Jose Abreu

I can tell baseball is back because there's a new movement annoying me. During the first part of the offseason, it was all the people who wanted Adam Engel to platoon in RF because of a flukey sample against LHP. Now, it's the "play Mercedes at 3B, how bad can it be" camp. If it's true that Moncada has COVID and is asymptomatic, then chances are he's back within a week from now and (hopefully) Mercedes goes back to DH/C

All good. I understand why my posts might come across that way. It’s just a phrase I see tossed around in here a lot that bothers me, because it includes a bunch of implicit historical assumptions that I believe are wrong. And I say this as someone who used to believe it myself. But again, I agree with your overall point and the specifics you laid out, and didn’t mean to pick on you specifically since I know it’s a common saying

Yeah, I don't have a problem with anything you said in your plan. My issue is just that the idea that there is a "middle ground" that is always right is extremely historically tone deaf. If that were really true, slavery would still exist today, white men would be the only people allowed to vote, etc. Not to mention, the U.S. doesn't really have a "middle", since the area between conservatives and liberals is still extremely to the right of the global or true middle. That said, I agree with your overall idea, but I believe that phrases such as "the truth is always in the middle" and whatnot are extremely reductive and historically false

Deploy might have been a better verb, but employ also means "make use of, use, utilize" so I'm not sure why you're trying to pick grammar fights. Words have multiple definitions

So weird that it's already out. Hopefully these games happen because for once I actually really like the outlook. And opening on the west coast will be a nice change from rain/snow postponements

I’m not actively looking to replace him, just think that moving Vaughn doesn’t make sense if it’s to a position where we have a superstar locked in for 6 years.

Man, if I had a nickel for every time this adage has been incorrectly employed in this thread. Especially given that what you're arguing for isn't really "the middle"

But does anyone remember that we even extended Aaron Bummer a few weeks later?? Because I forgot until today.

That's what I've been thinking too. Can you imagine the difference between what is basically a guaranteed 95-110 wRC+ bat in Madrigal being replaced by the sky high ceiling of Vaughn? The defensive drop-off might be worth it at that point

It means absolutely nothing. Abreu has gotten reps at 3rd base every day for the last 6 years

FWIW I know people who claim to have had it twice

When this happens, it should be over. But I'm not convinced that it will actually outweigh the desire for revenue.

Another interesting thing to note is the balance of home/road games. Instead of playing 5 home games and 5 road games against divisional opponents, the Cubs play 3/7 3/7 and 7/3 7/3. With our luck, the Sox will have to play 7 times in Minnesota and Cleveland.

Also, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's possible that he's just showing symptoms and/or feeling under the weather and is thus understandably not practicing. This would be especially likely if it's true that today is the first day he was not with the team

I hope you’re right but Von Miller, Freddie Freeman, etc have been pretty open about how tough it has been for them despite their fitness and otherwise good health

hoping the emphasis on “today” means he’s just under the weather

Which part? The quote is from the Sox press release itself and the last part is what I believed was evident from media availability and his Instagram stories. I think it's far more likely that the players who have it are ones people wouldn't think of, like Andrew Romine, and that the immediate jumping to star players is just typical Sox fan pessimism. That said, even if "lesser" players have it, that's still a big deal and I truly hope they get through it quickly and without pain. I just think we should pump the brakes on assuming it's certain people

I don't have any evidence for this, but with each passing day I believe more and more that the virus barely spreads (if at all) outdoors, but is quite dangerous indoors. It would explain so much.

That's just the way Fegan writes. He is sidelined with a personal issue but nobody really knows what it is and whether he'll play this season

On the contrary, I think it's obvious that he doesn't have it. They said the 2 players who have it never entered the Sox facility, and Moncada was at the park multiple times over the past few days (but not during the morning sessions)

The tweets are from accounts with like 8 numbers in the handles. That should be red flag #1 that it's just people (probably Cubs fans or miserable Sox fans) trolling. I hope Kopech and his family are ok, but I doubt this personal issue has anything to do with retirement

I'm not sure how economic feasibility can be determined when the economic data is purposely veiled from one side of the negotiation. Between that and Manfred's slip, I think it should be obvious why the players fought so hard to keep their right to file a grievance.

I understand your concerns, but I would be shocked if it's not released by the end of 2021