caulfield12

Ole Miss....huge dude. Almost thirty homers in the minors last year. Tenth round pick in 2022.

The next Palka. Well...sorta.

First team to bat around this season comes in Inning #1. Grifol should have had someone warming there.

Vaughn is supposedly in the best shape of his life. There's that.

Hopefully Katz doesn't have PTSD from so many mound visits last year.

Well not the greatest Sox debut. Surprised ATL gave him up with those numbers...

Need the first reliever of many this season. Must be around 25 pitches already.

PCA with the Royal Blue hair job.

How is Schiffrin? Listening to radio feed.

Last year of Chavez's career likely IF he makes the team. Finally got an out.

Well that didn't take long swinging 3-0. Three in a row reach. Well Vaughn might have hit a homer were it not against the wind.

What have they done to be rewarded with THREE times the biggest ask in the history of MLB (Tampa Bay’s $650 million) in public subsidies and even 2/3rd’s of a billion over the biggest public subsidy for an NFL team in Tennessee? He doesn’t have to be Stan Kroenke…but at least that guy and even Ricketts put his money where his mouth is. Now if someone with a proven record like Theo Epstein was coming in to run this whole thing…the public would have vastly more faith than they do in the Reinsdorfs (seems the son isn’t even allowed to speak to the media on the Sox), Getz and Grifol.

Merkin Changes were made to the coaching staff, with Marcus Thames, Jason Bourgeois, Drew Butera, Grady Sizemore and Matt Wise now adding their expertise. Getz set out to improve the team defensively, making the White Sox a comfortable and hopefully attractive place for pitchers, which is baseball’s most important commodity. He also consciously added players who were clubhouse presences, and players with a history of winning. “I sat down with players. I had some serious conversations with staff, and it wasn't a witch hunt by any stretch,” Getz said. “I was trying to identify patterns, and then set out to improve those areas. It was front office interactions, the coaching staff, the resources, the medical, nutrition, any sort of process that exists that could potentially improve. “Clearly, there is more work to be done. We need to learn more about our team. I feel like we’ve got the right people to evaluate that, the right people to enhance the skill-sets that we have and make sound decisions moving forward. You just want to stack good decision on top of good decision, and you look up and you are in a pretty good spot.”

That’s undoubtedly more disheartening than all of the 2017-18 lineups. Only Ramos to really be excited about watching.

Caleb Williams...cap space...another high first round draft pick, etc. The future of the Bears at the moment looks light years brighter, at least on the surface. Sox fans have practically lost all hope.

Then they need someone who can really sell it and patiently explain all the details and nuances. Not just act affronted and haughty when questioned professionally by someone outside of Crain's. Regardless of one's personal feelings for politics and sexual orientation, it would take someone with an eye for detail...amost a McKinsey type consultant like a Pete Butiegieg who has charisma and youth on their side. That's not the Reisdorfs nor is it Boyer. Every time JR opens his mouth (or Grifol for that matter), they have a unique talent for somehow making things worse...and making more enemies than friends. You simply can't just show up in a leather jacket in Springfield trying to act like a 55 year old, shake a few hands like it's 1930's politics all over again and expect to get your way anymore. Even if you are a billionaire and got away with it once.

Pedro?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/paul-sullivan-jerry-reinsdorf-face-015800271.html Didn’t take long for Paul Sullivan to go after Reinsdorf. But $1.8-2.0 billion JUST for the ball park? Are they building the Taj Mahal? The biggest hole in the argument is all those teams that struggle to draw 2 or even 1.5 million like the Rays and Orioles and Guardians and Twins and DBacks still being quite competitive. Or the Red Sox and Cubs making tons in profits/revenue and not reinvesting in payroll (although the Cubs might somehow thread the needle with a top farm system) without paying a remaining Big 4 FA. Or how bad the Angels have done drawing 2.5-3 million per season over the last decade plus.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/caitlin-clark-pete-maravich-meeting-172544892.html Column from Tim Layden, former SI basketball writer for 25+ years

With the exception of Freddy Garcia, nearly all of the vets added in 2004-2005 were unwanted or had previous bad reps (AJ Everett Jenks), coming off injuries or slumps (Dye Pods) or just plain unwanted (El Duque due to salary and Contreras salary and Boston troubles) and Politte/Vizcaino were nothing more than journeymen on last legs. Of course Iguchi was totally unknown and the KW video-scouted wild card. Cotts discovered a new life as a reliever after failing as a starter.

Roughly half her turnovers are on passes that would be caught at the next level and converted. Stuelke drops the ball or lets it go through her hands more than that. She had 47 against Penn State and all were within five feet of the rim. Kate Martin is the second best player and she won’t sniff the WNBA. I’m not even sure they make the NCAA’s without Clark setting up her teammates. For the highest scoring team in the country, they miss far too many bunny layups and putbacks. Greg, WNBA would have to be changed to 9 1/2 foot rims but that will never happen. The only dunks have basically been on breakaways straight to rim with an extended run up and nobody contesting. The reason there’s so much interest in Clark and S.Curry is their range…and how they create just enough space to get shots off so quickly. I think for the good of her career Clark needs to stop whining to the refs so much and get away from Iowa…hopefully the Olympic team first, but that will be a huge controversy if she makes it or doesn’t make it. WNBA vets are going to test her to no end. There’s a lot of jealousy and resistance, hard to get away from the racial aspects of her success, see comments from Swoopes, Jay Williams, etc. TV networks are dying to air every game she plays now, and the Olympic women’s bb has never been more than a side show due to talent disparity. It would be fun to watch Clark and Ionescu eviscerate Stephen A. Smith and Williams in a 3 point contest, but it will be Curry and Klay or something like that instead at the ASG.

Teams are figuring out how to stop Clark to an extent…and forcing or daring the rest of the team to score. Most Iowa fans are back to expecting a Sweet 16 and out with first two games of tourney on campus. Just not enough athleticism compared to Carolina LSU Pac-10 teams. Apparently Morrow from DePaul just took the best deal and Iowa couldn’t match her financial demands. That’s the type of player they needed to relieve the scoring pressure from Clark. With all her close friends on the team graduating and lacking the patience to tutor 5 freshmen…she’s off to the Fever where her b/f is already working with the Pacers. I guess Hawk fans will still be optimistic Iowa can beat OSU at home, but B10 over now. They had leads of 12, 14 and 18 late against OSU, Nebraska and MD…blew all those leads and lost two. Nebraska loss seems to have punctured their confidence. Lisa Bluder is getting exposed a bit now, as she’s not quite an elite coach OR recruiter but very successful overall considering all the inherent limitations. Indiana is a very good team but still not as good as last season with Grace Berger having graduated.

Certainly one way to simultaneously kill local sports (talk) radio in Chicago…

It’s Garver I think, former Twin/Ranger. It’s criminal not to go for it with a young and cheap Julio Rodriguez. Well, $10 million then quickly escalating to $18 with his extension. Soon they’ll be arguing his star salary precludes any other big moves. All comes down to the starting pitching. Is Kirby still taking heat about his September shenanigans? Woo’s health? Comes down to Hancock and Miller…if they’re way out of it, this year might be the time to trade Luis Castillo for a haul, complicating the Cease market. Bullpen looks strong but Munoz is one of those stuff guys who could suddenly implode as closer…lots of power arms but that’s no guarantee, either, as Sox fans all know.

He forgot to mention how in successful seasons chopping off half the upper deck cut off…what…at least 4000-4500 seats from previous capacity?