caulfield12

All that said, if he really wanted off the White Sox and to close for another team...he might want to pitch that way. And if he has two more outings in a row like his first one, the whispers will grow a bit louder, at least in the media. Bellinger still holds a heckuva lot more upside. And he's quite obviously searching for his swing and tinkering on a daily basis to get right. And the White Sox have never been known for fixing hitters in season...not in the last 15 years at least.

The Dodgers are unlikely to be pushed by the Padres and then Giants like they were last season. Pollock never stays healthy, and they can easily afford to wait 2-3 months on Bellinger to figure things out. From their current point of view, there’s no rush to add Kimbrel when they can just wait the Sox out. Hahn would be wise not to allow the season to start in two weeks with Kimbrel still on the roster. If he goes out on the mound in the next day or so and gets knocked around again at only 93-94 mph, what then?

This all sounds vaguely familiar…

Betts, Pollock, Bellinger Lux as Super Utility guy, Edwin Rios as fifth starter. Beaty and Pillar as minor league depth. They also traded Luke Raley to the Rays. Kimbrel trade still doesn’t make sense unless they really believe in Lux over Pollock or Bellinger. Fwiw, Bellinger’s swing is completely out of synch right now, he’s dipping his shoulder…swing plane is erratic and his head’s moving down about 18 inches from the upright stance to where he ends up dipping into his swing. In theory, they could trade Pollock for Kimbrel, but they would still increase payroll another $15-20 million for Conforto on a one year pillow deal.

They need to throw in Shake Milton.

Well, except for Samardzija/Semien & Bassitt. I can see Manaea, but Montas is a bridge too far. Just not sure why the A’s are bothering to hold onto those two, Laureano, etc. Guess they believe they’ll get even more at the TDL with a full-scale bidding war developing.

Kansas City Royals first round draft pick Brandon Finnegan made his Major League debut on September 6, 2014, the first player to reach the majors from the 2014 draft class, with Carlos Rodon the second. Rodon first appeared for the Chicago White Sox on April 21, 2015. Finnegan became the first player to play in both the College World Series, for TCU, and the MLB World Series, for Kansas City, in the same year. Kyle Schwarber was the first position player to reach the majors from the 2014 draft class doing so June 16, 2015. Madrigal also second, right before Alex Bohm. Notice the trend? On September 9, 2019, the Chicago Cubs promoted Nico Hoerner to the big leagues, making him the first player to reach the MLB in this (2018) draft.[5][6] On July 31, 2020, Nick Madrigal was promoted to the MLB. He started at second base and batted ninth against the Kansas City Royals. He went 0-for-3.[17] Because the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season, the Phillies were allowed to maintain a "pool" of up to 60 players, including prospects like Bohm and Spencer Howard. While the 30 players on the opening day roster would begin the season in Philadelphia, the rest would practice at an alternate training site in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[33]Manager Joe Girardi told reporters early in the season that Bohm would remain at the training site until he was in a position to play "almost every day".[34] Bohm received that opportunity on August 13, when he was called up to fill an injured Adam Haseley's spot in the lineup.

Don't forget Robert.

Only five out of ten with Sox connections…impressive. Goes back to the lack of minor league depth. Look at the “reach” Burdi pick, focus on high OPS collegiate hitter, relievers. Think back to Steele Walker and that previously long list of outfielders. A generation earlier, Royce Ring and Poreda. Rodon and Madrigal must not have been far off, too. Hawkins and Anderson the only long-term development guys.

Well, no longer dealing with Beane might help… He is the executive vice president of baseball operations and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball(MLB); he is also minority owner of Barnsley FC of the EFL Championship in England and AZ Alkmaar[1] of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands.

Shark and Swisher, to name a couple. Durham/Adkins, although that was when they believed compensation picks were disappearing. Adkins’ ERA was stratospheric, that I do remember clearly. Foulke/Koch. Bradford was a one suded trade and featured in Moneyball but Olivo/Reed/Morse for Garcia helped to even that out eventually.

0-4 since the Battle over the $50,000 with the already-wealthy Giolito Family.

Welp, that’s the end of the Brandon Finnegan Experiment.

You pretty much have to trade Vaughn/Crochet/Sheets to get Murphy and whoever you want more between Montas and Manaea. Or you really go crazy and trade Jimenez instead, but the contract makes Vaughn more realistic, as well as his being a West Coast guy.

Yep, Colas and Crochet and perhaps Vera would have to become significant contributors, with Kopech a Top 10ish AL fWAR value to pair with Cease. And God forbid they have a major pitching injury, because that means we’ll be looking more backwards at division competitors gaining on us than at potentially advancing in the playoffs. That’s why putting Buxton and Correa together for one season is admirable. Risky as hell, and 75-80% chance it doesn’t payoff, but it’s 10x the strategy for putting together an outstanding season than relievers and scrubs supplementing a great core.

Might as well trade everything not nailed down for Murphy (as the starting catcher) and Montas/Manaea and compete like hell in 2022-23. Grandal would be getting 60% of his at-bats at DH, 40% at catcher to preserve his health. Because while it would mean the loss of Sheets, Crochet and probably Vaughn…it would be the best way to up payroll in the future, actually getting to the ALCS and maybe even a WS. Otherwise, it’s a losing battling over roster attrition, escalating extension salaries internally and waving goodbye to player after player without being able to replace them cheaply from the barren farm system. Of course, that likely means relying 100% on Jose Abreu in 2023 as well, which is dangerous in and of itself.

Yes, looked at that again and it’s pretty telling Hahn-speak has evolved from multiple championships to having a great shot at the division series. That’s more out of that “let’s target a second place team just to keep the fans’ appetites whetted but expectations not ever too high” PR bag of tricks.

That would make Josh Harrison pretty much superfluous on this roster…

Really solid post. It could be sliced and diced ten different ways, or a Ketel Marte thrown in there as well because it seems this team has no plan whatsoever to replace the likes of Gio and TA7 and extend the window past 2024. Even if you do this same exercise with the Angels’ roster, it’s still not as ridiculously weighted towards the bullpen…their problem is having so much payroll tied into Trout, Rendon and Ohtani (see 2013-16 White Sox Stars and Subs approach). I have a feeling VV won’t last the first 2-3 months. Harrison could easily go the way of 2021 Adam Eaton. Oh, and expenditure.

Sure, but it’s an abbreviated one…just reinforces how none of our so-called wave of outfield prospects is pretty much in shambles. And, yes, the likes of Trayce Thompson and Mazara are still getting at-bats in ST. Would like to have seen a better throw from Harrison…should have been a DP.

Sure, but we were never in on Conforto well before they saw anything out of Colas stateside.

Yay, we hit into yet another DP! Why are we giving so much playing time to Dwight Smith, Jr., by the way?

Why would the A’s want him back when they are trying hard to finish 5th?

Next we’ll be trading Hendriks to prove Kimbrel still can close. And if they don’t pitch Kimbrel…how will that possibly increase his value? VV looks like another KW/RH bargain rack special.

ACC continues to do well after being overlooked the entire season, other than Coach K’s final season accolades.