CeaseAndExist

Do you have any evidence to back that up? I see the Cardinals stuff but don't see anything other than Manfred saying yesterday they're committed to playing

Madrigal is a contact hitter, he puts the ball in play. That's not an "issue" it's how he hits. Kevin Newman of the Pirates or Fletcher on the Angels are the best comps. And you're just being a weird hater about his speed. He's not Robert and nobody has ever said he has 80 speed. He's quick and has 60 grade speed, which plays up because he's a great baserunner. 2/3 of Madrigal's value comes from his defense and baserunning. If he can hit at a league 2B average that's a 3 WAR player you have locked in to 2B for the next 6 years.

They did a pretty good job of seeing potential in the Sale, Eaton, and Quintana trades. No doubt they have a mixed record on deals, but it's just being a hater to say they haven't been productive

They're going to being playing the World Series and the media and covid doomsday fans will still be saying the season will be canceled. I get it, you're mad sports are being played, you want them canceled until 2050 or whatever. Keep being wrong though, it's pretty obvious they'll play this out in whatever way they can.

His velo backed up and his control, which was already questionable got worse. He had success in college throwing 94-97 and getting hitters to chase pitches. Here he was in the low 90s and MLB hitters are too good to chase like he was used to in college. Maybe he can find a mid-long relief role, but I'd think it's more likely he'll be out of baseball entirely by 2022

Then why even worry about it? The Sox are the only team in all of MLB that even has this type of talent locked up for the next 4+ years. And nobody can predict the future. MLB could reach a new CBA now then have their labor war in 2026-2027. Another, even worse pandemic could wipe out baseball in the future. Who knows. Nobody here thought Moncada would sign an extension that wasn't an absurd amount anyways

I'm pretty sure their current TV deal runs for at least a few more seasons. So by the time JR could negotiate a new deal the pandemic will be over

Because EE is the better hitter and obviously when they signed him it was with the thought Vaughn would spend most of 2020 in the minors, and Collins would probably continue his development as a catcher there too. You really like to trash every move they make to improve the team, I don't get it

He'd lose the grievance. Like Bryant he has zero chance of winning one. The service time rule is black and white and there's still a taxi squad so it's not like he'd just be sitting at home. To win, he'd need actual hard evidence the Sox conspired to keep him down solely for service time. Like an email chain from Hahn to Renteria saying that they won't call Madrigal up until a certain date. It's an almost impossible standard for a player to win but that's the way the CBA was written.

Rodon has never thrown anywhere close to 100, I have no idea where you get that idea from. According to Rotowire, His FB has averaged a tick over 93 every MLB season, with the exception of 2019 when he was at 91.5. So if he's averaging 92 that's pretty good given that he's still working his way back. His control looked fine, but his command wasn't there. He left too many pitches over the plate. Hopefully that improves the further he gets from TJS. Especially for slider-heavy pitchers it can take 18-24 months to get the pre-injury command/feel back

No. The Royals were sold BEFORE the pandemic. The Mets bids are said to be 50% at best the franchise's pre-covid value. The "spin" is coming from people like you who ignore that we are in another Great Depression-level economy. Baseball WAS lucrative. It isn't anymore, at least not in a pandemic, and the only people who want in do so because teams like the Mets are going for clearance prices.

Are people delusional enough to not see coronavirus has crushed revenues across all sports/entertainment industries? I don't see the controversy here, but people love to bash pro sports owners, then say nothing about the wealthy owners of corporations who are laying off millions of employees and crying for bailouts. MLB owners will take big losses this year, and with no fans likely in 2021, the losses will likely be higher if they play a full season. And I'm sure a lot of owners would love to sell, but the Mets bidding shows franchise values are already down 50%, and that will continue to go down. Sure people want to buy the Mets, because the Wilpons will sell even for pennies on the dollar. Nobody is saying feel bad for the owners, they'll be fine. But the economic reality of covid-19 and the US economy, which includes sports, can't be ignored. Sports aren't immune and there are zero other businesses in this country where owners would take tens of millions in losses just to pay millionaire employees more. MLB is a business and in a capitalist society businesses that don't make profits usually don't last very long. And it's weird people feel bad for MLB players. These guys are on such a pedestal and are in the 1% already. Feel bad for minor leaguers, team employees, and the millions of Americans going through actual financial hardship

How old are you? Because there are probably zero professions right now where you can just "skip work" and be paid over coronavirus concerns. Everyone is concerned about the virus but unless you have a legit reason like being high-risk, good luck getting paid for just being worried about it. I mean, you'd have zero people working if you could get paid and skip work over this.

Gummies laced with HGH? Yeah that isn't how it works. HGH needs to be injected I'm fairly certain.

James Beard maybe?

We've had possibly the strictest and longest lockdown, plus a slow, phased re-opening here in Illinois. I'm guessing you don't live here but our curve looks like what you see in Europe, not like Texas or Florida. And public health officials have had basically complete control over the re-opening process here. Comparing Illinois to states like Texas and Florida that locked down for about 10 days is pretty misguided. And obviously that are certain markers with regards to testing/cases that have to be met before attendance at outdoor sporting events here is possible. So just because the Sox plan on it, it doesn't mean it will happen. Ultimately the Illinois and City public health depts have to give the go ahead

As long as our numbers in Illinois stay low/continue to decrease, I see no reason you can't have a small number of fans at games. The City and state are opening back up, and provided all the health/phase guidelines are followed, it seems some level of attendance at outdoor sporting events (I can't imagine this being allowed inside the United Center at this point), is reasonable

The off-site taxi squads, ability to move games around the country (depending on what the local health situation is), and likelihood of a special pool of players at the Nashville site to fill in on an emergency basis, give MLB a pretty good chance of making this thing work. Seems like all the leagues that are starting up again are acknowledging that they accept there will be positive cases, and have some form of a plan to deal with them. If people believe covid-19 needs to be completely wiped out before sports like MLB can resume, then there wouldn't be MLB for a very long time, because even experts like Fauci have said a vaccine won't be enough to eliminate it. With MLB, NHL, NBA, and MLS all scheduled for late July, plus the NFL and CFB training camps set to open then, nothing that happens with MLB will be in a vacuum. My guess is either every league plays, or none do

His option is for 2023

There's very little chance the players win any grievance, and even if they do it just means the owners will look to recoup those costs by cutting payroll in the upcoming offseason and in the next CBA negotiations, so I'm not sure it makes a huge difference either way. I really, really wish people would stop looking at these negotiations as players or owners "winning" though. Both are losing, and both are doing tremendous damage to the sport long-term out of a very short-term interest. And neither side seems to fully appreciate that covid-19, even in a good labor/economic climate, is a threat not just to this season but to the financial feasibility of MLB moving forward

Royals, Red Sox, Phillies, and Cubs seem like they're all doing well based on the BA tracker. Also, there are a ton of college baseball players in the transfer portal right now looking for a new school. I've got to think once it gets closer to August you'll see a bunch more guys sign who haven't found a landing spot on the transfer market

I'd advise most of these kids to go Juco and re-enter the draft next year, when it's more than 5 rounds and there aren't these spending limits.

To be fair, the MLBPA signed off on that arrangement. As bad as Manfred is the Union has always been awful with how they've used the minors/amateur players as bargaining chips

I'd focus on college seniors, small college/DII juniors, Juco prospects, and Puerto Rican prospects. Most of the major unsigned juniors aren't going to sign for $20k, especially with the NCAA giving them eligibility back. Guy I like is Jonathan Hughes from Georgia Tech (5th yr Sr). Should be a quick moving reliever