caulfield12

https://www.tiktok.com/en/trending/detail/munetaka-murakami-joins-white-sox

Unless Ishbia as a futuristic PE Santa Claus is issuing "generous" extensions to Robert and Murakami...

Wasting time on players who aren't part of the "playoff future" and have limited trade value does what exactly? Play Baldwin or Pereira if there's no other choice. With Murakamui, he at least addresses marketing/ticket sales, Japanese "future" Connection AND abundant trade or QO possibilities.

The K-shaped economy lives in sports, too, and for the exact same reason: Money is flowing toward, and consolidating around, a few key teams, programs and individuals in each sport, leaving the others to fend for whatever scraps are left. There have always been haves and have-nots in the sporting universe: the Yankees and the White Sox, the Lakers and the Wizards, Ohio State and Rutgers. But we’re in a new, flush era now … great news for a few, bad news for most. The infusion of broadcast revenue, franchise buy-in fees, billionaire owners, private-equity infusions, and willing-or-not fan spending — more on that last one in a bit — a tidal wave of wealth is unbalancing entire sports. We’re already seeing the effects on championship chases … and we’re seeing the cracks along the margins, too. Never has the old cliché “The best team money can buy” been more true than in Chavez Ravine right now. The back-to-back world champion Los Angeles Dodgers had a 2025 payroll of $321.3 million — more than the entire payrolls of the White Sox, Rays, Marlins and Athletics combined. Yes, money alone can’t win you titles — the Mets had the highest payroll last year, and they were, well, the Mets — but money, and the total lack of a salary cap, sure makes life a lot easier. Hope those small-market teams enjoyed those titles when they had them; they’re likely not coming around again anytime soon. https://sports.yahoo.com/sports-media/article/cash-rules-everything-around-sports-the-k-shaped-economy-widened-gaps-between-haves-have-nots-in-2025-141122272.html

Then you're just renting a soon to be declining player for two years.. Every position should have a long-term solution for 2028-30. And as a result you're putting Sean Newcomb in the rotation?

He was so shaky on the corners though...how would he have built the confidence to run the entire outfield? It's just like playing Sosa everyday at second base.

Prospects like this? Yhoiker Fajardo is the real prize. Nineteen-year-old who reached Low-A for the Red Sox after being dealt from the White Sox and struck out a ton of people. Above average pitches thus far, but he's got tons of projection remaining (6'3", 181 lbs.) to make them better.

HaSeong Kim and Lee with SFG/CF are the only real success stories. It took Lee a full year to adjust to elite fastballs. Hyesong Kim (LAD util) and Song (SDP) yet to be determined.

Nobody would. It's the same arguments we'll be hearing about prospects at 2026 trade deadline if Murakami has 25 homers, .260 average and 900+ ops. Why trade him and piss off the fans? Same reason the Tigers are going to trade Skubal for a boatload of prospects...they would never give $400 million or even $200-$250 million to a pitcher 30 and over when they could get 4 of the Dodgers Top Ten prospects and Sheehan while absorbing the much lesser Glasnow contract.

Hill/Pereira/Bleday

Actually, up to $14.5 million for Fairbanks' 2026 if you include the Rays' buyout and $500,000 additionally in the likely event the Marlins are eliminated and trade him at the deadline.

Took Cooper's spot. Or Boston's.

Hahn/Haber/Hostetler did it. HHH. Or LaRussa?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/owen-white-signs-with-kbos-hanwha-eagles.html Former Sox Owen White in high demand.

For Pivetta and Mason Miller lol.

“Shipping Brandon Nimmo to Texas created so much attention around the opening in left field that it's easy to forget that the Mets have needed a legitimate starting center fielder for over a year now…Sure, he could always just throw Steve Cohen's money at Kyle Tucker. If that's off the table, though, why not Robert? There really isn't anyone else available (aside from Tucker) with his upside, and his excellent defense in center would allow Benge to shine in a corner and give New York quality gloves alongside Juan Soto. Plus, the Mets have exactly the pitching depth that Chicago reportedly covets,” Landers wrote. yahoosports.com Except they won't trade Teng or Sproat for Robert even if the White Sox wrote a $20 million check...

