caulfield12

Shane Smith has the second best BAA on change-ups of any pitcher in MLB, barely over .100. Jalen Beeks, a reliever is first (that's for 30+ innings pitched, for qualified pitchers, Smith should be first).

Those sound like famous last words when it comes to the White Sox and injuries. Almost like the kiss of death. I can't remember the last time that we ended up with "positive" news on the pitching injury front this season.

Well, they hardly got much of a return on investment in Hendriks (health/TJS/cancer), Kimbrel (which led to Pollock with led to Benintendi signing), Graveman, Kelly, Bummer, etc. At one point in 2021-2022, they had the most expensive bullpen in MLB history, in fact.

Apple also in talks for Sunday Night Baseball package https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/05/youtube-disney-exec-lawsuit-apple-nbc-mlb-espn-uefa-volleyball-mark-packer/ Apple is engaged in “extensive” talks with Major League Baseball about acquiring ESPN’s rights package, according to John Ourand of Puck. Apple joins NBC Sports — whose interest was reported by the WSJ earlier this week — as well as other streamers: Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube. It is unlikely Apple would be willing to pay the $550 million annual rights fee ESPN is paying, but the Ourand report implied that Apple is offering more than NBC. Any deal would be a short-term agreement, with all of MLB’s national rights (Fox and WBD) coming up for renewal after the 2028 season.

The ONLY reason Slater was targeted was because Ryan Fuller was his hitting coach at the end of the 2024 season with the Orioles...and made the recommendation based on how he performed at that time (compared to first four months of last season).

Nobody's going to trade for Vaughn unless JR kicks in another $2+ million on this year's contract. Otherwise, you wait for him to be DFA'ed and pick him up for the minimum.

If you're Hays, coming from two playoff appearances with the Orioles, why would you sign with the White Sox over the Reds unless you received 25-30% more money? He probably wanted to play for a HoF manager, compared to a first-timer. And the Reds, at least in 2023, looked like one of the up and coming teams in all of MLB, with lots of exciting/dynamic young players. And Hays is a MUCH better fit for LF than RF, fwiw (that damned Benintendi albatross contract keeps getting in the way, as well). Remember how poor somebody like AJ Pollock reacted to being on the White Sox, after the LAD? He took a pay CUT to go to Seattle instead, where his career basically ended...instead of coming back to Chicago to play on one of the worst teams in baseball.

Schweitzer's stuff isn't good enough for the bullpen...right? Other than longman/swing-man/garbage innings in blowouts...

For now, it's shaping up like Grant Taylor, Pallette, Coffey....Wikelman is also now pitching out of the bullpen. Someone else was a huge Garrett Schoenle fan and kept naming him, Coffey and Pallette on a consistent basis. Any other ideas? Grant Taylor not starting is already a source of much consternation...so converting Oppor or Tanner McDougal (he's much likelier than Oppor) will be other "next steps" here. They can trade guys like Martin Perez (hopefully in July), maybe Martin (a lot of posters absolutely HATE that move, the other half are advising it), Adrian Houser...but who are your building your rotation around then after the Smith(s) and Schultz? 27 Jarold Rosado 22.8 AA SIRP 2026 40 (don't know anything about him, but he's in BIRM) 28 Nick Nastrini 25.2 MLB SIRP 2025 40 (terrible season so far) 29 Eric Adler 24.5 AAA SIRP 2026 40 (possibility) 30 Pierce George 21.9 A SIRP 2028 40 (don't know anything about him, but 10+ ERA in A ball) 31 Peyton Pallette 23.9 AA SIRP 2026 40 (his name is showing up every single day in threads) 32 Seth Keener 23.5 A+ SIRP 2026 40 (absolutely bombed in the minors this year) 33 Blake Larson 19.2 R SP 2029 35+ (TJS) 34 Wilfred Veras 22.4 AA RF 2026 35+ 35 Javier Mogollon 19.5 A 2B 2028 35+ 36 Carson Jacobs 23.7 A+ SIRP 2027 35+ (9.92 ERA currently) 37 Mike Vasil 25.1 MLB SP 2025 35+ (in the big league bullpen) 38 Owen White 25.7 MLB SP 2025 35+ (looks more like a swing man/AAAA guy at this point) 39 Greg Jones 27.1 MLB CF 2025 35+ 40 Alejandro Cruz 18.3 R 3B 2031 35+

Padres have some VERY tough decisions to make. Trade Arraez, Cease, Suarez and TRY to sign the now-injured Michael King...or go all-in and lose all of those guys with no compensation unless they run the risk of putting QO's on all of them, which won't fit their budget, either. de Vries looks like an absolute stud at SS and will push Bogaerts back to 2B/1B/DH, but Salas has gone backwards as much as Colson and then there's a big falloff in their prospect depth. They're up in the WC race and not THAT far behind the Dodgers, but there's also SF and AZ to contend with, just in their division alone. They're probably talking to Sheets right now about Robert, Jr. Keep in mind, they have Musgrove coming back next season and Darvish at some point this season (as well). Quite the quandary. Then again, this is absolutely the kind of "go for broke" AJ Preller move that he constantly gambles with. They have $100-150 million of debt, roughly, and they've improved that position the last two off seasons, and Robert only being their responsibility for 2024 would be enticing. But they're certainly not going to give up a top prospect for him...and Salas would be pointless with the White Sox catching depth. It would likely be more pitching, which the White Sox don't really need...unless they're targeting future relievers to solidify the pen (which is backwards team-building).

Yet Venable clearly prefers Palacios, who's a superior glue/complementary/team player...the last man off the bench on a contender, but clearly not an everyday player, either.

In economic terms, it's the baseball version of stagflation....no growth with prices/inflation increasing, to the point where you can't lower interest rates to provide a boost. Every time the bullpen comes into a close game, 75% chance it's going to suck all the air out of the balloon.

Sheets has gone from a 35.3% hard hit percentage all the way up to 52.6%. OPS nearly 200 points higher than last year.

Kopech was arguably the biggest blow to the rebuild when he went down...Dunning at least allowed them to trade for Lynn, who was good for about as long as Grandal before imploding.

Who else does he have? Vasil? Rule 5 as closer and best starter? More Getz magic. Hats off to Houser's first two starts though. More trade bait.

Sox don't even have the right to get celebrated on for a walk off.

Well...hard to watch but Sox like a train wreck late and close.

Yep. A lot more insightful than Schiffren. Almost impossible to catch that backhanded and sliding into the wall.

Mets leading majors in one run games. Just believe they can and will win in these situations since late last year. Sox 5-21 on road 19 blown leads. Abysmal one run record.

Meidroth not running. From 22/23 to 5/8 success rate stealing against Diaz 2024 vs. 2025.

Alonso was walked intentionally...

Rojas just can't hit any more. Meidroth hit streak on the line.

Hitters on an 0/25 stretch now against opposing hitters.

Another version of Aaron Bummer.

Got out of it...but odds aren't in their favor with Diaz lurking.