caulfield12

No, the bannable offense would be for ANYONE who bought into the Nestor Molina hype from Paddy and KW, lol...

Kurt? He might be better off in the wrestling field...

Jeff Marquez and Clarkin were Cashman's revenge for Quintana and Jose Contreras.

Kevin Maitan was one everyone probably got hoodwinked on. Perhaps we overreacted a couple of years ago about Benintendi and Devers...Devers, so far, has taken a step back. Swihart is STILL an interesting possibility if we could pry him lose from Boston (speaking of catcher obsessions). At different points, we all wanted Swanson/T.Turner/Bregman & Tucker via trade. And all those potential targets with the Pirates haven't turned out to be as good as once projected. Torres in NY has been as good as advertised.

I will definitely go with Sheets in that contest...although you never know, Engel could accidentally run into one before he joins the Jamey Carroll Lifetime Cushy MLB Pension Club.

Well, one thing’s for sure, not having strong pitch framers is ONE factor for our terrible walk numbers (thinking Gio and Fulmer in particular.) That said, Giolito’s been battling his mechanics all season long and also has ungodly number of hit batters, wild pitches and passed balls while on the mound. You could at least understand that with someone like Jordan Hicks throwing 103-105 out there. One big plus with Castillo is his contract will eventually be easier to move because his offense is pretty darned solid, and teams are always in need of an upgrade from that position, with very few exceptions.

Luc Besson (director) and the conductor of the NY Philharmonic Orchestra...

Well, one obvious reason for the upswing has been the “Obama’s going to take away our guns, so we need to stockpile them now” refrain of the NRA from 2008-2016...it’s hard for me to imagine, but they successfully painted a picture of government jackboots storming into houses across American and confiscating everyone’s weapons.

Flores has been (pretty) quietly having a very nice season...era in the mid 2’s. All the focus on that team has been with Cease, the five outfielders and Sheets.

It’s possible. I can’t remember the exact article, but wasn’t one of Castillo’s strengths supposed to be “pitch framing”? Of course, the irony is that is one specific skill where Tyler Flowers improved significantly over time, but even the patience of the White Sox wore thin with him. Nevertheless, he’s had a career resurgence with the Braves.

Rutherford RBI single drives in Call...

Melky is better off with the Indians...

That’s EXPLICITLY why they brought in the (relatively expensive) veteran in Castillo instead of giving all the playing time to Smith and Narvaez...

When’s the last time we couldn’t figure out a place for another position player because of TOO MUCH depth? Probably when we had Fields coming off his 2007 and Crede coming back from injury (as well as Uribe)...and they tried to put Fields in LF.

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/yasiel-puig-11575/

By the way, congratulations to Greg775 for being #9 in "best member reputation" at SoxTalk. That's quite the momentous accomplishment...

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/reynaldo-lopez-changing-place-white-220331008.html Love the quotes from Lopez. "It's not about what people say or what they are talking about," Lopez said through a translator. "It's about the confidence I have in myself, and I have plenty of confidence in myself. For me, I'm the best. I'm not saying the other guys are not. I'm just saying that's the confidence I have. When I'm on the mound, I'm the best and I don't care about the rest." Sunday marked the best start of Lopez's young career, so said the pitcher himself. He was terrific in shutting down the visiting Texas Rangers, holding them to just two hits over eight scoreless innings. It was one heck of a bounce-back performance considering what happened last time out, when he was roughed up for six runs in just two innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The difference? His attitude, his focus, his intensity, his conviction. "I just changed my attitude in the game," Lopez said. "I was more positive today than I was in my last outing and that was one of my biggest differences." "I do think he came out a little bit more focused, to be honest," manager Rick Renteria said. "The intensity level was a little higher today. I think he threw the first couple pitches 97, 98 miles an hour, where his last outing they were at 93, 94. There wasn't a whole lot of commitment or conviction to his pitches (against the Pirates). I think, as we talked after the last outing, (pitching coach Don Cooper) spoke to him a little about making sure he brought that intensity that he has the ability to do, to bring it from Pitch 1 and he did today." Renteria liked it all, and he saw something different in his pitcher when he went out to talk to him with two outs in the eighth. Lopez issued a two-out walk, and Renteria considered lifting Lopez from the game. Lopez made sure his manager wouldn't pull the plug on this outing. "I hid the baseball in my glove because I didn't want to leave the game," Lopez said. "I asked me, ‘How are you? Are you good?' And I told him, ‘Yes, I'm good.' Then he asked me again, ‘Do you think you are able to get him out?' And I said yes, ‘This is my game, and I'm going to finish it.'"

The problem is what would the White Sox possibly do with Puig for one year? Hope and pray he blew up in the AL and then sign a "team friendly" extension before hitting FA, in lieu of keeping Abreu/Avisail Garcia long(er) term?

