tray

Leaving Madrigal down in the Minors could be a fools errand *if* it is being done solely for service time purposes. Madrigal does not profile like a star player that will dominate the league this season and become difficult to reach agreement with on a contract extension. If he demonstrates in ST that he is truly not ready for advancement to the major league roster, that is a different story. In that case, he will have more to prove than can be accomplished in a 4 week stint in the Minors. Another option might be be to have Madrigal, Mendick and Leury on the OD roster and platoon Madrigal with Mendick and Leury as necessary. That way, Madrigal and Mendick can be evaluated by Renteria and Sox management to determine if the Sox need to send one or both of them down and if they need to add another inf/outfield bench player. Once fans see Madrigal and Mendick play a few games in ST, opinions on this will be flying here.

Dom: After looking at some of the youtube videos of Burgur at Mizzou State he looked very heavy, imbalanced, a bit pigeon toed, and tripping over his own cleats. He looked like an accident waiting to happen. Remember how guys like Fisk and AJ kept themselves in decent condition even though they weren't body builders or big runners? Collins and Vaughn also keep themselves in good physical condition. Is Burgur even trying to get into playing shape now, or has he given up on playing major league baseball? Will he be on one of the Sox minor league rosters this year? If so, I would be interested in following his progress.

"Sources: The meeting (yes, they met in person) between Nolan Arenado and #WhiteSox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, went very well tonight. A decision expected tomorrow morning." Assuming arguendo that Arenado and his agent met with Jerry, so what? I would expect Arenado's agent to shop his client around with every Owner/GM he could get a meeting with given Arenado's public statements about the Rockies. He is looking to spark interest by some team so that they can explore a trade. The Sox don't need Arenado. We have our man at third base and a great prospect at second. No need to add 35 Million a year for ANod.

Good luck to Burgur wherever he is and whatever he plans on doing. Meanwhile , there are 27 non-roster invitees to Spring Training that will be interesting to watch. I am looking forward to heading out to Glendale and watching a few games. Now I am out to shovel the driveway.

False. Factors that may increase your risk of Achilles tendon rupture include Obesity. Excess weight puts more strain on the tendon. (Mayo Clinic).

Massive failure in talent evaluation by Hostetler or whoever made the Draft pick. Far worse than the Hawkins pick. Hawkins could do a back flip when he was Drafted. Burgur's ankles could not support his weight.

I have been looking at Madrigal videos and I am beginning to wonder if his bat to ball hitting skills will translate well in the major league where scouting and defensive shifts might take away part of his game. I'm also somewhat concerned about his lack of power because he will need to have outfielders play back to dunk a few balls in front of them. I think the Sox and Steve Stone for that matter will need to see Madrigal have several at-bats in the majors to really know what he willbring. I'm not sure 4-6 weeks of at-bats in the minors will answer any more questions. He eventually has to be brought up to see if he sinks or swims. Starting that process in June might kill most of the year if he ends up sucking offensively and then gets sent down in July or thereafter.

Maybe the Sox are too comfortable with Mazara as a full time RFer given that Texas wasn't , Or just in case, maybe they should at least look for a better option than Adam Engel or Leury. So maybe trade for a decent outfielder since there does not seen to be a viable major league ready option in the Sox system. Something like Zak Collins and a minor league prospect for Ian Happ (offered only as a purely speculative and theoretical example). Out of the list in the OP I like Dozier or Brad Miller on a cheap one year contract. Miller can play infield or outfield, and that could be valuable .

God....everyone needs to stop b1tching about minutia. WE are gonna be awesome this year. Can't wait to get the party started !

I don't question the experience you have in your job but you can't extrapolate that to everything outside of your sphere. Personality, drive, creativity, attitude, loyalty and other Intangible qualities have great value to many employers and to many people in major league baseball, including Jerry Reinsdorf. But you are right about how value is assigned to a player through the arbitration process. Indeed that process is almost exclusively based on statistics from past performance. Outside of the arbitration process though, intangibles do come into play as they did when Abreu was extended and as they might if the Sox decide to extend Madrigal before he has a significant track record in the majors. I wonder what the point of that is. Maybe they want Kris traded for Arenado and that is their strange way of exerting some pressure to get that done.

Opinions about Madrigal's perceived value will begin to solidify when we all get to see him against major league pitching in Spring Training. We will all have a better idea about whether or not he is a major league player right now, whether or not 4 weeks of hitting against AAA pitchers is in order, or if the Sox should think about spending money on a Dozier type second basemen in case Madrigal looks like he might not be in the majors for a while.

that and perceived value, which is kind of subjective and opinion based.

The Cubs have not expressed much interest in extending Bryant post-grievance. Has Bryant himself commented about this?

You turned an innocuous light spirited comment about a player's hair dye into a vengeful; personal attack against a poster. Instead of responding in kind I will simply ignore any future comments by you. Fine by me if you do the same.

