caulfield12

There doesn’t seem to be any compelling reason to, if he’s limited to 1B. For example, Jose Ruiz throws with similar or higher velocity...so it’s not like he can automatically be expected to contribute as a pitcher, although his left-handedness certainly helps. How badly does he want to play for the White Sox? Is he willing to take a slightly lower bonus? Having that type of arm makes RF the other natural fit...but they’re obviously going to wait it out with Mazara and the prospects. We’ll know a lot more by June/July about future needs. Just depends on the scouting...if hitting is his big plus tool, he has to be able to hit high fastballs better than Viciedo. Heck, Dayan struggled with that when the average velocity was closer to 91-92 than what it is today, on average, across a 9 inning game. As mentioned previously, Y.Tomas and Soler are going to be the comps. Watching that video of him pitching in JPN, he’s got that classic Cuban hesitation but nothing about his stuff really blows you away. Fastball doesn’t seem quite as electric as advertised, and that off-speed stuff will be feasted upon by big league hitters. Needs to get in better shape.

Jimenez was definitely fair market value (in terms of the extensions being signed all around MLB) for a player whose fWAR is never going to do him any favors...unless he hits about as well as JD Martinez. The consensus of the board at the time certainly wasn't that it was a huge bargain or discount, but you’d have to go through that thread again.

Why would one of the worst teams in baseball cut him lose?

https://calltothepen.com/2020/01/04/oscar-colas-defects-cuba-looking-next-shohei-ohtani/# Here are some videos... including one running.

Right now, the biggest concern with Colas is his size/weight/frame. Maybe our fitness/nutrition staff can improve that, but it’s not like Japan is known for junk food diets like the US or Cuba. Similar to Viciedo (who also had a really strong arm), he might never find a position other than 1B/DH...or possibly corner outfield. So the risk is he’s closer to Yasmani Tomas or Soler than five tool talents like Robert and Moncada. That, and the fact we’re really set at 1B/DH with Abreu, Vaughn, EE and Collins. He’s going to have to be a dominant hitter, like Jimenez. Reading on the internet, always the most trustworthy source, some had him more highly regarded than Yordan Alvarez at the same age.

After Ozzie left, our connection to Venezuelan players was gone. We never had the year-round presence down there like 10-12 teams before the political situation fell apart and everyone pulled up stakes. We pushed into Brazil and Colombia with Wilder, but we all know how that ended. The situation in the Dominican hasn't dramatically improved, but now at least we have Jimenez and EE. Very little presence in Puerto Rico as well. Nothing out of Japan and Korea since Iguchi and Takatsu. Then you add in being one of the very worst teams at developing talent this decade...it all starts to add up into a bigger picture that falls in line with the team’s overall record from 2013-2019. Seven years in the wilderness. This was from April of 2010, another nothing burger in a long series of them. CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have hired former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause to be a baseball consultant. Krause's main duties will be to help observe and revamp the scouting system in the Dominican Republic. The system in the Dominican has been under close scrutiny since former director of Latin American affairs David Wilder was accused of reportedly demanding kickbacks from Dominican prospects after inflating their values. Krause has extensive baseball scouting experience, including having worked for the White Sox in the 1970s and '80s, before taking over as Bulls GM. https://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/post/_/id/394/white-sox-hire-ex-bulls-gm-krause-as-consultant

Can I have cryptic “MLB Insider” postings for $200, Alex?

https://redsminorleagues.com/2020/01/03/should-the-reds-look-into-cuban-free-agent-oscar-colas/ Looks like the Reds are going to be one of our main competitors...very nice, detailed write-up here. They've been very active with intl free agents over the last decade plus. I love the idea of signing 10-12 guys like this, compared to extending Moncada and Giolito. Have a feeling bridging the their stellar 2019 seasons versus previous years in terms of proper valuations will prove to be incredibly difficult. Time will tell. Of course, the reality is we don't get a shot at a guy like this more than every 3-4 years, so it’s not exactly like we can “corner the market” on him. Would be interested to hear what Robert, Moncada and Abreu have to say about him...

The problem is McCann isn't part of the core and is likely to be traded since he doesn’t want to stick around as a backup. Lopez, Cease, Kopech and Giolito are separate issues, but time has shown the return on investment with younger position players works out more often than not, at least with the very top prospects in MILB. Madrigal and his agent shouldn’t sign for anything less than $32.5-35 million. They just guaranteed Robert another $50 million in addition to his original deal, so he’s at $76 million without even setting foot on a big league field. Not to mention that was a 16% increase on the deal Eloy Jimenez just inked. So the White Sox have shattered records two years in row...they’ve also “pulled” (a rising tide floats all boats) Madrigal’s expected deal into the low to mid $30’s in the process.

Sure, but McCann was never going to be one of the Top 25-35 most valuable contracts in baseball simply based on his time with the Tigers being in the back of every scout’s minds. And his salary at those rates ($25-30 million for two years) and with a 2020 reversion to second half numbers or Tigers’ “mean” numbers would make his contract extremely difficult to move.

