YourWhatHurts

ReyLo is the next man up on the chopping block IMO. He's been even worse in AAA. The Sox have called up Stiever, Lambert, Burdi, and Burr over him. They've probably been trying to dump him to no avail for awhile now.

This is exactly it and the NBA comparison is spot on. The league office has their own agenda however and they are only interested in making the game into something that they believe is more profitable. Case in point: foul territory. I don't hear anything about adding foul territory but if you did, theoretically it would favor the pitchers by giving them more outs via popups and also favor the hitters by giving them more room to run on line drives. There would be many more triples and also lots more doubles for guys with merely average or just below average speed. Pitchers would probably pitch more toward aerial outs and be less afraid of the zone. And contact for hitters on balls inside the park and fair would be more productive. Lots of singles aren't singles anymore. But doing that "removes fans from the game" as though there is some inherent baseball principle that says if the fans can't be behind 3 foot tall walls just outside of the baseline and reaching over into the field of play then it's not baseball anymore. But really, going back to more foul territory is fair to the pitchers and hitters, disfavors popups, favors line drives, favors speed, favors contact, favors pitching inside of the strike zone. And it doesn't disrespect the integrity or history of the game. But it does however challenge the aesthetic images of an intimate (read: more profitable) fan experience at the ballpark which is a purpose which the trash in the league offices hold far dearer to their hearts than the fundamental play structure of the historical game.

Hitters can make more contact more if they want to. Pitchers can put the ball in play more if they want to. The problem is that over the years as the bats and balls have changed to increasingly favor offense, so have the ballpark dimensions changed by removing taller walls, removing foul territory, and bringing the OF fences in. As a result, hitters want to hit the ball hard in the air and want more than anything to hit it out. And pitchers are afraid of contact because otherwise harmless flyouts, lineouts or doubles are HRs. Their changes have already pushed players like Buehrle and Moyer out of the game. After Wright went out and RA Dickey retired is there even a knuckler anymore? You can't walk anyone and the more you walk hitters the more you need a strikeout to bail your self out of the situation. The league built all of this with their constant prioritization of offense over pitching and defense. And the way pitchers have adapted in return has been fun to watch. If you want to police the stickem that is fine. But I don't see anything wrong with it. As long as it is equal rules for everyone it is fine. Ultimately the pitchers need to be able to grip the ball well enough to keep it around the zone and keep it safer for batters. Maybe there should be a replacement substance or whatever. Leave the mound where it is and quit bitching about the strikeouts. Launch angle and power pitching is how you play bandbox baseball.

Stone blows a lot of dumb hot air about the artistry in the game being on the defensive side of the ball. Only problem is that he is referring entirely to the position players reacting to balls hit at them, not the pitcher and catcher. What a dipshit Stone is on this also. The greatest artistry and easiest place to find mastery is looking at what the pitcher and catcher are doing to the hitter and what the manager is trying to do to the hitter via defensive positioning and then what the hitter is trying to do in return. The fact that a pitcher like Stone would ever say anything so stupid is outrageous. If there was a pitchers union he should be banned from it. Hitting MLB pitching has always been one of the very hardest things to do in professional sports. Literally it is 9 position players vs. 1 hitter. If you don't love the game being that way then GTFO of it. Go watch bowling or something.

BTW I think strikeouts are fun as hell. Watching dominant pitching is exciting. There's nothing wrong with the game other than this constant stream of unnecessary rules they keep adding to it to try to make it into something else and then all the trash they have in the league offices and the owners boxes.

All the league has done over the years is work to make the game easier for hitters and harder for pitchers. So when pitchers evolve accordingly, then it becomes a problem for the league again. Fuck manfred and fuck Theo. I never hated Epstein before but fuck you. Thanks for Cease and Eloy. You are a fraud who obviously knows nothing and pitching and your horseshit drafting and development record with the Cubs is the reason their franchise is in trouble. But yeah thanks for doing Cease for Q you fucking dipshit.

Right at the SS, hitting low pitches after he missed elevated cookies early. That EV is a lot better served on balls in the air than on groundballs in the IF.

Just so everyone is aware, this team has the ability to force the Twinkies to be sellers at the deadline for sure. We play them 10 times from June 28 to July 21st. Literally, if we take care of business, it doesn't even matter how they play against other teams. I'm still more concerned about them then CLE anyway. CLE just wants a reason to continue to sell off players and cut salary. You can make a good argument -- and I will -- that the Royals with their offseason actually have been trying harder to win baseball games than CLE has been. That FO doesn't even want to try. If they make any deadline move at all it'll be very minimal or another Bauer or Clevinger type of deal where they give up the best player in the deal and take back several much lesser players in return to stop some of the bleeding in those areas. I'm not worried at all. But MIN, if we even go 5-5 they might be done. 6-4 we're holding the shovel, 7-3 or better and they're dead and buried.

