chitownsportsfan

what's the cost going to be? 1 year 6 million? If so, it's a no brainer. Engel's time is up.

Given that literally every other athletic endeavour on the planet has gotten incredibly more advanced, seen records broken and so forth given the passage of time -- sorta leads me to believe that today's MLB players just might be, on average a little better than previous generations. That said, greatness is greatness, that's why baseball stats that are normalized by year and relative to the league are so fucking cool; we can easily compare players relative to their peers. And of course if Ted Williams was alive today or any other superstar of the past they'd have gotten the best sports training and science and all the advantages so they'd just as good as Trout or Lebron or Bolt or whoever.

Work works. He'll be back. Nice video, hardly a glamorous lifestyle on the margins of MLB.

Oof. So they traded for him when he needed protection that soon. Obviously wasn't an issue on the 40 man then, but is now. It's a loss at the margins but it's still a loss.

Do you have a newsletter?

I'm almost certain he'll get claimed. Maybe they should have just exposed him in the rule 5. Personally I would have rather cut Seby but maybe they prefer catching depth to pitching right now. Although I don't think Seby is any sort of real depth.

I thought Medeiros would pan out into a decent swing man or 5th starter. So much for that. I think they probably asked for younger guys but were rebuffed.

I'd imagine that there are vectors that have very limited N values. So for instance a sample of like 3 where two guys made the catch and one didn't on a ball hit x angle into the air with v velocity with the fielder needing to cover d distance. Maybe they do some sort of "best guess" given statistically similar vectors.

Nick's really bad but part of it is that he had to switch from a very tricky, huge RF at Comerica to a smaller but also tricky RF at Wrigley given the wind patterns. He's a shitty OF but you can hide a guy like that in some parks much better than others. The Cell certainly plays easier than Comerica in the OF.

Moncada is going to have a monster fucking year now that he's got a year under his belt at 3rd. Can see him moving into the top 5 defensive 3B in the game on top of his offensive contributions, inching him closer to MVP level. Thanks for this awesome thread.

I'd like to see AJ and Frank as guests this year with Jason. I think Jason could keep those guys talking enough to make it interesting. Stone is cool but he walks all over Jason, Jason doesn't realize it, and they end up bullshitting each other for 20 seconds meanwhile the game is going on. Overall this year I hope that Jason realizes it's no longer a rebuild year and that the focus should be on the field 100% when it's a close game. Sure yak it up when it's a 10-1 laugher but Jason too often is doing his corn dog shit from pitch 1. There will be big games this year, big important games. Let's see if Jason can step up into that atmosphere.

I'm surprised they convinced him to take a club option with that low of a buyout.

My point wasn't that Hahn sucks or that Theo is great but that fortunes change quickly and one thing that never changes is championships won, banners raised. There isn't a single Cubs fan in the world that would return the ring in exchange for a 90+ win projection 2020 and 2021. You get the ring then you figure the rest of it out. And things change internally after you reach the mountain top it's a lot harder to keep all the egos in check, which makes team building much harder. The White Sox experienced this with Ozzie going rogue after 2005.

I think they will either cut Fulmer or Zeby. No loss either way at all.

See I like the idea of having to get to the floor as you'd see more player movement like that. The NBA usually has a couple clubs looking to to just that each year and can make for some interesting trades.

Yes with national revenue sharing there's no reason not to enforce a floor. There isn't a single owner that can cry poor given the current finances of MLB.

Is the luxury tax even needed (if it ever was) now? I don't see a need for it. I'd like to see teams spend as much as they like without penalty. I think it's healthier for the sport.

I know. Hopefully the Sox already have had internal discussions about how it will affect bullpen usage.

Thanks for that. Some of those seem wildly optimistic but I'll take it. Hey does anybody know if TA made Olney's "top 10 SS" list? Olney isn't much of an analyst but I like any good pub for the Sox and TA.

We'll see. If he ever uses an IBB to get around the rule to get a "matchup" during the season that's a shot or finish your drink moment for the Renteria drinking game!

Trust me, rickie will figure out a way to fuck it up. I can see him using intentional walks in order to get matchups. It's another layer of strategy now with pinch hitters as well and I can see other mangers being more prepared. Not maybe running out of pitchers, especially given 26 man roster, but just putting the Sox in bad spots.

what's the over under on Rickie fucking up the bullpen and leaving Chicago out of relievers due to the new loogy rule? I'm guessing about 5 times.

Not a huge fan of this move but he's a decent swing man. Hopefully doesn't preclude them getting more bullpen help in season if they need it.

lol, on time on OOTP I fielded a team that had a DER of like 67%. When you only catch 2/3 of the balls in play your pitching staff is going to need to be getting 4 outs most innings. I have to say fielding a beer league outfield would be entertaining, at least for a few games.

yea see that now but given the other moves sox made I'm cool with walker for mazara. they got the big bat they needed via EE and robert will be there from day 1 to cover for any range issues with eloy and mazara.