caulfield12

Considering the fact everyone is putting Corbin Carroll and Druw Jones in the 2026 All-Star game already…it’s going to be difficult to live up to those lofty expectations.

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/struggling-joey-gallo-seeks-return-to-norm-for-yankees/ “… I do know that there are a lot of teams that feel that Joey in their market and their uniform would be more of the normal than what he is in New York. But right now, he’s on a winning team, he’s on a team that’s doing very well, he can be a major contributor to it … and really the job of us is to get him most comfortable and get him back to being at his norm.” Scott Boras Well, there’s always the Gallo for Pollock trade…since Pollock can’t be much worse for the White Sox and Pollock has so much experience with championship-caliber teams in LA.

https://nypost.com/2022/07/20/juan-soto-trade-talks-may-be-telling-of-yankees-hal-steinbrenner/ “Cashman has seen it all in his quarter century on the job, and frankly, I don’t think we’re going to learn much about him between now and 6 p.m. on Aug. 2. He’s highly qualified to determine if a prospects-plus package headlined by Anthony Volpe is a price worth paying for Soto. But if the GM does come to temporary terms with his Washington counterpart, Mike Rizzo, I do think we will learn something about Hal Steinbrenner. As in, just how badly the Yankees owner wants to win. Yes, of course, everyone wants to win. But there is a vast difference between saying that you want to win and acting like you need to win. Steinbrenner’s decision on whether to approve a Soto acquisition and the potential half-billion dollar contract to come after 2024 — on top of a potential monster contract for Aaron Judge and existing monster deals for Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton — would identify which camp he’s in. Up front, understand that employing the 23-year-old Soto for three postseason runs alone would be worth just about anything Rizzo could ask for. Now in Double-A ball, the 21-year-old Volpe might be a long-term Yankees shortstop out of central casting as a supremely talented Jersey Boy who idolized Derek Jeter.”

What are the four teams?

Raise your hand if you feel confident the White Sox are going to run out a $200+ million payroll next year??? No qualifications, like they make the playoffs or trade for Soto…will they or won’t they exceed $200 million for the first time in club history?

How would Bryan Reynolds be termed reasonable…compared to Happ, who the Cubs pretty much have to get rid of since they’re basically blowing the whole team up other than Seizuki, Stroman and maybe Hendricks? Eventually the Pirates are going to stop making dumb trades and incorrect talent evaluations (Polanco, for one).

How can a team with potential All-Stars at every position be behind the Twins and Guardians after nearly 100 games? Sure, Abreu and Anderson. Robert and Vaughn, although he would never make it in LF or 1B voting. Moncada. Grandal before he forgot how to hit and walk. Last time I checked, at least for the last twenty years, the best White Sox teams were not necessarily the most talented ones but the ones who played best together as a cohesive unit. 2005 team will only have one Hall of Famer, who didn't even impact that postseason. Even if they DO have the potential, what makes anyone believe TLR is the right manager to get them to play to that projected/potential level? Blind faith?

Because trading for Soto assumes a bump in payroll into the $205-210 million range…based on what he will get in arbitration next year. And because there’s no palatable trade package that works without Vaughn going to Washington. If they’re selling that franchise, they’ll need something they can actually sell to a prospective owner as well as the fanbase, rather than players that are still 2-3 years away from the big leagues. They have scouted Jimenez exhaustively enough to know that he’s too risky as a centerpiece when the foundation for any hitter is the lower body.

I don’t think ANYONE in the front office even once dreamed Schwarber or Castellanos. If they had, we wouldn’t have gotten stuck with Pollock/Eloy/Vaughn/Sheets in the outfield. If Schwarber was the plan from the beginning, they never would have exercised the Kimbrel option in the first place.

Realistically explain how the White Sox compete on a $200 million payroll this year or next with Vaughn subtracted and Soto’s $17 million added…not to mention massive arbitration increases the next two years. Everyone’s acting like teams are lining up to take Eloy, Lynn, Pollock, Jimenez, etc., off their hands…not to mention Grandal, Kelly and Leury.

It’s not like Dye and Pods and Contreras and AJ and Hermanson were at peak value in 2004-05, either. Garcia was the only one who could be characterized this way. Risk/reward. Opportunity cost.

Haven’t we all learned from watching Trout and Ohtani? Does Soto even guarantee a playoff team these next three years when you’re already having to replace Giolito and Tim Anderson after 2023 and 2024…assuming you don’t trade Montgomery, he’s your rookie SS that final Soto season, if not earlier. You have the worst prospects after 2024 of any team in baseball…looking at repeating 2016-2019 all over again. And one of the oldest and smallest stadiums in baseball in terms of generating revenue. Besides the fact the primary way this all works is if Abreu doesn’t regress, Lynn suddenly returns to 2019-21 form, Cease and/or Kopech stay healthy, Grandal returns to form, Hendriks/Graveman/Kelly/Lopez stay healthy, Robert and/or Moncada are close to superstars and you can somehow solve the Eloy/Vaughn/Pollock logjam. There’s just way too many variables for Soto (assuming full health) to override all that. And it’s not like Soto is accruing tons of value for his defense or baserunning. It would have been ten times more logical to simply sign Harper when they had the opportunity and there was no prospect cost nor ticking clock of when he was going to leave as well. The White Sox name is only thrown in there to generate fan interest. Bait and switch. Rinse and repeat.

