That's the only way he'll be playable there in his career. He also has a noodle arm with a windup that would make Wilson Alvarez blush.

It's been rumored since his rookie offseason that he wasn't working hard. Someone asked him what his offseason plan was and he said something like "drink a bunch of beer and hang out with my buddies in the deer camp". Not all pitchers have to be in great shape, and many can make it work with a little more weight, but Carlos took the "I'm not going to pick up a ball until February" thing a little too literally it appears.

@raBBit you the man, bro.

Just cut Zavala. He is the obvious man out on the 40 man.

There's nothing left for either guy to develop at AAA. Is what it is. Someone will get the shaft and I'd imagine it's Mendick as Leury covers the backup spot at SS and 2B and 3B. One injury away tho.

His swing is as short and quick as I've ever seen it. Spring stats are meaningless and we'll see if he can carry it over to when the games count -- but he looks improved.

There were probably half a dozen or more clubs that wanted to give him a minor league deal. He chose Chicago. The money is the same, so I feel pretty confident saying Chicago's chances at a playoff push (where Billy would be an ideal expanded roster addition) factored into his thinking. It's a move on the extreme margins but it's one that could pay off.

Good depth move. This is the sort of move you can do as a contender, guys like Billy will want to try and give it one last shot on a winner.

Are you crazy? Dude Leury is the best backup super sub in my lifetime as a Sox fan. We are spoiled. Mendick has .5 fWAR in like 150 PA.

I think it's been awhile since the Sox have contended because this is the normal. The situation in LA or SD is not the usual.

It looks like Katz has most our guys working lower on the vertical plane. I have no idea if that is good or not but it seems to quite the difference from Cooper.

Why? Nobody is going to be go balls to the wall right now. It's a good sign that he's not trying to be big dick nick right now.

Has Mendick played much SS this spring? For the first time in a long time the Sox have some interesting roster decisions.

Wonder if Katz has Kopech making some changes that led to the calf soreness. Could just be typical spring training aches and pains as well. I'd imagine Kopech is doing more than his fair share of running and conditioning after opting out last year.

I've been thinking this as well. I still think they are going to try and get Collins 10 PA a week. I think Jose is going to be sitting more this year. He doesn't need to play 150+ games. Sox have depth and can afford to let him rest more. Same with Grandal IMO. You can move Grandal to 1B and rest his knees and let Collins and Lucroy catch at least once a week.

Yup 18 or so spring training PA seals the deal for Vaughn. Spring training narratives are a hoot.

Did you listen to the Fangraphs season preview pod with Feagan? Feagan isn't that great on the air but he did note how within the industry most considered the Sox the most "traditional" team, and it wasn't complimentary. That they are doing the move to Katz and continuing to revamp the scouting and development under Getz while also hiring TLR is quite the operation. We'll see if it works out. I'm cautiously optimistic after hearing how TLR is running things early.

So far so good. That said, the first team wide slump will be the first challenge.

Eh he was also fouling off good pitches to hit after the first 40 or so games, he got in between, can't have that happen this year.

Thought I was listening to the cubs for second.