caulfield12

“On Friday, we got our answer to what they found, as bench coaches Fredi Gonzales and Jose Hernandez were let go, along with the big one, co-hitting Coach Ryan Fuller. I have nothing for Hernández. I have yet to learn if he was let go or simply chose to move on. However, Gonzales is surprising to me. He was Hyde’s right-hand man, and it makes me wonder if he is leaving for a better job elsewhere. When Hyde would be ejected (no, it wasn’t often enough), Fredi filled in as stand-in manager, so this is quite surprising. We can only assume they wanted a new voice, or Fredi is eyeing a promotion elsewhere.” O’s Part Ways With Several, Including Co-Hitting Coach Ryan Fuller by Jared Pinder · October 14, 2024 10:37 am

Can just imagine that thread if BOTH of them are back...especially Sheets. They (Sox-friendly media) kind of put it out there last year that Vaughn was going to be one of the next generation of "team leaders," so would still be pretty shocked to see him elsewhere.

The real meat on this bone is Fuller. I don’t know what happened to this man. Early in his career, he preached patience at the plate with power mixed in, so what changed this year? This might get a little tinfoil-hatty, but I fully believe either Fuller or Elias wanted to implement a change in the approach of the organization’s hitters. They wanted to get more balls into the air and hit the ball harder; here is the problem: that doesn’t work for all hitters. Take Rutschman and Jackson Holliday. Holliday wasn’t a power hitter in the minors; he wasn’t the number-one prospect because of his power. Everything else made him unique, so why does it look like he is swinging for the fences on every swing and now has a massive hole in his swing that wasn’t there last year? Adley, like Holliday, was a line-drive hitter with a patient approach, so why did he pop up so much this year? Again, I don’t know what was done with these hitters. Fuller could have just been doing what he was told, and it seems weird for him to change his approach that much. Again, he was a guy who preached patience, so why did it change this year? I don’t have the answers; no fan does, and the only ones who do are in the Warehouse. In Fuller’s defense, he didn’t take one at-bat for this team; he might not have been the one to spearhead this new approach, instead simply following what Elias told him to do. He is gone now, and Elias wouldn’t have fired him without cause. One thing we’ve learned about Mike is that doesn’t just fire people to appease a loud majority of angry fans (if he did, Hyde wouldn’t still be here). There was a reason why Fuller was let go, and maybe it was because there were just too many cooks in the kitchen. The Orioles technically had three hitting coaches last year. Three! Most teams have one, so maybe that was the impetus here. Perhaps players were getting overloaded with data, and the message from the Warehouse to the player was getting lost in translation. https://eutawstreetreport.com/ryan-fuller/ Seems pretty clear that O's fans believe he was fired...or certainly pushed out, with the other two hitting instructors remaining in place. Luckily, the White Sox don't have many hitters like Rutschman, Holliday (or James McCann, one of the biggest hitting "culprits" in the postseason)...

https://www.mlb.com/news/the-white-sox-case-for-keeping-garrett-crochet Of course, what the cost of an extension would be and the unlikelihood of JR authorizing not considered in the article... It's understandable to see fans praising certain returns in mock Crochet trades on social media and scoffing at others. They wholeheartedly embraced the last rebuild, and despite being disappointed by the long-term results, they once again understand the team’s current rough situation with a hope for better days in the not-too-distant future. But think of Crochet working at the front of the pack of starters just mentioned. Much like a good card player, if you have an ace, you really don’t want to discard it. Check out what Tarik Skubal did for a solid but not always spectacular Detroit team that ultimately reached the playoffs and won its Wild Card Series as a prime example. Gee, this sounds like a familiar argument, right?

That would kind of screw up the Crochet trade market...knowing the White Sox pretty much HAD to trade him before Opening Day. That would remove the bluff out of Getz gamesmanship, whatever you want to call it.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5921465/2024/11/14/roki-sasaki-free-agency-dodgers/?source=freeweeklyemail&campaign=602288&userId=310262 Why Roki Sasaki, the top prospect with ace upside, isn’t necessarily destined for Dodgers

So Sanders isn't interested in the Cowboys or anywhere else. Or so he says with two games remaining in a regular season that could end with a berth in the College Football Playoff. Why would Sanders kill those vibes by acknowledging that he's considering employment elsewhere? If, indeed, he actually is. Will there be an opening in Dallas? Sanders wasn't asked directly about the Cowboys on Tuesday. But a day after the Cowboys' blowout loss to the Texans to drop them to 0-5 at home, the implication was clear. https://sports.yahoo.com/deion-sanders-dismisses-chatter-about-leaving-colorado-for-cowboys-i-love-it-here-i-truly-do-232305097.html

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2024/11/19/walker-mckinven-leaves-brewers-for-white-sox-bench-coach-role/76430576007/ Interesting that Venable was the one to make the announcement via web-based daily baseball talk show Foul Territory. McKinven is a Chicago-area native and graduate of New Trier High School in suburban Winnetka. A former pitcher in independent-league ball, McKinven joined the Brewers organization in 2016 as an advance video scout. He worked his way up from there, officially joining the uniformed coaching staff in 2020. By 2021, he had been promoted to associate pitching, catching and strategy coach, where he played an integral role in day to day game planning and catching defense. Brewers backstops including Omar Narváez and William Contreras took major strides defensively under the guidance of McKinven. Last season, McKinven was given the title of run-prevention coordinator. When there were pitching decisions to be made, McKinven would not be found too far from Pat Murphy and pitching coach Chris Hook. McKinven becomes the second departure from last season’s major-league coaching staff this offseason. First base coach Quintin Berry previously joined former Brewers manager Craig Counsell’s staff on the Chicago Cubs.

