caulfield12

Turn your point around, though...realistically, which pitchers other than Michael Kopech were you expecting dramatically better results out of? Other than Kopech, you're left trying to blame Katz for disappointing performances out of expensive veteran relievers and/or blaming him for Liam's injury/mistreatment...and 100% his early return was a combination of Sox PR/Boyer and Liam himself being so willing to push himself to the limits. Lynn was/is pretty obviously cooked. Keuchel was, as well. It's not exactly like he had Wheeler and Nola to work with here. Spider tack and sheer aging/physical health deterioration there. If you had a SoxTalk poll of who is to blame for Michael Kopech's career...I would venture to guess that only 10-15% of that (at most) would fall back on Katz. So we're left with a very incomplete record. And even "disappointments" like Reynaldo Lopez got paid "generational family wealth" upon leaving the Sox. Dane Dunning has settled into a 5th starter/swingman role, but it's not like the Rangers trusted him in the heart of their postseason rotation either, fwiw. That leaves who exactly, Aaron Bummer?

Otoh what happened to Giolito after departing the White Sox...? He got paid, then completely collapsed. You could argue Rodon was subsequently built up enough with SF to get a generational wealth contract (after 2022) with a 6ish fWAR...as the Sox realistically had zero interest in resigning him from the get go in 2021 and were even afraid of the QO being accepted. I'm more willing to blame Rodon on TLR and Katz not feeling tenured enough to challenge him, like Cooper and Schneider would have done with Ozzie. Michael Kopech remains the biggest enigma of the rebuild...but how much of that is on him personally, versus the coaching staff?

Clevinger was better than he was in SD. Santos Scholtens Cueto Martin all outperformed expectations. Cease's 2022. Rodon's 2021... or was that a different pitching coach? Let's see how all those guys they traded away do in their new settings first. I would venture a guess Joe Kelly is the only one with significantly better numbers.

Well, Snell to SF doesn't help as that's the first or second toughest division in baseball. Obviously depends on offers, who's the GM assuming Preller's job is on the line...and any of their pitching prospects looking like they would be ready for 2025.

Team Cy Young will be ... Dylan Cease "Cease’s arrival does two crucial things for the Padres’ rotation. First, it stabilizes the front end. Both Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish appear healthy, but their 2023 seasons ended early due to injury. Cease, meanwhile, is a frontline arm who has made his full contingent of starts in each of his four full seasons. “It’s a power repertoire,” said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. “But power with durability.” Second, Cease mitigates the risk at the back end. Michael King’s transition to the rotation is easier in the No. 4 spot. Meanwhile, the rotation race is suddenly a battle for one place instead of two. On top of that, Cease is just … good. He struggled last season, but playing in front of a much better defense in San Diego, here’s guessing that Cease will look more like the pitcher who finished runner-up in AL Cy Young voting in 2022." MLB.com AJ Cassavell

Well, minus one Brady...and now Stroud.

After lavishing a record $3.9 billion on free agents in the winter of 2022-23, MLB teams pulled back this offseason as questions about the future of local television rights roiled the industry. More than one-third of the $2.9 billion in free agent spending this winter went to two players: a record $700 million for Shohei Ohtani -- $680 million of which is deferred for a decade -- and $325 million for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two historic financial behemoths, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, committed less than $50 million to free agents. Eight teams -- the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians and Colorado Rockies -- guaranteed less than $15 million. Disillusionment among players, sources said, burbled in recent days after the Giants released veteran infielder J.D. Davis, who had beaten the team in an arbitration hearing for a $6.9 million salary. Because salaries won in arbitration cases are not guaranteed -- a long-standing rule that was not changed in the most recent labor negotiations -- the Giants were required to pay Davis only one-sixth of his salary ($1.15 million). He signed a one-year deal with Oakland for an additional $2.5 million. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39763512/sources-mlbpa-call-majority-players-ask-removal-bruce-meyer

Bob Melvin/Snell connection from SD over the last two seasons...

