South Side Hit Men

Move that trash franchise to Lake County Indiana. Let them pay for it. https://fox59.com/indiana-news/lawmaker-wants-to-entice-chicago-bears-to-move-to-indiana/

Verlander signed an extension with the Astros after 2019 and again after 2021, went to two World Series after his extensions with the Astros winning one. Kershaw is a lifelong Dodger, reached three World Series and won one under his $215M 2014-2020 contract. Stephen Strasburg is a lifelong National. Max Scherzer signed his free agent deal with the Nationals before winning in 2019. Four pitchers, signed by teams that wanted to win, and then won with those teams committed to win.

We all weren't, not for that contract and his noted issues as a catcher, which is why the Dodgers started Austin Barnes over him in the 2017 and 2018 World Series, despite the fact Grandal was a regular starter when the games didn't matter as much.

Helps to have the best pitchers in the game if you want to win a World Series. If you want to waive a 2nd/3rd place carrots at fans every year, and blame fans for your shoddy product and stadium you wanted, not so much. 2023 Texas Rangers (Max Scherzer) 2022 Houston Astros (Justin Verlander) 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw) 2019 Washington Nationals (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg) 2018 Boston Red Sox (Chris Sale) 2017 Houston Astros (Justin Verlander)

Getz brought in 14 position players to camp, and not a single player with a projected .700 OPS. Not. One. Hitter. 2024 FanGraphs Projected OPS Starters .671 Dominic Fletcher .658 Paul DeJong .632 Nicky Lopez .592 Martin Maldonado Reserves .690 Kevin Pillar .685 Rafael Ortega .669 Danny Mendick .669 Mike Moustakas .667 Zach DeLoach .666 Peyton Burdick .648 Max Stassi .631 Braden Shewmake .624 Chuckie Robinson .613 Brett Phillips

Shaw gives up a walk and SB with two outs and then a blast by backup catcher Tom Murphy to deep left which would have been at least a double if it wasn't the game winning hit to score Meckler and give the Giants a 5-4 win in Scottsdale. 15 left on base today by the White Sox.

Jon Miller stated there was likely not a play at first, leading credence to your take. If this wasn't a spring training game, maybe the scorer would revisit or someone on the Sox would ask the scorer to revisit. Sox tie it after a Phillips Walk, Payton double and Korey Lee sacrifice fly, but the Sox run themselves out of another inning after Payton was picked off at 3rd with two outs. Dumb baseball continues in Arizona.

Cousins comes in, gets Diaz and McCray to hit groundballs but both get through. Then he threw a pickoff throw to third base away, scoring Diaz and advancing McCray to third, before he scored on Tom Murphy's sacrifice fly for the Giants to take the lead 4-3.

I’m expecting the team to treat each at bat as precious, and not make outs on purpose. Casey Stengel, Earl Weaver and Davey Johnson managed in the 20th century with a 21st century mindset. Ozzie and Pedro managed in the 21st century but thought in the 19th century mindset.

Top 4th LHP Chris Young enters the game to start the fourth. Nicky Lopez smacked a double into the LF corner, something the Sox could have used with two on in the second. Nicky advanced to third on a wild pitch, thwarting Pedro’s plan to have Fletcher bunt him over. Joey Bart’s catching mask broke in the middle of Fletcher’s at bat before Dominic struck out facing the LHP. Moncada stayed disciplined and did not chase a sinker on a 3-2 count to walk, before Young struck out Vaughn. Eloy grounded sharply to Estrada, who couldn’t get a hard running Moncada at second base, allowing Lopez to score and Eloy to reach. Ortega ended the inning on a foul pop out to the first baseman to end the threat. White Sox 1 San Francisco 0

Bottom 3rd Vaughn flips a ground ball to Flexen to retire Yaz. Hawk has mixed feelings listening at home. Conforto lines a single into RF on a 3-1 count. Soler flies out to LF before Chapman flies out deep to Fletcher to end the inning. Wonder if Flexen gets to start the 4th or if they are handing things over to a new pitcher.

Bunting is garbage, especially early in a game. Also, Pedro wanting Yoan to bunt more to “earn” the #2 spot in the lineup is ludicrous.

