caulfield12

He likes to walk so much, he should work for the USPS. Idiot, Hudler.

Abreu running faster there than 75% of the time on weak infield grounders.

Or even 3-4 mph at times. But there was life/spin rate/extension/explosiveness to his pitches. Still searching or feeling for every pitch, seemingly. Just not comfortable on the mound right now.

Soler almost hit that one 500 feet. Two homers against Giolito lifetime already.

Well, if this is the real Cease...maybe. But beating Cole, Severino and Kluber seems pretty challenging unless Jimenez and Robert are both 100%.

Minor throws so many damn offspeed pitches, you just had a feeling Sox hitters might struggle. We’ll see, but lifetime numbers against him aren’t that encouraging. Lucas seems to have lost all the swagger of 2019-20. Now he just lost a count that started out 0-2 to walkmaster Santana.

Almost seems like he’s aiming or guiding it rather than throwing...and there’s a more pronounced hook. Thought pairing him back with Katz would have made him even more comfortable, not less.

Not a concern, we’ve heard. All perfectly normal.

Merrifield ambushed that fastball. Vaughn stuck in quicksand.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/miguel-andujar/15878/stats?position=3B You realize Eloy Jimenez hasn’t put up even a 2, while Andujar was at 2.8 in 2018? Comparisons to Viciedo and Santana? Why not Hensley Bam Bam Meulens?

And Blackmon 1) can no longer play CF, and 2) is around 75-80 wrc+ playing at Coors, and is 3) vastly overpaid and aging quickly. Andujar isn’t a good defender but he was almost Rookie of the Year three seasons ago, mostly injured the last two years. You’re certainly not going to pick up hitters like that at peak value.

You left out Grandal, haha. And Bummer. Well, the brilliance is theoretically or potentially in dealing with Lynn, Rodon, Giolito, Anderson...potentially Vaughn or Madrigal. That said, I would love to see him operate with the Indians’ budget. We don’t have an option for 2022 on Rodon, for example. Bigger picture, we have only had three starts of 18-13 or better the last fifteen years when Hahn was in a high-level position...2006, 2016, 2020. Now four. The Cubs did that how many times in just the last decade...or even late 2000’s? We start matching those numbers, then you can throw the word brilliant or brilliance into the conversation.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=171547 Miguel Andujar might become available if he can’t hit this time around after two seasons on the shelf...has played some LF. That said, Yankees unlikely to help a rival out with a player with that much potential offensive upside.

Has to be Cease based on last two starts and overall numbers...

Yes. Just not sure if he has maintained that in his recent slump. On the other hand, defense has stabilized. In prior years, he seemingly tortured everyone but the Dodgers. Now it’s like they can’t get motivated to play the rest of their games...

Glad to be of service. The Dodgers, Padres and Tatis all pretty much suck now...except for LA offense last night (even then, the Angels almost came back and made a game of it.) That said, no way Gausman, Desclafini and Co. keep pitching like they are in the White Sox rotation.

Dogecoin/Musk scandal hits... https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DOGE-USD?p=DOGE-USD&.tsrc=fin-srch Had been all the way down overnight to 0.43 from 0.63. Stabilized for the moment in the upper 40’s. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dogecoin-plunges-musk-hosts-snl-055237107.html

Sure, the Cubs, Astros and Royals all peaked relatively early and skyrocketed in payroll in the subsequent seasons...which would support the argument that the Sox “all-in” window run is really during these next three seasons.

But/so wouldn’t that equally be true for the destabilized situation with Tatis’ left, non-throwing shoulder, where it keeps popping out of joint...especially hampering the extension or follow-through? Just curious.

With Indians/Cincy already cancelled, guaranteed no worse than a first place tie after today.

Mendick’s range and arm strength would make him a below average everyday SS. He’s fine for covering 7-10 days. Better than Madrigal, but that’s not really the point. Probably a notch behind Leury (arm especially), but then Mendick offensively seems the better option, although TLR would likely go with Furcalito over Danny.

Inverse/reverse?

But the number of teams making it to the LCS/WS outside of the top 10-12 in MLB payroll is equally indicative... It clearly a minority of the playoff teams, especially if you remove the anomalous 16 team field last year...something like 20% That said, the very lowest payroll team has never made it to the post-season, which would be the Indians this year.

Buffoons. Well, no matter how it is spun, a batting average well under .200 isn’t going to be perceived as “great value” by any stretch of the imagination. That said, he should quietly be able to lift his numbers with the team playing well and the rest of the lineup more of less covering up for Grandal and the other key personnel losses.

Ummm...this kind of seems like a secondary concern to the Sox having a deep run in the playoffs. That said, they do go hand in hand for the moment. The Giants, for example, have made a number of excellent pitching moves in the last 18 months and have the tight of payroll to absorb a $40-60 million contract quite easily.