Balta1701

The biggest flaw in 2015/2016 wasn't going with vets and chasing bounce-back guys. It was sacrificing the talent the org had in trades because they thought that a 72 team could compete by adding a bunch of those bounce back guys, overpaying for 2 or 3 mid level free agents, and trading for 1 or 2 moderately big names. They did long term damage because they didn't understand the weakness in their roster. That was the biggest problem, they consciously said they were good enough in 2016 to sacrifice 2019. Like it or not, the White Sox have to add some depth. They have big league 2 outfielders right now, Robert and Colas. They have 5 starters total, with Martin being the 5th. This is not a survivable situation, help needs to be added there however it is done. I continue to believe the best overall strategy is to add in guys like Kiermaier, Gallo, and a starter who are 1 year, bounce back guys. If they struggle, we can't be surprised, but we haven't done long term damage this time. If some of them have success, then either that supports the team if more important guys have improved years, or alternatively that gives them more to trade away at the deadline.

What did Manfred change?

The biggest rocket to be built since the Saturn V is scheduled for launch just after midnight Central time tonight and so far it looks good for launch.

The Doctor at the very end of 9 gives the final batch of details.

Ok, just checking this while in a meeting. Cubs last year: 24.4 fWAR Guys they're Missing: Darvish: 4.2 Quintana: 4 Bryant: 0.6 Schwarber: 2.6 Castellanos: -0.7 Caratini: 1.2 Baez: 2.0 Rizzo: 2.4 Kimbrel: 0.9 Guys who wouldn't be there or would be blocked: Wisdom 1.1 Gomes: 0.6 Madrigal: 0.2 Probably 2 of their starters: 2 WAR give or take who loses playing time. Probably upper 30s WAR, give or take playing time. What does that do to payroll? Darvish $20 millIon Quintana $2 million Bryant $18.6 Million Schwarber: $19 Million Castellanos $20 million Caratini $2 million Rizzo $11 million Javy Baez $20 million Kimbrel: $16 million Cubs Luxury Tax number last year: $194 million, listed payroll $141 million. I count just under $130 million in salaries for the guys no longer there, giving them a luxury tax number of $320 million. The Dodgers luxury tax number was $283 million, the Mets luxury tax was $313 million. To hold onto their entire team from 2019 puts them comparable to the highest payrolls in the league, with the largest luxury tax bill, and they wind up somewhere in the upper 30s for WAR. St. Louis put up 46.2 fWAR last year, Milwaukee 39.2. Philly (last team in) 44.3. So yeah, they hold onto their entire roster, spend the highest amount in the league, put up fewer WAR than Milwaukee who missed the playoffs. They might have had a legit shot in the AL if they were the best coached team, that is more WAR than the Rays put up, but every other playoff team outproduced that roster, and that's with the gift of Quintana thrown in.

It was the sound of Mike Shanahan shooting him in the knee.

I find this to be comparably ridiculous. The Ricketts dismantled a “slam dunk playoff team”? That would I think be news to anyone who watched the 2021 Cubs. They would have completely missed the 2021 playoffs and almost certainly 2022 as well. They were 9 games back and 2 games under .500 at the all star break. Calling that a sure fire playoff team is just wrong. And they haven’t spent inside the stadium? They had a top 6 payroll 5 years in a row, paid the luxury tax twice, would have been top 6 another year but they sold off guys like Bryant and Kimbrel. Outside of the Dodgers, every franchise is going to go through cycles where it makes no sense to spend money and they need to get younger. I only wish the white Sox wound spend the same nothing inside for 5 years.

Notably, the statement by the feds does not mention any gambling on baseball. It is quite specific about other sports.

The main guy here was running an unpermitted gambling operation and falsifying reports about his earnings from it to the government. The government cares about tax fraud until you’re rich enough to be better than that. Puig was brought in to testify about that. With his lawyer sitting next to him, he was asked point blank if he had ever communicated with this person about gambling. He denied it. The feds then found a ton of gambling related text messages from him to that guy. Straightforward advice. If the feds call you in as a witness in a case, and your lawyer is sitting next to you, do not lie to them. Especially if you have a digital or paper trail that will prove you lied.

The guy he got caught up in this with was charged with filing a falsified tax return.

I think we did see some of the contrast though - how much did Zach Wheeler wear out? They had to give him an extra day off to get him ready for a final WS game. Nola had a 4.91 ERA in the playoffs - it was 0 after the first 2 rounds and over 8 during the World Series. The Phillies had the best starters in the playoffs through 2 rounds and a 5.2 ERA over the final 2.

You believe the Wild Card teams now have less of a disadvantage? Can you explain that to me? I'd have imagined that an additional round would be much more of a disadvantage.

If you start in 2016, Here's the number of wins by each title winning team. 103 101 108 93 43 88 106 5 of the last 7 champions (assume the Dodgers kept up something like the pace they do every year) have won 100+ games. At worst, 4 of the 6 that count. Only 1 Wild Card team has won a title in the last 7 years, and only 2 in the last decade (one of which was the Bumgarner series that got the Giants their third title). Only 3 Wild Card teams have won championships since 2005, so 3 times in the last 18 seasons.

But...one of the things we have definitely seen as a requirement in the playoffs to advance is a bullpen that can slow down a strong offense over multiple games.

That was included where I said "pieces the White Sox didn't wat to put the work in to develop." Semien, Bassitt, and Escobar fit that description (although I still say I understand the Escobar move more than the other ones, the White Sox were legitimately in the race that year).

No. He had a back injury last year that wound him up on the 60 day IL. Can they get him healthy? Is that back injury a long term thing? Those are major questions with him. He would cost significantly more had he stayed healthy and put up his usual .850+ OPS in 2022.

A poorly ranked system can often have gems in it, if you are able to develop them. For example, in 2015-2016 the White Sox's system was ranked terribly, however they traded away Semien (future top 3 MVP) and Tatis (Future #1 prospect) those years. Raiding the White Sox's lower levels and pieces they didn't want to put in work to develop was a successful strategy for 2 teams there.

If the White Sox are willing to trade guys they drafted last year or signed recently, that could be a big help to the Rays, and we know the White Sox have a history of being willing to do that (maybe not with first round picks, but anybody else yes).

The D-Backs had the 23rd most IL days last year, which is pretty good overall. They had 22 guys hit the IL, compared to 25 for the White Sox - an average team had 24.6. However, their lineup was the third youngest in baseball, which should help them be healthier than average. Their pitching staff was somewhat ancient though, 5th oldest in baseball, so perhaps that balances that out.

I think it's "guy can be traded after the World Series" but the only articles I'm finding are from back in 2015 when it was changed last, so I couldn't be sure that nothing snuck into the last CBA to change that.

What are the rules on trading recent draftees? Can Schultz be moved?