Extremes

I don’t get it, how mlb.com lurches from one extreme to another. Right now, MLB’s mouthpiece is in its breathless, gossipy phase. Will the Mets pull off a blockbuster trade for pitcher Tarik Skubal? What are the chances Alex Bregman re-signs with the Red Sox? Take a look at the three-year deal closer and “absolute stud” Robert Suarez signed with the Braves. Report the news or fan the desire of front offices to make news? Either way works for mlb.com Then, Boom! Work stoppage, and the site has nothing to say, or had nothing to say once the player lockout began in December of 2021. Odds are the same thing will happen again with another lockout predicted when the CBA ends after next season. From rumors to crickets in a flash. How mature.

Bullet Dodged, I Think

One of the weirder rumors coming out of the winter meetings this week was that the Red Sox were experiencing some seller’s—as opposed to buyer’s—remorse over the Garrett Crochet deal of last winter. Oh, Boston is way happy with Crochet (who wouldn’t be after his 18-5 season in 2025?) just like they were back in 2016 when they acquired Chris Sale from us. Only it appears the Red Sox wish they hadn’t included catcher Kyle Teel as part of the deal last December. Which may prove lightning doesn’t strike twice or that you can’t fool the same organization twice or that Rick Hahn wasn’t around to accept another deal with the updated versions of Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech. Take your pick. Anyway, Hahn’s replacement as White Sox GM didn’t bite, yet. And, if Chris Getz is serious about engineering a successful rebuild on the South Side, he’ll hold onto a player who looks exceptional at the plate and not-too-shabby behind it.

Now What?

The White Sox lucked out yesterday by winning the first pick in the 2026 draft. Depending how he does his junior year, UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is the consensus top talent in the draft. Do the Sox pick him? Right now, they have a promising shortstop in Colson Montgomery, and their first-round pick in this year’s draft was shortstop Billy Carlson, who wowed more than a few observers with his defensive abilities. Plus, in the same draft they picked shortstop Kyle Lodise, now ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the system (Carlson is third) while Caleb Bonemer, a shortstop/third baseman, is ranked right after Carlson. Who’s going to play where? Only time and talent will tell. It’s a safe bet, though, that third base and centerfield on the South Side will go to a couple of ex-shortstops before long.

DOAT

Hats off to sportswriter Grant Brisbee who wrote what I believe is the dumbest column I’ve ever read in my life. The piece, “Jeff Kent is a deserving Hall of Famer, and so is Barry Bonds,” ran in The Athletic, 12-8-25. Brisbee made one obvious if not-too-dumb observation, that Kent’s offensive numbers benefitted from having Bonds in the same lineup. After which, Brisbee races to the dumbest of the dumb, wanting to know “did you see what Bonds was doing at the same time? It was alien. Absolutely alien. The sport will never, ever see anything like it again.” Why do you think that is, Grant? Because Barry Bonds was using PEDs bigtime, that’s why. What makes Brisbee’s argument pathetic as well as dumb is he doesn’t even employ the “it wasn’t banned at the time” defense that Ken Rosenthal and others trot out. (If it wasn’t banned, then why didn’t PEDs’ users admit to using at the time? Because they wanted to minimize the number of cheaters so everybody wouldn’t have inflated stats, that’s why). No, Brisbee goes full ostrich and doesn’t mention PEDs or steroids once. Instead of letting juicers into Cooperstown, I have a better idea—kick out Bud Selig, the commissioner who turned a blind eye to PEDs.

Tick-tock

You could point out Calbe Williams’ inability to put together a strong performance over the course of four quarters or a secondary that trotted while Green Bay receivers zoomed, and that would help explain the Bears 28-21 loss to the Packers yesterday in Cheese Land. Or you could read all the epistles that have been and will be written about the game, and you won’t read the criticism that follows here—head coach Ben Johnson mismanaged the clock at the end of the game with his team down by seven. The Bears had a first down at the Green Bay 47 with 3:26 left to play in regulation; they managed all of two plays between then and the two-minute warning. My guess is that Johnson was being too smart by half, wanting to score and deny the Packers any time to answer. But they had the ball at the Packers’ 17 coming out of the warning. Then it was three straight runs, bringing up fourth-and-one at the 14 with 27 seconds left on the clock. Only then did Johnson use the first of his three timeouts. Why not a pass or two before? Say they score with a minute left. OK, challenge your defense to hold. Why not use a timeout or two rather than run down the clock and face a fourth down with just 27 seconds to go? Williams ended up throwing an interception in the end zone. I can’t help but think the result would’ve been different had Johnson not been so clock-focused. The Packers visit Soldier Field in twelve days. Let’s see what, if anything, Johnson has learned by then.

Great Expectations, Not

The baseball winter meetings heat up tomorrow in Orlando. If the White Sox sign any free agents, it’s likely to be another Anthony Kay, a first-round bust for the Mets back in 2016 who went 17-15 with a 2.49 ERA over the last two seasons in Japan. Kay signed a two-year, $12 million deal. I’m guessing he gets flipped before the end of that contract. What I expect, hope, to happen is a degree of resolution on the roster—come spring training, will it include, Luis Robert Jr., Lenyn Sosa, Miguel Vargas? And what will happen to rookie catcher Edgar Quero? Does he stay, or does he go? Some combination of the above could bring a nice haul in return. Or maybe GM Chris Getz will borrow a page from his predecessor. Rick Hahn loved working under the radar, announcing a deal or signing out of the blue. Good thing there isn’t another Yasmani Grandal out there. I don’t need a sequel.

Look Out Below

This is how bad the Bulls are right now. The four-win Pacers beat them last Saturday, then lost their next two games, which brought them to the United Center last night. End of losing streak, 120-105. Meanwhile, the Bulls have lost six in a row. If Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis are the future, they can’t cough up the ball like they did, five turnovers for Giddey, four for Buzelis. Giddey got himself a nice $100 million contract extension in the offseason. Let’s just say nine points on the night don’t erase those turnovers or justify that contract. Yes, the Bulls are injured all of a sudden—Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Hherter, Tre Jones, Issac Okoro, Jalen Smith, plus Coby White’s calf is keeping him on restricted minutes. Maybe everyone comes back, and they dig themselves out of their hole. That still doesn’t explain the play of Giddey and Buzelis. Go, Bears.