caulfield12

Except he always had that preference to stay close to home... plus joining a WS winning team. Would have arguably cost the Sox $12-15 million to change his mind, and ATL might have upped their offer in response.

Except it's quite likely to be no more than $2-3 million...

Just look at it as a buffer investment in preventing Keuchel from reaching his innings target where another $18 million salary kicks in. I highly doubt Hahn was ever planning on paying THAT out in 2023.

Leury will get those two SS starts and plenty of action at 2B if Harrison gets off to a slow start…or a RHP is on the mound.

Or simply sign one reliable veteran 4/5 innings eater better than VV and Cueto…

VV, Josh Harrison…even Leury at the beginning of the offseason for more than two years at age 31, those were the REAL head scratchers. Then the extra year for Graveman and signing Kelly when he wasn’t 100%.

The complaining is at least 50% not moving until it was too late and Cueto was the best left…versus Cueto’s fit or lack thereof at GRF. Seemingly not taking serious the need to back up Kopech/Keuchel with anyone but Lopez and Velasquez.

Should be games rostered for the Sox divided by 162 x $4.2.

The ball really doesn’t start to jump out of the park until late May/early June. Just need him for 4-6 weeks, until mid-May or so.

Probably 75-80% they do use him in Chicago…how much of the prorated $4.2 million is the question, but still 10x better than giving the money they gifted to Derek Holland or Erwin Santana.

Bilous is on the Birmingham roster, fwiw. Pretty ugly pitching staff. They do have the unforgettable Jameson Fisher and Cespedes.

OR he goes off a Cy Young run after discovering a cutter…only to later get involved in a transnational drug ring.

Well, except for the White Sox being totally unwilling to offer a multiyear deal…

Should be paired with the Thanos Infinity Gauntlet sponsored by Waxelene.

Anderson at SS and Vaughn quickly adapting to play LF are two more examples. Abreu improved at first base over time to playable. Engel always had the athletic tools but came a long ways from a raw Louisville project.

Borchard/Thornton. We got Marte from the Pirates as well... was out of options like Adolfo.

We’ll see if he can stay healthy. AZ tends to transform lots of easy fly outs into homers, too.

https://www.milb.com/charlotte-knights/schedule/2022-04 Looks like Vargas, Finnegan, Cueto, Benjamin, Dominguez and Kade McClure the likely starters.

Nobody knows their actual payroll cap…but they’re nowhere close to hitting the tax. And that Cueto deal isn’t guaranteed…plus its prorated, too. They’re not just giving away money. If Cueto pitches well, he can make some money. If not, he catches on with another team in the middle of May, like the Mets. He just needs to pitch right now.

They’re just trying to keep their heads above water until the calendar hits July. And hope to God they don’t lose another one of their remaining Big 3. Let’s not forget Charlotte will be playing Tuesday through Thursday in Norfolk. Actually six in row, Tuesday through Sunday, with next Monday off.

Pilkington has an 8.22 ERA this spring and just gave up 3 ER in 3 IP to a pretty terrible DBacks team. He wasn’t going to be the savior this season, skipping all the way past AAA. You can trust the Indians to get the max out of him, but he’s not really perceived as a long-term starter over there…not unless they have the same amount of injuries as last season.

Well, pretty much anyone with a sub 5 ERA is doing well at Charlotte. They need some veteran stability to get through the first half. Who knows, maybe Keuchel or Cueto catch fire like Latos did for a handful of starts. They desperately needed to cover innings with someone better than Lambert or Stiever, so that was accomplished. Would rather give him a chance than Velasquez in the rotation.

Well, nearly every Sox fan should be positive/optimistic about Luis Robert and TA7. We arguably have 6 of the top sixty players in baseball, and that doesn’t even include Cease, Kopech and Hendriks. Surely no sane Braves fan thought they could win it all without Acuna AND Ozuna. Only 5-10% of KU fans thought their team was still going to win at halftime. That’s the thrill and agony of sports. Imagine being a Gonzaga fan. Or basically any NFL football fan going through that insane postseason. Almost no one os ever happy at the end of a season. Just one team’s fans. Thats why 2005 was so special, something like that will never happen again in out lifetime with the starting pitching. Until it does.

Then you really need to read that book. Trust me, things are a lot worse here in China…where 95% are defending Russia and hoping for the US and Europe to dragged into a decade-long conflict. And where we still need to do 2-3 Covid tests per week. And haven’t been able yo travel back to see friends and family since 2019 and it will likely be the summer of 2023 for most of us here. Imagine being a fan of the Indians…even worse, the Orioles, Pirates, D-Backs, A’s or Rockies right now.

Then he’ll end up like McGuire. So let’s try to stay away from public spaces as a general rule. Reading Humankind: A Hopeful History would be a good start.