chitownsportsfan

I actually feel it's the opposite but we'll see. We need to get both guys on the mound next year for 20+ starts and see some development. Too bad Cooper will likely be over seeing their development.

Feels like Kopech is being slept on a bit. He's twice the talent Cease is IMO and that's saying quite a bit. He has the sort of movement and velocity you rarely see on his heater.

fWAR flatters Q. By bWAR he's been about average for three straight seasons and slumped to 1.2 bWAR this year. They won't dump him for nothing but he's just not the guy he was briefly on the South Side. He had bWAR of 4.1 and 5.4 his last two seasons with the Sox. Hasn't come close to that on the Cubs.

Signing useless players (which Jordan Bell is proving to be) to fill up the end of your roster is dumb. Roster spots are valuable. Wasting them on guys like Bell isn't smart. That's why teams trade 2nd round picks frequently. Some teams have more space available at the end of their roster than others. If it's one thing GarPax do well it's scouting. Trades and FA are a major weakness but scouting is not. If they concluded nobody in the 2nd round at that moment was worth building up some "equity" with the owner I trust them.

That's why I concluded with had it been any other team nobody would have blinked an eye. Chicago's NBA FO is about league average. They've had some good teams, some good luck, and some bad luck. There's really no easy narrative. It's a club that has mostly been good, but never elite, in the last 15 years. I'd take GarPax over WillHahn, I'll say that.

Jordan Bell is the most overhyped 2nd round pick in history. He's as likely to be out of the NBA in 2 years as in it. He could barely get off the bench for a GS team desperate for any body over 6'6" with a pulse last year. I'm far from a JR or GarPax fan but "cash considerations" for Jordan Bell was a complete nothing of a move. If it was anybody but Chicago nobody would have given a fuck.

What? Seattle has some of the best in the business. Dave Sims is a bit over the top but has a classic play by play cadence. Blowers is solid as the sunshine blowing ex player that will occasionally make a biting critique (similar to Stone). Aaron Goldsmidt, who rotates with Sims is solid and many would say he's their version of Benetti. And Rick Rizzs is a worthy successor to David Niahaus. Hell, Seattle might have one of the best radio and TV crews in the league.

One of the arguments of The MVP Machine and one they stressed it that most of the innovation is coming from the lower levels. Partly because orgs in pro ball like the Sox are so rigid and stuck in their ways (and still make a hefty profit and everybody in the FO usually keeps their job) whereas in HS and College you have to win to move up and keep your job and that's where the innovation comes from. Honestly other than pedigree Gio's HS coach might be a better coach than Cooper.

Indeed. I can almost forgive Tatis Jr because he was barely in the system but to fail to properly self scout Semien is just what. the. fuck. YOU are the club that is around him all the time and that is how badly your eval turns out? Semien has been building on this. He didn't just get good this year. The Sox fucked up badly evaluating him.

That the cubs found Rickie wanting when they were serious about winning says nothing good about the Sox and Rickie.

This is like cleaning your house and neglecting to cleanup the pile of puke that greets you from the front door entrance. Great, you cleaned the counters and swept the kitchen, now how about you address the real reason your house smells like vomit? Rickie and Cooper will coach here as long as they want.

People are vastly over rating the value of TINSTAAPP types like Cease.

It took him nearly 162 games to put up 1 fWAR this year. His 2017 season is long gone. He's not that player anymore (if he ever was). His true talent is like 1.5 fWAR. There are a lot of guys floating around that can give you 90% of that at 10% the cost. And, the Sox don't seem to think he can play backup SS. That severely limits his value as a utility guy.

He finishes tied for 15th in fWAR at 5.7 and tied for 13th in wRC+ at 141. Here's a staggering note: He finished with a higher wRC+ (141; 139) than JD Martinez. Moncada is a superstar. Enjoy his next 4+ years in Chicago.

Nah. His wRC+ last three seasons 95,87, 74. The bottom has fallen out of his bat. That 74 this year was with a flukey high BABIP of .324, which is a career high for him. I've speculated he's no longer on PEDs after securing a place in the Show. Whatever the reason he's not longer a "super sub" he's just a shitty utility guy that bad teams have, not good ones. Sox should be looking to replace him with someone that won't cost 5 million or someone that is actually a 2 WAR talent. That is not Yolmer.

It wouldn't even be close to enough. He still made FG's "Honorable Mention" at midseason (top 60 trade value in MLB). A C+ guy and a B- like Collins and Stiever and Boston would just hang up the phone laughing and never pick up a Hahn call again.

well correct me if I'm wrong but Vaughn can't be traded until June. Trading Madrigal opens a huge hole at 2B. Who is a FA at 2B? There are a lot of solid to great SP on the market.

Maybe, but you have to give to get. Mookie Betts is a legit MVP contender. You'd likely be moving him -- with his good graces -- so you're moving for him to extend him. Every team knows that. There aren't really any mercenary clubs he could even go to for one year. They ain't trading him to NYY, most other contenders are set in the OF. They will hold out for a king's ransom or just resign him. that's my prediction anyways.

Well they'd obviously want a cornerstone back. If I'm RH to get them to pickup the phone you're going to have to throw around names. Giolito would get them talking I'd imagine. Giolito and then they get the pick 2 of the next 5 guys: Rutherford, Micker, Walker, Basabe Yolbert/etc. Preferably you'd deal from strength all the time but the Sox aren't in a position to do that really position player wise. So you get them to buy super high on Gio and then get off pretty easy. I have no idea if that's even close to his value but Gio + a couple B- guys is a solid opening offer I'd guess.

atrophy is such a big word baseball is about fun not big words.

Dodged a bullet there sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart. Although with the "Latin whisperer" as manager maybe he wouldn't have had the effort issues in Chicago. @JUSTgottaBELIEVE put me down, as I just did. Sox got lucky but I'll take it.

I ran Moncada's numbers and batted balls stats through various xBABIP calculators and came to the same conclusion a few pages back in this thread. His combo of speed and quality of contact is perhaps unrivaled in today's MLB and I'd expect his BABIP to remain high throughout his career, at least until he's in his 30s.

Luckily the Sox won't have any problems like that.

Flags fly forever so it was a success: but they are in a really tough spot. They are looking at a window opening maybe in 2023 onwards if they can turn and burn, which is far from certain. Their 40 man sucks. It's rather shocking how quickly Q has fallen off. He doesn't even look like a guy they want on the 25 man. He might get non tendered if you can believe it. Their roster looks a lot like the pre-rebuild White Sox. Some stars, a lot of scrubs, no depth on the 40 man, and no depth in the minors.

Christ, looks like Seattle in November.