bmags

https://theathletic.com/822659/2019/02/18/how-the-mariners-are-using-data-biomechanics-and-technique-to-build-a-better-catcher/ This has been going around, on how with focused PD staff, Seattle is workign to turn a great offensive catcher into a average defensive catcher so you have : a good catcher under control for years. It's clear after the sox claimed they "revamped" themselves after 2016, that they were ignorant of how needed to be done. I would argue this is because they kept the same people who have been around the same organization for 20 years, but regardless, the mariners are not the forefront of anything but ... look at this. Now, the sox took a project defensive catcher in the first round, and he will have to become a good mlb catcher without any of the same tools other catchers in other orgs get. This is how you become below average consistently. The margins matter a lot in baseball. Are the best players really 50% better than the worst? Or just 5% better in several areas that allow more consistent success. The sox are falling down despite the fact that they may be improving when judging themselves to previous practices, because other organizations are improving so rapidly. Cue Balta and marcus semien and ron washington.

How does this help the Harper case.

Why are people pissed at Anderson? It's not his fault the org put the players in this circus position. I want players to roll with what they have, I hate when players pine for acquisitions, it inherently is undercutting a teammate.

Preller is a better GM because he runs a phenomenal international scouting system that will fuel the Padres for years. Hahn has shown beyond getting top 5 draft picks in perpetuity he will not be able to supplement this core with players through the traditional means of the draft or international free agency, despite no structural reasons for this issue beside incompetence.

I would actually prefer Chicago summer weather to San Diego summer weather. I don’t like how cold it gets at night there.

But the likelihood of it being the same price was low. So that’s a really bad calculation.

Yes, sharper organizations like the astros. That draft didn’t have a clear cut one and they cut a deal with Correa. CBA was good for that then. Only time we had that possibility we drafted Rodon and paid overslot. 2nd round we went danish. You seem to hold the astros to an incredibly higher standard than the white Sox. 2015 was a draft they had 1 pick in first four rounds it was weak. 2016 they had 3 picks in top 100. They drafted Collins based on a high valuation on his bat that had no hit tool so far. Alex Kiriloff and Forrest Whitley we’re drafted behind him. They drafted a reliever in their sandwich pick instead of going after a high schooler in a perfect position. could have had Taylor trammel or carter kieboom, they have a TJS reliever. Alec Hansen went in the second round. His warning flags have shown up. They had Bo Bichette and Pete Alonso behind them. I don’t expect them to nail every pick. But making the right pick once is a big deal. They either are making the wrong picks or not developing them, likely both.

Correa was NOT a lock pick. And so no hum, he just drafted two of the best young players in the game, and all the previous players achieved their ceiling under him. Thats called player development.

He has not had solid drafts. Nobody from the drafts two years ago is in any top 130 I saw. Just madrigal, whom I am very high on but was just a #4 pick and hasn’t truly played anything. They have continued to under invest in international free agency, did not find any great finds in waiver pickups like other rebuild such as Milwaukee and philly did, and have spent an extraordinary amount of resources on college and minor league relievers that have underwhelmed in debuts. Aside from trades, it has been at best average. When they are rebuilding that isn’t going to cut it.

Why sign his friend and trade for his brother if you knew you had hard limits that made you vulnerable to being out bid by a reasonable deal?

Naw and it probably won’t be entertaining but it could be.

no but hahn has one of the best jobs in the world and he's done terribly so i'm glad someone will have him feel bad about it. "I know, personally, i'm in this position when someone like bmags has had great opinions and truly excellent posts this offseason and could do well, that...that's tough on me"

me neither but he isn't my favorite pick for this interview.

I think sometimes people mistake criticism for mental anguish and hating the team and optimism toward the sox for happiness and loving the team. I love baseball and the white sox are my main expression of it. They have all my sentimentality tied into them. But it doesn't mean I am a proud papa just glad to see they are there. I want them to do well because the memories of them being awesome are such a part of my life, with friends and family. I'm interested in baseball team construction so I will judge the sox to being the best because they have some of the coolest jobs in the world and why shouldn't they hold themselves to that standard?

Was he wrong?

(yes he was taking all his reps at 3b today)

Not gonna lie I'll probably still go to a few games, definitely less. But they really killed the obssession over team building, minors, intl fa, whatever. What does it matter when they don't know what they are doing? It'll be back when they win...whenever that is.

Yeah I think it's plausible. KW is much more competitive and in isolated events like this looks at "winning" correctly - you give up what it takes to get your target.

At this point, much more effective to publicly state you won't be outbid, come in hard with the highest offer and discourage teams from even bothering.

JR is legit excellent as an owner at reducing labor costs.

I think definitely still top 10 in health. I actually think their bullpen scouting could be above average. That is my best.

There is no info in that tweet that confirms the white sox were one of the teams with a 300 mill offer.

MLB is likely to expand. I'm really not worried. (I also thought it was very likely sox signed machado)

LOL. I really thought that organizationally they had changed, but this is spot on. I'm not sure what they did best though. I think people overrated how successful their pitching development was by 2015. Their pro scouting, which was truly top of the league in the 00s, had become inept as the aging curves became more pronounced. As we saw, their bargain bin free agency hunting was terrible, but they also were terrified to give shots to guys off the waiver wire that were likely to give equal production. They definitely when faced with jumpstarting the org did not revamp anything, they just tweaked it and may have moved from worst in league to below average.

Indeed it does. Can't beat this dead horse enough: Jerry Reinsdorf cares more about major league baseball controlling labor costs than he does the white sox succeeding. He will not let the sox break rules that compromise that premise. Will let them break rules wherever possible that do hurt labor.