caulfield12

Sign second baseman César Hernández to a 1-year, $5 million contract.Hernández would fit as a placeholder until prospect Nick Madrigal is ready to take over later in the 2020 season. Hernández, 29, slashed .279/.333/.408 with 31 doubles, 14 home runs, 71 runs batted in and 9 stolen bases in 11 attempts for the Philadelphia Phillies last year. He’s also had an OBP greater than 35 percent in three of the last four years. Hernández was a 2.5 WAR player last season and would be an undervalued short-term move for Chicago. Bowden has Bumgarner at 4/$84 to the Twins (bigger outfield), Keuchel at 3/$42 and Ryu at 3/$55.5 million, fwiw. And the proposed trade value on Starling Marte way higher, as well as Joc as part of a package including Lux from LAD to CLE for Lindor. Castellanos at 4/$64 and Ozuna somehow at $92.5 million. https://theathletic.com/1429263/2019/12/05/bowden-picking-a-winter-meetings-move-for-all-30-teams/?source=dailyemail

They just offered 5 and $100 to Wheeler. The Mauer extension blows away anything the White Sox have done. They don’t sign external free agents because their farm system (see Tampa) used to produce a bucketload of them until the early 2010’s. One year, they went out and signed Santana, Hughes and Nicasio the same offseason for the rotation.

How many all-in teams can afford to punt on the first 40 games of the season...? The Twins don’t consider the White Sox or Indians threats, yet, especially if CLE trades Lindor, Kluber and Jose Ramirez (likely 2/3.)

German Marquez, a fantasy league favorite the first half last season. His stuff is just a notch below that first tier, similar to Castillo of the Reds.

They throw in the towel on Giolito and Moncada after 2021 and the rebuild’s likely a bust. The White Sox need both those players the most in 2022-23. There’s no way of getting around that or backing out now.

The Pirates would laugh at that offer and never answer a call from Hahn again...

Edwards is forever going to be known as “slapdic#”

1.6 and 1.9 fWAR for Renfroe the last two years. 6.2 and 4.1 for Pham. Preller not messing around, trying to get more athletic overall with the additions of Profar, Grisham/Trammell and Pham...dumping lumbering outfielders Reyes and Renfroe (who also has a great arm.) Trading two years of control between those two, with Pham a free agent after 2021 and Renfroe after 2023. Machado opt-out is after the 2023 season, btw. Padres clearly think that CJ Abrams will be a fast mover and that Edwards was expendable in the overall scheme of things. The Rays would land MLB Pipeline’s No. 72 overall prospect, Xavier Edwards, while the Padres would acquire two-way player Jake Cronenworth.

Only if they change the Cole headline, lol...I suppose next I need to travel 5,000 miles to the Winter Meetings and do some investigative reporting to make sure these names are all actually available and not merely speculative. Btw, Marquez would be great...but I didn’t put him down because I assumed the cost for him, Thor or deGrom would be prohibitive. Maybe Stroman if the Mets fall out of it again and new ownership wants to start paring payroll.

I guess one of these guys will be the next Erwin Santana/Felipe Paulino...

Okay, I see where he was just non-tendered. Gonzales is find for the back-end guy...but that’s actually where there a number of “free” options like Wacha, A.Wood (injury risk), Roark, Miley, Porcello, Gio, Teheran (lost stuff), Rich Hill (just had surgery and will miss first half), B.Anderson, Cahill, Smyly, Lyles and Buchholz. Yes, yet another list. But what else can be done? That’s basically all there is to work with...

Caleb Smith...Marlins Jon Gray/Freeland/Hoffman...Rockies Robbie Ray...DBacks Matthew Boyd...Tigers Marco Gonzales...Mariners Tijuan Walker...DBacks Jimmy Nelson...Brewers Corey Kluber...Indians (highly unlikely) Chris Archer...Pirates Jeff Samardzija...Giants (highly unlikely) Price/Eovaldi/Sale...Red Sox (highly unlikely) Debate/discuss. Who can the White Sox afford to acquire in terms of talent surrendered? For which prospects/suspects? Who is worth trading for and then attempting to extend in this new FA universe of exploding contracts?

