South Side Hit Men

Cease started well with 3 scoreless Ks through 2 innings. Turned the radio broadcast on traveling between breweries on this gorgeous Chicago day. Tomorrow we start Daylight Savings Time, so label your game threads accordingly.

Sadly, Chris Getz selected the Maldonado box.

Oakland picked up better quality players over the offseason vs. the mostly worthless shotgun Sox acquisitions. Have to figure the Sox will reduce their chances further by signing negative fWAR players such as Moose and Squirrel Pillar. Oakland will likely better develop the younger players they have, perhaps significantly, based on both teams track records. Projected 2024 Depth Chart fWAR - Limited to players with projections signed to major league contracts. Oakland Athletics 9 Acquisitions = 5.1 2/14 Scott Alexander 0.2 2/2 Alex Wood 1.4 2/2 Ross Stripling 1.4 12/19 Trevor Gott 0.3 12/6 Mitch Spence 0.0 11/20 Osvaldo Bido 0.2 11/17 Michael Kelly 0.0 11/15 Abraham Toro 1.1 11/6 Miguel Andujar 0.5 Chicago White Sox 17 Acquisitions = 5.7 2/27 Bailey Horn 0.0 2/23 Peyton Burdick 0.0 2/3 Dominic Fletcher 0.4 2/3 Prelander Berroa 0.0 2/3 Zach DeLoach 0.0 1/26 John Brebbia 0.4 1/5 Martin Maldonado (0.6) 12/30 Chris Flexen 0.8 12/28 Tim Hill (0.3) 12/13 Erick Feede 1.1 12/9 Max Stassi 0.9 12/6 Shane Drohan 0.0 11/28 Paul DeJong 0.7 11/16 Michael Soroka 1.2 11/16 Braden Shewmake 0.2 11/16 Nicky Lopez 0.7 11/16 Jared Shuster 0.2

There are so many great national and state parks within a 4-5 + hour drive. I've been to Death Valley the most of any NP, but passed last month because of all the road wash outs from August, with many areas, roads and exhibits closed. However, I just saw today Lake Manley which formed in August with those floods is still there. Had I known about this I would have went immediately. They also have pup fish by the salt creek (can't access because of the floods) and depending on rainfall and conditions, there are years with great wildflower blooms. I highly encourage everyone who loves nature and is in the area in the Winter to Early Spring months to check Death Valley conditions and try to get out there even for a drive there and back from Vegas if you can't stay overnight. Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon (I prefer the more remote North Rim due to far less visitors - just like Comiskey Park), Zion in the non Summer months (too crowded) or the Dixie Forest in the Summer months. Several great State Parks as well with less crowds and great things to see and do. What the middle of Lake Manley better known as Badwater Basin has nearly always looked like during our lifetimes - Photo about 45 minutes west of the road: What happened after it flooded: https://www.cnn.com/travel/death-valley-national-park-kayaking-temporary-lake/index.html

Can't win even with this going on.

Touki up to 48 pitches, 7 base runners, 1 out.

Gag me with a spoon.

Back to Back Ha Ha!!

Ha Ha you blue hair freak.

White Sox meeting on the mound.

Grab some bench Nicky Three Strikes.

Colas might be able to be successful at the MLB level with work. Don’t think Sheets or Fletcher will ever cross that threshold. Pedro better hope they aren’t airing his pants with his chubby after Pillar’s double. Sox score on some crappy Cubs defense plus a sac fly and aforementioned double.

It’s his first outing, went as well as can be expected. Hope he (and Crochet) can build on their outings and take a big step up this season.

It's incumbent on Getz to be clear with Pedro and the coaching staff what the priorities are, and that they will be judged on long term considerations, not wins and losses. If Getz is prioritizing win now, which his February moves and NRIs plus Merkin's tea-leaves indicate, Getz is the primary problem, not Pedro. Also, someone needs to work with both Pedro and Getz to improve their communication skills.

Chicago White Sox Chicago Cubs For the Twitter Impaired

I have them finishing strong with Pedro fired, good callups and veterans injured or cut along the way. I also believe a few of the guys starting in AAA including the accumulated pitchers will perform better the final two months than what was left to finish 2023. 68-94 is my final answer.