Would Abreu REALLY want to come back to Chicago after watching the ongoing disaster of the last two seasons? Getz and Venable would need to do an incredible sales job, that's for sure. I mean, why not Tim Anderson at SS, while we're at it? We actually have a "youngish/in his prime" 1B in Vaughn, but nobody that really stands out at the SS position...Baldwin and Amaya are the two best candidates right now. Just don't see it happening, realistically. And is it really going to sell any additional tickets...to watch a clearly washed Abreu? We already suffered with Konerko nearing the end of his career, wasn't that enough? Not even sure PR Winter Ball is even at a consistent AA pitching level at this point...maybe?

Not to mention the marginal returns on Santos due to injury returns and picking the wrong DBacks player for Mena McCarthy could at least have been flipped for something based on last season. And now we're stuck starting guys like Fletcher DeLoach Julks Colas in the OF...all with pretty limited upsides.

Carmela is the successor to the Campfire Milkshake?

Probably the Mets were unwilling to guarantee Fedde a spot in the starting rotation...and Fedde simply bet on himself if given an opportunity that he could put together a solid season.

Zaidi said Tuesday the team’s decisions to cut Nick Ahmed and trade away Austin Slater were about giving younger players more opportunities. He specifically mentioned Fitzgerald and outfielder Luis Matos, another 22-year-old. The Giants have already seen that pay off this year with 24-year-old outfielder Heliot Ramos, who didn’t get his first MLB game this season until May 8 but was just named to the All-Star team. https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-casting-aside-longtime-top-prospect-19565620.php Of course, Zaidi got fired, so what does he know, lol? Slater, fwiw, was their longest-tenured player after Brandon Belt left for TOR. So essentially that spot could theoretically have gone to Elko instead...who will be 26 on Opening Day.

Have heard that Rogan and Bill Maher were interested in coaching...

Like bees to honey...with the added bonus of a political twist.

To be fair, Martinez was coming off a 1.4 fWAR season in SD, but was given $26 million for TWO years by Cincy, so $13 million per year based on 16 GS in the majors or $7.5 and the KBO. Martinez was worth less than Fedde in 2023, but getting 3.5-4.0 fWAR/bWAR for $13 million would still be considered a very good FA signing, all things considered. Not a steal exactly had Martinez actually signed with the Sox, you'd have the third best signing overall after Fedde and DeJong...and you'd even have the trend of the Sox taking pitchers out of Korea and having success with them as something to hang your hat on.

Do the Bears actually want to pay $10 million to Sanders? Right now he's on a $29.5 million, five year deal...his son will be drafted in the first round next year and he's got one year left with Travis Hunter, in theory. The combination of this success intertwined with Deion’s personality has brought the school more attention than it could have ever imagined. Colorado’s online team store sales were up 2,544% last year. The school’s social media accounts have added more than a million followers over the past two years, and the Buffaloes played in five of college football’s top 25 most-watched games last year, selling out every single home game. .... The Flutie Effect often takes a few years to play out. However, Colorado has expedited this process by averaging 7.2 million viewers during its prime-time games last year. As a result, the Boulder-based school received a record 68,000 applicants for fall 2024, a 20% increase from 2023. The school ended up extending offers to 51,000 students, and enrollment increased 3.4% year-over-year, from 37,153 in 2023 to 38,428 in 2024. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/why-deion-sanders-30-million-contract-is-a-bargain-for-colorado/ar-AA1tzVOS?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/41180/triston-casas He would be the best young hitter on the White Sox but imminently replaceable just like W.Abreu. Of course, they also have Yoshida and Giolito on the books...the key is that younger core progressing at the upper levels, and pitching pitching pitching. Feel like the days of half measures are limited for Boston...especially if Toronto's willing to spend for one last bite at the apple with Guerrero/Bichette/Springer.

Sounds about right. Might as well play Cedar Rapids Reds games from the 1980s with Eric Davis...would outdraw the Sox still. Or big rivalry games with the Waterloo squad.

Great...the next Tobias Myers lol.

Harbaugh continues to impress with the Chargers...

Orlando might have the financial base, but the nature of all those amusement parks being the top priority for visitors and the fact that you would be relying on supplemental tourist traffic (not unlike Las Vegas) complicates matters, not to mention the ongoing political dispute between Disney and the governor's office. Then there's the weather issue (dome or no dome)...would probably be an outdoor facility to fit in with the vibe of that area. Not to mention you're starting to run into Braves' territory going further north...built-in through all of those years of TBS/TNT and connected by the interstate.

Rhttps://www.dailybulletin.com/2024/10/29/dodgers-franchise-stadium-giant-sports-complex-coming-to-ontario/ Yes, they just spent $100 million on renovations…but that’s pocket change compared to the Ohtani Betts and Matsumoto deals. And twenty years is an eternity, the Rangers had three stadiums in that timespan.

Between that and wrapping the bat around his head...too many moving parts.

But it won't be replaced in the next 20 years?