WestEddy

Thank you. Just to be clear, no treatment, I have Non-Hodgkin's, which isn't curable, but it's slow growth, and I'll most likely die of something else in 20-30 years. After my initial chemo 15 years ago, and radiation for a new tumor 3 years ago, it's just treated like a chronic condition. I get regular check-ups and scans, and COVID vaccinations every 2 months. I do have to be careful, as Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is cancer of the immune system. But again, thank you for the well wishes. Watch out for night sweats, enduring cold/flu symptoms, or excessive fatigue. And if your 40, get a damned stress test, already. Medicine is your friend. Use it. Thanks. /soapbox

Jordan Montgomery to the Diamondbacks.

Pedro Grifol's an inane a-hole who should have been fired. I haven't seen anybody "buying what grifol is trying to sell" on this site. We all know the constraints Getz is working under. He at least seems to have a different approach, which I find interesting. Given his goal of improving on defense, and the money constraints, he probably wasn't doing much better than DeJong. Do you rip the molding off of the walls and rip it apart with your teeth over that? Nobody's saying DeJong will be an All-Star. Nobody's pretending he was the best shortstop available in all of baseball. You keep putting these BS strawmen on everybody who doesn't want to mope. Nobody is saying these things but you, so it seems you have no cognitive ability to even consume other people's statements in a meaningful way. I can't imagine being so angry and paranoid that you keep arguing things that other people aren't even stating.

I'm 60 years old, have cancer, see my and my wife's families sporadically due to COVID concerns, and try to find happiness where I can eke it out. My personality isn't defined by a baseball team winning or not. I like baseball, I like the White Sox, and I'm interested in whether Getz, Banny and Katz can whip this group into an actual, productive pitching staff. That's what I get out of it.

How do you get "overly optimistic" out of a 68 win prediction? Do you understand that reacting to people being aggressive towards my non-negative posts and then me laying out evidence of these players having a track record of being an average major league pitcher isn't being "overly optimistic? You understand that, right? Because it really seems that you think the only appropriate reaction to this team is to be flopping around on the floor in convulsions of rage. That's emotion, not objectivity. I understand you directed your comment at poppysox, but I feel like everyone is pretending I'm not admitting this team won't do very well this season. I have, multiple times. But I don't say it in a sh*tty way that labels the individual players as subhuman sh*t who should be loaded up into wooden boxcars because I won't be able to bray at other bro-dudes that my team kicks ass(!!). Being "factually based" doesn't mean I have to be constantly angry and aggressive towards people who don't want blood if their team doesn't win the next 7 world series.

You all act like you're doing really important work, warning everybody about how bad this team is going to be, like you're warning us about wire fraud scams, when all you're doing is trying to make people feel like sh*t for being positive about a sports team. If you think you're "bringing the truth", I don't think there's enough sand for all the heads around here.

Funny and fair. Schilling is a famous crank. I don't even want to call him right wing, as his rantings are so far out there, nobody can really be blamed for the idiocy.

Considering Curt Schilling, it was probably something like, "Well, in a Socialist system, everybody works, too." I'm really curious about this Pillar thing where various people around the league filled him in on pressures that Getz is under, but can't talk about. A mandate to shave any money off of any contract possible seems too simple. Or there's a deeper reason, like the team will be sold, or they have to look poor while negotiating for a stadium, or "the owners are all colluding again". Maybe the new contracts guy from KC went over everything, saw a loophole in Pillar's contract and was like, no way.

Only 25 pitchers threw 180 innings last season. 2 of them were on the Sox staff until the trade deadline. How did that work out? Flexen threw 110 innings last year, Fedde threw 180. Soroka threw 120. I'm not saying any of these guys will compete for a Cy Young. This whole narrative that our entire staff is made up of failures is a bit much.

Of course it is. We all don't have to parrot negative BS until Oct 1, then concede that not every single player, to a man, blew. Tell me about this crazy new stat "blows". Can you post an algorhythm so we can compare players in the game? Or is it all your own subjective, emotional opinion? Does somebody stop "blowing" when enough emotional bro-dudes get aggressive when talking about their love for this player? Is that really a measurable stat? Factual: Erick Fedde worked with new coaches in Korea and stateside, developed new pitches, and has a better approach that could have success against MLB hitters. Factual: Michael Soroka is returning from an injury that other players have returned from. He pitched 120 innings last year (strange how you skipped over that fact), and looked even better in spring training. Not Factual: Everybody blows!!!