Ugh I actually forgot Kopech went down that day.

Yerminator has been missing more cookies over the last month or so than anyone. Fouled back 2 pitches he should have killed in the same AB, then later swung through a hanging slider from Tate that also should have been killed. He's definitely in a slump, but I am not worried because of his hitting skills. His 2-strike approach is the reason he's still above .300, and probably the reason he's still above .280 or so. It has gotten him a lot of singles and a few 2Bs. Right the ship, Yerminator. Maybe it is time to move him in the order. IMO: TA, Yerminator, Moncada, Abreu, Vaughn should be the top 5 with Madrigal 9 again. That just leaves the 6-7-8 to fill up but it's 6 guys who can hit in a row. I really think Yermin is meant for that 2 slot. And maybe taking some pressure off of him and asking him to do a job with the bat would get him seeing the ball a bit better. He's really only struggling on pitches he should crush, so change it up on him IMO.

TLR hasn't been charged with a DUI in over 15 months now. What more could anyone ask for? Let's check his vehicle and see if it looks like it has been in a collision recently. Assuming his car doesn't have any dents in it, I think at this point we may all only conclude that TLR is as good of a driver on the road as anyone else, and is as safe of a driver on the road as anyone else, and his record over the last 15+ months proves it. So now let's forget about the past and give him all the credit he deserves for being a safe driver. He's earned it, and these last 15 months should put him above criticism.

Maybe it was just me but when I saw Mike Wright in ST I didn't see any pitch that looked like an MLB pitch. I don't know why we wouldn't start Kopech or even start Crochet on a bullpen day. Also, if TLR can do Lynn on 3 days rest then why not also Keuchel? 4.2-5IP should be doable for both and that's the absolute most we could expect out of anyone coming up from Charlotte, and likely with much better results. I do really like Lambert though so I am hoping he is healthy and throwing the ball well now. If he is he can definitely stick in this pen/on this team.

Danny really doesn't have the arm strength to cover the IF. Dumping Leury is a dumb and short-sighted move. He has had a bad start offensively which has been greatly exaggerated thanks to TLR playing him like every single day. This team really needs 2 MIFs anyway. It really should be Lamb or Hamilton, with Hamilton the easiest guy to take out because Engel basically takes all his PT away. But Lamb's power bat off the bench is valuable ATM with our power so low due to injuries. Lamb has a real hard time getting playing time also with Vaughn doing so well in the OF. You're rarely going to sit Yoan and Lamb in the OF or at 1B isn't great defensively so basically he makes the most sense as a PH power bat. Sending Mendick down ATM is an easy call. He is a MLBer and will be back up soon. And sentimental feelings aside, when Robert is back, you really can't justify carrying Hamilton unless Leury is going to be IF-only and Eaton is hurt. And when Eloy is back you can't justify Lamb either. So both of these guys have helped the cause, but they will both eventually have to go. And when they do, Mendick becomes even more necessary.

Stiever isn't ready so he shouldn't be an option. Reynaldo should definitely not be an option either. We just have 1 DH so it shouldn't be an issue. There's an offday before we see the BJs.

I see what you are saying but I just don't like the comp due to the tools difference. I mean if you are just saying he could improve fundamentally then I agree, so could anyone. TA did, Moncada did, also so did Leury and Yolmer Sanchez. I think Yolmer is probably a better comp actually. Madrigal is a better player but Yolmer still has him on defense. It's just a totally different set of circumstances comparing the players though. People are much more patient and understanding with the toolshed type of prospect/young MLBer than the overachiever type. Anderson's issue was mental/inexperience/impatience/lack of baseball experience but the tools were there that gave him a ceiling of a well-above average defensive player if everything came together. OTOH Madrigal has the tools of an average player who has to hit on everything fundamentally to just be average on defense. TA as a lesser version of himself is still playable if not at SS then 2B or elsewhere because of the tools and the bat. Madrigal as a poor fundamental player is unplayable, anywhere, except maybe as an extra 2B on a bench but usually teams want a guy there who is more versatile. Which is why it is a totally different set of circumstances.

WTF has happened to Freddy Galvis? This guy is a world beater now.

If we send Mendick down, we're a better team via not losing extra depth. The other guys we all have to DFA or trade, and then we lose depth. Mendick will go down and it will be purely a baseball move. I share your opinion. I'm a big fan of Danny.

