WestEddy

I guess this is good for the Robert market?

ESPN ESPNing: Trade proposals that would rock MLB's 2025 winter meetings - ESPN The Chicago White Sox should trade Luis Robert to the ... Kansas City Royals Rumor mill whispering has connected the Royals with Boston's Jarren Duran for the hefty price of Cole Ragans, a swap I can't abide. The Royals have starting pitching depth, but they don't have ace depth and Ragans must stay. Duran isn't an ideal defensive fit for Kauffman Stadium if you view him as a center fielder, and the Royals need to upgrade at that spot badly. Enter Robert, whose work on strike zone judgment seemed to be paying off in the latter stages of last season. He's younger than Duran and has more power upside without sacrificing speed and defense. The Royals' new hitting staff is hyper-focused on improving pitch recognition, and I'd love for them to be new voices in Robert's ear. The Royals could keep Ragans and modulate their rotation/prospect return based on Chicago's willingness to pay down some of Robert's $20 million for next season. Alas, this would be more palatable from a payroll perspective if the Royals had not already committed $8 million to run it back with Jonathan India. -- Doolittle

Canario's been DFAed.

Mock Trade Season!! Noah Phalen of SouthSideShowdown takes a whack at Robert trades with the Mets, Reds, Giants and Phillies. One Luis Robert Jr. mock trade for each of his rumored best fits

New SoxMachine Podcast. They discuss: - Anthony Kay's fit in this rotation, what the Sox might be expecting from him - Sox will probably sign another starting pitcher - Robert's trade market with Cedrick Mullins' signing, and Byron Buxton's no-trade clause hovering - outline expectations for winter meetings, maybe grabbing a reliever in Rule 5, free agency - Rule 5 dudes - starters who could eat innings in relief, James Fegan mentions Alimber Santa (RP, Astros), Yohendrick Pinango (OF. Blue Jays), Jim mentions Jared Southard (RP, Angels), Griff McGarry (SP, Phillies), Josh brought up Blake Burkhaulter (RP, Braves) - Bold predictions for meetings, Jim thinks Schwarber could sign Podcast: 2025 Winter Meetings Preview - Sox Machine

Also, the Red Sox seem to be collecting minor league catchers Red Sox Acquire Johan Oviedo In Five-Player Trade - MLB Trade Rumors

Actually, I think they have mentioned it, over and over and over. Nobody's pretending they're going after Framber, or Giolito, or even Zack Littell.

I posted it in the thread titled something like "SoxMachine podcast on Free Agent Pitchers". You even responded to my post. I don't really care, I'm just trying to foster any off-season Sox talk. I would suggest that if you want a catch-all Free Agent signing thread, start one and tend to it. I certainly don't run anything here. I just created a couple of strings where I can post any PodCasts or blog articles on the Sox off-season plans.

I don't know when he had surgery. I thought it was March, which would put him back to June/July.

It wasn't really a scoop. The Mets reportedly have kicked the tires on Robert this off-season. He's only recalling that Acuña's name came up in previous discussions.

This guy's name was bandied about as an option for the White Sox, in places.

So the Sox probably have to pick up $10M-$13M on Robert's contract.

While Robert might be one of the best CF options on the market this winter, I still don't think he's going to bring back all that much. And Acuña's only 23