Top 3 Vaughn scalded a ground ball to Chapman. Estrada retires Eloy again by way of groundout, before Spencer Howard is pulled apparently reaching his scheduled pitch count. LHP Nick Swiney (pronounced Sweeney) replaced Howard and promptly walked Ortega (his second today) and gave up a single to CF by DeJong, and hit Pillar in the foot to load the bases. Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) Maldonado grounded out to SS for a force at second to once again end the inning with the bases loaded.

Ortega made a good catch climbing the wall on a Wilmer Flores ball hit deep to LF. DeJong scooped up an Estrada ground ball for the second out. Ahmed walked on a 3-1 count before Joey Bart, battling for a MLB roster spot, helped his cause with a single between DeJong and Moncada. Slater once again goes down on a called third strike to end the inning.

Kevin Pillar led off the second with a line shot over Chapman, which trickled down the line for a double. Martin Maldonado flared a single into shallow right center. Pillar returned to 2B not knowing if Yaz would make a catch. Nicky Lopez bunted Pillar and Maldonado over to second and third, giving Pedro, Ozzie Guillen and Chuck Garfein a simultaneous chubby. Fletcher foul tipped strike three into Bart’s glove, and Moncada ended the inning with a strikeout looking. Perhaps after Jerry dies we will have a manager who doesn’t instruct players to make outs on purpose, and broadcasters who don’t worship Ozzie Small Balls.

Backwards K vs. Slater before Yaz walked and Conforto singled to RF. Flexen settled down to induce Soler to fly out to RF and new Giant Matt Chapman to ground out to DeJong, just as Getz planned it, to end the inning.

The radio streaming is working. Jon Miller with the PBP. https://www.knbr.com/listen-live-on-knbr-680/ The White Sox offense to start the game: Fletcher and Moncada each drew a walk. Vaughn hit a deep fly just before the 430 foot mark in deep CF, moving Fletcher to third (Yoan stayed halfway). Jimenez shattered his bat flaring out to 2B. Ortega, who is in ST with the Sox for no explicable reason, walked to load the bases. DeJong hit into a fielders choice, Yoan tagged out between second and third, to end the inning.

No local broadcast today. Perhaps the game will be available streamed via the link below. https://www.knbr.com/listen-live-on-knbr-680/ The game is currently off (unavailable) the Vegas and online betting board (both win and run line). Gameday https://www.mlb.com/gameday/white-sox-vs-giants/2024/03/10/748021/preview White Sox Lineup Giants Lineup - Game One on the Left

Replacing Pedro with Maldonado would kill two birds with one stone, unless they went the Don Kessinger Player-Manager route. The best Jerry amenable scenario would be to make Charlie Montoyo interim manager the rest of the season, give him a bump in salary for his efforts and add or promote a new bench coach. Jerry wasn’t going to pay Pedro, Kenny and Rick over four combined years last August, but he’d be down to a year plus for Pedro. He also gets Kenny and Rick off the books in October, and has future savings with the August 2023 elimination of the EVP of Baseball position after they are done paying off Kenny.

In general, I would agree but… 2024 ST Hitting 28th - HRs 29th - OBP 29th - OPS 2024 ST Pitching 29th - ERA 30th - WHIP 28th - K / BB 2023 Hitting 20th - HRs 30th - OBP 29th - OPS 2023 Pitching 26th - ERA 24th - WHIP 27th - K / BB

I didn't realize players who underwent the MLB Arbitration Process can be released after the award and their guaranteed pay is limited to the pro-rated portion of their contract. If the Giants' J. D. Davis clears waivers, the Giants will not have to pay him the $6.9M he won at his hearing. If the team and player reach agreement prior to the hearing, the contract is guaranteed. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/03/giants-place-j-d-davis-on-waivers.html He has over 5 MLB years, so he can reject an assignment to the minor leagues, and will continue to be eligible for arbitration in future years until he reaches 6 years of service time. I'm guessing he become a free agent and has to negotiate a new contract, likely far less than $6.9M at this stage of Spring Training. If I'm the MLBPA, I'm fighting to make arbitration awards guaranteed under the next CBA. Teams can release anyone days before the season and the player lost the right to explore FA when players were signed the first three plus months of free agency. Also, multiple players including Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Brandon Crawford and now J. D. Davis have called out the Giants this offseason for their lack of communication with players over the past few years. Also the fact they haven't won a single playoff series the past nine years (a wild card game win their only success) and don't even look to be in the playoffs this year or beyond. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/giants-j-d-davis-placed-waivers-clears-18812766.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/athletics/article/alex-wood-happily-transitions-giants-swingman-18689196.php https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/09/09/sf-giants-ross-stripling-airs-grievances-over-usage-communication-im-just-in-limbo/

