caulfield12

AL Central -- Luis Robert Jr., White Sox To dethrone Bobby Witt Jr. as the top player in the AL Central, you need to find someone else who can be an elite power-speed-defense triple threat. Robert can be that player. He's just a year removed from a 38-homer, 20-steal season with +13 Outs Above Average in center field, where he was one of the stars of the Central. Robert's never been the best player in the division, but he's been close. That means there's a path for him to get to the top. Say Robert bounces back with a 30-30 season and Gold Glove-caliber defense at a premium position in 2025. That would put him in Witt's category. Robert might be a boom-or-bust player, but if he booms, it will be a big boom. https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-breakout-star-of-each-division-2025

please let me know the first time Dominican efforts have resulted in a 2 fWAR player...it's now 16 years and counting., unless you're going to count Tatis, Jr. as "SOX/Getz development"

Sox sites have probably lost 50-75% of active membership the last two years. The easy riches are long gone lol. JR has cut off the gravy train for a lot of related enterprises. In all seriousness...labors of love like ST are not nearly as appreciated as they should be. WSI is a perfect example of what can go awry. It's admirable to me that SoxMachine was able to find a new home for Fegan. JR has also hurt the sports media field, too.

I worked for a SAL team for two seasons in the 90s...pretty sure I understand why having a High A and Low A team is QUITE important. JR was one of the first to cut here, by the way. The White Sox had Bristol in the Appalachian League and Great Falls MT and also cut short season team budgeting as well. Cutting scouts etc...then look at the Dodgers adding teams to accommodate all their prospects. Not to mention how difficult it is for the Dominican kids to even get off the island to the US with fewer minor league teams

It hasn't worked nearly as well with Chelsea FC. That said...deferrals and payments in Bitcoin (Odell Beckham) are becoming increasingly common around pro sports. Apparently, Ohtani is also avoiding a huge chunk of CA state tax designing his payouts in this fashion.

If you burn the front office repeatedly, your inside sources will unsurprisingly disappear.

Thorpe Zapata, Eder, Gonzalez, Colson sliding, Fletcher Berroa Vargas Colas Ramos....if a lot more of those broke the right way. Mixed bag trending uo. for sure.

Kaz Okamoto at third?

Bohm the previous pick hasn't set Philly on fire exactly...

Hopefully that's not an omen of the eventual signing class ranking.

Streaming: Sunday's game will air on FOX and Jason Bennetti (PxP) and Christy Winters-Scott (Color) will call the action. Following the game, FOX and the FOX Sports App will carry Clark's jersey retirement live. USC at Iowa 1230 pm Sunday on FOX...Caitlin Clark jersey retirement ceremony live after the game

clearly already a finished product out of Oregon State...just turned out to be Kwan instead

Except he wasn't ranked #45-62 last July...just a high-rising prospect with TJS on the horizon.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/alex-bregman-reportedly-has-six-year-offer-from-club-other-than-astros.html Has to be Blue jays or Tigers with other six year offer out there...Toronto with one year opt out if Guerrero Bichette Scherzer all leave makes the most sense.

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/tim-anderson-ready-for-new-chapter-with-angels-2025 Kind of an apt summary for Sox fans too getting nothing out of the rebuild "We did fall short of what the plan was, and it was disappointing,” Anderson said. “We kind of got nothing out of the deal, you know? Just some real moments, but the whole goal was to win a World Series. So, we kind of fell short of that. It goes down to each individual, how bad you wanted it." "We can look over the course of those years, and we can tell who wanted it and who didn’t, from top to bottom. If you ask people throughout those years who laid it on the line and who fought for what we were trying to accomplish ... that’s enough to say about that.”

saw some of that yesterday at Botanical Gardens...and then a Russian "mermaid" in the aquarium performing almost got her head bit off but a fish, and a boy almost died in the Red Panda Villa due to a banded snake bite lol Started the bad luck Jinx with Uecker I guess. https://nypost.com/2025/01/29/us-news/giant-fish-bites-mermaid-performers-head-in-front-of-screaming-children/

How can the Twins not be Central Division favorites with the 6th best system and a bidding superstar in CF Walker Jenkins??

"They've only put themselves in a better position to compete with the White Sox..." KW

What's the origin of the phrase 'There is no such thing as bad publicity'? ‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity’ is often associated with Phineas T. Barnum, the 19th century American showman and circus owner. Barnum was a self-publicist of the first order and never missed an opportunity to present his wares to the public. As with many other supposed quotations, there’s no hard evidence to link the ‘bad publicity’ quotation to him.

Rangers and Mets emerging as two possible favorites for RHP Ryan Brasier...

Just trying to throw everyone off about favorite team with SD/Royals no longer as interesting or relevant...can't manage to be confused with being a closet Cubs' fan, though.

Ben Badler and Carlos Collazo talked about National League breakout prospects, and also were high on (Emil) Morales. “I like the swing, there’s a good eye for the strike zone. Big power for his age, and he’s 6’4 probably 195, close to 200 pounds,” Badler said. “The power potential is there for him to be a 25-30 home run guy. “Defensively I don’t think he’s a shortstop long-term, but it’s a rock solid third base profile. He has the arm, he has the hands, and certainly the offensive projection that suits him well over there.” Collazo mentioned Mike Sirota, the outfielder acquired from Cincinnati in the Gavin Lux trade, as a potential Dodgers breakout prospect this year. “I just like his overall skillset,” Collazo said. Eduardo Quintero, Justin Wrobleski and h.s. drafted Brendan Tuning were also prominently featured. https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/31/24355741/dodgers-prospects-emil-morales-eduardo-quintero-brendan-tunink-mike-sirota

Be relevant enough to be under consideration might be at least somewhat helpful. "Noah Syndergaard could not figure himself out in LA, Jack Flaherty fell off a cliff from budding ace to middling starter after joining the Dodgers at the last deadline. Do we remember the Lance Lynn experiment, who by the way was pretty solid for the Cardinals last season? Walker Buehler was never the same post-sticky stuff crackdown, and now he is looking for a new life in Boston. Even with all these resources, the Dodgers are not immune to failed experiments. But if you do enough things well and commit to putting the best product out there, you’ll reap the rewards. Right now, for the Dodgers, that means being the premiere destination for many stars and solid players alike." https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/31/24354453/dodgers-roster-destination-spot

"The Mets, meanwhile, have signed a number of starters this winter but lack impact at the front of their rotation and are already planning on using a six-man staff for 2025 that could make fitting Cease into the mix fairly easy (especially if a starter like David Peterson went the other way — speculatively speaking). A recent poll of MLBTR readers suggested that a slim majority of fans believe that San Diego should trade Cease, whether that be on his own or in addition to fellow rental starter Michael King. Could a deal get done before spring training?" https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/the-opener-moniak-yates-cease.html Lance Lynn as a reliever and Kendall Graveman drawing some interest....

https://sports.yahoo.com/even-with-all-the-dodgers-spending-there-will-never-be-a-salary-cap-in-major-league-baseball-204545090.html