6. Mariners The surging Mariners have some of the best young talent in the majors and could use it to headline a package to acquire Soto if they decided to be aggressive. OF Julio Rodriguez isn’t going anywhere, but one of RHPs George Kirby or Logan Gilbert would likely have to be included in any package for Soto. From there, the Mariners could pull together multiple combinations from a farm system that includes talented young shortstops Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo and a wealth of young righthanders including Matt Brash, Emerson Hancock, Taylor Dollard and Bryce Miller. A package of prospects alone wouldn’t be enough to grab Soto, but in the unlikely event the Mariners decided to include one of their young starters, they could do it. Personally, I don’t see the Mariners parting with Kirby or Gilbert. That said, if you think of all the franchises most desperate to get to the World Series, the Mariners would be right up there in the Top 3 or so. There’s so much hype around Julio Rodriguez and the team in general at the moment, they’re even opening up the RF upper deck for the first time in ages against the Astros this weekend. The Guardians would be up there as well because of their farm system depth. Both the AL Central leaders would fit if you dream big. Perhaps the Twins also believe that Carlos Correa would stick around for another season at least were they to make such a move to add Soto to Buxton/Correa…? With Royce Lewis out with his second major knee injury, and not wanting to shift Polanco back to SS next year, it starts to make more sense. Mets, Padres, Dodgers and Yankees still have to be the favorites should they choose to pursue it.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/which-teams-have-the-prospect-talent-to-acquire-juan-soto/

Brash (and especially Crochet) are too volatile…most still believe Brash ends up as a reliever. “Control and Command: Good command for a pitcher of his size and effort, though over extended outings it could become a concern thanks to violent delivery. Good relief profile. Control: 50 | Command: 50 Overall: Brash has an outside shot at starting at the big league level, though that will be incumbent on the development of his breaking ball and improving his delivery and body can hold up over the duration of long outings. As it stands, he projects to be a plus fastball guy with a good supporting off-speed pitch and a get-me-over breaking ball. OFP: 35 Role: 30 - Up/Down Emergency Depth Risk: High” https://www.prospectslive.com/scoutingreports/matt-brash

Just throw Kelenic in while they’re at it… Marte Kelenic and Brash plus one more piece equivalent to Basabe. Could even make it Taylor Trammell. Not seeing any way they part with Kirby.

"They’re better, in other words, than they have been in a long time. And this is just the beginning. After that dismal 2018 campaign, the Orioles brought in Mike Elias, one of the architects of the Houston Astros’ carefully constructed turnaround from laughingstock to champions as their new general manager. And he brought with him NASA engineer-turned-baseball analytics innovator Sig Mejdal. Say what you will about the 2017 team that took home a now-tainted trophy, but Houston’s ongoing dominance in the AL West is built on more than just sign-stealing. That kind of sustained success is every baseball team’s ultimate goal. And the Orioles have reason to believe they’re right on the precipice." https://www.yahoo.com/sports/ml-bs-biggest-surprise-make-way-for-the-orioles-this-could-be-the-beginning-of-a-long-successful-run-001654430.html

Clase

Xavier Edwards

Craig Grebeck?

Are you sure that’s not from one of the numerous Fast and Furious sequels?

Sure, but what’s the difference between 3 1/2 vs. 2 1/2 years of control for the worst team in baseball? The Nationals need players that are pre-arbitration. Even Vaughn only has one more year. Soto’s already making the highest amount in arbitration. But it’s not like Cease’s arbitration numbers will be chopped liver.

https://theathletic.com/3428196/2022/07/16/juan-soto-trade-packages-teams/ The White Sox really don’t have anyone besides Vaughn and Luis Robert on the mlb roster that would be of interest. Eloy? For a rebuilding team with an escalating salary and limited control? Nope. Even Cease and Kopech don’t fit the timeline. The Sox aren’t going to be any better off trading those two…or even just one of them and a package of minor leaguers, because it’s basically trapping them in the same exact situation they were in from 2011-2016. The only way it possibly makes sense would be if they had an extension agreement already in place. And, as noted, that would never happen with Boras. Freddy Garcia was a notable exception for a previous megatrade/extension due to his connection with the Guillen family. That pre-existing relationship doesn't exist with Juan Soto.

At least you're taller than Nicky Two Strikes Madrigal. Actually I always thought 5'9" to 5'10" was close to the average for a man born in the US.

Maybe a Buddy Bell type job with another organization, but he's getting up there in age.