Michael Baumann evaluates what kind of player McNeil still is and how he fits in the Athletics lineup as McNeil as the “Metsodous” continues. (Damn. I wish I’d thought of that word first.) Ken Rosenthal looks at where the Mets go next and how a toxic clubhouse seems to be driving these moves. (The Athletic sub. req.) Plus other MLB notes. “What they’ve done tells you how big a s— show their clubhouse was,” said one rival executive who was granted anonymity for his candor. “The guessing is over. It was a disaster.” Anthony DiComo writes about where the Mets might go from here. Lex Pryor writes that the Mets are seemingly adrift without a plan at the moment. Mets currently searching for someone better than Mark Vientos...Bregman or Okamoto fit here, maybe Willi Castro or Luis Rengifo? Moncada nah. Also, Stearns is going to have to assess the impacts positively and negatively of adding Robert Jr., into that mix with both Soto and Lindor at odds.

Everyone pretty much knew Danks was completely shot after that injury. Benintendi can still play everyday, just not that well. And the White Sox didn't have significant debt back then, either. (Leury Hendriks Keuchel all parts of that debt picture.)

He's really the only speedy player the Sox have after Robert. (Not going to count Hill yet.)

"Joe Kelly will no longer be a big league pitcher, but don’t call him retired. That’s what he implied when speaking on Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, and stated that the title of retired doesn’t sit right when discussing the end of an active playing career. Retiring is something my grandmother did. That’s so disrespectful. I’m sorry to all you out there watching that work real jobs— you guys deserve to retire— but athletes don’t. We just stop f****** playing. It’s used for people who served in the military, it’s used for people who work until they’re 65.“ yahoosports.com

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/articles/nationals-agree-contract-ex-cubs-183629949.html Matt Mervis to Nats (hometown team) https://www.newsweek.com/sports/mlb/all-star-slugger-urged-to-ditch-braves-for-guardians-after-6-seasons-in-atlanta-11268681 https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/3-mlb-free-agents-new-york-yankees-should-target-amid-slow-offseason Yankees targets lol? Murakami Bellinger Kopech The only reporting on Kopech recently is a SFG interest...have already dealt with a similar pitcher in Hicks over there.

Mets sign Mike Baumann to split contract/terms undisclosed pending physical? "It would be quite a shock if Baumann landed a major league deal. The 30-year-old spent the 2025 season with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He wasn’t exactly dominant over there. He tossed 15 innings at the top NPB level with a 4.20 earned run average and 11 innings in the minors with a 4.09 ERA.” Chris Getz will be all over him if he's later released AND AND AND Murakami really enjoyed him as a teammate. Would likely go to Charlotte as a depth piece/roster insurance.

The Fairbanks deal might very easily be worth $13.5 million. "Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the deal includes a $1MM signing bonus and another $1MM in incentives based on appearances. Fairbanks will also receive a bonus of $500,000 if he is traded. The deal is pending a physical." Who was the reporter that had the Marlins offering in the mid teens first? And which reporter kept insisting it wouldn't be more than single digits? That turned out to be wholly inaccurate. Also: Tatsuya Imai is now at ten days and counting (next Friday) and right now nobody has a clue where either he or Okamoto are going. If he were to come down below $100 million....nah, JR hates pitching contracts over three years in length. Okamoto might be coming under 3/$50 million now as well. $40-45 million for 3 years sounds about right?

4 When given a 5 point scale, it's very easy to give 3.5/5. Which counts as a positive at rottentomatoes, but not exactly a wholehearted endorsement. Kpop Demon Hunters is the best movie of the year. My students kept on pushing me to watch it and talking about it so much that I finally gave in and acquiesced. Train Dreams is pretty darned close to #1, and that has a lot of historicity to it, as well as the two fun Sisu movies. There's also the Chinese film Dead to Rights, about the Nanjing 1937 massacre, and Last Samurai Standing, which I think is the best 8 episode action show of the year. Finally, there's The Diplomat, which was recommended in the TV section, blew through three seasons in just two days.

JR usually believes in forcing players or coaches to perform until at least that final contract year hits. Unfortunately. Maybe Leury was the lone exception, but that was a tiny AAV in play there.