caulfield12

Foster and not Sousa or Banks against Benintendi?

"Mal Tiempo" has definitely been lacking these days ...

Career long 14 game hitting streak for Robert.

Great now he will now be hitting 9th for another month. More sliders against TA7.

Keller's slider has been very effective...but fastball command was all over the place in his last start against Texas. Actually got the run in. Wow.

Benintendi and Taylor have been having communication issues recently...fwiw.

How does Pollock look recently?...have just seen box scores or listened mostly but it's different from watching on a daily basis.

Wrong Met. Matt Harvey.

Right size, wrong shape. Tigers, fwiw, have just four guys in lineup at 637 ops or higher. Torkelson on the verge of being sent down. Continues to be one of the toughest years in decades for rookies. J.Pena and now Julio Rodriguez only RoY candidates in AL, along with Joe Ryan.

But he just came back from AAA...young players have to earn those 1-6 spots in the lineup.

Maybe reuniting 22% of the old Dodgers lineup would spark them, lol. I'm kind of doubtful they do a full teardown minus Devers, Story and Sale, but stranger things have happened, like the Betts trade.

It would be understandable if Vaughn wasn't one of the slowest guys on the team and he was hitting behind McGuire. The proverbial second leadoff man. Nah, still can't sell that.

Minus Peds, Pujols and Eck no HoF credentials, bro.

You mean 1906 right?

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article261488342.html

"Xander Bogaerts. Nathan Eovaldi. J.D. Martinez. Christian Vázquez. Kiké Hernández. Jackie Bradley Jr." Red Sox might make those players available if still non competitive over the next two months. We would certainly have an interest in Kike #1, Eovaldi (maybe) and Vasquez if McGuire can't even hit at least .175-.200ish. Not sure if they can afford to add JD Martinez even for just 2-3 months. https://www.yahoo.com/news/bogaerts-eovaldi-block-sox-become-111800297.html

Responding to that earlier note, Billy Hamilton also had a 0.3 fWAR last year, he actually was a net positive in more ways than one for team energy/motivation/enthusiasm... Pollock had a 3.0 fWAR for LA last year and can opt into a deal for next with incentives for PA's, so I can hardly imagine they're not going to give him a huge amount of playing time between now and the return of Jimenez. Grandal, there's very little you can do about. And find a solid back-up catcher to substitute for McGuire who can ALSO hit, good luck!!! Abreu, you have to play him in May, June and July...at the very least. Vaughn...play every day, pretty much That leaves you with Engel, Leury and Sheets. Sheets has to DH against RHP, Leury and Engel to share RF with Leury also rotating on the infield. Harrison...along with RF, that's the most obvious area in need of improvement that you can address, and hopefully the answer isn't simply playing Leury there more. When Jimenez comes back, it seems almost automatic they'll move Pollock back to RF. Eventually, if Abreu continues to struggle, as well as Grandal, you have to split LF and DH with Jimenez, Vaughn and Sheets. But you should never play anyone but Pollock, Engel or Leury in RF. Probably shouldn't even play Pollock unless you have to get his bat in the line-up when he goes on a tear/streak. We're back to the same two issues (2B and RF) that we spent almost the entire off season obsessing over. For 2B, Jean Segura (big contract), Brandon Drury (NL to AL), Adam Frazier (Mariners, probably unavailable), Ketel Marte (not sure AZ sells so low), Cesar Hernandez (no go) and Kemp are the only with positive fWAR's. RF would be Austin Hays, maybe Castellanos (probably too expensive), Santander, Pavin Smith (AZ), Tyler Naquin (fathom already noted), and Adolis Garcia (not sure the cost or if Texas is even interested in moving him). So the MOST impactful moves would be Segura (if Philly throws in the towel) and Austin Hays. Not sure how much you're moving the bar. And definitely not buying into the likelihood that the DBacks will move Ketel Marte for 75 or 80 cents on the dollar.

Just looking at 2B, from drafting Madrigal, then going from NOT trading for Escobar (due to his supposed quad issues), then Cesar Hernandez falling off a cliff and now Josh Harrison and Leury...it's going from one debacle to another for ONE OF THE SUPPOSEDLY EASIEST positions to fill. If we can't even get that much right, it's pretty hard to be optimistic?

Budget is already up against the limit, lol. The "biggest" additions are going to come from Eloy, Lynn, Bummer, etc., returning to the active roster. Kimbrel trade taught us of the risk with trying to do too much...which impacted the long-term window and didn't result in short-term benefits, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. And that's WITHOUT Cueto factored into the equation.

Look at the 2010 and 2012 seasons as prime examples, or early 2016. White Sox fans are VERY discriminating about knowing whether their team can realistically compete in the postseason. Other than 2003, 2005-06...the last two years were the first two post-seasons where Sox fans EXPECTED to win...although there was certainly a tremendous amount of concern about HFA and the regular season results against Houston was well as their four consecutive ALCS appearances. The White Sox fans are closer to the Tampa Bay Rays, A's, Tigers, Twins and Indians in terms of general/overall fan expectations. We definitely don't handle being a favorite well, with a few notable exceptions. That and one of the very best teams (1994) getting wiped out by the strike and the White Flag Trade have only served to add to this inferiority complex, as well as being buried by the Cubs this last decade. We still retain that small or mid-market/limited budget/never give out money to one superstar to mitigate risk mentality. This whole "blue collar/labor/diminishing union" vs. Northside Yuppies making money in high finance thing. That's simply never going to change with this ownership group, regardless of all the previous braggadocio from Kenny Williams while he was GM.

And one of the 2 best young outfielders in Acuna, Jr.

Interestingly, that very Braves' scenario from last year is noted and how much harder it will be to pull off the same neat trick in a seller's market with the Mets already so far ahead...without even adding deGrom to the mix.

Sounds just a bit like...Ricky Renteria.

When has he ever had two consistently healthy full seasons? He was like the pitching version of Eloy Jimenez until the first four months of 2021, when his career/future was really on the line...back to the wall.

That's the ONLY ray of hope at the moment.