Well, sure. If you look at Lowe and Kingery getting in the mid $20 millions vs. Jimenez’s $43 million and Robert’s $52 million guaranteed. How much will Madrigal ask for if he’s AL ROY or at least Top 3-5 finisher to buy out one or two FA years?

Viciedo was 19, if I’m recalling correctly...that was the largest bonus at the time (for someone under 21), quickly eclipsed.

You’re right, but Shields doesn't have nearly as long to go on his deal as Hosmer and they do have the prospect depth remaining to go after guys like Lindor, Betts, Thor or deGrom. The ownership group has proven they're willing to spend the money and also encourage the GM to be aggressive with changing the talent mix as well as the manager. Of course, they also have deep-pocked teams like LAD and SFG to contend with...no such barriers in the AL Central. The Dodgers’ t.v. contract pays almost as much per year as the Royals, Twins and Indians receive collectively.

You can get arguments about guys like Acuna and Tatis. Tatis constantly showed off the best infield arm strength in baseball last year at age 20. He also suffers from lapses in concentration and forces things because he’s so gifted he thinks he can make every play. Soto has the loudest hit tool, but not the speed. In a lot of ways, Tatis and Robert are similar in terms of height and speed. Robert is more effortless gliding...like Devon White or Alex Rios. Tatis is always hustling, and takes such huge strides...he would be Trevor Lawrence as a QB. Both those guys have a lot of swing and miss in their game, and outside breaking stuff has been a notorious weak zone for nearly every every Latin American prospect in the history of the game. Luckily, with the current Sox lineup and injection of guys like Grandal, EE, Mazara and Jimenez, there will be zero pressure for him to lead the team from Day One like there was in SD with the left side of that infield.

Guys like Lowe and Kingery were third and second round picks. Lowe received $24 million from the Rays. Madrigal was selected 4th overall, he’s going to get at least $30-40 million. In a lot of ways, I feel more confident about him being a perennial 2-3 fWAR player than the likes of Robert, Kopech and Cease, but we’ll see. We know all about the power and BB rate concerns, but those questions will start to be answered soon enough. A year ago, many were questioning the pick entirely. The importance of someone who does everything correctly from a fundamentals standpoint and is like a manager on the field cannot be easily captured from a statistical perspective.

https://sports.yahoo.com/josh-donaldson-multiple-four-offers-204723474.html Donaldson with four year deals on the table from Nationals, Braves and Twins...geez, that NL East is crazy.

Better to go for Hudson, Cishek, Stammen, etc. Way too expensive, considering you're locked in for 3 years and the first (and best) is likely going to be the least competitive of those three years. McHugh seems like the ideal choice...but not sure if they can get him for under $10 million. Kind of sucks to be spending another $10 million if they wouldn't have missed on their evaluation of Herrera, but it's not that big a deal if we can find a solid reliever over the next three years. The problem is that McHugh isn't the classic, 7th/8th inning high leverage guy in terms of stuff...more like a Sergio Romo. Which might still be okay. If there's ONE thing that we've learned in the last decade, it's that you can never have too much starting pitching.

Damaso Marte and Matt Thornton, briefly...

Well, the reason why is we were similarly excited to bring in LaRoche, Robert, Cabrera...obviously, the young core makes this a different situation, but there's nothing automatic in baseball. Let's hope that "Winning the Offseason" is something that we can also agree upon at the end of the following regular season as well. Surely the Phillies "won" the last couple of offseasons, but still don't have a playoff appearance to show for their efforts, as of yet.

Didn't realize Cabrera was only 34, had a 1.9 fWAR, projected at 1.6. Not sure if he's going to be willing to sign the same contract Yolmer would have received to be a back-up...but we have options there and the positive is we should be able to find the right fit for a player/agent that really want to join the White Sox, rather than us having to "market/upsell" joining the team. That's a sea change for the organization.

Holt or Gennett...? We're just one position (2B) away from having an all Latin-American/African-American starting line-up. And actually, if you put Leury there for OD... Anderson Moncada Abreu Grandal (or EE) EE (or Grandal) Jimenez Mazara Robert L.Garcia (guess the last two are pretty interchangeable) Broke up Grandal, Mazara, Leury and Moncada...that would be against RHP. We could obviously move up Jimenez to 4/5 or move Abreu down depending on how they're hitting. That gives you Top 5-10% MLB speed at 4 positions, as well as the power side of the equation from the sluggers (of course, Moncada, Robert and Anderson can also slug.)

Guess he doesn't eat as many Twinkies...

More insurance for Mazara than as 2b/Madrigal to start the year, but we already have that in the form of Leury. Just depends on numbers and option year. You'd have to think he would be better off on a Bottom Ten team playing everyday...awaiting a midseason deal or going into FA with a solid season behind him.

We’ve quickly moved on to Renteria and Cooper as the main villains holding us back, haha. Hard to criticize first year hitting coaches THAT much. You just know they would just love for Renteria to succeed in light of how the Cubs so unceremoniously dumped him.

Back to Gennett? Did he sign already?