caulfield12

Needless to say, there is precedent for MLB taking their television relationships to the brink and somehow finding a way to salvage them. It certainly does not seem like MLB will remain with ESPN going forward, but there is technically nothing stopping the sides from reaching a new deal. There was no small irony in Manfred assailing ESPN and cable as declining properties unfit for Major League Baseball just hours ahead of ESPN averaging 9.3 million viewers for a hockey game. Indeed, while Manfred’s statement is broadly correct — any cable network is bound to be a “shrinking platform” in 2025 — ESPN has delivered several blockbuster audiences in the past year, from the aforementioned hockey game to Caitlin Clark-led Iowa against UConn and LSU in last year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament (14.4 and 12.2 million respectively). Any of those games would have surely done better on ABC, but it is hard to look at those viewership figures and suggest ESPN held them back. (Also, how exactly is Warner Bros. Discovery supposed to feel after the comments Manfred made about cable? Losing the NBA is survivable if one holds onto other rights, but losing the NBA and MLB would put WBD in an unenviable position — and call into question its future with the NHL, which is up for bid the same year as MLB, 2028.) https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/02/monday-musings-mlb-espn-split-permanent-four-nations-viewership-recap/

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/cleveland-guardians-owner-larry-dolan-dies-at-age-94-team-announces-210612356.html Lawrence "Larry" Dolan dies at 94, former Indians/Guardians owner since buying it from Jacobs about 25 years ago...team now run by son Paul Dolan https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2025/02/guardians-owner-larry-dolan-remembered-for-humility-and-generosity.html

The intrigue: Two recent polls show that fans are not watching the new network. A Sun-Times reader poll found that an overwhelming majority of fans haven't watched a single Bulls or Blackhawks game this year. A recent analysis of NBA ratings showed the Bulls have lost 63% of their viewership year over year, the most in the entire league. Reality check: Both the Blackhawks and the Bulls have had terrible seasons, so fed-up fans may not be inclined to support losing teams. Attendance at Bulls games has dropped, too. Yes, but: These franchises have had losing seasons before. CHSN declined to give an update on Xfinity negotiations and wouldn't give Axios their subscriber numbers for their streaming service. Zoom in: The Sox are making moves to strengthen their broadcast after much criticism last year. They revamped their reporting team to include Brooke Fletcher and Connor McKnight while retaining legendary color commentator Steve Stone. That may not matter if fans can't get, or won't search for the channel. The bottom line: The White Sox may lose more than just a record amount of baseball games. They are in jeopardy of losing their fanbase, too. https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/02/24/white-sox-broadcasts-chsn-ratings https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2025/01/31/bulls-blackhawks-sky-chicago-chsn-courtney-vandersloot

CHSN - Make A Deal NOW We have been Comcast/Xfinity customers for 13+ years. One of the reasons we have continued with cable services is because we love watching sports. We are avid Chicago Blackhawks fans living in Indiana. Not being able to watch the Hawks this year is causing us to want to discontinue cable services! We are already unhappy with the price increase we've experienced in the last several months and partnered with the difficulty in speaking to a live person willing to help us with that cost, this could be the final straw for us to finally cut the cord! Do your customers a solid and make a deal for CHSN! That alone would be more valuable than the joke that is Xfinity Rewards!! EDIT: Just got the email that I'll see a bill credit of $3.75 for losing NBC Sports! Keep your $3.75 a month and GIVE US CHSN! Wonder how many e-mails they're getting begging and pleading to watch the White Sox, lol...? Probably a total number less than 100.

Or Ha-Seong Kim, since we'll be down to a $40ish million payroll after subtracting Robert, Jr., and Benintendi. Ofc, the White Sox believe that Montgomery's the long-term solution at SS. Time will tell. For today, the biggest "missed opportunity" is going to be not signing Austin Hays (based on similar spring training at-bats that have made Ryan Sweeney and Wilson Betemit look like All-Stars in previous springs).

Unless they start him at SS (when he's nearly a GG-caliber 3B, lol) with Colson Montgomery in Charlotte...

https://www.sportico.com/feature/mlb-team-values-rankings-list-1234715821/ White Sox worth $1.9 billion (17th overall) according to Sportico, which tends to be $200-300 million higher than Forbes in their numbers. Twins valued at $1.7 billion (19th)...but most believe the eventual winning bid (now that Ishbia's out) will end up in the $1.4-1.5 billion range...and there's now a definite possibility the Twins will taken off the market entirely by the Pohlad family. Of course, the possible cancellation of the 2027 season over the salary cap/floor issue looms large.

