caulfield12

Chris Getz has brought little or nothing with him from the Royals...they hit on a string of high first rounders over there and Dylan Moore made the right moves for vets to get them two WS appearances, but their development results are typically bottom 5-10. Well, maybe the Sox would have messed up Witt, JR., too.

Only 3.5 and 5.5 GB, lol. Has to be one of the most emotional celebrations of the entire season...just when you want to count the Guardians out after being 1 game up a week ago.

Except he probably wasn't using his best stuff then...just getting work in to prepare for the season.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/mark-bradley-blog/its-clear-freddie-freeman-isnt-where-he-wants-to-be/2IWEQNPP6ZCPRC7KJ34CZ4VFJE/

Or negotiate to start each season on June 1st...

Probably because he had so many terrible drafts under his supervision. Or guys who never realized their potential until first leaving the organization. Prospects were just his way of bringing established veterans into the fold. And it did work. Once. But never on a consistent, repeatable or sustainable basis. Unless that goal was second or third place.

Well, how much speculation has there been about what early riches have done to Yoan/Luis/Eloy? I watched it destroy Puig's career...there are so so many distractions for kids coming from poverty-stricken environments. Yoenis Cespedes with all of his luxury cars was one of the big role models, the opposite of Abreu in so many ways. That's why Jose Ramirez is so great now...he was always underestimated and had to fight tooth and nail for everything he got. He got the big extension and is even better this year.

On road trips? Or when on opposite side of country from AA/AAA teams?

Ron883 Because he was originally a big Cubs' fan, too.

Would love to watch Hahn, KW and JR squirming in the luxury boxes. That would be perfect for ESPN Sunday Night even. Alas.

https://theathletic.com/3366299/2022/06/15/twins-luis-arraez/ Basically argues you can't ever be a great player unless you stay on the field (Nelson Cruz tutored Arraez in the off season even after he left the Twins, that was his advice if he wanted to be an All Star) and get consistent reps...lost 17 pounds in the offseason, completely changed his diet/nutrition. And focused on his legs/base/foundation specifically.

Still have the 50/50 possibility of a Rodon start Sunday. Without that, overwhelmingly boring. Webb start Saturday sandwiched by pitchers that are struggling unless they skip Desclafini on Sun.

Keep him out of Iowa. "Your Way, Right Away" is the direct opposite of what TLR and Hahn have accomplished. "Their Way, Right Away" led to the disastrous Kimbrel trade and it has been almost all downhill ever since.

If the players are actually ready to contribute...and well prepared by their coaches. When's the last time that we nurtured a position player prospect for 3-5 years and then he successfully contributed to the Sox? Tim Anderson? Semien and Escobar didn't excel in Chicago. All the prospects like Moncada or Jimenez were just a year or less from the big leagues. Montgomery and Kath are the real case studies about really pulling this whole development thing off.

What next, a return to Japan and reuniting with Viciedo? For what it's worth, major league teams do a terrible job supporting their Latin American players once they reach the US. I worked for the Pirates and was basically responsible for finding them housing (since I spoke Spanish well enough), even ordering at McDonald's, rides back and forth...negotiating leases. Can't even imagine dealing with mental health issues for modern athletes. Then finding someone qualified in Spanish in that area in places like Augusta, Bristol, Winston-Salem, Kannapolis, etc. They would support first round draft picks and bonus babies, but most of those were "American" kids who were already fluent in English. Plus the Cuban kids don't have those MLB academies to support them with English and life skills/finance. Plus baseball in Japan is all about performance, and most Hispanic players feel culturally isolated or alienated there if they don't speak the language. Colas really hasn't had a reliable home environment for three years now.

Haseley was sent back down right? Taxi squad?

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/giants-yermin-mercedes-goes-to-minors/

Based on what? Sheer blind faith?

Not to mention all this is trickling down to Vera...if Abreu's unhappy, Mercedes obviously, Moncada, Grandal...even Luis Robert has gone through periods of listlessness, too. It's like a malaise has set in, compared to how things were with Renteria and the seeming joy the Hispanic players had playing previously. That said, Robert has obviously produced when healthy the last two years...just not at a Trout-ian level.

Maybe he thinks he will be granted his freedom like Yermin and then quickly go to the big leagues with a playoff bound team? And yes the conditions and treatment in Japan so much better than High A ball. AA is a different story. Of course, if they refuse to promote him for the rest of the season out of spite, they can't make the simultaneous argument he's ready for the big leagues in 2023. They really look for reasons or excuses not to spend money...we don't want to block Colas. One impulse eventually has to win out here...saving face or saving cash.

Yet another reason to be unhappy with this organization. We don’t know if any promises were made to Colas about a promotion to AA if he “played well,” but nothing would or should be surprising at this point. He only has to look at Luis Roberts’ multiple promotions in 2019. Plus, who exactly is blocking him in AA? If I played in the 30th ranked farm system behind a terrible Barons’ team and looked at a big league club with two big corner outfield holes… Then there was that weird situation a month ago where he was on the roster and not playing and they said he was injured but he also wasn’t on any sort of public restricted list, either. Yet they brought him and Cespedes up this spring as reasons for not making a big RF signing. Something doesn’t add up. Then there’s the Brian Ball lawsuit that can’t go away fast enough.

Cueto probably fits that category. Unfortunately, 4-5 bad decisions for every one that works out well. Graveman has been very good too, but his lack of availability to pitch in back to back appearances or multiple innings somewhat mitigates his perceived plus value.

That in and of itself is a very sad testimony to the state of the contention window...because Pollock has been absolutely awful recently.

The Rangers are a sleeping giant in a huge media market/new stadium and the Mariners will turn the corner eventually. Sure, the A’s are terrible and will relocate eventually, but the Angels would be competitive with a healthy Rendon. Ward has been amazing, and Walsh and Marsh are solid. It’s their problem supplementing the core (see the trials and travails of Jo Adell) and developing pitching internally that has doomed them to mediocrity. They are fourth right now behind both Wests, NL East. But the Astros are still THE team in the AL until the Yankees knock them off.

8. Carlos Rodon, LHP, Giants: Drafted with the No. 3 overall pick back in 2014, Rodon was heralded as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm for the White Sox He eventually achieved that status, but not until the seventh year of his Major League career. For Rodon’s first six years, he was an oft-injured power arm who’d flash ace potential but lacked both the consistency and the durability to get there. Durability remains a concern after Rodon pitched just 36 innings over the 2021 season’s final 10 weeks due to shoulder fatigue. He remained effective during that time but worked with a diminished fastball and was not given a qualifying offer by the White Sox — despite his elite production (on a per-inning basis). But what Rodon has done since that 2021 breakout is prove that he is, when healthy, a bona fide No. 1 starter. Over his past 177 1/3 innings, Rodon has a 2.64 ERA with a dominant 34.5% strikeout rate against just a 7.4% walk rate. Since Opening Day 2021, Rodon leads all Major League pitchers (min. 100 innings) in strikeout percentage. He ranks 10th in swinging-strike rate and owns the eighth-lowest opponents’ contact rate on pitches inside the strike zone. Rodon can opt out of the second year and $22.5MM on his current contract if he pitches 110 innings this season. If he can make 30 starts this year, there’s probably a five-year deal waiting for him in free agency — especially when considering the fact that he won’t turn 30 until December. These numbers for the FA rankings are just through May 25th…Carlos should actually be higher ranked than the 8th best FA now, challenging or even surpassing Musgrove and deGrom as most sought after pitcher. mlbtraderumors.com