caulfield12

Aaron Judge already homered...what new?

Downgrade from the past sounds like quite the familiar refrain this year...

2021 2005 2000 1993 1984 Five times in roughly fifty years...

I'll take things we probably don't want to hear from anyone other than Romy and Aaron Rowand for $400, Alex. Certainly not from LRobJr.

https://abc13.com/opening-day-astros-2023-framber-valdez-when-is-houston-justin-verlander/13006304/ Mr. Quality, that's who. Framber Valdez, the left-hander from the Dominican Republic who set a Major League Baseball record with 25 consecutive quality starts last season, got the nod to start in his second straight opening day game, the club announced Friday. While 'Stros fans now know who will get the chance to set the tone for a championship-defense season, the rest of the rotation order remains a mystery. As of Friday afternoon, ESPN mentions no probable starters for the four games after the March 30 contest against the Chicago White Sox. The "Worldwide Leader," though, currently has a probable rotation of Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, and Jose Urquidy. McCullers, however, is out indefinitely to start the season with a reported forearm strain. It's not yet known who will fill in for McCullers for the time being, but fan sentiment places that responsibility on Hunter Brown, who debuted last year. White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease, who finished second to Verlander in last year's AL Cy Young Award race, opposes Valdez."

See Anderson, Brian...2006...in theory. Until the pressure to hit his weight at least got to him.

Isn't the Thursday before Thanksgiving essentially the same as saying one week before Thanksgiving?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35998626/minor-leaguers-mlb-reach-tentative-deal-historic-1st-cba Minor leaguers, MLB reach tentative deal on 1st CBA, sources say 10:22 AM CT Jeff PassanESPN Minor league baseball players and Major League Baseball struck a tentative deal Wednesday on the first collective bargaining agreement between the sides that will more than double player pay, sources familiar with the agreement told ESPN. The deal, which will last for five years, comes after a rapid and successful effort last year by minor leaguers to unionize under the umbrella of the Major League Baseball Players Association and follows previous gains in housing and pay. The pay increases at each level are significant, according to sources, and will pay players in spring training as well as the offseason, outside of a dead period between the Thursday before Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. At each level, the increases will be: AAA: From $17,500 per year to $35,800 AA: $13,800 to $30,250 High-A: $11,000 to $27,300 Low-A: $11,000 to $26,200 Complex league: $4,800 to $19,800 The deal also will include the reduction of the Domestic Reserve List, which governs the number of players a team can roster outside of Latin America, from 180 to 165 starting in 2024. The union, which does not include players at teams' Dominican Republic complexes as part of its bargaining unit, fought MLB's efforts to reduce the reserve list during the lockout last year.

The White Sox are trying to rebound after a disappointing year The Chicago White Sox will enter 2023 with major questions in the outfield and at second base, which is not a recycled line from the past 20 seasons of White Sox previews. The Sox went into 2022 with massive exceptions and left the year a major disappointment. Then the team’s offseason was spotty. Andrew Benintendi was brought in on a $75 million deal to shore up one corner outfield slot. The team also brought in pitcher Mike Clevinger, who was the subject of a domestic-violence investigation shortly after he was signed. Clevinger will not be punished by MLB. If this team is going to get back to contention, it will need a strong showing from rookie outfielder Oscar Colas, who has performed well in spring training. It will also need new manager Pedro Grifol to prove he’s the answer. As long as Grifol doesn’t walk batters with 1-2 counts, he’ll be an upgrade for White Sox fans (hahaha). https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-opening-day-30-things-fans-need-to-know-after-an-action-packed-winter-130350327.html

Looks like I can see Yomiuri in the Tokyo Dome, maybe a Chiba Lotte Marines game at ZOZO Marine/Tokyo Dome (Roki Sasaki starting would be amazing, 4/5 odds)...Yakult Swallows on the 2nd or 11th at home. Unfortunately no time for a trip to Koshien/Kobe for the high school baseball tournament, annually held in August from what I understand.

Fine, then Caitlyn Clark...Iowa alums finally get something nice and shiny instead of the usual mired in B10 mediocrity. 1979 was the last Final Four for men's basketball under Lute Olson. No Sweet 16 since last year of Tom Davis in the late 90s who was ironically pushed out for "only" winning first round NCAA tourney games.

