Texsox

The pessimist/conspiracist in me wonders if the club has an all replacement player team on the white board somewhere.

damn. All good news.

That is weird. I believe unsaid is anyone can claim they are expecting to be interviewed, Fowler took and additional step to verify if there was something to the statement. By the way, as a source next to Jas, I'm telling everyone he's expecting to be interviewed for the GM position. Is this a position for a 1st time HC or is this a position for a fired HC? ( and they all have been fired). I'm not that excited about Caldwell.

Shouldn't they be thinking that they won't be selling many tickets after the giant fan backlash that will happen with the lockout? I'd be taking a very bearish position on ticket sales over the next two years. Plus, hopefully with the small budget teams being forced into increasing their payrolls, average players will see their contracts increase. Thankfully teams should be seeing their profits squeezed and will have to adjust.

He's working out on his own. Until we actually see him there in my a regular season game the team hasn't put him there. Basically I believe every player evaluates their opportunities and tries to find a spot. The Sox are long at SS, Center, DH, and first, while being short in the corners and 2nd. Go to the hole and fill it.

I'd be looking at Garcia's contract and thinking versatility can make you money in this league.

I would joke as an English teacher I would walk around with some serious tome to impress people and read trash on my Kindle. I use my Kindle during our summer RV travels although we collect books along the way. I wish my library connected easier to Kindle or that Kindle Unlimited offered a wider selection of quality stuff.

Ah the Hardy Boys. They were my gateway drug also. I was crushed when I learned that Franklin W. Dixon wasn't a real person. I channelled his memory during a project I just completed. That business model is alive and well today. The past ten years or so one of my favorite light reading are series set where we vacation. So Doiron's series in Maine. Houston in Wisconsin. Krueger in Minnesota. Harry on SPI. CJ Box in the Rockies etc. There was another one in Moab but I forget the author. I'm also always on the lookout for decent Kindle Unlimited series. Non fiction runs towards topics that I'm researching or catch my eye. I was just checking the library for books on labor negotiations in America thanks to @Balta1701. I needed to learn a little about CFOs and got caught up in some Enron books. All my life in books written pages. I was blessed to be raised by a mom who read and grandparents who fed my Hardy Boys habit.

Whatever helps you to enjoy the game. I believe about 98% of American workers have it worse than baseball players, but I guess they need someone to stick up for them.

You can't help but smile remembering him.

Great point. Why aren't the players picking their next head coach?

Great then we don't have to worry about it. We have a court system to fix it. So I answered your question why I'm in this thread, why are you?

Hopefully all the low budget teams will be forced into spending more money on free agents and we'll have a better chance of filling needs.

I agree with you. I think we'll see some of the same stuff we see in other industries. More part time employees without benefits. Why hire high priced professors to teach underclass classes is their thought process. I think there will be more of a makeover of college as a job training program. @greg775 I don't think education moves that fast.

Has the union made that accusation?

I wonder if some guys buy into the hype when they are hired and think that somehow now they have to be 2x better at what got them to this point. It seems like the guys that really flame out try to be smarter than they are. Just keep doing what got you to this point and grow into the job. The Bears ownership and fans will give you your full contract time to make it work.

Making pitchers happy, while making their hitters less happy. I'm glad that baseball still has differences in stadiums. I know it makes stats messy for number purists, but I think it adds to the charm of baseball. I remember when hockey was played on different size rinks. Teams would build their rosters around those home game ice differences.

I would think everyone in the MiLB organization that could play 2nd is considering it and if they can't play second how about right field? Catcher? . . .

It's good to have options.

How many lawyers are reading these proposals? Plus the details, figuring out how some team could get around the intent. Just look at the minimum wage rules. How many games does a player have to be on the roster to earn the minimum? Prorating? All that would have to be refigured. Obviously the owners stalled, but I think one week is reasonable for the counter offer. If it happens sooner great.

MLB should be proud of guys like Buerhle. I'd rather hold him up as an example of what is right in the game than some of the guys that embarrassed the game.

I hope he keeps finding places to play.

The union couldn't do much until the owners made a proposal. Putting something together that the owners will accept will take time.

That five year service time just helps the big market teams with deeper pockets. I could see the team owners deeply divided on that. Even the $1 mil minimum helps the large market team by tying more more payroll on the bottom players small market teams have even less to compete for better players. On a small payroll team cheap draft picks that develop, a few low priced veterans, and a mid level FA might be their best lineup. It seems that capping the biggest spenders while forcing a minimum until there isn't more than a 2X difference between the highest and lowest will bring teaming towards the middle. The goal is to take away from the most talented teams and move those players to the worse teams. Just increasing salaries won't do that.

I wouldn't be surprised if they took a week to make a counter offer.