I agree. In fact I was not even happy to see Luis Robert sporting the Puig styled dyed hair at Sox Fest. Hopefully Robert does not borrow anything else from Puig, like his attitude.

The service time game really does not matter with madrigal. He is not going to be the type of player that will wait until FA for for a a multi year 200 Million dollar contract . If he performs well, the Sox will have a few years to work a fair deal out to extend him. I think the Bryant case , regardless of how it is decided, should start to concern teams who are playing the service time game. Even if the cubs win, they have lost the good will of their player and may not be able to sign him when he gets to FA.

2B - Madrigal SS - Anderson 3B - Moncada 1B - Abreu DH - Encarnacion LF - Eloy RF - Mazara CF - Robert C - Grandal Bench: McCann Leury Garcia and 4. Don't know...Maybe two from this list: Engel/Scooter Gennet/ Brian Dozier/Brad Miller or trade Collins for Ian Happ. Rotation: Giolito Keuchel Lopez Gonzalez Cease Bullpen: Colome Bummer Cishek Herrera Fry Marshall Cordero Kopech

You sound like the Sox gave Jose an Albert Pujols contract. What if Moncada decides to sign an extension in part because his his pals are going to be on the team with him for a few years ? The Sox want to keep Eloy, Moncada, Robert and Abreu happy for a few years. No worries. This will work out just fine.

I get your point about the Abreu deal, but players are human beings and have human traits like loyalty, leadership, work ethic, and optimism that you just cannot overlook with a guy like Jose. He deserves to wear the C for El Capitain on his jersey. Here is how Eloy feels about Luis Robert having mentors and leadership on the team: "Last year, I was a little bit anxious," Jimenez said, "and I know he’s (Luis Robert) going to be, too. "The first year of your contract, you play on Opening Day, it’s going to be a little bit tough for him, too. It’s not going to be (tough) just for him, it’s for anybody who makes the Opening Day roster. It’s a little bit tough because it’s different pitching, it’s different stuff and the pitchers are a lot better at this level. "He’s going to need someone. But he’s got (Jose) Abreu, he’s got (Yoan) Moncada and he’s got me. So he’s going to be good." https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/eloy-jimenez-has-high-praise-luis-robert-hes-going-be-next-mike-trout

Abreu may have been key to getting Edwin Encarcion, extending Luis Robert and may very well be important to Moncada deciding on whether or not he agrees to an extension. He is a leader on the team and a stabilizing force. Regardless of what we think of the contract that was Jerry's money, and he assured Abreu that he would remain with the White Sox. That said, it wasn't an isn't an issue. Let's just hope that Abreu's offensive numbers will improve this year in a much improved line-up. If Encarcion shows signs of regression toward the end of this season the Sox can bring up Vaughn next year and have him share 1B/DH with Abreu.

Exactly. Further, after reading his comment about how much LaRussa is making now, it seems like he may be a bit jealous. If Jack's only purpose was to point out that there has always been cheating in baseball, that is not helpful either. We should never countenance cheating or allow those who partake in it to ruin the game. As a White Sox fan, I don't appreciate Jack throwing the White Sox name into the current discussion about the 'stros.

If McDowell knew about this at the time and said nothing, he was part of it.

^^^ I knew who said that, bu it's bu ls h 1t

The White Sox -Yankee game in the cornfields of Iowa this year should probably never have been allowed to move forward. but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. What was the idea....to strangely commemorate the impact that gambling had in 1919 ? Now, unlike 1919, wealth, greed and gambling are all so much more a part of what and who we are as Americans...not only the wealthy players, but greedy management, owners and the proliferation of the sports gambling industry. I am sick about players that participated in this, possibly including our own Dallas Keuchel. I'm not sure what mlb should do about it since the credibility of the game hangs in the balance until this gets resolved. At minimum, players who knew or participated in this scheme should be fined. I hate to become a conspiracy theorist but this cheating was so outrageous that it makes me wonder how far this went....did it possibly involve other players or other teams ...like the Twins. Maybe instead of the baseball being juiced the players just knew when they were going to get a pitch and loaded up for it. Yes, this makes fans wonder how far this went. Look at the Twins catcher who seems to have awoken as a power hitter for the first time after 6 years in the minors and 2 years in the majors. The Twins hit over 300 home runs including over 30 by him. Yea, say it ain't so, 'stros,. Maybe have a double header in Iowa between 'the Astros and Yankees.

Sano talks a big game but I have doubts about his defensive abilities at first base. Dude is a tank with little flexibility to stretch for throws in the dirt or back hand balls in the hole. I am curious about Garver's power surge (31 HR) after only hitting 58 total in the preceding 8 years in the minors and majors. He really made a huge difference for the twins last season.