If they could get him to make better swing decisions, they'd have a CF with a lot of speed. As it is, he profiles as a utility dude. FanGraphs - New York Mets Top 45 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball 9. Luisangel Acuña, 2B Video Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Venezuela (TEX) Age 23.3 Height 5′ 8″ Weight 181 Bat / Thr R / R FV 45 Tool Grades (Present/Future) Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw 30/40 50/55 30/45 60/60 50/60 45 Originally signed by Texas and then traded for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer at the 2023 deadline, Acuña made his big league debut in 2024 and was essentially the team’s everyday second baseman this year, with the occasional rep at shortstop or third base, before he was sent down just before list publication. He graduates from rookie status projecting as a good utilityman. Acuña’s best swings are blazingly fast for an athlete his size, though he’s sometimes out of control and pulls off a ton of soft stuff away from him to generate all that power. He has an inside-out approach and tends to only be able to spray fastballs to the opposite field. He’ll likely hit for less game power than he has raw because of his approach. On a contender, he has the offensive skill set of a luxury utilityman. Acuña came up as a shortstop and has experience all over the diamond, but at the big league level, he has mostly played second base. In anticipation of the infield logjam ahead of him, both the Rangers (Seager and Semien) and Mets (Lindor and McNeil) gave Acuña some center field reps during the past couple of seasons, though barely any in 2025. When he last saw frequent action out there (2024), he looked pretty good despite having not played the position for very long. He’s much more comfortable breaking right than left, and has plus closing speed. While his hands can be clumsy, Acuña has the arm for any infield position; his exchange can be a little slow, but his pure arm strength is plus. He projects into a Dylan Moore sort of utility role.

MLBTR reiterates the softness in the CF market. Latest On Center Field Market - MLB Trade Rumors

SoxMachine takes a crack at Passan's guessing that Robert has a 60% chance of being traded A miserable free agent market could provide a boost to Luis Robert Jr. trade talks - Sox Machine

I don't know. I'm going to guess that Getz feels he can do better than Vasil in the rotation, and that Vasil is more valuable as a bullpen arm.

SoxMachine clocks in... Looking overseas for rotation help, White Sox sign Anthony Kay to two-year deal - Sox Machine

yes. Getz threw cold water on starter talk.

The tragedy of Mason Adams' TJS is that he was probably going to supplant Jon Cannon in the rotation to start 2025. Now they have Burke/Cannon/Davitt competing for 2 slots with McDougal/Schultz right behind them, and then Bush/Thorpe/Adams in June/July. I could also see a bunch of guys who haven't bought their plane tickets to Korea yet getting mop-up face time in March.

RotoGraphs took a look at Kay and made some comps back in October: Mining the News (10/29/25) | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball Here are the MLB results for his comps. His 7.6 K/9 with a “high” 2.4 BB/9 limits his upside. Anthony Kay’s MLB Comps Name Season Age IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 ERA SIERA WHIP Nick Martinez 2022 31 106 8.0 3.5 1.3 3.47 4.03 1.29 Hisashi Iwakuma 2012 31 125 7.3 3.1 1.2 3.16 3.85 1.28 Naoyuki Uwasawa 2024 30 4 6.8 4.5 0.0 2.25 4.89 1.00 Luis F. Castillo 2025 30 7 6.4 9.0 0.0 7.71 6.75 2.71 Kodai Senga 2023 30 166 10.9 4.2 0.9 2.98 4.00 1.22 Ryota Igarashi 2010 31 30 7.4 5.3 1.2 7.12 4.50 1.55 Kohei Arihara 2021 28 40 5.3 2.9 2.4 6.64 5.39 1.43 Robbie Erlin 2022 31 2 4.5 4.5 4.5 9.00 5.73 1.50 Shun Yamaguchi 2020 32 25 9.1 6.0 2.1 8.06 5.09 1.75 Yusei Kikuchi 2019 28 161 6.5 2.8 2.0 5.46 5.17 1.52 Kenta Maeda 2016 28 175 9.2 2.6 1.0 3.48 3.69 1.14 Average 30.0 76.6 7.4 4.4 1.5 5.39 4.83 1.49 Median 30.0 40.2 7.3 4.2 1.2 5.46 4.89 1.43

Lopez was coming off a season where he put up basically league average 1.8 bWAR. Brebbia was coming off of a very good year with the Giants. Neither were bad gambles to hold down a spot on a team that was a smoldering ruin when Getz took over. Fedde was a similar signing, and Anthony Kay falls into that box. There's just not a lot of payroll flexibility, and there are spots to fill. The ones that work out look like genius. The ones that don't, well, you're all over those. You know what the strategy is. Reinsdorf has debt, and they're not spending until the new player agreement is in place. I see them making moves that would put them around 75+ wins.