caulfield12

Sure, but there’s a massive difference between the #5 RFer in the game and something much closer to middle tier. There’s certainly no guarantee we get the former version…in fact, the rule of Sox FA moves is almost always go with the opposite of what is expected. Grandal, despite his strange stat lines, is one of the first other than Abreu to come close to earning his money on the position player side of things. McCann, as well.

It is a little bit misleading to go with OPS+ and not fWAR or bWAR…how would that change the rankings? 1. Soto 2. Betts 3. Harper 4. Acuna, Jr. 5. Judge 6. Yelich 7. Bellinger 8. Merrifield 9. Castellanos 10. Kepler 11. Conforto 12. T.Hernandez https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=rf&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2021&month=0&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=&enddate= fWAR 2019 20 21 combined for RF Kyle Tucker is 6.8 the last three seasons, of course 4.8 just for 2021…but just about a 3 average per season if you treat his career as the equivalent of roughly 2 years since its predominantly a counting stat

https://sports.yahoo.com/white-sox-gm-hahn-eyes-231109840.html

Are we now lost on the set of Pacific Rim 3?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/cardinals-notes-hicks-reyes-designated-hitter-shortstop-dejong.html The Cards would be a shocker for Kimbrel. In theory, you have the Red Sox and Padres looking, but neither are the right fits for different reasons (past performance, financials). You have Knebel at $10 million in Philly as an alternative, and Kenley Jansen on the market "for free." Blue Jays? Dodgers won't go with that monster roster (especially w/ Freeman) and pair it with yet another lingering question mark at the back end after the last 2-3 seasons out on Jansen.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/latest-on-seiya-suzukis-market.html

Suarez, Pagan or Pomeranz. Red Sox definitely looking to make a move...but it surely won't be Kimbrel again. Kenley Jansen also is without a home as of now, similar profile and risk as Craig, but looking for at least 2-3 years.

"The 27-year old righty would be a nice addition to the Mets rotation, especially considering how good Mahle has been away from Cincinnati. He had a 2.30 ERA, 2.76 FIP, and a 9.91 K/9 in away games in 2021. Mahle's already on an upwards trajectory and a move to a friendlier home field would give him even more potential going forward." Didn't realize how good he was away from home...albeit in a weaker division overall. Two years of control vs. just the one like Bassitt would be the key there.

Sure, maybe....but is he worth $6 million more than Knebel, or $15 million more than Hicks to a mid~market franchise like the Cardinals already carrying two huge deals on the books at 1B and 3B?

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-free-agency-live-updates-rumors-as-baseballs-hot-stove-reignites-following-end-of-lockout/live/ Freeman to Dodgers possibly tonight, Braves would go after Olson trade or Rizzo/Voit. Mahle with the Reds would be a really good rotation insurance move. Less expensive than Castillo and Gray.

But the Phillies have Knebel, the Cardinals Jordan Hicks returning...there's no team without any legit internal options at closer right now.

Would you just take on his existing contract like the White Sox did with Alex Rios....?

Great, the Dodgers again...

Hicks should be back 100%. The Cardinals usually don't like to pay non-elite closers top of the market salaries. Too many lingering questions about Kimbrel to assert he's still a Top 3-5 guy.

All.FA.pitching.is.inherently.risky.

But Lynn isn’t exactly a non-zero risk at his age and weight/conditioning level. Keuchel wasn’t supposed to be risky, either.

If nothing else, it would completely run contrary to typical White Sox free agency form…sort of a breath of fresh air. Have never understood our lack of open-mindedness the last 15+ years on Pacific Rim players. Seems we only signed maybe one South Korean and one Taiwanese pitcher that entire time frame. Finally, the marketing angle in a city where we are always going to trail the Cubs unless Ricketts starts contributing to Putin directly or something similarly outlandish.

He earned that money almost based on his 2021 performance alone. And we have no way of knowing about his medicals. Look what the SFG did last offseason, they were 3/3 on Gausman, DeSclafini and Alex Wood. Faidi might be wrong on Carlos, but he has also been one of the brightest young GM’s in the game since taking the reigns in SF. To summarize, pretty similar risk profile to Eeovaldi…similar dollars. That said, a lot of those numbers were put up against the AL Central.

Suzuki also opens up marketing opportunities as well as starting a pipeline to Japan like we had with Iguchi and Takatsu.

Do they still print tickets in the digital age?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/bryan-reynolds-rumors-turned-down-extension-pirates.html White Sox name mentioned in connection with the highly-coveted Reynolds. Trade cost would likely be prohibitive…but, then again, Pirates have made some head scratchers.

Well, except for TA having all the raw tools in the world to play SS, vs. Vaughn’s quite obvious physical limitations.

Sure, but Shields wasn't even a TOR starter at the end of his Royals' career, let alone with the Padres, and his stuff had clearly eroded from his Big Game James days in Tampa...you were never going to get Verlander-Esque results from him in a million years.

https://www.startribune.com/baseball-lockout-jim-souhan-the-never-going-back-crowd-will-be-soon-buying-13-ballpark-beers/600154818/

https://www.si.com/mlb/phillies/around-mlb/who-favorites-land-seiya-suzuki-after-mlb-lockout-trade-rumors-gossip From this article, seems the Red Sox, Rangers and Mariners are three of the favorites. Specifically for those bored with Conforto, Bryant, Castellanos and Eddie Rosario rumors. But the ZiPS translations for Suzuki put him in the .280 to .290 range in batting average — almost Wade Boggs in 2020s MLB — with 20-30 homers per year and an OBP somewhere around .350. Translations for NPB aren’t going to be quite as accurate as the ones for organized baseball over here, but at this point, we have a great deal of data from the players coming back and forth from Japan, considerably more than we have for Korea. Projected in a neutral park, ZiPS has Suzuki as a better-than-league-average corner outfielder but one who projects below All-Star levels without another step forward: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/projecting-seiya-suzuki/ Giants, Padres, Cubs also mentioned https://www.mlb.com/news/seiya-suzuki-rumors March 10: Suzuki among top remaining free agents The 27-year-old Japanese outfielder is one of the most intriguing free agents left on the market, and a whole lot of teams are reported to be interested. The Mariners and Giants look like they're frontrunners, and Suzuki fits well with both clubs. The Red Sox could be a landing spot, too, since they have a need for a righty slugging corner outfielder -- Suzuki hit 38 home runs for the NPB's Hiroshima Carp in 2021. Japan's Nikkan Sports also reported in January that the Padres and Cubs could be among the finalists once Suzuki's negotiations resume. Whoever signs him could be getting a 20-plus home run hitter.