caulfield12

Was Gallo really going to score with how hard that ball was hit? He was already pulling up at third with the action in front of him...I guess you can count it as a run saved but you’d think 75-80% of LFers would end up with the same result. Unless they just had a Juan Pierre, Eloy or Scotty Pods arm.

That was like one of Cespedes’ throws...

Except Vaughn is clearly not a contact guy at this point in his career...I suppose the argument will be TLR was just trying to open up a hole on the infield.

Maybe Chris Shelton or Karl Tuffy Rhodes? Kevin Maas?

Missed hit and run? Straight steal...not sure they should even countenance him getting hurt stealing bases. Doesn’t matter if 12 in a row without getting caught or Trevino being below average throwing.

Hardest hit single you can possibly imagine...

Do we cheer for the Yankees to beat the Indians? A bit hard to do...

Keuchel has a really nice rhythm going so far...umpiring issues aside.

Bieber vs. Cole is quite the match-up, and it looks like a long night for the Sox hitters against crafty veteran/Twins’ nemesis Gibson.

Around 18th out of 27...catchers are really hitting much better this year, such as Narvaez, already at 1.1 fWAR one-eighth of the way through the season. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=40&type=8&season=2021&month=0&season1=2021&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2021-01-01&enddate=2021-12-31&sort=18,d Combine with defensive woes and the biggest contract in team history. Will probably be blamed for not being McCann if Giolito goes south, too.

No idea how they are near .500 after dealing Musgrove, Josh Bell and Jameson Taillon...

You can embed the Twitter link, that’s a HUGE burger, god knows how many calories...not sure if he gets AL Player of the Month, but definitely unique story of the year so far.

Except against the Orioles...

https://www.mlb.com/news/yermin-mercedes-gets-burger-named-after-him Fabulous Freddies, located one mile from Guaranteed Rate Field, added “The Yermínator” to its menu in honor of the White Sox designated hitter. Perhaps inspired by the recognition, Mercedes went out and got four hits in Chicago's 9-7 victory over the Rangers on Friday night. Before the game, Mercedes made it clear during a Zoom call that he is ready to sample the offering. Chicago's South Side Eatery Launches “The Yerminator” Chimi Burger in Honor of White Sox Rookie Phenom, Yermin Mercedes https://t.co/NDXBVze5mMpic.twitter.com/awKMWejMUR — Chicago Food Mag (@ChicagoFoodMag) April 15, 2021 “I want The Yermínator burger right now. I'm hungry. I want to try it,” said a smiling Mercedes. “I've waited for it all day.” According to a review by chicagofoodmagazine.com, The Yermínator is a Dominican Chimichurri Burger, a traditional Dominican street food. The ground beef patty is seasoned with Dominican flavors and topped with tomatoes, pickled red onions, shredded cabbage and the eatery's secret chimichurri sauce. Mercedes resides in La Romana, Dominican Republic, so Freddies is helping the newest sensation feel right at home. Mercedes is appreciative of the recognition and the near-hero worship as the end of April approaches. But he’s also working even more diligently to make all these supporters proud. “Now, everybody's doing stuff for me, like T-shirts, like the burger, everything,” Mercedes said. “So that's the reason I'm working hard every day, to be part of my fans, my people next to me. Just so excited. A couple months ago, I wouldn't have believed that I would be at this point right now.

I guess the majority of mine stretch from 1984-1990. Fleer, Topps and Donruss. My dad helped me acquire many older cards for his stamps (traded with a carpool member), so I was able to acquire every Clemente but his rookie card. Pretty sure I passed up on Mantle and Aaron rookies, but neither was in mint.

You can add members of the military, many rural counties, especially those in the deep South and west/Near West...Christians/evangelicals and well over 50% of Trump voters in general.

The argument seems to be more about not giving him any opportunities the last couple of seasons, rather the acquisition itself. Especially bringing in a washed-up Encarnacion on a not so cheap deal. Then, stubbornly holding onto him instead of giving others a chance, like Mercedes or Collins.

So basically all of our prospects are going to pan out...fine. There’s really no point in having a message board if we have to believe Collins will be just fine as a hitter. Have been watching MLB since 1979, and it’s very very rare to go from where he’s at to a regular when under the stress of a win now situation. He just won’t get enough playing time to ever develop a consistent offensive rhythm, and Mercedes is cutting into his at-bats as well. The odds of Stiever being in a future rotation are about 1 in 50...for the very same reasons we parted with Dunning, to get someone in the short term who’s closer to Top 10-15 Cy Young caliber THIS season. Same exact reason we traded a much bigger haul for Jeff Samardzija back in 2015. For all those saying we are great at developing pitching, there’s only really Giolito since the Sale/Q years, and Lucas 90-95% did it through going outside the organization. Lopez and Fulmer were fails. Cease is still a massive work and progress, and Rodon could have been signed by any almost any team in baseball willing to offer $5+ million or two years guaranteed.

