caulfield12

Mets the current favorite to sign Ohtani this offseason... "The Chicago Cubs have the second-shortest odds to land Ohtani if he leaves the Mets. At +500 odds, Chicago has proved that they are willing to spend big bucks in free agency. One needs to look no further than this past winter when they spent over $300 million to improve their roster. Next on the BetOnline odds board are the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and San Diego Padres who are all listed at +600." thesportsgeek.com

That's definitely ONE way to promote baseball and/or the Cubs... https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/russian-american-model-anne-v-163606059.html

Just the aesthetics of watching him pitch before inevitable TJ. And Murakami should be 1A to go along with Yamamoto...if he can stick at third realistically. Needs to get in better shape physically IMO but I guess some will argue it's a "baby fat" thing at that age. Thanks for the recommendation...on stadiums. http://www.jingu-stadium.com/english/

https://www.mlb.com/news/1st-mlb-hitter-power-rankings-of-2023 Acuna Jr. and Tatis Jr. with the most to prove here... Would be nice to see Luis Robert Jr.'s name mentioned again as well.

Interesting Hahn and KW don't even rate as influential anymore...lol.

$2.5 - $3.0 billion. Maybe $3.25. Melody Hobson already close to 40%.

Well he's a lot less likely to end in the Mexican League. Maybe back with Masahiro Tanaka in Japan. Plus, Dayan "El Tanque Cubano" Viciedo highlights! For the record, Sasaki is the one to watch right now.

"It started off as a joke. On a warm September day at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi, a 23,000-seat stadium in Sendai, Japan, located about 200 miles north of Tokyo, a group from Red Sox baseball operations sat in the stadium, scouting Orix Buffaloes star Masataka Yoshida. It was hard for them to miss the giant Ferris wheel towering over the park behind left field, a feature the club had installed in 2016 to entertain fans. The Red Sox had been scouting Yoshida for the better part of the last four years, mostly from afar with limited in-person views because of pandemic restrictions on travel. But on this day, vice president of scouting development and integration Gus Quattlebaum finally had a chance to return to Japan, and brought with him manager of baseball analytics Dan Meyer. They joined Pacific Rim coordinator Brett Ward and Japanese scout Kento Matsumoto, who’d been following Yoshida closely as the outfielder dominated the Nippon Professional Baseball league." https://theathletic.com/4029222/2022/12/24/red-sox-pursuit-masataka-yoshida/

Masataka Yoshida, LF 2022 stats: .336/.449/.559, 21 HR, 89 RBI (121 games with Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball league) Yoshida is one of the biggest enigmas in baseball heading into the new campaign. His numbers in Japan make him extremely intriguing, but five years and $ 90 million is a risky bet on a 29-year-old who has never played Major League Baseball. Will the contact skills translate? Can he play a solid left field or is he best served as a DH? If Yoshida can perform at a level even close to how he played in Japan, he'll be a huge part of Boston's success in 2023. If he struggles, expect the Red Sox front office to be under even more scrutiny. Best-case scenario for 2023: Yoshida's sensational bat-to-ball skills translate to the major leagues and he lives up to Fangraph's lofty projections, which have him finishing the season with a .867 OPS. Worst-case scenario for 2023: MLB talent evaluators say "I told you so" after questioning the Red Sox' decision to pay Yoshida $ 90 million in free agency. Yoshida proves to be below average defensively in left field and finds out the hard way that hitting in MLB is a completely different level of difficulty. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/red-sox-outfield-preview-can-masataka-yoshida-live-his-contract

I thought Kondoh was really impressive and would be the perfect 4th outfielder for a contender. Yamada it's now a couple of years past his prime...not unlike Iguchi when he came over after KW watched his scouting tape lol. Wish they would at least go out on a limb and try a reliever from Japan or Korea at least. Will actually be in Japan July 1st through the 12th. Want to see at least one game at the Tokyo Dome...the Ichiro Suzuki museum in Nagoya if still operated by his parents (Japanese website dead) and it would be really cool to see the new Hokkaido stadium but just won't have enough time to go to multiple cities other than Nagoya and to see the new Studio Ghibli Amusement park located nearby.

https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/03/guardians-reportedly-sign-2b-andres-gimenez-to-seven-year-106-million-contract-extension.html Gimenez deal could reach as much as $130.5 million...