Less than three weeks from Opening Day. Three more players off the board, two Top 10 FAs remain available. MLB Trade Rumors Top 50 FAs + Honorable Mentions Remaining MLBTR 2024 FA Rank / Position Player Age / MLBTR Projected Contract / 2024 Fangraphs Projected fWAR #2 CF/1B Cody Bellinger 28 ($264M/12) 2.4 Signed by Chicago N. L. for $80M/4 Years with Player Opt-Out options over the next two years. #4 SP Blake Snell 31 ($200M/7) 3.3 #6 SP Jordan Montgomery 31 ($150M/6) 3.2 #7 3B Matt Chapman 31 ($150M/6) 2.6 Signed by San Francisco for $54M/3 Years with Player Opt-Out options over the next two years. #20 DH J. D. Martinez 36 ($40M/2) 0.5 #30 SP Mike Clevinger 33 ($26M/2) 1.4 #34 SP Michael Lorenzen 32 ($22M/2) 1.2 #38 3B/1B/SS Gio Urshela 32 ($20M/2) 0.9 Signed by Detroit for $1.5M/1Year + up to $0.5M in incentives. #45 1B Brandon Belt 36 ($15M/1) 0.5 #50 SS Tim Anderson 31 ($12M/1) 1.5 Signed by Miami for $5M/1Year. HM CF/LF/RF Adam Duval 35 ($8M/1) 0.2 HM LF/RF Tommy Pham 36 ($8M/1) 1.0 HM RP Ryne Stanek 32 ($-) 0.3 Signed by Seattle, $4M plus $2M in incentives. HM CF Michael A. Taylor 33 ($14M/2) 0.9 HM 1B Joey Votto 40 ($-) -0.1 Signed by Toronto to a Minor League Deal $2M + $2M in incentives if he earns a MLB Roster Spot. NL SP Domingo German 31 ($-) 1.1 NL SP Zack Greinke 40 ($7M/1) 1.0

Jimenez (.812) Robert Jr. (.810) and Vaughn (.778) are the only three Sox projected over .740. Three more are projected over .700 (Benintendi .738; Moncada .733 and Sheets .720). A healthy Moncada is the only person I believe can significantly out perform their current projection. With Popeye and Colas gone from OD consideration, the primary spring training focus for me is the starters and a few relievers (Leasure, Berroa, Ky Bush, Horn, Deivi Garcia, Padilla). Fear the 26 man will include Chavez, Shaw, Moustakas, Pillar, Mendick and Sheets vs. seeing what you can salvage among the mid 20 year old players in the system.

Current White Sox fWAR Projections by Position: Overall Position Players: 27th Overall Pitchers: 29th Starters: 27th Bullpen: 29th By Position: C 29th 1B 20th 2B 29th 3B 19th SS 28th LF 23rd CF 5th RF 29th DH 5th Home Run Projection: 183 Home Runs Allowed Projection: 230 HR Player (Projected Games) 33 Luis Robert Jr. (149) 28 Eloy Jimenez (141) 25 Andrew Vaughn (146) 18 Yoan Moncada (143) 13 Paul DeJong (76) 10 Andrew Benintendi (138) 9 Dominic Fletcher (97) 9 Gavin Sheets (53) 9 Martin Maldonado (68) 8 Max Stassi (65) 5 Colson Montgomery (53) 5 Lenyn Sosa (36) 4 Braden Shewmake (34) 3 Korey Lee (29) 2 Nicky Lopez (86) 1 Peyton Burdick (5) 1 Zach DeLoach (8)