Look at Ray Ray Run

I actually kind of like A-Rod.

I have no problem with a woman on the broadcasts; I just think she was bad in general. Men certainly are bias against women announcers for unwarrented reasons - for example, everyone hates on Doris Burke and Doris is fine and she really understands the game and her knowledge is shown. Mendoza was just a players apologist who did this acting as a "friend" to players and not an analyst. She's also a moron who promoted cheating.

Just to clarify this point, as the media is wrongly clarifying what the pilot was said. That relay is given many times a day - according to someone in ATC - and it's not a warning at all. It's merely being said to let them show they're not on radar, so they can't give you any additional information since they do not show up on radar. They are not telling the pilot he is flying too low; they are telling him he's too low to report/show up.

What an embarrassment the Pirates are in general. They should be forced to sell; running a 42 million dollar payroll yet they still benefit from revenue sharing. Comical. A floor scares people, but there should be a revenue sharing floor - in order to qualify for RS, you need to spend a certain amount of money. This would prevent small teams like the Pirates from investing nothing and banking millions.

Why would the White Sox trade Tim Anderson for Nick Senzel? Anderson is under contract for 5 years meaning Senzel only has 1 more year of control and Senzel is only 2 years younger than Anderson

Cooper appears to have been sold this by his own players - like Giolito. That said, all credit goes to Cooper for being willing to evolve with the times and change for the better of his players. Not all coaches - especially not those with the immense track record of Cooper - are willing to evolve. Cooper very clearly is all-in with these guys, and I think it's very clearly going to pay off. I have always felt Cooper was a master of the mental side of pitching coaching - which is one of, if not the biggest, battles pitchers face - and if he can combine that with some sound data analysis it makes him a special coach for these guys.

Looks fantastic guys; nice job. Much better than chicagonow which always felt like a personal blog.

Something interesting from the Athletic article today: Kopech isn't on an innings cap, per se: Rather than the now-archaic idea of a simple innings cap, the White Sox will monitor Kopech’s pitch data for signs of decline and fatigue to decide when to pull the reins on his 2020 season. But it’s also clear they’re planning on tilting his schedule toward a delayed arrival in Chicago, rather than an early shutdown. “He’ll start the season as a normal guy,” head trainer Brian Ball said. “We’re going to try to take pressure back away from him. He knows the plan. I’m not making any announcements but we’re not looking for him to be on the Opening Day roster necessarily. We don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him at this point. We want him to go out and pitch, be comfortable.”

https://theathletic.com/1563110/2020/01/27/we-look-at-the-numbers-every-day-white-sox-tout-technology-usage-in-scouting-player-development/?source=shared-article Another deep dive into the White Sox all-in mentality pertaining technology and data analysis; spearheaded by Cooper and his team. Some quotes from the article; “You have to have evaluation and you have to have technology — we want scouts that can use both,” Shirley said. “We’re trying to define who’s got the best fastball. Who’s got the best fastball command? Who’s got the best fastball stuff? Who’s got the best axis on it? Who’s got the best spin rate, who’s got the most carry on their fastball? This is the stuff our technology pieces are looking at.” “There’s a fallacy going on that I’m so old school I don’t care about the numbers,” pitching coach Don Cooper said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. We look at the numbers every day. We have the Rapsodo out every day. We have the high-speed camera out every day. Because you want every tool you can have that’s going to help.” But he also reeled off motion and pitch-tracking systems Trackman, BlastMotion, K-Vest and Rapsodo by name. He broke down for fans how scouts use force plates to measure how players are pressing their feet into the ground during their swings, and how the correlation to bat speed has become requisite knowledge for his army of 17 area scouts. Seems like the Sox have caught up quickly, and have likely already passed the Cubs in their analytics department.

I agree hype doesn't always transpire into results, but I just don't think these guys are comparable. Beckham played up the middle and was drafted 8th; Vaughn plays a position that is never drafted that high, but he was an exception to that rule because he is so amazing.

Wow, so Reds gave him an opt out at end of 2020 and 2021.

