Y2Jimmy0

I'd be pretty surprised by this. I hadn't heard them on many college bats.

I doubt it. Charlotte is one of the best markets in the minor leagues and I can't see the White Sox dumping them. The affiliates don't need to be closer to Chicago as long as they're all somewhat close to each other. My guess is the Sox 4 affiliates stay the same but they add a 2nd team in the AZL. Getting out of Great Falls is probably a good thing anyway.

These guys are all idiots if they though they'd be back to playing in front of fans. It's not happening. I've heard similar things that Harold has. I disagree with him that there won't be baseball though because I think the players will ultimately cave. If public health officials deem one of those plans effective and safe to play, I think they're playing. Could you imagine if the other sports resume, baseball has a place to play and owners cancel the season anyway because they can't afford it? The sport would be essentially over. It would be just like the strike year where many people wouldn't return. The players were fronted $170 million. If there's no season, that's all they will get this year. For that reason, and that reason alone, I would bet on there being some semblance of baseball this year. Money talks.

It'll be just the strike season if it happens. Many, many fans would never come back.

Not sure. All these plans require the players and everyone else involved to get tested a lot. Testing will be better by the time they'd start playing. Ideally if someone gets it, they retest everyone and go from there. If the testing capacity improves to this level, I don't think the league will need to shut down. On the other hand, if testing doesn't improve to this level, the entire economy will crash and we'll likely all die anyway.

If the league and players association decides to play baseball games in Arizona, the players will play baseball games in Arizona. As I've said, it's the only way they're getting paid. The players will play regardless of what they say in April and May.

I don't know why that would matter. Owners are only on the hook for $100K of the bonus in the first year under this agreement.

Harold very likely has heard some other names than I am. This all shutdown so I'm basically in the dark. The 3 names that I heard the most consistently were Jared Kelley, Ed Howard and Reid Detmers. More recently I'd heard about Tanner Burns and they also have a strong link to the Oklahoma program so Cavalli wouldn't be a surprise. I didn't see a realistic path of Kelley making it to #11 but if the Padres pass on him, I think that's the path. Detmers won't be on the board at #11. Harold is right that taking a college starter is definitely safer but Kelley is as safe as it gets for the HS RHP profile. The concerns are valid though. Taking Howard might be tough to justify though unless it's a significant discount at this point. Should be interesting.

Abel has the most upside but Kelley is the most polished. I just haven't heard the Sox linked to BItsko or even Abel at all. They really like Kelley though. If Kelley is on the board, I think that ends up being the pick. If it's not him though, I think they go college pitching most likely.

Some injury risk on Crochet. he reminds me some of Graeme Stinson which isn't a good thing. I don't think a college hitter is an option honestly. College pitching or a prep player. If this mock draft plays out in this manner, I think the White Sox Jared Kelley. They were all over Reid Detmers this spring but he'll be gone. I'd think Cade Cavalli and Tanner Burns are options on college side.

I'm not going to defend billionaires but yeah. They aren't getting the close to 40% of revenue that they would otherwise from attendance, concessions etc.

So you think they'd rather play no games and not get paid at all than take a pay cut to play some games? I'm pretty sure the players union will vote to play. We'll see though I guess

The season wasn't canceled as soon as this happened. Stop being ridiculous. There is absolutely a chance that there's no baseball this year. It's April 15th though and the owners and players are committed to playing. Like I've said, these guys aren't getting paid unless they play. I'm fairly certain they will play in some fashion. There won't be fans in the stands but that's obvious at this point. Canceling outright makes the least amount of sense of all these ideas and people are choosing to not read and pay attention to what's being talked about. They wouldn't lose as much as they'd lose by missing an entire season. Players will be taking a cut on top of prorated salaries. And they'll take it because it's better than not getting paid at all.

4 playoff teams doesn't make any sense financially. The playoffs are expanding and this is the trial balloon. My guess is 7 playoff teams in each league. Three 1st round series and a bye. The owners need the television revenue that extra playoffs will provide if they carve 60-70 games off the schedule and don't have fans in the stands. Less playoffs isn't an option.

They'll do it if it's the only way they get paid. They aren't getting paid unless they play baseball.

I've heard Pirates are on Detmers. College guys are going to rise. Especially this year.

I wrote about this realignment for today if anyone is interested: https://southsidehitpen.com/2020/04/12/possible-2020-realignment-how-it-affects-the-white-sox/

They absolutely will if it's the only way they get paid. This is the one thing that people are blowing way out of proportion. By the time this would theoretically start, the social distancing practices would be lessened. It'll be realistic for these guys to have their families with them in June. Especially in Arizona where there isn't even a stay at home order in place. I love my father. If he had to leave the family for 4 months to make $10 million though, I would've quickly gotten over it.

There are logistical issues for sure. The bottom line here in my opinion is this: players want to play and players want to get paid. They aren't getting paid unless there's baseball this year. Because of those two things, there will be baseball this year.

This is better than no baseball at all though and that's the point

This doesn't matter if it's the only way to play though. I think people are severely underrating the risk tolerance of these players. They want to play and they want to get paid. The only way they're getting paid is if they play baseball games. May is absurd but I would bet that teams are playing in Arizona in July. There's just too much money on the line for all parties to not try and play.

You're a fucking asshole.

This has all already been decided. Passan and Rosenthal wrote about. Players will get paid for the number of games they actually play based on their regular salary.

Spiegs is great. He hosts Inside the Clubhouse with Bruce Levine on Saturday Morning and Hit and Run on Sundays. He was just on the FutureSox podcast with Mike Rankin and I. It was good stuff.

Add David Schuster and Rick Camp to the list. More coming as well. It's a rough day for some folks at Entercom. There just isn't any advertising being sold right now.