caulfield12

This has got to be the most unrealistic tweet of the decade. Ray's not going anywhere because 1) the M's desperately need him with Gilbert/Kirby hitting their limits as rookies and 2) they're not going to sign a premium free agent and trade him within 12 months. Semien doesn't actually begin to fit with Sox salary/payroll philosophy. Harrison probably has comparable numbers the last 6-8 weeks. Second base is no longer one of the biggest problem areas on the team, unless Leury plays "too much."

Ian Happ, OF, Cubs Free agent after 2023 Happ turns 28 in August and won’t be a free agent until after 2023, so the Cubs don’t have to trade him -- and they might not. But with Chicago still far away from contention, it might consider it, because Happ, who made his first All-Star team this year, would be an intriguing trade piece. With a 126 OPS+, he’s doing his usual “be average or above” routine that he always does – he’s never been worse than a 102 OPS+ or better than a 131 OPS+, but the shape of it is a little different this year. That’s because Happ, who once ran unacceptably high strikeout rates -- 34% of the time in his first two seasons in 2017-18, and 29% as recently as last year -- has cut those whiffs down to 21%, more or less league average. Yet where he was once running very high hard-hit rates, that’s down to league average as well. It’s less of a "loud" package as it once was, and more of a solidly competent one. If that doesn’t sound terribly exciting, it’s still valuable, because the outfield trade market -- Soto aside -- is thin, and the switch–hitting Happ, a top-30 slugger among outfielders, might be the best one traded. Potential fits: Guardians, Padres, Braves, Brewers, White Sox, Yankees if they move Joey Gallo source: mlb.com

Vaughn in that RF? Brilliant stuff, Rick Hahn.

At least the Cubs had their pretty consistent youngish offensive core…whereas pitching development and drafting killed them. Which is how it’s looking for the Sox unless we get a miracle with Vera. For the Northsiders, that second generation of prospects never turned out. Soler, Happ, Almora and Bote, to name a few. Finally, the Heyward, Chatwood, Darvish and Kimbrel deals. Basically, they faded away over 2-3 seasons rather than completely imploding at once.

Just can’t imagine many “kids” under age 25 or so following 75% of his jokes…that are mostly about the 80’s and 90’s. Then again, it might be even more corny if he deliberately talked about Taylor Swift, the Kardashians, Blackpink and BTS to seem hip or cool.

Can they give away money from the following cycle? Or only 2022-23?

Pirates made so many bad trades, especially on the pitching side. Glasnow and Musgrove, too. Then they dumped quality hitters like Bell and Starling Marte but held on to Gregory Polanco. They’re seemingly operating much smarter the last 12-18 months, comparatively.

Nobody is going to want to take Joe Kelly and that contract unless we send significant money along with him. Ruiz makes sense because he will lose his spot on the roster to Tatis in the next couple of weeks. Although they might prefer to dump Grisham. That’s a tough call whether that guy can ever rebound this season, a truly Pollock like year except Grisham is a very solid defender and provides occasional/inconsistent pop from the LH side.

Great, since we’re likely stuck with Pollock unless he retires, we’re left with yet another corner outfielder.

White Sox acquire someone who will end up with a negative fWAR for the remaining two months by giving away their entire international pool allotment…

Sure, pretty much stuck with Moncada and they're not going to move him back to second…and then Burger still profiles better at DH and 1B, where we have, what, 6-7 possible options already?

Do we really think Pollock's problem is hitting coach related (he's as experienced a veteran as you get with lots of high profile post-season bats)...or age/regression? He was a 3 fWAR player last year, this year somewhere between 0.0 and 0.5 I'd guess without looking it up since Sunday. How many 34 year old veterans would dramatically change their offensive approach to "comply" to a hitting coach/organizational philosophy?

That's only for movies and disgruntled teachers, lol.

https://www.mlb.com/news/2022-midseason-world-series-draft Leitch: Yep. Yep! I’m still a believer. They were my No. 2 pick this preseason after all, a nod more to their division than their overwhelming top-to-bottom talent. That division is still wide open, and the White Sox – who have the easiest schedule in the American League moving forward – have somehow weathered all the injuries, underperformance and the, uh, interesting dugout decisions to still be within only three games of the Twins at the break.

Colorado can be tough. An unnamed NL West team is 3~9 against them this year. Basically worse than the Sox/Guardians head to head, but this particular team is double digit victories over .500.

Cardinals finally getting bold with Arenado Goldschmidt and possibly Soto. For the last thirty years or so, they tended to stay away from big name players in a mid tier payroll range, avoiding costly extensions for vets, even Pujols. McGwire and Holliday stick out as rare exceptions...

Also lots of rumors they want to dump Alex Verdugo as he's not in the long term plans at this point.

He just completely shut down the Mets. Mackenzie Gore is on fumes and Nick Martinez just fills a back end spot. Doubt they would make this deal very easily. Plus Manaea and Musgrove are FA’s. Their main trade targets are all outfielders/hitters…maybe one more bullpen arm.

Yeah, we've joked so much about these formerly top players being acquired 3-5 years too late by KW for at least two decades. Cano was a similar name earlier in the season who last I checked was still plying his trade in AAA. Can't imagine he could have blown through that Mariners' mega deal cash. Unless he had a private jet like some of the Jenners and Kardashians. (Well, Yoenis Cespedes had his classic/antique/muscle car collection...but probably not in the 10's of millions of dollars.)

July 24: Cards a frontrunner for Soto? "According to MLB Network insiders Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman in an article for the New York Post, the Cardinals are viewed by rival executives as frontrunners for landing Soto before the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline. Heyman and Sherman add that potential Soto suitors have been told that the Nationals are currently focused on just one or two teams, and St. Louis is thought to be one of those teams. The Cardinals have a strong farm system and several good young position players at the Major League level. Washington has made it known that the return for Soto will need to be four or five young players -- some combination of players with low MLB service time and top prospects. St. Louis is in a two-team race with the Brewers in the NL Central, and already have a pair of MVP candidates in the lineup -- Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. For a right-handed-heavy lineup, adding the left-handed Soto in between Goldschmidt and Arenado could be a game-changer in that division. The Post report also suggests the Cardinals may not have to take on a large contract the Nats are trying to unload -- namely, that of left-hander Patrick Corbin -- because of the strong corps of young players, both at the big league and Minor League levels." source: mlb.com

Fans would definitely end up wanting to murder the front office somehow…as 1931 Murderers’ Row Yankees they are most assuredly not, even with Soto.

Nap time? Unaware of his work with LAA and AZ because of different time zones? Wasn’t TLR also with Boston briefly? At any rate, been saying this about Hahn since the Keppinger “move of the decade.” Bookended by Kimbrel, Madrigal, Hernandez and Rodon.

Is that a KW postgame buffet spread swipe?

Leury sadly would be the best of those four...

Have a feeling Kelly will do something interesting. Strike out three or get LaRussa in national headlines again with booing.