caulfield12

https://www.mlb.com/news/2022-midseason-world-series-draft Leitch: Yep. Yep! I’m still a believer. They were my No. 2 pick this preseason after all, a nod more to their division than their overwhelming top-to-bottom talent. That division is still wide open, and the White Sox – who have the easiest schedule in the American League moving forward – have somehow weathered all the injuries, underperformance and the, uh, interesting dugout decisions to still be within only three games of the Twins at the break.

Colorado can be tough. An unnamed NL West team is 3~9 against them this year. Basically worse than the Sox/Guardians head to head, but this particular team is double digit victories over .500.

Cardinals finally getting bold with Arenado Goldschmidt and possibly Soto. For the last thirty years or so, they tended to stay away from big name players in a mid tier payroll range, avoiding costly extensions for vets, even Pujols. McGwire and Holliday stick out as rare exceptions...

Also lots of rumors they want to dump Alex Verdugo as he's not in the long term plans at this point.

He just completely shut down the Mets. Mackenzie Gore is on fumes and Nick Martinez just fills a back end spot. Doubt they would make this deal very easily. Plus Manaea and Musgrove are FA’s. Their main trade targets are all outfielders/hitters…maybe one more bullpen arm.

Yeah, we've joked so much about these formerly top players being acquired 3-5 years too late by KW for at least two decades. Cano was a similar name earlier in the season who last I checked was still plying his trade in AAA. Can't imagine he could have blown through that Mariners' mega deal cash. Unless he had a private jet like some of the Jenners and Kardashians. (Well, Yoenis Cespedes had his classic/antique/muscle car collection...but probably not in the 10's of millions of dollars.)

July 24: Cards a frontrunner for Soto? "According to MLB Network insiders Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman in an article for the New York Post, the Cardinals are viewed by rival executives as frontrunners for landing Soto before the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline. Heyman and Sherman add that potential Soto suitors have been told that the Nationals are currently focused on just one or two teams, and St. Louis is thought to be one of those teams. The Cardinals have a strong farm system and several good young position players at the Major League level. Washington has made it known that the return for Soto will need to be four or five young players -- some combination of players with low MLB service time and top prospects. St. Louis is in a two-team race with the Brewers in the NL Central, and already have a pair of MVP candidates in the lineup -- Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. For a right-handed-heavy lineup, adding the left-handed Soto in between Goldschmidt and Arenado could be a game-changer in that division. The Post report also suggests the Cardinals may not have to take on a large contract the Nats are trying to unload -- namely, that of left-hander Patrick Corbin -- because of the strong corps of young players, both at the big league and Minor League levels." source: mlb.com

Fans would definitely end up wanting to murder the front office somehow…as 1931 Murderers’ Row Yankees they are most assuredly not, even with Soto.

Nap time? Unaware of his work with LAA and AZ because of different time zones? Wasn’t TLR also with Boston briefly? At any rate, been saying this about Hahn since the Keppinger “move of the decade.” Bookended by Kimbrel, Madrigal, Hernandez and Rodon.

Is that a KW postgame buffet spread swipe?

Leury sadly would be the best of those four...

Have a feeling Kelly will do something interesting. Strike out three or get LaRussa in national headlines again with booing.

Trevor Stephan and Eli Morgan only two unavailable according to Francona in between games.

Eaton was fine the first time. Pods lol?

Announcers saying that's the loudest expression of displeasure they've heard from a home crowd in a long long time...

Francona manages to win. Period.

You can't have Jimenez on the field. Even the announcers can see he's not running comfortably and that every base runner is going to take the extra base.

Better get to Shaw because the odds against Clase are slim and none. And we have nobody to pitch the 8the and 9th anyway.

Fire Tony chants...Cleveland radio team asserting it's not his fault lol. Another astounding Guardians comeback. Fans are now furious it seems.

Watch they'll pitch to Ramirez with first base open.

Of course. Another eighth inning bullpen implosion.

Well there's pretty much no way they win this with Clase looking. Doesn't matter they have Colorado Oakland KC and Detroit the next 19. Will getting swept four in a row at home and Larissa getting booed off the field make any difference?

Must be nice to have the luxury of Pilkington in AAA with a 4.24 big league era in almost ten starts...

White Sox: They’re winning the division. You might not consider it a vindication for Tony La Russa, but he’ll probably still take it that way. The White Sox are getting healthy, playing better lately and have, by one measure, the easiest schedule remaining in the American League. It has been a rough first half, but the first half is over. They have 38 games against teams with losing records, including 27 against the wretched A’s, Royals and Tigers. You’re not getting rid of the White Sox that easily, folks

https://www.si.com/mlb/guardians/opinion/is-there-some-hostility-growing-between-the-guardians-and-white-sox “Last night, three Guardians players were hit by pitches from the Chicago White Sox. The first two against Andres Gimenez and Steven Kwan seemed to get brushed off. But by the time All-Star Jose Ramirez took one, Tito seemed to have had enough. This may not be an isolated event though. These teams seem to have some bad blood growing between one another dating all the way back to the beginning of last year.” Of course, there was the Eaton slide into Andres Gimenez in 2021 (see video embedded in story)…last night’s HBP of Abreu and Jimenez…Naylor’s emotional theatrics, etc.