caulfield12

Dodgers will counter with Happ/Contreras/Robertson…

That would be this year’s White Sox, biggest disappointment, lol. It’s not exactly easy to sit for nearly a year and come right back in the middle of a pennant race.

Machado, Cronenworth, Nola/Alfaro and Grisham all solid, along with Kim and Abrams. God knows what version of Tatis they get. Might stay in OF upon return with Kim at SS.

Taking live BP starting this Thursday and likely starts minor league assignment late next week. Interestingly, Padres and Dodgers match up again this weekend. Phillies and Cards pushing but this will be tough to overcome. Funny thing is that Hosmer gets a huge salary cut down to $13+ million from $21 (player option to decline) next year and just lost his job to Josh Bell, another lefty. Bob Melvin has his work cut out for him.

Isn’t there money or PTBNL also involved too? Think Soto really comes down to Padres being willing to trade Abrams and getting proper valuation on Gore. Same with Liberatore in StL, and Dylan Carlson’s 760 ops projecting eventually to 850ish but only 3-4 more years under control. Cardinals will blink. Too much talent changing hands for a mid market team. Dodgers can match with Dustin May and Lux and prospects galore but can’t afford to lose both Trea Turner and Lux…Chris Taylor with a limited remaining shelf life. Bellinger struggling along with Muncy all year long. Super complicated chess match. Feel like LA might go for Happ/Robertson instead and save bullets for 2023-24. “The Padres, meanwhile, are now over the luxury-tax threshold after their stunning addition of Josh Hader yesterday. They’ve reportedly been loath to cross that line for a second consecutive season. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggeststhat if it means acquiring both Hader and Soto, the Padres “won’t mind blowing completely past” the tax line. Over in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have become increasingly optimistic about their chances over the past couple days, per Jack Harris of the L.A. Times. The Dodgers’ perennially deep farm system is rife with top prospects — they have seven of Baseball America’s top 100 farmhands at the moment — and they also possess controllable young big leaguers of potential interest. Both Harris and Heyman suggest infielder Gavin Lux (four more years of team control) and righty Dustin May (nearing return from Tommy John surgery, with three more years of control) as potential targets for Washington.”

In all fairness, the Indians did spend a ton in the 90’s…when they were selling out Jacobs year after year. Until around 2007-08 and the beginning of their third rebuild. Now they are on #5 or #6 in the span of just twenty five or thirty years. That’s when the cheapness but still quite competitive play really kicked off…especially under Francona. They were the second base team in baseball when the Cubs won it and a rain delay short of taking it all with a smaller budget.

Why besmirch Pods?

And Cohen financial backing…

They are one of the only teams making moves. I just listed 4-5 terrible trades Preller made as well. What should Hahn be praised for exactly? The Padres will definitely fire Preller if he doesn't at least make the postseason and at least advance one round. Versus Hahn’s lifetime tenure at the country club job of a lifetime.

Because the Orioles and Red Sox are realistic about their relative positions. For Baltimore, they’re still at least one year early.

CJ Abrams, Campusano, Wood, Hassell, Merrill…some combination of Gore, Weathers, Morejon and Baez more than enough to get any trade done that they want unless Friedman or Cards go all-in. Preller the only one fighting for his job today of those three GM’s. Not only that, but he’s traded the Indians half their lineup including Naylor, Brash/Torrens/Trammell/Ty France to Seattle, Margot/Patino/Mejia to TB, Urias and Lauer to Milwaukee, he has basically spun his wheels the last two years, adding All Star pitchers right and left yet still unable to compete with the Dodgers without Soto and Josh Bell arguably. A month ago they were right there with LA but just had a terrible July. Still three games behind their position last mid-August before the great implosion the White Sox might be going through right now.