Comparing Anderson's tools to Madrigal's tools is absolutely ridiculous. If Madrigal becomes an average defender it will be solely based on situational awareness, good hands, etc. It will not be due to speed, range, or arm strength.

Madrigal has been a lot better in the areas which have cost the team. The contact has been an asset. So far he's looking like a 5-year player, maybe 6. I'd still trade him in the right deal but that's just me. I would really love to bring Semien back as a FA on about a 4 year deal if that is possible. His season however is probably pricing him out of the Sox range.

The HR power threat is nice, whether the numbers are there (they are ATM) or not. Collins is also a HR threat but really only against some RHP and he needs regular playing time to really be much of a threat. So keeping Lamb makes some sense.

Recent glovework and HR aside, Hamilton is really the only guy Engel makes redundant. It would be nice to keep Hamilton but you can't lose Leury due to his all-around versatility, and it's also nice to have a PH HR threat on the bench in Lamb. IMO Mendick gets sent down because he has options. I also wouldn't be too surprised to see a Mendick trade. The Sox have Marco Hernandez behind him in Charlotte as a backup, and I really wouldn't be surprised if there are other teams interested in Mendick, especially rebuilding teams with 2B to trade (like the Pirates). I think Mendick could be a nice fit on a lot of teams, and if the Sox are going to live or die with Madrigal, he is moveable. And even though I like him, it would be nice to see him get an opportunity elsewhere. Even if it came back to bite us a little bit.

It should be pretty obvious to any moral person why this is so offensive. The people like the food service workers, vendors, attendants, cleaning crews, security guards, etc. make the park a place to go. These people all come first, even below the players. The actual chain of importance is essential facility support workers > players > front office staff > ownership. Literally, no single person would ever attend a ballpark if there weren't security guards or bathroom cleaning staff. Then after that comes the food service workers, etc. MiLB baseball is proof that you can still draw fans to a baseball game even if nobody in attendance knows any of the players on the field or gives a fuck about either team, the score, or who wins or loses. So these people are pretty important. They are paid the least of all and a tiny fraction of what the players, FO and ownership all make. They do thankless work and are rarely recognized for anything. What is important here is gesture that the sign naming is supposed to represent. The dorf is a POS scumbag to me regardless, but it's at least a nice gesture to make a statement that these workers are important, whether the Sox org actually treats these people decently compared to others in sports or not. The sign being named after a concessions worker is a statement that these people are actually important. It's fine to change the name to another concession worker, or name it after all of the concession workers, or name it after some long-time security guard or something like that, etc., as long as it is still being used as a gesture to pay homage to this level of worker. But withdrawing that gesture and naming it after yet another player/manager/coach/owner etc. like everything else is a scumbag move and completely unnecessary. It's basically saying "We really don't think it is important to pay tribute to this class of ballpark employee anymore." That's the statement they are making whether anyone involved is of enough moral status to be aware of it or not. The TLR is a totally different side of this. It doesn't matter who they named it after. You can name any other unnamed part of the park after TLR if you really think you need to, or you can name it after TA or Abreu, or someone else, and that is fine. But taking down a sign that stands as a statement of appreciation for the lowest-paid class of ballpark employee to name that area after any of those guys is a scumbag move. As an aside, I bet if you asked around the clubhouse privately whether the players thought this was a dirty move and were for or against it, overwhelmingly it would be considered dirty and overwhelmingly they would be against it.

I am not sure how you can possibly read what I wrote and then believe I agree with you on anything. The guy in charge of everything probably should read his own company memos, don't ya think? When a section of the park gets renamed, that's probably covered in one of those memos, don't ya think? A guy who reads the memos and is in power to override any decision and actually gives a fuck about the topic would get involved and override the decision, don't ya think? Again, it's obvious you don't have any idea how any business owner runs their business. Like the guy who has to meddle in a managerial hire all the way down to the director of analytics or whatever, and who has to look at the financials on absolutely everything down to the point of trading INTL bonus cash to save a few bucks on a player buyout, isn't going to read his own memos. Right. Keep carrying that water.

The fact that you actually believe that shows you don't have even the slightest understanding about running an operation that employs other people. Yes, the first thing you should pay attention to is your own employees and the way they are treated, and the way they interact with the customer and the way the customer sees your operation through their actions. There is also a going to be a clearance / approval process that ends with him. So whether he okayed it or someone below him did, whoever okayed this should go kick rocks. And regardless it's proof he's doing a shitty job himself.

Suddenly? Did you miss the 1990's?