caulfield12

The only conclusion is the White Sox really didn’t want Machado all that badly. It doesn’t make sense, because of the courting of Alonso and Jay, but then why would they have telegraphed the move of Moncada to third (Machado’s best position)...? it was all to light a fire under Yoan and Timmy? Because if you want to make it clear to Machado that he’s wanted...you don’t move one of the best young players in the game to his natural position. It’s not like he was wedded to playing SS either, as he made it abundantly clear he was willing to move back to 3B. Ironically, the player they most needed was Harper (from a positional standpoint), and they barely paid lip service to that possibility after the initial meetings.

It’s all about leverage, or just simple supply/demand. McCann had none. Playing opportunity was just as valuable as the contract dollars, especially because he was already familiar with all the pitchers in the division. As far as the money crap, if the Yankees were winning every year, that would be one thing. As long as teams like Oakland can afford a Cespedes or the Padres Machado and Hosmer...then there’s still a reasonable balance because every team in MLB has enough incoming revenue from media/broadcasting to afford one of those guys if they really wanted to, even the Marlins and Rays.

Cashner? Benintendi was worth 4.4 fWAR last year and is mired at just 1.2 this year. Do you really think that Dombrowski would deal him at his lowest value? They had a million opportunities to do that with Jackie Bradley and never pulled the trigger. Granted, Bradley is a better defender at a premium position. At any rate, it’s going to cost a lot more than an expiring Abreu and bullpen guys.

The other thing to remember with Baines is that he missed portions of three seasons to strikes, 1981 and 1994-95. Plug that playing time back in and he's over 3000 hits and right at 400 homers. How many more hits and home runs would Baines likely have logged? Using simple "on pace" calculations: 1981: 40 hits, 5 HR 1994: 51 hits, 7 HR 1995: 14 hits, 3 HR That'd bring Baines to 2,971 hits and 399 home runs. He'd get my vote either way, but his odds would probably be considerably better with those numbers literally scratching at Cooperstown's door.

The Padres have plenty of young highly-touted pitchers (Morejon and Baez, just brought up yesterday, are both Top 100), they just need seasoning like Kopech and Cease. And Mackenzie Gore is their centerpiece franchise pitcher to go along with Paddack and he's at least another half season away. That said, he loves Southern California. But I honestly don't see how the numbers work there with Wil Myers taking up a big chunk of salary and currently just a bench player. They'll definitely pursue him as their rotation anchor, but it would be more shocking than reeling in Machado.

I'll believe it when Bryant leaves the Cubs.

I guess I should have eliminated Trout, because of the discussion of the player to select after him is quite fascinating... But still can't get over how the current version of the Angels parallels with the 2012-2016 White Sox, how having 4 really solid or even great (in the case of Sale with the Sox) players didn't even once lead to the playoffs. Trout and Ohtani are the only LA hitters over OPS+ hitters over 112. We have Moncada, Anderson and Moncada at 132, 119, 118. Then Abreu at 107 and Eloy at 106.

Yes, but it was also taking that player’s current contract into consideration... Acuna, Soto, Jose Ramirez, Bregman, Lindor, Judge, Betts, Guerrero, Tatis, W. Franco, Correa, Trea Turner, Snell, Buehler, Nola was Jonah Keri’s Top 15 Most Valuable Trade assets coming into 2019. Cody Bellinger has basically taken Jose Ramirez’s spot since the season started. Jimenez was 22nd, for the record. https://theathletic.com/880451/2019/03/21/keri-the-2019-mlb-trade-value-player-rankings-part-3/

A year ago, most would have picked Betts, Guerrero Jr or Acuna, Jr., after Trout.

Realistically, we need the pitching equivalent of Trout...except that doesn’t exist. So I would take the $430 million savings from choosing a 20-22 year old and put it into the pitching staff. Nobody will match Trout’s numbers offensively, but that isn’t the point...because you need to have a talented pitching staff to win consistently, and the White Sox are much further away in that area than offensively.

