caulfield12

That veteran FA players (with the best training habits to keep them from breaking down) should start signing one year deals at higher values (he suggested $42 million for himself), thus taking the seemingly riskier year to year path in order to always play for contenders (also providing those acquiring teams the opportunity to deal them away for the final two months if the team underachieves?) https://sports.yahoo.com/indians-pitcher-tr...-145202220.html

Well, we need something closer to the Giolito we were sold on at the time of the trade than a version throwing 88-92 (see Erik Johnson). That said, the weather has been terrible, he can't get a very good grip on his curveball (or any consistency) and his velocity readings were supposedly much higher in ST (93-95, maybe 96). At any rate, if Yolmer turns a double play and Giolito doesn't fumble a comebacker that should have become a DP, he would have gotten out of there with only 2 runs surrendered instead of a much uglier 5. And, of course, he needs to learn how to pitch over self-induced problems, the 4th and 5th runs scored on a 2 out base hit when they psychologically all felt they should have already been out of the inning.

Guess the author didn't see the bullpen/defensive implosion on Thursday coming or anticipate Fulmer shutting down the Sox thereafter... https://www.mlb.com/news/5-mlb-teams-that-a...ted/c-271222242

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 04:14 PM) I wonder if Minaya is the first big leaguer this season to be sent down just for being bad. He was awful. Goes to show, spring training competition is almost a thing of the past. They’ll stick with you if you end the prior season strong. Was Minaya our closer to end last year? Seems impossible to believe...like a mirage.

Giolito should have given up only 2 runs, but has only Yolmer and himself to blame on that front. Need to believe he can find his stuff (especially the curveball) when better weather returns.

Pretty hard to compare an advanced collegiate hitter in Benintendi to a raw Cuban in Moncada. If you factor in pro-rated WAR, Moncada was arguably more effective despite struggling mightily out of the gate. A strong middle infielder will always be worth more to a team than an average left fielder, too.

Which relievers were bargain this offseason and will hit their primes from 2019-23? Reed was overpriced. Hector Rondon...maybe? But he’s already 30. Better risk for the win now Astros than win in perhaps 2019 White Sox.

Omg, Buxton at a 478 ops this year, send him back down! 23 at bats, no walks, 4 singles, 2B, 9 k’s.

Byron Buxton has a career 698 ops in 912 at-bats over 3+ seasons...also a former #1 prospect in baseball. 21—.576 22—.714 23—.727 Didn’t become a truly valuable player until last season, largely due to his Gold Glove defense. I do have a concern that he’s never going to be a huge stolen base threat, but in modrn baseball, that risks a lot of potential injuries that are not worth taking him out of the lineup (see Luis Robert slide in ST.)

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 06:56 AM) Hopefully Giolito rebounds and shows a little more stuff today. In this weather?

Brutally cold but sunny the next two games...Monday?€™s game moved up to 1 p.m., forecast even worse for that day. Plus nobody cares about the Rays. Well, maybe Tampa residents or snowbirds.

He absolutely tattoed a ball to 1b off a lefty reliever...at ‘em ball. Hes hanging in extremely well against LHP. Ended up 1/4 with a walk, struck out against a tough breaking pitch bearing inside.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:22 PM) If you don't like what it says, discredit the source, even if the source backs all their claims by providing evidence of them. What will Bernie do for civil rights? Read that article, it should give you a good idea. But you're missing the point with that question. I'm not going to claim to speak for all Bernie supporters or progressives, but I feel that the best way to bring about social equality is as a derivative of economic equality. Therefore, I'm going to fight first and foremost for good economic policy and, yes, prioritize it over social policy. If you think that makes me racist, you're being far too simplistic and reductive. An example of economic policy that Bernie had fought for his entire political career and something I'd support and fight for is the elimination of private prisons. My reasoning is that we're paying private companies more to house prisoners than we would pay in taxes to house them as a public service, and states with private prisons are economically incentivized to put their citizens in prisons and keep them there by the horrible contracts they've signed with these corporations that state that they have to pay more for empty beds than they do for inmates. This has a social justice side effect of placing pressure on the justice system to come up with better rehabilitative solutions and reducing or eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing because there are less places to put prisoners and there's no economic incentive for the state to imprison its citizens. That's not racist, it's dealing with the problem the only way the people in power will listen to, by changing the flow of the money. Exactly right, especially with drug sentencing...he?€™s the anti-Jeff Sessions. Sanders is just awkward in the same way David Letterman is interviewing Jay-Z. His heart is in the right place. That said, new blood is desperately needed...and someone with foreign policy curiosity/bonafides. A 45 year old mix of Sanders and Biden. Combine with the RFK 68, Gore 2000, John Edwards populist touch on the other side of the political spectrum. Howard Dean would be another example.

