gusguyman

While this is the most common American pronunciation, I believe the nation of Niger pronounces it NEE-zher, where the zh is sort of a soft "J' sound. Niger was a French colony and still speaks French, whereas Nigeria was a British colony. I guess the river delta pronunciation may change based on where you are, but the country pronunciation is the French way.

By the way, if you found this video moving, and feel inspired by KW's personal experiences to try and make change, here are some resources: 137 charities and organizations you can choose from to donate to. Some ways to find out about protests near you to join. How to find and contact your congressman, your senator, your other senator, your governor, and some of your local politicians. (most of these links are IL-centric but you can find all of this for your own location through google, DM if you need help!) Some information on proposed reform platforms like 8 can't wait, ending qualified immunity, and the defunding and abolishment movements (John Oliver also just did a good segment covering some of these). Sometimes just taking the time to read an article and educate yourself is all it takes to be a good ally that day ?

I have not seen much from the White Sox organization or players about the recent BLM/police brutality movements across the US, but Kenny Williams just did an amazing 30 minute interview with SoxTV. He tells some powerful stories of his own experiences with racism. Stories about how his father gave him a gun at 9 years old, because they were afraid of racial violence. Stories about having to eventually teach his own sons about racism too. I couldn't find the original hosting but you can find the interview at the bottom of this article. There's some really moving stuff in this video, so I hope we can all reflect on that without getting this thread locked.

Actually, on a more serious note, MLB losing revenue from 25+% of games this year could give the players a TON more negotiating power. Can MLB owners afford to have two partial seasons back to back?

IMO we will be lucky to have opening day by June 1st if we don't make drastic changes soon. Since we won't have baseball for a while anyway, MLBPA should just go ahead and start negotiating the new CBA now. They can pretend to be on strike.

Beating the Cubs in ST doesn't matter, but that doesn't mean it's not fun AF. Because it is. It is fun AF.

After the last 4 years it is going to feel like easy mode. Just mute all alerts and sim for 3 years before you need to touch a thing.

If anything I think the extra height would help him on defense, I have no height-based concerns regarding his offense

People who want Robert to lead off please explain this to me, and then stop it.

Why is everyone asserting he can't learn control in the minors? Sure, he won't be punished for mistakes near as much. But the reason Kopech went from a pipe-dream to a top 25 prospect is because in the 2nd half of 2018, he suddenly learned control..... in the minors. I agree there is a limit to what he can improve upon there, but if he needs to knock off game rust and get back into the 5-day routine, it is much safer to do that in an environment where winning is much less important. (Which is why actual MLB pitchers also have rehab stints in the minors)

Well, looks like its going to be Braves vs White Sox in the WS, you heard it here first folks

If only the Rangers had too

Woah, Cubs get a bye and "Best Fans in Baseball" Cardinals were a 3 seed and 1st round exit? St. Louis gonna riot.

On opening day? I am definitely not putting Robert or Madrigal top 6 until we see a couple months of MLB stats from them. They should be there eventually, but these guys are still rookies, and even super talented rookies usually struggle. Robert is amazing, but if Vlad Jr. and Eloy needed to make adjustments, it seems way too optimistic to assume Robert won't have to as well.

Oh, I have one! Why do so many people talk about Luis Robert as a "future leadoff man." Just because he is fast?!? He doesn't walk much and strikes out a lot. He definitely shouldn't be leadoff early in his career until he shows he can hit breaking balls, but even final form Robert makes no sense at leadoff. His OBP won't be ideal unless he is hitting well over .300, and if he is doing that he is going to be smashing 40 home runs a season. Even if you don't care about walks, Tim Anderson is also fast as hell AND he already proved he can get on base with BA alone by winning the batting crown this year. He isn't my choice (I want Grandal) but I think TA is at least a logical choice to lead off. Putting Robert there is just a waste.

I think this is only BIG NEWS if you think RH is incompetent, or that the WS are going to continue their rebuild habits of giving bad players a million chances to break out (understandable PTSD from the latter). Obviously RH doesn't think a guy who hasn't even cracked 2 WAR for a year in 4 seasons isn't a "long term answer" in RF. He definitely thinks he has a chance still to break out and become that player though.

Wow, first I saw of this too. I'd say it deserves it's own thread so we don't derail the soxfest one, but I'm sure that'd be a shitshow. FWIW, there is enough here (timely police report, some convincing evidence, large amount of friends testifying that there was a consistent story/consequences, etc) that this can not be easily dismissed at all.

We already have a poor defender in RF, and a lot of scouts/writers are saying NC got better enough at RF this year to move from "worst in the league" to merely "below-average" which probably puts him in the same range as Mazara. If someone believes that, what I said above still applies. If someone doesn't believe in the defensive improvement, I think the result is they just don't sign NC no matter who we had in RF, because Eloy in LF plus the worst defensive RF in the game is likely untenable. Which is a valid argument, but Mazara is pretty irrelevant to it. Injuries WILL happen, and I really don't want to be in contention in July and then realize we are about to see if Adam can put up 2 good months as an everyday starter while Eloy recovers from an ankle injury. If someone thought at the start of the offseason that NC would be a good fit for our RF, I think they should still support NC on a cheap deal, even with Mazara.

I tend to agree that Castellanos wouldn't be the best use of resources, but also I don't think the logjam is as problematic as you imply here. When everyone is healthy: Adam Engel optioned to Charlotte Starting OF of Eloy, Robert, Castellanos. Mazara takes a 2-3 games a week from Castellanos and Eloy, mostly against RHP. He takes another game a week in RF when you shift Castellanos to DH. EE at DH 4-5 games a week, Castellanos and Grandal/McCann when you rest him (at his age, we probably don't want to push EE for 140+ games anyway) You also can move people around to give Jose one game off a week. That is when everyone is healthy. As soon as one of Robert/Eloy/Castellanos/EE/Jose gets an injury (which seems likely), you shift it all around. The only disadvantage is you are losing Adam as a late-inning defensive replacement. In a really healthy season, maybe his defense is worth more wins. But if any of those 5 guys misses significant time (or if someone like EE hits the age cliff) having both Castellanos and Mazara makes you a MUCH deeper team, and would obviously be worth more wins.

FTFY

Coop may be less useful these days, but damn, he was a miracle worker for a long, long time.

If he is scared of the QO next year, why would he take a two year deal at an AAV basically equal to what the QO would be next year? At worst*, he could take a one year deal with a higher AAV and then accept a QO in the offseason. *worst other than a season so bad that he wouldn't even get a QO, but he has all sorts of other problems if that ends up the case.

In other words, fans who didn't win the world series want to undo the world series. Shocker.

Moan4Yoan hoping Hahn goes dumpster diving??? This offseason really has had everything.

I want to give him credit. But the cynic in me is screaming that it is no coincidence that the only person who has given a real apology is the one who will be HoF elgible in 2023.