He was a nice player, but he wasn't a generational bat in college by any means. Vaughn was a generational bat; his sophomore year was better than Beckham's best year despite playing with the new bats and suppressed offense.

Those are two legit good points though; I'll give Steve that. If someone was willing to give me long odds on Madrigal, I'd be willing to bet he breaks camp with the team. If he has a huge spring, I think he puts the pressure on and I think they go for it and call him up.

Who ever said Gordon Beckham was the greatest college hitter they saw? Gordon had a nice junior year, but he wasn't a better college hitter than Buster who was drafted the same year (he wasn't even close) and he wasn't better than Pedro Alvarez that year either. I don't think anyone ever said he was the best college hitter; let alone the best they saw. Vaughn has been in the argument for top 10ish ever. Beckham's junior was amazing, 1323 OPS and he hit 411. Buster had a 1445 ops and hit 463!

Yeah, I don't get it at all. Why sign Castellanos to move Senzel? Senzel was one of your high variance/high upside pieces that could push your projected win total north of what it is. Replacing Senzel with Castellanos/Moustakas seems like a really poor strategy; doing it to get Lindor for 2 years makes it even worse. They should be keeping Senzel unless their internal valuations of him are lower after what they just saw.

Yeah, I think the point being made is it's still a prospect for prospect swap, and one could argue Vaughn is on Senzel's level as a prospect so adding Stiever would be an overpay. Either way, the deal doesn't really make sense for either club.

Senzel was a top 10 prospect by all publications entering last year.

Wow, really nice deal for Castellano's would love to know the opt out rules if there are any. I always thought if Castellanos could prove himself that last years second half wasn't a fluke he could get big money next year. Now he has a chance.

Harold already trying to get rid of Madrigal again. This guy!

Vaughn is the best hitting prospect to come out of college in 10 years; imo.

Why would the Reds trade Senzel for MiLB assets when they're in win now mode? I wouldnt trade vaughn/stiever for Senzel but I am much higher on Vaughn than many here. I wouldn't hate the deal, I just think Vaughn is gonna be a 140-150 wRC+ bat consistently.

This seems like a terrible thing for the Reds; a terrible idea.

Cole - 7 years, 250 million - Signed: 9 year, 324 million Rendon - 8 years, 255 million - Signed: 7 year, 245 million Stras - 6 years, 220 million - Signed: 7 years, 245 million Bumgarner - 6 years, 175 million - Signed: 5 years, 85 million Ryu - 4 years, 85 million - Signed: 4 years, 80 million Donaldson - 3 years, 65 million - Signed: 4 years, 92 million Wheeler - 5 years, 125 million - Signed: 5 years, 118 million Ozuna - 4 years, 85 million - Signed: 1 year, 18 million Grandal - 4 years, 70 million - Signed: 4 Years, 73 Million Odorizzi - 4 years, 60 million - Signed: QO Hamels - 2 years, 30 million - Signed: 1 year, 18 million Didi - 5 years, 68 million - Signed: 1 year, 14 million Keuchel - 3 years, 50 million - Signed: 3 years, 55 million Castellanos - 5 years, 80 million - Signed: 4 years, 64 million Miley - 2 years, 25 million - Signed: 2 years, 15 million Encarnacion - 1 year, 19 million - Signed: 1 year, 12 million Moustakas - 2 years, 38 million - Signed: 4 years, 64 million Puig - 3 years, 45 million - Signed: NONE Will Smith - 4 years, 48 million - Signed: 3 Years, 39 million Will Harris - 3 years, 30 million - Signed: 3 years, 24 million Betances - 2 years, 16 million - Signed: 1 year, 10.5 million Roark - 1 year, 13 million - Signed: 1 year, 12 million Pineda 1 year, 11 million - Signed: 1 year, 10 million Overall not terrible. Biggest misses were Bumgarner (terrible projections by me), Did (who took the shorter offer to rebuild value), and Ozuna.

Yeah, that rumor was one of the most absurd of the off-season.

4 years 64 million. Good for Nick.