Jose Abreu

Grandal

Encarnacion

Heuer for 2 months of a struggling (to put it lightly) Ray would be terrifying. The most anyone should be trading for Ray is minor league depth and/or cash

Yes, depending on how much he struggles. But 1B/DH next year is pretty clearly Abreu/Vaughn, and I don't think they're going to spend on a temporary DH so that Vaughn can get ready. If he can put up a 90 wRC+ or better this year, let's say, I think he'd start up in MLB next year. That said, I don't expect him to struggle, he's just too polished and talented. I think he's going to blow everyone away, and I think he has been MLB-ready since the day he was drafted.

IMO, if he comes up, he's not ever playing in the minors again (save for rehab stints and/or he randomly sucks and needs to develop there). Given that he isn't signed to a long-term deal, it would be unlike the Sox to promote him now. But then again, there seems to be smoke, and this team is pretty good for a change

For the remaining 30 games, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. For next season, I'd hope we have a new face out there, whether that's Joc, one of the Mets LHHs, etc

I prefer to look at it as Min 20-10 Sox 17-12 Cle 17-12

Whenever I bring this up on Soxtalk, I'm told they desperately needed relief help and he was the only option. I still really don't get how the ONLY option is trading your top prospect for 2 months of an elite closer as opposed to, I don't know, any other prospect for 2 months of any other reliever

I see the bat speed line used a lot and I just really disagree with it. Yes, a player's bat speed can look slow, but it doesn't mean he's an over-the-hill bum who will never be good again. In many cases, things like bat speed, swing mechanics, swing plane, etc. are just facets of a game that go through ups and downs like anything else. Far too often, I see people criticizing the bat speed of Abreu, or even Mazara (who of course is still slumping, but probably not for long) and using it to imply that they're done

It's really hard to have actual data to back these discussions up, aside from looking at where the teams play and where their fanbases are. But yes, in my experience, Cubs fans are more likely than Sox fans to be right-wing. Which is not to say that there aren't right-wing Sox fans, of course

I would, if it wasn't for that Nightengale article a month or so ago where Jerry was crying poor

The biggest signing in Cubs history is a guy with a .756 career OPS

For sure. I think Bauer (should he want a multi-year deal, and not a one year like he has said) will get more, however

When Reinsdorf sells

Was never a fan of bringing him back this year, but with Moncada's leg issues, Anderson/Madrigal being injured at times, and Goins and Cuthbert acting as our infield depth, I wouldn't mind having him around

The more I think about it, the more I think Moncada's leg fatigue issues are 100% COVID-related. I know he had these problems last season, but he allegedly spent the entire off-season training to avoid them happening again. I don't think he would lie about that, nor do I think the training would be this ineffective.

You can't catch him Saturday and Sunday due to the day/night anyway. I'd catch Grandal on Saturday, then McCann on Sunday with Grandal at DH (think he matches up better against Darvish than EE)

I thought we all agreed to stop freaking out about lineup choices based on literal 12 PA samples against certain pitchers. There's just so much noise there, that unless a guy is 8-12 with 6 home runs, it doesn't matter

Maybe it’s different for breaking balls and fastballs but I thought average spin rates were what you want to avoid? I thought you were supposed to prefer a high spin rate, then a low spin rate, and then average

Robert

Abreu

Jimenez

When the sample is this small, you have to look game by game. For example, Grandal caught Giolito’s start against the Twins, as well as Lopez’s. I don’t think the quality of catcher would’ve changed their lack of fastball command and the powerful offense. Grandal also caught that Drew Anderson game that we weren’t actively trying to win. On the other hand, McCann has caught most of Keuchel’s starts and Giolito’s starts against bad offenses (CLE/DET). Obviously his “catcher ERA” will be lower

Which part? If it’s the second sentence, I don’t actually believe that. I think Giolito could have 32 starts with Grandal and 32 with McCann and the numbers would be about identical. He may prefer McCann but that’s just a comfort thing that he will establish with Grandal over time, too

Catcher ERA being important is the biggest lie in baseball. And if Giolito doesn't feel comfortable pitching to other catchers, then he's just not as good as we thought