caulfield12

Don’t want to bother with a separate RF thread. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/gregory-polanco-15330/ If Pirates ate at least half 2021 and 2022-23 buyouts, that would be an interesting play if they can’t get Springer or Pederson. Put him on a team where little to nothing is expected, as opposed to being a future franchise cornerstone with Pirates...basically, exact same theory as underpins Mazara move. And yes, I realize his recent numbers are quite ugly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be forced to jettison his contract.

https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2020/5/28/21270926/mlb-chicago-cubs-ricketts-family-coronavirus-wrigley-field-wrigleyville Paul Sullivan recently wrote an article about the Chicago Cubs possibly needing to trade away some of their higher-priced players because the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the Ricketts family particularly hard. The article was full of the typical media claptrap that caters to a Ricketts family that loves to get positive press. The actual content of the article matters very little next to the general idea of the Cubs being so strapped for cash that they must move salary. That idea has been put forth by the Ricketts’ for two offseasons now. It’s an idea that isn’t going away it seems, no matter how much the facts may reveal it as a lie. When the MLB season is underway and the MLB machine is in full swing the Cubs run like the smoothest part of that machine. The Ricketts’ find themselves with a franchise that is a gold mine in every sense of the phrase. The Cubs are always at or near the top of ticket sales, ad revenue, merchandise sold, endorsements, and so on and so forth. Wrigleyville has become a way for the Ricketts’ to use the Cubs to print money. That is exactly what they have done by renovating the area, forcing out most of the other business interests, and monopolizing every cent of profit that can be made from the neighborhood directly surrounding Wrigley Field. Before we go any further keep two numbers in mind; $3.2 billion and $5.3 billion. The former is the value of the Cubs as a franchise while the latter is the value of the Ricketts’ family as a whole. We’re not talking hundreds of millions or even just a few billion when we are discussing the riches of the Cubs and the Ricketts’. Nope, we’re talking about amounts north of $5 billion. Let that sink in for a moment and make sure you remember it because it is most important to everything you’re about to read.

But did he get to upgrade to a compact, or stuck with a Focus/Corolla? Unlimited miles? Sunroof?

Individually...that does it, let’s start a protest and shut down the interstate so they arrive no earlier than 45 minutes before game time Sat night. Better yet, Covid-19 checkpoints like here in China.

Lucas Sims, who used to be in Braves’ system? Hmmmm.... That trade is just not going to happen. They will come back to Raisel Iglesias.

I didn’t even do that with Voldemort...learned some lessons from Sammy Sosa and Puig in the past. Sosa was the original Panther. Look how thin he was around 1988-90.

Greg gets a TROPHY for quoting THEHILL.com. Bringing out his A Game these days. CNN)The first rule of politics has long been to never, ever compare anything to Nazi Germany. The murder of 6 million Jews defies comparison. The second rule of politics -- or maybe just an addendum to the first rule -- should be: Never compare anything to the mission that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (yes, him again) seemed to have missed that class in politician school. Here's DeSantis speaking at an event of a school reopening on Wednesday night in Tallahassee: "Martin County Superintendent Laurie Gaylord told me she viewed re-opening her schools as a mission akin to a Navy SEAL operation. Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County School system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning. "All in, all the time." Uh, no.

Feels like we’re back in the 1930’s again with that imagery...guess we all should have been forced to study 1917-18 Spanish flu pandemic in history class more carefully.

Yeah, always had the sense Lambert was perceived as more “expendable.”

https://www.mlb.com/news/al-central-trade-deadline-needs White Sox: Is the rotation strong enough? For a group taking that next step from three years of rebuilding, the obvious question is whether the White Sox can reach the postseason. But with the talent across their roster and an expanded postseason field, the White Sox definitely are contenders. They have the offensive depth from one through nine, but the real issue stems from how much they can rely upon their starting five. Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel form a solid one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and Dylan Cease certainly has the ability of a top-tier starter. But the White Sox already have dealt with injuries to Reynaldo López and Carlos Rodón, moving Gio González from the long relief/spot-starter role into the rotation. General manager Rick Hahn believes López and Rodón will be back before the end of August, so don’t look for the White Sox to go outside of the organization to fill the spot, especially if it would require moving any of their core players to acquire a hurler. Dane Dunning, the team’s No. 8 prospect, could factor into this mix eventually. -- White Sox beat reporter Scott Merkin

Also the most top tier universities per capita at risk...

