caulfield12

https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/237219/ Merrill from MD, a state (like IN) not exactly renowned for producing MLB talent other than Harold Baines. To the majors at 21 with just two full minor league seasons after being drafted. Only 800 minor league at-bats AND an unexpected position change to CF with just one MLB spring training to prepare. Both players ascended to similar spots around the Top 15-20 MiLB range, but Merrill held and even moved up into the Top 8-10 if I remember correctly.

Another that he was overly concerned with velocity since his legendary Texas HS baseball days (set some crazy mark like 103-105 MPH) and was known to be trying to throw a ball through a wall (wanted even MORE velo back then) rather than being a pitcher (simply a raw thrower who relied on stuff mostly and wasn't refined or mature).

At one point, though, he was briefly considered the top RH pitching prospect in baseball...so let's not act like he was chopped liver, either.

There wouldn't be many shocked or surprised posters, that's fore sure...

Merrill is a much more dynamic fast-twitchy athlete than the Montgomery at Charlotte in 2024...the suggestion that Colson would play nearly GG level defensively in CF in Chicago replacing Robert would be met by more shaking heads of Sox fans who have nearly seen it all.

Or that they would have heavily invested in Lopez when they didn’t know how to effectively utilize him with the Sox over many years?

It’s not like Cease is that far off…Top 2-8 performer two of last three years in MLB and a much better health profile overall. Granted, for a playoff team to win a Game 7, you have to go with Crochet or Skubal true ace ability every time…versus being a key cog in making 30-32 starts and just getting your team to the postseason.

Like the former Cubs' pitcher with 11 fingers...

Luckily not considering Dylan's post-season disappointments...nor Skubal's, although that was such as anomaly. Still think Sale needs another 2-3 solid seasons to guarantee his place in Cooperstown.

We should actually be praising or congratulating ex Sox Cody Asche (banner star at SoxTalk) for surviving the Red Wedding over at the Warehouse/Camden Yards. Must have made a really strong impression in Low A ball (Clearwater/Phillies) in 2021 to jump directly to another big league club the after just one season in the upper minors...especially since BALT doesn't even have their own team in the Florida State League to "scout" him as a coach. wikipedia Asche quickly progressed through the Phillies' minor league system, briefly dabbling at second base before predominantly sticking to third base and left field. At both positions, minor league scouts regarded his defensive ability as sub-optimal. His career with the Phillies ended in 2016, and he played one additional season in the Chicago White Sox organization before bouncing around several minor league organizations. Philadelphia Phillies On March 31, 2021, it was announced that Asche was hired as the hitting coach for the Clearwater Threshers, the Low-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.[58] Baltimore Orioles Asche joined the Baltimore Orioles as the organization’s upper–level hitting coordinator beginning with the 2022 season.[59] He was promoted to manager Brandon Hyde's coaching staff as its offensive strategy coach for the 2023 season on November 8, 2022.[2] On November 5, 2024, the Orioles named Asche their hitting coach for the 2025 season.[60]

$7,555,500 Pool Cincinnati Reds Detroit Tigers Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners Tampa Bay Rays $6,908,600 Pool Arizona Diamondbacks Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals Pittsburgh Pirates White Sox in the $6,261,600 Pool (mid-tier) Bottom 4 $5,646,200 Pool Houston Astros St. Louis Cardinals $5,146,200 Pool Los Angeles Dodgers (penalized $1,000,000 for Ohtani) San Francisco Giants

Worth more or less than Grossman, Pham, DeJong or Flexen on the trade market? I guess it's better for Venable to have some veteran bats he trusts on the bench rather than having to rely on someone like Shewmake, Sheets, Amaya/Baldwin, etc. Unless he's toast already...

See Tyler Flowers back in the day...AFL standout who eventually became more known for his defense when at that point he was almost the opposite.

Hitting .320 at Charlotte is like hitting .240 - .250 at Birmingham...

It's not intelligent if it's based on a one or two week hot streak in PR against AA equivalent pitching... Not to mention relying on the heat to get his bat going...can't imagine his numbers in April and May when he struggled then in the best of times.

"A source told MLB.com on Friday that co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, bench coach Fredi González and Major League coach José Hernández will not be returning next season. The club has not yet confirmed the departures. On Monday, a source said that co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte will also not be back in 2025, which the club has not yet confirmed. Borgschulte will be returning to the Twins to serve as a big league hitting coach. In 2024, Baltimore had a trio of hitting coaches: Fuller and Borgschulte, as well as offensive strategy coach Cody Asche. It is not yet known how the O’s staff will be filled out in ‘25, but Fuller and Borgschulte will both be gone." https://www.mlb.com/news/orioles-making-coaching-staff-changes-for-2025

“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?