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This is what happens when a FO has no trust with fans.

May still be the case. Texas would be dumb though.

I mean I think people are just saying add to that core...

So again, frustrating because I can't provide the URL filtered, but Fielding Bible made some updates to DRS so it's interesting to look at the adjustments. If you filter for RF and add a minimum innings of like 600 (true RFers), you can see it puts Mazara at -4. Others at -4 aren Christian Yellich. Behind him at -5 are Fowler, Markakis and Blackmon. Adam Eaton is at -3. So it's interesting to look at. He's not plus, but he's around others that we'd certainly feel are playable. His arm may be doing some work there which is good. Offense will be the whole thing man, he's just gotta hit. This is definitely his fulcrum year so it will be interesting.

Sox should make him spend winter in AZ with Steverson... what’s that you say?

Well there is huge variance to these names (bolded). I'd be more excited if the sox this offseason didn't so willingly take themselves off of the running for the top names. But obviously Betts and Springer would be ideal moving forward because aside from plus offense they are great defensively. Longterm I don't want to compromise on defense or offense.

LOL Yeah Porcello is a risk, his last year was terrible. I just think the red sox tried to change him into a different pitcher and the sox would just be okay with him being a low-k sinker baller. The high 4 seamer stuff worked in improving some of his peripherals but wasn't worth it overall. There are others, but as much as I like Walker I don't want too many risks in offense and defense. Let's remove some stress from either bullpen or other SP.

dude stop. One...obviously that is half a year. Two - players have historically struggled on these mid year signings. He has a history above 1 WAR. And WAR isn't symmetrical. Nova was one of the worst pitchers in baseball in the first half and quite good in the second, extrapolating is ridiculous.

So this is deeply depressing from a talent standpoint, but for SP I think I would most like them to get durability this year. They completely lost out on top talent, but I think the best thing they can do is prevent needing to go deep into their AAA depth of pitching (which doesn't exist). Keuchel is attractive there. So is Porcello. It would be two SPs that you know would be there every time. Hell, that was one of the good things about Nova, and by showing up every time his value eventually ended up paying off decently. Anyhoo just a thought.

Yeah and I think this year vindicated strong and elite starting pitching even more. i think teams were struggling to keep bullpen players fresh and didn't have enough. BEing able to throw a SP deep into must win showed up.

I hate not spending money on a single really good player, i'd be fine with these moves if it was coupled with a lucrative contract for a great player that everyone is like "they overpaid him, oh that will bite them". That's what I wanted. I could go without an offseason of dallas keuchel and castellanos. To be those are fine moves, they are good players, but they effectively end the rebuild as they don't have much flexibility for an elite player beyond it. Ah well, nevertheless

I mean people are misdrafted all the time. If you do re-drafts each year it doesn't line up perfectly to the draft order. Hell in 2013 the best player is I believe Bellinger in the 5th round.

So...it looks like the people saying the yankees operate differently now were incorrect.

Ha, this is a good point, though also why I hated the Walker pick. He was a fine guy but that draft was stocked in HS pitching and they went overslot for him

No offense but this has been the rationale for so many bad moves the sox have made.

I said last night but if this was just a "our scouting team loves this guy and he's available, let's get him" but they aren't relying on him I'm fine with it. Walker is a decent, steep price, but it could pay off.

me: "aw man, I did not want this offseason to go after only a slightly above average offensive outfielder with meh defense long term while giving up a pick" me: "haha, yeah! Looks like it's not happening" *instead get Mazara* me: ...

It depends. On one hand, it would be doing yankees a favor. One good thing we've learned is the lux tax is real and effective, and with the cole deal the yankees will have to dance with it in the coming years. So in theory that leaves players the sox can go for in FA. In theory, in practice they just can't seem to do it. So then there's him. Severely flawed but the potential to be so productive. I don't know though, I actually have more reservations on a long term deal with him than basically anyone else. He really could become difficult to shed if he starts to physically deteriorate as maybe was the case last year.

The college reliever thing was different and hoo boy was it not effective.

Disappointed to wake up to this. On one side, there are long tails to this move, he could net out to be a significant bat offensively, though his defense may always limit that effect to around 3 WAR. And last offseason it was basically decided that the white sox would still significantly rely on luck, anyway, so if our luck pays out this is another iron in the fire. But all things considered, I thought we were doing this rebuild to make a team better than the best teams in baseball. And it's just really hard at this point to see the white sox with ambitions outside of competing for a division title. That's most disappointing to me,, I thought they would build a large amount of budget to add a significant FA piece. But I don't see a single guy they signed that we couldn't have believed they couldn't have gotten in previous iterations of the sox. It sucks, but it doesn't suck just for Mazara. It really does seem like he has an approach problem, and we just saw two great examples of updating an approach (or leaning into one) to maximize results for great success in uber-talented guys in moncada/TA. I keep mentioning Soler, but Soler! His exit velocity was also average. He also had muted production. Then he found a way to match his strength with an approach and absolutely crushes the ball on the regular and it started at age 25. And also he's terrible defensively so its a great match.

I can confidently say that won’t be executed.

still what do they care they are terrible.

Ugh man it would be great for them to get Nimmo. They could really focus it all on pitching next few years, and he is such a great complement to where they suck offensively with his high OBP. Make it happen. The ole Pitt/NY/CWS christmas three-way action coming back.

Lowrie is just a one year deal for 9 mill, so definitely at that level you can entertain. And not worst idea as a backup infielder though he may barely play.

Anyone else find it bizarre how tied the pirates are to getting a catcher?