caulfield12

By this argument, Wheeler would have been much better off facing every team but the Twins in the AL Central...

There's no way Tatis is in the bottom 5. Having watched the majority of his games (or at least the highlights), there were at least 15-20 plays he made last year that only a handful of players in the big leagues could make. He piled up a number of careless errors in the 6-8 weeks before he went down to the back injury, ...especially after they were already out of contention, but between diving for balls in the air and getting additional outs with his arm at first, I'm not buying it.

He's much better at third or 1B (and he's never been considered a good defender at any position). Leury is the logical choice, or Mendick.

Not if his asking price is still over $10 million...and the expectation of getting at least 20-24 starts. We can't guarantee that like some of the Bottom 10 teams can.

Would just be happy to see TA/Moncada/Jimenez/Robert/Madrigal jerseys start outselling discounted Maddon and new Ross ones in the Chicagoland area.

The reason that I mentioned Stiever as closer (rather than starter) was simply because of the idea that joining the team in the 2nd half...especially in a pennant race, that's MOST LIKELY where he would be needed most. And the White Sox history of guys like Buehrle, Sale, drafting Burdi in 2016 with the thought they were going to need him down the stretch that ill-fated year. As the old saying goes, "you can never have too many starters." Some of these guys are going to end up in the bullpen, traded for other areas of need or held back for depth/in case of injuries. The last year or so, it was pathetic the lack of options we had in AA or AAA...at least now you can see some quality depth forming, legitimate future pieces and not just organizational filler guys.

Just the fact that you had almost half of MLB (so far) only adding $15 million or less in terms of new FA contracts goes to show the need for a floor to protect the fans (somewhat) and also to increase competitiveness of lower-level/small market/tanking teams. That's pretty embarrassing, and it's not like all of those clubs are poor, because you have the Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox and Cubs in that category...even the Cardinals, who run their franchise about as well as possible considering they're never going to be generating hundreds of millions from their local media deal regardless of how good their franchise does in terms of W/L %.

What was the final % of homers and RBI’s that Torres had against the Orioles? It was insanely high, like Matt Davidson vs. KC that year.

Elizabeth Wurtzel, 52, Harvard alum, Prozac Nation author...cancer

The most recent time was a BA prospects chat...I think it’s largely based on his frame, his ability to get it up in the high 90’s in shorter outings, having two really high-quality pitches and the logjam of pitchers in front of him, including Dunning, Rodon and the loser of the Cease/Lopez battle. But sure, everyone prefers “Justin Verlander” as a comp.

A lot of scouts are projecting Stiever as the next strong internal closing candidate.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/baby-yoda-jon-favreau-mandalorian-083123243.html

Didn’t realize how much that dude was paid from 2012-19...his agent is now the Mets’ GM.

Uncut Gems 3.25 Dolemite 3.5 1917 3.75 Jojo Rabbit 3.5 Marriage Story 3.5 (but have to be in the right mood to watch it) The Farewell 3.75 Six Underground 2.75 (better than I expected, since it’s Michael Bay) The Two Popes 3.25 Little Women 3.0 Parasite got robbed at the Golden Globes. And if you want to see George McKay (1917) at his best, try Captain Fantastic or watch it again.

Sure, the last couple of months....but through the first half of the season, he and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., were struggling mightily, compared to, let's say, Peter Alonso and Tatis.

Can they get out of that contract?

He's the most important weapon in the entire organization after Yelich and perhaps Hiura (cost-control). It's going to take a boatload of talent...I'm sure Collins and Stiever alone wouldn't get it done. Equally sure that Vaughn, Collins and Stiever risks an overpay and the fact that he's a significant risk for injury considering how heavily he's been used in the last 2-3 seasons.

Here's the obvious problem with looking down on the likes of Kimbrel, Diaz and Jansen. Not much to choose from until after 2021, and there's many red flags already with that group, for a variety of reasons. Seems that between Rodon, Dunning, Stiever, Hamilton, Burdi and perhaps Lopez, the options are more likely to come internally rather than buying at top of the free agency class prices. Kimbrel's the obvious poster child for that, especially not getting him during spring training...coming off some anxious moments in the 2018 post-season, it would have been much better to get him back out there in February of 2020 instead of giving him months and months to dwell on it. Free Agents 2020-21 Relievers: Blake Treinen, Alex Colome, Andrew Miller (vesting option) 2021-22 Relievers: Kenley Jansen, Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia, Corey Knebel, Archie Bradley, Raisel Iglesias, Roberto Osuna, Zack Britton (club option) 2022-23: Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Nola (club option), Luis Severino (club option), Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, Sale (opt-out), deGrom (opt-out) 2023-24: Machado (opt-out), José Ramírez, Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger, Rhys Hoskins, Blake Snell, Josh Hader

I didn't say the Cubs would take both. "and/or" depending on Cubs' interest. Nobody actually WANTS Herrera. So simply sell higher on Colome and get more money back... sell lower on Herrera. Not even sure the Cubs would buy into Colome as their closer to replace Kimbrel. In the end, the Cubs would still have to send a ton of money to the Sox to make it interesting enough. They're better off hoping for a rebound, just like they should hold onto Bryant at least until the ASB. Colome for Kimbrel plus X amount of money would be or could be interesting for both teams. But not without risk.

In the same way trading Borchard for Thornton worked out. Kimbrel and Herrera get fresh starts with new teams, Cubs get rid of some of their payroll problem. It doesn't matter, Hahn is not going to be perceived as helping the Cubs, and Epstein would look like he got snookered if Kimbrel rebounded, especially with money going to the Sox as well. In general, we should sell high on Colome and Kimbrel's the perfect buy low candidate depending on how much the Cubs will send along with him. Sure, there's risk, just like iit's possible or even likely Colome and Bummer regress and Herrera never returns to form. That's undoubtedly one of the most volatile parts of this team and their intentions to contend this season. Does anyone believe in Herrera getting key 7th and 8th inning outs in the heart of a real pennant race? He couldn't even execute when there wasn't any legitimate pressure, other than pride.

He's not a run-first style of QB, so doesn't that alleviate SOME of concern? Is this at all similar to the Greg Oden situation...or that was more about his feet as well?

Right, conversely, things went so poorly for the Cubs with that deal last year...they almost have to go all-in on keeping him, simply because there aren't many other options on the market and they've already jettisoned so much of their previous two bullpens that depth is lacking. They have to hope for the second year rebound, since it seems nearly every pitcher waiting until mid-season to start has been victimized by that decision. I guess I could see trading Colome and/or Herrera for Kimbrel...with money coming back to the White Sox, the good 'ol change of scenery trade. But that's highly unlikely.

That "top 8" includes some of these smartest teams in baseball.

Sure, Edwin Diaz and Kimbrel. But all three guys would amount to substantial risks in different ways. Probably not much worse than giving Hudson $10~12 million, depending on what else we get back.

Felix Diaz and Carlos Lee should be in your personal HoF, then...