“I think they’d be the second-richest owners in baseball behind Stevie Cohen,” Pierzynski said. “So hey, let’s go. If they can start buying players and buying the superstars we need to win in today’s game? Yes, please. You know what they’re going to become? What the Cubs should become – a powerhouse in the Central.” https://www.newsbreak.com/670-the-score-560021/3827775197845-a-j-pierzynski-a-justin-ishbia-led-white-sox-organization-would-be-a-powerhouse https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/sports/chicago-white-sox/aj-pierzynski-justin-ishbia-led-white-sox-would-be-a-powerhouse here's the link to the AJ/670 The Score interview While full details of Ishbia’s agreement or understanding with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf remain unclear, many in the industry believe the development has paved the way for Ishbia – who’s building a mansion in Winnetka – to take over as the controlling owner sometime down the line. https://www.wnep.com/video/sports/locked-on/lo-chicago/white-sox-show/chicago-white-soxs-ownership-saga-a-new-era-with-justin-ishbia/535-b607518f-4c04-457d-92c4-53d42326db22 Yes, it can be merged back into the Ishbia greater thread, but this is intriguing enough that AJ is excited, lol...

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29655827/indians-zach-plesac-says-mike-clevinger-unfairly-cast-bad-people-covid-violation Just thought this was funny...from way back in 2020, in light of the new/er allegations about partying with a White Sox minority shareholder (who might suddenly be much richer as of this coming Friday's deadline)

The ensuing board arguments that will ensue when CLEVINGER makes the team and is named closer... Clevinger has minimal bullpen experience; all told, he has only pitched in relief 14 times in his career, and it’s been several seasons since he’s done anything but start. nearly all of his relief appearances – 13 of the 14 – came during his first two years in the big leagues, in 2016 and 2017 with Cleveland. It is possible that the veteran right-hander can adjust to a different role and prove to be at least a serviceable reliever, but whether or not Clevinger can handle closing duties is a much bigger question. He has a pretty wide pitch mix, which would likely have to be narrowed in order to have success in the bullpen. Throughout his career, Clevinger has used at least six different pitch types, though two of those – his sinker and curveball – he has used rather rarely in the past two seasons. During Clevinger’s successful 2023 season, batters struggled against his offspeed and breaking pitches, but of his primary repertoire, Clevinger’s cut fastball caused opposing hitters the most trouble, to the tune of a .250 batting average. Even though Clevinger does not seem like an obvious candidate to pitch in relief for any team, the White Sox are in such a state of rebuilding that they can afford to take such chances. They lost 121 games in 2024 and aren’t projected to do a lot better this year, so giving high leverage innings to a guy like Clevinger is a risk they can afford to take. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredwyllys/2025/02/21/will-the-white-sox-use-mike-clevinger-as-their-closer/

There's no such thing at google as a "cash considerations" statue...this was the closest match.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/mlb-26-and-under-power-rankings-nos-15-11-juan-soto-fernando-tatis-jr-among-the-young-superstars-powering-contenders-200029983.html #15-11 Padres Tigers Mets DBacks Rays etc. Down to the Top 10...Baltimore, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, Cincy, LAD, Brewers, Boston, Pittsburgh and Washington

lOWEN WHITE REVENGE GAME (he’s not on the pitching schedule for today...which is clearly the primary reason for the loss)

This is all that's left of "The Process." Denver Broncos On May 25, 2018, Sam Hinkie met with the Denver Broncos to provide analytical advice after their first losing season since 2010.[31]

They are until the White Sox are decent again...but for now Iowa women's basketball/Indiana Fever are more entertaining. Or the Dodgers...even.

Just going say for the record that Kimbrel's unlikely to make the HoF now. Jansen probably 40-45% chance...maybe he gets in, eventually. Better than Lee Smith, for example...but it's not an open and shut case.

Charlis Haeger He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot at the Grand Canyon on October 3, 2020, shortly after the suspected murder of his ex-girlfriend.[2]

You realize that Braden was playing in college a year ago...and never even played MiLB/shortseason in his draft year last year? He's looking at a late 2026/early 2027 arrival. And that's still pretty accelerated for a college draftee from a power program. And almost all the scouting reports have him playing RF due to his arm strength. Did we not learn any lesson rushing Andrew Vaughn and Madrigal to a lesser extent when they weren't ready or were out of position?

What did Montgomery do besides strike out? He was challenged more than his first game defensively???

Effective, very effective and "HoF" are too quite different issues, though.

He went through one very rough patch with Milwaukee too...Hader's an interesting case, because he was more of a high-leverage, multiple innings lefty the first part of his career and didn't pile up massive save numbers.

How did W.Gonzalez look? Obviously his final line doesn't look so good... Has to be better than Victor Diaz lol.

New Japanese infielder to pair with our other up the middle?

He's blowing his HoF chances by hanging on too long. If he left the game at his peak...would have made it arguably. Same with Kenley Jansen and maybe even Hader.

That's half of it...opportunity.