How can they possibly afford two $100+ million deals without any RSN money incoming? What next, Bieber and Rosario staying? McKenzie and Clase? Kwan?

It's always sunny in...Philadelphia.

Which contract would you most desire if you could choose any ONE of the three for White Sox OD 2023? Who will produce the most fWAR from now until the end of their big league careers and why? Seiya Suzuki 5/$85 million age 28-29 Masataka Yoshida 5/$90 million age 29-30 Andrew Benintendi 5/$75 million age 28-29

Pitching collapse second half and first half hitting machine returned closer to the mean...

12th in payroll at $173.5 million, right behind SFG (flubbed Correa negotiations) and ahead of the Cubs. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/ Then Boston, the hapless/directionless Rockies, Next, LEAGUE AVERAGE StL, Minnesota, Seattle, Milwaukee, Detroit Royals and Guardians 24th and 25th in the $75-76 million range. Massive $20 million gap between Rockies at #15 and Cardinals #16, putting league around around the $155 million range. 9 teams well under $100 million...TB incredibly 27th with just $63 million.

https://sports.yahoo.com/american-league-power-rankings-astros-214300846.html Well at least Yahoo has us ranked 7th in the AL and ahead of the Twins...but they're high on the Astros and Guardians. I guess 7 x 2=14 (better than 15th) could mean we're "above average" but NL West and NL East would argue otherwise. So average (#12-18) in just about everything but current farm system rankings and projected attendance...

Well that's how we ended up with Damaso Marte. It turned out to be a pretty big deal eventually...the Pirates decided he wasn't going to make their team and decided to trade him instead. And I remember pages and pages needlessly devoted to Micker Adolfo over a year or so ago. Perhaps the same case with Zavala if his magic act disappears again this year and they want to go with Carlos Perez instead for arm/defense.

Well McKenzie out now for at least a couple of weeks but they had really kid overall health last year as not surprisingly one of the youngest teams in baseball. Used something like 13-15 rookies...like the 2012 White Sox. But the Guardians actually made an impact in the postseason.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-americans-watch-local-sports-is-about-to-change-as-cable-bundles-unravel-5f896013?siteid=yhoof2

Burger has one option remaining "While there’s no need to move on from Burger, especially given the amount of time and resources invested in the former No. 11 overall pick, a trade probably should be explored. The 40-man roster needs better defenders, and Burger is decidedly not that. While his bat is a plus, it’s a bit of a redundancy in Chicago’s righty-heavy lineup, and his injury struggles are another issue the White Sox don’t need to be doubling down on. If he can help bring in a plus defender and/or a left-handed hitter who’s getting squeezed off of another roster, it’s worth looking into. The White Sox should be combing all of baseball for Triple-A players and young bench guys who could use a change of scenery, competent backups with the slightest chance of being something more." Southsidesox.com

Are you talking about Cesar Hernandez from the Indians/Guardians the second half of 2021 ???

Against Floyd Mayweather?

Okay...I will reserve further comment unless they are worse than 15-18 after 33 games. That's a lot longer than most Sox fans give the team coming out of the gate...especially with a high-profile Astros match-up right off the bat on national t.v.

Bieber, Quantrill, Civale and Plesac are the usual names remaining for CLE. McKenzie's their 1A. https://www.coveringthecorner.com/2023/2/7/23576200/guardians-spring-training-battles-fifth-starter Pilkington and Touissant are memorable names. About 6-7 more internal candidates for either starter, including X.Curry and Eli Captain Morgan. Have a wealth of high minors pitching riches as a Top 5 MLB system.