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As an example of a pitcher whose weak finish did not indicate an injury was forthcoming. Because that's not always what a weak finish means...

Cleavon Little would be proud...

Thank you. It needed that...

You're correct. He did have 2.8 bWAR with the White Sox, but negative bWARs with both Cleveland and Anaheim...

The hard labeling of a 3/4 starter is subjective and therefore pointless. Giolito even in 2023 slotted int second in the Sox rotation using bWAR as a metric. Is it too much money for a #2?

His 2023, like it or not, would have had the second best bWAR among Sox starting pitchers, trailing only Bello. He was at the very least, an improvement...

I can agree with that. Giolito was an improvement, but not a game-changing one. They do still have time and opportunity to make a game-changing signing, but steadfastly refuse to do so. Again, they might not be wild about Montgomery or Snell. But they will need to make some sort of similar commitment in the very near future. And if they are intrigued by either, but are using Giolito's injury to postpone being competitive another year, one has to seriously question the direction and smarts of the decision-making...

Why? If I cited the worst ERA over that stretch, innings are necessary. But his 9.00 says enough and that it wasn’t a full compliment of innings doesn’t exactly help the case. I mean, what’s the defense? “You can’t expect Eovaldi’s weak performance to predict an injury, since he spent much of that stretch out injured.” But if you like, Eovaldi was limited to 20 IP over that stretch. And I strongly suspect he wasn’t limited to that small sample size because he was overly healthy…

Well, we don’t exactly know when Giolito tore the ligament. He probably received an MRI prior to his deal, which should have shown it. But from what I hear, MRIs for pitchers are often very messy and complicated…

You really need to stop complaining about being word policed when folks respond to posts in which you were word policing someone else. And it’s ironic that the word you chose to police was “ironic”, as Larry did use it correctly when referring to finally replacing the oft-injured Sale with a pitcher who then came down with an even worse injury…

Losing Giolito to a pre-season injury isn’t ironic or moronic, and his weak finish to 2023 wasn’t an indicator that he was getting injured. Eovaldi had an ERA over 9.00 over the last two months. Did it slow him down through October? Bello finished weakly last year, too. Should the Sox have waited long to extend him. Signing Giolito wasn’t”moronic”, although it’s cleanly not going to help this year. Sometimes injuries are actually unforeseen by human beings who simply fail to be psychic. But what is moronic by the Sox is the failure to even bother adding anything to replace Giolito. Just bump another reliever into the toll rotation. And then grab whatever minor leaguer was next in line and push him into the bullpen. And using Giolito’s injury as an excuse to drop out of the bidding for Montgomery is also moronic. Giolito was a one-year stopgap solution. Montgomery is a multi year solution. You don’t abandon the multi year solution because the stopgap collapsed. I suppose if they’re not wild about Montgomery, that’s one thing. But they do need some sort of plan. (I’m sure there is a plan, but it’s hard to recognize it. At least for me.)

That might. But he certainly did have a significant history of being a successful MLB pitcher prior to that stretch. And not every bad stretch is a predecessor of a sudden career end…

Agreed. I can obviously see why it’s done. But it has to be a profitable venture for the insurance companies. And the only way to keep the cost down for injury-prone pitchers is to also insure the lesser risks…

… for now. (I need an emoji denoting a harsh, abrupt chord to emphasize the dramatic effect.)

Exactly how is that moronic? Is it more or less moronic than taking an elite defensive RF with multiple Gold Gloves and moving him to 2b to accommodate a one way former free agent flop? Also to move the incumbent starting 2b to SS, where, apparently he cannot field? But it’s the Dodgers. The win their division every year and have a star-laden $300mill payroll with no middle infielders. Right move or moronic?

… and mvp

Don’t you think?

Clearly he’s sunk cost now…

Not to mention, arbitration for many players is more profitable than free agency. The Sox basically bought out his pre-arb and arb years to pay him like a high end setup guy. The Sox now have a young, controlled SP who could improve dramatically for roughly the same AAV as Hector Neris…

Ever bought life insurance?

If the goal is to get them off sooner, you have to add them sooner. Although in the cases Hendriks and Giolito, the Sox are clearly looking at two pitchers out for all of 2024 (and, in Giolito’s case, half of 2025 as well). In the case of Giolito, the Sox are still exploring options and investigating the extent of the injury, so i understand why he hasn’t been placed yet. Not sure why Hendriks hasn’t been placed yet…

I’m not so sure a weak offensive showing in ST is enough to demote Rafaela. Especially with O’Neill out right now…

I’m thinking Cream’s “Born Under a Bad Sign” would be more appropriate. “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all” I would also have accepted “Mr. Bad Luck” by Jimi Hendrix…

The most ironic thing about that song is that it has no examples of actual irony…

Grissom and Giolito had injury problems last year?