caulfield12

The Angels and Mariners are the West Coast White Sox in terms of results on the field. Obviously you have two of the biggest superstars in the sport in Anaheim but very little to actually show for it. Great fans, too. The irony is the team never spent massive amounts of money until after a WS title in 2002 (when I'm pretty sure they were still Disney-owned.)

Pirates and A's the only ones with a lower "biggest contract awarded" in the majors. Even Wander Franco, Jose Ramirez and KeBryan Hayes are getting paid.

That and the fact they've shown little to no inclination towards beating the Twins and Guardians head to head...yet we are supposed to believe they can magically just flip the switch at some point in the indeterminate future. That works fine with Detroit and maybe KC, but not so much the elite franchises of the sport.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/?ref=trending-pages It should tell you something when you're running the 7th largest payroll whereas the Twins are 18th and Guardians 28th and more than $100 million less. Yet those same two teams can afford a massive Jose Ramirez extension, Buxton (19th homer tonight), Correa, etc.

https://sports.yahoo.com/reusse-knew-happen-wiggins-gets-134200524.html Can see this one coming in the years ahead. Moncada=Andrew Wiggins in the analogy.

At -55 RS/RA, Sox are now barely ahead of #23 Cincinnati, a team currently a scintillating 23-41.

Just be thankful he didn't end up with the Dodgers...or they would have even more titles. Then again, lots out there dislike the Astros even more. And who can cheer against Eddie Alvarez?

Guardians just tied the Dodgers and Kershaw, 1-1. Could get to within one game of the Twins with a victory.

How would platooning him help him get back? He’s either injured and on the IL again or has to be playing nearly every day.

Not to mention the Rendon contract as well…

Oklahoma Sooners Top prospect: Peyton Graham, SS Graham is similar to Tim Anderson of the White Sox. Both are slim-framed shortstops with excellent tools who are limited a bit by swinging too often. Graham has a shot, buoyed by a better approach down the stretch, to sneak in the 20 to 30 range. espn.com

That’s what Celtics’ fans tried to tell themselves yesterday…

4.28 ERA is not going to get a premium trade package in return like it did with Quintana… This will likely be 3 of last 4 starts with 4+ runs surrendered for Giolito and not exactly working deep into games, either.

Game pretty much over already. Saves 3 hours of time that could be better allocated to more meaningful purposes.

Valdez has the best GB rate in AL at 67%. It’s either K or ground out, pretty much.

Only four strikeouts so far.

Right there with Montas and Castillo…maybe third at the moment.

They really can’t afford a sweep with the Blue Jays looming…could easily be another extended losing streak and really put the season in jeopardy. The Angels just lost Rendon for the season, but the Sox really can’t rely on backing into the postseason without beating better/best competition.

That’s an early surrender…guess DeT sweep wasn’t convincing many in the face of one of the best AL teams. Then Cueto/Verlander tomorrow. Uh-oh.

Which of course is perfect timing for depressing his trade value. A 4ish ERA this season isn’t much to hang your hat on.

Well, this isn’t boding well in a Game 2 playoff repeat. Bregman had been really struggling recently. Doesn’t get any easier with Alvarez.

We should know pretty early if Giolito is going to make it through this lineup or not…trending in a not altogether positive direction. Altuve looking first pitch FB and just got under it. Brantley now 8/16 career against Lucas.

If Pollock gets to a 2.5 fWAR, it’s a huge victory…of course, the problem is being stuck with a year older Pollock next year. Plus he was more of a part-time player in LA like Pederson, so the question is how he stands up to everyday play on Jimenez never makes it back.

67% groundball rate, a full 10% higher than #2 in the AL.