caulfield12

At least the Cubs have to suffer with us...until Thurs. Of course, the story will be how their fans will still support the team in even the very worst weather conditions. (But everyone now cares more about Astros, NYY and Ohtani anyway.)

Spieth gets mojo back, cant quite recover on 18 to set a course record. Looks like Reed holds on, Harrelson?€™s boy Fowler still without a major unless something dramatic occurs here.

If Jimenez doesnt put up MVP numbers from the getgo, SoxTalk will break the internet...

11,131 gives a pretty good idea of the season ticket base...if some could estimate actual fannies in the seats today. http://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance We will still be ahead of Pitt, Miami and Oakland...but will also be interesting to see if we go below 10k against Rays in dreaded April weekday games.

Gave up a hit to Semien, walk...great job of pitching out of trouble. 12 k’s through 7. 98/99 mph that inning. Hasnt given up a run since three run homer early in debut against same A’s team. 3 er in 13 ip.

Sky is falling...?

Because...of course. We will see if a team with two superstars can somehow be denied a playoff spot.

Right now it’s still 4 2/3rd’s and 2 er...

Will Rondon have an opportunity to go get revenge on his former team?

What?€™s Swaggerty?€™s comp? Benintendi in CF? Hopefully not Jeremy Reed... http://www.the3rdmanin.com/travis-swaggert...-draft-college/ Found a good story on him...seems like a little bit of Dustin Pedroia quality.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...itting/2018/ALL Tatis, Jr., starts out 0/12 with 3 k’s. They basically skipped him over High A, so I’m going to predict a lot of struggles for at least the first 2-3 months of the minor league season.

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.