Preller was terrible competing or retooling on the fly. Realistically, you have to judge by everything from Tatis and that huge international signing class onwards. That will give you a much different picture than his first run at competing, which was pushed upon him by an impatient ownership group…the same one that got impatient with James Shields under Ron Fowler. Matt Kemp, then to ATL for Hector Olivera/salary relief What was traded: Joe Wieland, Yasmani Grandal, Zach Eflin Justin Upton What was traded: Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, Mallex Smith What was received: Left as Free Agent Wil Myers What was traded: Jake Bauers, Burch Smith, Rene Rivera, Joe Ross and Trea Turner What was received: Still on Team Craig Kimbrel What was traded: Jordan Paroubeck, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, Competitive Balance Pick What was received: Logan Allen, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asujae, Manuel Margot The Competitive Balance Pick the Padres sent did end up turning into top prospect Austin Riley, but overall three years leader and this looks like a weak package for one of the best closers in the game.

That’s how they end up one of the three worst organizations in football. But still worth a megayacht of money.

Imagine JR absorbing one bad contract like that…maybe in a full decade? The only question remaining is whether the Dodgers beat the SD package two years in a row. They’re on the verge of losing Turner to FA, but Dustin May is looking closer and closer to returning with his dominant stuff. Could really use another outfield bat, too. 7:41am: There is a “growing sense” that the Padres are the likeliest landing spot for not only Soto but also Josh Bell, tweets Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. There’s some momentum in those talks, he adds. Similarly, the Post’s Jesse Dougherty tweets that the Nationals are beginning to narrow the field. San Diego, of course, already has Eric Hosmer installed at first base, but they’ve been trying for more than a year to unload the remainder of that contract. Speculatively speaking, if the Nats truly want to maximize the return on Soto (and perhaps Bell), they could be the ones to absorb the remaining three years and $39MM on Hosmer’s contract themselves. The trio of Hosmer, Patrick Corbinand Stephen Strasburg would be a lot of underwater contracts for one team, of course, but the Nats have little else on the payroll in the immediate future.

The Giants won three, Royals one, Cubs one, Red Sox two or three…but none of those teams are remotely close anymore. Obviously SF had that one great overachieving season last year. Going forward, there are just 5-6 teams capable of winning, maybe the Cards if they add Soto but they have so many older players to replace. Maybe if they had the Yankees’ version of Matt Carpenter still. LAD, Houston, NY, Atlanta…then maybe the Blue Jays, Padres and StL with Juan Soto.

Cronenworth bad? Darvish bad? Musgrove bad? Manaea bad? Snell and Clevinger haven’t worked perfectly, but they keep going for it. Wish Hahn could be that bad!

Sounds exactly like the Sox. Except the relative positions have reversed from last year. And you can’t even compare the enthusiasm from the two fanbases. That’s the difference replacing two managers and finding a steadier calming hand in Melvin. Where would the White Sox be with Luis Robert out for 4 1/2 months?

Obviously the Braves as well...and Mets under Cohen. Basically, just five or six teams now.

Youkilis.

If only the Dodgers Yankees or Astros can win, is that really good for the sport? How so? At least the Padres actually try to win against the team with ten straight playoff appearances, biggest budget and best front office...

Just like Pollock accidentally became the de facto LFer. The plan was always for him to in competently play RF with that noodle arm. Every hit to the gaps except Engel fielding results in nearly automatic doubles. The Guardians are the masters at taking advantage of those opportunities. Flip managers and the Sox lead the division by 4-6 games.

Orioles already sold on Mancini and the Guardians are looking for any takers on Civale or Plesac. Ugly spot for the Sox to be stuck in. Not to mention six of last nine games for Guardians against the Royals. Not just the Twins they have 13 games remaining to catch.

Other than lucking into Cueto who everyone passed on just like Rodon the previous season...nothing could support their arguments for insider knowledge and general competence.

The most logical plays for RF are buying low on Conforto or waiting on Colas. Otherwise, they need a placeholder type very similar to Hunter Renfroe to get through one year while waiting on Colas at least until second half 2023.

Zaidi runs one of the best operations in the game. They operate on the margins...and maximize every possible advantage to make up for talent disadvantages. What are the odds three Sox players all end up there within a year following completely different routes?