gogosox1959

I live in Manhattan but grew up in Chicago. Related created a whole new neighborhood with Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan. Their experience here matches exactly what they would need to do in Chicago and what I believe they would be successful with. Any comments about the current neighborhood aren't relevant.

He loves the manager hire.

In Athletic, Bowden gives the Sox a "B". There's one A+, 3 B+, 8 B, and 18 teams lower than Sox. Cubs=C; Det=B; Cleve=C-; KC=B; Minn=B- "I love all of the pitching gambles… (Getz) emphasized makeup and character in a lot of his player moves, which should help improve team culture" The Sox are such a mess that Getz might be right in addressing culture first and then worrying about production https://theathletic.com/5176521/2024/01/05/mlb-offseason-grades-trades-signings/

Jungle Jim was in right. Jim Landis was in center. He was super smooth. There's a famous photo of him virtually jumping old (low) centerfield wall in old Comiskey. 5 Gold Gloves: 1960-1961-1962-1963-1964

I'm on the UES - 95th Street and it's the best it's been all day. Sun is actually breaking through

Maybe not a good pitch to swing at for a hit, but an uppercut when all you need is a fly ball is something else. The game was won soon as he got it into the air

vaughn abreu apr+may may apr apr+may may apr at bats 212 204 average 255 255 211 235 OBP 333 358 276 267 OPS 776 792 536 537 HR 7 4 3 1 1 0 RBI 39 19 20 20 9 11 BB 20 7 13 16 12 4 K 48 24 24 51 24 27 extra base hits 25 12 13 8 4 4 salary - year $760,000 $19,500,000 AV isn't, so far, the player we expected or needed, however it's amazing how much better his numbers are as compared to Abreu - to say nothing of the salary

Currently Vaughn is #11 out of 26 qualified 1st basemen in OPS. I predict that his OPS will be going up as his power stroke seems to be coming alive recently and will finish in top 10. He's in 4th for most extra base hits. May not be optimal, but he seems to be doing okay now and still has significant upside potential https://www.mlb.com/stats/?playerPool=QUALIFIED&position=1B

While it's true that he has always gotten better, his home run production has shockingly gone down. Last year he had three home runs from 8/1 to the end. Here is homers by month in 2022: apr-2, may-3, june-4, july-3, aug-2, sept-1. My intent wasn't a negative thread about Abreu per se. More about showing AV's value. I had thought that in 2023 JA would be better than AV and that may still be true; in 2024 AV=JA; 2025 and beyond AV would be better.

We've come to expect Abreu to be bad in April but part of the blame was always on Chicago weather. Houston was to have helped. AV destroyed him in April. JA has become a singles hitter. APRIL vaughn abreu average 255 235 OBP 358 267 OPS 792 537 HR 3 0 RBI 20 11 BB 13 4 K 24 27 extra base hits 13 4 salary - year $760,000 $19,500,000

Nah, no collision. He never would have gotten there.

Sheets seems to be a lock as he's the only one with left handed power. The great irony is that the greatest Sox strength over the past years has been offense at first: Frank, Paulie, JA, and hopefully AV in the future. They are all right handed in a position that ideally calls for a lefty - which is also better defensively for down the line defense and the angle for catching throws going into the runner. This a significant factor in line-up imbalance.

Tomorrow, Saturday 3/25 is the first date on which Billy and Hanser are free to void their minor league contracts and become free agents.

Decision day for Billy and Alberto is tomorrow. per The Athletic, "under the new collective bargaining agreement, type XX(B) free agents who signed minor-league deals are allowed to opt out of their contracts on March 25 if their team does not plan on having them on the Opening Day roster" https://theathletic.com/4341208/2023/03/24/white-sox-full-roster/

I think that rather than thinking about players first, start with roles first. I come up with catcher, left-handed bat, infielder, outfielder. catcher: Seby left-handed bat: Sheets outfielder: Leury, Marisnick, Billy, Hasely infielder: Leury, Alberto, Romy Burger is the worst fit. I'd DFA Leury and then decide Billy/Marisnick, Alberto/Romy. I'd pick Marisnick as he has a better chance of occasionally running into a pitch and Alberto as they can still hid Romy in AAA.