Dick Allen

As it is so easy to track what should be balls and should be strikes, it is easy to track catchers who have more balls called strikes and vice versa. The thing that amazes me is the consistency of most. Obviously the vast majority of these pitches are borderline. You would think human nature might take over once in a while. Umpires have to know who the good and bad framers are, and in their quest to get it right, a borderline pitch they are tempted to call a ball with a bad frame catching would have to be tempting to call a strike. And a borderline strike with a great framer an umpire might be tempted to call it a ball. That doesn't appear to happen at least very often. But to me, a great framer is worth a lot, especially if you have the proper pitching to take advantage. Like you alluded, a great framer only really matters if you are close to the plate. Carson Fulmer it wouldn't matter.

Why would a pitcher hate dingy lighting?

Part of the Holy Triumvirate.

A lot of guys with major league experience who would do as well as these dopes are still available for minor league deals. Mederios repeated AA and sucked. Frare got lit up. Burr is hurt. Guerrero, the Marlins didn't want. If any of these guys has to pitch an meaningful inning for the White Sox, a lot has gone wrong. This isn't a team playing for experience and a draft pick anymore. The point being, who cares if they were claimed or not? The likes of them are available for nothing. It probably is a little less work for the FO not having to chase others, but it's not like they are much better off. If it wasn't these guys, it would have been someone else you would find just as "interesting".

The Charlotte and Birmingham rosters are going to be full anyway. "Depth" was always going to be there. No other team wanted these clowns for "depth",

What did I say about Covey ? Although he sucks too. Those arms aren't interesting. Arms like them are necessary due to injury, but they are easily acquired. And the teams that eventually use the fewest of them usually win. There still are 5 or 6 guys on the 40 man that could easily be replaced with a minor league signing, and the team wouldn't be worse off.

Yeah you always have to be excited about guys who make minimum and no other team wants to give a 40 man roster spot. These guys suck. If they are White Sox, things went awry.

Impressive lights? They are LEDs that most teams have installed. I fully suspect the lights flashing on home runs and wins, so some seizures might be in order.

Cisek was an easy call. Jimmy had Roberts extension waaayyyy before this guy did, and he still wants credit, and he called Grandal after the fact.

I like listening to Stacey King and Neil Funk, but Funk really is nuts sometimes. If you listen to him, you would think the Bulls lead every game by 30 points. Their defense is stifling, while the opponents' is a sieve. Yet the game is tied or the Bulls are down 10. Every miss from 3 is way off for an opponent, but has to be an airball to be anything but unlucky for the Bulls. Stacey at least once in a while, calls the Bulls out.

Swarzak was a no brainer, but Soria always was a head scratcher to me. He was making $9 million or so. If he sucks, you risk the $9 million, if he is good, like he was, you pay him $5-6 million, and get a guy like Medeiros. That's really best case scenario. I think if a choice had to be made, the Sox would be better off spending their international allotment and paying out buyouts than buying vets to flip,.

It's been a while. I would think it's possible the DFA will not be used and a player or two has already made it through the outrighted process. They need another spot for Cishek.

I am surprised Cishek is considered a major deal.

Hinch and Lunow 1 year suspensions. Fines for Cora and Beltran. 3 years of lost 1st round picks. 3 years of shrunken international pool. $10 million fine for their owner.

They will announce it and Yolmer will emerge from behind a curtain and dump some Gatorade on himself. Half the crowd will love it, and it will remind the other half of the on field horror of the past several seasons where one of the bigger highlights was someone dousing themself. Yolmer is actually perfectly fine for a bench player.

Probably, but the proof will be how MLB penalizes Houston. His prediction is a lot harder than most. If the penalty is anywhere near what he predicts, I will believe he is a lot closer to what he claims to be than the consensus right now.

Exactly. If you don't spend it you know how it will result. Micker Adolfo may ultimately be a waste of money, but it's far better to take a shot at someone of his ilk than to save the owner some money he will never neef.

I have read in a couple of places he is definitely available, and they need a catcher.

Could have said the same thing about McCann last year.

I think some sort of trade might be up. They still haven't announced EE, and that would require a roster move, so maybe they are waiting a little bit on a trade that will open up a spot instead of DFA someone

I said it before, Iglesias on the Reds makes some sense . They make about the same in 2020, but Iglesias is owed a bunch the next 2 years, so the Reds might be motivated. He was pretty bad last year but still struck out a lot of guys. As long as scouts don't feel he has lost it, it would be a good gamble

If he was happy about becoming a back up catcher after a breakout season, that would be the biggest problem of all. He is going to go. He fits, but barely. He is short term. They can reallocate the funds to pitching.

BP had Mazara the #5 prospect 4 years ago. Eloy was #3 a year ago, Robert certainly will be top 5 when the 2020 rankings are out. What other team will feature an OF that can say that?

If the White Sox basically make no attempt at Rendon who only cost money, why would they make a play for Arenado who would cost money plus prospects? C'mon Phil. There is zero chance the White Sox are involved. Why can't anyone just use logic.