Ohtani just crushed another homer, 3rd of the year. Three consecutive games, all 3 home games. Hitting 7/16... Hendriks just walked him with bases loaded, wouldnt give him anything over the plate.

QUOTE (Quin @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 08:46 PM) I'd take a middle-of-the-pack starter as a switching-hitting supersub with superb defense and power any day of the week. That sounds more like Leury’s profile...

Cuban hitters typically rake in the middle of snowstorms...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 07:14 PM) We bounced back 200 points in the last hour. Wait to see what China does. If they hit us back again, especially if it involves our bonds, this could get really ugly. Dow 20000 here we go. How would dumping bonds really benefit them...making the RMB stronger when their exports are under threat seems like the exact opposite of what they choose to do. Not to mention they enjoy the psychological advantage of that imagined “leverage” over the US of controlling $1.2 trillion in debt. US yields might rise in the short term, but their hit would be worse because many of their inefficient state owned enterprises are over leveraged in debt.

Hansen, Robert and Eloy...get well soon!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 06:45 PM) Last offseason at the start of December I was saying either extend them now or trade them. After watching how last offseason played out, I'm not so sure any more, that call may have been wrong and I think 2k5 may have a point in this thread Yeah they could continue putting up strong seasons, but decent seasons could still leave them hanging out at the end of the FA market after 3 or 4 other guys take the remaining money. Goldschmidt is a FA the same year as Abreu, so is Smoak, so he might well be the 3rd 3b on the market and the oldest of them. Other teams might blow their money on that lefty starter at the front of Boston's rotation. If he stays healthy, the best OF on the market could be Adam Eaton. And if a team like the Yankees or Dodgers decides to keep their powder dry in 2020...in 2021 this dude named Mike Trout becomes a free agent, and he won't turn 29 until the middle of the next season, so good lord imagine that contract. There's a nonzero chance that where this market is going, these guys deals wind up unusually depressed compared to what it would take to extend them right now. You’re forgetting that the Eaton deal has two affordable options through 2021. http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/washington-nati...am-eaton-11309/ I would take Abreu over Smoak in win now mode based on overall track record, but that could change if Smoak repeats. Like Belt because of his defense...

Happy to take a .154 season from Moncada if we can also extrapolate the offensive numbers of the rest of those players for the full season, particularly Davidson, Anderson and Yolmer. Winning. And it?€™s not like he isnt 1 for his last 15. Even changing that one hit to a GS gives him a respectable ops.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 06:47 PM) What exactly are we spending all our money on then? You?€™re against Machado, you?€™re against elite relievers. Do you want to overpay for a bunch of B free agents or simply go young across the board? 1) Another outfielder if Avi goes 2) Veteran 2/3 starter 3) Two elite set up guys (rather than one closer, who I believe comes internally) 4) Catcher? Depends on Collins/Zavala... If I knew the top 2-3 picks in the draft, that would help, too. I also would be looking to Japan or Korea for a bargain to throw in the mix.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 06:43 PM) Off topic but imagine this season is do or die for Michalczewski, Hawkins, Barnum, and Alvarez Alvarez would have to get past Anderson, Leury, Saladino, Sanchez, Cordell and two more Charlotte middle infielders just to be the last guy on the bench. That said, if he can hit for enough power, he has a shot at the Saladino spot, pr, etc. Adolfo 2/2 with a walk.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/maybe-trump-...-195710761.html Wal-Mart, not Amazon, is the real culprit destroying small businesses and hollowing out communities

One play does not a season make. Let’s not make it out to be bigger than Tony Graffanino in the 2005 AL Divisional Series.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 06:34 PM) I'm not squeamish about the money next year. IMO that was the point of the rebuild. So I'll be the first to say in this thread that this is the piece I want. Kimbrel. Has he had arm surgery yet? He seems like a perfect example of a veteran who has been used extensively and all of a sudden goes south (if the Sox get him)...but he’s still only 29, and should have at least 3-4 more dominant years left.