Jack Parkman

The way Hahn was talking it seems like they really believe in their scouts RE: Banuelos. If they do add a SP, I don't think it is going to be someone like Gio Gonzalez, but more of a dumpster dive acquisition. I also think they're more likely to address SP via trade than anything, and they'll acquire someone with good stuff and minimal results to compete with Banuelos and Covey. May the best man win. If they sign a FA it will probably be Tillman or someone of that ilk.

A lot of what Hahn has said this past week sounds like he's preparing fans for disappointment. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because I never thought that either player was remotely interested in signing here.

This x infinity. Nice Post. I'd go a step further and say that if they weren't willing to go at least 10/330 they were never serious.

Again I disagree. The talent is still there, it is a matter of repeating his delivery and staying closed. If it is possible to find it, go back and watch his starts vs Boston and Tampa. He was showing the stuff that made him a top prospect in those games. The lower velo had to do with not having his delivery in sync and flying open. I will beat this dead horse until it's skin and bones because I can't believe how wrong everyone is on him.

He did have a good sinker last August. When he's on, he's a ground ball machine and induces tons of weak contact.

Again, based on what I saw last season I completely disagree. It has been well noted that he's had mechanical issues before he was traded to the Sox. He may never figure it out but I still think there is a decent chance he can fulfill his TOR potential

I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing that continued refinement could help the velocity return. I don't profess to be an expert by any means,but I do know a lot about pitching, and I know about as much as you can without being a pitcher yourself. It 100% is his mechanics, because you don't go from throwing 88-90 to 94-96 without it being so. I'm not discounting further velocity increases from him. I wish I could go and show you a few starts of his from April and his two best of the year vs Tampa and Boston. There is a significant difference in his delivery. It is all about him staying closed vs flying open and being wild. If you go and break down the video you'd see the differences. He also changed his arm slot from 3/4 to over the top through the course of the season. Cooper and Giolito are probably going over video of his starts in the low minors and trying to find what he was doing differently then vs now.

If you watched him pitch last season it was obvious mechanics cost him 5mph. When he was staying closed in his delivery he was hitting mid 90s (topping at 97) regularly, when he was out of sync and flying open he was 89-92. I know I'm beating a dead horse with the board on him, but if Giolito wasn't completely broken he wouldn't have been available in trade. He was obviously a project.

Call me crazy, but I think Moncada and Giolito are going to show Sox fans why they were once top 3 prospects in the game this year. Did anyone else listen to LG on the Score yesterday? He says he can still hit 97 when his mechanics aren't out of whack. It is painfully obvious he's been fighting his delivery for the better part of 3 seasons since Washington tinkered with it. Perfect example of if it isn't broken, don't fix it. It also sounded like he had a healthy amount of confidence in his ability and has the right attitude about last year. He also mentioned that he's seeing a sports psychologist.

I don't really disagree, but you can't doubt he'd be a great manager for this team. I always said he burned that bridge and pissed on the ashes.

Speaking of Nostalgia, does anyone else think the making good with Ozzie is a sign he might manage the team again? I think i if Renteria gets whacked Ozzie might be back.

Until the official release, everything is speculation.

There's a sexual innuendo in there somewhere.

This is probably what it is, or a starter. One can hope.

Yeah, I know. It is a week from Sunday. Take that as meaning I don't expect anyone to sign next week.

You'd hope so, but I'm not expecting any of the major FA left on the market to sign until after SB Sunday. That means Harper, Machado and Keuchel. SB sunday is only 10 days from now, so everything should be settled within the next 18 days.

I'd expect something to get done somewhere between the Super Bowl and 2/10 then.

When do pitchers and catchers report? I'd imagine nothing will be done until around 3-7 days before that event.

Roman? Is he a Roman, or a Polak. He's both. He's Roman Polak. https://www.nhl.com/player/roman-polak-8471392

I wish. I don't qualify for the government engineering jobs. My grades weren't good enough. Already investigated it years ago.

Debrincat/Strome/Boqvist/Jokiharju is a good start. Strome has elite hockey IQ and above average to great skill. The only thing keeping him from being a 1C is his average skating. I wouldn't sleep on Koekkoek being a late bloomer either. Kind of a longshot, but the talent is there.

If that happens in a year or two, I expect some crow eating on the Bowman/Q issue. Amazing what a decent PP does for your team, isn't it? Let's not forget the number of seasons the Hawks had an absolutely dreadful PP under Q,

National Pi day is coming up in roughly 7 weeks as well. Maybe Manny or Harper would sign a 7 year 220 M contract that day. (yes, I will keep abusing this joke)

A lot is riding on improvement from Moncada, Rodon and Lopez, and Giolito becoming an MLB pitcher. All have the talent to get the job done. If two of Rodon, Lopez and Giolito take off, they could have a team this year, should they add Machado, Pederson and Gonzalez. I would think they are one OF away, and I wouldn't mind Jones or CarGo on a 1 year deal. Even though Palka could be something, his obp sucked ass last year and he still hit .246. He's basically Schwarber without the walks. Let's not turn him into the South Side version of Micah Hoffpauir, please. He's 27 and had an ok year on a 100 loss team,