caulfield12

Plus that home park for 81 games at home suppresses offense. Otoh, they can't get any huge FA's to sign there, either...for that very reason. They'll get a Chapman here, an Adames there, but the really premium offensive guys like Judge and Soto have zero interest in playing there.

Smith will be the best Sox starter (outside of the Big 3) by the end of the season. Book it.

Something you might not know: If the White Sox win 10 more games this year, they'll still finish with more losses than all but nine teams in history. That is how bad the White Sox were en route to a record-setting 121 losses last year: a team that makes a theoretical double-digit gain in wins would still be among the worst in the history of the game. Jeff Passan espn.com

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/44250540/mlb-2025-dodgers-white-sox-rockies-marlins-nationals-angels-athletics Let's start with the White Sox, last season's losers of a record 121 games. FanGraphs projects them to be much improved: 22 games better in fact, all the way to a 63-win team, although that is still the lowest forecast for any team. FanGraphs projects the Dodgers to be ... wait ... worse than 2024? But for this exercise, we're sticking with FanGraphs. We won't bother to run the entire rosters here, but after the first round, the cumulative WAR for our 30-man rosters (14 position players, 16 pitchers) looks like this: Dodgers: 54.8 WAR White Sox: 21.2 WAR Dodgers lead by 33.6 wins Yikes...even though LA "only" has a 96 win projection this year due to general competitiveness of AZ SD SF. Other models in the 100s and 102.5-103.5 OD LV gambling lines. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44250840/mlb-2025-los-angeles-dodgers-villains-heroes-ohtani-freeman-betts The current Dodgers, Manfred said, "are probably more profitable on a percentage basis than the old Yankees were, meaning it could be more sustainable, so it is more of a problem."

See Conforto's home and away stats last year....something like two homers at home and 18 on the road.

Something you might not know: The Dodgers' luxury-tax payroll is currently projected around $399 million, according to Baseball Prospectus. At that number, they would pay around $150 million in penalties. Which means the Dodgers right now are carrying nearly a $550 million payroll for 2025 -- more than the combined salaries of the Marlins, White Sox, A's, Rays, Pirates and Guardians. Jeff Passan espn.com

The best thing I heard all spring: "Scouts talking not only about Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, the White Sox's consensus top pitching prospects, but putting Grant Taylor in the same elite category as them. Taylor, an imposing right-hander with a big-league-ready body at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, spent his spring sitting at 99.2 mph with his fastball. With four other pitches -- mostly cutters and curveballs, with sliders and changeups sprinkled in -- Taylor isn't just a power arm destined for the bullpen. He could move fast and is firmly part of a future rotation primed to include Schultz, Smith and whoever stands out this year." Jeff Passan espn.com

And shorts again? My 1978 Tops cards are aghast.

White Sox: RHP Shane Smith This honor could go to infielder Brandon Drury, a veteran non-roster invitee who hit two home runs and drove in five during a victory over the Reds Friday. Right-handers Davis Martin and Grant Taylor also fall in this category, but Smith, the top pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, earns the nod. Smith struggled with control in the first inning of his first Cactus League outing but has since been dominant on the mound, striking out eight in four innings against the Asian Breeze Thursday. He’s in strong contention for the fifth starter’s spot. -- Scott Merkin mlb.com First mention he's likely to make the rotation over B.Wilson. Venable hasn't addressed the fifth spot yet.

They might need Matt Davidson Gallo or Colas to pitch by the end of this season at the rate they're going down.

He was basically rookie Kip Wells-esque his first three starts. We'll see soon enough how sustainable it is...but the cold weather definitely will suppress runs scored in April. Can just imagine fastballs (and cutters/sliders) at those peak velocities barrelling in on the hands at 95-96 in 34 degree weather. Imagine hitting Sasaki fork/splits off a 97-100 mph fb?

Not joining the Bergolla hype train quite yet, lol? Sosa also seems to be cooling off a bit, but the sporadic playing time isn't helping much...hopefully these last 10 days or whatever the regular line-up can get more repetitions together. Also looks like Teel gets a quality/competitive at-bat up there on most occasions, never looks that over-matched.

Getz intimated it was about match-ups later in April against AL Central foes, but that's really stretching it. In theory, they'd want to break up Burke and Shane Smith and have those guys slotted between the likes of Cannon and Martin Perez that are soft tossers. So maybe something like Burke Perez Martin Cannon Sh.Smith/B.Wilson...

The joke we should have guffawed at was from Passan's article way back in 2016 when he originally signed with Boston about eating too many Twinkies. That was an early indication.

Mowed down everyone in his last B game start too...it has been all positives since that first inning of the spring.

Not an MLB CFer...

Combo of real baseball knowledge from being around the game her entire life with the more human side of the players...Connor still needs to learn how to be a bit more unbiased and less cheerleadery but it will come eventually.

Colton swings through high fsstball.

Where's the Jacob Gonzalez statue in Oxford lol?

Another hard liner to opposite field from Braden. Caught but nice.

Montgomery saves at least news run there with an easy/controlled catch

Montgomery saves at least news run there with an easy/

Seems everyone loves his infectious trash talking personality...brother Phil big league veteran reliever.

Bummer trade continues to not impress lol.

Hoping Narvaez with more power.