caulfield12

KU has to be the favorite at this point...or Duke. Although it will probably be Nova. UNC against St. Peter's? Iowa State against KU? Can't be many surviving brackets at this point.

2000 and 2006 first half Sox ball.

Or Carlos Perez for defense over Zavala…doubt his bat is ready, though.

Clippard? Kahnle?

I would rather watch Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion.

I don’t think the standard that we hold our GM is to is whether Balta or Ray Ray could do a better job. It’s still who does the best job with a given set of resources…who maximizes those resources and allocates money most efficiently. And it’s not rocket science. It takes a lot of diligence, good fortune and being in the right place at the right time. https://theathletic.com/1845734/2020/06/02/meet-mike-mcneive-the-one-constant-tasked-with-gathering-intel-for-hawks/ This is a story on one of my two best friends from grad school…if you read it, you will see that there are MANY who could be a front office exec, some are born with Ivy League families or silver spoons, but a number also get there through persistence and networking and knowing the right people in the right places. Developing relationships with coaches, GM’s and scouts the old-fashioned way. Having the ability to get along well with others helps, too.

That would be more entertaining. Let Haber give it a whirl. (Granted, he’s likely cut from the same cloth.)

Madrigal with two doubles today.

Who was the poster chronically getting on him about his weight, being out of shape, not taking enough pride in himself as an athlete, playing video games at home all day and social media posting, etc.?

What A Burger…don’t they have any franchises in Chicagoland to sponsor him, NIL deal?

Harrelson loved that guy’s arm…and, in general, all things Miguel when he first came up. He later soured on him a bit, as he was wont to do.

C’mon. Nobody would even bother, at most there would be 5 or 6 posters, tops. And this whole argument about power rankings is kind of pointless. It’s like arguing over attendance championships with Cubs’ fans. If these rankings were so compelling to non-insiders, we’d have a season ticket waiting list a mile long, instead of a struggle to sell out Opening Day. You can always write a positive, rose-colored glasses, rainbows, pots of gold and unicorns post like VaFan now does on a weekly basis if it makes you feel any better. That post might have jinxed us, even. Two spring training losses. Rodon at 98 again. Giolito arbitration and rumored extension debacles. Kimbrel self-immolation. Rodon coming close but not quite criticizing management. Not the greatest of weeks so far. And TLR hasn’t even done anything to put the Sox and JR in the national news this year (yet).

My days of “youthful indiscretions” were over by my early 40’s, lol. Married life and fatherhood since 2015.

The Ghost of Nick Swisher still haunts us all. Or Bradford. Or Samardzija. Or Foulke. In reality, we don’t win a WS without Freddy Garcia (Olivo came over from Oakland) and Cotts.

They would call that compensated dating or perhaps worse here in Asia, lol.

Interestingly Bohm, taken right before Madrigal in that draft to play third…has had a largely disappointing start to his young career.

Bmags is actually pretty interesting too, going all philosophical/sentimental/self-reflective in recent weeks.

No body shaming, please!

Make sure he also gets the chin, behind the ears and the lower back near the tail, haha.

https://mobile.twitter.com/listenherepal/status/271098417617465345

https://theathletic.com/2939699/2021/11/07/which-offeason-roster-needs-will-weigh-heavily-for-the-white-sox-key-takeaways-from-rick-hahns-recent-media-session/ probably here…

Here’s the other team following the White Sox path this offseason…down to signing Ryan Tepera 13. Angels Key gains: Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera, Archie Bradley, Michael Lorenzen, retained Iglesias Key losses: Alex Cobb The good news is the back three in the Angels’ bullpen—Loup and his 0.95 ERA, Tepera, and incumbent closer Raisel Iglesias—were all excellent last season. The bad news is the rotation is still lacking. A flurry of starters changed teams this winter, yet the Angels—a team in desperate need of reliable innings—landed Syndergaard, fresh off Tommy John surgery, and Michael Lorenzen, who’s started five total games in the past six years and wasn’t even good in the bullpen last season. Syndergaard offers considerable upside, of course, and the lineup could benefit from better health from Mike Trout and a rebound from Anthony Rendon, as well as breakouts from young outfielders Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell. But the Angels still look—and project—like a .500ish team, as they have for so many years. Their improvements push them forward only an inch at a time.

Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Braves, Mets, Astros, Twins, White Sox, Blue Jays, Rays That was 2021 preseason. Tier 5: They didn’t do much, but at least they’re good. 18. White Sox Key gains: Kendall Graveman Key losses: Carlos Rodón, César Hernández, Ryan Tepera The White Sox are still heavy AL Central favorites and can bank on full seasons from Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez for internal improvements, but they could have pursued more aggressive upgrades at second base (where Josh Harrison probably isn’t the answer) and right field. The starting spot vacated by Rodón (who, like with Gray and the Rockies, inexplicably didn’t even garner a qualifying offer) is also an area of concern if Michael Kopech struggles in his transition from the bullpen to the rotation. Remember: The new playoff structure means the White Sox can’t just worry about beating the rest of their division, because the worst division winner in each league gets a best-of-three against a wild-card team instead of a bye to the division series. So the White Sox could come to regret their relative inactivity. https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2022/3/24/22993741/mlb-teams-ranking-offseason-moves-twins-yankees-dodgers-mets

When Montas and Manaea inevitably fall through, there’s always The Batman/Dark Knight. https://nypost.com/2022/03/25/matt-harvey-getting-mlb-interest-after-tyler-skaggs-testimony/ Supposedly back to throwing in the mid 90s. Katz can fix him! Merkin also put this puff piece out about Vaughn being much better prepared for 2022 outfield play. “Ready to be White Sox RFer” https://www.mlb.com/news/andrew-vaughn-ready-to-be-white-sox-right-fielder?partnerId=zh-20220325-569999-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20220325-569999-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=R%2F0BcX59im5JPsIZNXGsFakcb%2B1JN%2FIBxHEREeBJmb%2BGzcYALC7tAjoyeVHmKE7z&bt_ts=1648215862674

Keep in mind the Rockies just signed Ryan McMahon to a $70 million extension… No way Giolito thinks he’s remotely in the same zip code let alone neighborhood as that guy. That’s what, commitments amounting to a quarter of a billion dollars in about the span of a week from one of the “crying poor” owners.