Ryu has averaged 25 starts per season if you leave out 2016...so that's not TOO bad. It's missing an average of about 6 weeks...although if you dig deeper and eliminate 2018, the average is 27.25 starts per season. 147 innings pitched per season, including 2018, when he only pitched for about half the season. Of course, you're paying for ages 33-35 or 33-36 and his 2nd place Cy Young performance in 2019, but he's definitely far from the definition of a power pitcher...and most (not all) would much prefer to take a chance on him vs. Keuchel if the money/years were similar.

Basically, the same exact price as Gibson with one less year of commitment. Losing Wheeler obviously shocked them into action. So now they have Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda/Graterol and Dobnak/Smeltzer/Wisler at the back end. The duo of Jordan Balazovic and Jhoan Duran look to be future studs as well. Can any of them impact the Minnesota Twins next year? In short answer? No. Graterol needs to head back to the minors to get more work as a starter, so he won’t be ready. Balazoic and Duran are both 21 and need a lot more work in the minors barring a miraculous jump forward. Graterol might make the jump as a second-half spot starter if he stays healthy and everything breaks right. The three starters will make an impact at some point, it just won’t be this year. https://puckettspond.com/2019/10/16/minnesota-twins-predicting-the-twins-starting-rotation-for-2020/3/

He's also mentioned wanting to play with Choo in Texas as they open their new stadium, so LAD and TEX are the two co-favorites at this point in the proceedings. In general, the California teams, Seattle and AZ/Colorado would be more attractive due to their proximity to S. Korea.

What would everyone say are the current odds of the Sox still getting one of Ryu, Bumgarner or Keuchel? We know the Twins (who already bid 5/$100 for Wheeler), Reds, Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, Rangers, Nationals, Astros, Cardinals, etc., are all looking for pitching. Unfortunately, it's the consensus of everyone but Steve Stone that Bumgarner will be a bad contract. Have seen a few arguing for Keuchel as well, but I can't see them paying him $18-20 million for 3-4 years. Ryu seems like the biggest upside play, certainly with risk...but it will at least be in the $50-75 million range over 3-4 years instead of $120+. That said, there's got to be 2-3 teams that are going to miss out on Cole/Strasburg all thinking the same exact thing.

Who knows...maybe Rodon or Dunning are huge surprises next year. We're overdue for some good fortune from the baseball gods. It will be interesting to see if Wheeler makes it through his contract without another major injury throwing so many 97+ mph pitches. Same concern we have with Kopech. Severino and Thor have already started experiencing issues as well.

Aoki had a very productive career... not a star, but a meaningful contributor on playoff teams. Obviously Iguchi had his run, too. Fukudome never seemed comfortable with the Cubs... a lot of its about cultural fit, so usually Seattle or the West Coast works best.

Will believe it when they don't end up with Tier C/D pitchers... the three best remaining "realistic" impact pitchers are going to be grossly overpaid and our legitimate prospect depth (expendable) in terms of position prospects after Collins and the five outfielders is non-existent.

See Hernandez, Felix.

Luis Robert, and his waiting one year to start his career stateside had major tax implications (with how the contract and signing bonus was accounted for) and was one of the reasons they chose the lower offer over StL.

They can’t afford to get rid of Darvish the way he pitched the second half last year. Chatwood would be it...and they won’t be able to keep Bryant, Rizzo and Baez. Bryant likely bolts. As it stands, selling high on Contreras to fill multiple needs is probably the best way to go.

Signing Ryu and Pineda wouldn’t be bad...but no more than three years for Ryu. Pineda one plus an attainable option year at much more attractive salary. That would be enough to stabilize the pitching staff and simultaneously take Pineda away from Minny.

He would be excellent as the depth/backend piece/insurance. But with numerous teams being left out of the pitching FA race due to exorbitant pricing...the M’s trade demands for him just escalated.

No, their offer was $100/5.