Three years ago, the outfield of the Sox future had infinite possibilities. There were five prospects in our Top 12-15. No way in a million years am I now counting on Cespedes or Colas...just hoping to be pleasantly surprised for once. Robert is a once in a generation talent. Cease is at best a mixed bag on contradictions a year away from being Reynaldo Lopez, Collins is what he is and Rodon has Scott Boras as his agent and no option. Think Eovaldi signing long-term with Boston of he ends up Top 10 in the Cy Young race. In fact, it might be better to keep Rodon for 50% of Giolito’s extension ask and allocate the remainder of the savings elsewhere.

Defense and bullpen need to be shored up. Keuchel, Grandal, Lynn, Hendriks and Abreu all need to produce right now. It’s all about the timing, with the first generation of youngsters coalescing with the second (Robert, Vaughn, Madrigal, Kopech, Crochet.) There are realistically still a ton of vulnerabilities/weaknesses, especially in the starting rotation. The biggest concern at this moment to me is Giolito...without him regaining his mid to high 90’s stuff, we’re unlikely to go far in the playoffs. Kopech and Rodon are the best hopes of addressing that at the immediate moment. The focus of this front office on eventually extending Tim Anderson for his age 31/32+ seasons beginning in 2025 is the singular ticking timer. He’s the beating heart and soul of this franchise, and they won’t be the same if he moves on. And honestly, giving a $200+ million contract to Anderson seems unlikely since we’d be paying peak value for declining production. Have already moved on from a Giolito deal happening. So, essentially we have a window now for four seasons. Everything beyond that becomes murkier, a great unknown variable.

That’s all we can do. We’re never going to be a $200+ million payroll franchise, it is what it is. The Dodgers right now are at $250 million, almost. All we can do is enjoy successes (KC in 2014-15, Indians almost beating the Cubs in 2016), Brewers, Rays, Twins and A’s recently. The Marlins seem to be progressing, and the Mariners have a bright future with all their outfielders. The franchises to worry about are really Detroit, Cincinnati (not so critical), Pittsburgh, Oakland and TB due to ongoing stadium issues (certainly strong front offices), the Rockies (have always had solid attendance) and maybe the DBacks. Pitt, Oakland, TB and Miami stand out the most. Pittsburgh and Colorado really seem lost in the woods. Obviously, the A’s are second in MLB record-wise, but the issues have been present for twenty years with the Giants, San Jose, stadium relocation.

I don’t quite understand why it’s so bad to enjoy baseball except that played by the White Sox...PTAC and Texsox somehow manage it quite well.

Don’t you want to maximize his plate appearances? Wouldn’t ideal lineup construction have him 2nd or 3rd? I guess we can go with the whole superstitious don’t change the winning lineup from the prior game...not exactly Modern Baseball Science 101.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/fernando-tatis-jr-prospect-who-got-away-white-sox-fans-read-your-own-risk Orel Hersisher repeated this story last night of how he was so upset after the entire family had just purchased loads of White Sox gear that Tatis had to spend 2-3 days away from the sport because he was so hurt, crying endlessly because he couldn’t understand why the White Sox didn’t want him. And how much that rejection drove him to be an even better player (maybe Rodon experienced a similar thing?) Obviously, they still encouraged Elijah to sign because of the relationship established between Senior and Paddy. But between that White Sox future denied and almost signing Machado twice, it pretty much convinced me to start rooting for them as my NL team...and comparing the two front offices, spending, will to win, Latin American ops, etc. They are only two games above .500 due to getting run over by the Pirates and Brewers, but the fact they’re in this position (beating the Dodgers’ top three starters 3/5, who are still outspending them by $80 million) without a healthy Pham (100+ stitches, nearly died), Tatis, Nola (starting catcher), Morejon, Clevinger, Lamet, Baez, etc., is so unlikely. And that Weathers, Abrams and Gore could be even better. It’s fun because LA is as much a dynasty as any team since the Braves or Yankees/Red Sox, David vs. Goliath, it’s the only way the sport can survive is for the small and mid-market teams to be competitive.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/24/us/dodgers-fully-vaccinated-fan-section-trnd/index.html Dodgers and Giants debut 100% vaccinated, Covid-tested zones at 100% capacity....