767 ops. 100 less than Yoshida's projected 867 with Boston. Solid defense and most runners hesitating on challenging his arm in RF. Good health would be nice too. 2-2.5 fWAR would be fine for a rookie.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-predictions-2023-division-winners-100553351.html Detroit writer picks Sox to win division but lose to CLE in WC, lol. Another picks them third.

https://www.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/mlb-specials/shohei-ohtani-next-team Guardians slight favorite at 13th best team odds to sign over White Sox (14th) to sign Shohei Ohtani. Sox tied with four other teams btw. Rays after Wander Franco deal shockingly not last. Rockies and Orioles remain enigmas spending-wise, and Detroit Tigers fans might feel a bit discouraged. Tampa Bay Rays +5000 Kansas City Royals +7500 Cincinnati Reds +7500 Colorado Rockies +7500 Oakland Athletics +7500 Detroit Tigers +7500 Baltimore Orioles +7500 Pittsburgh Pirates +7500

Mets the current favorite to sign Ohtani this offseason... "The Chicago Cubs have the second-shortest odds to land Ohtani if he leaves the Mets. At +500 odds, Chicago has proved that they are willing to spend big bucks in free agency. One needs to look no further than this past winter when they spent over $300 million to improve their roster. Next on the BetOnline odds board are the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and San Diego Padres who are all listed at +600." thesportsgeek.com

That's definitely ONE way to promote baseball and/or the Cubs... https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/russian-american-model-anne-v-163606059.html

Just the aesthetics of watching him pitch before inevitable TJ. And Murakami should be 1A to go along with Yamamoto...if he can stick at third realistically. Needs to get in better shape physically IMO but I guess some will argue it's a "baby fat" thing at that age. Thanks for the recommendation...on stadiums. http://www.jingu-stadium.com/english/

https://www.mlb.com/news/1st-mlb-hitter-power-rankings-of-2023 Acuna Jr. and Tatis Jr. with the most to prove here... Would be nice to see Luis Robert Jr.'s name mentioned again as well.

Interesting Hahn and KW don't even rate as influential anymore...lol.

$2.5 - $3.0 billion. Maybe $3.25. Melody Hobson already close to 40%.

Well he's a lot less likely to end in the Mexican League. Maybe back with Masahiro Tanaka in Japan. Plus, Dayan "El Tanque Cubano" Viciedo highlights! For the record, Sasaki is the one to watch right now.

"It started off as a joke. On a warm September day at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi, a 23,000-seat stadium in Sendai, Japan, located about 200 miles north of Tokyo, a group from Red Sox baseball operations sat in the stadium, scouting Orix Buffaloes star Masataka Yoshida. It was hard for them to miss the giant Ferris wheel towering over the park behind left field, a feature the club had installed in 2016 to entertain fans. The Red Sox had been scouting Yoshida for the better part of the last four years, mostly from afar with limited in-person views because of pandemic restrictions on travel. But on this day, vice president of scouting development and integration Gus Quattlebaum finally had a chance to return to Japan, and brought with him manager of baseball analytics Dan Meyer. They joined Pacific Rim coordinator Brett Ward and Japanese scout Kento Matsumoto, who’d been following Yoshida closely as the outfielder dominated the Nippon Professional Baseball league." https://theathletic.com/4029222/2022/12/24/red-sox-pursuit-masataka-yoshida/

Masataka Yoshida, LF 2022 stats: .336/.449/.559, 21 HR, 89 RBI (121 games with Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball league) Yoshida is one of the biggest enigmas in baseball heading into the new campaign. His numbers in Japan make him extremely intriguing, but five years and $ 90 million is a risky bet on a 29-year-old who has never played Major League Baseball. Will the contact skills translate? Can he play a solid left field or is he best served as a DH? If Yoshida can perform at a level even close to how he played in Japan, he'll be a huge part of Boston's success in 2023. If he struggles, expect the Red Sox front office to be under even more scrutiny. Best-case scenario for 2023: Yoshida's sensational bat-to-ball skills translate to the major leagues and he lives up to Fangraph's lofty projections, which have him finishing the season with a .867 OPS. Worst-case scenario for 2023: MLB talent evaluators say "I told you so" after questioning the Red Sox' decision to pay Yoshida $ 90 million in free agency. Yoshida proves to be below average defensively in left field and finds out the hard way that hitting in MLB is a completely different level of difficulty. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/red-sox-outfield-preview-can-masataka-yoshida-live-his-contract

I thought Kondoh was really impressive and would be the perfect 4th outfielder for a contender. Yamada it's now a couple of years past his prime...not unlike Iguchi when he came over after KW watched his scouting tape lol. Wish they would at least go out on a limb and try a reliever from Japan or Korea at least. Will actually be in Japan July 1st through the 12th. Want to see at least one game at the Tokyo Dome...the Ichiro Suzuki museum in Nagoya if still operated by his parents (Japanese website dead) and it would be really cool to see the new Hokkaido stadium but just won't have enough time to go to multiple cities other than Nagoya and to see the new Studio Ghibli Amusement park located nearby.