Like Hahn's constantly mentioning of all the FA's he finished 2nd or 3rd with, lol...had the seat at the table, etc. Won the AL Executive of the Year, so he can't possibly be THAT bad, can he?

If you could only go back to before the 2020 postseason with that same announcement...

Because they were only on the hook for $3 million and were finally going to get their money's worth out of him...

Carlos Torres...

If they want to do that, simply make him the closer. The rest of baseball isn't ready to accept him as a potential starter until he gets over 100 IP...and that's unlikely to happen n Year 1 of this experiment. Meanwhile, there will be half of the teams in baseball wanting to acquire for the back end of their bullpens if he can remain healthy and effective into the heart of the summer months.

The problem is that Chris Sale learned how to pitch in the mid to lower 90's so he could handle a starter's workload...and only use his mid to high 90's stuff when he really needed it to bail him out of a jam. Don Cooper 101 The problem here is that it seems Crochet is just going out there throwing full bore like he's coming out of the bullpen in the 9th inning. And he's not using his secondary pitches nearly enough...just relying on blowing away hitters, especially those on the LH side of the plate. But that's just raw stuff and not with a refined slider like Sale had. Whatever it is, he has to come close to developing at least one secondary off-speed pitch that might not ever be "plus plus" but is at least major league average and that he can control confidently enough to throw it for strikes and get hitters off the fastball.

March 27th looks like pretty much the same weather as currently in Chicago... Maybe JR is trying to get the most relievers possible into the game with one of the best opportunities of the season to sell concessions and souvenirs.

Any early weather projections? Anything below 40 degrees seems dubious at best...

Well...this is the diametrical opposite of the SoxTalkers consensus of holding him down at Charlotte to claim back a year of control.

It's like they're messing with Iowa. They've already split with K-State...playing a team three times in one season is never easy. Could potentially end up with in-state rival Drake if they somehow beat Colorado and KSU. That's unlikely. LSU and Reese/Mulkey again. Then you have Princeton underseeded as well if they can get past WVU and into the second round...thankfully that would be at home. But Chen is a really tough guard matchup. Finally Creighton in the same group...knocked them out of the tourney two years ago with an Iowa transfer playing a key role in that big upset at CHA. https://sports.yahoo.com/march-madness-what-the-ncaa-womens-tournament-selection-committee-got-right-and-wrong-020446625.html

White Sox: LHP Garrett Crochet Crochet expressed an offseason desire to take on the starting pitching challenge, the White Sox agreed and the southpaw has been a man on a mission during this month in Arizona. His talent already was known from parts of three seasons in the bullpen, but Crochet has attacked the strike zone during this starting opportunity, with his fastball touching 100 mph. He has struck out 12 without a walk and allowed seven hits over nine scoreless innings. Crochet could end up anywhere from the White Sox starter on Opening Day to working as a multi-inning hurler out of the bullpen when the team breaks camp. -- Scott Merkin Seems like Garrett has definitely made the team and killed off all chances of clawing back another year of control...just have to wait and see how long it all lasts.

OU Indiana Ole Miss Memphis St. John's and Pitt turn down NCAA invites...need to double check on Seton Hall. Looks like they are playing St. Joe's.

McCarthy was the other player offered. Garfield and Getz went with Fletcher instead. Peterson a utility guy the last 4-5 years. Grichuk not much better.

Somehow I would dare to say the technology in Korea in a domed stadium is 5x more accurate. OTOH Sox games all spring long haven't even had live game data on the MLB Gameday app. Just gave up a homer. Fastball down just a tick. Time zone adjustment not very fun...always the worst on second day. Out after two. 30 pitches.

Cease with two strikeouts in the first...97.2-97.4 with fb slider at 86-87. Curve around 80ish. HaSeong Kim just hit a two run homer... in his homecoming.

If they are just "neutral" moves in terms of team talent level and 40 man roster competitiveness from last season...that would be a massive victory.

But you also know Bagent is going to put them in a 1-3 or 2-4 hole to start off the season. Unless he has problems with picking up the offense, Williams will be the starter from Day 1. That is just who he has always been...unquestionably, THE MAN ever since high school in MD.