caulfield12

https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/04/these-guardians-are-no-longer-strangers-to-the-big-stage-joe-noga.html

Oneil Cruz is one of my favorite players to watch on both sides of the ball. Reynolds on a tear and Trade Target 1A to Ohtani. Bae coming up clutch and K'Brian Hayes the first player they've extended long-term since the Polanco Era of misfires.

Not falling apart the second half and having your bench fully prepared to step in was the main reason for that strategy...

Yeah, the second half 2003/2006/2010/2012 disappointing finishes stay with you. 2000 team fell apart pitching-wise and offense cooled off...dead team walking when Seattle series started. Basically 1984 and 2008...and that was a battle for survival with the Twins down the stretch after Quentin broke his hamate and lost the MVP. So twice in roughly 40 years? Not exactly the greatest of odds.

Looking at the Charlotte and Birmingham rosters pitching-wise...pretty bereft of talent. There's not going to be much financial leeway at the ASB.

Two wins lol. One against A's with Giolito then the Leury GS game against Houston.

Blow up the Padres! Two debacles in last three games. All hope is lost. Braves are simply too good this year with a healthy Acuna Jr.

Except they were very flat the previous series against the Yankees in NYC...

at least the Bears MAYBE have a future star QB if they can only manage to keep him healthy/protected

Which Sox pitcher is going to take a massive step forward and be the best pitcher in baseball the last two months of the season and into the postseason and the first two months of 2024? Kopech? Clevinger? Obvious to answer Cease, but we're already projecting him to be Top 5 Cy Young so hard to expect much more out of him. Lynn and Giolito pretty much look they "are what they are" at this stage of their careers...

Sunday lineup on a getaway day when it would be nice to take a home series? He reminds me a bit more of Jerry Manuel so far.

Even Bulldog Hibbard lost faith last year. El rockin was the only true optimist left. Flavum even abandoned his the team must go 14-3 and Guardians 8-9 to tie thing there at the end of the year. Look at Balta with his self imposed or otherwise exile. Tex and PTAC are probably the most grounded in the real world...and they suffered last season.

Isn't this the exact same as the Doubting Thomas story from the Bible? The majority tend to be in that camp, rather than taking things on blind faith. With all the analytics info out there now...and then there's Jay Cuda every day to give you 981 reasons Hahn will fail. Or Jim M. Or fill in the blank. Basically, there's almost no reason left to invest our faith and hearts in Rick Hahn and JR when we perhaps as fans care just as much or more about the White Sox than they do about their own personal business interests. What did Hahn do last year? He got really mad and slammed a cabinet door, lol? Harrelson living and dying with the team is the way many Sox fans used to be in their teens, 20's, maybe even 30's. When you get to be 40 or older, you realize it's the same old story with this organization, just another day. We don't even dare dream of a Shohei Ohtani or Roki Sasaki on the Sox. The closest approximation is winning the bidding against StL for Luis Robert Jr. But Benintendi being the biggest signing in team history where he barely held into his big league career with the Royals is par for the course.

Can we honestly expect anything close to peak Hendriks, though? He was off a bit more than usual LAST year...let alone with this type of health situation. If Lopez falters, the pen is in a world of hurt even on the back end relying on the likes of Bummer, Graveman and Kelly.

Is he the foreign version of Jared Kelenic...?

Not sure if they're counting Chris Getz as the dude from Michigan. Next we're going to have Jim Thome sacrificed on the JR altar like they did with Ventura. Or maybe AJ Pierzynski?

Chris Sale finally won a game on his long-delayed comeback tour...

Sox fans typically decide on their team's chances in April...if they don't start out or at least over .500, it's a much tougher sell in May and June.

How many Bulls' fans think they have any chance in the postseason? Mavericks' fans would rather enter the draft lottery than the NBA version of the NIT.

Apathy is the biggest enemy that Brooks Boyer doesn't have any practical way to counter...he's certainly not a visionary like Bill Veeck who knows/knew how to creatively operate with a shoestring budget.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bally-sports-mlb-files-emergency-192743536.html https://theathletic.com/4385805/2023/04/05/mlb-diamond-sports-bankruptcy-twins-guardians/ Fwiw, Twins in the last year of their deal...expiring contract, so the Reds, Guardians, DBacks will be the real-time testing ground for what happens next in the MLB/Bally/Diamond/Sinclair streaming wars.

Pollock is gone too. Already has his own two homer game this week for the M's. Yoan and Jimenez if they keep getting hurt...?

We really don't have a clue whether Jeremy Haber is a genius because he got into Stanford, lol. Seems for now more like a Hahn "yes man" rather than having his own unique individual identity or personality.

Hi mom!