h. jones

Likeliest answer: there was a finite window of time to QA each photo, process the orders, have a print shop produce them, and install said cutouts during a timeframe that didn’t have them around the players (to conform with the league’s CoVID protocols).

I'm presupposing that Benetti is also referencing "The Knights of Ni"/Monty Python and the Holy Grail when he says "another shrubbery".

Kopech has opted out for the 2020 season.

Any Twitter username that goes Name12345678908755 is a troll.

Would those fans be lined up 6 feet apart at the gates for entry, security and temperature checks? Assuming an even distribution of fans:gates, (6,000 fans / 5 gates x 6 ft) each entry line is 1.3 miles long.

Let’s pretend that it’s a maximum of “only” 5,000 fans. Let’s further stipulate that they use 5 gates for entry, and assign 1,000 fans to a specific gate to even it out. 1,000 fans lining up for security x 6 ft. of space between them is a line over a mile long at each of the five gates.

Here's how I look at it - it's a completely insane year, so go for broke! If your team wins the World Series, it's "look at all the hardship these guys battled through this year; this win is even more special". For the other 29 teams, it's "Hey, this year was absolutely nuts, ehhh, whaddaya gonna do, you know? *shrug*"

My favorite random Alexei moment was from mid-2015 when he and Adam Eaton let a pop fly fall between them, then blamed each other.

35th & Shields is the name. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/ballpark/chicago-sports-depot

Disclaimer: completely insane, impractical idea The players from the 29 other teams could force additional punishment by announcing their intent to refuse to travel to Houston during the 2020 season. It's not a strike - you're allowed to forfeit games by not showing up. The Astros would hemorrhage money - 81 forfeited home game "victories" with zero attendance, angry season ticket holders/luxury suite buyers demanding refunds, an apoplectic RSN with nothing to televise and total loss of ad revenue. How many weeks would it take?

Hardball III

With the two recent FA pitching additions, I don’t think Rodon starts a single game if everyone else stays healthy and fair-to-middling - I predict he’s put in the bullpen when he’s activated and stays there.

Odrisamer Despaigne 0-2, 1 no-decision; team record 0-3 Dylan Covey 1-7, 4 no-decisions; team record 3-9 Ross Detwiler 3-5, 4 no-decisions; team record 6-6 Hector Santiago 0-1, 1 no-decisions; team record 0-2 Ervin Santana 0-2, 1 no-decisions; team record 1-2 Manny Bañuelos 2-4, 2 no-decisions; team record 4-4 Carson Fulmer 0-1, 1 no-decisions; team record 0-2 total 6-22, 14 no-decisions; team record 14-28

The votes for the three finalists are reset - the one with the highest votes on Election Day is the starter; the other two are not guaranteed a roster spot.

The Phillies were loathe to include Medina in the Realmuto trade - he's not going anywhere for a reliever.

I’d rather see Aaron Altherr (DFA’d by Phillies) given a try than Matt Kemp.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that with the league and MLBPA having recently agreed to in-season CBA discussions to tweak a few things, the White Sox can see that the service-time manipulation dance is nearing its end. If they can reach a deal, there's no longer a reason to go through the charade any longer.

If you're referring to the Craft Kave, yes.

The latter. Your sons can still go to any of the kid-exclusive stuff.

How about an opt-out that can only be triggered by a work stoppage?

I still don’t understand the payoff of back-and-forth rumors of years/$ on twitter... at a certain point, wouldn’t the best way for a free agent to get a better offer be for them to literally tell other teams what the best offer was, so that they could top it, and then go back to the first team with the exact offer of the new high-bidder, etc.? Rather than have multiple teams vaguely guessing?

I don’t think so...Luzinski’s like the Phillies equivalent for Ron Kittle - beloved ex-player, directly involved with the team, often at the stadium. It has to be plausible at least.

Okay, I have an idea: Hahn convinces Reinsdorf that Harper is Machado’s closest friend, and that tricks ownership into acquiring both.