Timmy U

My understanding is that was last year. This year, there is no limit. But all I did was a cursory internet search. I may be mistaken.

I am not convinced the Sox won't try to keep 14 pitchers so they can spot Kopech and give him side sessions, etc. You could see Giolito, Keuchel, Lynn, Cease, Rodon, Hendriks, Bummer, Heuer, Marshall, Foster, Crochet, Kopech, Cordero, and Ruiz (or ReyLo) and that's not even accounting for Fry come May 1. Whoever the 13th position player is will not get hardly any at bats unless Grandel is still hurting the first month.

Agreed. I held out hope for him all last year because of reports out of the alternate site. This spring he's looked exactly the same. A lot of weak grounders to the second baseman. No biggie. Onto the next. It does hurt, however, when I remember the Sox were "this close" to trading Robertson to the Nationals for Jesus Luzardo. Oh, what might have been.

Scott Merkin just predicted the Sox opening day roster and he has Rodon as the 5 and ReyLo in the bullpen. I think the latter is very unlikely. Lopez has an option remaining and the Sox would be better served letting him get stretched out at the alternate site/AAA. They’re already trying to stretch out Kopech in the bullpen, and if Lopez makes the team, they’ll have to cut Cordero (and apparently Ruiz.). I say, send him down and if someone gets hurt, he will be ready. Or possibly he will be passed by Steiner/Lambert.

No surprise, I guess, but man did Heuer look good. That slider is unhittable. Spotting the fastball up and down makes him doubly tough. Ruiz has looked better than Burdi, Johnson, etc. He seems to be the first man up in case of injury.

One of these things is not like the others. Thompson is like a 5th round pick, Hamilton 10th, Burr was picked up for slot money. They were all fliers. Burdi, on the other hand, was a first round pick, taken under the crazy notion that they were contenders that year. Don’t take relievers in the first round. Do take fliers. After all, they did hit on Bummer, Heuer, and Foster. That’s productive drafting.

You may not need 5-6 innings a start from Carlos. 4 then turn it over to Kopech also works.

I can only go by teams that I was alive for. I would go 1. 1994 2. 1993 3. 1983 4. 2005 5. 2000 ( before entire pitching staff got injured) 6. 2020 7. 1972 8. 1990 ( my personal favorite team) 9. 1977 (but among the most fun) 10. 1991. Obviously 1917 is one of the great teams in AL history, but I was not alive to see them. Plus, the games were not televised.

Lopez has an option left. I think if Rodon is healthy, he gets first crack at the job regardless of what Lopez does this spring. May not be fair, but that’s life.

Sadzeck is sad.

Will Rangers let Sox hit or roll inning before it begins?

Yeah, I see the idea, but Biggio averaged 17 HR a year for his career. That's 45/50 power. Madrigal may get there, but, right now, it's 30 power at best.

Absolutely. And who knows? Maybe they're right. Madrigal is a unicorn. He can really get the bat on the ball and he really has no power. I'm not sure he has any good comps in my lifetime.

I wanted Kelenic at the time. The thing that sucks is that he was on the Sox roster for the Area Code games, so it's not like they didn't scout him.

I never defended Rodon. I think Julio Tehran will suck. My question was “ why would a contender want Julio Tehran?” I stand by that.

Rodon still has at least some upside. Tehran is 89 with no plus pitches. That’s why he was literally the worst starter in the A.L. last year. Not gonna guarantee Rodon is any good, but I would be shocked if Tehran is.

Um, why would a contending team want Julio Tehran?

Absolutely. But there are exceptions. Look at Strasburg. He was like a second round guy, but then took conditioning seriously and vaulted to 1-1. If Kelley has projection left from slimming down, that would really enhance his profile.

I wouldn’t expect younger, high-risk, high-ceiling guys to make the list. With AAA starting in April and everyone else starting in May, you really have to limit who’s hanging around the complex. Note that the younger guys who got an invite are mostly big bonus guys. Hence Cespedes and not Bailey. Also, Cespedes and Sanchez are both older. Sucks, cuz I’d like to see them, but it makes sense.

He has to answer two other questions before they give him a shot: Does he hit left-handed and is he breathing?

Agreed. If he was just above .500 for his career would they have fired him? Insisted on treatment? I think they are out of their depth on this one. I liked silence better than this statement.

I will grant you he had a down year in 2020, but I do question the surplus value of a maximum 3 WAR player who derives most of his value against LHP, and makes $16 mil a year. One problem with FA signings is that the signing team paid the most ANY team was willing to pay a guy. Sox could have had him for “free” coming off a much better year and chose not to. Why would they change their minds now?

Eh, he was worth 0.1 WAR and had an OPS+ of 102 last year. And he did almost all his damage against LHP. Oh, and he makes $16 mil a year. I wouldn’t take him for “free” either.

I understand extra year of control, but the reports are he's throwing the heck out of the ball. Managing his innings is going to be the challenge. I do not believe that come Opening Day the White Sox will have 13 pitchers more effective than Michael Kopech. I say, let him throw his 90-110 innings in the majors. Imagine him as a three-inning Opener, followed by three innings of Crochet instead of having a 5th starter. I wouldn't want to face that.

I understand the theory of clawing back a year from Kopech, but otherwise why would you want him wasting a limited amount of bullets in AAA? If he's only gonna throw 90-110 innings this year, don't you want them in the majors?