caulfield12

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hitter-attacks-catcher-with-his-bat-during-wild-venezuelan-baseball-brawl-031246026.html Top Venezuelan Winter League brawl in recent memory...catcher attacked by hitter’s bat

Well, every top college and NFL coach just got about a 50% raise thanks to the new Matt Rhule contract...

Like the 2005 White Sox, a great team but not necessarily from a Hall of Fame perspective. I can't even think of many guys who will get more than a handful of votes. When all is said and done, it might be Sal Perez who gets the most HofF votes if he can resurrect his career after the surgery (over Moustakas, Cain and Hosmer). There are just so few candidates now from the catcher's spot. I would have said Johnny Cueto, but he's fading too. Wade Davis and Holland will get a few votes, I guess. The one thing Yost did was develop that identity. Moving the line one hit or sacrifice at a time, fundamentals, situational hitting, making contact with the ball whenever possible, fundamental defense, dominant bullpen, decent starters...running at all times and pushing the envelope in the late innings with Cain, Escobar, Dyson and Gore.

That team really didn't even a need a manager, they just needed someone to get out of the way. In a lot of ways, Sal Perez, Gordon and Hosmer were like managers on the field. Bringing in pinch runners late in games, going to a consistent set of bullpen moves in a very predictable pattern, Herrera to Davis to Holland, everything started to fall apart when their dominating bullpen was no more.

What about Linus Roache?

Then teams over corrected with Hockenson and Fant. Actually, TJ was injured so often it's hard to get a read on his potential future, and Noah had a solid rookie campaign with Denver. It's amazing how many players Iowa puts in the NFL, considering how many start out as just 2 and occasionally 3 star recruits. Bob Sanders and Dallas Clark immediately come to mind. We have an excellent strength & conditioning coach who has been there forever in Chris Doyle, and who's made an exceptional impact on the development of numerous offensive and defensive line prospects over the years.

Holding it against Maddon for not winning the World Series with the Rays is really pushing it...it's like blaming Francona for not getting the Indians over the hump in 2016. I'm sure they each (still) have their fair share of critics...so it's back to the tired 'ol truism, how many offers would Renteria have from other organizations if they let him go today? I'm sure many teams would put him in a "Buddy Bell-esque" position and hope to leverage his Latin American connections or have him work with the minor leaguers as a roving instructor or Director of Instruction, but can't believe there would be too many managerial spots that he would be considered for.

Cue "baseball is getting to be no fun" if you need a quantitative analysis degree from MIT or Cal Tech to follow the sport...

Vladdy Jr. and Viciedo are probably comparable at 3B. It's THAT bad...well, almost.

Well, sure, you have two different versions. The first three years of his career, 7ish fWAR average...and then the last two, attempting to factor in exactly what player he is today and how he projects going forward (especially if they go back to the regular baseballs.) So much of his value comes from hitting for power, and that has definitely been diminished since the injury.

He’s obviously plenty attractive if he can receive three offers of more than $100 million and at least four years at his age.

I meant for the teams not spending...but spending more than zero. Indians: $6.25M A's: $7.5M Giants: $9M Red Sox: $9M Dodgers: $10M Rays: $12M Cardinals: $13M Astros: $15M

Without the ability to bring in both Rizzo and Lester...the Cubs couldn’t or wouldn’t have won. So that advantage would be gone the third time around.

But he didn’t have the range, wingspan on diving plays, or throwing arm...not like that. I saw him in Greensboro in 1993 when he made over 50 errors. He also couldn’t throw out runners from his knees or from short LCF with all his momentum going towards the 3B line and having to plant and throw back in one smooth motion. If he tried to make a throw like that, it would bounce 2-3 times.

Sure, but what would Tim’s average been at age 20 at the big league level? It’s kind of comparing apples and oranges. He was still growing during the season, and is now 6’ 3 1/2,” which is massive for a SS.

By this argument, Wheeler would have been much better off facing every team but the Twins in the AL Central...

There's no way Tatis is in the bottom 5. Having watched the majority of his games (or at least the highlights), there were at least 15-20 plays he made last year that only a handful of players in the big leagues could make. He piled up a number of careless errors in the 6-8 weeks before he went down to the back injury, ...especially after they were already out of contention, but between diving for balls in the air and getting additional outs with his arm at first, I'm not buying it.

He's much better at third or 1B (and he's never been considered a good defender at any position). Leury is the logical choice, or Mendick.

Not if his asking price is still over $10 million...and the expectation of getting at least 20-24 starts. We can't guarantee that like some of the Bottom 10 teams can.

Would just be happy to see TA/Moncada/Jimenez/Robert/Madrigal jerseys start outselling discounted Maddon and new Ross ones in the Chicagoland area.

The reason that I mentioned Stiever as closer (rather than starter) was simply because of the idea that joining the team in the 2nd half...especially in a pennant race, that's MOST LIKELY where he would be needed most. And the White Sox history of guys like Buehrle, Sale, drafting Burdi in 2016 with the thought they were going to need him down the stretch that ill-fated year. As the old saying goes, "you can never have too many starters." Some of these guys are going to end up in the bullpen, traded for other areas of need or held back for depth/in case of injuries. The last year or so, it was pathetic the lack of options we had in AA or AAA...at least now you can see some quality depth forming, legitimate future pieces and not just organizational filler guys.

Just the fact that you had almost half of MLB (so far) only adding $15 million or less in terms of new FA contracts goes to show the need for a floor to protect the fans (somewhat) and also to increase competitiveness of lower-level/small market/tanking teams. That's pretty embarrassing, and it's not like all of those clubs are poor, because you have the Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox and Cubs in that category...even the Cardinals, who run their franchise about as well as possible considering they're never going to be generating hundreds of millions from their local media deal regardless of how good their franchise does in terms of W/L %.

What was the final % of homers and RBI’s that Torres had against the Orioles? It was insanely high, like Matt Davidson vs. KC that year.

Elizabeth Wurtzel, 52, Harvard alum, Prozac Nation author...cancer

The most recent time was a BA prospects chat...I think it’s largely based on his frame, his ability to get it up in the high 90’s in shorter outings, having two really high-quality pitches and the logjam of pitchers in front of him, including Dunning, Rodon and the loser of the Cease/Lopez battle. But sure, everyone prefers “Justin Verlander” as a comp.