If Bauer, Stroman and Ray are the top tiers and that’s the extent of it...well, let’s just hope we make the playoffs and have the type of team that every competitor wants to be a part of. Of special note is the two Yankees, Paxton and Tanaka. If healthy, big big if, Paxton is close to great. Yet one can’t help but think Tanaka is the one who ends up sticking around for one last contract. So I’d pencil in Paxton as #4 for the Sox.

Carlos Martinez is already an example...

Gary Sanchez says “ola!”

Feels like we say this every year about the Indians...

After waiting so long, one extra day to be 100% safe, push back Saturday to a night game to give extra testing time and shortened DH on Sunday really does make the most sense for both organizations.

I mean big money deals, not waiver claims or injury fliers or 40+ Japanese leaguers scouted by KW via video tapes.

White Sox won’t commit to three years based on Top 4-6 closer in baseball performance level over the past half decade. Not how they’ve ever dealt with relievers, other than Robertson.

We can relitigate Robertson, but the Sox historically have never signed outside closers. Dotel and Linebrink before 2008 would be another example, but those guys at that point were considered high quality set-up men. Traded for Foulke, Jenks off waivers, S.Santos similar story. Traded for Koch. Takatsu was more of a flier. I guess Hermanson, but also a huge question mark when signed due to health. Jesse Crain, etc. Marte trade. Thornton a flier for Borchard. Flash Gordon? None examples of overspending, except taking on Koch’s deal before Carl Crawford and Zobrist tattooed him into St. Pete Bay.

Some Mass. schools are pursuing hybrid schooling. The plan could be a public health disaster As communities throughout the state scramble to craft back-to-school plans that prioritize public safety and academics, some officials have lauded hybrid schooling — which includes some variation of both in-school and at-home learning — as a solution that seems to strike an ideal middle ground between the remote-only and full-time camps. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh substituted the more kid-friendly term “hopscotch” while proposing a two-days-in-school, three-days-at-home hybrid model during a Wednesday press conference. Call it hopscotch or hybrid or blended learning, but some infectious disease experts call it a potential public health disaster. Read the full story.

Ptac?

https://theathletic.com/1992070/2020/08/13/analyzing-the-white-soxs-aggressive-plate-approach-pitchers-fastball-carry/?source=dailyemail . “I definitely wanted to start the party,” said Anderson, who was a double short of the cycle. “The energizer bunny, baby,” he called himself later. “Let them sleep, baby, let them sleep,” he said while explaining that his shush gesture after his leadoff home run was directed at his doubters. “They motivated me like ‘who’s going to be the leadoff guy?’ You know, nothing against Luis Robert, but come on, man. Come on.” “I had 4-for-5 today, I was just taking a little break,” Anderson explained for why the camera caught him lying on his back in the dugout in the top of the ninth. “I think Daryl motivated me telling me about my timing,” he said, crediting the Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen for motivating him to make adjustments on off-speed pitches. “Shoutout to Daryl, thank you.” “I don’t know, Cheryl, it’s a good question,” he said when WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye Stout asked why he didn’t get that elusive double. “I tried, though. I definitely gave it a try.”

Balta was the one mostly arguing that...

You don’t believe there will be a December FA market? Why?

I just pretended like that franchise didn't have the money to make another big signing because it was too depressing from the point of view of Sox fans. This was the Machado signing. I don't remember making many other comments about signing or not signing someone, other than perhaps doubting we would be able to outgun the Cardinals for Luis Robert. Those are the only two that come to mind, and they weren't exactly "off the wall" positions because there were at least two times we were "nearing a deal" with Machado and it was even featured as a banner headline on ESPN main page...and yet MOST Sox fans still were far from confident of it happening. Of course, the popular argument of the day was that Padres were essentially a small market franchise and couldn't afford to sign someone for hundreds of millions...and that Jay and Yonder Alonso alone were enough to counterbalance that. Robert was a shocker, almost everyone in baseball thought he would go to St. Louis. The two main reasons NOT for that to happen were the rumors of unhappiness from a number of high profile African-American/Latino players, and 2) the Cuban Connection.