I listed Yelich...here Boswell makes a case for Soto, but also provides a warning about overhyping anyone too soon. He was the last player I cut from the individual voting options, right there with Lindor and Betts. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/we-need-to-chill-on-hyping-juan-sotos-ceiling-but-hes-making-that-very-difficult/2019/07/16/c098c5ba-a7f7-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html?utm_term=.f5eed47cc177 3.7 fWAR last year, 2.3 this season https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=20123&position=OF The main reason I dinged him was speed/defense....and he’s a lot like Vaughn in that he’s a lot closer to a 25-30 homer guy than 35-50. (Of course, the exact same thing was said about Christian Yelich earlier in his career.)

I’m assuming you don’t mean this season...

This would be absolutely perfect for Brooks Boyer’s 2020 marketing campaign! Or simply, “Tatis, Jr., is gone. Get over it. Plus, we have Elijah.” On second though, just like a good Aaron Boone rant or Laura Dern on “Big, Little Lies”...the f*ck you part makes it 1,000x better.

Trout was listed. See above.

Because Reinsdorf might not be willing to add on another big contract after taking on that $430 million extension...and because of Luis Robert. Might end up in same situation as Angels, consistently missing out on the playoffs. Or perhaps the idea that putting all of your payroll into a megastar like that would be risky for a mid-market franchise, especially if he was to get injured. Would be curious how much the additional insurance is on that deal.

The last three years prior to this one, Baez has averaged an 814 ops. Moncada was at 718, but has pulled his career average up to 770 because of his stronger, more consistent 2019. Because of base running, positional versatility, defense/creativity...and longer track record, Baez has the advantage. Two years vs. four of control though, it would be a majority decision in favor of Moncada by GM’s.

If Moncada would run more frequently and had Baez's skills around the bag in terms of tagging baserunners...as well as the ability to play every position on the field except for maybe catcher (and I'm sure he would be willing to try.) Let's just put it this way...Baez, when he reaches bases, he says "look at me, even though you know I'm going to do something crazy...you can't really stop me. But go ahead and try." Moncada doesn't really have that same aggressive attitude out there, at least not yet. Moncada offensively has had 4 really solid months now...but he has to finish strong. And then you have to give a slight advantage to SS over 3B positionally. In terms of contract status, definitely Moncada....four years vs. two, I'm pretty sure.

Yet another reason not to trade McCann...unless they're confident in signing Grandal, which I don't know how that would be possible at this point unless Moncada, Abreu and Robert have the "inside scoop" we're not privy to.

Soto was one of my last "cuts" from the individual options, but it was only because of his lack of dyamic speed and more or less average defensive skills. But he can REALLY hit the ball and has recovered quite well after a slow start in what is usually a harder sophomore season in the bigs. Positional versatility is becoming more and more important...that's one of the factors hurting the likes of Guerrero and Jimenez. Javier Baez might be the most exciting player in baseball right now. If it's not him, you would probably look to Trout, Acuna, Jr. or Tatis,, Jr. Not the best, because he still doesn't change his offensive approach for situations like some of the best hitters in the game, but in terms of defense and baserunning, there's nobody better.

I was tempted to go with Contreras, because of how hard it is to find a truly excellent two-way catcher. Bryant would be hard to choose just because of his eventual FA status, but he's one of the best "average speed" baserunners since Jose Valentin and is actually a deceptively adept corner outfielder with a strong throwing arm to boot. Writing this down, I totally forgot about Francisco Lindor as well. Or Josh Bell, who's had an amazing season so far but had the 1B/DH thing working against him.

Looked it up at baseball reference, our largest lead in 2005 was 15 games up on August 1st, 2005. And, if you look at that line-up, other than Santana and Lindor, there aren't many major threats. Kipnis was the clean-up hitter yesterday. Jose Ramirez has had a terrible season, and they've had to play mix and match with their outfielders and bullpen all season long. (Mercado for some reason was dumped by the Cardinals, and has become an important player for them.)

but you had to take their current contract status into consideration, who would it be and why?

Knights is the JackParkman Whisperer for Cease...like he was for Giolito last year.

At the time, it seemed this thread was going to be killed anyway...so it was the general category of things to complain about for today, while it lasted. Since there wasn't a source listed for the "allegation," OP must have assumed Cooper ordered Cease to decrease his velocity in order to increase his control/add to career longevity.

Mochalo! (literally translated to “cut/chop ‘em down”) Literally as I wrote this, Tyler Saladino smashed a grand slam against AZ to tie it at 4-4. Go Brewers! Also, Indians threatening to pull to with two games of Minnesota.