caulfield12

Classic Hahn playing 3 dimensional chess on a checkers board...they could have added Cain in the middle of 2017 when KC was tanking and convinced him to stay by bringing in Escobar and eventually Shields back. While they were at it, Moose for third.

Speaking LAD/CHC, Chris Taylor and Kiki Gonzalez, veterans who grew up knowing they needed to be able to play anywhere to increase their value/versatility. Can add Zobrist and Baez, too. Conversely, has switching positions so frequently hindered the development of the much younger Ian Happ? Or he just sucks wherever they put him? We moved Viciedo from 3B to 1B to LF to RF to DH I think. Josh Fields to left when Crede returned. Of course Uribe was the classic super utility guy after his he ate his way off SS. 9 names. 1 under limit.

Lowrie performing so well at this age was completely unpredictable...

Betts might be heading for a megadeal that actually tops Trout on an open market. Not bad for 5’9.” There’s just no way they can also afford Bogaerts (not to mention extending Benintendi) unless they expand Fenway by 8-10000 seats. J.Bradley, Porcello, Pedroia...some names to watch who will be available.

$54-60 million perceived worth on FA market, there’s your surplus value...compared to the Jimenez deal.

Robert is likely the future in CF...although he can play any OF position, theoretically.

Fine, then we have to move Anderson or Moncada...neither are ideal choices.

Still only has something like 9 career fWAR. Would seem to profile just decent offensively at 1B. More of a complementary player imo. Nice piece to have, if you have another 3-4 of him, you could do worse. Just not sure he’s worth $60 million in this market. M.Ozuna and Puig have the gaudier career numbers for RF. The Cards can’t keep Ozuna, Wacha and Carpenter as well.

Cueing Greg775 rant in 3, 2, 1...

Not even sure McAvoy in Split manic phase could come up with that delusion of grandeur.

On the plus side, my navy Ja Morant jersey is on the way from a Chinese factory. The list of difference~making free agents is plummeting off a cliff, down to about 10~12 realistic options, and that's without Bogaerts or Rendon potentially signing extensions.

NMSU?

S.Marte or Archer...?

100% agreed. Yet aother $50+ million this offseason that could have been earmarked to Machado/Harper to turn this thing around...

The bottom line is we don’t (yet) have any other young players we either should or could lock up...like the Indians, five or six at one point were locked up to team-friendly deals...especially pitching (obviously not Bauer!)

Would anyone even dare offer Lopez, Rodon, Kopech or Cease a deal like that, as of today? For how much? How many years?

He was at 94-96, touching 97 once or twice. Herrera at 96. Ruiz consistently 97-99, to give you idea of a “hot” gun or not.

No, I wrote that I have never ignored or blocked someone, not even NCRGBL back over a decade ago...

They were not awarded before those players were firmly established at the big league level...even Trout wasn’t extended until after two years of results to first assess.

You’re assuming he’s at minimum an 825-850 ops guy right off the bat...by say the deal wasn’t happening “after.” Would the White Sox offer the equivalent contract to Moncada (to buy out one FA year) after his 2017/18 results? Or less than what they’re willing to give Eloy? The problem here is that Moncada and Robert have much less incentive to extend because of their initial record-setting contracts...and Kopech/Cease are way too risky with TJS surgeries in their histories.

And they’re paying him through age 37. We apparently had issues paying Harper and Machado at age 34 and 35, but whatever...

Leave it to the White Sox to set a precedent for a player (granted #3 MILB) who has never set foot on a major league diamond while eschewing Machado and Harper...

Vaughn is so predictable that it almost seems to be the opposite (Witt/Abrams/Greene) in order to prove they're actually willing to change things up.

Who? There are ten hitters and basically Porcello, Wheeler, Bumgarner, Wood, Wacha, maybe Archer... https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/league-info/potential-2020-free-agents/ Plus, some of those pitchers already signed extensions, like Mikolas with StL. It’s a lot of blahhhh after the Top 7-8 guys. No chance at Sale, Verlander or Gerrit Cole.

https://www.blessyouboys.com/2019/3/10/18259274/mlb-draft-2019-prospects-bobby-witt-adley-rutschman-andrew-vaughn-riley-greene For some reason, getting much more excited about all-around potential of Witt, Jr., and Abrams...if they finally have the cojones to develop a high schooler again.