Look at Ray Ray Run

I'll be upset if they don't spend some more money. They don't need to spend it all if they love Springer or something for next year, but there's no point in acquiring a bunch of financial flexibility with years of failure only to not spend the money. This team was running 130 million dollar payrolls 14 years ago; it's embarrassing that they aren't near that number yet because in reality they should blow past that in the next few years.

Yeah, his numbers were likely driven down this year because he swung at more pitches out of the zone and also made more contact on those pitches - leading to a lesser quality of contact on those pitches. In general, and this is the weirdest part of his profile, his zone contact rate has gone down 4 years in a row while his out of zone contact rate has gone up 4 years in a row. That's a really weird profile.

Yeah, he hasn't seen that growth turn into results yet, but his FB% was up 6% last year - he really needs to get that number closer to 38% for his profile to maximize, his GB% was down 9% and his LD% was up 2%. There are underlying hopes within his profile, that was my sole point. I don't know if the growth will continue, and ISO's were up league wide last year, but if he can generate more loft with his elevated Hard Hit % and etc he could take off.

Fegan pretty much wrote my entire opinion of the deal in his column. Sharp guy. ?

Mazara used to walk sometimes though. That's what's weird. His walk rate around 9% was fine. Hes pressed a bit more it seems the last couple years.

Yes, this is how I read it. Seems like hes willing to put in the work.

I read this as he puts in all the work to prepare for each game, which would be practice and scouting reports. He just doesn't know how to prep his body or mind for a seasons workload.

You've continually insinuated that he's an awful defender and it's simply not true. He's a slightly below average defender in RF. He's not Nick Castellanos out there.

This is weird. So he puts in the work for the day to day stuff, but doesn't know how to put in the work to put himself in a great position for the season? Not sure I've ever heard that about a player before.

Yeah, but you know as well as I know that stubbornness can soften once the comfort zone you lived in gets turned upside down in the sports world.

Yelich -3 DRS Fowler -4 DRS Eaton -2 DRS Brandon Nimmo -5 DRS 2 years ago, Mazara -4 DRS.; Can we please stop pushing this narrative that he's some horrendous defensive player?

I certainly don't value hitting/pitching coaches quite to the level of some here, but Menechino may see something within Mazara that he thinks he can change as well. Menechino has had a positive effect on a few hitters in his career.

There are certainly valid reasons to be upset and concerned by this deal. Cons: The White Sox have not shown a very good ability of scouting big league players; identifying ones that would respond to their philosophies and teachings. In fact, I think MLB scouting is one of the teams weakest departments - MiLB scouting has actually been pretty good, based on their return of minor league players in trades. This would lead you to be concerned that they actually could identify something within Mazara that they could fix to get more out of his tools than he currently is getting out of them. I understand that concern, and I share that concern. I'm taking the believe it when I see it mentality when it comes to Mazara. Pros: Steele Walker is just a guy; his power didn't play up in A+ and it certainly won't play up at AA. There's a very real chance that by this time next year, Walker is a worthless asset. The Sox currently have, possibly, 3 guys ahead of him in their organization (Adolfo, Rutherford, Basebe). You could even make the argument that Luis Gonzalez is ahead of him. Everyone knew the White Sox had a plethora of OF assets - none of which took the necessary step forward last year, leaving us to trust the Sox evaluation on those players but as I said above, I trust their MiLB valuations more than their MLB ones. There's also no doubt that Mazara has big time tools; always has. Can he get more out of those tools is the question. It's a fair gamble for 5.7 million. He's going to be the teams 6-7 hitter. In general, this is a low risk move with a potential big reward. It really shouldn't take you out of anything else that would have been a home run move for the organization. Mazara has seen his hard hit % and .iso steadily climb over the past few years. He's going to be 25 years old; most guys are just arriving to the show, so to use his 4 years of MLB results against him has never made sense to me. He has been developing in the big leagues while guys like Walker were playing college baseball. Just because you are in the minors or in college does not mean that you are going to develop more than a player that is already in the big leagues. In fact, I'd argue the opposite.

Pretty sure they didnt trade for him with the expectation that he'll continue to be a 1 WAR player.

Fair enough. I know you and CWS were really high on Walker so I understand your frustrations.

His hard hit % has gone up significantly every year for the past 4 years. Results havent been there yet, but theres certainly been some underlying improvements.

Said yesterday the one thing this team has been missing in this rebuild is a diamond in the ruff. Theyve swung and missed so far, but if the white sox internal valuations on walker was that he was the 4th best RF prospect they had, and they see something they thing they can get out of mazara then you make this trade everytime. As long as they continue to acquire pieces and spend some more money, this is fine.

Oh my. Come on man. Castellanos is one of the worst defensive outfielders in recent history. Mazara is an average to slightly below average fielder. These two are nothing alike.

I don't really agree with this. We'll have to see what Castellanos and ozuna sign for first. Everyone's citing WAR while crying about not spending 75 million on Castellanos lol. Castellanos doesnt really grade much better than mazara - certainly not through his age 24 season.

Yeah? Wtf. If they're not spending in RF they better be spending somewhere. We didnt sit through a miserable decade where the sox spent nothing so they could to cheap and then still spend nothing when the rebuild is ending.

Yeah, hes not a horrible defender no matter how many times people argue otherwise. Trade is fine assuming they're not done. I really dont understand why people think once you're in the big leagues you cant get better but minor leaguers will get much better. I've never understood that premise. The kid being in the big leagues at 20 shouldnt be held against him. Not in love with the move if hes all their doing. Dont mind the move if they do more. Fans always love their prospects more than they should. As someone else said, people are all high on basebe and Walker developing and they're like 1 year younger than mazara.

2nd mystery team still in the high stakes bidding for Cole. ? Lol

You love walker. Giving up stiever would be absurd. Giving up walker is whatever. I said I'm not a fan of the move, but if it predicates a bigger move because it's a cheaper option than Ozuna/Castellanos then I'm good with the gamble. Mazara isnt a talentless bum. He'd be worth the move if something bigger opened up due to it. that's the only thing I said.

He specifically said bring up when you're rolling. They just don't have that many spots on the diamond. SS, LF, CF, C, 1B and 3B are filled. 2B, RF, and DH is all you got. If Madrigal and Vaughn are the guys there, then they dont really need prospect push for another 4-5 years to replace pieces.

Sounds like Hahn does not want to move Madrigal or Vaughn. Those are the only two prospects youd really worry about being a part of it when you're rolling. Edit: robert is a god not a prospect