Soroka actually threw about 120 innings between AAA and the majors last year alone. You only missed by about 75 innings. Are you implying that no pitcher has ever come back from an injury? That doesn't sound factual. I would say that Soroka is going to be the main pitcher on this staff. Starting opening day doesn't really mean #1. As for Fedde and Flexen, Fedde just won the equivalent of a Cy Young and MVP in a league that is somewhere between AA and AAA in level of talent. He seems to be improved from the pitcher he was in 2022. You do realize that pitchers work with new coaches and get better, right? If you don't, maybe you shouldn't be calling your emotional opinions factual. All you're dealing in is "what if's", too. That's all the projections are. Let me know when you stumble upon some factual information.

I think he means being reflexively negative about everything, even areas that are demonstrably positive. We're all using facts. I find the "everybody on this pitching staff blows" comments to be remarkably light on any factual information, and way heavy on emotion.

Of course not. But I still think about 68 wins. They need a lot to go right, and they're not known for their good luck. I think Soroka looks great, Fedde and Flexen could be solid. Crochet could put up a good half, then do an inning or 2 on 5 days rest when Davis Martin comes back. Nastrini will have some bumps in the road. I like the bullpen, but again, a lot has to go right. I think they did turn RF, SS, 2B and C around from last year. LF, 3B, 1B and DH have a lot of wins to pick up, just based on 4 horrible years by vets in 2023. So there's a lot of room to grow. I understand what you're saying about paying Montgomery enough money. But it's like a black hole, when escape velocity exceeds the speed of light, you're stuck. This off-season sure feels like collusion. And a bigger story is MLB clawing back broadcasting rights, as cable is looking to go the way of long-distance phone companies.

Sure, and another is not being traded. I think a player and his family would like to pick where they're going to live for the next year, and not be separated by a trade in 4 months. If Montgomery's going to end up doing what Snell did, take a 2 year deal with an opt out, I think he might want to be a little more high profile instead of being buried on one of the 5 worst teams in the game. I don't even know who's looking for pitching, at this point. But I think the White Sox would be the absolute last choice, even considering whatever just happened to Kevin Pillar. Players notice that. There was a handful of players who wouldn't take any amount of money to play for the White Sox after the '94 strike. Curt Schilling and Jim Edmonds are two that come to mind quickly.

While I do share your higher opinion about this team's chances, I still don't see why anybody would come here for the same money they can get anywhere else. His future value is pretty much maxed out. He's 30, it's payday.

Today's happy news:

I, too, am excited. I had hope for the catching position, but don't like the Maldonado signing. We'll see just how cooked he is. Maybe Lee's bat catches on, and Stassi is the veteran starter. This is a make or break year for Vaughn. Lopez can't be worse than the Sosa/Andrus production last year. Same with DeJong at short. Anderson was putrid. Moncada's playing for a contract, so maybe he'll stay healthy, and put up the 3-5 bWAR we've always expected. I am very interested in Getz's approach to the pitching staff. The bullpen could be effective with the vets they're counting on for bounce backs. Hoping Crochet uses his 90 innings wisely, and if Nastrini takes his lumps this year, he'll be the better for it going forward.

No, I mean the new deal. Is that not guaranteed?

I would like Monty to play his way out of AA, but I'll allow it.

I want to know what agents, the union and other people around the league were telling him about the constraints Getz is up against, rules, or otherwise. I think Pillar gets $1 million guaranteed, and can make up to another $1 million in incentives.

I hope I don't come off as attacking, but if the Sox are bidding up against the Yankees and world champions, I'm not sure what makes anybody think we would outbid anyone, even with a normal owner. What did Lorenzen even sign for? Why would he come to a last place team, go 1-12, then have to uproot his life in 4 months, not see his family regularly for 3 more months, ..... for what? The same with Montgomery. This is his free agency he's worked 20 years for. Why do we think guys want to be traded in the middle of a season if they can help it?

That's what I was thinking, on both of these, like they were near on a trade, and they'd give him a chance to shop himself around. But the way Pillar looked in that interview, cutting him to resign him a day later to save a million or two doesn't seem outrageous.

I would like to know more about this. From an article on the Sox website: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/kevin-pillar-re-signs-with-white-sox-after-release

Be careful you don't switch places with your 9 year old self.

I'm led to believe that Nastrini isn't "elite". He walks too many. He had a nice spring. Small sample size, I know. Noah Schultz? Sure. Kid gloves. If they take a pitcher at #5? Yeah, bring him along slowly and deliberately. I think they have a lot of arms like Nastrini, right behind him. I don't think a rough half will ruin him.