It's not LIKELY. I just said they don't HAVE to play Jimenez there. For the majority of players, they're better off (especially as youngsters) playing a position everyday and being involved in the game and studying how pitchers approach hitters from that outfield perspective (as opposed to in the dugout or clubhouse).

Interesting that the Lt. Governor didn't mention one of the biggest and MOST LOGICAL issues to consider...SCHOOL BULLYING, both at school and via social media at night and on the weekends.

Casey Mize knows the knocks are coming as the MLB draft looms Mize has a unique profile, but he continues as the smart choice for the number one overall pick. https://www.blessyouboys.com/2018/5/18/17359544/mlb-draft-2018-casey-mize-detroit-tigers-joey-bart-alex-faedo In an excellent piece from Katie Strang of The Athletic, Mize recently addressed some of the nagging concerns about his injury history and splitter usage. As he explained, he doesn’t characterize his version as a true splitter, but as more of a hybrid split-change. What people don’t really understand about it, like who haven’t seen the grip or haven’t seen me throw it or talk to me about it — the first thing is I don’t have very big hands, and so I don’t split the ball, like, almost in half like a lot of people think,” Mize explained in a conversation with The Athletic’s Max Bultman this past weekend. Research continues to correlate velocity and usage with arm injury. As to various breaking balls and change-ups, there is basically nothing concrete to suggest any particular concerns with off-speed pitches. ... Mize did have a bit of arm trouble last year, but as he detailed to The Athletic, he and his coaches at Auburn did a lot of video analysis, concluding it was actually his old slider grip that was the culprit. Mize revamped his grip and approach to throwing the slider this year, and the results were an improved pitch with sharper tilt to it. After a monster campaign for Auburn this spring, he’s also got results in the form of 89 innings with a 124:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio to say he’s clearly the best amateur pitcher in the country. It’s perfectly natural to have injury concerns about a pitcher who is about to command a bonus of $7 million (or more) and a premium draft pick. However, worries about Mize seem like much ado about nothing. He just wrapped up one of the better college seasons you will ever see in a tough SEC, and could doubtless get outs in the major leagues as he is. If you’re worried about the splitter, take comfort in the fact that his new cutter and improved slider should mean he can use the splitter as another out-pitch almost exclusively. If there’s an actual issue left to discuss, it’s the debate over just how well Mize’s fastball will play in the major leagues. The heater is rated as plus by just about everyone, so this is still hair-splitting for the most part. But for some observers, seeing a college pitcher using a cutter to keep hitters off the fastball leaves a lingering concern as to whether the pitch is too straight, too often. These are the kind of details where a team has to rely on it’s data, and on experienced sets of eyes to evaluate the nuances of a pitcher’s delivery. Mize doesn’t have a Justin Verlander caliber fastball, but it’s hard to knock a guy for having developed a cutter graded as a plus pitch by most sites, and an improved slider over the past year. Sitting 94-96 with precision, the fastball may not feature explosive late life, but there is some deception and two-plane life out of his high arm slot. More importantly, Mize already has the command to make all his offerings play up, and the development of both the cutter and slider over the past year speak to a dedicated young pitcher with some ability to make adjustments and groove them relatively quickly. Still, when you’re projected to go 1-1, the intense scrutiny just comes with the territory, and Mize seems to understand this better than most. Get ready for a wild few weeks ahead. When the smoke and chatter clear, you’re still almost certainly going to see Mize wearing the Olde English D.

I think any MLB GM will take an outfield of Pollock, Robert and Basabe/Adolfo/Rutherford over one with Jimenez on a corner.It's not a HAVE to...but it's not impossible to end up with that type of alignment, either. The Royals, for example, had Gordon, Cain and Dyson together, all three Gold-Glove level defenders. It was (unarguably) more necessary for Kauffman than it would be playing 81 home games at USCF, but we've seen this year and in the past what a huge difference outfield defense can make.

If he keeps his weight down (while maintaining similar power numbers), then he's much less of a concern at ages 33-35 than he would have been a couple of years ago. His defense is still a hot mess, so he realistically should be at DH. The problem there is that so should Eloy Jimenez, although they can live with one of them out on the field because of the offensive trade-off.

Well, Puig has finally started to hit in the last two weeks...so they're probably not going to make that kind of trade without exploring other options that won't cost a Top 75-100 talent, unless they can trade Puig (+ money) for Abreu, which makes little to no sense for the Sox. The ONLY one that would make sense for the Sox would be Joc Pederson for Abreu...as there's no way they would trade Verdugo for him. At any rate, they already have Puig, Kemp, Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Kiki Hernandez and Verdugo (DL) in the outfield. The biggest problems for the Dodgers have been in the pitching department, now that they have Justin Turner's bat back at 3rd. And yeah, Taylor and Pederson haven't graded out as "very good" CFer's defensively. That much is true.

There's no such thing as "free healthcare." In any country of the world. It has to be paid for by taxpayers, SOMEHOW...or corporations/salary withholding, SOMEHOW. Or government subsidies. Or charitable contributions.