caulfield12

Moncada, Anderson, drafting Burdi...we shall see. It couldn't possibly be ANY WORSE than what Engel, Thompson and Avi Garcia have done so far, though. It's even making Palka look ALMOST palatable, despite his defensive shortcomings. Without any major trade speculation this summer...the status of Kopech/Jimenez and when Sox fans will get to actually watch them in Chicago will be the dominant topic, along with the upcoming June draft.

Seems the only question with Jimenez is where he ends up on the field...LF, 1B, DH or potentially RF. With that type of once or twice in a generation hitting ability, it does at least make SOME sense to consider keeping him out of the outfield might not be the worst idea in the world, but I would imagine they're still a ways from actually making a dramatic change like that when he has played OF his entire career. Personally, I'd rather have two really good (capable of playing above-average CF) defenders in the outfield to protect one average/slightly below average one. Whether that's Basabe, Rutherford, Adolfo....AJ Pollock, who the hell knows at this point? They also must be pondering ways to get Zavala's bat in the line-up if he's not going to be at least a platoon catcher. Of course, those are GOOD problems for any team to have.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/heres-white-sox-determining-time-201727539.html

One of the biggest concerns is how well India will hit with a wood bat and how much of this season is a "one year anomaly"...and his ultimate position on the field. On the plus side, ungodly stats this year and the toughest conference in baseball for his competition. Still, the safest or surest thing for Hahn to do would be to take either Madrigal or Singer. India's one of those guys who will help to make someone look like a genius or get someone fired.

Don't count on it.

There are a lot of parallels (on both sides of the ball) between Jimenez and Nelson Cruz. Do we actually expect BETTER numbers than that over a career? That's expecting a lot.

Yeah, him and Swarzak last year....Albers for half a season in 2016. Minaya at the end of 2017? I guess you can count Nate Jones THIS year.

??? Not working...you have too many "http's" in there As far as disappointment with Lopez and Fulmer, I think most are fine with what they've done...all things considered. (Did anyone realistically expect him to have an ERA under 3 for the full year?) It's Giolito who is far and away the biggest cause for concern.

The problem is that he's blocked behind Leury (further behind Yolmer Sanchez)...he could be in Saladino's role, but that potentially goes to Cordell if he comes back 100% healthy. Just for human interest and inspirational effects, hopefully the White Sox will promote him at some point this year.

They would be better off going with Bill Veeck's innovation of letting the fans effectively manage strategy by "voting" with different cards they could hold up in the air. https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/inside-pitch/grandstand-managers-night "Grandstand Managers Night" in 1951 with the St. Louis Browns

Wonder how many fans are left in the stands after almost 3 1/2 hours of this? As far as Giolito goes, I think he gets one more start before they make a decision about sending him back down.

The money from AT&T appeared to be unrelated to the investigations but came as the Trump administration announced it would seek to block an $85 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner. “Essential Consultants was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration,” AT&T spokeswoman Megan Ketterer said in a statement Tuesday, after Avenatti tweeted a link to the document. “They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017." Cohen also accepted nearly $400,000 from pharmaceutical giant Novartis between October 2017 and January 2018, according to Avenatti. A Novartis spokesman said the company was “still trying to assess the facts” and noted that any contractual agreements were made prior to the current chief executive officer’s tenure. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/08/att-michael-cohen-hired-576213 Avenatti’s document might provide a road map to those clients. He claims that Cohen also received payments from the drug company Novartis Investments and Korea Aerospace Industries. Each has important business considerations with the U.S. government. Shortly after the last transaction from Novartis identified by Avenatti, in January, Trump took a meeting with executives including the incoming CEO of Novartis, Vas Narasimhan, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A Novartis spokesman said any agreements with Essential Consultants took place before the new CEO took over in February and have since expired. Representatives for Korea Aerospace did not respond to a request for comment. The company is in contention for a multibillion-dollar joint contract with Lockheed Martin to produce jet trainers for the U.S. Air Force. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-attorney-michael-cohen-was-hired-by-us-affiliate-of-russian-company/2018/05/08/12a218c8-52f6-11e8-abd8-265bd07a9859_story.html?utm_term=.287e0b37e149 Of course, Novartis, Merck, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Celgene and the BIG PHARMA lobby were all THREATENED by Trump back in early 2017, after the inauguration. Trump pressed the bigwigs to bring down drug prices, which he described as “astronomical.” “We have to get prices down for a lot of reasons,” he said. “We have no choice, for Medicare and Medicaid...They're getting away with murder!" http://fortune.com/2017/01/31/trump-pharma-ceos-meeting-demands/ DRAINING THE SWAMP, BABY!!!

Speaking of radio, didn't realize that WGN Radio was losing $6 million per year on the Cubs when they finally let them go. Of course, that was after 2012 and 2013, when they were still rebuilding and interest was in the basement (relatively speaking, for the Cubs.) http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/06/03/why-wgn-radio-lost-the-cubs/

Lambert isn't much of a high upside pitcher with the word "pitchability" thrown around multiple times during the MLB.com draft live stream. Low 90s fastball with good command of all three pitches, but nothing that stands out. As a junior this season he had a 3.13 ERA, 78 K, 19 BB in 97.2 IP. Was a first-team All-Mountain West pick this season. http://www.chicagonow.com/future-sox/2016/06/2016-futuresox-draft-tracker/ It's quite fun to look back at guys (draft day reports) like Lambert without "dominant/ace" stuff but who are merely effective...

Benetti is not the kind of broadcaster a 6 to 15 year old watching at home is going to be drawn in by...because almost everything he says will go over their heads. At least Hawk talked in a way that showed reverence and respect for the sport, and its storied history...he wasn't always James Earl Jones giving a lecture in Field of Dreams, but Benetti's just GRATING.

Didn't the Padres end up winning a division once with a .500ish record or a few games below? That won't happen with the Indians, barring catastrophic injuries. But a team in Minnesota who was recently 10-17 can have one good week and almost be in first place. Pathetic. And they're playing without Sano OR Buxton.

Can't wait to see some new/legit bullpen faces like Ian Hamilton...although he still has a ways to go.

Guess we jinxed the bullpen by posting that stat update on ERA since April 24th...

Social Security won't go broke...but some politician/s at some point in the future will cut the benefits by 20-30% and blame past politicians (undoubtedly of the opposite party)/profligate government spending and waste and argue there was no alternative. According to all the predictions, this should be around 2030, although the Trump tax cuts might have pushed the crisis up to the 2026-2028 budget cycle. Of course, those same politicians won't be willing to give up their platinum health care and retirement packages funded by taxpayers.

Realistically, who are the other candidates? Jordan Stephens? Guerrero and Adams are falling off the map. McClure or Henzman are more likely to end up as relievers, from everything out there in the media.

Kudos to Yolmer for having an OPS one point higher than Abreu's...

Get the bullpen up. Good thing we're not paying on a "per call" basis for using that phone line or Cooper would be bankrupting the franchise.

Well, this has pretty much been a disaster. Sigh. Hope we can get two solid starters out of Lopez and Dunning and call it a win, but it's not the slam dunk this trade looked on the day it was made...Washington should know their talent better than anyone.

94.4 on that force out is one of the best fastballs he has thrown so far this season... Well, this is pretty much textbook on how NOT to shut down the opposition the inning after your offense gives you a significant cushion!

Got dinged up on the slider...not the best location.