caulfield12

I just wonder how many who got in these last 12 months will share similar stories in the end? It’s one thing for Musk to put $1.5 billion or whatever in, that’s pocket money to him, basically. There's a new term for me, "YouTube Millionaire," it used to be "influencer" or social media influencer. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/youtube-celebrity-jeffree-star-recovering-033110600.html Can one even qualify if one is only in the single digits of millions and not a decamillionaire?

Let’s just hope he doesn’t get too amped up and try to throw everything 100+. He has been so effective at 96-98 mph so far.

Also impossible to add to the leads blown after 7 count.

Looks like the leaders who we need to come through showed up. Clean game. Team realizes they have to address the LF situation soon. Keuchel manned up. Bullpen did its job. Moncada also had a really nice double play ball turn on defense as well. That RBI single up the middle and slightly to the opposite side was a sweet-looking swing.

Martin Perez is starting the second game for BOS.

Or were unwilling to spend the extra $10-20 million we supposedly ran short of to put a much deeper roster together...no other team in the majors has both their 2020 and 2019 first round draft picks up. Most don’t have either.

Apparently someone is unfamiliar with the track record of taking one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and consistently turning it into post season appearances it was is most often the toughest division in baseball.

That’s even scarier. The 32-15 start last year is the main thing holding together the current belief that we might still be one of the three best teams in the AL. Because the positive additions of Lynn/Eaton/Mercedes are being cancelled out by...well, there’s zero point in rehashing all the things that are currently going awry. Or a century plus franchise history of not making the playoffs over two consecutive seasons.

Actually, Generation X that grew up in the 70’s and 80’s will be the first to be blamed for the so-called “downfall” of America, lol. Although the Millennials might go down as the first to do worse than the preceding generation...health care costs, rising housing costs and tuition exploding being three key reasons. The crazy thing to me is how so many are convinced that Bitcoin, Coinbase, Dogecoin, Ethereum...I have a friend I taught with in China now back in the States and all about something called Hedera. Seems like the same irrational exuberance in the late 1990’s over Enron, WorldCom, AIG...and all those high tech stocks like JDSU, Nortel, Lucent, Juniper, Cisco, etc. For example, that Ryan’s Toy Review kid and his younger twin sisters that aren’t even ten and worth $250 million. It’s almost like aspirations to retire with just a million don’t exist. We’ve skipped along with the Kardashians directly into the billions if you want to be considered a success today. So many want the fastest and easiest shortcut to riches...but so few can actually achieve it. Then you have the whole FIRE movement, as well. Seems something has to give. I remember a time when I could confidently invest in tangible and intangible goods and services, not so called “financial products” that don’t really contribute much to make the world a better place. In fact, they might be destroying the environment even more rapidly...as increasing amounts of electricity are chasing diminishing Bitcoins, which means more and more coal burning plants here in Asia are supplying power to the feeding frenzy.

One team just made the World Series. The other is the winningest in MLB history. The White Sox, otoh, have lost 20 of their last 30...and are completely unproven against the best teams in the East and West of both leagues.

Agreed. They need to protect both Vaughn and in all likelihood Crochet after rushing them. Something is not quite right with either player...we can diagnose from the living room couch, but it needs to be addressed. The massive drop off from McCann to Collins has happened as pretty much everyone who looks at spring training realistically predicted. Engel with pressure to pick up the slack offensively doesn't work like Adam the complementary spare part/platoon guy. Sincere doubts whether Hahn can pull off the right move to get us to the end of July. Realistically, it’s 50% relying on the Twins or Indians to implode or suffer their own set of injuries, but that’s not the mindset of a real playoff contender with killer instincts.

https://www.mlb.com/news/clayton-kershaw-gem-mookie-betts-catch-lead-win-vs-padres?partnerId=zh-20210418-156906-MLB&qid=1026&bt_ee=tVOCqZvQOV5pDKmzycW7XjsfU2h5wx7%2FNE%2FIzTXcXtWfDysHPOPmwQV0DZSo7ADI&bt_ts=1618745916963 Two great games, but the Dodgers are simply coming up with that one key play in the biggest moments. The Padres still don’t quite believe they really can beat LA. Tatis has been terrible, and Pham hasn’t had a hit in days...when they almost tied it again for the third time in the bottom of the 8th or 9th over the span of two nights. HoF Kershaw getting a bases loaded walk against Darvish for the winning run pretty much sums it up about as well as the Betts catch. There’s not another team in baseball close to them IMO. The Padres won’t overtake LA until 2022-23.

The whole lineup, other than Eaton, Robert and Yermin is either underachieving or putting additional pressure on themselves. With Moncada, absolutely no clue what makes him tick, and exactly what’s going on in that head of his for the last 18 months.

