Dam8610

It's not an "impossible standard" to refuse money from the private prison industry or other large companies that would create potential for conflicts of interest, nor to create or cosponsor legislation raising the minimum wage to a living wage and indexing it to inflation. So why has no Democrat done those things?

That's one of many reforms needed. Our voting system needs to be a lot more like Australia's, where voting is mandatory and done by ranking candidates on your ballot.

Yes. They literally go out and chant "Blood and Soil" and "Jews will not replace us" (Nazi slogans in 1930s Germany) in swastika armbands and MAGA hats. This is not exaggeration, it's observed behavior. These are literal white supremacists that support Trump. The benefit he gets from not talking about the black hero that stopped the white supremacist shooter is his base stays happy with him.

If ever there was anyone who could hit .300 with a 40% K rate, it may be Yoan Moncada. To be clear, I don't think he'll hit .300 with a 40% K rate, but he's at .264 with it right now.

Words are great but empty without action to back them.

You're trying to figure out how Democrats could stop taking money from the for-profit private prison industry, fight for a living wage, or have a platform that offers a clear alternative to GOP corruption? No wonder the Democrats can't win elections consistently.

Has any team in recent memory assembled the level of pitching talent in their organization that the White Sox have? Let's just look at what they have: Pitchers with Ace Potential Carlos Rodon Michael Kopech Reynaldo Lopez Lucas Giolito Alec Hansen Dylan Cease Pitchers with #2/#3 Potential Dane Dunning Ian Clarkin Spencer Adams Pitchers with Backend Starter Potential Carson Fulmer Ricardo Pinto Jordan Stephens Jordan Guerrero A.J. Puckett Lincoln Henzman Kade McClure Pitchers with Relief Potential Nate Jones (HL) Aaron Bummer Jace Fry Zack Burdi (HL) Thyago Vieira (HL) Brian Clark Ian Hamilton (HL) Ryan Burr Victor Diaz Danny Dopico Tyler Johnson (HL) Kevin Escorcia Matt Foster J.B. Olson I'm certain I've forgotten some here, but basically the ideal is that at least 3 from category 1 live up to billing, at least 1 from category 2 lives up to billing, and at least 1 from category 3 lives up to billing. Also, all the pitchers that fail as starters become relief options, so you're looking at about 16 pitchers to fill 5 starting slots and 25 pitchers to fill 7 relief spots (the 11 in the starter categories that don't pan out as starters plus the 14 listed relief names. If ever a team was capable of fully stocking its pitching staff from within, it's this team.

Thoughts?

I hope so, less competition for the #1 pick.

I wouldn't. They have about 25 pitchers for 12 spots.

There are internal solutions for every need you listed.

Phillies could take Swaggerty as well. Either way, Madrigal has been my top choice all along.

If he adapts his swing and stance the same way Altuve did, the latter. If you look at High A Altuve and Madrigal, their swing mechanics are very similar. Madrigal has to learn (like Altuve did) to stop reaching out with his front foot and instead use his leg kick to load and establish his power base, then use his excellent bat speed and bat control to get that power load to the ball. On the plus side, he already has the perfect example of this to study.

His absolute top to me is Jose Altuve, but 90th percentile range outcomes for me are all star MI or if the Sox decide to position shift him, maybe a rich man's Ben Zobrist? Gives you an .800-.900 OPS while playing all over the field and playing good defense at all positions.

If he really is Bregman 2.0 like the one scouting thing said, 3B.

Not if he can put up 8 fWAR with a nearly 40% K rate. Once he cuts that down (and I think he will, significantly), the sky is the limit for what he'll be able to do on a baseball field.

I know the Sox are not getting Mize, so I just want one of the 4 college hitters. Madrigal is still my preference, but I can't say I'd be upset with Swaggerty, Bohm, or Bart. It's really a nice position to be in.

The last 4 hitters they've drafted in the Top 10 were Zack Collins, Gordon Beckham, Frank Thomas, and Robin Ventura. That list will likely expand this year, but again, we have to be patient. Players can and will have struggles before the light comes on, so if Collins and the #4 overall pick this year bust out, absolutely be critical of the player development team, but we won't know that for at least another 2-3 years, probably longer. Also, Aaron Rowand made an all-star game (first rounder in 1998, Crede was a 5th rounder in 1996). Give it a few years, and Tim Anderson likely will as well.

I think this fails to take into account that you're lucky you get 2-3 quality players out of a draft class, so the majority of the guys you listed will fail. That said, the White Sox need to start having classes where they get 2-3 good players instead of 0-1. 2016 seems to be fairly promising on that front (Collins, Hansen, Burdi). Too early to judge 2017, but it's not looking great at the moment (of course a hot streak from Gonzalez, Sheets, and Yurchak could turn that around very quickly, plus Henzman and McClure are getting good results). Just be patient, it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take time and there will be bumps.

I still think Hansen is the better bet to be an ace long term. Cease may still end up a pen arm.

The BABIP will normalize and he'll have a much better line. Meanwhile, they should move Zavala up.

He's currently on pace for 8 fWAR with a nearly 40% K rate. He likely won't get there with a nearly 40% K rate, but it just goes to show how much he's doing and how exciting he is when he's not striking out. Halve the K rate, and he gets very interesting.

It's scary to think that if he cut his K rate to 20%, he might actually have legitimate 10 WAR potential. It's also staring me in the face based on his current numbers.

FWIW, UZR and DRS are pretty much saying what people in this thread are saying, that his defense is above average mostly because he has incredible range. In fact, his current UZR score of 1.1 comes entirely from his range score, with DPR (runs above or below average from turning double plays) and ErrR (runs above or below average from committing errors) cancelling each other out. ETA: Most of his value thus far has come from the offensive side, with 3.2 batting runs and 2.2 baserunning runs. If you're worried aboutthat 8 WAR pace being sustainable, it probably isn't, but 6 is and would still blow every prediction out of the water.

Why? None of those things will happen as long as the "pragmatists" prioritize control of the chairs over good policy. You'll never get a Manchin, Donnelly, or Heitkamp to vote for any of that (using the turncoats of the most recent vote for this example), and the Democratic party has decided that they're content to not have learned anything from their 2016 trouncing and actually redefine themselves in any meaningful way. "Big tent" theory will carry the day and nothing will get done, even if the Democrats get supermajorities in both chambers, because the Democrats don't want to force someone with a (D) behind their name to actually take a liberal position. That Democrats are STILL confused as to how Trump's message of an outsider bringing change sold better to the middle class than Clinton's message of an insider bringing the status quo in an election year where the discontent of the electorate was palpable is baffling to me. I can't understand if they're just stubbornly refusing to see the plain answer staring them in the face or they actually can't understand how disconnected their message was from the average American (perhaps you can shed some light, there, Reddy)? They need a Conor Lamb in every red state race, but they don't seem to be interested in finding those candidates or moving toward those policies. Give them their candy on social issues and win on economic issues. Lamb didn't even say he would vote conservative on those issues, just that he held the conservative viewpoint personally. In fact, he outright said on abortion that he was personally pro-life, but would vote pro-choice because he understands the need for abortion as a right, which politically means he has the right position, but didn't get dinged for it by conservatives. I'd take a majority of Conor Lambs in both chambers over a supermajority which includes members like Donnelly, Manchin, etc. The former would get more done.