March (1): 1 Det April (10): 2 KC; 0 Atl; 1 Cleve; 2 Cin; 1KC; 1Phil; 1 Minn; 2 TB; 0 Minn May (10): 0 Minn; 2 STL; 0 TB; 1 Cleve; 2 Wash; 1 NYY; 0 Tor; 2 Balt; 1 Tor; 1 Milw. June (12): 1 Milw; 1 Cubs; 3 Red Cubs; 1 Seamen; 1 Ari; 2 Hou; 0 Det; 1 LAD; 2 Col. July (11): 0 Cleve; 1 MIA; 2 Minn; 2 Pitt; 2 KC; 1 Tex; 2 Seamen; 1 KC. August (10): 0 Minn; 1 Oak; 1 Cubs; 0 NYY; 1 Hou; 2 SF; 2 Det; 2 Tex; 1 NYM. September (14): 0 NYM; 2 Balt; 2 Red Cubs; 2 Cleve; 2 Oak; 2 Ana; 1 SD; 2 Ana; 1 Det. 68-94

Getz is trying to convince Jerry to spend $7k on a Charlie Lau Hologram with 18 preprogrammed personal player instructions to choose from. Jerry said like any purchase, only if ISFA pays for it. The Sox will present this proposal at the next ISFA board meeting. Meanwhile, Jerry contacted the business behind Getz’ back to inquire on the possibilities of creating a hologram based front office and administrative staff, programmed to carry out his or Tony’s instructions on how to operate The White Sox Way!

If Moustakas (35), Pillar (35) and Mendick (30) are all on the Opening Day roster, fire Chris Getz. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/white-sox-2024-opening-day-roster Pedro is a dipstick, but assuming Tony is not running the show, Getz is at minimum enabling this behavior and likely in agreement. You have the next two years to see what, if anything, you have with Colas (25), Sosa (24), Lee (25), Shewmake (26), DeLoach (25), perhaps Burdick (27). I'm not advocating for starting the clock on the top prospects who will benefit from more time in AA/AAA, but for these guys, you can perhaps get a solid player out of one or two of these guys if you play them regularly and work correcting any deficiencies. it's not the time to "win many different ways" with AARP guys with no upside or trade value. It's bad enough they are going with both Maldonado (37) + Stassi (33), Lopez (29) and DeJong (30).

Thanks, I only saw the first page choices when I clicked the link. I don't go into Circa because they scan your drivers license and does God knows what with your personal data. That said, you'd get the same odds at The D (though they also at times scan IDs on weekends) or other places that use Circa's odds. In any event, read the fine print on these bets, because some sportsbook have onerous provisions like 160-162 games must be played, so a rain out that won't be made up could take away your win, even if the game was irrelevant.

If you had to bet, I'd take the Caesars 63 over -110 to save you a push with 63 wins. I was confident before February they should lock in 67-70 wins this season. With what has gone on the past few weeks, I'm less confident. I wouldn't bet under. It could happen, but even the worst teams typically win over 60, and there isn't a big margin to work with. if they go with a bunch of veterans (Moustakas, Pillar) over the mid 20s prospects, I hope they finish below the 1962 Mets futility. Jerry, Getz, Pedro and possibly Tony would deserve what they wrought/sowed, though Jerry would use it and the weak attendance to argue he deserves a few billion more than the two billion he has already demanded (not including the several billion in future interest).

Prefer Pillar and Moose both cut loose like a deuce. Lee played a little at 1B and would make most sense in terms of trying to have him mentored assuming they "must" take back both Maldonado and Stassi. Thinking either or both might not make it to Memorial Day, and then you can bring up Popeye or another player with flexibility. Bring up Sheets or Elko if you had to IL Vaughn. Would like this playing time allotment (before injuries, trades, promotions): (L 135) A. Benintendi (29.7) (LF 135) (L 120) O. Colas (25.5) (RF 120) (R 110) P. DeJong (30.6) (SS 110) (L 96) D. Fletcher (26.5) (RF 42 + CF 27 + LF 27) (R 132) E. Jimenez (27.3) (DH 132) (R 87) K. Lee (25.6) (C 62 + 1B 17) (L 110) N. Lopez (29.0) (2B 100; SS 10) (105) (R) M. Maldonado (37.5) + (R) M. Stassi (33.0) (C 100 + DH 5) (S 140) Y. Moncada (28.8) (3B 130 DH 10) (R 145) L. Robert Jr. (26.6) (CF 135 + DH 10) (R 134) L. Sosa (24.1) (2B 62 + SS 42 + 3B 32) (R 150) A. Vaughn (25.9) (1B 145 + DH 5) AAA: Z. DeLoach (25.5); T. Elko (25.2); D. Mendick (30.4), C. Perez (27.5); Z. Remillard (30.0); J. Rodriguez (22.8); G. Sheets (27.9); B. Shewmake (26.3) Cut: M. Moustakas (35.5); K. Pillar (35.2)

A few selections from Sox Machine. Jim Margalus on Crochet’s outing: https://soxmachine.com/2024/02/garrett-crochet-white-sox-spring-debut/ James Fegan on Chris Flexen https://soxmachine.com/2024/02/white-sox-chris-flexen-spring-training/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1283650/Street-fighters-Two-men-attack-straw-brooms.html