caulfield12

Sheets is about as close as Burger to being in anyone’s plans for 2020. It’s going to take Basabe until early/mid July to be in game form, so counting on him or Dunning or Adolfo seems foolhardly coming off their various injuries...in terms of MLB starters next year.

Bogaerts, Cole, Ozuna, Puig, Castellanos...only five big-time free agents will be under 30 next year. Rendon, Wheeler, DiDi G, Bumgarner and Scooter Gennett will be 30 exactly, with everyone else older. Of course, our supposed strength is OF prospects, so that means either Bogaerts or Castellanos at 1B/DH.

At least Votto, Suarez and Puig are established hitters. Senzel looks like he’ll be fine in CF. Ervin and Winker have a lot of potential, but might get buried behind Kemp, Schebler, Senzel and Puig. Barnhart and Farmer are a solid catching tandem, too. They could always hold onto Gennett like they did Suarez recently.

That’s a bold statement considering the odds are 50/50 JDM is back with Boston, Goldschmidt extends in StL and Bumgarner sticks in San Fran as they pair him and Posey with someone like Bogaerts. SF can’t afford to rebuild from scratch with their fanbase, they’re going to need to make a big splash. Odds are still way higher that Santana, Nova or Alonso will still be around. Lopez is the only one most of us have any confidence in being ready to pitch 180-200 innings in 2020. Giolito, Rodon and a Dunning are just as likely to be injured and/or ineffective. We still don’t even know about Kopech, as Burdi’s taken longer than most expected to get back to 100%, especially for a reliever.

It has to do with continued idiotic decisions that won’t contribute to our next playoff roster. How many at-bats do you think Palka should get this year? Should we already deem him a strictly platoon hitter? I have a feeling he will get less than last year unless Jay and Guyer completely lose it. Or Engel is so bad again offensively we have to play Jay or Leury in CF nearly every day.

Sure, with two seam fastballs or sinkers that pitchers want the batters to top and beat into the ground for double plays...

I will save this post for posterity. At least one of Alonso, Nova and Santana will still be around next year, if not two. Santana didn’t dip from 93-94 until that finger injury last year, and Verlander’s proven to quite effective in his mid to late 30’s. Just as importantly, if Dunning’s year is lost, who will we use next year, especially if Giolito flames out? Kopech/Cease will have innings and pitch count limitations, Covey and Banuelos are the only internal options right now. Lambert’s at least 1 1/2 years away, arguably, or Flores. And we won’t spend the money for JDM, Goldschmidt or Bumgarner...as much as you might wish it. Just watch when they send Palka down and Engel/Jay/Guyer are playing everyday.

Except there’s probably at least 15-25% of the population who would wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed...and won’t change until it affects their families or loved ones firsthand (see Dick Cheney.)

Lefties definitely are better low ball hitters. Now “rising” four seam fastballs above the belt at 97+, 90% of hitters are going to struggle to barrel up those pitches. Beckham and Viciedo almost never managed it, just flaring off balls into RF and foul territory...mostly weak contact after Dayan started to get pull happy after his rookie campaign in 2012.

