maxjusttyped

Moncada saying he doesn't like batting leadoff and feels most comfortable in the #2 spot would be enough for me to lock him in at 2.

Wilson Ramos is a better catcher than McCann. Maybe that could work as a three team trade, but I don't see McCann having a ton of value to the Mets.

Where do you find statcast info on minor leaguers??

If Keuchel can hold something close to those peripherals while pitching to Grandal, this signing will be a bargain. Super encouraging to see those numbers. Hopefully we don't see a lot of James McCann or Collins catching him this season.

The amount of surplus value teams are getting from early extensions has been ridiculous. Maybe Madrigal flops, but the odds of any extension for a prospect of his caliber going wrong is small and the financial upside of it for teams is enormous. No team in baseball has benefited from extensions more than the White Sox. It's one of the few areas in baseball they're clearly out in front of other teams on and it's something they should continue pursuing.

Where did you find exit velocity numbers for a minor leaguer? That's really cool info.

Having actual depth on this team would be so refreshing. EE & Cesar Hernandez would raise the floor of this team significantly without any long-term financial risk.

EE also raises the floor of the lineup considerably. If Collins or another young guy pushes EE out of the lineup, cool. But the Sox shouldn't be turning their noses at reliable ~120 wRC+ guys.

I'm not concerned at all about a one year dip in Keuchel's peripherals, but for his career he's essentially pitched to his "advanced stats." Career 3.67 ERA, 3.80 FIP, & 3.52 xFIP.

Acuna and Tatis Jr

Hopefully the Sox are very aggressive about pursuing an extension with Moncada. His price will only go up as he gets closer to free agency.

Teams like the Rays and A's are able to, but that's because they have smarter front offices and are better at player development than the Sox.

Right now the DH platoon is looking like Collins and McCann. There isn't a great option available if Collins flops. EE is a reliable ~120ish wRC+ guy, would raise the floor of the lineup and it'll almost certainly come on a 1 year deal.

The Rockies voluntarily giving him an opt out is so bizarre. It's almost like they wanted the good PR of extending him and then were hoping he'd leave so they wouldn't have to pay most of the contract.

If the Sox are the highest bidder on any Boras client it's hard for me to believe he'd instruct them not to take it.

I wasn't the person who said he sucks, but Mazara has never been an average hitter or come remotely close to being an average player. The Sox will need him to take a significant step forward if they're to get that type of value from him.

1.4 fWAR in 87 innings. Decent enough peripherals, actually better than Keuchel's. They could do worse as Nova replacement.

Mazara has never hit above 20 in his career & right now I'd guess he'll be in a platoon role next season.

He's been an above average hitter wRC+ or OPS+ exactly 0 times in his career.

I wouldn't be in favor of this, but adding Benintendi to the deal might cause them to include Vaughn depending on how much money Boston is willing to eat. Greg Nix at Sox Machine speculated about a Dunning + Rutherford + "flier" package for Price + Eduardo Rodriguez & $15M which makes sense to me at first glance.

It's depressing to think how far behind teams like the Astros, Yankees, Rays, Dodgers etc the White Sox are at incorporating analytics into player development and coaching.

If they were willing to pay a ~24M AAV for Wheeler then there's no reason they couldn't have gone into the ~35 range for Strasburg and even higher for Cole.

I was shocked looking at Ozuna's statcast metrics from last season. Obviously every team in baseball is aware of these numbers and most factor them into long-term projections, but if he actually hit to the level xWOBA says he deserved Ozuna would probably be in the ~25M AAV range. Seems like there's still upside in his bat. My opinion on him as a hitter definitely went up after seeing those. Marcel Ozuna last year exit velocity: 93rd percent tile xWOBA: 92nd percent tile xBA: 86th percent tile sprint speed: 63rd percent tile

Cole and Strasburg will both look like significantly better deals on a $/WAR basis than Wheeler does. Targeting one of them should be a no brainer.