You might as well add Rodon into the must overperform/stay healthy list in order for us to tread water while waiting for reinforcements. OR better hitting with RISP, bullpen, defense and managing.

They’ve got two years, if they don’t make it to the post-season this year. Really 1 1/2 from 2022 through midseason 2023 when they face the same decisions the Cubs are with Baez, Rizzo and Bryant. The difference is the Cubs are bottoming out after a window ending from 2015-2021. Those guys might have all peaked, and they devastated their future with trades and bad FA deals, but that’s as good as it gets unless you have the budget of the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox. The problem the White Sox is the timing, obviously. They can’t afford to go backwards, it will devastate the fanbase. It will be the equivalent of the Indians trading Lindor, or the Marlins trading Christian Yelich. Moncada has to perform like peak Bryant...and soon. Cease has to perform. Robert has to be a 4-5 fWAR CFer. Eloy has to come back as a 900ish OPS hitter. Otherwise, they’re miss timing the veterans with the first and second waves of talent. Their veterans will get old or depart (Lynn) before the second wave of youth is 100% ready (Kopech, Madrigal, Vaughn, Crochet). That’s the massive inherent risk right now. And they might have to start over with a new manager and a ticking clock to midseason of 2023, then another year later with TA. The only short term way to dig out it is spending more money/taking on additional salary obligations.

It looks like another version of the Samardzija deal, not that it would have worked out well for the Sox to have awarded him that final long term deal for around $100 million. We definitely helped the A’s make an extended run of post-season appearances with those 4 guys, though. https://theathletic.com/2006926/2020/08/19/why-dane-dunning-always-had-the-fortitude-to-make-his-white-sox-debut/ https://www.si.com/mlb/whitesox/features/deserving-dane-dunning-needs-to-be-third-starter-in-the-playoffs Halfway through Spring Training now, Dunning thinks repetition and executing pitches are the two biggest things he needs to work on. Dunning is likely to be a piggyback option for the Rangers, and less of a traditional starter, as he works his way up to throwing more innings. Manager Chris Woodward said one of the main points he communicated to Dunning was attacking the strike zone early in counts. “I know [Jose] Trevino was working with him in the dugout in between innings,” Woodward said. “I guess the last inning, he struck out the side and it was basically nine pitches or 10 pitches. So it was good to see him progress through the outing and still have a good one. To finish the way he did was very encouraging.” Kyle Gibson, the Rangers' 33-year-old starter, credits Dunning for his delivery and the tight spin he has on his breaking ball. He also praised Dunning for his preparation and his willingness to learn as a young player throughout Spring Training. Gibson said Dunning’s mindset is that he always knows what he wants to take to the mound in each outing. “He's obviously a well-thought-of prospect and a highly regarded guy to come in and make an impact soon,” Gibson said. “So for a guy to still be trying to work on his craft, and to get a little bit better in that position where he's pretty good. I think that shows a lot about him.” Dunning echoed those sentiments, saying he’s happy to be in a position to learn from players with a lot more experience than him. He said he’s picked the brains of various pitchers on the staff and even started using a water bag workout routine he learned from Gibson. “I’m just fortunate to be in the situation I am,” Dunning said. “Just being able to talk and be able to learn with the people who have had years of service time. Me, being a rookie and coming up, I'm trying to establish myself and be successful. I'm trying to surround myself with that environment. Being able to talk with every guy and learn simple things, I really love it.” https://www.mlb.com/news/dane-dunning-learning-from-rangers-veterans

10-20 in their last thirty games....need to go no worse than 2-3 on the rest of this brief road trip. 1-4 would cause lots of alarm bells to start ringing.

This sounds like 2013-2016...there’s certainly more depth of high potential guys, but they have to actually live up to their potential...with Moncada being the fulcrum. Meanwhile, Grandal, Keuchel, Abreu and Lynn are going to hit their declines soon or later. It’s a race against time. Meanwhile the Dodgers find guys like McKinstry, Will Smith, Taylor, Kiki, Muncy...on a yearly basis. It’s uncanny how they can evaluate so effectively. Walker Buehler selection, etc.

Have they announced the second starter tmrw yet? Giolito is supposed to face Eovaldi Monday at 9 a.m.

And the accidental Yermin addition...

I will take 40-50 homers per season, lol.

Yoda/Grodo?

Of course, Dane Dunning has a 0.69 ERA right now...

Covid after effects...? Somehow it hasn’t completely derailed Freddie Freeman, there were three days where he thought he was going to actually die.

They’re not going to trade Robert...at least it certainly won’t be Hahn or Williams.