All I said is that there’s a fine line between anti-Semitism and accusing someone of being cheap...and that we/me/everyone should be careful. In this day and age, calling an owner of a baseball team “cheap” could be construed in that way, even though it’s probably one of the Top 5-10 comments that have become the “general wisdom” about the Sox since the early 80’s. At any rate, it’s far safer now to assert that we’re simply behind the times...not spending money efficiently...allocating money on declining veterans (especially hitters) in an environment where 18-27 year olds are much better suited to excel against premium velocity guys in the majority of their plate appearances. Maybe 2-3 years from now Machado and Harper will look like bad investments...but, for now, the daily ticket sales for SD and Philly are making us look penny wise and pound foolish, unable to see the big picture of how much Harper would have driven up ratings, advertising rates, and the overall market value of the 25% Sox share in NBC Sports/Universal. Or not...when we spend $45 million on veterans, we actually lose ticket sales...unsurprisingly. “By the end of today, it’s possible that the Phillies will have sold approximately 300,000 tickets since the Harper signing, given that they had sold 220,000 by Saturday. While it is a rough estimate given that the types of tickets being sold are not being released, sales are almost assuredly somewhere in the neighborhood of $6-$7 million at this point. By next week, it’s quite possible that all of Harper’s base salary for 2019 ($10 million) could be covered by ticket sales since the signing (Harper has $20 million in signing bonus due him this year in two installments on top of the base pay). On top of ticket sales, Harper is already paying dividends through merchandise sales. While figures were not provided, Fanatics said the Bryce Harper No. 3 Phillies jersey is the all-time top-seller for any athlete across any sport in the first 24 hours of availability. So it does not seem outside the realm of possibility that in the first year of the 13-year contract, the Phillies could offset total outlay for base salary and bonuses for Harper’s first year.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2019/03/04/tickets-to-merch-how-bryce-harper-is-already-pulling-in-big-bucks-for-the-phillies/#6a01b7ce5e3d

His fastball is pretty straight...he gets by more with changing vertical angles and planes, but they key as usual will be the secondary offerings. Has a little of McCarthy/Hudson to him, physically. Needs to add another 10-15 pounds, just not bulk, but fast twitch strength.

Other than Buxton, many more recent Top 1-5 Milb players have gone on to be studs than flops...

Except we don’t have Embiid or Simmons yet (unless it’s Robert, Jimenez and Cease). Fulmer can be Okafor and Moncada probably Markelle Fultz. Yolmer is the Sox version of Robert Covington with his Gatorade self-baths.

There will be no need for both Leury and Yolmer if Madrigal and Robert progress. Maybe one stays...the more expensive one hopefully is also the one who nets the best return, likely Yolmer in a July/August trade.

Alonso could easily get to 550 PA’s. Renteria won’t screw him over if he’s playing well. You can also practically guarantee if Nova or Santana pitch well in 2019 the extension money goes to them instead of a Verlander or Greinke from outside the organization.

If they want to completely demoralize the fanbase, sure, wait another year while Cleveland is vulnerable...wait for them to trade Lindor and Ramirez when/if they refuse to sign team-friendly extensions. The only way no FA additions will be necessary... Jimenez ROY Cease with a sub 3.50 ERA in August and Sept Robert and Madrigal come up late and show they belong in 2020 Collins rounds into a catcher who can start at least 120+ games defensively at the big league level No hiccups with Kopech rehab White Sox clearly have best bullpen in division...which would mean Herrera and Colome for 2020, but why if you’re not actually trying to compete? Alonso and Abreu have their career seasons offensively. Giolito, Nova and Santana hold their own or even pitch better than expected

It’s simply suicide to wait that long. Rodon will be gone after 2021. Moncada after 2023. Anderson is a complementary player at this point, although he has just as much opportunity as Yoan to break out into the 3-5 fWAR range. At best, they’re looking at a 3 year window by waiting another year, and completely invalidating the additions of Herrera and Colome to shore up the pen, not to mention Yonder Alonso. They’re also guaranteeing the loss of another 15% of the remaining fanbase, unless Jimenez is a Rookie of the Year and Cease hits the ground running and not like Giolito. This is the path to perpetual rebuilding...

Well, then the Sox need to provide some reasons to be optimistic. What are they this spring, exactly? Mendick becoming a utility player to eventually replace Yolmer or Leury? Alonso has looked good, but most of the board wants to limit his playing time to keep his option from vesting, or even trade him now. Robert is the man, but he has to stay on the field. Fulmer looks even worse than before, if that’s possible. Fry looks like a mess, too. Young players can’t get their brains beaten in every time out like a veteran...it starts to undermine their confidence. Also would like to see more of Collins and Madrigal....since everyone we trot out at 2B and C isn’t part of the playoff-contending future.

