SoCalChiSox

Nah...BAL will never allow him to be the third piece. Dude will be a plus defensive SS and can also probably be average offensively. That's pretty valuable. Regarding Montgomery, it seems FG and Law (in AFL he didn't like his defense) both think CM ends up at 3B, so if we can get a plus SS who can hold his own at the plate that would be huge. And then they don't have to worry about Gonzalez being unable to play SS. Ortiz is the second piece and I believe Chicago really wants Cowser as the first piece. Getz wants D and athletic ability not just bat only guys. Some people believe Cowser eventually he will be 55 hit and 55 power to go with good D and arm and he can run as a LHH thats huge if the bat actually comes thru. He can slide right in at RF and if they eventually move Robert he might be able to hold down CF so he provides huge all around value and flexibility. I think if they trade with BAL, they are going to insist on those two guys. I hope they don't use Cease for more pitching. We got pitching in the other trades, you need to develop them. We really really really need some bats that can defend. I would like Hjerstad too for his LHS but Getz doesn't seem to want guys who could end up at 1B even if they are a LHS. Looks like trade values updated their values and if you add Cowser to Ortiz it's actually more than Cease now....something like 50 to 40. If that's an accurate reflection of teams own value systems, we might even need to throw in Colas or someone with 10 or so SV and forego a third piece as well.

Joey Ortiz is a fine second piece but not a primary piece.

Well played

Yeah I know but I had my hopes up anyway. I just want to see something meaningful that doesn't involve crap signings just to fill spots.

I thought @Pal suggested something (not necessarily Cease) was pretty close and might go down before Thanksgiving.

Ugh.....we need to be trading for bats.

The problem with your theory is this....Why would JR pay 11 million for a player instead of like 800k or whatever for Seby? And if your answer is because he's a legitimate MLB player and might actually help the club in some way, Brooks Boyer will call you a bad fan.

I wonder if Getz will go for a quantity deal from LAD? Like 1 top 100 and 4 other good pieces instead of 2 Top 100 and maybe a third 15-25 piece? Maybe the other 4 good pieces are players like Vivas (2B), Bruns (SP), Ramos (OF), Knack (SP). You get a high ceiling low floor SP, a low ceiling high floor SP, good platoon LHH 2B who can hit for avg and obp and kills righties and stick at the spot and a platoon RF vs LHP with a good arm and hope Colas sticks and improves as the platoon vs RHP. Both those guys can play in 24 too. If they did this, not sure who they'd choose as the Top 100. Prolly not Busch if you have a legit 2B also in the trade because it would push him to 1B/DH, I don't think centerpiece can be a 1B/DH unless his hit/power are like 60/60 or more. Prolly not a pitcher cause they already got two. Pages would be duplicative with Ramos...kind of a rich man's version, so by process of elimination you end up with Rushing but where does that leave Quero?

I hope it's not Merrifield or Perez.

I think they will blow whatever they have allotted in FA SP budget on Manaea. Once they get Cease and Eloy off the books they'll do it imo.

Does anyone know how to like photoshop an image from Mike Tyson Punchout on Nintendo? Remember after a fight when you beat someone the two guys profiles are up there and Mac says something and the other guys picture he beat (like Glass Joe) shows he's beaten up and he says something else. Can we do that when Eloy is traded? Like shop Eloys face into the Glass Joe side and call it Glass Eloy...birthplace Dominican Republic and then have Mac say "Next time don't eat ice cream at a kids birthday party and maybe you won't get a throat contusion" and then on the Eloy side it will say "Bye, Mom!"

Why doesn't Getz like Sosa or Popeye? Wasn't it his job to develop them?

What kind of move tho? Savage move or throw a few million for another scrub (*cough Merrifield or trash pitcher *cough) move?

When are we getting left handed savages from BAL or LAD?

Yeah thats kind of my hope. Just a stopgap for most of a lost season and by 2025 we Jacob Gonzalez, Joey Ortiz or Michael Busch will be the 2B. Or maybe Getz is dumb enough to believe Lopez/DeJong gives them "leverage" in trade talks. "Yeah, I don't need to take your deal bro, I can just play Nicky and Paul and we're good" "Good for what, Chris? 55 wins...you got me bro" LOL

Please be a backup.

Yeah I think if it's 3-5m a year or even a little more that would be no problem even in a tight budget and certainly by framing the issue as "cheap labor" as you suggested this might be the magic words Getz needs to persuade JR. I think some of the premium eggheads with PH.Ds in math or stats will require well over 100k even if starting out, but still even at like 250k, in the big picture it's not that much esp if the payroll gets cut drastically as it seems it will. This is why it is imperative to get a trade done with LAD or BAL for Hjerstad/Cowser and Ortiz OR Pages and Busch. These are legit answers for 2B and RF that will be cheap rather than paying 10 million for crap like we do every fucking year. If we could add these guys and with Montgomery and Ramos coming aboard soon I would actually be excited about our lineup.

As John Madden would say..."Boom!"

We need more nicknames for the last two. Bald Vaughn is one...what about Merrifield? Limp Dick Beni also is good...at least until he can Crack 10 HRs.

I agree infrastructure is better investment but JR is gonna say thats not a one time deal its a continuing investment. So if you are going to forego signing a 8-10m scrub like Merrifield and put it into operations by hiring say 12 more data analysts, buying better analytic programs and maybe 10 more development staff, that's a continuing expense year to year. It's not a one time deal and to keep it up he will have to deduct from each year's budget which could vary wildly. IMO, it's still certainly worth it but it may not be as easy for Getz to do as a simple one time expense, especially if JR is going to hide behind the high payrolls the last few years with no reward and the need to get some profits to antsy partners.

I suspect even if there is somewhat of a market, we might have to eat some money to get a meaningful return. Re: Merrifield, he's old and broken and right handed...which likely explains why the FO is so enchanted with him (along with the whole Royals thing). This is so fucking stupid. Your 2B is Joey Ortiz OR Michael Busch not some retread past his expiration date. Get a fucking deal done and address your RF and 2B needs in one shot.

Thanks. Each package has issues. A combination of the names might be better than those options....ie Busch, Pages and Knack if they won't throw in a Top 100 pitcher as the third piece. Push comes to shove....main compensation should be bats. Knack is a good third piece.

Ugh....thats discouraging insofar as trade targets goes.

Jimmy outside of the Cease trade compensation is there anything remotely decent to look forward to in this offseason?

BTW, since BA came out with their new rankings I noticed Busch is ahead of Rushing. Did they post updated scouting grades? I'm assuming either this means Rushing won't stick at C or Busch's hit/power tools now grade out as higher than just 55/55, or maybe they are saying he sticks at 2B, which is somewhat doubtful.