JUSTgottaBELIEVE

Here’s the problem. Adley might already be on the decline. He was brutal the second half of last season so we’ll see what 2025 brings. Holliday, Mayo, Kjerstad, and Cowser are largely unproven. Henderson is a stud but what happens if he gets hurt? They’ve made a bunch of Rick Hahn type signings this winter and are still, on paper, worse than they were in 2024 after losing Burnes. Their starting rotation is razor thin. Grayson has already had injury scares and could be one pitch away from TJS. The other problem? New York and Boston are improving over the past two seasons after a brief lull. Window is closing quickly.

They won’t be back. They’re walking with their tail between their legs after finishing the second half of the season 40-41 and getting swept at home by the lowly Royals in the first round of the playoffs.

That’s true. Defense matters as well. That’s why I’m not sure Meidroth should be a lock for the mlb roster on opening day. Reading his write up makes it sound like he still needs work at second base. Why not get that work in Charlotte instead of Chicago?

Sure but I wasn’t the one spouting off my team was a lock to be a perennial title contender for the next 5 seasons while maintaining a top 5 farm system because my GM is god.

They were talking about not blocking prospects in 2025 by signing guys like Rojas or Kim. I also added Schultz and Smith as examples of prospects that shouldn’t see mlb in 2025 in response to the Merkin article because I also think it’s ridiculous that the team is considering starting their clocks in 2025.

I know it’s 21 pages but I guess you haven’t read this entire thread…

And if Elias makes a bold move like trading for Cease they won’t even have those three left.

I’m not hurt at all that the Orioles are going the way of the Sox most recent rebuild after interacting with those trolls last winter.

Orioles not even a top 9 system?? I was assured by those Orioles poster last winter that they would maintain a top system for years under the tutelage of Elias even after they were no longer drafting in the top 5 every year.

They just agreed to a contract with Murfee. It’s gotta be Scholtens.

So, we’re up to $14.35M between Rojas, Vaughn, and Perez. That’s about one year of Ha-Seong Kim. Personally, I’d rather have Kim than those three and give Vargas/Elko a look at 1b.

Ramos is 22 yo and struggled mightily last year in the minors and mlb. He’s got a lot more to prove. Meidroth is interesting. I’d put him in the same boat as Colson to where if he comes out scorching hot this Spring I’d be looking to promote him to mlb around Memorial Day. I’ve never seen Meidroth play. His hitting stats in the minors last year look pretty good but his profile on pipeline reads like he could still use some work defensively at second base. If you want to make the argument that he should break camp with the team then there’s still room for everyone. Meidroth should get the bulk of the playing time at 2b, Vargas/Sosa can fill the DH spot and rotate into 2b/3b as well, and Rojas can rotate between 3b/OF. Plenty of at bats to go around.

The real problem is both Vargas and Sosa are DHs from what I saw in 2024. I don’t need to see more from either of them at 2b or 3b so I don’t believe Rojas blocks anyone for the first half of 2025 at a minimum.

But we got people more concerned about veterans blocking prospects that aren’t ready for MLB in 2025 until proven otherwise (Colson, Ramos, Baldwin, Iriarte, Quero, Schultz, Smith fit this category imo). And you bring up a great point. What about the potential harm in promoting prospects that aren’t ready for mlb but the team feeling forced to promote them anyways because they lack other options? I guess the thought process from that group is that they will develop in the majors…meanwhile, they’re burning service time as they “develop” them in mlb and potentially screw up the development process altogether.

He’s waiting for the asking price on Dejong to drop below $5M

No chance they unload Benintendi but I do think they are likely to move Robert before OD

At least Dejong returned a live arm. You know they won’t play a fringe guy over Montgomery if those are the options..

Hell, at this point bring back Dejong on a one year deal just so we don’t have to see Getz blow a year of service time on one of their top prospects and not rush a guy that has yet to prove he’s ready.

I guess you and @Chicago White Sox are about to be shocked on March 27th then. This was one of several points that we went back and forth on earlier this week. I’m curious to see how it plays out.

Because it’s the White Sox way… 😆

No but the comp pick has value as well. I’d certainly take Sirota, the comp pick, and another prospect like Collier for Robert. I’d do that deal if I’m the Sox even without the comp pick.

And that’s why he’s asking for a little over $200M instead of the $300M in today’s dollars that Fielder got. And are we also going to ignore that one was fat and out of shape while the other isn’t? Those body types tend to age very poorly in any professional sport (look at Cecil). Fielder may have been 2 years younger but he had the body of a guy that was never going to make it past his mid 30s.

I mean, you’re right. Alonso should be even higher than Fielder’s contract factoring in inflation because Fielder’s contract in today’s dollars would be worth ~$300M.

I expect Alonso to be highly productive over the next 5-6 years. Does that not align with the young Sox mlb players (Thorpe, Cannon, Vargas, Baldwin, etc) as well as 6 of the current top 7 prospects that are likely to be promoted to mlb this year?

But 35 PAs is a cup of coffee and he ended the 2023 season in A+ so it’s not like he already had extensive experience in AA either. Call it whatever you want but that seems rushed to me.