Guess just personal preference. Same reason didn’t like Amber Heard and Patrick Wilson In Aquaman. To each his own...

We really have to watch how Vaughn fares against Top 25/top weekend starters. Not a fan of Abrams from watching his videos, feeling he's more in CF. Rutschman and Witt, Jr., continue to be the crown jewels. Hard to imagine the Royals passing up on Adley...especially with Perez out for the year and it being impossible to transition him to 1B/DH. Feels like they will trade him in 2020/21 and then bring up Rutschman...to be the core of the rebuild and new captain of the team.

Captain Marvel was good, not great. Deserves its 79 Rotten Tomatoes score. Felt like it dragged in places, loved the action scenes (especially as the movie advanced) but it wasn't one where you didn't ever look down at your watch waiting for something interesting to happen. Some sharp humor from the Skrulls...loved seeing the backstory of Fury and Coulson, but not enough direct connections to the upcoming Avengers film for most fan-boys (have to stay for the end credits I guess, they kick you out of the theatre in China cleaning for the subsequent show.) Not huge fans of Benning and Jude Law being in this film...loved the 90's music references, particularly Garbage, No Doubt, Hole and Nirvana.

Some of the projections have Frare, Covey and Fulmer making the team, Banuelos, depending on how Santana's health goes (Ervin's first appearance is likely to be this upcoming Friday, March 15th). For the bullpen, we know that Colome, Herrera, Jones and Fry will definitely be there, and likely two lefties (total). For the bench, it's looking like Delmonico will be the first "odd man out," especially after the concussion. Tucker will likely be eliminated in favor of Guyer. That leaves McCann, Guyer, Rondon and Leury Garcia for now as the final four bench pieces. Eventually something will have to give when Jimenez comes up (unfortunately, it might be Palka's time, because we already have Alonso and Jay and Leury who will stay at the big league level or be waived/released, in the case of the latter two).

Uh-oh. I have to refrain from many further social commentary...just "uh-oh!" will have to suffice.

Happy to oblige. There's going to be some really ugly April/May/September numbers this year, especially pre-Jimenez on weekday/weeknight games or bad weather.

Since I was pretty much going insane without Jimenez/Robert to watch...I, unsurprisingly have adopted the Padres as my NL team, just to stay in touch with NL players for fantasy baseball and because they would obviously look like the White Sox with Machado, Tatis Jr., a ton of money spent in Latin America across 15-25 minor leaguers and a nice/newer stadium. Observations: They have six outfielders (Jankowski out for 2-3 months) cuts them down to W.Myers and Margot as the surefire starters, with Reyes/Cordero/Renfroe all competing for the third/starting spot on one corner, likely RF. They have a ton of pitching prospects, but Lucchesi and Chris Paddack are the only really impressive ones...and Paddack might not even break with the team. The later is quite similar to Kopech, very cocky but he backs it up and has that "swagger." Jose Pirela is essentially their version of Yolmer...solid, hits well enough but not for much power, not super fast but you can plug him in at multiple positions across the diamond and get a 1-2.5 fWAR, a bit like Marwin Gonzalez but more a natural 1B/corner OF than 3B or CF type. Francisco Mejia is going to be a monster...he's really short, only 5'8", but I've been really impressed with his offensive approach this spring and he possesses all the raw defensive tools as well. Austin Hedges has his work cut out holding him off as the starter. Urias has been hurt the last week, but he's the likely starter at SS with Kinsler at 2B and Hosmer at 1B. Conclusion: If we had the right scouts in place, we should target one of their 4 RF'ers (assuming we don't bring in Castellanos/Puig/Ozuna) or Austin Hedges (assuming we don't join Grandal bidding.) All four of them have their pluses and minuses. Now pulling off ANOTHER deal with San Diego/Preller, good luck Hahn. We'd probably get tricked into taking Wil Myers' deal and sending them Bush and Fulmer, with Fulmer blossing into another Walker Buehler in the NL West.