Jose Abreu

It doesn't help that they replay the same ~30 or so episodes constantly! There are some old ones that are hilarious that rarely air. Regardless, I agree with you and Tony that Sox games will be a far better watch. Another thing I'm excited for that I don't think has been explicitly mentioned is walks. Grandal and EE walk a ton, and Mazara is roughly league average in that regard (which is a huge upgrade over basically everyone else in the lineup). I also think that their presence will have a positive effect on Eloy, Robert, etc.

Fair point, but I'm hoping that we're less affected by this both because of how low the payrolls have been for the past few years (might be wishful thinking) and because the proportion of our revenue from attendance/concessions and whatnot is probably lower than that of most other teams

Even buying out the last arb year and signing him for like 5/55 (i.e. not "a lot") would be a bad choice IMO. I know there's hope for Adolfo, Basabe, etc. but I still think the long-term RF is gonna come from FA/trade, and there are so many good options in the near future that would make settling even worse

Probably. I'm worried that Mazara puts up a 120 wRC+ in his 50something games and the Sox feel a need to lock him down long-term to be safe

Yeah, the common argument that keeping a player in the minors for 14/162 games might "cost you a win" usually doesn't work since the player in question is not worth an extra ~12 (162/14) wins over the vet starting at his position. However, in a 60 game season, regardless of how good or bad the rookie is compared to the vet, I don't see why you'd take the risk.

25/60 starts, or 42%, is a lot. That isn't a reduction of a backup catcher's impact, it's a giant increase.

I would hope Dalquist, Thompson, Kelley, and all those guys are on it just to get reps

Luis Robert is a huge factor for the Sox. If he (understandably) comes out and struggles with the adjustment to MLB, strikes out 35% of the time, etc, and we're in the playoff hunt, I'm not sure what we do. Sure, there's always Leury, but Robert's development is more important than almost anything for us. On the other hand, if he comes out of the gates like Acuna and is the ROY, I think we make the playoffs. My biggest concern going into this season (in March) was pitching, but with 7 hopefully healthy MLB caliber starters out of the gate, I feel confident in our depth for a change.

Completely agree with these two. I love Vaughn but it's so difficult to see us starting his clock for him to not get any playing time. And with Madrigal, his potential contract extension (if he's worthy) will probably be quite cheap due to his skillset and the market for it, so punting that year of service time is pretty insignificant compared to someone like Robert, had we not extended him already.

Knowing this, it's hard for me to understand why they should've accepted this

There is, at least on Twitter. The replies to any COVID-related tweet are littered with anti-mask/anti-science ramblings from bots. Because there are so many of said bots, these replies get vaulted to the top because they all like and retweet each other. It's a real problem and Twitter needs to find a way to get rid of these accounts quicker

Sure, but those 2 years of minimal salary (relatively speaking of course) are also pretty significant

Even some of the "star" or at least good players have been bungled lately too. Moustakas (before his Cincy contract) being one of them

I think it's relevant when you joined a White Sox message board exclusively to discuss a pandemic. Thanks for responding

What's your favorite White Sox-related memory?

I agree, not sure if you missed it but I had them as one of the playoff teams. IMO the Rays and the A's are just a notch below the Yankees and Astros.

I know I'm in the minority but the ads on NBA jerseys that came a couple of years ago are terrible to me. They're not the sole reason I watch less NBA but it certainly doesn't help. If they do match the aesthetic of the uniforms, MLB will find a way to ruin it. For example, the Bulls' "Zenni" ad fit somewhat well in 2018-2019, then prior to the 2019-2020 season they inexplicably changed the color from black (a Bulls color) to green (not even close to a Bulls color).

I think the AL playoff teams are (by division): Astros, A's, Angels, Twins, Indians, White Sox, Yankees, Rays. This leaves the Mariners, Rangers, Tigers, Royals, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox out. The only teams I'd entertain making it out of those are the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, but I feel like it's the Angels, not us, who would be the weakest team making it in

I read somewhere that the latest proposal might have a 30 man roster, but it will definitely be >25

16 playoff teams long-term may seem like a stretch (I prefer 12 or 14) but in a way, it could actually incentivize mediocre teams (hello 2015-2016 White Sox) to compete rather than rebuild. In doing so, perhaps parity increases along with quality of regular season games since fewer teams are actively trying to lose. This would be different from the NBA since being a 7-8 seed in the NBA playoffs is usually a guaranteed first round exit, whereas in baseball, there's much more room for flukes.

I'd go as far to say that in the exact circumstances of a ~60 game season, 16 playoff teams, and all games being played against a team's own division + the corresponding division of the other league, the White Sox have a >50% chance at making the playoffs. FWIW I had them as an 83-86 win team this year in a normal season (with plenty of potential for variance)