tray

Cheating is not worthy of commemoration, celebration or of any special remembrance. The planned Iowa cornfield game has such an odd feel to it this year because of the Stros. Say is ain't so Jose (Altuve).

Sports Betting is legal in Indiana and will be in Illinois in time for March Madness. So now you can legally smoke a joint in Illinois while making a sports bet on a phone app. IMHO, that field of dreams game is really a foolish idea for any number of reasons ..and I am not only referring to the fact that the kid who is in charge of "building it" is a cub fan. I don't see what the point is, especially given what major league baseball is enduring this year with the BlackStros. Why would the White Sox organization want to highlight the 1919 team or for that matter, cheating in major league baseball ? Many people think that what the BlackStros did is far worse than what happened during the BlackSox era. I tend to agree with that assessment. I anticipate this Iowa game might very well end up being a logistical disaster. The facilities to accommodate players, fans, and media may not even be completed in time for the game. I hope some people in the MLB office are monitoring progress there and are prepared to deep six the game's location if it looks like it is not going to work out. Sorry if I am Debbie downer for anyone anticipating this. My own view is that it is nothing more than a stunt to make money for third parties not associated with the teams and that it has no redeeming value for baseball history or for today's game.

Photoshopped.

Northside72: OK, you convinced me that Mercedes is next to worthless. Given that we can't have it both ways, unless some team thinks an empty "beer can" is worth something in trade. ;-) Meanwhile, some of us think still think Collins could make it as a starting mlb catcher even though he has lingered in the Minors for 4 years. So we talk him up and he may have trade value. We do not need Collins as a starting catcher for several years....if he even works out. Meanwhile we could Draft a catcher like Patrick Bailey in this years mlb Draft to possibly take over when Grandal's contract nears its end.

Collins is only 25 years old and has more trade value than Mercedes given the hype about Collins since he was Drafted 4 years ago. Mercedes is the perfect under the radar minor league catcher who can be called up in case of an injury to McCann or Grandal . Mercedes would be beyond grateful to fill that emergency role and wouldn't constantly squawk about not getting a chance to be on the major league roster.

Unfortunately, I . for one. am not satisfied by Dallas Keuchel's response or with any other Astro player who will not tell us everything that they knew about the cheating. So, did Dallas see the buzzers? Who was involved with relaying signs from the dugout? The Astros have to come clean. This thing isn't going to go away until they do.

Kudos then to the producer.

IMHO, any player who wore a buzzer to cheat, especially in the playoffs, should not be playing mlb in 2020. I was impressed by Ken Rosenthal sensing that something unusual was going on in real time and asking Altuve right after the game why he did not want his jersey taken off.

I am not sure what the Commissioner should do now. I would be concerned about a draconian penalty like banning a player from baseball for life, like Kennesaw Landis did to 1919 WS players. That was a bad decision (in my opinion) that has been given too much credit by most baseball historians, But that is another topic.. The Astros can help to end this by coming clean about exactly what was done and by whom so that penalties can be meted out proportionately. Any player who knew about the cheating scheme should be fined. Any player who actively participated ( i.e., communicated signs or wore a buzzer) should be suspended from the game for one year and fined even more. The Astros should be barred from the next play-off birth that they would otherwise be entitled . Houston you have a problem, but don't continue to make your problem impact all of major league baseball. I found Correa's effort to cover up for Altuve to be laughable. Oh right, Altuve had an unfinished tattoo he did not want to show. Sure..

Walks don't result in an RBI. Sometimes a hitter like Abreu will swing at a pitch that is outside the strike zone to drive in a run. Players that try to coax too many walks eventually are going to get lit up by umpires on a close pitch for a called strike 3.

I am jealous of your Porsche or whatever you are driving on the Autobahn.

https://grammarist.com/usage/champing-chomping-at-the-bit/

Just kidding Kyyle ? I hate driving I-65 around Indy.

The Sox are going to give Mazara an opportunity to be a full time RFer for at least two months, and maybe longer. Having Puig chomping on the bit for playing time on the bench is probably going to be counterproductive...kind of like having a tiger as a pet cat and hoping he doesn't knock over the furniture. . Fvk Puig. My problem is with Kyyle speeding in Indiana at 120 mph or something like that.

We will have 13 position players on the 26 man roster. If the Sox decide to bring up Madrigal and Mendick, the OD roster could look like this: SS - Anderson 3B - Moncada 1B - Abreu DH - Encarnacion LF - Eloy RF - Mazara CF - Robert C - Grandal 2B - Madrigal Bench: James McCann Danny Mendick Leury Garcia Adam Engel

Replying to myself... if Madrigal does end up dominating at second base and we learn that we have an Altuve or Dustin Pedroia type at second base, don't even worry about that either because we will probably have a play-off team this year. Then the Sox should happily sign Madrigal to an extension knowing what they have at another key position.

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 !